I have signed up for many different emails because I was interested in a contest, or a promotion, or a single article. And since that initial interest, most of the follow up emails just get deleted.

Today I went through my emails and clicked on “unsubscribe” for the ones I’d usually just delete.  This is my goal from now on: if all I will do is hit delete, unsubscribe instead.

Something simple and quick.

This is the first step in an overall plan to declutter our lives.  I’m tired of the mess and the stuff. My family is ready for a more simple, active, healthier and ultimately a happier life.

It is hard to be a working family that doesn’t put the kids in daycare. I worked from home for 2 years and now Dave does. We understand what each other struggles with as we’ve both done it. We get to raise our kids and pursue our dreams. Best of both worlds! ?

But there are often times I think daycare would be easier. Having everyone on a regular, steady schedule would make planning our lives so much easier.

Or would it?

We did the both-working thing and it was packed with its own challenges. We missed things. Our son was blessed to spend days with his grandparents while I was teaching, but it was still hard on all of us by the end of the school year.

The long and the short of today’s lesson: just because supper was “pasta Tuesday” instead of what was on the menu does not mean my plan failed. Life still happens and plans must have a certain flexibility or we break under their structure.

80% success is still better than last Tuesday and the fish will keep for another day.

I was chatting with my friends last week as we took our learning from local weight loss meetings and created our own group. (We’re tired of paying and not getting much out of the meeting so we’re following the program and creating our own support group, but that’s an aside.) As we talked about our weeks and our plans for how to reach our goals, I mentioned that I would not have any weight problems if I treated myself as I treat my kids.

They eat balanced meals regularly.

They have active lifestyles with limited screen time.

They get enough sleep.

They have quiet days when they are over stimulated or we’ve been too busy.

As my friend said, if anyone told me that my child needed me to walk for 30 minutes each day for them to be healthy I would find a way to do it.

Why do we, as Moms, find a way to keep everyone else healthy at our expense?  How do I learn to be a mom that keeps my whole family healthy – with me as part of that group?

Moms who are successful, please share your secrets! How do you find time in your life to make sure you are practicing what you preach?

The past three years have been desert times for our family as God has shaped us and grown our faith in ways we never could have imagined.

It started with the first of two miscarriages in June 2008, then our son’s seizures started, followed by Dave making a career change that did not go as we hoped, or were promised, it would; and one month before the economy crashed. I had another miscarriage, and 2009 began with us in the worst financial position of our lives… to that point.

We say that our daughter, born in the fall of 2009, was the only good thing that came out of that year.

Dave tried several different work options but none of them panned out and the new career was still not taking shape. Voyager was not taking off the way we once hoped either and we were in a position where there was $0 available to advertise or try to fix things after a hacker destroyed his website. Our situation only got worse when I went on maternity leave that fall. Thank heavens for a few months with employer top-ups.

2010, top-up was over, Dave was working but now in a job that paid poorly, took all his time and energy, and started to make him sick.  Ever met anyone literally allergic to their work environment? He lasted until the end of Feb 2011, sick with sinus infections that eventually became full body infections every 4-6 weeks. He was out of sick days by the beginning of February.

The Write Support was growing but in the spring of 2010 I sank into a serious late-onset post-partum depression that hindered my ability to maintain focus for more than about 15 minutes – not good for an editor. A devastating loss of a close relationship tipped me over the brink and it was months before I felt like myself again. I was editing for some wonderfully supportive and understanding clients but they too were struggling to make ends meet so payment was sporatic and the stress levels in our home continued to grow.

When our son started preschool and was diagnosed with mild to moderate sensory problems we saw our first glimmer of hope. The behaviors we couldn’t understand and didn’t know how to deal with were not the signs of bad parenting – there was a reason. He qualified for help! The improvements were dramatic with the help of our Occupational Therapist and the first glimmer of calm entered our home.

In November 2010 I entered a world I had never considered returning to – the “corporate jungle”. I worked as an assistant in an insurance company for two years before I went back for my Education degree.  I wasn’t planning on going back.

If someone had asked me in 2008 what I saw for my career I could have told them right up until my retirement.  I was going to teach Junior High and then High School, get a Master’s in Education Administration, and become a principal. I was going to create resources aimed at teens and be their voice to a school system that seemed content to forget about them with resources and professional development. And I was going to train future Junior High Language Arts teachers as well.

Dave too could have told you.  He was going to find a way to get his Master’s and PhD in Archaeology as he’d always dreamed.  He was creating a new standard of photography, based of police forensic techniques, to be used in the field by Archaeologists, and someday he would get to teach it at Universities and run digs around the world.

