I'm so excited!

My sister and I finally got our vacation time decided on and approved, so we decided to jump on the bandwagon and booked tickets to VEGAS! We now have a hotel and have booked one show (Cher!), and we are being slow about getting everything else decided. Right now we are working different schedules, so it's hard to plan. Planning via text message does not go well. So instead we are just browsing and getting familiar with what Vegas has to offer. I definitely want to see the grand canyon when I'm there. I missed it when I was in Arizona, now's my chance to make up for it. My sister is afraid of heights like me, which works out well because neither of us wants to test our fear by hiking down or riding a donkey down. Those beasts are trained to walk next to the edge so the hikers don't have to. Way too scary for me. I'd have a heart attack before the bottom! Much better for me to stay at the top with the really high guard rails and no chance of falling.

For my birthday this year I bought myself a new bed. A 'big-girl' bed, as we call it. Anything that's grown up-ish gets called 'big-girl' in my house, like a big-girl job, a big-girl bed, etc. Since it is no longer a tiny twin bed, it gets called big-girl. And it is big. It's a queen with a really big solid wood head board and foot board, with a really high mattress to fill it out. I'm so glad I got a tall mattress, it balances the bed more and suits it better than a shorter mattress would. It's also amazingly comfy. Last weekend I went and bought a new top cover blanket for it since my blankets were too small, so now I really feel like I have a grown up bed. Thank you Walmart for completing the set.

It's hard to believe that more than a year has passed since I started this project. Time is funny how it crawls sometimes, and then at others it races so fast you can hardly keep up with it. I think it's time to start reviewing my progress so far, especially since I'm nearing my halfway mark. I worked it out that December 30 is my halfway mark. That's only three months away and I don't think I'm anywhere near halfway. Thank you Excel for allowing me to add and subtract dates, instead of counting on my fingers and toes.

I guess I'll do them by section, and see how that goes. I'll just do the first section today. The rest can be split over upcoming posts.

Greater Good.
1. Donate blood: not done yet, but I've been looking into clinics near my work to possibly do it during lunch or after work. Weekend would be best, but I keep being away. I'll be away for the next three weekends, and then it's Hallowe'en. Being lightheaded seems like a bad idea that weekend.
2. Plant a tree: my mom is supposed to be letting me know about an upcoming plant that one of her friends told her about. Still waiting. This might have to wait until spring though, since it's getting cold fast.
3. First-aid: Not a bit of effort into this one yet, I'd better get on it. This seems like something that will be difficult to plan around, with scheduling.
4. Donate 500,000 at freerice.com: I've sucked at this one, I've been at 35,000 forever. Today I changed my homepage to it, and I'm going to set the tracker to keep my progress for me. That'll give me a chance of at least progressing on this goal.
5. Purge clothing: I did this once, I need to do it again. I'm planning on doing it either next spring/summer, or next time I move, whichever comes first.
6. Donate to charities: Done. I try to support my friends whenever they are participating in a charity event, so long as it is a charity I want to support :)
7. Reduce carbon footprint: This one is harder than I thought. I wasn't able to find a calculator that got specific enough to give me a measure that would actually change. This goal might get lost :(
8. Do a litter chase: I'm hoping to participate in the community clean up next spring, or in the Tim Horton's spring litter chase.
9. Make something for charity: I've been thinking about this, and haven't yet come up with anything. Still thinking.
10. Personal: I keep meaning to do this one, and then either forget or it doesn't work out. Not forgotten yet!

Hmm, so 1/10 done, and only 2 or 3 with any progress (thought progress counts!). I need to get to work!

Bad Kid

Bad kid keeps forgetting to post! So much going on lately with the end of summer, blogging got pushed to the side. I've been good on goals though. I ran my first 5k race (6 minutes faster than I was hoping for!), and I went to Tobermory (no camping - the weather did not comply. But I went). That's two more goals down! We also did some figuring out about the shed while we were there. That thing is sad, and sorely needs to be replaced. But replacing it will be a big job. One that might require help from quite a few people at once. I'm looking forward to having a usable shed up there again. It's been quite awhile!

My sister and I have been doing some other planning as well. We're currently working together to reach both of our goal weights by December. We actually have the same goal weight because we are the exact same height, but we are slightly different weights now so our progressions will be slightly different. We also carry our weight very differently. I have found that I am lucky and mine has slowly accumulated all over my body, whereas hers is concentrated in the middle. So even though we are close to the same weight, we have very different body shapes. But hopefully soon we will both be smaller! I've convinced her to also do a food journal as part of this, so we are going to be starting that together soon. It's just easier to do it with someone, especially if that person is the one that you eat and cook with.

We are also tentatively planning on going on vacation together (girls vacation!) in late October, if it can work out. We both have to get the time off work first, and since she has only been at her job for a few months we don't really know if it'll pan out. Fingers crossed.

I have been bad at other goals again though, mainly going to the gym, knitting, colouring and sketching. I started taking an adult ballet class once a week, so I'm planning on trying to make it to the gym at least two other times a week. And I've been doing a pilates class at lunch. So if I can keep it up, and change bad eating habits, I should be well on my way for that December weigh in. We're also measuring to see where we've lost the weight (once we lose it, of course). I hope there will be a noticeable difference in the end. We're going to do progress measure once a month too, so I doubt there will be much difference between those. But overall it would be nice to be slimmer, especially in the thighs. Makes pants shopping less evil.

Alright, I'm going to give up on the blogging for tonight, and go colour a page. Baby steps.