Start 2012 with a whimper...

Is it possible to sustain interest and energy in changing our lives beyond Feb 1st or March 1st, I sure hope so because I intentionally started 2012 out with a whimper instead of a bang! In 2012 I'm looking to make incremental small improvements in EVERYTHING! Also a strong focus on keeping going, checking in monthly and recruiting others with similar goals to keep up motivation. January was focused on house improvements. Painting, organizing, getting the main living areas of our house to a more "visitor ready" state. These projects will continue long past January but my husband and I went from talking about changes to making them in January. Changes are focused on things that keep our existing supplies organized, and areas of the house that tend to be the dumping ground, like papers on the counter, craft boxes in the office and books on the stairs. I participated in a 2 week "boot camp" to organize my home, treating it like a self paced correspondence course rather than a day by day task. About at day 5 right now :) I also started reading Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon. February is working on my nutrition and exercise, starting with finding allies, both local and friends and family members from far away, hence starting up this blog again. I can't think of a better way to solicit and continue support across the miles, and at the convenience of the contributes time. The Mayo Clinic Diet was recommended to me by a friend who is currently reading it and trying to put its advice into practice, so I will read that next. What will the focus in March be? Career, Entrepreneurship, Travel, Spouse relationship?? Give me some suggestions!?!?

Hot and Healthy Out the Window

Fitness and nutrition have gone completely out the window the last year. Job uncertainty, lifestyle changes from starting a family and general "getting oldness" has been the norm for me the last 2 years. I need a mind shift from planning exercise into my life to planning my life around exercise and nutrition.

The Geek in Me

For the first time in my entire life I have a product in my hands before its publicly available. I feel an obligation as a geek to post something about it. The Samsung Google Chrome laptop becomes avail on Tuesday June 14th. I tried to get on their beta test list to get a free one in Dec 2010, however didn't make it. They did however give me the chance to order one early with an email last week!

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/11/stub-official-samsung-reveals-chrome-os-laptops/

I like it. Still working through some printing issues (seems to not like sending duplex jobs to my network attached printer), and will have to figure out how well it works with my current digital cameras and picture organization. Also some confusion on plug in's (doesn't view embedded windows media player file out of the box).

Power on time is really nice compared to my Thinkpad x60, and suspend/wake time is awesome. I look forward to trying out the 3G this weekend when we do some travel.

This laptop doesn't run windows, doesn't run linux, is just an environment running a super browser and it keys in to my extensive use of Google Applications. Because of this people will complain that the cost of $500 is too much, but I disagree. Its got a specific purpose and it does it well. ALSO in my personal use, web based content is 95% of what I need.

Pro's

• Camera/Mic/Speakers are serviceable
• Web browsing without the bloat of a zillion installed programs, virus scanners, task management
• Responsive and intuitive setup of wireless and login to access existing google information
• Multi SD card readers and USB 3.0 USB 2.0
  

Cons

• Duplex Printing to our printer seems not possible
• Heavier than I expected for the size of screen (mac books have ruined us all on this front)
• Won't be possible to store and manage even the last 3 months of my personal photo and video content

If you have not made any attempts to get into or understand "the cloud" this device combined with a google account would be a feasible place to start. If you already leverage google documents, contacts, calendar in your life this device will be GREAT!

Updated Goals

Friends,

Anyone have a change in goals for health or fitness? Mine were stale so I updated them today.

-Danielle

I resolve to...

Resolutions should not just be on your mind in January, this last week has brought some big changes in my life and it has made me re-evaluate some things in my life.

#1) Health - I have started going to a class at my gym.
#2) Stuff - I am having a garage sale, forcing me to go through some piles with a critical eye!

Have you had any mid-year resolutions come up? Are you in the process of working towards a goal, where are you at with it?

Cloth Diaper Blog

I am entering a contest for some free cloth diapers and I get an entry for posting this on my blog :)

http://www.clothdiaperblog.com/fysf-super-sized-giveaway-nov-20-dec-4-2009/#comment-20026

Anyone want to chat cloth diapers sometime just give me a call!

-Danielle

Health Plan

Step 1: Any time I feel like eating a chocolate bar, I will drink a full glass of water first. If I still feel like eating it fine.
Step 2: increase my intake of Omega 3 Fatty acids with a supplement AND having fish once a week.

This is kind of a joke, but its because I'm not a dieter. Never have been, never will. I just plan to start making some better choices.

I do have a serious goal, I weigh 191 today. When I lose 10 lbs I will get a reward of a ladies night out up in the cities! Who is with me?