Isn’t it great that God knows what we need more than we do?

In October 2010 I applied for a job as a writer and editor but was asked if, because of my education background, I was interested in Instructional Design. I had never even heard of the field before. Teachers and Trainers creating curriculum and delivering training in a corporate setting – that’s instructional design.  There is a whole industry out there for educators that doesn’t involve meetings, parents, report cards, and the classroom. They don’t tell you that when you enter a BEd program… at least they didn’t when I went through.

Instructional Design was fascinating and challenging and I loved it!  I was shocked at how well I fit back into the corporate world. I wanted to stay. Dave was able to leave the job that was making him sick and take over as the primary parent at home.  Our kids had me for 1.5 years and now it was Dave’s turn (Every family should do this if they can. It’s amazing how much better we understand each other now.)

Then came 8 weeks without a contract.

God was faithful and true and through some of the most surprising ways He met our needs and provided for us. (This is another story all to itself.)

During that 8 weeks Dave and I came to a place where we were truly praying for God’s will to be done.  I have prayed those words many times before and I meant them, to some extent, but I had my plans and my dreams.  The last time I let go and truly meant those words to my core I ended up pursuing education instead of law. I thought I’d learned my lesson then that God’s ways are not our ways but they sure are better. I suppose Dave and I both had more to learn.

The prayers were deep and fervent – we would do anything, go anywhere so long as God would show us clearly where He wanted us.  I no longer needed to see the map, the GPS, the plan, the inventory list, and the directions; now I just desperately wanted to know which direction to take the next step.

During this time Dave and I took some casual labor jobs to bring in what money we could.  Just as he was going to be able to do some constant work he was struck with what appears to be a family condition in the lower back.  Weeks of barely being able to move or walk, forget about heavy lifting and bending in a labor job. Dave was on his back but his mind was now open.

While God ministered to his body through the amazingly gifted people in our lives, He was prompting Dave in new directions.

God brought him to a place where he was willing to look into fields he’d never before considered. He applied to SAIT for their two year GIS Bachelor’s program. This could get him into Historical Resources and the field he loves… but this was certainly not how he planned it.

Then came my first and only job offer, so I took it. While I was qualified to do the work, it was not where my passion lay. No training, no teaching, technical writing only. But God still had a bigger picture and I could only see a single brush stroke.

What I was doing was not typical of a technical writer.  And it opened the door to a new and very exciting career with a full time position I accepted yesterday.

And Dave has been admitted to SAIT for January.

Last night Dave and I discussed the past three years and it all seemed to make more sense now.

The summary: God had to get us out of the way of His plan for our lives and our family. We had to reach a place where we meant it, to the core of our beings, when we said we’d go anywhere and do anything so long as He was leading us.

In His great mercy, God is keeping us near our families and in our home… for now.

With joy and clarity comes the next challenge, but this time it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.  We know He’ll provide for these needs too and that He has a plan so much bigger and better than our’s.

“Be still, and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10 I’m still working on the “be still” part.

Step 1: Get the materials

I took care of this one with my Christmas gift from my late Geido.

Step 2: Gather all resources

I have unpacked the materials, now I need to get the additional resources. I am currently operating with the 15th edition of Chicago Manual. It’s time to invest in the 16th. I will also need to get an updated Canadian dictionary.

Step 3: Schedule study time

This is the trickiest part for me.  I am a PTE (visit International Alliance of Motivated Part-Time Entrepreneurs to learn more about us), I have two pre-school aged children, I am starting a new full-time contract next week, and I occasionally like to meet with clients, attend authors’ groups, and have a date night with my husband. I need to schedule this in to my schedule and guard this time very carefully.

Step 4: Find a study group

I have found a few editors in the city who are interested in studying for the exams with me.  The catch again is time.  I plan to start the group in 2012, closer to the exams.

Step 5: Make use of the time and the group

Schedule, schedule, schedule.  Everyone says you have to plan exercise and personal time into your day to make sure it happens; I need to add meeting with a study/ mentorship group to the list or it won’t happen around church events, kids’ lessons, client work, and sleep.

My goal is to run the Maui marathon, September 2013. Even better, Dave is going to run it with me.

We have enlisted our trainer, Lynnell of Hot Fox Fitness, the most amazing trainer you could ever ask for, and we have broken it down with more realistic, short term goals.

