Very proud of my lazy self today. Got up many hours before the crack of noon. Wrote a paper for my International Relations course & managed to submit it a few hours before it was due. Packed my lunch for tomorrow. Managed to get in my treadmill time. Nothing too earth shattering but surprisingly I feel like I got a lot accomplished.

Apparently the new year did not bring with it more time to post. A few short days after we rang in 2010 I was back to the mad dash scramble routine of reading articles and texts, writing papers, and prepping for yet another semester. All while I wait to receive my grades from last semester (they’re not posted yet).

I’ve got another three weeks – two minor papers and a research paper – before my International Relations class is over. Add to this my Psych and History course this semester (they both have papers due this month too) and I’ll likely poke my head back out in the real world sometime near the end of April. Funny how that co-insides with the two weeks I have off between semester.

Have I mentioned that this is my last year in school? Not entirely as I plan to go on to grad school (if they’ll take me) in 2011. But the last year working on this particular degree. Including the three courses I’m currently enrolled in, I have 7 courses left to complete before I can boogie my way across a dance floor and party like it’s 1999.

Yeah, I’m planning on throwing a huge party once I’ve finished this degree. Everyone better be there with bells on.

On an “I have the most awesome mentor in the world and am thankful every day that I had an opportunity to meet and work with this wonderful individual” note, I just got word that the group paper we were working on for CNIE has been accepted. The 2010 CNIE conference is taking place in my home town 16 – 19 May 2010. With the carrot of possibly getting to help present the paper if I can get to the conference dangling in front of me, I’m trying to determine if a flight home will fit in the budget. I don’t think I need to worry too much about food and lodging expenses since mum has been asking me to try and come home this year for a while. Flight costs are pretty exorbitant for a family on a budget and I’ll have to arrange for a few days off work (possibly unpaid as we have a family cruise vacation & the hubby’s tour trip planned later in the year). A flight home is often over 700$ – before taxes in many cases – and more lost pay this year is going to make an impact on the budget so going home isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Speaking of the hubby, he’s off once again. For now it’s the exotic locale of Montreal. Ok, not so exotic. He’s been there a million times. Plus one. He’ll survive. After that, he’s off to Jacksonville for a little bit before arriving back home in February. It’s shaping up to be one of those years where he’s gone more than he’s home. With a 9 month tour looming on the horizon, it’s hard to expect anything else.

Finally, I’m hoping that this time next year will see me half way to my goal of a whole new fitter and healthier me. I’ve been needing to take this step since I fell off the eating right/exercise wagon in the summer of 2004. Dad got sick. I ate. Dad died. I ate a bit more. Who am I kidding? I ate & drank everything “bad” for me and didn’t give exercise any consideration at all. I ballooned from a semi-normal size 12 to a massive size 18. On my small frame size 12 was hefty; size 18 puts me in the realm of obese. Not chubby. Not pleasantly plump. Not all the other little things I’d tell myself rather than admitting I’ve reached orca size.

With my dr.’s help, I’ve mapped out a plan to change that in 2010-2011. On the plan, it’ll take between 18-24 months to reach my weight and fitness goals. I’m refusing to call it a diet since it’s an 18 month plan requires a complete lifestyle change on my part. I didn’t gain all this weight in a short time and I certainly won’t be able to lose it rapidly.

My goals are laid out in 6 month increments. By June, I want to be wearing clothes that are 2 pant sizes & 1 shirt size smaller. By December I want to be wearing clothes that are an additional 2 pant sizes & 1 shirt size smaller. June 2011 should see me another pant & shirt size smaller.  That’s my goal in a nutshell. I want to be 5 pant sizes and 3 shirt sizes smaller. I want to be able to buy clothes in any regular size store. I want to be fit enough to climb to the top of Whistler’s mountain. I have business to attend to there.

