Thursday, June 23, 2011

No More Monkeys!

It's Thursday, so you know what that means!

Wait, what?  You don't know what the heck I'm talking about?

Probably because I haven't talked about it since last week.  Probably because I haven't been saying much at ALL in the last week.  And do you know why?  Because it is summer and we are super busy because I decided to shine my dang sink and get my blubbery butt on a running schedule, that's why.

Yes, it's No Monkey Thursday!


First, let's talk about Fly Lady.

I am super happy I signed up because it has turned out to be just the jump-start I needed.  I had really just gotten out of the habit of having a clean sink (which magically turns into clean countertops and a clean table and a clean stove.  Okay, not a clean stove.  I'll be honest.  That thing is still pretty nasty).  Once you get started on something like that, it's pretty easy to just keep going and beautify the rest of the room.  It's also pretty easy to stop if you need to because your toddler has stolen the silverware caddy from the dishwasher and is dunking it into the dogs' water bowl.  Flexibility, baby.  Not to be underestimated!

I've also organized the kids' art bin, started making my bed every day, gotten all the clean laundry put away (full disclosure: my two big girls do all their own laundry.  The minute Paul turns 7, he's going to be doing his too.  They have opposable thumbs, right?  Anyway, so it's not as much laundry as you might be imagining.  But I still did it!) and beautified the floor of my closet.  Oh, and I'm pretty sure I've bathed more than twice, which is a HUGE increase over the previous week.  Not too shabby, my friends!  Not too shabby.

The daily kids challenge has also been great.  It would be even greater if it actually came every day, but I think we'll survive.  But seriously, what is up with that?  They ask for their Fly Lady task every single day, and if it's a lame-o Mommy task instead, the level of grumble increases tenfold.  Anyway.  In addition to cleaning off their dressers they've also each tossed out 27 pieces of useless paper and have gone through their sock drawers to hand down their too-small socks and to throw out their hole-y ones.  Lizzy suggested we repair the holes but I decided we're not at a sock-darning place in our lives just yet.

The only downside to doing the Fly Lady program has been the plethora of useless emails.  I am not joking when I say that just two or three per day pertain to actual tasks and challenges and that the other SEVEN are "testimonials", read: glorified advertisements for her products.  I am not buying specialty cleaning products, dude.  EVER.  Seriously.  And when I say "seriously" I mean SERIOUSLY.  There's probably a way to only get the tasks and not the ads, but that would involve me reading down to the end of those and I think my eyes would be bleeding from annoyance by then.

In all, the good outweighs the bad and so we're going to stick with the program (or my own modified version) for a while longer.  Oh, and let me just say that reading the notes and challenges has made me feel pretty darn good about myself because even though my house is not in the state I wish it were, it is not nearly as bad as some of the folks to which her messages are directed.  Seriously, sign up.  You'll be glad you did!

Monkey #2: the booty jiggle.  So let's talk about week 1 of Couch to 5K!


So far, I've managed to run all three times (Friday, Monday, and Wednesday) and as much as I had intended to adhere to the prescribed training schedule, every time it felt like I should stop running and start walking, another car would appear and I would have to keep running until it was out of sight.  And then, the coast would be clear but I would start passing a house so I'd have to start running again in case someone was looking out their window.  Well, of course!  I'm not going to walk when another person might be able to see me!

Also, I can't find my running watch and there is NO WAY I can count seconds with the tiny swishy second hand on my "fancy" watch.  So I didn't wear a watch and tried to guess at the time instead.  Hmmmmm, apparently what I'm trying to tell you is that I ran all three days  and completely disregarded every other element of the training plan.  But that's okay because the monkey is my jiggly booty and the monkey/jiggle is slowly getting off my back(side).  Two pounds down, baby!

What kind of monkeys are YOU trying to get off your back?  No matter what it is, write a post and link it up here.  We'll get rid of those varmints together!


click to share the link-up on your post too: get the InLinkz code

post signature

29 comments :

  1. Right now the monkey on my back remains a cold/virus/fatigue/WHATEVER!

    And because I'm not moving as much, I'm gaining weight. It doesn't help that my kids gave me two pounds of red licorice (that I've eaten--all of), and that I made a cake for my knitting group and they ate a fourth of it, I finally told Brad to throw the rest away.

