Dec. Give it a 100,50,30,20...challenge

[nswef]

Here's the Dec. thread to keep us going! Seems to help me keep at my 6000 steps. CL has spent tons of time in her studio, EJ has faithfully written nearly daily- feel free to join in!

[ejchase]

Thanks, nswef, for starting the new thread!

I'm going to add this background about the video because it was so inspiring to me:

In August, I was inspired by the video at the link below. It's the story of a woman who went to the gym 100 times to try to get herself out of a rut. I saw it when George Takei posted it on Facebook along with the question, "What would you like to do 100 times?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5FkshLcNLQ

Her video was part of a larger movement online called "Give it 100" which, as far as I can tell, is now defunct.

I decided what I wanted to do 100 times was work on my fiction writing at least 30 minutes a day. The times do NOT need to be consecutive. Since I know I will miss a lot of days here and there, I'm aiming to complete my 100 days by January 15, but if it takes longer, that's fine too. I'm just trying to get to 100. Others joined in at various points - nswef has been building up to 100 times of a certain number of steps a day and I think is also counting days doing 15 minutes of decluttering. Chicken Lady got 30 days in her studio in November.

Anyway, if anybody else wants to join in for 20, 30, 100 or however many times of something, please do!

I hit 70 times of writing today!

[mschrisgo2]

I did a major downsizing 16 months ago, and now live in 450 sq ft, 1 bedroom/bath, large living/dining/kitchen, with large porch and larger deck, lovely yard, carport, 8x10 new shed. All is well- EXCEPT the Paper Mess!

I have piles and partial boxes and tubs, all with too much paper. Went to sleep last night thinking about how I can motivate myself to deal with this mess, and woke up this morning with the understanding that "if it wouldn't be important enough to take if we were evacuated, it can go in the trash now." Excellent clarification. Evacuation is a real possibility, given we were out 3 times last winter due to imminent flooding on the river in California.

Now, I'm sitting at my desk, ha! online instead of sorting paper! (I retired 6 months ago)

So, I am hereby setting a goal of .... dang! it's has taken some serious talking to myself to quantify this!

I am setting a goal of Working (at least) One Hour a Day to eradicate the paper mess. Starting...NOW.

[nswef]

Yahoo Mschrisgo2! I could definitely put your challenge to work...but I'd have to start with 10 minutes a day, not an hour as I KNOW I wouldn't do an hour. I might do 10.

[Chicken lady]

Ok, so I have been thinking about December. I’m still managing well in the kitchen. I feel really good about my pottery changes. However, we have a lot of holiday stuff in December and will not be home every day.

i was trying to decide if I wanted to do 16 days (more than half) in the studio, or at least 16 hours, or 16 days of at least an hour...

i think i will try for both 16 days and 16 hours, so that short days can be balanced out by longer ones, but I don’t just pull a couple of long weekends... also, each day must involve working wet clay. Not just cleaning and organizing.

IN ADDITION I am going to try to do something every single day to focus on enjoying the things I think are important about the holidays.

[mschrisgo2]

Day 1 - 1.5 hours DONE.

Emptied shredder, shredded enough to refill and empty again. Pulled out a 14 in high pile of catalogs, magazines etc. took them to the recycle bin. Pulled out a handful of tablets and spirals, tore off the used sheets, put them in the cupboard with new ones. Pulled out all the Whole Dog Journal newsletters and put them in a binder. (if I decide not to keep it, will pass on to a friend). Pulled out half a box of "teacher" books to sell, put them in the car. Set up 2 sets of standing files, labeled, went through 1 messy stack on desk and filed it all. 2 sq ft on desk top is clear!! Emptied/shredded /filed contents of 2 plastic project boxes. This was all fairly current stuff.

I also have several bankers boxes of "historical" or OLD stuff. I'm hoping I can shred most of it now.

Pulled all the paper for my church committee and put in one of the project boxes, will start with organizing that tomorrow. Then on to the other stack on my desk.

Doesn't look a whole lot better, which is why I itemized it here. I needed to recognize and acknowledge what I accomplished today.

[Chicken lady]

Great start!

one of the things that is important to me is seasonal decorations. I was tired last night, but I went down to the basement and grabbed one of the bins - which I happily put away well sorted and labeled last year.

i put away the fall dish towels and put out the christmassy ones, switched the pens by the phone to the Santa bucket, and set out the Christmas flamingo (family in joke) in the den.

then I ate the little piece of chocolate from the advent calendar Dd gave me at thanksgiving.

today we are going to get our Christmas tree.

[ejchase]

Welcome, mschrisgo!

Chicken Lady, I like your idea of taking some time every day to enjoy the holiday. That sounds healthy.

I've never been a holiday decorator, but it turns out holiday decorating is extremely important to my six-year-old, so I'm belatedly starting to think about how I might approach it with her. I think I could enjoy it if it became a thing we did together.

Completed #71 today of writing.

[Chicken lady]

Spent 20 minutes in the studio finishing two pots.

got the tree and put it in the stand. Strung lights on the old dining porch.

came up with some ideas for heartgrandson for Yule. Heartdaughter vetoed live frog, but okayed the rest.

