Progress

I am a goal-setter.  At any given time, I will have 50+ goals that I am working on written on at least 10 pieces of paper scattered throughout the house.  This, obviously, isn't the best way to go about improving oneself, but I can never decide which are the most important goals to work on first.  I beat myself up all the time about how I am not improving at anything, so it's nice when I can actually recognize improvement.  I am kind of embarrassed to admit these things, as most of my friends do these easily and naturally, but here are a few things that are looking like progress for me:

• Although I am only averaging waking-up early twice a week, I have still found time to exercise 6 days a week for two weeks in a row.  My clothes are still as tight as ever, but I have more energy and have felt more positive and cheerful.  (This is also due to rising temperatures outside!)
• Mostly because of fear, I have been doing a whole lot better about keeping up with housework.  With spring in the air, I am really afraid of a repeat of Ant Infestation 2008, so I've been doing the dishes and cleaning the floors every night.  Clayton smiles a lot about this.  He wouldn't have planted the ants in the house that morning last year, would he?  Nah.
• A few months ago, after reading Same Kind of Different As Me and watching the movie Gridiron Gang, I felt a really strong pull to do more in my community.  We live so close to Detroit, and the city is declining so quickly, there are people literally at our doorstep in a whole lot of need.  As a stay-at-home mother of two on a very strict budget, I had no idea what to do outside of church work.  This past Thursday, I was sworn-in as Administrative V.P. for the Grosse Pointe Mom's Club.  That mouthful basically means that I am in charge of the club's service efforts for the next year.  My very poised, elegant, capable, and amazing friend, Julie, held the position last year.  She did such a brilliant job coordinating the women of the club to really and truly help people in the community, I am scared to death of failing miserably in comparison.  But, I am also excited for this great opportunity to help make a little bit of a difference.  
• I have NEVER claimed to be "green" and have always chosen convenience over earth-friendly, but we have a bit of a green push going on at our house.  This is mostly due to two factors:  (1) I was inspired by a video I found of a couple of moms who only throw away one garbage bag a month, and (2) our garbage can situation is in dire straits.  With crazy squirrels constantly knocking the lids off of our cans or chewing through them (!!!) water and snow pile up inside.  This, apparently, makes the cans too heavy for the strict city workers to lift.  I have tried so hard to fix this, but we have been receiving nasty notes from the city that have put me at my wit's end.  It seems that cutting back on our garbage is the answer.  Even if we only cut back by one garbage bag each week, that makes 52 bags a year kept out of landfills and one less squirrel-ravaged can to worry about.  I've been surprised at what a garbage-maker I am, and just a little bit of effort on my part has made a big difference.  I try to use rags instead of so many paper towels and wipes, and washable containers instead of plastic wrap and bags.   Plus, I've been recycling a lot more.

Baby steps, though small, are still progress.