To help me reach my goals I have a daily calorie range to meet. There’s wiggle room but I have to eat a minimum of the bottom end of the range and no more than the top end. I’m supposed to eat 3 smaller meals and 2-3 snacks each day. I’m planning my meals at least a day in advance. My portions are being weighed and measured before being plated. I’m eating breakfast each morning, bringing my lunch to work each day, and most importantly, I’m keeping a detailed food diary. There are a few reasons for keeping the food diary:

1. To ensure that I eat the minimum calorie amount outlined in my plan each day. If I don’t eat enough I won’t get the health benefits I’m looking for since my body will react poorly (so I’m told).
2. To ensure that I’m not eating too much sugar/carbs each day. I don’t have a minimum amount in my plan but it does have a maximum daily intake that I’m supposed to try to stay faithful to. This has made me a lot more conscious of the added sugars in a large number of products and is driving a number of my food choices. For example:I used to drink a large amount of fruit juice because it was a convenient way to get some of my daily fruit/vegetable servings. However, juice is often filled with sugar. It might take a bit longer to prepare or eat but I’ve quickly learned that eating the fruits & veggies as opposed to drinking juice fits my sugar/carbs limitations better. Raw, cooked, or frozen fruits & veggies have naturally occuring sugars but they’re often at a much lower level.
3. To know exactly what’s going into my mouth and when I’m eating. I never ate large portions in the past but I ate all the wrong things. Often at the wrong time. I’d skip meals. I’d eat 800+ fat and sugar laden calories just before bedtime. I’d drink multiple glasses of sugar laden juices within an hour. Because I use my food diary to help me plan the next day’s meals, it forces me to be more aware of what I’m putting in my body and where I’m obtaining my daily calories from.
4. To have a complete record of what I’ve been eating/drinking or doing for my Dr. should my next checkup have results neither of us were expecting. I should be getting all the minerals and vitamins I need on my plan, but just in case I’m not, the Dr. should be able to figure out where I may be lacking by reviewing the food diary.

As for exercise, at the moment I have a daily treadmill routine. I’m a bit slow and it’s more of a meander than speed walking. As I get fitter I’m hoping to expand the walking to a jogging/running routine and perhaps add trips to a gym. Right now I’m not ready for that – physically or psychologically.

I’m also not ready to go out to eat or drink with friends anytime soon. I’m still learning proper portion sizes and healthy eating choices. My intent is to learn that through routine weighing and measuring of foods when I make my meals. I’ll tackle social eating once I have a good handle on what a serving size really should look like on a plate. I think being able to recognize this will go a long way towards helping to ensure I don’t overeat or choose the wrong types of foods. For now I’m sticking to Casa Mia at mealtime.

The most important thing for me to keep in mind is that I’m eating healthier, getting some exercise that increases my heart rate, and working on a plan that I can manage. The manageable plan is the key. I know me. If it’s too difficult to do or I’m expecting miraculous results that don’t appear quickly, I’ll eventually end up becoming disheartened and giving up.

Which makes me doubly glad that we don’t have a working scale in the house. There’s no temptation to hop on and off the scale on a daily basis. I have to measure my successes in other things – better sleep, lack of hunger, improved moods, decreased clothing sizes.

If you see me this week don’t expect to see many changes. I’ve just started the plan this past Sunday and don’t expect to lose more than 2 lbs a week – but more likely it’ll be just 1 lb a week – so I doubt we’ll see any visible signs of improvement for at least 8-12 weeks.

2009 was a pretty eventful year. I left a job I enjoyed at the college and found myself working in a great new environment. My current job still has that “new job smell” and I’m loving both the work that I am doing and the people I’m working with.

Drew spent the first 4.5 months of the year in KAF and is ramping up for a return in 2010. He’s been gone more than he’s been home this year.

Didn’t that used to be my line?

Major house renos took place this year. New furnace & air conditioner for the house. Additional insulation for the roof. We ripped down our old rotting (well, we didn’t know it was rotting at the time) deck, replaced it with a concrete patio, and built a balconly. The garage was finally sided and concrete poured for a parking pad. The final cherry on top before the new year? Comfy chairs in the basement.