[mschrisgo2]

Day 2 - Done. One hour, cleared desk and made one neat file of my committee papers.

On to day 3 now.

[nswef]

wow Mschrisgo2!

[Teacher Terry]

echase most kids love decorating! After the kids grew up I got rid of everything but 1 box. I can put it up in 30min's. One thing I got rid of was xmas dishes, dishtowels, etc. That was the first to go.

[Chicken lady]

Yes Mschrisgo2, that is impressive progress!

i spent three hours and 20 minutes in the studio working on pots (I have ten more to do for my class in the next 8 days)

and I hung the little ornaments along the porch light string. I plan to do a little more Christmas stuff this evening since ds just called with his requests and I can now sort the staging table into a box for him and a box for goodwill and then decorate it.

[mschrisgo2]

Day 3 - 2 hours, including emptying the shredder for the third time, breaking down 2 thrashed boxes, and taking out all recycling.

I have a small stack of papers about 3 in. high back on my desk to be filed- first thing tomorrow. I have to decide where to put it; in about 4 months it all goes in the shredder.

I re-stacked the remaining boxes and swept the floor. It's still a mess, but I think I'm about half done.

[Chicken lady]

The decorating on my old dining porch is done.

i spent an hour and a half in the studio - finished two pieces and threw a couple of bowls.

totals, 5 hours, ten minutes, on 3 days.

[Zoe Girl]

I started the month strong in my meditation goal. Okay Friday and Saturday were 5-10 minutes sitting in bed. However Sunday night was the full moon and I put together a ritual and then meditated until the candle pretty much burned down (longest freaking candle of my life!) It ended up being an hour long between the meditating and the stuff I did. Feeling about the most positive I have on a Monday in as long as I can remember.

[mschrisgo2]

Day 4 - 1 hour, done. (5.5 subtotal) Emptied another box, mostly into the shredder. Broke down box, all recycling out.

Really had to push today, not sure what the resistance is, except maybe that this was more of the stuff I need to keep just for a few more months, and I'm resentful of the time and space it is taking...

Zoe, CL, TT, nswef, ejchase, good job on keeping it all going!

[Chicken lady]

Just keep swimming...:)

i threw pots pots for an hour and a half this morning. 6 hrs, 40 min, 4 different days.

Got out the Christmas cds and my little paper elf. Accepted an invitation from my oldest to go to the Festival of Lights at the zoo later this month (Love lights, the zoo, and my kid)

[mschrisgo2]

Day 5 - ! hour, done. (6.5 subtotal)

Beginning to come to grips with having 2 boxes of (semi)permanent files, plus half a drawer of working files....

[ejchase]

Wow, everybody! So impressive! Keep it up!

[mschrisgo2]

Day 6 - another hour, done. (subtotal 7.5).

[Chicken lady]

Well, there was a lot of pottery in my day yesterday, but no actual work in my studio.

I told a coworker friend about my Christmas pledge and that I had realized at 6 a.m. yesterday I wasn’t going to fit it in, and she gave me a candy cane and said “here, when you get home, put this somewhere festive.” But later I deputized dh to pick up our angel tree card, so that was something. Barely.

[mschrisgo2]

Day 7- another hour done. (subtotal 8.5) Still not finished.

[Chicken lady]

Day 5, three hours on pottery in the studio.

toral 9 hrs, 40 min.

the Christmas thing is a struggle.

[nswef]

Day 53 of steps! I'm so excited to see everyone's progress. If we weren't doing this challenge, I'm sure I slack off on the steps and I suppose the rest of you feel the same way. CL- I've pared my Christmas prep to about an hour or two, but I have no children. I put bows on the porch rail, a swag on the door, a wreath my sister sends me on the shed. I bring the 3 ft. tree down from the attic, already lit, put a scarf on the bottom and put out a few angels, Santa, elves and call it good. I love that other people do so much outside as it gives me lots of joy!

[Chicken lady]

Yay for steps!

it’s not about “Christmas prep” it’s about taking the time every day to do something that is important to me about the season - that might be decorating/preparations, or it might just be enjoying something - like listening to a favorite piece of holiday music. Yesterday was holiday free though. I even forgot to eat the chocolate from my advent calendar.

[Chicken lady]

This morning I spent 30 minutes in my studio trimming bases on two bowls and stenciling them for carving. (Day 6, 10hrs, 10minutes) then I dropped one because my hands were cold and I was tired and rushing.

tonight I am resting. sitting by the fire with a g&t (spoiling my better eating plan) listening to favorite Christmas music and watching dh put the lights on the tree - which I would enjoy more if I wasn’t so tired, but it’s still nice.

[mschrisgo2]

Did Nothing on this project yesterday. I"m sick of it!

Instead, I took advantage of a very pleasant 65 degrees in the afternoon and finished putting up my outside Christmas lights, then changed out the burned out bulbs in the security lights outside. Then I cleaned out the top 2 shelves of the outside storage cabinet. It was mostly all here when I bought the house, I've been here over a year and don't need it, of marginal value > recycle bin!

