the Icing transformation challenge and my week so far

In Monday's post I refered to the Icing Transformation challenge (ITC). This is from the amazing galadarling.com site which I've raved about before. This post http://galadarling.com/article/icing-transformation-challenge-announcement
gives you an idea of what it's about. Essentially choose a couple of things you want to comitt to doing for a month to improve yourself physically and mentally.

My diet is pretty good, especially now that spring produce is arriving at the market. I'm doing fine exercise wise although I must start going to lunchtime yoga now classes are running again. I've decided to do facial exercises and use EFT to work on my fears and worries.

I saw Eva Fraser do a talk and demonstration at the Vitality show and am interested in the idea of exercising facial muscles to stop them sagging. Alas there is a long waiting list for her book at the library and I'm not certian if I should buy it instead. In the meantime, I've found another book on the library shelves. It still about facial exercises but by a different author. I'm giving it a try and doing the excercises daily as sugegsted. They only take about 5 minutes so I should be able to fit them in although you couldn't really do them in public unless you wanted to look very odd. Wonder if I should do before and after pictures?

I want to try EFT for various things that I get worked up about. I also want to see if it will help with my fear of dogs. I often come across dogs when I am out walking. The trail is also jsut the kind of place that dogs are let on their leads and run around. I just freeze when I see them and think that they will attack me. I also don't like walking past places where there is a barking dog even if it behind a high fence. Clearly if I got to grips with this fear then my walks would be stress free without me scanning the horizon for potential threats!

Joblist wise I am doing very well. I took photographs of some more Sindy stuff on Monday. Tuesday I uploaded to my computer. Last night I edited the pictures and wrote the descriptions. I also cleaned the bathroom.

So all in all things are progressing well. My seeds (planted Saturday) are sprouting. I even used up the last portion of cauliflower and millet mash last night (I used vast quantities of chilli powder to mask some of the taste). Feel I should make cupcakes this weekend to celebrate!

May the tofu be with you!

I made it!

Last week, I was worried about not managing to complete tasks I set myself and thought the reason might be because I was setting too many. I read The Tipping Point this week and it really bears out that humans just can't manage too many things at one time. I found the book amamzing and am now telling Dear Heart to hurry up and finish it so that we can discuss it!

So I set myself 3 things to do (buy a birthday present for Dear Heart's Dad, sort out my seeds for planting and clean the bathroom). I'm happy to report that I did all of them. The present took no time to order from Amazon. The bathroom cleanng was also quick to do thaks to the wonders that are e-cloths. However, I need to do it weekly and then it will take even less time.

I got very inspired about seeds and found a way of making pots from newspaper using an origami type method. I made up a load on Saturday and planted out in them things like tomatoes and aubergines. Sunday, I did a long session at the allotment. I planted half of my seed potatoes (rest next week). I also planted out my Pumpkin and Courgette seeds. I marked where they were palnted with wine corks. This is a really good way of making use of the cork and helps with spacing and weeding in weeks to come. I must take a photo as they look very cool.

In addition to my three tasks I also sorted out some of the Sindy stuff I have and put some of it on eBay. I also stayed on schedule and walked on Wedneday and Saturday and I've been eating really great food. The mushrooms I bought from the market this week were amazing. I had the last few with some watercress, cos and little dressing for lunch yesterday. In fact it was such a nice meal I had the same thng for breakfast today with radish slices instead of mushrooms. My belly feels very happy.

So tasks for this week are to clean the bathroom, sort out another chunk of sindy stuff and take part in the Icing Transformation challenge (ITC). A seperate post will cover the ITC!

This week I will...

When we last met I was perplexed that jobs seem to hang around on my joblist for a week or three before I do them. I think I worked out part of the reason why and it's very simple. I'm scheduling lots of things for me to do. Far too many. My average weekend job list contains between 13 and 20 items. So I need to firstly concentrate on core jobs and then add in maybe one or two extra things every week. I've got a jobs to do now and a long term jobs list so if I have space I can simply add one (or two at absolute max).

The other thing is that I'm not certain having jobs on a list actually motivates me to do them. I write shopping lists but I can walk around the market and pick up what I need without looking at it. It's simply there for reference. It's the same with jobs I set myself to do. I know what needs to be done. Maybe I need to listen to myself more.

So this week I've got a order a birthday present for Dear Heart's Dad, clean the bathroom and sort out the seeds for my allotment. I've very excited about planting the seeds and think there will be a post about this, maybe with a plan of where they will go, coming in the near future.

I'm also sorting out some Sindy type dolls and accessories ready to list on eBay. I've got 2 Sindys, a Farah Fawcett Major, a Covergirl Darci and various clothes and accessories. But I'm only going to do this if I have time.

Heres to a productive week!

Could do better...

If my weekly resolutions were graded like a school report, this week's would definitely read 'Could do better'. Last week I set myself three very simple tasks and pretty much failed to do them. It's not that I've been doing nothing. However, I failed to decide which item to put on eBay, only managed one and two half present bags and haven't been anywhere near the curtain. I forgot to take a picture of the bag I did make with a little heart and gingham ribbon.

Reading through the daily/weekly/ongoing job lists in my daybook I can see that often a task will appear for several weeks before I actually do it. Does this mean I need a warm up period? That I'm not really serious about carrying out the tasks I set myself? That I'm setting too many jobs? I think I'll monitor this for a bit and read up on effective list making and task scheduling.

It was a pretty good (and busy as ever) week.

Friday I went to the Vitality show where I indulged in a few eyebrow wax (with scary lady who told me in NY accent that my brows were very bushy), found out about facial exercises (Eve Fraser certainly does not look her age) and got a water filter in a goody bag!

Saturday Dear Heart picked up his new car. He asked me to go with him which meant I had to sit around in the show room for a couple of hours while the salesman went through various checks. However, there was a copy of Vanity Fair in the waiting area. I've always thought that VF was way too high brow and high fashion for me. When I actually began to look through I was pleased to see more text than pictures and proper articles. A new discovery for me to indulge in occasionally!

Sunday, some chums came over for lunch. Much wine (and quantities of vegetables) consumed. Much laughter. They were also happy to take the goody bag water filter off my hands. I rounded off the evening with a delightful chat with my folks.

And finally I'm still completely obsessed with Gala Darling and iCiNG. Makes me think about baking some vegan cupcakes and trying out the icing tools I've never used. Wander across for a peek yourself and don't forget to sign up for cupcake.