Thursday, February 23, 2012

Eat that frog!

Ever heard the phrase "Eat your frog" ? Sounds pretty crazy right? I mean, who wants to eat a frog, sounds pretty gross to me. My Dad talks about eating fried frog legs when he was young (gross) but a whole frog?

Well, you can relax. I'm not literally talking about eating a frog.  It's a phrase from a book of the same name. Now, I got this book either for free or 99 cents on my Kindle shortly before I had Sophie. And honestly I haven't read it. I think I skimmed it, but not really read it. And considering it's a book about how not to procrastinate, I think I may be failing already.

I honestly bought the book because it was on sale and because it was recommended in another super cheap book e-book I bought (and did read thank you very much) from Tsh Oxenreider. Tsh is the creator of SimpleMom.net. And if you don't read this blog you really should. It was one of the first blogs I ever subscribed to. She keeps it real, has a lot of great advice and her posts are short but usually really good. She has lots of tools on her website too. So check it out.

Anywho...Tsh's ebook is called One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler.  This is a fun, easy read. It's all about how to set up routines in your life to make things go smoother.  She emphasizes making a change or two at a time and then to keep doing it for a month to make it a habit. Not every idea will work for you and your family, but some of them are really good ideas. 
# 5. Start menu planning
#18. Get more sleep (a favorite of mine)
#32. Go on dates with your kids.

Some of it you may already do. I love checking things off a list, so it was great when I could go check these things off the list of what I already do---make your kitchen paperless, declutter toys, downsize your book and magazine collection. 

The first project is called Eat your frog. Now, there is no particular order for the projects, but I think this is a particularly great number one.  So what does it mean? Do the one thing in your day that you dread doing, first. If you hate exercising, go to the gym early in the morning. Hate unloading the dishwasher? Do it right before or after breakfast and build it into your morning routine (project # 3). Then you have the rest of your day to do whatever and not have to think about that frog, plus you feel accomplished early. Even if you don't get anything else done the whole days (and we all have days like that, sometimes multiple days) then at least you got that one important thing done.

Today I tackled my frog early in the morning. Day one, now I just have to do it for 29 more days to make it a habit :) My frog? Exercise. I love how it makes me feel after, but it is getting myself motivated to do it that is the killer. Sophie and I were up at 5 for her breakfast and she would not go back to sleep...you know she wanted to eat scrambled eggs with me and watch the sunrise. So that's what we did and I was done with breakfast and had her back asleep by 7 so I could go to the gym. Then I was back home and showered by 8:40 to take Kara to preschool.  Now I have my whole day to do whatever I want, and not have to think about what I need/should/hate to do.

Yay for me!



Another frog I have is getting Sophie's newborn pictures posted. So here are some. Aunt Jean these are for you!

If you love the photographs, my cousin was the photographer. She was amazing. She brought her own props including the headbands, some of the blankets, the bird's nest and the background. We set it all up in my kitchen. I can give you her contact info if you are interested!! 














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