    One monkey in the trash...

    ReplyDelete
  2. We are sisters. Or maybe, given our age differences, you are my daughter.

    I am a huge flylady fan. The "testimonials" got to me so I just follow the website, and don't bother with the email.

    I also started "Couch to 5K" a few years ago, and ran a 1-mile race. Hmmm....Lots of weight gain this year on an already fat frame. School ends tomorrow so hey - maybe I will join you on this route....

    Blessings,
    Al

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was doing flylady...then started spending more time deleting 98779878 emails from her than cleaning... I hope you continue to do much better, friend.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wait! You have a floor in your closet?

    Jealous. I used to have one of those in my closet. Haven't seen it in about...three years?

    I don't know how you do it, Dweej. You amaze me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Two pounds? You go girl!!
    My monkey is more like a gorilla or a whale. I need to loose weight. Took my first Zumba class and lived to tell the tale.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Girl, you KNOW I am stoked to hear your Zumba story!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. So, here's my trick when I stop in the middle of a run. Just hold on to your side and feign heavy breathing or walk and stretch. Cars/window people naturally asssume you've just ran at least 8 6-minute miles.

    I was intrigued by Fly Lady until you mentioned that e-mail part. Nuh uh! I just cleaned my in-box this morning!

    ReplyDelete
  8. 2lbs is awesome! As long as some running was done, who cares if you followed the training to the tee?

    ReplyDelete
  9. You're starting to inspire me and you do make me laugh. I edged around flylady for a year but never got the kids involved. Hopefully they are not too old to learn laundry. Do yours wash, switch, dry and put away their own? Impressive.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats on sticking with Flylady! I only make it to day 2 and then I'm bored with the whole thing.

    Seems a common thread in my life - boredom.

    My monkey is migraines but I can't just jump in and cure these I have to wait for doctor's appts. Which are few and very far between.

    Anyway good going, you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ha I heart the flylady!!!! The hourly deluge of emails is nuts though!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love FlyLady, too. There is a setting where you can just get one email per day - they you can just scan over the boring stuff. Much nicer!!

    My problem is that I'm a morning person and I'd rather do stuff at home then...but I'm stuck at work. By the time I get home I don't want to do anything!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I too cancelled the fly lady emails over a year ago....I already get too much junk mail! I printed out a chore chart from online with little circles on it, and made one for each of the kids and myself (even the toddler can help pick up toys, brush teeth, check circles off and feel proud!) The charts have daily basics, and then a rotating "I pick" one or two selection of chores that need to be done at least once a month or so...of those, I do a few each week.

    Sounds silly but I now have a routine, beds made everyday, dishes loaded/table wiped directly after each meal...if I leave it - I DON'T come back later to do them :/ and sink at least is clear of dishes daily...shiny...ummm no. Every time we wash hands its covered in water spots..I'm ok with that.

    My two big kids do all their own laundry too! I'm REALLY MEAN for making them fold and hang the laundry they say...but I feel it is never too early to teach responsibility!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm glad I'm not the only mean mommy who makes my kids do laundry!

    @Julie- mine do not wash (the machine is in my husband's workshop and he is not too keen on a herd of kids in there!), but we don't have a dryer so we take turns hanging the wet laundry to dry. Then they sort, fold and put away their own stuff. I do mine, my husband's, the two toddlers' and all the linens...so I remind them not to complain or they might get an even bigger pile! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congrats on the minus 2 lbs!!! Your post has really tempted me to do some running of my own, but I just can't seem to get my butt off the dang couch! But I'm willing to drive a car back and forth just so that you keep on running haha!

    As for my monkeys, well I have a few right now:
    - lose 10lbs by July cos I have a wedding I need to go to, and I need to fit into a dress.
    - change my blog to wordpress (just thinking about it is already giving me migraines)
    - beat the crap out of midlife crisis that's fooking around my hubbs' brain right now.

