Speaking of Easy

I want to start setting some goals on here so I can be somewhat held accountable (people out there – hold me accountable!). I am going to try to set goals in a number of areas – fitness, teaching, administrative, Girl Scouts, family, and healthy eating.

First, Fitness

This past month, I averaged 7,264 steps a day. I had set a goal of 10,000 steps a day at the beginning of the year, but when I checked my average last year, it was only 4,644. Now, some of this may have been a fitbit that wasn’t working, but that is still pretty low. So, I adjusted my goal to 7000 steps a day on average. I am now thinking I should adjust it up after the first quarter. So, one more month of 7000 being the goal and then adjust up to 8000. If I do this and stick to the increases every quarter, I will be doing 10000 by the end of the year. So, March will still be 7000 but I’ll be aiming to increase it a bit to prepare for the 8000 starting in April.

I also want to start doing a bit of weight bearing exercises. Something like squats and a plank or pushups. I need to build some additional upper body strength.

Second, Teaching

I want to finish planning out all of my classes this month. I’ve been saying I will do this since the semester began and have not been able to get myself to do it. I don’t know why I am so resistant to planning my classes ahead of time. I think it feels like a lack of flexibility or it feels like I’m trying to do too much and rather than just making adjustments and planning to do what fits, I put it off thinking I will have a better idea of what not to do in the future. But, I don’t. And then I’m left feeling very stressed about what I’m going to do in class each and every day. It is exhausting. And instead of spending time grading, I spend time prepping and fall behind in grading. So, yeah – end of March, I want them all totally planned through finals.

Third, Administrative

I really need to get on top of hiring or the semester will be over and I won’t have hired people. Everything feels like a lot right now because of the conference and then my daughter being in the hospital. But, I just need to lean in to making this a priority. So, tomorrow I will put forward the two students I know who applied, I will move the ones who do not have the basic qualifications or aren’t a good fit to the pass category and will figure out if anyone else who applied looks like a quality candidate that we should either (1) hire as an extra since we’re getting started late and will have the money and/or (2) email them to encourage them to apply for our FYE positions when they open up in April.

I also need to get on top of the budget and start figuring out what we will need to spend by year end. It always seems to sneak up on us and makes me feel like I’m under pressure to make decisions.

Lastly, I want to get on inviting community members to our Public Sphere Pedagogy event. I would love to get a number of community members there to do the civic dialogues and also see our student presentations or poster sessions. But, I’ve got to get it out there!

Fourth, Girl Scouts

Most importantly, I need to catch up with entering the cookie information in our inventory system. The sale ends for the year on March 15 and now that my daughter is out of the hospital, we need to SELL! If you are interested in getting cookies or if you would like to participate in our Care to Share match on March 12 (you donate a box of cookies and a donor matches with a box of cookies for free), please use this link (and feel free to share with friends): https://digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/mackenzie800121

Second, I need to start planning our Golden Gate Bridging trip that will be happening in May. We have quite a few girls wanting to go and I need to make sure we have enough drivers and vehicles and that we can pay for it all! Cookies will help with that!

Finally, my daughter is working on her Gold Award and she just got it to the stage where it is near approval and she can start actually planning her Summer Day Camp. We will need to focus on that as Summer will be here before we know it!

Fifth, family

You always realize how much time you’re wasting NOT doing things together when something like a hospital stay happens. So, I realize we need to do some fun family things this month. I think my daughter and I will go to our in-laws towards the end of Spring Break for a few days. I would also love to get to the beach now that the weather is starting to warm up a bit. We also can do some game nights with friends and maybe Farmer Market Mornings on Saturdays!

Finally, taste bud reset

I have been in a total food rut. We all have in my family. But, my daughter obviously has something going on with her GI. So, we will need to figure out how to eat at home in a healthy way without us all hating every meal. Usually our fast food runs are the result of one of two things: (1) not having a plan for the meal and us being starved by the time we get off work in the evenings or (2) having a plan but it just not sounding very appealing at all. So, I need to have a plan, but make sure it is one that actually SOUNDS good to us. It isn’t easy.

I used to have favorites, but a lot of days, even those just don’t sound that good. I think my tastebuds have been ruined by fast food and I need to do some kind of detox. And yes – this is a thing. According to Houston Methodist, “”Processed foods almost always contain added sugar, salt and saturated fats at just the right amounts — and these are additives that our palates not only come to expect, but even crave,” says Snyder. The problem is that this then makes it hard to appreciate the whole, nutrient-dense foods we should be primarily eating. It’s why your taste buds might need a reset.”