Heather's Life List

My very good online friend, Marcia of 123Blog, has finally gotten me to break down and create my Life List.  I originally was only going to put this in my "Joys in My Life" blog, but I commented on Marcia's post on my new blog login and didn't mean to (must've been a blonde moment!)  She has 36 as she's 36 years old, so since I'm 40, I went with 40.  I don't expect to get all these things done this year, but I'd like to get quite a few done over the next 5 years.  I'll research how I can put this link in my header of my blog and keep everyone updated. 1. Pay off credit card debt (yes, we have some)
2. Build a successful online business
3. Write a book
4. Be able to stop working in the corporate world
5. Buy a rental property and obtain successful renter
6. Declutter house
7. Build my routines I can stick to
8. Have a pool installed
9. Build our outdoor living spaces
10. Get new flooring in the house (carpet, hardwood floors, leather floor in study)
11. Decorate all the rooms in our dream house, including organizing the garage
12. Buy a new family car to replace the current one
13. Learn to wear heels regularly again
14. Have my breasts done (lift and enhance)
15. Have varicose veins fixed on legs
16. Commit to daily exercise
17. Get a massage once a month
18. Get a pedicure once a month
19. Keep up with my hair color (have done every 4-6 weeks)
20. Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day
21. Stick to a skincare routine
22. Take 1 yoga class a week
23. Complete a yoga teacher  training program
24. Look fabulous in a bikini again
25. Learn to cook more fabulous healthy recipes
26. Have a successful vegetable and herb garden
27. Organize, backup and print out photos
28. Get in front of the camera more
29. Spend more time with friends
30. Spend 1-1 time with each of our children
31. Have a date night with DH 2 to 4 times a month
32. Help DH be happy with his career
33. Volunteer at kids school
34. Have more time to keep up with Phoebe’s activities
35. Get boys enrolled in preschool
36. Learn to play piano
37. Learn to speak French
38. Travel to Italy
39. Travel to France
40. Travel to England/Ireland

Let's Put on Our Oxygen Masks

We all have different phases of our lives and we are different people sometimes in each one of them.  I was a complete nerd in my teenage and college-age phases and I still identify with that a bit.  As I got into my married life phase and especially the "Mommy" phase, I noticed a lot of friends started being very unhappy with where they were in life.  I noticed they had a hard time with their weight, not having time to exercise, eat right, find clothes that fit their body type and forget about having time alone with their husband!  This all seemed to make them act cranky, depressed and complain about their husbands and/or children a lot.  Some were clinically depressed.  Somehow I seemed to not be affected by these types of things.  Yes, I had post-partum blues and the first year of the first child, and then in our case, after that twins things were tough, but overall, I still seemed happy.  I wondered why and I've thought these things out of what has worked for my family and me.  These things are just ideas and may not work for everyone, but I believe there is some grain of truth in all of these things and you should think about it and adapt them to yourself and your situation.

If you think you are depressed though, I will tell you - Take yourself to your doctor now!  I love love love doctors and think everyone should have good doctor that will listen to you and work with you.  I've never needed medications or therapy for depression, but a few of my friends have and they say it makes all the difference in the world.  I also don't have a bias against moms that work outside of the home, inside the home or are stay at home moms.  I personally do work outside the home in the corporate world, and I have friends that do all of the above and I think it's our responsibility as women to support each other in all our endeavors.  I also don't think this should be exclusively to married women, although I do have some advice for those that are, as I am and I've been happily married for over 16 years and believe I will be for all my life with this one man.

But overall, I think all mothers need to try to take the best care of themselves that they can in order to take care of those they love.  Which is where the title for this post comes from.  I love the analogy to when you are on an airplane and they give you the safety instructions and part of it is when the oxygen masks come down in a time of emergency, you should always put your mask on first before you try to help others.  You would be no good to anyone, if you didn't have your mask on already.  Mothers give of themselves so much that they often forget to eat, drink plenty of water, exercise, go to bed on time, or go to the doctors.  We can't do this.  We need to ensure we are taking care of ourselves in order to be the best mommies and wives possible.  I'm off now to go refill my water bottle and make a healthy dinner.  Maybe I'll get to exercise tonight too!