Cathy Zielske's Blog, page 236

Furniture might be overrated

Our renovation project is moving along nicely. We are in the home stretch now, with just some cabinets to be finished and painting to be done. (That and painting of the exterior, but we need 50 degree days for that to happen and that will be a while coming.)

One thing I never had before in our family room is such a great light source. The big assed window is such a source.

Sure, she may not look happy, but at least she's well lit.

You can expect all future blog photos to be shot in this exact location. With, or without furniture.

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NEW MONTHLY TEMPLATES OUT NOW! For those of you using my Monthly album system, I just released two 6-template photo page add-on sets at Designer Digitals, in 8.5 x 11 and 12 x 12. Just a few more designs to freshen up your monthly pages.

Save on classes from Simplify 101 and get your life in order

SPECIAL OFFER: Are you ready to make a change? If you'd like to get more organized or change your approach to managing your time or to-do list, now is a great time to get started. simplify 101 is offering my readers 15% off the online workshops "Organizing 101: Learn How to Get Organized"  and "It's About Time". To take advantage of this limited time offer, enter CZ2011JAN during checkout. This coupon is good through Wednesday, January 26, 2011 and may not be combined with any other offers.

Whether your home needs a complete organizational overhaul, or you have just a room or two that is outside of your clutter comfort zone, the six-lesson/seven-week workshop "Organizing 101" shows you how to create an organized space you'll love. With the help of professional organizer, Aby Garvey, you'll learn simple to implement strategies, and be motivated to take action and create change in your home. The workshop begins next Tuesday, January 25, 2011.

Do you feel like your days are out of control as you bounce from one task to another? Do you feel like your to-do list is never ending with little room for guilt-free fun? If you're dissatisfied with your current approach to managing your time and your to-do list, the six-lesson/eight-week workshop "It's About Time" is for you! Learn how to make the most of your time—so you can have more fun and get more done! This online workshop begins February 17, 2011.

Take advantage of "early bird savings" on simplify 101's "Organize Your Paper Clutter" workshop in which you'll learn a step-by-step process for deciding if you need a piece of paper (and for how long!) and how to organize it so you'll find it again right when you need it!

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ABOUT SIMPLIFY 101: There's a whole new way to get organized—simplify 101's online workshops. By making the process creative and fun, simplify 101's online workshops teach students how to implement organizing and time management solutions that really work, putting an end to disorder and the stress that comes along with it. Visit simplify 101 to sign up for our monthly organizing newsletter or take a tour of our online workshop system.

Trying with all my might to keep Moving More

Yesterday I ran 7 miles.

For me, it's a new distance record. Prior to that, I'd only surpassed 6 a couple of times.

Yes, it was on a treadmill in my basement. No, it really didn't suck all that much. I realize many runners loathe the treadmill, but I look at it like this: once I'm running, I'm running. I've got lots of good music in my ears and I'm never facing a shortage of things to think about while I'm there. Plus, I can have a box of Kleenex and a big icy water bottle at the ready. Harder to carry those things outside.

I live where it's very cold, and while that may be a flimsy excuse for some, for me and my body, it's the best one I've got.

Granted, I really, really miss running around the lake by my  house, but I know that Spring—or at the minimum, 25 degree days—will eventually come and I can get back outside.

So there's that.

After the first two weeks of this month spent in bed and on the couch, I'm back to my version of normal and I'm re-focusing on the Move More, Eat Less plan. I'm back in the groove with Weight Watchers Online and their new Points Plus system. But by 'back in the groove', I don't mean to suggest that I'm losing any of those 10 pounds that crept back up over the holidays. So far? Even steven.

I'm sticking with this to see how it's going to work for my body. The whole Zero Points fruit thing seems to good to be true, but again, I'm giving it a try. I'm not saying I'm eating fruit all day long. Not at all. But it's my morning, midday and evening snack for sure.

This week I also managed to get back to the gym for my first swim workout in 4 weeks. Yesterday I swam laps and felt a bit sluggish, but was glad I did it. Move More, indeed.

Still, I can't help but feel just a little bit doughy and very much like someone who is on the verge of eating entire bags of Lays potato chips.

My emotions seem out of whack lately, too. It could be that whole mid-40s hormone thing, but I've been getting way too weepy watching Oprah's Australian Adventure, and this morning I decided I'm not going to watch American Idol this year (at least not until Hollywood Week.)

I guess my point today is that the process of taking care of myself and getting into shape is never as predictible or easy as I'd like it to be, and it seems like life is always trying to get in the way, but it ain't no real reason to stop trying.

Know what I'm sayin'?

Keenly aware of the moss growing in my uterus

Cole asked me to dig out an old favorite—the No. 5 shirt—from a stash of sentimental Cole stuff up in the attic. I quickly recalled a particular shot taken on his 5th birthday, sporting said shirt.

As he squeezed into it, we reminisced about how the shirt once hit him at mid-thigh. And after a bit of scrapbook mom prodding, my 11-year-old son recreated the pose, albeit with slightly less enthusiasm.

Time is a bullet train, isn't it?

Give seemed like a nice word

I'm sure many of you read Ali Edwards' blog and have chosen your One Little Word for the year. I'm doing the workshop myself and couldn't resist ordering a necklace from Lisa Leonard to remind me of my choice.