[Chicken lady]

So, I slept in, then had a long coffe and paper relax this morning, followed by setting up my grandmother’s nativity scene. :)

most of the rest of the day the day was spent on pottery - around 8 hours? At least 7, I didn’t keep track of meal breaks or other minor interruptions. So my hour goal has been met.

i am now at 7 days for the month.

[mschrisgo2]

So I decided I'm giving myself the weekend off. Dogs and I went back to sleep for 1.5 hour this morning- it was 30 degrees! Then I went off to my once a month spiritual group meeting. Ah, soul nourishment! I needed that!

Tomorrow, church in the am, then a Bon Voyage party in the afternoon- dear friends have sold their house, bought a truck and 5th wheel RV, taken teens out of "regular" school- and will be homeschooling on the road for the next year! I will miss them all, and, frankly, I'm a little jealous!

[Chicken lady]

Having homeschooled teenagers, I am not at all jealous. I loved my kids, but that sounds awful!

finished making the last two pieces for my class, (day 8) dropped them off to be fired, and went Christmas shopping with dh for family and our angel child. Very happy with the angel child gifts - fun LEGO set, and good quality clothes that are neutral enough in style that I can see any of my students in his age range wearing them. The winter coat was on sale, so we only went over the planned budget a little - we made it up by coming in a few dollars under on each of dh nieces and nephews - who don’t actually need anything and can eat their gifts.

[nswef]

Great Cl. You enjoyed the shopping, a real plus! I finished day 55 of 6000 or more steps!

[Chicken lady]

I enjoyed parts of the shopping. Eventually dh looked at me and said “you’re cooked, aren’t you?” And I could just nod. He put his arm through mine and said “hold on.” And I just drifted along behind him occasionally making random comments on things that drew my attention (which is how my son in law is going to end up with a very silly pair of socks.)

You are doing great on the steps!

i mostly did housework yesterday. I replaced all the burned out Christmas tree bulbs and vacuumed and put the skirt (old red bedsheet) around the tree. And I brought the ornaments upstairs. I didn’t do any pottery. Today I will work on pottery, but not in my home studio. I think I will still count that - it will be glazing, but it will be my work, not work related to my job.

[ejchase]

I am swamped at work so probably won't be able to get back to writing until around the 20th, but I stopped by here today to cheer the rest of you on. Keep up the good work!

[nswef]

Thanks EJ for stopping by.

[Chicken lady]

So, yesterday was 9 on the pottery - glazed work for class at the big studio. Good company there and it was fun!

wrapped the gifts for the angel child, and bought two things for ddil and one for dh. (Did not enjoy the shopping, but do enjoy giving presents.)

[Chicken lady]

This completely fell apart. The last week of school before break is just too much for anything else! And I was finishing up my class. Note to self: no class in nov/dec.

i give myself day ten for going down to the studio to glaze on Thursday, but I doubt i’ll do any more clay work this year. I’ve been too tired in the evenings to decorate my tree, so it’s still just lights. I fly to see my mom tomorrow (good, except flying terrifies me) and my barn is in dreadful shape - i’m embarrassed to have the sitter come, but she’s coming.

[nswef]

It's a good idea to give ourselves a pass when it is too busy! Progress happens in bits and starts. If I look at what I've done since we started in Sept. I am pleased...I am easily pleased however. Enjoy your visit with your mom.

[ejchase]

Yes, this is a crazy time. Let's all ease up on ourselves if we need to. The priority right now is to enjoy the holiday and to give ourselves the space and time to do that.

[nswef]

Yes, enjoying the time when days are the shortest- starting from Dec. 21-31 we gain 4 minutes of daylight!!! I am on day 58 of steps and as an aside I have walked at least at a10 minute steady interval 23 times since Sept. 1. 7 this month so far!!! I went for a check up to see why I am tired- she did lots of blood work and just B12 came out low so I'm taking that. She is very positive about all my healthy habits and encouraging. What made me laugh is she was telling me the medical profession has decided that the blood pressure standards for older people was resulting in too much medication so they are raising the blood pressure markers to 150/90 as OK. While listening to her I thought "Oh isn't that smart for old people" then realized I AM OLD PEOPLE! I guess 69 counts as older...made me laugh.

[ejchase]

I'm finally back!

I knew when I started this that at some point in my teaching semester, my writing time would get swallowed up by work and I'd disappear, but I consider it a moderate success that that I didn't happen until December 7th and that I only lost two weeks of writing.

I completed #74 today - just 30 minutes, but something. I'm exhausted from grading and Christmas stuff, and on Monday, I will leave to spend a week with my family, so my last day of writing for the year will probably be then. I'm about 15 days behind where I expected to be at this point, so it looks like I won't be able to finish my 100 times before January, but I'm still SO glad I set this goal. It has helped so much.

Nswef, congrats on your 58 times of steps and Chicken Lady, I hope you're enjoying your time with your mom.

[nswef]

Congratulations EJ. I'm sure if you had not set the challenge you would not have had as much success. My steps have dropped significantly...but I am working on it! Day 59 today and perhaps...get to 60 before the new year! A very achievable goal. I'm thinking of doing a writing goal. I am impressed with your success and think it would make a difference in finishing something! I have lots of rough drafts but nothing finished.