Tuesday, March 27, 2007

about the walking diary

Someone asked me what the walking diary (bottom of the right column) is for. Good question! I'm actually wondering about that myself!? Now that Natsuki has become a bit more independent and her schedule has really evened out I decided that the time has come for me to get back to doing the stuff that I need to do as far as taking care of myself. I have usually taken the first six months of each of my children's lives to focus on the family which has been good for us as we adjust to the new baby and all she brings. But that time has passed, the girls have adjusted well and the family is good shape so now it is time to get back to regular life.

For me this means:
brushing my teeth 3 times a day
washing my face at night instead of just dropping into bed
drinking enough water
changing out of my pj's in the morning
cleaning the house at a regular pace
paying attention to the mountains of paper that are piled up all over the house
exercise


It's this last one that I have never been good at or really taken very seriously. When I was in University I had to take PE credits so I signed up for Circuit Training. That was a fabulous class and if I lived in the States/Canada I would do that again. At that time, when I was 20, I was in the best shape ever mostly from the circuit training class and from climbing up and down stairs in the old university buildings as I went to classes everyday. But now, 12 years and four kids later, I find it hard to even think about making the time to take care of myself in this way.


I think this is another aspect of the procrastinator in me. I know that any exercise I do now will benefit me later in life but actually *doing* it now is the tricky part for me. So I decided that I would keep track of the walking I do, online for everyone to see, and make an effort to walk at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. As you can see I am not doing that well. Part of it is the weather and the fact that all the kids are home so from April I will make another try again. Does anyone have any good ideas on how to fit exercise into a busy schedule?


Spring Break is still going well. Last week Chikara only had to go the office on Thursday and Friday so I was able to get a lot of things done while he was home. After writing the last piece about how bad I was procrastinating, it kind of encouraged me to try again and I spent the whole rest of the day tidying up. It really energized me!


Another funny thing is that after the effort I put into getting the girls fun things to do and renting some videos, the toy that they have played with the most is a box that my ExpatExpress stuff was delivered in. First they colored it, then they cut a hole in it to turn it into a puppet show stage and then they put a roof on it and finally they made little cardboard characters to play with. They have had so much fun that during the summer break I think I'll get another box and let them have at it!


I did find one picture of Emi from her sotsuenshiki. Can you see how proud she is?


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It sounds like everything is going great. I definatly understand the procrastination. I am so bad as well, i think it runs in the family! I've been planning a vacation to mexico and have known for a while i was going and promise myself every sunday that this week will be different and i'll start walking on monday. But as soon as it comes somehow i find much better stuff to do with my time. Plus it's been raining, but it's starting to get nice now and i feel why walk when you can do something so much more fun with this weather. I just need to get off my butt and do it. It's so much easier to tell other people how to do it and you can make this whole big plan but as soon as it actually comes down to it theres never enough time or your just too tired AND I DONT EVEN HAVE ANY KIDS! I would say just try and walk a short distance everyday, and if you can get your kids involved, show them that just walking is a good hobby and make up songs or something when you go. It'll creat a healthy hobby for everyone to do??? But then again it's probably way harder to do that then it sounds!
Love Kim!

Anonymous said...

I thought since I'd been "running" with my friends at least once a week I'd be able to get into a bathing suit for my birthday without total embarrassment. Boy, was I wrong. Maybe for my ten year reunion...
But I have found that exercising without the kids is the only way I will actually exercise. When you take the kids with you it makes it impossible because you'll end up stopping a lot of the time. If Chikara is at home for the day, just take half an hour and speedwalk or something while he feeds the kids lunch or during their naptime. It's kind of hard to do because there is always something more important you could be doing, but I find if I can get out for that little bit, it really energizes me for the rest of the day and I actually get more done. It's like when you tithe, you're way better with your money. Well, if you tithe some time to yourself, you'll be less likely to piss the rest of the day away. And I pray when I walk, which makes me feel all spiritual, but not necessarily thinner.