Beautiful Day for a Walk

Day 4 of walking, I'm so happy that I've been keeping it up.  Met up with Dana and her little furbaby, Luna, for the walk today and the walk yesterday.  I was inspired by her blog to include photographs, so I brought mine along today.  Here are a few shots I got:

I love the reflection of the clouds in the water.

Laurel Grove Cemetery- path along the river

Laurel Grove Cemetery- path along other river

a dock

The weather was chilly but the sunshine and the day was beautiful.  We did our loop around St. Mary's and then walked to Laurel Grove and did a figure 8 kinda loop there.  It was nice to just walk and talk about anything and everything.  It also helped that Luna was so cute.  So much energy for such a little thing.





But I am very happy that I've actually gone for walks 4 days in a row.  I feel very accomplished and I've been sleeping better.  I love that I think about where I'm going to go and map out a path in my head.  I don't want to get bored by doing the same one every day.  I'm also happy that I'm up to 5.5 miles.  I know it will vary, especially once I incorporate some jogging.   But its nice to go for the walk and then come home and still have time to do the things I enjoy:  such as reading.

beautiful sunshine on the water... you'd never know it was cold

I loved the stone wall lining the path.

I just finished a book the other day, the third book in a week.  I just received books from Amazon today.  I'm really excited to start a new one tomorrow.  I thought I was going to start tonight but this blog took me longer than I thought.  I'm either going to start book 2 of the "Slightly" series I've been reading.  Its a "chick lit" series and the next one is called "Slightly Settled."  I to read books that I can escape in and do not have to think much.  But Dana really recommended that I read "The Noticer" which will make me think A LOT.  So we shall see what wins over.

21 Days

It takes 21 days to form a habit. Today was my 2nd day going for a walk after work. My friend Katrina has been going running and she gave me some good advice. When you get home from work, change, and then go right on back the door. I know that my biggest problem is once I'm home, I'm done. So yesterday and today, I came home, changed, and went out the door. I've been listening to Backstreet Boy radio on Pandora (yes, channeling my inner teenager, lol) and walking. The good thing about Pandora is you create a station based on something you like and the station plays that music as well as music like it. So, I was listening to those songs of my teenage years by BSB, N*SYNC, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, All 4 One, etc etc.... Its working because I'll get to a song I like and go the extra distance so that I know I'll hear the end of the song. I walked 1.5 miles yesterday and 2.0 miles today. I'm starting out walking because I'm not ready to do full out running.

I've been using a runkeeper application on my cell phone that has a GPS built in that tracks my route. This lets me know the mileage as well as the elevation, pace per min/mile, etc.. Its actually a pretty useful application. There are some other cool things about it like the calories I burnt based on the aver. min/mile. It then emails your information and provides a link to its site so that you can see the intervals of your pacing and statistics.

I just have to keep reminding myself: it takes 21 days to form a habit.

I hope its not like most of my attempts at getting healthier and in shape. I have to take it one day at a time.

Lets just hope tomorrow when I come home from work I don't fall into the temptation of "Nap Time Thursday" right after work and that I continue like today and yesterday.

Here's to tomorrow's success...

Quadrants?

So today's lesson was about scheduling your life, planning your days, and organizing yourself to be most effective. There are four quadrants and I find I spend most time in quadrant 4. This is the least productive quadrant titled "Waste and Excess." I'm sure we all find ourselves at one time or another fulfilling our days in this quadrant. For example, I know of only 2 people who subscribe to this blog so if you are reading it and aren't those two people, you read this because you saw it on Facebook. Facebook is a prime example of quadrant 4. How many times do you play Farmville, Bejeweled, varieties of Solitaire, etc etc etc?

Quadrant 4 are the activities that you spend to "unwind" "escape" if you will. Now don't get me wrong, I am by no means implying that we shouldn't engage in Quadrant 4. I would have no room to talk! My husband and I both LOOOOVE quadrant 4. I love getting lost in a book or watching my television shows. But I do wish that I spent more time in what was labeled "Quadrant 2." This was the effectiveness quadrant. This is the quadrant that you plan, build relationships, and do your most effective living. So, my goal for this week is to make my quadrant 4 activities into quadrant 2 activities.

In my defense, I believe that Jonathan and I watching a television show together and discussing the events as well as making predictions of what is going to happen next IS relationship building. It is bringing us together. It is encouraging us to discuss and have conversations.

So I guess my point is.... what is wrong with being in Quadrant 4? At least at this point in my life where I have no children. Shouldn't I use this time to its full advantage of relaxation? I know as a teacher, if I didn't recharge, I'd just burst! With all the responsibilities at work aren't we all entitled to escape for a little while? Even if its just to swap some jewels or plant some crops? I should think so.

Trying to Shift

My school district is offering a training course called "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." What a great thing. You're probably thinking, what does that have to do with being a teacher. It has everything to do with being a teacher. The way you manage yourself as a person directly influences the way you are as a teacher. For instance, today's training focused a lot on the effects of being "proactive" vs being "reactive." I know in many situations I am more reactive than I am proactive. I don't always hesitate, reflect, and then respond. Especially with my husband. My poor husband gets the rough end of the deal since most of my patience is used from 8:20-3:20 @ school. So at home, when he asks me a simple question or wants me to help him do something small, I flip out like woah. I need to start taking a breath, even if that means counting down from 10-1, and then responding. I think some of his hesitations and reservations are direct responses to what I'm giving him. It was a very eye opening presentation today. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next 3 classes..