This months goals are probably a bit less than far reaching but hopefully it’ll work for me this month we’ll see.

• Continue watching carb and veggie intake (and of course keep soda out of diet)
• Buy, install and start teaching the girls the typing program
• Outline a story for Camp Nano April
• Work on Base Headache API in Laravel 4

This month I’m preparing for Camp Nano in April. I’m going to attempt to write a story that is ‘random’ in nature. The idea is to take 6 DnD type characters and randomly generate a story line based on a map, roll tables and various other things. I potentially might call for some volunteers for reactions but we’ll see.

Next month I hope to throw in a work out routine. I’m hoping to get our schedule nail here soon. Shea didn’t get the last job he applied for. He failed one of the physical fitness (agility/strength) test so he couldn’t go in and do what he’s been doing for most of his life. sighs He’s two more positions he’s applied for at the shipyard. Hopefully something will come of one of them. And if he doesn’t like those jobs then maybe in 6 months he can reapply for a pipefitter.

February Goals:

• Continue to leave soda off daily menu and lower carb intake (increase vegetable/fruit intake)
• Finish Headache Diary Web App with out syncing/database/api options.
• Rewrite last Chapter of Revolution to a non-cliffhanger ending
• Start teaching the girls to type
• Write The First Hunt Short Story

Soda off the menu has been achieved again this month. I’ve had maybe four sodas all month, yay! Still trying to reduce carbs and intake more veggies but still on that tight budget limits us drastically since it’s extra for me cause very few in the house actually eat veggies. But I’m watching portion sizes and taking care not to eat too many fried foods. All in all with out trying I’m maintaining the weight loss from the lack of soda, so that’s a plus. Now to incorporate some exercise and I think it’ll go down from here. But that’s a whole nother story.

I didn’t touch my app this month. Mostly because I had paying client work which took precedence.

I did finish my last chapter of Revolution to the non cliffhanger version. I’m much happier with the end of the story now than I was. It needs some major editing thought.

I didn’t start teaching the girls how to type. I was waiting for our tax refund to buy a teach kids to type program which I hope they will use. We got the Tax refund in so I will probably buy it but its no longer February so it’s a failed goal.

I didn’t finish the First Hunt, I did work on it a little bit this past week but for the same reason that I didn’t do my headache app is the same reason I didn’t write. I had paying work which took up my free time.

All in all it wasn’t a great month. But I feel my excuses were valid ones as it brings more money into the house. Yay money!

Other than the keeping soda out of my diet my goals aren’t going anywhere this Month. It’s almost half way through Feb and I’m not accomplished any of them.

I probably only have excuses, though this excuse is a rather good one. I’ve been spending most of my free time to do those things in my Goal list this month to work on some Freelance Gigs for one of my best clients. Two projects with a potential on going work load intermittently. So I paid enjoyment comes before free enjoyment.

I’m waiting on the Tax Refund to get in so that I can buy a program to teach the girls how to type properly. So that’s the main hold up on that.

And a good share of my personal projects are going to drop off the cliff because I will have no more lunch hour to work on them either having to split my lunch between actually eating and then picking them up later in the afternoon. If all goes according to plan, Shea will be getting up around 4:30a and I will try to as well, in which time I hope to throw in at least a 15 min work out, hopefully more than that and then have about 1 hour to do other things. Because I’ll have to deal with cooking breakfast if they are so inclined to eat eggs and toast again, the girls will be getting up to start our morning routine at 5:50a so we have enough time to eat.

Well I had meant to post this at the beginning of February but I kept forgetting.

• Continue to leave soda off daily menu and lower carb intake (increase vegetable/fruit intake)
• Finish Headache Diary Web App with out syncing/database/api options.
• Rewrite last Chapter of Revolution to a non-cliffhanger ending
• Start teaching the girls to type
• Write The First Hunt Short Story

Not very concrete goals, and I really need to try to add some workouts, but that’s really not going to work. I might add play ddr or zumba with sam to the list a couple times a week. At least I can rely on Sam to help me want to do it. Maybe start trying EA Active again we’ll see. Wii Fit would be useful but the board takes batteries ugh! We’ll see how it goes, I might see about getting things set up again on Wii Fit

January Goals:

• Cut out the soda
• Switch caffeine intake to brewed tea with splenda
• Cut down on the number of carbs and increase vegetable intake!
• Add missing scenes and information to Revolution for A Dark Journey
• Add an additional book to Revolution (I don’t like the ending)
• Decide what application I want to work on (this is for fun and will be a slow process since it’s only on my lunch hour and my weekends)
• Finish Knife of Dreams
• Install Scratch on the girls computer and show them the basics of the program
• Decide which books to start reading – Harry Potter, or something else?
• Do 20 min Hotel Room Workout on M, W & F

I haven’t had soda for the most part since the first week in January. I had some when Dairy Queen opened up for lack of anything else palatable, but it wasn’t caffeine yay! – 100% done

