Still Here!

We are still alive and well in our little home in Mississippi. I haven't posted in awhile because I am so far behind on all our events and keep putting it off. So far now, I am just going to update our life and try to do pictures later. We have been very busy with life, just as everyone else is. I spend a lot of time working, exercising, and doing school with the kids -- sometimes in that order. I have several resolutions for this year, including weight loss, fitness level improvements, house decluttering, and making school work a bigger priority. When one tries to do all these things at the same time, sometimes stuff doesn't get done. That happens a lot in our little part of the world. The goal is always -- DO BETTER TOMORROW! I have done much better in the weight loss, overall eating better, and fitness level. I have lost over 40 pounds; I am eating much better; and I am running much faster. I ran this afternoon in the cold, and the wind, and ran faster than I have ever completed a 5K before. I am very excited to see what this year holds for my running. I have a goal of completing a 5K in under 30 minutes. Today was 31:08, just running in town, so I think it is very doable. I am also planning to run a 10K in May (right before my, gulp, 40th birthday). I think a great birthday present to myself will be to see how close to one hour that I can run this race. I realize that it will be tough, several of my friends ran many races before they cracked the one hour mark. But, that is my goal! I ran this same race last year and struggled to a 1:23 finish, so anything better than that will be a win in my book.

I plan on decluttering my house a little at a time. As I have shed the weight, I have seen the benefit of getting rid of wasted food that I put into my body, so maybe the same will transfer to my house. Here's hoping anyway! If I can get my pack rat family to turn loose of stuff, my job will be so much easier. I am willing to move in small steps and hope they catch the DECLUTTER BUG!!

The kids are also doing much better about staying focused on their schoolwork. They have become much better at independent learning. I still oversee their work everyday, but we don't have too many day to day struggles. Alec is a lot like me when it comes to grammar. It never made sense to me in school, even though it finally makes sense to me now (as I am teaching it for the second time). Maybe he will catch on way before I did. Kirsten is very focused on writing and wants to be an author later in life. She still has a passion for animals, but is very certain that she wants to write novels. Some of my mother's piano students have an author for a father and an authoress for a sister. Kirsten has read all of their books so far and is eagerly awaiting the next ones. I am researching a novel writing course for her to take next year and also want to put together a home ec course. All of this takes time, and that is a hugh commodity right now. But, as my dad always said, "we have the same 24 hours to work with that everyone else has!" Alec's goal in life is to be a Lego designer/creator. He spends most of his free time playing with Legos and building stuff. He has a very active mind and I hope to see him put it to good use. Both kids are getting back into the routine of running four days a week and they do an ab workout the other three days (at least for the most part). They have daily chores that they perform, but need to learn to do them more thoroughly. That is an everyday struggle for everyone, I think.

ONWARD and UPWARD -- MOVING FORWARD EVERY DAY!!