I am a lazy lump and it's time to do something about it!

Was thinking today about what my first goal might be and decided that the most appropriate choice would be to spend less time on the computer and watching television. Guess what I spent my day doing? And not just a few hours but darn near the entire day.

In my defence neither of my adult children was awake before early afternoon and being the loving sucker mother that I am I chose not to do any tasks that might wake them. Part of this choice is so that I have the house to myself, it is quiet and peaceful, and I can relax and enjoy whatever I'm doing.

I watched numerous episodes of Law and Order, Big Bang Theory, napped to the PGA golf this afternoon, and caught up on Big Brother this evening. I also played countless games of Pogo Addicition Solitaire and Tri Peaks Solitaire. What a waste of a day and I feel tired despite having done nothing particularly productive today.

I've realized I need to set a concrete and measurable goal if I'm going to change my habit. So, here goes: Monday-Friday - limit of 2 hours ; Saturday-Sunday - limit of 4 hours. It's probably still at lot but much less than I currently spend on the computer and television. I'll have to choose in advance the television programs I want to watch instead of doing a search each time one program ends.

Limiting my time on the computer should also help my right arm. I've been to the massage therapists a number of times due to stiffness and pain in my right arm and shoulder. He's told me he believes it's due to overuse and repetitive strain from using the mouse.

Hopefully the withdrawal won't be too difficult!

Happy New Year!

Someone needs to tell my neighbour's tree that it is still summer! It has decided that it must be autumn, as the leaves are turning yellow and brown, and starting to fall.

Yet the heat continues, with a forecast high today of 30C. I love the heat, but the cooler evenings and nights are a welcome counterpoint to the heat of the day.

Although I'm not quite ready to concede that summer is nearly past us, I look forward to the fall. This time of year is my new year, more so than the cold and frozen January. I think it has to do with the number of years when I went to school. I started my university classes the year that my son C started kindergarten. At the time I was 33, had been out of school for 15 years, working in a dead-end job at a financial institution.

When I made the announcement at work that I was leaving to pursue my education, I was met with reactions that ranged from, "good luck" to "you'll never manage with two kids", and even "you, you're too stupid to go to school". I still wonder why the last was even spoken aloud, but in a sense, it was a good thing because I was determined to prove the speaker wrong.

And I did, graduating four and a half years later, with a degree in Business Administration with an average of 84.7% overall. I remember walking across the stage to receive my piece of paper that I had worked so hard to get, and thinking, f* you, just watch me. Probably an inappropriate thought, but one that has stuck with me throughout the years, whenever someone has suggested I cannot or should not do something.

In the next few weeks I plan to spend some time reflecting on the past, and thinking about my future. I won't be making resolutions, since those tend to fall by the wayside, but rather some goals to reach over the next few months. By publicly sharing these goals on my blog, I hope to encourage prod myself towards success! Just don't expect anything too lofty, I'm more realistic these days.