:newyear: Everyone have a happy and safe New Year.
This is a time of reflections. In our last 2 years our lives have totally changed. We are still adjusting to our new lives. It's mostly been good. Dh lost a sister and brother in 05.

My wishes for all of you is that all your dreams and wishes come true, and you always have someone to share them with.
For me, my wish is that we all reach onderland in 06. My friends, thank ya'll for a wonderful year. :grouphug:

Susie: Your evening sounds lovely. I can't wait to hear about it.


We are leaving for a m/c ride at 11:45 and going to see the New year in that way. Going to be in before the crazies start driving.

Susie&Debbie~Happy New Year!!!!!!! Both of your plans sound fun!!!!! We are just relaxing at home and have some shrimp and wine to get into. People may stop by cause they know we are here. HUGS!!!!!!

All your plans sound so nice! DH and I are staying home this year. It is so nice to enjoy some quiet time together.

Happy New Year all!

Good morning Ladies,
Happy new year everyone! :hug:
Stayed home and watched the fireworks from the rooftop, it was chilly but amazing.
Its a new start, a year where we'll all hopefully adjust to a life that is healthier, reach our goals, and be happy and safe :D
I'm planning to achieve big this year, I hope everyone does :)

Susie: :cheer: for the loss!
Debbie: you're amazing, ditto what you said :D

We're going dune bashing in a couple of hours, and a barbecue lunch in the desert. I'll talk to ya'll when I get back. :)

Getting old really bites, Kids woke dh and I up and sent us to bed. I had been asleep on the couch and he was sleeping in a chair for about 1hr. Needless to say we slept the new year in and the m/c ride will have to wait til this afternoon...LOL

Racers Start Your Engines...........................look Out 199!!!!!!!!!

Holly: I'm ready.
LET'S DO IT!!!! :carrot:

Michelle: Great job on the treadmill. :tread:

I'm so proud of everyone who lost over the holidays.
My next wi is 1/7:crossed:

I've got to get my kitchen clean. Not sure what happened but I only cooked once today but I have every counter filled with dirty dishes.

Later chicks.

Hello,
I'm sitting here laughing out loud reading how most of you spent ringing in the new year! I'm laughing because I'm right there with you. I did make it past midnight but my new year's bashes are much calmer than they were 20 years ago!

The dinner party I had for my DH was great! The Grim Reaper was a huge hit. The whole resturant was peering at our group the whole night. The Reaper came in the resturant and had to be brought to the back where our group was. She had on the Robe, and I sign that said my RIP, John Chaney's Youth, 12-31-55. It was so funny. She had a cd player and it was playing the death march! My DH was totally blown away. We had such a nice time.

I had a good day food wise except for a little bit of nacho chips w/ cheese sauce. My workout partner and I have a date for the Y tomorrow; it's going to be good to get back into a routine.

It's getting late and I'm ready to head to bed. I'll check in with you all tomorrow.

Susie

What are my goals???
 

I have reached a place within myself of relative peace and wellbeing. So, my body needs to reflect that.
During this week off I have focussed on getting our home in shape and creating tasks for kids and hubby and practising them. HUbby works tomorrow. The kids are still off. I am babysitting Tues-Thurs. I have a short list of must do’s.( short for me anyhow). I am trying to decide how best to approach my physical wellness.
I did learn from Painter Woman that I do not “see” myself as any different. A first step will be to visualize the new me.
I will continue with the Flylady site and plan. It is working for me in many ways.
I copied an email from today. You really could apply it to any aspect of your life. About keeping all of our houses tidy, emotional, physical, mental and then the house we live in.

Dear Friends,

Here it is a brand new year with all the promise of a fresh start that
comes with it. At FlyLady we have learned that new beginnings can
happen any time we choose and it doesn’t take a new day, new week, new
month or even a new year to start over. That doesn’t change the fact
that we still love new beginnings and starting fresh.

And even though we don’t like New Year’s resolutions we still make
goals for ourselves. This is a healthy thing to do. The other night at
the bowling alley a dear friend ask me if there was anything I had not
done in my life that I really wanted to do. This was a very tough
question for me. I am a very happy person and I get to do every day
what God put me on this earth to do. There is not much better than
that! So I thought about it for about ten minutes and came up with
something that seemed very strange to my friend.

I told her I wanted to see a volcano, a glacier and the Grand Canyon
up close one day. That was all I could think of at the time. One day I
will see them but if my life were to end today; I would not feel sorry
for myself because I had not seen them. I have no regrets about
anything. Every decision I have made in my life has ended up being a
good one even if at the time it was not. I learned from my mistakes
and did not pine away my future by beating myself up over past
mistakes. None of us are perfect and the sooner we understand this and
quit punishing ourselves for this lack of perfection the better off we
will all be.

