moving

March 3 in 30 Update

March 11, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

We arrive in our new home [fergcorp_cdt_single date=”March 14, 2012″] (or so–the countdown timer isn’t perfect–it doesn’t allow me to enter the time). Everyone is getting really excited. Every day on Skype, Sprout has said to her dad, “When are you coming back to Canada?” and every day, he’s said to her, “I’m not coming back. You’re coming here.” Then she says, “I know. I just like to hear you say it.”

Sleep well before the move and beat jet lag as quickly as possible after – Doing not too badly with this. There is one more sleep before we leave. I think I’m going to be ready for this, and I won’t have to stay up all night for the last sleep in Canada.
Maintain a healthy exercise schedule coming into the move so I can get back at it as quickly as possible afterward. Staying more or less on top of this. I’m loving my new exercise video: Tracey Mallett: Get Your Body Back. I fit three days of exercise in this week. Hoping to get another workout in Monday before the hours of sitting on the plane.
Finish packing before the move, unpack and organize the kitchen, bathrooms and homeschool room after the move to get things up and rolling ASAP. I’ve decided on some realistic goals we can accomplish prior to the arrival of the furniture, such as putting our books into piles for subject areas so that when the shelves arrive, the job is quicker. But we’re going to take some time to discover our new neighbourhood. I’m going to have the kids help me with a scavenger hunt to find some of the local essentials, like a market, a place to buy milk and eggs, where to get meat ground, and where to buy stationery supplies, that kind of thing. We’re going to enjoy this stage for all it’s worth!

How are you doing with this month’s goals?

- Carey Clark

Stick with it Saturday: Ups and Downs

January 28, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

Earlier in the week I was thinking how good it felt to be exercising again. I finally seemed to be having a week where it all came together. On Sunday, I did 20 minutes of intervals on the mini-trampoline. On Monday, I had an early doctor’s appointment in Toronto, and didn’t have time to exercise in the morning. If I don’t exercise in the morning, it doesn’t happen. On Tuesday, despite another early appointment, I did 20 minutes of intervals on the mini-trampoline. On Wednesday, I did Turbo Jam for 20 minutes then turned it off and cooled down. Wow! It was pretty intense, I thought.

This is where things break down. On Thursday, I woke up feeling every minute of that Turbo Jam workout, and a few muscles I forgot I had. I was aching and had a lot of work to do. On Friday, I woke up feeling worse, and wondering how much of the achiness had to do with exercise, and how much had to do with the fact that I was obviously fighting some kind of head cold, due certainly to a lack of enough sleep this week. I also had this to deal with:

You’re looking at the staging area for THE BIG MOVE. Every possession we brought with us a year and a half ago, as well as everything we’ve accumulated since then must fit into one of those boxes, plus two suitcases. Every homeschool book, every toy, every article of clothing, every bottle of vitamins, every shoe, EVERYTHING. (Did I mention the homeschool books?)

It’s a daunting task. And you’re looking at the good part of the picture. If I were to turn the lens in a different direction (which I won’t), you’d see the rest of the horrifying picture–all the stuff that has yet to fit in. I was doing well until yesterday, when we found an additional bin lurking in a closet and remembered the one we sent on ahead to my parents which has a lot more homeschool things in it.

I wanted to jump back on the exercising this morning, but when I stumbled through the piles in the dark and came downstairs to look at this, I decided I had other priorities.

I’ll stick with it next Saturday.
- Carey Clark

January 3 in 30: Progress

January 22, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

It’s been a busy week, but I managed to stay mostly on track. I broke the going-to-bed rule a couple of times, but still managed to keep the days reasonably together. I’ve been kicking myself a little bit feeling like if I don’t demonstrate orderly routine to my kids that they won’t know how to get to work on time when they grow up. But then I get a dose of reality and realize our lives for the last few months have been a bit exceptional. We are in the midst of moving internationally, after all.

Go to bed at 10:00. As I said, I transgressed a couple of times this week, but for the most part, I kept it together. Late nights or ~~lazy~~ disorganized mornings meant only three days of exercise this week, but I still ended the week lower on the scale, and feeling good about where my exercise is going. I’ve even been adding a new habit to my life: getting up even earlier to write at www.750words.com.
Spend at least an hour a day purging and sorting. I am proud to say that there are areas on my desk where the surface is actually visible. I also deconstructed our homeschool space and sorted my summer clothing (the kids’ clothing is already sorted). I don’t think I’m being delusional when I report that we are more ready for this move than all the ones that have gone before it.
Keep homeschool time sacred. This has been accomplished mostly by trimming homeschool time to the essentials two days a week, and keeping the other days focused. We touch every subject once a week, but not necessarily even every other day. I thought I would hate this, but turns out, we all LOVE it. We may be onto something here…

The end of January (and move #1–to my parents’ home) is looming close! How are you doing with your goals?

January – Bring it On!

January 8, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

It’s January. I’m trying not to make New Year’s resolutions, which are not easily kept, but instead focus on goals. I am ready to put giant goals behind me and aim for small changes in my life this month that will make a big difference.

The biggest hurdle to conquer: getting to bed on time. I know from experience that when I get to bed on time, it’s easier to get up on time, which means it’s then easier to begin my morning routine.

It’s very important for me to be up and starting my routine before everyone else is awake. I need that time to feel like I have a jump on the day. But I’m sunk if I go to bed late.

The challenge: I find it hard to leave a job half-done. I’ll press on until it’s finished–often even if that means I’m up half the night. Bad idea.

On top of the normal challenges to get a jump on my routine, we are preparing to leave for China. My to-do list seems to be growing instead of shrinking.

With all this in mind, here are my January goals:

Go to bed at 10:00 p.m. – For half of the week, I did well with this, and my mornings and days followed suit.
Spend at least an hour a day purging and sorting in preparation for our move. So far, so good. I’m trying to do it in between other tasks, and that’s working for me. For example, the kids got out games for family time at the end of the day, and while they were playing, I did some consolidating with game boxes.
Keep homeschool time sacred – With so much to do, it’s tempting to encroach on homeschool time, but in the midst of the potential chaos, my children need structure. I did okay with this this week, except for one day which, honestly, was an utter failure. But we did manage to still have family time at the end of the day.

What are your challenges this month? What’s your plan to conquer them?