3 in 30 May Goals Update - #4 + Goals for June

My goals for 3 in 30 and the progress I made on them are below.

1. Finish the projects I did not complete during the past four months.

- Clean half my office - This project is done during the third week of May.

- Finish cleaning the blue room - This project was done during the third week of May.

- Finish "Shaking Off the Bonds of Stuff...for Lent" - I did not do anything with this project.

- Put trimmed branches from trees in backyard in the firepit - This was done during the first week of May.

- Paint the accent areas dark green (behind the bed and over the window on the west side of the room) and the walls white - I did not do anything towards meeting this goal during the past week.

2. Do the Biology of Behavior program. I've written about this in previous posts, so I won't go into detail here. Sophia, Olivia, and I continued to use acidophilus and grapefruit seed extract three times a day (before each meal). There have been a couple days where we didn't take a dosage at one of the meals. We will do this for five more weeks. The girls also are taking two multi-vitamins a day (one at breakfast and one at dinner).

This past week we added taking one tablespoon of Mineral Rich each day. (Mineral Rich is a blend of essential minerals and over 70 trace minerals. It supports the health of bones, muscles, teeth, hair, skin, and nails; and contains vitamins B12 and Biotin.) Its flavor is cherry. The girls like or are okay with the taste. It's not my favorite flavor, but it's tolerable.

Sophia and I also added taking a B-Complex vitamin. Olivia was unable to take the vitamin in pill form, so I'm going to see if I can find an alternative form that will be easier for her to take. Out of all the pills we take, the B-Complex, by far, is the worst tasting one. (The exception to that is the grapefruit seed extract in liquid form which Olivia takes in a bit of water. She has to follow it with a teaspoon of peanut butter.)

We also have been watching our sugar and carbohydrate intake. This continues to be the weakest area of the plan since there aren't specific meal plans or ideas to follow - just the encouragement to watch the consumption of these items.

3. Do a nice Mother's Day meal. This was worked on and completed during the first and second weeks of May.

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As I look at the list, not everything was completed. However, what I did complete I am very pleased with (e.g., cleaning half my office, cleaning the blue room, putting trimmed branches from the trees in the backyard in the firepit, completing four weeks of the Biology of Behavior plan, and having a nice Mother's Day meal).

The first two projects were very time-consuming; and the Biology of Behavior a definite healthy lifestyle change.

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My goals for June:

1. Paint the accent areas dark green (behind the bed and over the window on the west side of the room). This has been a project I've wanted to do since January. I don't want it to roll into the second half of the year....it must be completed by June 30th.

2. Clean the floor in my office. There are bags of items and some bins that I would like to put away in the closets to free up some space. I'm sure there will be items that will donated or recycled. 

3. Do the 12 in 12 project throughout the month. Sophia, Olivia, and I have been doing a special project we named 12 in 12 in which we do 12 projects per month that benefit people in need, animals, or the environment. During January-April, we were able to do everything within the first three weeks.

During May, it's been a challenge to finish (partly due to health issues with my mom; and packing and moving her from the transitional care unit to assisted living apartments at the care center). If I make 12 in 12 one of my 3 in 30 goals, then I can focus on this rather than adding another project and feeling like I can't do everything that I want to get done.

3 in 30 May Goals - Update #3

My goals for 3 in 30 and the progress I made on them are below.

1. Finish the projects I did not complete during the past four months.

- Clean half my office - I finished cleaning the last two shelves in the closet as well as the right side on the floor. Went through three tote bags that I had filled with different projects. (I would take them along when I volunteered and/or was waiting for the girls to finish lessons.) Put the unfinished projects in various bins so when I want to work on a particular activity, I can just go to the bin (e.g., embroidery, sewing). This project is done.

- Finish cleaning the blue room - Dusted the furniture and fan; and washed the windows. This project is done.

- Finish "Shaking Off the Bonds of Stuff...for Lent" - I did not do anything with this project.

- Put trimmed branches from trees in backyard in the firepit - This was done during the first week of May.

- Paint the accent areas dark green (behind the bed and over the window on the west side of the room) and the walls white - I did not do anything towards meeting this goal during the past week.

2. Do the Biology of Behavior program. I've written about this in previous posts, so I won't go into detail here. Sophia, Olivia, and I continued to use acidophilus and grapefruit seed extract three times a day (before each meal). There have been a couple days where we didn't take a dosage at one of the meals. We will do this for six more weeks. The girls also are taking two multi-vitamins a day (one at breakfast and one at dinner).

Last Thursday, we began the part of the 9-week program by reducing sugar and carbohydrates. This is suppose to continue indefinitely. There have been days that we have not had as much sugar or carbohydrates as...say...a month ago. However, I don't think I've done as well this week with this component of the plan. If there were suggested menus or ideas, that would be easier. Perhaps during the upcoming weeks this area will improve.

The next part of the program which was supposed to start yesterday was taking Mineral Rich each day. (Mineral Rich is a blend of essential minerals and over 70 trace minerals. It supports the health of bones, muscles, teeth, hair, skin, and nails; and contains vitamins B12 and Biotin.)

I ordered Mineral Rich this morning, and hopefully it will arrive by early next week. It is not available in any stores or co-ops locally, so the only way to get it is online.

3. Do a nice Mother's Day meal. My mom wanted to have pizza, so the meal was much more casual and relaxed than we have  typically done in the past. In fact, we simply sat around my mom's dinnette table, stood in the kitchen, and/or sat in the family room. It was far from a more "formal" meal we have done in the past.

I made three different salads to go with the pizza - a coleslaw (which I knew my mom would like); pasta salad with vegetables; and a quinoa salad with fennel, raisins, and vegetables.

My mom enjoyed her time at home, and having a break from being in the transitional care unit.