    Now I feel like singing that song:
    Five Little Monkeys jumpin on the bed,
    One fell off and broke his neck...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Awesome job!! That Fly Lady knows her stuff, minus the testimonials. I follow no training schedule...at all. Great job on the 2 pounds!! You rock, lady :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Perhaps it's because you have daughters first. I'm more like the "In the Middle" family where the parents finally realize they've let the kids run the roost and decide to take it back. My son has wiped any built-in homekeeping genes my daughters were born with, so they're all lazy.
    I had a partial meltdown this morning when I couldn't make it across the family room (where no toys should reside).
    I like the idea of a "daily" challenge to the kids from someone other than mom. They may be more likely to do it, then.
    I have slipped on following flylady. But, you've helped me to start cleaning the sink again. You're right that it leads to clean counters and tables. Then, you may as well sweep, right?
    I always have a hard time "dressing to the shoes tied" because I am such a barefoot person, especially in the summer.
    But, due to your challenge (and my desire to not over-gain with my fifth pregnancy), I'm going to try to keep up with regular walking, at least- hey the point is to get moving, right?
    I'm also going to look into the daily challenge for the kids. I gotta get them taking more responsibility.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love the Fly Lady...but the big monkey is getting into discipline in EXERCISE....You inspire me

    ReplyDelete
  19. Look at you! Good going. I did sign up for Fly Lady, but was so bogged down by the emails that I canceled the whole subscription. Couldn't take the constant nagging. Not to mention that website--too disorganized for me. Ironic, no?

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'd like to hear from Allison who "just follows the website" how she does that. The website is incredibly disorganized and I tried the daily digest but like someone else said, it doesn't come until the evening.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Someone else said you can do the email settings so it is ONLY the tasks, which is just once a day. The rest of them I don't read anyway. I should look into that....because it really has helped me, even though the "testimonials" are a pain in the you-know-what :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Yay for progress! Keep giving those pesky monkeys the boot! :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. This might help with the zillion emails. It's a pdf of the full list of fly lady chores: http://www.collington.us/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Flylady-beginner-baby-steps.pdf

    My sister is also doing fly lady and here's one of her posts about it and about how the fly lady website is kind of awful: http://apt345.blogspot.com/2011/06/fly-lady-system-lesson-1-baby-steps.html

    Great job btw on getting those monkeys to leave you alone.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I like the ONE email from flylady about the days tasks- the rest get dumped. FOr being all about clean and organization, that site is a wreck!

    Good for you about the two pounds! Wish I could say the same. But I skipped exercise AGAIN today. I'm so freakin' lame!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Seriously, do you need me to send you an email every day just shouting at you to get to work? I can do that and I'll only have one other testimonial email sent you also.

    I'm overwhelmed by things to write that other people are requesting of me. We need to do more of these at the beginning of the week. My monkey on my back is blogging, reading blogs and commenting on them. I'm super behind and can't seem to catch up. Ugh. I should write about this.

    ReplyDelete
  26. What timing- I've been considering FlyLady for a few days now! This tips the scales in her favor!

    Also, I glanced carelessly at my screen and mis-read the phrase 'blubbery butt'. I really and truly thought it said 'BLUEBERRY butt' and I was confused. Intruiged, but confused!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Woot!!! Yay Dweej! Fly Lady sounds kind of like fun...I may have to actually check that out and get off my butt and do something besides writing and blogging for a chance...that would be practically unheard of.

    And you had me cracking up when you were trying to wind down to a walk but cars and houses kept showing up and making you run. HA! Love you, girl! And proud? Why yes, I am :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. What’s up, I’m Jackson. I’m a writer living in New York, NY. I am a fan of reading, photography, and programming. I’m also interested in writing and travel. FMovies Proxy, technology, programming, and gaming. I’m also interested in Mrgreentechblog. You can read my ModsApkWap sweet goodnight messages blog with a click on the button above.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...