The first step is to work the program Lynnell has set up for us and lose as much weight as possible this year so that my knees will be ready to start running in the new year.

Here is the schedule. Don’t forget to check up on me.

March 2012 – 5 k

May 2012 – 10k Mother’s Day run

Sept 2012 – Melissa’s 1/2 marathon (this one has been a long time goal)

Sept 2013 – Maui marathon

Dave is trying to convince me to add some triathlons in there in 2013.  Perhaps, once I am comfortable being seen in a bathing suit again we will discuss it.

My favourite errors are those that change the meaning of a sentence. When the “duel heroines” go on their journey… I can’t help but laugh at the image of drugs fighting rather than two female heroes going on a quest.

It’s a good thing I don’t edit in front of my clients and I didn’t mark in front of my students.

Homonyms are my favourite mistakes. All those words that sound the same but are spelled differently (technically these are homophones, but I digress) bring with them the humour of incorrect meaning if the wrong word is selected.

Their, there, they’re; to, too, two; night, knight; the list is extensive and must be reviewed carefully. If you are editing for yourself or a friend, be sure to keep a special watch out for homonym errors (lists can be acquired through a simple Google search).

Don’t forget to pause for a giggle before making the correction. But be sure the change should be there and that you are not correcting an intentional pun – puns rely on word-play.

I collect examples of the best mistakes. Feel like sharing? I would love to see what you’ve found, or written.

First – choose a day where I have the possibility of success to start. Tomorrow is looking good. I know there’s a catered lunch at my training session but hopefully all will go well (I could pack a back-up lunch).

Second – I felt better and more alert than I have felt in weeks and that was just from 18 hours without gluten or sugar.

Third – About 2 hours after eating Little Caesar’s pizza (3 slices – not actually that much if you’ve ever had their pizza) and birthday cake (beautiful and tasty) I felt awful. Digestive difficulties, urgent bathroom trip, sudden drowsiness, cold symptoms much worse.

While that made for a few uncomfortable hours it did make for a renewed reason and excitement about the next 30 days.  If I felt that good after only 18 hours, and noticed the difference from eating wheat products and sugar, how much better will I feel after 1 day, 1 week, and then 1 month?

Share with me your story. I will need to hear exciting and motivating stories on the days when the chocolate and garlic bread are calling to me.

Perhaps that’s the problem.

I was a skinny and active kid, but ever since I started university at the age of 17 and a half I have struggled with a slow but steady weight gain.

First it was studying and working part-time alongside a sudden cessation of all physical activity besides writing notes and term papers – at least my fingers got a great workout.

Next it was the food in Mac Hall and whatever I could cram in on the run between classes and jobs.

Then came the boyfriend with a sweet tooth, and my own spending money so I could eat out if I felt like it (this was always a huge treat growing up so I went a little wild).

Next came marriage: merging cooking styles with a husband who has no problem saying “No thanks, I’m full” and us both loving to eat out.

The final nail in the coffin had to be four pregnancies, depression eating – especially after two consecutive miscarriages, and exhaustion with jobs and two young kids. I never seemed to get back into that active lifestyle I once loved.

Now I am at my heaviest weight ever – even when compared to my pregnancies – and I am miserable.

Aside from the desire for weight loss is the desire to find the source of my constant digestive difficulties.  My husband, family, and friends would also love it if I could find a cure for this little (or sometimes not so little) socially-challenging side effect of eating.

Due largely to the last factor, I am going to attempt 30 days gluten-free and see if that makes a difference. Barb Thomas of Love 2 Eat wrote an article for The Calgary Beacon  that clarified some of the mystery around the gluten thing ( You’re gluten free- are you stress free too? ). It made sense to me that the increase in gluten problems can partially be boiled down to the fact that we eat the same thing all the time.

But what else is there if you cut out wheat and/or gluten? 

I’m going to find out. I have a feeling I have a lot to learn.

Any tips or tricks to make this easier and successful?  I’d love to hear from you!

While the term “verbal diarrhea” tends to refer to someone who can’t stop rambling, I prefer to use it as a great writing strategy. I sit down, pick a topic, and just start writing. I allow my words to explode onto the page and when there is nothing left, I begin the painstaking process of editing everything.

It may seem odd, but even verbal diarrhea does work with the system I mentioned in The wrong way to start a blog.  I have identified my categories, I have a rough topic in mind, and I write. True, there have been times when I’ve tossed everything (See Do I look fat in this paragraph?) but, for the most part, I usually get one, if not several articles out of what ended up on the page.