Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Simply fabulous

Many thanks to Cassie for recognizing me with the distinguished "Fabulous Blog" Award:


Now I'm supposed to list five things I'm obsessed with. This is an ever changing list, but it's true that I always seem to be obsessed with a few things. After my list I am supposed to pass the award along to five fabulous blogs. Which I will gladly do. But, recipients, please don't feel obligated to continue this madness if you don't wish to. I mean, if you break the chain, 400 years of bad luck will plague you and your descendants, but, no biggie. Up to you.

I just thought it might be a good idea to participate, if only to give my readers a break from my NaNoWriMo word count updates, which brings us to the first item on my list of obsessions:

1. My novel. I now think about it most of the day, while lying in bed at night, and while swimming. Which brings us to...

2. Swimming. I am now swimming three days a week, whether I feel like it or not. And although I rarely feel like it, by the time I've put in a couple of laps I'm feeling pretty good. On alternate days I do...

3. Yoga. I have been talking about taking a yoga class for at least six years, possibly longer. I finally went to one a couple of months ago. At this point it's a little like taking medicine, not especially enjoyable but makes me feel better. I want to make sure I go frequently enough to feel like I am making progress. I am severely lacking in balance, flexibility and the ability to focus and breathe deeply, which are all key components to practicing yoga. Gee, it seems like I am...

4. Taking on a lot of difficult challenges. I'm not sure why I'm feeling this way right now--maybe because my youngest child is now three years old(!) and I'm no longer overwhelmed by simply getting through the day intact. But it seems like one thing has just sparked the next. I think I'll just keep going with it as long as it lasts, because normally I'm not a very motivated kind of gal. So motivated, in fact, that I'm trying to learn one last new skill...

5. Keeping my house clean. I've been trying to get on board with FlyLady. It's kind of on again, off again, but I have noticed improvement. The habits I've implemented so far include giving my bathrooms a quick "swish and swipe" every day, doing at least one load of laundry every day--including putting the clothes away, and running my dishwasher each night and unloading it in the morning. What I like about FlyLady is the focus on baby steps, so that you notice and appreciate progress instead of striving for perfection.

And finally, my own awards. Check out these fabulous blogs of my real-life and blogosphere friends that I read regularly:

Torrie
Angela
Meaghan
Lucy
Firefly Mom

6 comments:

Cassie said...

Love this post, especially the threat about the 400 years of bad luck. I will definitely check out these other blogs.

Lucy The Valiant said...

Thank you!! You DO sound like you're trying a lot of new things - swimming and novels and yoga, oh my!

Meaghan said...

Hey, Ruth, thanks for the props! I'm a big fan of yours as well.

How you find time to keep up your blog with everything else you're taking on, I don't know that I'll ever understand. Especially since it seems you've actually cut down on your caffeine intake...

You're an inspiration!

Congrats on your Fabulous Blog award!

Ruth said...

Meaghan, you bring up a valid point, I am making myself look pretty awesome here. But in reality I have been neglecting sleep so now I have bronchitis and can't go to yoga or swim, then I decided I needed my sleep, so now I am neglecting my kids while I write during the day, and letting them have too much TV and computer time.
Cleaning is how I procrastinate on writing, writing is how I procrastinate on cleaning.
And the blog is a great way to procrastinate on all the other things I should be doing.

(her name is Torrie) said...

Thanks, Ruth!
"I am neglecting my kids while I write during the day, and letting them have too much TV and computer time."
Yep, that's how it's done :)

Meaghan said...

Hope you're feeling better.

And for the record, I'm guilty of using back to back DVDs to get my writing done as well. Wouldn't happen otherwise.