101 Progress Check - May 5th 2013

Hi Guys,

Firstly I apologise for the lack of 101 updates over the last couple of weekends, I had to go to the UK for the weekend a couple of weeks ago, and last weekend I just really didn't feel like doing an update, although I had actually achieved stuff.

I took the boys on a family day out (minus Ben as he was away, but I'm still counting it as it was a success). We went to the wilderness park near Zurich, which the boys love so much and as the weather was lovely we saw a lot of the animals - even the foxes were out and showing off :-) The boys were most impressed by the frogs and the huge blobs of frogspawn though.

I had a few days off work and was mainly lazy (and felt guilty for being so, what is that about? even I know that I deserve some lazy days), but I spent a bit of time one afternoon doing my very first attempts at scrapbooking, using some photos of my chaps. As these were first attempts there is nothing ambitious in there, but I am happy with how they turned out, now I just need to buy a 12 x 12 binder to store them in.

Last weekend I tried out digital scrapbooking using a trial of Corel Paintshop, and it was going quite well, but I got a bit stroppy trying to get the photos to do what I wanted (I have very little patience, and I was already tired, so it probably wasn't the best time to try it). I also downloaded a trial of Photoshop Elements 11 (it turns out we already have version 9 as standard on our home pc which I was totally unaware of), which I tried out last night, and here is what I produced using the freebie that came from The Digichick via the special freebie for April on their Facebook page.

I'm not accomplished enough to get the photos to fit to the shapes properly yet, but I am very happy with the layout and even though it is quite flowery, the boys are impressed too :o)

So "Scrapbook 3 photos of my boys" - done :o)

On the fitness side of things I am very pleased to report that I have completed my Les Mills Combat programme and am happy with the results - I am still not putting up any before and after photos though as I would feel like an idiot. However, if I manage to carry on with the next programmes as planned then I may be looking my best ever by my 40th birthday and may post some then :o)

I was supposed to be getting my "3 sessions of Just Dance or Dance on Broadway in one week" challenge done this week, but as I can't actually find either of the games I'm a bit stuffed on this one. I should probably have swapped and done my "4 sessions on My Fitness in one week" instead, but got far too grumpy to do anything else when I couldn't find my dance ones. I was really in the mood to get started on the dance one and jump round the room like a loon, but it just wasn't to be. Today I need to get off my butt (before it starts to expand again) and get on the "My Fitness" challenge as I really want to get this and the dance one out of the way so I can get myself going on my next Beachbody programme.. which to choose, that will be the next question.

On the organisational side of my challenges I also have things to report. Before I do this though I have a confession to make - over the last 3 weeks I have barely used my Plannerisms planner for my household routines, this isn't because the planner doesn't work for me, but because I have been ridiculously lazy/distracted, so it's time to give myself a kick up the butt and get back on it.

However, I have managed to set up an events planner Filofax (using my lovely A5 antique rose Finchley) - at this stage it is pretty basic and I haven't taken any photos as I will be tweaking and prettifying it, but as far as the challenge of setting it up goes, it is done.

After my initial failed attempt at moving my Christmas planning stuff from my Dodo Book of Christmas to the A5 events planner, I decided that there must be a way, and there was - it's not perfect due to the size differences, but I bit the bullet and cut down the inserts to size (losing one year of Christmas card list functionality, which I can live with) and re-writing everything. So now all my Christmas planning is in my events planner Filofax :o)

I have also been doing lots of planning for one of the other challenges on my list, but I will let you know about that one a bit nearer the completion date... ;o)

I won't be posting an update next Sunday as I will be away completing another of my challenges "A Family Weekend Away", we are leaving for Europapark on Friday, and coming back on Sunday (which is Mother's Day here, so I will mainly be having a fun time and eating nice food).

Have a great week,

LJx

 

101 Progress Check - April 14th 2013

Hi guys,

What have you been up to this week?

I've had a good week, although still haven't managed to get as much done as I'd hoped.

I went and watched Rock the Ballet on Wednesday at the Maag Hall in Zürich, which was absolutely amazing - I would quite happily go and see that lots more times.

I had the boys all to myself this weekend as Ben has been away, so I took the opportunity to bake some chocolate cakes with them (their choice, totally from scratch) and if we'd had time to do icing properly I'd have been able to cross off my baking cupcakes, but we'll try for that next time :-)

My Les Mills Combat still isn't finished, but I only have five more workouts to go - I will get there.

Now that Christopher is reading German at school he's picking up books in English and having a read of those too, and is doing really well. He'll be way behind where he would be if we were living in the UK, but that's because they start school much later over here (7 instead of 5), but he seems to be picking it all up pretty quickly.