Switching caffeine was slightly easier done than I thought. I haven’t really had much caffeine in a few weeks. I have tea every so often, and hot chocolate at work. I also am finishing off the vanilla cappicino I have at work but much less than the servings say added with my hot chocolate – 100% done

Cutting down on the carbs and adding vegetables is hard on a budget. I will continue to try. I did lose about 8 lbs so I’m happy with that and most of that I know is the whole cutting out the soda thing. – 20% done

I did finish most of the new scenes for Revolution, I didn’t finish one tho. I started adding a new book to it. Though don’t think I’m liking it. I’m also working a short story. – 80% done

I have started working on a Headache Diary App. I really need one. It’s a work in progress. – 100% done

I did install scratch for the girls. They had a blast the first day. Kathleen wants to learn how to make a web page so that required her to type better, I will have to work on that before she can get going – 100% done

I finished Knife of Dreams AND The Gathering Storm AND Towers of Midnight AND started A Memory of Light – 300% done

I have decided against reading to the girls. Instead I want to find chapter books Kathleen can read to her sister. Though if I do we will probably read Harry Potter – 100% done

Working out has been an utter fail! I’m really not sure how to add it to my daily routine. I need to find some motivation to do so. – 0% done

It’s almost halfway through the month and I’m still doing well.

I have complete 4 of my goals.

1. Finished Knife of Dreams (half way through The Gathering Storm)
2. Decided I am going to read the girls Harry Potter AFTER I finish Wheel of Time
3. I installed Scratch on Kathleen’s computer, though they’ve not played with it much since then. Though she did ask me to teach her to make a webpage. So first is learning to type. If anyone knows any good beginner typing games I’m all ears!
4. Decided I am going to do my Headache Diary App for my project this year. And Laravel 4 went into beta 1 today WITH documentation so AWESOME!

I’ve pretty much kicked caffeine’s butt! I haven’t had soda in about 4 days and I slide on the temptation to get some this weekend when I had to run out on Sunday to get Sam some ginger ale cause she wasn’t not doing so well – stomach bug. I have managed to find a method to rid me of a caffeine headache – Tylenol plus a cup of tea! I’ve only had one cup of tea since Saturday and thus far no headaches. My current caffeine intake is 1 cup of tea in 2.5 days. We’ll see how long that streak goes. I am not fond of tea at work as it’s way to relaxing and I end up more sleepy than I was before so not a good thing at work. That will put two of the goals in the finished pile once I’m sure it’s done with. Then it’s just to stay on the band wagon hehe.

Carbs are easy to lower but I end up hungry. Veggies are a bit harder to include because I’m either the only one who eats them or Samantha eats them all lol. Hopefully I’ll find a solution that works well for me.

Exercising is my down fall. I’ve managed 2 workouts this month. I think I may end up having to schedule them in the morning. That means 20 mins less sleep on days I really want to stay in bed. Which for me is most days. I’m not lazy, I just enjoy laying in my bed all warm and cozy like. I might try 15 mins before but we’ll see, that’s still pushing my limits. I need my sleep and I like it to be 8 hours of actual sleep and not 8 hours of lying in bed, which is why I go to bed at 9pm so that I have enough time to actually fall asleep.

I missed a workout Monday. I didn’t make it up on Tuesday because I had a massive headache. That’s 3 in 2 weeks. Not feeling good about that at all.

But I did get another 15% or so through Knife of Dreams. We should get A Memory of Light Thursday just in time for Shea to read on the weekend. It will be a Wheel of Time weekend for both of us. The last book, I’m rather excited to get there. I’m glad that I will be reading the last few books in a straight row, I’ll have a good handle on events unlike all the books in the past.

I don’t know if I’ll ever reread the Wheel of Time again. I really don’t know. I spent a good 18 years of my life with the Wheel of Time. It is because of the Wheel of Time that I met my husband and I will eternally be grateful for that fact.

My Headache App is coming along. Laravel 4 will be out in beta soon with documentation so I’m excited to start working with it.

I think I’m going to have to cut out caffeine in it’s entirety. I’m not sure tea is going to work for me. I’m pretty sure a good majority of my headache yesterday and today has to do with caffeine withdrawl as a small cup of Dr Pepper Ten helped the most of it go away. I still have neck stiffness which will cause headaches and I’m having random ice pick headaches above my left eye and a little bit of tension there as well.

I’m trying to stay hydrated with sugar free fruit punch, that only has 5 calories per 8 oz, it’s the best I can do. I just can’t drink water. When I was younger I could all day, but I grew up on city water, and then I moved to the boonies and we had a well, so the water was disgusting to drink. Then I moved back tot he city and the years of not drinking it make it disgusting too. I can do bottled water or water that’s been in the fridge for days in a plastic bottle but it has to be dead ice cold and can’t get warm. Yesterday I think I had 3 16oz glasses of it. Almost 8 cups, but I did have a cup of tea too. so that’s closer to 7 and a half cups of water. I’m on 2 16 oz glasses so far today and it’s only lunch time.