A Warm Welcome to December

Wasn’t I just welcoming November? Then I blinked. And now we are into the final month of the year. Time again to review the progress I’ve made toward meeting the goals set back in October. Let’s do this!

Exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes five days a week.
Drink 52 ounces of water a day from my big ‘bubba’ insulated drink container. It is actually called a “keg”. I associate that with beer drinking, though.
Write everyday. Somewhere. On something. Either here, on one of my story ideas or in my journal. Fall challenge posts and texts don’t count.
Have a devotional time everyday that consists of reading Jesus Calling and look up the verses mentioned there in the Bible.
Track my Weight Watcher points and activity everyday except Saturday.
Hug and kiss my husband Paul when he leaves and returns home from work and before we go to bed. (And when the mood strikes otherwise). T
Do something specifically for me, for myself once a week. (Get a mani, or scrapbook, or cross stitch, paint).

And added in November:

Detox with an Epsom salts bath or soak in the hot tub four days a week.

Where am I?

Exercising at least 30 minutes three times a week. If you count housework and walking kitties as exercise, I have met this goal. But I want this to be real exercise. Sweaty gym workouts. Jogging on my treadmill at home. Stretching and straining through my Fitness Blender routines. More work to be done.
Big “bubba” bit the dust. I washed him in the dishwasher and he came out unhappily misshapen and leaky. I am back to using my son of bubba, which holds 48 ounces of water. But I am drinking that much water or more everyday. Goal met.
Writing a whole lot more. Attended (and wrote at) four Saturday writing workshops. Wrote in my journal once. Wrote a record 16 blog posts. Big improvement but little more than half-way toward meeting my goal.
Started the month faithful carving out time for daily devotion. But a week of company around Thanksgiving threw me off schedule. I am back on track now, though. Still more work to be done.
Ha! I have tracked one third of the days this month. Haven’t weighed in a week but I am sure it won’t be pretty when I do tomorrow. Silly me, making dieting a goal during the best eating months of the year. Not very hopeful that I will see any real progress toward this goal until after the new year. Will amend this goal for December to read: Make healthy food choices whenever possible while enjoying holiday treats and meals.
I have stopped worrying so much about how many times a day Paul and I kiss and hug each other. Instead, I am concentrating on making sure I do something to directly express my affection for him every day. By incorporating hand-holding and loving touches in with the hugging and kissing, I am more successfully meeting this goal. Moving in the right direction.
Enjoyed a manicure early in the month. Indulged in pedicures with my daughter Brennyn and granddaughter Cady when they were here. Participating in the Style Me Challenges could probably be something I do for myself. Need to return to painting class or get out my glass and work on my mosaic. Overall, I would say this goal has been met.
I did real well taking the detox baths until Thanksgiving week. That was the same week I stopped exercising and started eating more, drank less water and failed to make time for my morning devotions. But while my girlsies were here, we got in the hot tub every evening. Cady is part mermaid. I have ordered and received the clay that is recommended for use during the Epsom salt, baking soda detox baths. Going to amend this goal to read “detox with an Epsom salts, baking soda, red clay bath or hot tub soak three days a week.” With the amendment in mind, this goal was met.

So, I am moving in the right direction. I can honestly report that by writing my goals here, I am thinking of them more and working harder toward meeting them. Paul and I are going “home” to Kentucky and Ohio on December 2 and will be gone until Sunday, the 7th. I feel certain I will be doing a lot more eating and sitting than I normally do while we are visiting our parents. I won’t have a tub to soak in. Won’t have reliable Internet connection to blog from. But I will do the best I can at keeping my goals in mind.

Here are a few pictures of some of the activities I did over Thanksgiving toward meeting my goals.