Sticking to a Morning Routine

I've found that my easiest days are the days that have been started off right.  Anybody that knows me, knows I hate to be late to anything (school, work, church, etc.).  So starting off the day right and not having to rush around to keep from being late is my incentive to keeping the rest of my day on track.  I've been able to (thanks to FlyLady) work out my morning routine, keeping me on time, motivated, and productive.  By making simple and quick changes to my morning routine, I can now get more household chores done before even leaving the door to take the kids to school.  I used to only have to time to get dressed before rushing out the door and then I'd come home only to rush to make dinner and do as much as I could around the house before bed.  No wonder I was always so exhausted, all that rushing around and never getting much done!  Here's what my day consists of now:

-Stretching before getting out of bed to get my blood flowing (just a tiny bit of exercise)

-Hitting the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth and do hair and make-up. (while I'm here, I put in toilet cleaner and let it sit, then wipe down the sink after getting ready)

-while the girls eat breakfast, I put all my clean dishes away (the last thing I do before bed is wash dishes and put in a load of laundry), this makes cooking dinner easier since everything is put in its place

-since the laundry ran during the night, I can now place it in the dryer

-I swish the toilet and get dressed to take the girls to school

-by the time I get back, the laundry is done drying and now I can put it away

-vacuum

-run errands, pick up groceries, pick up girls and start dinner

Of course, these last couple of weeks I've sprinkled exercising in there and since I no longer go to work, I have more time available to me to get done what I need to get done.  But with two little girls, I never know when I'm going to fall behind.  It was really hard at first to build up a routine, but now that I have one, it's worked wonders keeping me on time throughout the day.  By doing light maintenance in the bathroom each morning, doing one load of laundry a day, cleaning the sink each night for the next day, and toting around my trusty laundry basket returning everything to it's place each evening, I accomplish more without even thinking about it than if I were to dedicate a day to completely cleaning the entire house.  I'm not perfect, nor have I perfected my cleaning routine, but by having a routine I've allowed myself to have a presentable house (not spotless), spend more time with my kids, and not feel unproductive.  Like I tell my husband, "if I want my tombstone to say that my house was spotless, I'd have a spotless house", but since being a mother and wife and spending time with my family matters to me most, having an 'ok' house is ok with me.

Disney's Coming to Hawaii!

                                                                 *Courtesy of Hawaii Magazine

Two things I love the most are coming together, Hawaii and all things Disney!!!  I heard about this possibly happening a long time ago, but I try not to get too excited about things before I know they're really going to happen.  One of the benefits of being a Disneyland Annual Passholder and a Castaway Club Member is that you get the insider's scoop of events, vacations, and movies on the horizon.

Disney will be presenting the Aulani Disney Resort and Spa next fall (follow the link for full details).  We were lucky enough to pull together some money a few years ago and go on one of the Disney Cruises to the Bahamas and have been dying to do it again.  I had just gotten the news that Disney will be hosting cruises to Alaska & the Pacific Coast next summer 2011 leaving from the west coast, which is perfect since we live in Southern California.  So I started to budget and plan for our next Disney trip, even though we promised the girls Hawaii this summer.  With a Disney cruise this close (and no 5 hour plane ride), how could we pass up this opportunity!?!  Hawaii will always be there....and now Disney will be there too!  My dilemma is....we promised Hawaii this year, how do I break it to the girls?  Since we only do a major vacation every other year, our trip would've been this summer, but pushing it back a year will push my little ones over the edge and my sanity out the window! LOL!  Not to mention, we'd be pushing Hawaii back to 2013!

Knowing my work-a-holic hubby, he'll want to pay off bills for the next three years and have no vacations at all.  I've only been able to convince him of fresh air every now and then because we have kids and no matter which way we look at it, we're going to be in debt for a long time (kids, school, sweet sixteens, college, weddings, etc), so we might as well enjoy ourselves (and them).  If it were up to me, we'd be taking three big vacations, instead of choose one or another, but life is about compromising....sometimes!  I have yet to price out all of the choices, which I'm sure will be the deciding factor.  Until then, I can be happy knowing it's at least one or the other!!! ;)

Successfully using organizational tools

No matter what your organizational type is, using the right tools makes all the difference.  I know that we all have tools at our disposal that we just can't live without and having them makes all the difference. 

Take for example our vacuums, we all have them, we all use them, but using the right one for your workload can greatly change how you do household chores.  I just recently retired (burnt out) my 10 year old vacuum and had to replace it.  I couldn't believe how many types of different vacuums are on the market now and how much they cost!  Needless to say, I came home empty-handed to do some much needed research.  Because I have Roscoe, we have a pet hair problem, so I needed one that could handle a pet hair covered carpet, as well as still do all the other stuff vacuums do.  After tons of research, reading reviews, and changing my vacuum budget I bought a great vacuum that does everything I need it to do and more.  I have to say, it has made all the difference!  Having the right vacuum for the job has cut down my household cleaning by at least 30 minutes.

Having the right tools makes the work that much faster, not to mention, slightly fun! :)

Here's a list of three tools I can't live without:

1. FlipFold Board - I hate laundry, it's one of my least favorite chores.  However, by folding laundry faster with my FlipFold board, I've cut down laundry time by half, making it a bit more bearable.  Not to mention, they have a junior size for my kids to re-fold their laundry if need be.

