Why small success? Because that’s the only kind I know! Even the big ones come in small steps. Here’s my paltry offering for the week:
- Successfully completed the 5K Challenge – Let’s start with the big one, shall we? This personal challenge, hosted by the 10 Minute Novelists (recently names by Writer’s Digest as one of the Top 100 Sites for Writers), requires running/walking 5K and writing 5,000 words over a 24-hour period of your choosing during the weekend event. At first, I thought I had the whole weekend to accomplish the goal. Easy peasy. But then I realized I only had twenty-fours, several of which – at least – during which I would need to sleep. After setting out on a walk only to have my youngest child announce “I pooped,” less than a half-mile later, I nearly threw in the towel. I was solo parenting three kids. Softball and a haircut were on the calendar. We had to get to church. The task seemed nearly impossible. But the picture-perfect weather gave me hope, and I plowed through. The sense of satisfaction and accomplishment gave me a much-needed boost in writing and in life. Which brings me to . . .
- Daily morning hikes – The ideal spring weather has continued, and I’ve taken advantage of it by taking my youngest kids on daily morning hikes. We are blessed to live within five minutes or so of multiple parks with beautiful nature trails. I love the woods, and I don’t spend enough time there. I always end even a short hike with a better outlook than when I began. And the extra exercise has left me tired but feeling great.
Monday’s hike
Tuesday’s hike
Wednesday’s hike
- “Painted” my nails – I took some time to do something with my nails. Just because. I can’t say I’ve quite mastered this Jamberry thing that I help my daughter with when she has a break from school. They started peeling at the corners in a couple of days, which probably means I didn’t apply them well. I’ll always be a bare-nails kinda girl, but being fancy once in a while, if only for a couple of days, is fun. (I did not photograph my nails. The Internet has enough pictures of polished nails, no?)
- Baked oodles of cookies – In the midst of the 5K Challenge, I had volunteered to bake two double batches of chocolate chip cookies to contribute to the Little League Baseball opening day bake sale, the girls’ softball association opening day concession stand, and our parish’s junior high youth ministry’s laser tag outing. Having made the simple Betty Crocker cookie recipe dozens of time, including the day before, I thought that on the second double batch, I could assemble the ingredients from memory. Nope. Turns out, I doubled the eggs. Thankfully, although the dough became slightly sticky, it did not affect the taste or texture of the baked cookies.
- Stuck to a menu – I’d been drifting from creating a weekly menu plan in recent weeks, and it showed. Especially at this time of year, when dinner time shifts to accommodate a multitude of after-school and evening activities, winging it for dinner can become a disaster. I forced myself to create a weekly menu while consulting the calendar, made a grocery list, and stuck closely to my plans. I’ve grown to dislike meal planning for some reason, but I’ve learned it makes the craziness of late afternoon/early evening manageable.
That’s all I’ve got. Celebrate more small successes over at CatholicMom.com.
Have you had any small successes this week?
My weeks always go better when I have a menu plan. And your hiking venues are gorgeous! I should look into some of our new hiking trails that are nearby. Maybe I’d feel more motivated to exercise if there was something beautiful to look at while I walked.
I much prefer hiking trails to straight walking. Some trails are prettier than others, but the wildflowers in the one – I didn’t want to leave.
I wish I could get myself to take walks. I always feel so busy, with a list of things to do before I even think about venturing out of the house. Maybe I need to reevaluate that. Thanks for the inspiration!
I won’t lie – taking these walks has eaten into time for other things, especially on days where I have other errands or appointments. But I think it’s worth it.
Wow, I’m so impressed that you even considered (letalone completed) the 5K challenge. That’s the sort of thing I would look at and think, “Nope! No can do!” I wouldn’t really count it as a small success – it’s a big one!
I was definitely at “no can do” early Saturday morning and just plowed through.