Perfectionism keeps us stuck in the past so we are unable to function
in the present. Let’s take that perfectionism bat your are beating
yourself up with on a daily basis and use it to hit home runs. Each
time you see perfectionism throwing you a curve ball; turn it around
and hit it back to where it belongs; Out of sight and out of mind!
Perfectionism is the Body Clutter we all have to face.

Last night we watched a movie; Batman Begins. Yesterday I told you all
to do the Body Clutter Mission in chapter 13. Batman and the mission
were both about facing our fears head on and using those fears to
propel us to a new level of understanding about ourselves and the
world around us.

Fear is the opposite of love! In fact I believe that it is worse than
hate. It is hate disguised as something else. When we uncover our
fears and bring them into the light of day; we are acknowledging that
we don’t have to be perfect and that our fears do not make us less
than. Fear of failure is nothing more than a lack of love for you and
your abilities.

I got excited about my New Year message to you and called my sister
Paddi to read it to her, I had gotten to the last sentence and she
said you have to hear what I am reading. Now let me tell you God is
working overtime! Talk about a God Breeze! Here is the email that she
was reading while I was writing.

Dear FlyLady,

I have subscribed to your website for several years now. I have
purchased most of your supplies and read the reminders, emails, etc.,
daily. I have actually shined my sink a few times but have never
progressed. Do you think I might have a serious problem with
procrastination?

However, as I was reading chapter 3 in the Body Clutter book, (you
guessed it, I have about 150 lbs of body clutter to lose) I had an
ah-ha moment. On the question regarding do you feel pretty; I realized
that my thinking is that if your weight is as out of control as mine,
there is nothing you could do to feel pretty. So I quit even trying.
But being overweight does not mean that I couldn’t find something to
wear that looks nicer than baggy slob clothes, it does not mean I
couldn’t polish my nails, actually use the tooth-whitening kit I
purchased in Sept. 05, I could apply all my make up and style my hair,
I could carry a nice purse. In conclusion, I had a false belief that
nothing would make me attractive if I had any weight on me. Talk about
self hate!

Also, I think you will find humor in this one. In chapter 4, excuses,
I realized that I am actually using the excuse that I must have some
unknown medical condition unknown to mankind (as well as my doctor’s)
that is causing my obesity. Never mind I am a RN and know better.

I hope this year is a better year for me, as my one and only
resolution is to love myself. I seem to be stuck with this problem and
I think it is keeping me from following your program.

Thanks for all you do,
figuring thinks out in GA

FlyLady here again: Now I can’t stop crying. She is not the only one
who is stuck! This is why we are going back to basics. Last year we
took one habit a month and practiced that habit till it became
automatic. This year we are going to continue doing the same thing,
but we are going to build upon that habit with a FLY-1-2-3 Step Dance.

Our minds love repetition. It frees us up to not have to think we can
just do! So let’s think of our routines as this FLY Dance. 1-2-3 and a
1-2-3!

Let’s begin with our Before Bed Routine. Here is how we can condition
ourselves to think about things.

Before Bed Routine:

1. House- 1-Shine Sink, 2-Pick up-Put away Hot Spots, 3-Run Dishwasher

2. Tomorrow- 1-Check Calendar, 2- Lay Out Clothes, 3- Put items to
take with you on your launch pad!

3. ME- 1- Get ready for bed- wash face, floss teeth, brush hair, 2-
Reflect on your day(Go ME!),celebrate and be thankful, 3- Go to bed at
a decent hour.

Are you beginning to see how this can help us to do our FLY Dance in
Three babysteps? It is as easy as 1-2-3!

Now for the Morning Routine!

1. Rise and Shine- 1- Make bed, 2- Get dressed; shower, face & hair,
clothes and shoes, 3-Swish and Swipe the bathroom.
(http://flylady.net/pages/FLYFaq.asp#swish

2. Today – 1-Check Calendar, 2-What’s for Dinner, 3- Where is my Laundry

3. ME- 1- Eat and Drink water, 2-Take medication, 3-Take a break for
your morning meditation.

Is it beginning to make some fun sense? Or shall I say FLY Sense! We
are going to dance through our day with a 3 step routine of 1-2-3!
When you find our website you have usually been searching for magic
way to get your home in order. There are no magic pills to any of
this. If we can make it fun; it will all get done. We are going to
find ourselves dancing through our day to the beat of FLY drummer.

The funny part about all of this is you did not ever dream that taking
care of yourself had anything to do with your home. Well it seems that
you are the foundation to your home. When you feel good and are happy
the rest of the house follows your lead. Imagine that! You set the
tone for your home. If you are fussy the family will be fussy! If you
are relaxed this will trickle down to the family too! If you are
loving yourself you are setting the example for your children to live by.