If you've chosen a word, you know they potentially have so many different meanings and applications. 'Give' isn't just about thinking more charitably in the world, although that's definitely a part of it for me. There are so many other ways it can go. When I'm driving, and getting all bent out of shape about the douchebag in front of me who is driving like a nit wit, I think, "Why don't you give them a break." When I'm stepping on the scale only to find that not a single damned ounce has left my person, I think, "Cathy, just give it time." And when I think of my little family I know that 'give' should ultimately be the focus of everything I do.

For a long time—pretty much my whole life—a lot of what has driven me is the idea of 'get.' What is it that I'm not getting? What is it that I think I really deserve and should get simply for being alive?

I'm realizing here in midlife that maybe it's not the ideal way to operate.

I'm also learning that giving doesn't only benefit the recipients.

Paradoxically, I seem to get far more out of the deal. Go figure.

 

And the giveaway winners are…

The winner of a seat in TextFx from Renee Pearson is:

The winner of the January 2011 kit from Scrapbooking from the Inside Out is:

The winners of a copy of Runner Mom on the Go: A Weekly Training Log and Running Guide are:

Ladies, contact me at czdesign@comcast.net to claim your prize. Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! Thanks so much to the sponsors.

 

Sponsor Giveaway: ReneePearson.com, Scrapbooking from the Inside Out and RunnerMom.com

If you've ever wanted to learn more about how to use type on your designs, then you might want to win a seat in TextFx from Renee Pearson. One blog reader will win a seat in this workshop with Tiffany Tillman.

ABOUT THE CLASS: Type is creative. Type communicates. Type represents you on your scrapbook page. Isn't it time you mastered type? Tiffany Tillman's TextFX takes you on a learning adventure through basic typographic theory to eye-popping title text effects using eight learning objectives and ten digital title-work projects. At the end of 4 weeks, you'll understand designer nuances of typeface choices, font pairings, and textart creation. Finally, you will walk away confidently knowing how to apply your personal typographic style to anything you create. This class runs from Feb. 7 through March 6.

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One blog reader will win the January 2011 kit from Scrapbooking from the Inside Out.

ABOUT THE KIT: As we move into a new year and the clock ticks forward, it's the perfect time to reflect on where we've been and hold up a mirror to our future with the January 2011 kit, REFLECTION.

This soft, gentle kit pays homage to the past with vintage botanical images, lace and pen and ink graphics. Gorgeous vellum and silver, delicate peach and green, and a mix of papers and embellishments from Basic Grey, Seven Gypsies and Kaisercraft bring you birds, eggs, butterflies and branches to inspire your investigative and curious mind and heart.

Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's monthly kits are all about EMOTION. They offer beautiful kits with deep meaning, along with inspiration to look inside your heart, including evocative journaling prompts, quotes, a music playlist and photos to spur your heartfelt and truthful creativity.

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5 blog readers will win a copy of Runner Mom on the Go: A Weekly Training Log and Running Guide.

ABOUT RUNNER MOM: RunnerMom On The Go will help you set your goals, be successful, and get you to that start line.  Using the training log to keep track of your runs/ walks will help you stay focused. RunnerMom sprinkles in realistic advice, helpful tips and answers to real life obstacles that face busy gals. Whether you want to run a 5K, or a marathon RunnerMom On The Go will make sure you don't come in last! RunnerMom is delighted to participate in a give away with the super awesome, super-honest and very cool Cathy Zielske and her readers.

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TO ENTER: Leave me a comment today and let me know how you're feeling about your New Year's Resolutions thus far. Feeling strong? Or feeling like you're not sure why you even make them? Do share! I'll choose winners after noon CST on Saturday.

Taking pictures

A few days ago, I was looking through my January 2011 photos to find a shot to use in a blog post and I realized I'd only taken 13 pictures since the debut of the new year.

13? Really? Just 13?

I don't know if it's SPAD (Seasonal Photo Affective Disorder) or the fact that without adorable little ones trodding about and doing photo-worthy things I really don't have much to photograph. I mean, I'm just not sure how many self portraits I can take in the bathroom and have them really mean something.

The fact is, I don't take as many photos as I used to. 

So yesterday, I decided to try and be inspired in my home and sought out things to shoot. Here's what I got:

I still feel I have much to learn about light, exposure, depth of field—you know, all that photo stuff. I still love my camera beyond measure. But sometimes—in fact, most of the time these days—I'm perfectly okay with having it sit on the dining room table. It knows I'll be back.

There's always another bowl of fresh fruit waiting for its close up.

Does your photo taking ebb and flow with seasons? Do you find you take more or less than you used to? Or is it even steven? Please, by all means, do share.

 

 

Always save your kids' schoolwork or you could miss out on some real gems

And that's when we realized maybe home schooling wasn't such a good idea.

Happy New Year

I know. The new year began last week. But for me, last week was a haze of Kleenex, Luden's Wild Cherry lozenges, moaning and episodes of Big Love.

It was also a week of Moving Much Much Less Than Planned. Only two short runs last week. So much for kicking the new year off with a bang.

I even rallied over the weekend, going for a run then going out for a night of bowling with my hubby's siblings and their spouses. But I paid for it by not leaving the couch yesterday, and watching Avatar one and a half times.

But it's a new week, and I realized this: you can have the best laid plans to do it all—eat better, exercise more, be kind and giving to everyone you know—but life doesn't necessarily give a rat's ass about your plans. I'm at 67%. It's going to have to suffice for today.

I realize so many of us set out to make some meaningful changes and while I had a setback of sickness (and a weight gain to boot!) I still am excited to work toward my goals of being healthy and active. So how are you all doing in this new year?

(I also realize in the photo above my left boob looks abnormally large, but that should go without saying.)