Sick.

Sometimes what I need to force me to slow down is being sick. But then sometimes even that isn't enough. I've worked this week even though my chest is tight and my cough is horrendous.

Having a little boy puking and wanting to cuddle his momma? That is enough to make me log on to my sub dispatch system and mark myself unavailable.

So today, Levi and I are hanging out at home in our jammies. The puking part is over thankfully but the cuddles and laziness remain.

I'm letting myself slow down and just sit. Near my littlest boy. Coughing and coughing and coughing.

I want someone to come snuggle me and make me feel better too.

I can take sick days from teaching but there are no sick days when Mommy is sick and a child is also sick. I've got to don my cape and get through til bedtime. Then I can rest.

The year is 3/4 over! Goals check-in

In January, I made some goals for 2012. In the summer, I updated my goals here.

Now we are well into fall and its time for another check-in.

•  Run 5K. I got close this past year but in 2012 I am going to do it. Along the same lines, I'm going to make an effort to walk more rather than hop in my truck. To make this measureable- I'm going to choose walking or another "healthier" option 3 times a week.

PASS!!!  Last weekend I did the 5K in 37 minutes. I did have to stop and walk for short periods but I finished and am happy with my time. And it was for a great cause- the Crossfield Food Bank. And I am walking more than I am driving in Crossfield. We walk to and from school almost every day. I know that this will change once the really cold weather hits because I'm a cold weather baby but I'm happy with our level of activity so far.

• Donate blood. This was also inspired by Tasha. Both of us are 30 and up until last week had never donated blood out of fear- of the unknown maybe. Tasha did it on New Years Eve and said it was no problem. Donating blood is something that has always been at the back of my mind as something I should do, especially since in 2005 I was the recipient of 3L of donated blood when I had emergency surgery.

FAIL. I had every intention of donating when I went to visit Tasha in July. However, a call to the clinic to make an appointment resulted in me not being able to donate blood until at least April of 2013. Because Chris and I had been in the Dominican Republic and they don't screen for Malaria, I have to be back in Canada for a full year before I can donate. This will be a goal for next Spring for me.

• Blog more frequently. I know I've been sporadic and I hope to blog at least once a week, if not more this year. (Tom and Lisa- hold me to this! If I'm not blogging, email me and kick my butt in gear! For those that don't know, Tom and Lisa are my brother and sister in law that live in Ottawa and are probably my most frequent visitors to my blog. Its the source of much of their information on our family. :) )

PASS/ FAIL. I'm trying and I have spurts of frequesnt blogging and then I stop. Still a work in progress.

• Keep a Thankfulness Journal. I saw the idea on pinterest about 2 months or so ago and marked it as something I wanted to do. Then I was gifted this beautiful journal by a client and knew that I would reserve that book for this project. I started it today and my goal is to write in it daily and have 365 entries by this time next year. (Since its a leap year, I can miss 1 day over the whole year.) I think it will be a great activitiy, especially when I have days that I am frustrated or feeling down to force myself to sit and come up with at least 1 thing to be thankful for.

FAIL. As stated in my last review.

• Allow my children to do more activities and projects that may create messes. I tend to disuade them from doing certain activities due to the mess it will surely create, but I'm going to try not to be so uptight.

PASS. I'm still letting the boys do crafts, etc even if I cringe at the mess it will create. This is a big accomplishment for me!

• Start saying no more. This past year, with my doula business picking up, I found that I was getting overwhelmed with the commitments that I had taken on. I'm always eager to volunteer for something and then end up regretting it when I stress over getting it done and trying to fit it into my other daily activities. I'm going to choose my commitments more carefully.

PASS. As fall is here and the time of year that things tend to get really busy, I am less stressed and far less committed to things. I even said no to quite a few potential doula clients for July because I promised myself and my family that I would take July off to spend family time together. That being said, I am still subbing frequently, taking on doula clients and volunteering on the Library Board. I'm still busy but not overwhelmingly so.