Taking care of yourself so you can take care of the world will change
your life and the lives of generations to follow. Because Finally
Loving Yourself is all about your self-esteem! You can’t teach what
you don’t know. If you want more love in your life; you must start by
loving yourself and that cup will overflow with love for others and it
will come back to you. We get to plant the seed and it will take root
in everything around us. We will be the shining sink of our homes and
because of this unconditional love we have for ourselves, it will
beget that love in our children. This may actually be the key to
solving many of the problems of society.

I have said many times that if I can teach you to FLY (Finally Love
Yourself); then your home will come together and the clutter and CHAOS
will leave! I don’t know what it is that God has in store for you, but
I do know that it will be made clear to you if you will only open your
heart to the love that you deserve and it comes from yourself. Think
of it in threes; God loves you unconditionally, You love yourself and
that love continues to bless the world through the people you touch
with your life!

There is no greater gift to the world than taking the love God gives
and loving yourself so that you can fully love others! It is as simple
as 1-2-3!

In this brand New Year let’s let’s take our mottos from the previous
years and put them into practice.

Be nice to me in 2003
Less is more in 2004
FLY to Thrive in 2005

and for this New Year’s Motto;

Simple Routines are the trick in 2006.

I chose this motto because I do not want you to make your routine so
big that they are not doable and you allow your prefectionism to cause
you do nothing. Keep them simple and they will be easy for you.

The word trick can be fun! In the dictionary I found a meaning that
seems to fit my idea. #5 A special skill; a knack: Is there a trick to
getting this window to stay up? I want you to find that loving
yourself by using simple routines is a special skill that can change
your world. It is just this easy! By doing simple routines to relieve
the pressure we put on ourselves; we are FLYing!

Don’t wait another day! You can do this. I am also getting back to
basics too by grabbing a pad of Post-It notes and putting them along
the dance steps of my day. Think of them as the foot prints on the
floor to learning a new dance. I am posting them on my bathroom mirror
and on the window above my coffee pot. One color for my morning
routine and another color for my before bed routine. This is exactly
how I started building my habits in 1999. It worked for me and it can
be the trick for you too!

Let’s have some fun in the new year! Get out your calendars and every
night celebrate by giving yourself a sticker for doing your Simple
Routines each morning and evening!

Are you ready to FLY?

FlyLady

I pledge to hit 199 by February 1, 2006. I am six pounds away.


Izzy:cool:

hello chicks!
i was lost but hopefully not forgotten. good to see you still here holly, susie, debbie and so nice to see so many new faces! today i begin again....going to the gym for the first time in my life, it is going to be a great year of good changes and better health! i am starting out with baby steps i want to grow and get stronger as this year unfolds. i can do this.....we can all do this!!! have a great day everyone!!

Good morning everyone,
I just got back from curves. I have lost a few pounds over the holidays. but my official WI is next sat so I won't change my ticker til then.

B-yogurt, applesauce
S-celery stuffed w/ff cream cheese

Jodi: It's so good to hear from you. :hug: Baby steps is the way to go.
YOU GO GIRL...:dancer:


Holly: I checked out Flylady. I didn't get much time to read thru it, but I'll check back in later today.

Hello all,
It's 1:53 pm EST and I'm still in my pj's! I've been up and around doing all sort of things but not dressed yet...it feels so good!

I will meet my workout partner tonight at the Y to begin our fitness quest for the new year. I did workout some over the holiday's but it wasn't my usual routine. It's going to be good to get into the routine again.

I've been working on a blog space that my internet provider offers. I managed to get 2 entries in. As soon as I get the site up and running I'll provide a link so that you can see it and let me know what you think.

I haven't purchased that workout outfit I told you all about. I'm a little short on cash these days, but a friend of mine gave me some things and I found this really cute summer shirt outfit in there. I can't get it on yet (it's a straight XL), but I'm going to use it as my tool to try on each month and see if I can wear it by my birthday (june 7). I will purchase the workout outfit when I get some extra money.

Debbie: I know that your official WW weighin will show you lost over the holidays! I'm so proud of you.

Holly: That Fly lady sure is insightful

Jodi: Great to see you again. I hope to see you daily!

How's everyone else doing?

Susie

Hey everyone,
I just put more laundry in. I love the coolness of winter, but not the extra laundry...as dh says. "I'd b*tch if you hung me with a new rope"...LOL.
This is my last day with dgs before he goes back home. We've had lots of fun.
I finally found someone who plays scrabble at my skill level. He's 9...LOL

Susie: I have days when I lounge around in my pj's. Feels good doesn't it.
That shirt will do the trick. Just keep trying it on till it fits.
I sure know what you mean about the money. I really need to work full time. I just keep waiting for an opening.

Holly: I shined my sink. No small task for a 20 yo stainless sink. I always clean it but never to this degree. I don't have any place to store dish drainer, so I think I'm just going to get rid of it. You are such a great influence.