Turning Someday Into Today
“Back to School!” This phrase conjures up different images to us moms… to some, it’s a rallying cry of freedom, to others it’s a bittersweet end to the summer. To me, it’s a bit of both. We enjoyed a fantastic summer traveling across the country – a 6-week mega trip (ok, so it was 2 weeks longer than planned) and I feel so blessed to have had this time with my children. BUT! Let’s face it, I’m ready to have some alone time and get caught up on some projects here around the farm and make some headway on a few personal-growth projects.
I’ve posted on my farm site a time or two about my crazy quilt that I’ve been working on. My goal is to finish it this winter. I have no choice but to finish it so I can start the next project – a road trip quilt to commemorate our travels this summer. Or maybe it should be that other project that utilizes all those old pajamas and t-shirts that are piled on my sewing desk. Either way, I have my work cut out for me!Another goal, which I’m glad to report is well underway, is to get my body and hormones in balance by monitoring what I eat and by increasing my activity levels. After being told by a friend “what do you expect? You’ve had two kids, that’s just the way it is,” I decided that NO, that is NOT the way it has to be. The result was doing some research on how what we eat affects our hormone levels, and a changeup in my eating. Well, more of a monitoring and making better decisions. I found a great tool, myfitnesspal.com, which is a FREE (!) calorie counter, diet, and exercise journal. It has helped tremendously in my journey to eat better for a more fit body.
In addition to working out regularly, I’ve also started taking Taekwondo classes at Greg Goff’s Martial Arts Academy plus their weekly Kisado class. If you’re looking for a “high intensity interval training,” I highly suggest giving it a try. It’s 45 minutes of non-stop, extreme calorie burning action. Plus, Mr. Goff and Mr. Simmons are a wealth of nutritional information and guidance; they’ve not only helped me identify some areas to work on, they’ve also issued a fitness challenge which I’m happy to report I’m accomplishing (40 pushups a day for 40 days – I usually go over).
Maybe it’s because I turned 40 last October and I feel more empowered and confident than ever before, or maybe it’s because I turned 40 and I feel that my youth has slipped away… but I’ve had an incredible urge to DO. To do those things I’ve always said I’d do “someday.” To do those things I saw others doing, and had been afraid to try myself. Some things are as minor as finishing a quilt project. Other things are more significant, such as skydiving from 14,000 feet.
At any rate, I’m taking some time for me, and I feel good. I don’t have mom guilt, and all of these experiences work to recharge so I’m at my best with my children. And that, my friends, I feel good about.
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Although Stacy De Smet grew up on a dairy farm in south-central Pennsylvania, she never anticipated becoming a farmer herself, but that's exactly what happened when she and her family moved to a small farm in Taft, TN, in November of 2005. Over the years they have turned Misty Ridge Stables into a thriving family farm. In addition to boarding horses and running a local CSA, they also offer classes in canning, gardening and many other farm related topics.