2. Laundry baskets - As much as I use these for laundry, I have to admit I use them more for toting things around the house.  I have one for each of the girls and after they've gone to bed, I go through the house picking up their things, filling their basket, and taking it to their room.  They know that in the morning, part of their routine is to clean out their basket, putting their things away, and giving me back an empty basket.  I go to bed with a clean house and they go to school with a clean room, it's a win-win!

3. Bissell's Pet Hair Eraser vacuum - This is the one I was bragging about earlier.  One thing I forgot to mention is that this vacuum also works wonders on hard surfaces as well, not just carpet.

As much as my hubby hates it, I'm constantly on the prowl for the next new, fun, useful, and time saving tool to make household chores, less of a chore.  I'll keep you all updated on any new toys!

Aching muscles!

Like most people that start out a new workout regimen, I've over exerted myself! The number one reason people quit their new workout routine is because they over do-it, they let pain and fatigue set in and throw in the towel. I'm not quite there yet, but I am severely sore! But I expected this, so I had a pain plan in place.

1. Medication - I usually have anti-inflammatories readily available anyway due to neck pain (my atlas slips every now and then), so I make sure to have a stash in cases of emergency.

2. Vitamins - Back in the day when I did workout at the gym, a little old lady (that was in great shape) told me that the best way to beat post workout pain was a daily vitamin C pill.

3. Water - One of the reasons we take so long to get over achy muscles is because we let the toxins build in them, instead of flushing them out.

4. Stretching - Stretching out the sore muscles helps release those toxins to be able to be flushed out faster.

5. Epsom Salts - I love relaxing in my whirlpool tub, so this is a no-brainer for me.

6. Reiki - Before my hysterectomy a couple of summers ago, I took a class in this ancient technique of moving energy in the body to where it needs to be to naturally heal. It did wonders; I had the staples out by the third day after my surgery and was off the pain meds by the fourth! So having this in my pain management arsenal is my secret weapon.

7. Arnica - It's very much like Tiger Balm and Icy/Hot. It's an ointment that soothes pain. I don't use this often, unless I'm in tremendous pain because of the smell and it can stain clothes, but when I do use it, it works immediately.

With my pain plan in place, I have one less excuse to bail out on organizing my body. I figure that with less excuses in place, I'm giving myself more of a chance in succeeding with my workout plan. I'll let you all know how it goes, but until then, I'll be soaking in the tub! LOL!

Chair Exercises from Dr. Oz

Check out these chair exercises from the Dr. Oz show!  I started doing these on Tuesday and I love them.  After the whole running incident, I decided to start with slow low impact exercises and these are a great way to start.  Even though they look easy (which they are), you still feel the burn and it's better than doing nothing.  I figure doing anything is better than doing nothing when it comes to exercising.


I further researched Flirty Girl Fitness which is the fitness crew that demonstrated these chair exercises on the Dr. Oz show.  I found their website along with a few exercise videos on YouTube and they really live up to their name!  A bit on the risque side, but definitely a growing trend in the exercise industry.  I had a friend that did the whole stripper pole exercise routine and she swore by the results, it's a full body workout.  Of course with two little girls at home, I really don't think I'll be putting in a stripper pole, plus it doesn't go with my decor....lol!  For now, I'll be keeping to my low impact and slow running routine until I build up my cardio and endurance, but I thought I would share with everyone. Enjoy!

I almost had a heart attack!!!

Not really, but sort of. Okay, so I have to admit going from zero running to running isn't very smart. I mean, seriously, I'm not that out of shape, or so I thought. I walk alot and I don't easily get fatigued, but I don't make a focused effort to do alot of walking. I walk out of necessity and not for exercise. So here I am, working on week 2 of organizing my life and since I concentrated on eating healty last week, I though this week I'd work on continuing to organize my body by putting it in motion. At first my goal was to lose weight, but after my run today, I think I'm just going to work on not losing my breath.

I was so proud of myself today, I got all dressed up in my running gear, I streched out, and got Roscoe ready to take quick jog. Since he has short legs and quickly gets winded I thought that I was starting off slow by taking him along. Little did I know, he's more in shape than I am! I kid you not, it only took me only a minute to get winded!!! He looked at me like I was crazy and I'm sure it confused him to see me with my tongue out, panting, chest pounding, and pulling his leash to a stop, it's usually the other way around!!!

Needless to say, I'm taking the girls along for a brisk walk from now on. At least I can blame them for taking it slow....lol! Well, only until I work on getting my cardio up to a point of not passing out. Top it all off, I think I got bruises on my chin (I'm a bit top heavy), I need to invest in a good sports bra! Who knew going for a run would be such an event!?!

The Tooth Fairy Movie

This movie is CUTE! We saw 'The Tooth Fairy' last night and the girls got a kick out of it! It’s very much in the mold of his other movie ‘The Game Plan’, but still worth watching. We could not stop laughing!!! Not to mention Dwayne Johnson is easy on the eyes. 

Of course, the down side to this movie was the girls asking if the tooth fairy is real or not. Every time they’ve lost a tooth, we’ve done the whole tooth fairy thing. There was a week in which Toria lost a couple of teeth and made bank; she kept on trying to loosen her other teeth on purpose all week. LOL! However, as the movie is quick to point out, you can’t crush kid’s dreams and beliefs. As with Santa, they’ll eventually figure out that the tooth fairy isn’t real and we’ve been going along with it because it’s fun. At least with my kids, cultivating their imagination is a good thing, I want them to be kids as long as possible and really believe anything is possible. Eventually reality will set in, but at least they’ll know how to think outside the box. Too bad tooth fairies aren’t real…I wouldn’t mind a hunk like that sneaking into my bedroom! ;)