Just Between Us Girls

Today I’m one of the women at a LIVE “Just Between Us Girls” conversation on how do we as gifted women protect ourselves against isolation, encourage fellowship and fun time with other women and why that is important” Join us at 10 am cst Wednesdays and gather with us for this conversation weekly!

Whew! Work continues at #thetackybrownhouse! Dh has taken the week off to work on our new spaces, a converted single garage into a small second bathroom and master bedroom. Did I mention we’re LIVING through it? I’d like to say we’re clever bears living in town or at least in the other end of house, but no, we like the rugged feel of  no heat in winter and we’re smack dab in the middle of the new construction. The picture above is from last year, but it’s captured the feeltone of the new room without heat. One really appreciates central heat and our fireplace after sleeping in 28 degree outside rooms. However, the up side is we are reminded how blessed we are to have covers, to know that windows are now truly remarkable retainers of heat, and that this is temporary.

The miracle of the week, saving time and aggravation of how to avoid laundry?   The washer and dryer are currently unable to be used due to the  new plumbing going in and the water lines are being built. <in my best dramatic voice> “ohhhhhhhh No, no honey,not that….plllleaaaasse don’t  make me have to take the laundry to The Laundry Shop….and not do it myself?” <insert silent movies plot thickening music>  Like a child at a lolly pop shop with unlimited licks, I am soooo off the hook for the week! You see I avoid laundry at all cost typically, but this week I can enjoy throwing out there at any whimsical moment…sad sad commentary about the state of misery in not having a washer/dryer for over __ amount of hours. Daughter and I have been lamenting each taking turns making up sad poems, ditti’s and commentary to keep our Dh smiling.  He says we’re not up for any Emmy’s…but thinks SNL might be interested.

The New Year is upon us….2015.  Can you believe it? We have so many things to be absolutely thankful for in 2014 and yet so many changes we faced as a family as well. Going into this year’s planning session I am working through Michael Hyatt’s Best Year Ever program.  BEST $147 I’ve spent on myself in a long time. The combination of video, dialogue, discussion room and workbook hits my learning style and I always love a community discussion, which is included…a large community sharing their “aha’s”…what they learned, what held them back…well, community is important and the threads are specific so it’s been great to gather there and read other’s “aha’s” and understand more my own.

What will you see in your planning for 2015? Will you make goals? I do! I really have spent a good amount of time setting goals in my life. Not just the “let’s do this or that” goals, but “What do I want in my life to be there more often, what do I want to diminish (well besides doing laundry people, we all know THAT is a permanent diminish in my life) In years past I’ve worked on things like:

• Working fewer hours per week in stressful situations, goaling from 100 to 80 hrs per week. (yes those were the heighth of “I’m not enough if I don’t kill myself trying” years of entrepreneurism.
• I will take off every six weeks for an overnight with my Dh and Children that focuses on rest and fun! (Dh likes to tease that “No Fun Allowed” is his norm, so we really worked on turning off electronics with our children and doing something somewhere else outside…picnics, camping, mini golf, horseback, hiking,
• I drink 8 glasses of water a day (somehow couldn’t understand that this was supposed to be without caffeine, sweeteners and my favorite taste, battery acid…in other words TAB)

I was fascinated by Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map. Truthfully she has made me really think along with Allyson Lewis’s The Seven Minute Life (a time management  focused method) My life has been enriched by those two and now with Michael’s insights, I feel pretty armed to choose my 2015 intentions. They say to visualize your goals….

Hey, it’s a great goal, last year it was more like this:

Progress is progress.Personally this year the biggest success I had as a human was that we celebrated the efforts AND the outcomes. For too many years I had only celebrated when I believed it was done…well the house cleaning, the projects, the concerts, the builds on productions are really never “done” but once or twice…but boy when you celebrate the consistency of effort, the bravery of daily identifying and doing small steps, the diminishing of Mt Washmore by one load completely done and put away…well celebrations happen all day long every day and by the way, I’m motivated by appreciating myself and keeping my mind in a “that a girl” mode. How about you?

Here’s our latest Between Us Girls Hangout from Wednesday, December 31st! Join us each Wednesdays for topics to support more life to your living as a gifted women at DareWhimsy.com