Along with a group of like minded individuals, we started a non-profit association in support of Can’t Stop the Serenity. A good part of the fall has been spent planning and organizing our CSTS event in summer 2010.

We went on our first big vacation this summer. Had a blast in San Diego and LA in July. Comic Con was something we’ll never forget. Masses of humanity surrounded us. Volunteering at the California Browncoats booth kept us well grounded. In November we attended the Creation Entertainment Salute to Firefly & Serenity with a board member from our non-profit organization. I can’t even begin to describe how awesome it was to attend the event and see everyone we’d met at Comic Con again.

Mom came to visit in spring and Drew’s parents dropped by for Roar of the Rings (Olympic curling trials) in December.

We finally bit the bullet and bought season tickets to the Esks. And the Edmonton Opera. Aside from football and opera we had a chance to take in some great concerts and theatre throughout the year. Biggest highlight for me was seeing Leonard Cohen perform Famous Blue Raincoat live this spring.

What’s next for 2010?

Well, I’ve got one year left before I can wave goodbye to my degree – or hello – and take a short break from school. In 2011 I’m hoping to be in grad school.

We’re taking a family vacation with the in-laws (or, as dad would call his, the out-laws). Should be a lot of fun. It’s been far too long since we’ve seen Drew’s brothers.

CSTS 2010 will take a big chunk of my time and attention for the first half of the year. It will likely be the last thing we do before Drew heads back overseas.

More opera, theatre, football and concerts are on the horizon. We’re looking forward to the U2 concert in summer. I’ve got my tickets to the Grey Cup already. Too bad Drew will miss it.

That’s pretty much it for our year in review and upcoming plans. We’re pretty boring folk.

Here’s hoping the new year finds you well and you are blessed in 2010.

I’ve selected the charities we’ll be supporting for our Christmas Wish List Challenge. In no particular order, this year our budget has been split between the following organizations:

• Edmonton Food Bank
• Second Chance Animal Rescue Society (SCARS)
• Kids Need to Read
• Canadian Association of Medical Teams Abroad (CAMTA)

For those of you who are new to my blog, last week I posted my annual Christmas Wish List. This year it’s a little bit different than usual. Our family has decided to stepping off of the Christmas present treadmill hamster wheel. We will not be buying presents. Instead, we’re taking the money we would have spent on presents and donating it to local charities. We’ve also requested that our friends and family skip buying us presents this year and donate those funds to a charity of their choice as well.

Once the donation has been made we’re asking participants to send us a Christmas card (or comment on this blog post if you’re so inclined) indicating which charity you’ve donated to as part of the challenge. $$ amounts do not need to be disclosed.  I’ll gather up the list of charities people have chosen to support this holiday season and post the list close to Christmas.

Short on funds? Consider donating your time. Many local organizations are desperate for volunteers.

What’s our motivation? In our  not so humble opinion, Christmas has become far too commercialized and people are focused too heavily on what they’re going to get as opposed to what they can give. This me-centric trend has been bothering us. We’re hoping everyone will put a little less under their own tree in order to bring a little joy and light to a stranger.

I received this in an email this morning and thought I’d share. It compliments my Christmas wish list well. Whether or not you’re Christian, I think the sentiment behind the activity is a good one and makes it worthy of participation no matter what religion your may choose to follow. Or not follow as the case may be.

Message added by our friend A: This was a write up in the Edmonton Sun on Sunday Nov. 29/09. I am going to do this and I hope you and your family will too. At the end of advent feel free to add more if you wish.

Activity: Advent calendars mark the beginning of the Christmas season — a time of gift giving and celebration.

This Advent Sharing Calendar takes it one step further. It helps us to be mindful of those in need every day of the year, and reminds us how truly fortunate Canadians are. To create your own Advent Sharing Calendar, take a small box or coffee can, put a slot in the lid, and then wrap it in Christmas paper.

