Before school got out, which was just last week, I wanted to think about summer goals I had for Emma.  I will set some goals for myself as well.  And Mason, well he’s along for the ride!  Although one thing we’ll work on is writing his name.  Anyway, back to Emma.  I decided I was going to keep it easy.  I mean, it’s still summer!  She has 2 goals.  The first is to swallow pills.  If you remember this post, you’ll know that it’s not something I really know how to teach.  It’s interesting, though, that she started taking an interest in preparing her medicine.  She will take it all by herself, but the preparation is where the time commitment comes in.  There’s the crushing and dissolving of pills.  And juice and applesauce are heavily involved!  So her taking an interest in preparing is a good first step.  On Sunday, I simply asked her to swallow one of her pills, the cortef.  And she did.  It took a few big gulps of juice, but she got it down!  We are now halfway to that goal.  She will swallow her cortef and levothyroxin.  My next goal (starting next week, perhaps?) is to work on getting her to swallow the capsules.  Undeniably bigger in size, but perhaps easier to swallow because they’re gel-coated and slippery?  We will see.  It might be a struggle that involves a reward at the end.  As well it should.  Wish us luck!

Her last goal is to move out of the pull-ups at night and into underwear.  We have pull-ups mostly for insurance as she’s dry in the morning about 98% of the time.  But I figure that if she has any accidents, cleaning it up in the middle of the night will be a lot easier if we don’t have school the next morning!

And, as far as Emma’s habilitation gal, so far so good.  She met with Emma on Monday and said Emma did really well working.  I think that having a routine of work will help a bunch.  She will work Mondays from 9-12 while Mason and I are out of the house.  We’re going to shoot for Tuesdays as “field trip” days.  And Thursdays Emma’s hab gal will have both kids.  But I will insist they work at least one hour.  Mason can do a lot of this stuff already.

So, that’s my plan as of now.  Of course things can always change!

Do you have any goals for the summer??

Remember that half marathon I told you about sooooooo long ago?  Well, it’s almost here!  On Thursday my family and I will pack up and head west for California.  First stop, North County, where we have some family.  Saturday Brett and I will head up to Huntington Beach to check in, register, and eat me some pasta!  And Sunday is the big race!  I’m hoping that Brett’s mom and cousin will bring the kids up to Huntington to see me at the finish line!

One possible glitch in the plan?  RAIN. As in the whole weekend, and 60% chance on race day.  Not cool, Mother Nature, not cool.  I had thought about this happening, but with all the rain they just had, I didn’t think there would be anymore left to give!  Apparently I was wrong. The only positive spin I have been able to put on this is that LuLu Lemon has this adorable rain jacket that matches my new shirt.  Cute, no?

So, I had envisioned this:

photo found here

But it looks like I might be running in this.

Besides the jacket…do you have any advice for me?  I could certainly use some!

Did I share with you my original goals?  Remember, I’m not calling them “resolutions”. Refresh your memory here.  Anyway, I will share with you my goals.  And these aren’t necessarily for the whole year, but at least until April…which is my short term goal for losing 20 pounds.  I’m on it…and here’s how I’m going to do it!

Health

No eating past 7:00pm.  That’s a tough one for me, but something that really makes a world of difference in my body.

Taking my vitamins daily.  (I always forget…plus they’re so big).

Exercise 5 days a week.

Track my food religiously on The Daily Plate

Food

No alcohol at home unless friends are over.  Brett asked me if he was my friend.  I told him I think we are a little more than friends.  That’s a tough goal, though, especially after a rough day.  Sometimes a glass of red wine is perfection while I cook dinner!

Make dinner 5 nights a week.  Another tough one.  I can do it, though.  And I didn’t write this down, but I want to get the majority of my meats from Whole Foods.

Dessert 2 times a week only.  Hmmm, let me edit that to “full-on” desserts.  I don’t think my sugar-free fat-free pudding cups should count.  Do you?

Okay, I bared my goals…tell me yours!

p.s. oh, my other goal, as mentioned in my Title, is that I’m going to upload my pictures and post them veryclose to the date of event!

I’m torn on that question.  I don’t dislike them.  But how often to I actually go through with them?  It’s always the same ol’ “lose weight” etc.  However, I do have some tangible goals that I will work towards.  Maybe that’s the semantic I need to use….”working towards”.  It doesn’t set me up for failure.

Here’s my first and foremost resolution/goal/challenge (I think I like the word challenge)  Yes!!  A challenge I’m working towards achieving!  Okay, back to it:

My first 1/2 marathon is coming up.  My goal is just to finish.  I have a loose goal time of 2 hours 30 minutes.  If you want to see which half marathon I’m doing, you can check it out here.  I told myself years ago that if I ever did something crazy like run a 1/2 marathon, it would have to be at the beach.  For some reason, I can run a lot longer when I have something pretty to look at!  The sound of the waves and that seaside smell doesn’t hurt, either!  And it seems like a pretty manageable course, too!

I'm gonna take one of these home with ME!

I would also like to start scrapbooking again.  It’s something I truly enjoy doing.  But it’s just hard when you have 2 little kiddos running around that always want to be into whatever you’re into.  But I have that excuse no more…both of my kiddos are in school full time!  Perfect opportunity, right?  I surely can squeeze in some scrapping amidst the training I’m doing!  Anyway, a fellow blogger named Christine has started a new business to help others scrap successfully!  She is even giving away a free consultation to help you get started!  Anyone can join, not just experienced scrappers or fellow bloggers.  So if you are interested, visit her blog called Memories By Christine and check her out!  I have some serious catching up to do!

My parents got me this book for Christmas...a hint?

Any other goals I’m working towards?  Hmmmm, I’ll have to think about that one.  What about you?

What challenges are you working towards achieving?