I tried to do two of my tasks on my list yesterday, "Set up Events Planner" and "Move Christmas Planning from Dodo Book of Christmas to Events Planner". Unfortunately this fell apart very rapidly when I realised that the Dodo stuff was significantly bigger than the A5 size that I thought it was (more proof, if it were needed, that I am really not very observant). So back to the drawing board for that one.

Have a great week,

LJx

101 Progress Check - March 24th 2013

Hi Everyone :-)

Sorry for the lack of an update last weekend - I was away in London for the Philofaxy meet up, and spent the weekend with my brother and his family in Basildon, which was great.

It's been another busy couple of weeks, but I have actually achieved stuff - hurrah!!!

My first stop in Basildon was to Hobbycraft to pick up knitting and embroidery supplies, so I can start on those two challenges. Unfortunately, although they sell embroidery threads, I couldn't find any kits or even the material to go with them, so have given those a miss for now.

Surprisingly I have since managed to knit not one, but two scarves (one was a short fat one for me, and the other was longer and thinner for Marcus). As Marcus is the same as I was when I was younger it is unlikely that he will ever wear it (despite nagging me to make it) as he finds it tickles his neck. Thankfully that means that Christopher can have it instead and I don't need to make another one. I used a thick wool, which required knitting needles that I'm sure were designed for use by elephants (or maybe even as legs for elephants). They are 2cm thick, which is just crazy!!! The good thing is that it takes less stitches though, so I'm not complaining.

My boys have now decided that they want to learn to knit and want me to teach them - that's fun as I don't really know what I'm doing, and definitely don't hold the needles or the wool in a way that's going to be easy... However, Marcus decided to do a trial using the big needles and a length of wool that was left over from his scarf. He only did about five stitches, and got the long tail tangled in amongst them, but he did manage to do them all by himself, so is very pleased.

The boys playroom is now completed, with a couple of extra toy boxes to put all their stuff in - somehow we seems to still have managed to accumulate a box of toys in the front room where they keep bringing more toys downstairs, so now we just need to educate them to take things back upstairs and put them in the toy boxes...

 I'm still doing my Les Mills Combat programme, and although I missed two workouts last weekend I have added them into this week and caught up. I now have 18 days left until I finish - yay!!! Then it will be time to decide what to do next. :o)

I'm still pretty rubbish at taking my camera on days out and actually using it and I had a bit of a breakthrough at the Philofaxy meet up, followed by a total fail in my lack of photo-taking of my brother and his family, despite my nieces and nephew being totally fabulous and gorgeous - I am utterly rubbish. Thankfully it's a family thing - I hadn't seen my brother in nine years, and after moving here in February 2009, I didn't get round to calling him until Christmas 2012. To be fair, he hadn't called me either, so I don't feel bad - we are both rubbish and we know it :o)

Here is the evidence that I did actually take photos while on a day out (admittedly I did only actually remember to get my camera out while we were in the restaurant, and it didn't see the light of day again, but it's a start, no?).

Kate & Susie

Paula, Angela, Imy & Lorena

Sharon & Tracy with Tracy's fantastically organised pocket
Filofax which she keeps everything in.

Ray & Steve, our insert kings :o)

The money shot!!!

If anyone reading this wants somewhere to eat in the centre of London, without it costing a fortune, Vapiano is the place to go. It's easy to find (even I managed to find it really quickly, so had time to do a little shopping before popping back at the right time to meet with everyone) and it was such an exciting moment when I got back to see all the Philofaxy bods stood outside waiting for it to open :-) Vapiano's card system, where you get given a charge card on entry to the restaurant and everything you order gets charged to it as you order so you can pay on the way out, is a perfect system for a group of people eating out. No trying to divide the bill or work out who owes what, which is always a total pain. The food is so good, and it's all cooked to order. I had the pasta carbonara, it was cooked right in front of me, and tasted absolutely amazing.  

This was a fab day out, meeting people who I've only chatted with on Skype or online before, visiting the Filofax store, Mulberry (you can read Imy's account of their shocking service here), and Artbox before finally heading off for the station. The Mulberry service would have been bad enough if it had just been that the sales guy clearly didn't know the products, but to come back with an iPad to show us that what we were looking for didn't exist, whilst having it on the page for the exact item Imy was looking for makes me wonder whether he had actually had any training at all, or if he'd had a very heavy night out on the Friday...  Tracy and I spent most of our time between Mulberry and Artbox spotting all the pubs and saying that we really should stop for a swift one. At one point we had got left behind a bit (we spotted some lovely owl dresses) and said that if we came across a pub before we caught up with everyone else that we would pop in. And then we spotted it just across the roundabout, looking totally inviting it - another pub!!! Yes, it was meant to be :o) And then we spotted the Philofaxy group stood outside waiting for us to catch up... foiled!!!