Each day of Advent, monetary gifts are added to the box. At the end of the holiday season, send a cheque to your favorite charity.

In keeping with the holiday spirit, the theme is “Peace on Earth.” There can be no peace when 86% of the world’s resources are consumed by 20% of the population.

There can be no peace when 30,000 children die every day from extreme poverty. There can be no peace when in many countries, simply being a woman can be a death sentence.

Gifts should be added as follows:

December

1: For every finger and toe your children have — intact and unblemished by landmines — add 5 cents. Landmines have killed or injured more than 70,000 Afghans in the past two decades.

2: For every female in your family who is free to go to school, pursue a career, or walk openly in the street, add 50 cents.

3: Add 10 cents for every time you’ve voted in a democratically held election.

4: Add $1 if your drinking water is safe. An estimated 5 million people die every year from illnesses caused by drinking poor quality water. 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water.

5: Add 25 cents for every shower or bath taken by members of your family today. Two-and-a-half billion people lack access to water for sanitation.

6: Add $1 for everyone you know with HIV/AIDS. 270,000 children die of AIDS every year.

7: Add 50 cents if you can name your family doctor. Add $1 if you’ve paid a visit to his or her office this year.

8: Add 5 cents for every year of your life untouched by civil war or conflict.

9: If you live above sea level, add $1. The World Health Organization estimates that 150,000 people die every year from drowning in low-lying coastal areas.

10: If you have flood insurance, put a loonie in the box and count yourself lucky.

11: Add 25 cents for every toy gun in your house (don’t forget video games).

12: Add 25 cents for every time you’ve called 911.

13: If you’ve had a permanent address for more than six months, add 50c. If you own your own home, add $1.

14: If you have open access to information through newspapers, the Internet, radio or TV, add $1.

15: Add 50c if you’ve ever written a letter to the editor. Add $ 1 if it was published.

16: Add 1 cent for every book that you own. If you have more than 100 books, add $2.

17: Add 50 cents for anyone in your family or circle of friends that serves as a member of the armed forces, police, fire or ambulance services. Now call them up and say thank you.

18: Add 50 cents for every one of your children who attends a publicly funded school. An estimated one billion adults are illiterate. Two-thirds of them are women.

19: Add $1 if you’ve ever sought legal council.’

20: Add $1 if you’ve ever been called for jury duty. Add $2 if you’ve been privileged enough to serve.

21: On this, the darkest day of the year, add 2 cents for every light bulb in your house. Don’t forget your Christmas lights!

22: If you’re free to visit with friends and family over the holidays, add $1.

23: Add $1 if you’ve sung Christmas carols this season. Add $2 if you sang them in public.

24: When the stockings have been hung by the chimney with care, add 25 cents for every gift under the tree.

25: If your family celebrates Christmas Day with a sumptuous feast, add $5.

26: If you didn’t recycle Christmas wrappings and boxes, add $1.

27: Add $1 if you had fast food today. One billion people suffer from obesity in the developed world. In the developing world, one billion people are starving.

28: If you have a drug plan, add $1.

29: If you have a pension plan, add $2.

30: If you have ever collected employment insurance or disability benefits, add $2.

31: Add $5 if you attend or host a New Year’s Eve party.

January

1: Add 10 cents for everyone you called to say “Happy New Year!”

2: Add a loonie for every member of your family who received a flu shot this year.

3: Add 50 cents for every member of your family who has lived past 70 years of age. In Zambia, life expectancy dropped from 44 to 33 years between 1990 and 2000.

4: Consider how fortunate you are. And then consider that 50% of the world’s children live in poverty.

5: Sit down with your family and decide where you would like to send the contents of your Advent Sharing box. Suggestions include UNICEF and Oxfam.

6: (The Epiphany) — Add up the contents of your box and then send a cheque to the charity of your choice.