Summer Vacation: Day One - Setting Goals

It was so nice to wake up today and not have to go to work. Yay! And, surprisingly, I woke up before Abigail and was able to get about 10 minutes of "me time" in before it became "Mommy time." I actually got to go to the bathroom, fix a bowl of cereal and feed the dog without an audience! Ah, it is the small things that count. :) (Sorry about that "tinkle" comment, but any mom knows what I mean!)

It has been a looong time since I have been home alone all day with the baby - on the weekends I get to split the duty. Today has been a huge wake-up call! I will say, however, and I am very proud of this, that the TV has not been turned on once! (I am nonchalantly overlooking my facebook updates!) We've played and read books and looked at pictures and gone to the gym (thank heaven for the gym daycare!) and then played with puppy Chance. She is just now taking her first nap of the day. Hopefully she will be exhausted tonight! I know I will be.

I know that Abigail and I will get into a routine and this will all seem second nature to me again, so I am just enjoying the time I have with her. During the few spare minutes each day that I have to actually get stuff done, I am creating a "summer to do" list and, if I may say so myself, it is quite ambitious.

First of all, I am working on a reading list that attacks both pleasure and intellect, so it is has a wide range of genres. The first few books are The Secret Life of Bees (a classic award winner and I may teach it next year...?), Skinny Bitch (motivation and sass!), The Laura Robb method of teaching reading, and Now, What Are Your Strengths? (yay, Mom!). I need to add a detective novel, a young adult novel (I've finished the Twilight series and must say it came in handy this past year at school, but what is the "new thing?"), a chick lit (always so fun!) and at least one contemporary child psychology/development book. Eh, one of these days I will make a list and put it some where that I can keep myself accountable. My goal is to have ten books read by the end of the summer, and I think that it is totally do-able.

After my mind comes my body. I am aiming to work out at least 5 days a week and to lose my final "baby weight." I'm still going to call it that, even though I realize it has been 7 months and by now it is "Kasie weight" and no longer pregnancy related. I am holding on to the few people who think "9 months on - 9 months off" which gives me two months from today to lose my last (eek - dare I say it?) 13 pounds. THIRTEEN POUNDS? Crazy. I pretty much weigh today what I weighed on the day I stopped breast feeding (in late January). I lamely attempted working out in March, when Abigail was 3-4 months old, but after one week she got a double ear infection which I could only attribute to the gym day care and her baby immune system. I felt so guilty! Then came swine flu! How could I take her to daycare then? No way. Now that she is older than 6 months and is substantially more able to fight off infection (or so I believe), I am willing to try again. If there are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat, then I need to burn, through a combination of exercise and diet, a total of 45,500 calories! What the heck! That seems a little daunting. Today, according to the treadmill and elliptical, I burned more than 550 calories. I am going to round it to the "50" to make it easier to calculate. Afterall, I am an English major - math makes my brain hurt! That means only 44,950 calories to go! (Sidenote: Even though calorie loss comes from diet + exercise, I have no idea how many calories I eat/day, so I will just count the calories lost from exercise and try to eat better.)

Okay, okay. So, mind, body - what else? My home life of course! Actually, this is one of the most important; don't be fooled because I am listing it third. I think that there are four elements to being the best possible wife I can be, and I am going to strive to do them each day this summer. Even though it is my rubric, I sometimes only complete 2 or 3 of the 4 items in any one day. My goal is to try and do all 4 on a more consistent basis. Where did I get my criteria? From a combination of watching my mother + grandmother, reading, living and my Christian faith. I just made it up when I was engaged and have since tried to live by it each day. These elements are cooking at least one meal, cleaning and at least one load of laundry. (Oh wait, that is only three? Hmmm. I bet you can come up with the fourth, but please, PLEASE don't put too much thought into it.) If we have a happy, clean home and we make sure to spend a little alone time together each day, our lives seem so much simpler and more enjoyable.

The only other goal I didn't mention is more of a lifestyle change than a "goal" - we need to go to church on a more consistent basis. I'm nicer and happier and a better person when I am surrounded by other believers and am reminded to read the Bible. I have someone to follow in my shoes now, and I need to make sure that I am the best example I can be and that I properly prepare her for life's challenges. It's the only safeguard I have for her.

Well, I better get something done around the house before she wakes up! Love, love, love!