But as we were both going in a similar direction on the Tube, once we left Covent Garden, we dived onto the Tube back to Oxford Circus, took the first turning as we emerged from the station and found a pub, with tables and chairs outside - just what we both needed. A perfect end to a perfect day :-)

Have a great week,

LJx

101 Progress Check - 10th March 2013

Hi Guys,

Very quick one today and possibly no post next Sunday as I may be away at the Philofaxy meet up in London :-)

Les Mills Combat is still going strong I am one workout down at the moment as I was feeling a bit rough towards the end of this week, but I'll be catching up on that one in a few minutes.

I have started to draw up plans for what I want to include in my event planner that I have yet to set up.

I'm still using the Plannerisms planner to help with getting my household chores done (not managing to get it done every day, but it's written down, so at least it's a start, right?).

That is all for this week.

Have fun,

LJx

101 Progress Check - March 3rd 2013

Hello :-)

What's the progress report this week?

Well, I have been mainly concentrating on my fitness challenge to complete the Les Mills Body Combat programme. I am now on Day 21, and it's going well - so well in fact that I noticed this morning that my butt has risen and no longer hangs quite so low (sorry for that visual that's now been planted in your head - quick, look away!!!).

I have now booked us into a covered wagon in May at Europa Park for two nights, so our family weekend away is definitely all set to happen.

Yesterday I spent a large part of the morning sorting out the boys bedroom properly so that I can get started on setting up a play room for them. This is what their room looks like now (unfortunately I don't have any before pictures).

Clothes storage

Skylanders posters in pride of place

A tidy room with no toys in... how long will that last?

Today I actually made lunch (cooking stuff and everything), I'm surprised Ben didn't have a heart-attack... I made tuna fishcakes, and as it is the first time I have actually made them, despite having them very regularly when I was younger, I can now say that I have now learnt three out of the six new recipes in my challenge - result!!! They actually tasted good too, even though we had too much tuna for the amount of potato we had :o)

The one task that I can mark off as completed this month is my donation to charity. I thought it was going to be hard to decide which charity to give to, but actually, just as I was starting to think about who to donate to there was an update on Philofaxy about a charity called Chimwemwe who you can read more about Chimwemwe and the great work that they do here. When people sell their Filofaxes via the Adspot page of Philofaxy, they make a donation to Chimwemwe, which is their chosen charity.

I didn't want to donate to one of the big charities that everybody knows for a couple of reasons. I wanted to be able to give some money that would be enough to make a difference to them, and I also didn't want to give it to a charity that spends a huge amount each year on advertising (in particular those ones that send you a nice leaflet in the post, complete with form to fill in, pen and envelope to send it all back in) - I can see why they do what they do, but I just find it such an offensive waste of donations that are supposed to be going to a good cause.

As I wasn't donating to one of the big charities, am a huge Philofaxy fan, and admire Amanda who blogs about stationery etc here for her huge involvement in Chimwemwe, it made total sense for this to be the charity that I donated to.

That's me for this week. Have a great week.

LJx

101 Progress Check - February 24th 2013

Yay!!!

Les Mills Combat is going well - I am doing my workouts every morning before work as this works better for me than doing them when I get back home. Today is a rest day - I was planning on swapping with tomorrow and doing Combat 60 this morning, but both boys were up way too early and there is no way I can face it this afternoon/evening.

I'm still going to be extra good though and do X-Stretch from P90X later as I think that'll do my legs the world of good. I did Tummy Tuck from Brazil Butt Lift on my other rest day, and am very pleased with how well I'm doing. So pleased in fact that I joined Ben to do the Bulk Shoulders workout from Body Beast yesterday afternoon (with very light weights of course).

After I've completed Les Mills Combat I think I may do the Body Beast programme (with light weights, I don't want to look like Sagi).

I've started doing some planning for our family weekend away and it's looking like I'll be booking for us to go to Europa Park (nearer than Disneyland Paris, much better value for money, and from reports it seems like it is a better option).

This morning I finally got round to reviewing my 101 list with a view to removing all items that I either don't actually want to do (go skiing etc), things that are really longer-term goals, or items that have no real way to measure them.

Things to be removed:

-    One on one time with boys (half day each a month) - my boys have said they would rather have big
     family days out rather than one on one time, so I'm not going to force them into this.
-    Develop boys independence - this is really a natural ongoing thing, there is no end to this so it is
     something that would never be crossed off the list.
-    Take a two week holiday with no children - after the successful big family holiday that we had last
     Summer, our boys really want to do this again, and as they are both tied into school holiday dates
     then it is pretty much impossible for Ben and I to fit in a two week holiday as well.
-    Eat the five a day for four weeks - I am following the nutrition plans that go with my workout
     programmes instead.
-   Try a Zumba class - what was I thinking, the only thing clapping me would be my butt?
-   Go skiing once - OK, so I live in Switzerland, this doesn't mean I want to go skiing.
-   Learn Spanish basics for holiday - it's looking like Mexico is off the cards (see two week holiday
    with no children above).
-   Go to a festival - not sure what the point is in us spending a small fortune to go to a festival when we
    are really only going for one (maybe two) of the acts, who we will only get to see perform for half
    an hour anyway. I'd rather wait until they are touring and spend the money going to see them play
    for longer
-   Fix up kitchen (UK) - not sure if we're planning on doing this before the end of the 1001 days, we
    may end up with a much bigger project further down the line so it makes sense to wait.
-   Learn Swiss German to an undecided level - I think I'll be better off trying to consolidate my High
    German knowledge, although I am struggling to find a level to aim for. Maybe I should just aim to
    be confident in general day-to-day conversation and vocabulary and phrases for emergencies.
-   Happiness binder - I have this set up and use it sporadically for things, but don't feel happy that I
    have completed anything by doing this.
-   Scrapbooking (physical or digital). Another task with no definite measures, bye...
-   Go to Mexico
-   Introduce one new Flylady habit per month - this is so not working for me, but I am doing my own
    thing using my Plannerisms planner.
-   Get ripped abs - I'm not totally giving up on this, however, I am not so daft as to think that all the
    excess skin from pregnancies is going to just disappear because my stomach muscles have
    strengthened.

Things to be added:

-   One big family day out every month
-   Knit a scarf
-   Embroider a sampler
-   Write a poem
-   Read five banned books
-   Journal daily for two weeks (minimum of 15 minutes)
-   Drink a cup of Rooibos with honey daily for two weeks
-   Set up a recipe binder
-   Set up an events planner
-   Transfer all data from the Dodo Book of Christmas to the events planner
-   Set up playroom for boys now that they are sharing a bedroom
-   Scrapbook three photos of the boys
-   Write a short story for the boys
-   Keep to a basic household routine using my Plannerisms planner.
-   Complete Les Mills Combat workout programme
-   Donate to charity (sponsoring someone who I would sponsor anyway doesn't count)

There are a couple of other items still under review, but I need to discuss those with other people first, so leaving them as they are for now.

Unfortunately I can't add any links to the post today, as my internet seems to be having a fit about something... oh well :-)

Have a great week,

LJx

101 Progress Check - February 17th 2013

Hello :o)

I have done very little towards my 101 this week.

I still haven't reviewed the list to see what's outstanding and what things I no longer actually want to achieve.

However, the one thing I have done is start the Les Mills Combat programme through Beachbody, and despite the fact that it's tougher than it looks I am a full seven days into the sixty day programme and am feeling very pleased with myself.

I'm making no promises to myself about what I'm going to do towards my 101 things this week as I am concentrating on the fitness first and anything else is a bonus.

Have a great week,

LJx

101 Progress Check - February 10th 2013

Woohoo - it's Sunday again, and I have made some progress (not stacks, don't get too excited).

Last Sunday I did actually get round to watch the musical film "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" which I loved. I am sure there are many people out there who wouldn't really go for this, but I loved it :-)

This week I received an email saying that the old gas boiler has been replaced at my house and all the gas stuff has been signed off, so now I have both the gas and electrics signed off - and crossed off the list - result.

My boys have been away and are due home this coming Friday, so Ben and I have had some time to ourselves, and although it would have been the ideal opportunity to go out for dinner or something for our date night, we decided to stay home with a couple of drinks and watch The Expendables. It may not be everyone's cup of tea for a date, but it suits us just fine. It was lovely to watch what we want and have a little drink, without listening out for the boys, or thinking that it is too late to put it on as we have to get up early in the morning - perfect!!! Tonight we watched The Expendables 2, but as we watched that straight after the rugby at about 6pm I won't class that as a date night :o)

I have finally got myself ready to start attacking the abs again. Today I watched Les Mills Combat basics in preparation for beginning the programme tomorrow. 

This week I have also started writing a gratitude journal to go in my happiness binder, but need to get into the habit of doing it everyday. Once I have got this up and running properly I will take some pictures.

Have a great week,

LJx