After she and everyone left, Sophia, Olivia, and I gathered items for my mom's move on Saturday (May 19th) to an assisted living apartment. Although I didn't get everything packed, at least it is all together upstairs which will save some time on Saturday morning when the movers arrive.

3 in 30 May Update #2

My goals for 3 in 30 and the progress I made on them are below.

1. Finish the projects I did not complete during the past four months.

- Clean half my office - I cleaned off three more shelves in the closet which contained crafting supplies; cleaned off the smaller set of shelves which had household and homeschool supplies; and the left-hand side which was where I kept surplus empty bags.

From that, I:
- threw away one bag of trash;
- have four bags of craft supplies and household items to donate;
- have two large bags filled with plastic grocery bags that I'm going to bring to the grocery store for recycling, and
- have nine bags of paper grocery bags that I'm going to bring to my Mom's home as I continue to clean out my Dad's offices (some will be for items to donate and others for recycling).

Of the remaining supplies, everything is either organized on a shelf and/or in a plastic bin that is labeled with the contents so things are easier to find.

- Finish cleaning the blue room - Still need to dust the furniture and fan; and wash the windows.

- Finish "Shaking Off the Bonds of Stuff...for Lent" - I did not do anything with this project.

- Put trimmed branches from trees in backyard in the firepit - This was done last week.

- Paint the accent areas dark green (behind the bed and over the window on the west side of the room) and the walls white - I did not do anything towards meeting this goal during the past week.

2. Do the Biology of Behavior program. More information about what we are doing is on the here. Sophia, Olivia, and I continued to use acidophilus and grapefruit seed extract three times a day (before each meal). We will do this for seven more weeks. The girls also are taking two multi-vitamins a day (one at breakfast and one at dinner).

Olivia, perhaps, has had the most positive response to using this probiotic (a.k.a. "good germs" - or microorganisms that help to maintain a healthy intestinal tract and aid digestion). For years - from the time she was adopted to now - she has strugged with intestinal issues.

Around the age of five, she went through a battery of tests at the Children's Hospital because her health wasn't improving and her height and weight dropped off the growth charts. After all the tests - and thousands of dollars - the results came back negative or inconclusive. Basically, the specialists didn't know what was going on.

"Hopefully she'll grow out of it," was what the GI specialist said. "Come back in six months and we can run more tests." 

Four years later in April 2012, I attended a homeschool conference and attend a workshop about how health issues can affect learning. I come away from the conference with a concrete plan and hope that things will improve. Within the first week they did. Needless to say, all stomach and intestinal challenges Olivia had been experienced: resolved!

Yesterday, we began the part of the 9-week program by reducing sugar and carbohydrates. This is suppose to continue indefinitely.

I took eight pages of notes from the books recommended by Dianne Craft as well as ones that I ordered from the libary. They are:

- Super Immunity for Kids by Leo Galland, M.D.
- The Yeast Connection Handbook by William Crook, M.D.
- Healing Foods by Michael Murray, N.D.
- Tired - So Tired and the "Yeast Connection" by William Crook, M.D.
- Successful Child by William Sears, M.D. and Martha Sears, R.N.

3. Do a nice Mother's Day meal. My mom wanted to have pizza instead of the planned meal. She thought it would be easier to do. So, my brother is getting the take-and-bake pizza, my sister is getting a cake, and I'll make a couple of salads.

I went grocery shopping and got the ingredients for the salads; and got paper products in blue since that's my mom's favorite color. It's certainly not fancy, but it will save time with clean up.

We also will be packing on Mother's Day for her move to assisted living for a month while her diabetes gets stabilized. I'll be meeting with a couple of representatives from assisted living (including the nurse who does the intake and helps set up the schedule for my mom's daily needs) on Tuesday.

Then, I'm helping her with the move on Saturday (May 19th) - dealing with the movers at her home; getting all her items at the nursing home transferred over to assisted living; getting her apartment set up; and ensuring that the first day of safety checks by health aides, the nurses, etc. all show up and things are in place for her.

3 in 30 Goals for May - Update #1

My goals for 3 in 30 and the progress I made on them are below.

1. Finish the projects I did not complete during the past four months.

- Clean half my office - I cleaned off another shelf in my closet that has craft supplies on it. From it, I recycled one bag of items I no longer plan to use and filled a small plastic bag with garbage. There was a small gallon-size bag of items to donate.

- Finish cleaning the blue room - I vacuumed this room after the five trash-size bags of items were donated and one trash-size bag of garbage was removed last week. I washed the bedding and rearranged the remaining play toys so it is more orderly in the room. I still need to wash the the windows and fan.

- Finish "Shaking Off the Bonds of Stuff...for Lent" - I did not do anything with this project.

- Put trimmed branches from trees in backyard in the firepit - I trimmed the branches from the trees in backyard but never brought everything to the firepit. Finally did this before I mowed the lawn for the first time this season.

- Paint the accent areas dark green (behind the bed and over the window on the west side of the room) and the walls white - I did not do anything towards meeting this goal during the past week.

2. Do the Biology of Behavior program. More information about what we are doing is on the last post. Sophia, Olivia, and I continued to use acidophilus three times a day (before each meal). We will do this for three months. Each of us has noticed a positive difference by using this probiotic (a.k.a. "good germs" - or microorganisms that help to maintain a healthy intestinal tract and aid digestion).

The girls also are taking two multi-vitamins a day (one at breakfast and one at dinner). I found a brand that is natural and has no artificial dyes. This will continue indefinitely.

On Thursday, we added grapefruit seed oil tablets that we will be taking three times a day for three months (Olivia is taking drops since this is easier for her to do.) This is an anti-fungal extract that is used to help prevent an overgrowth of yeast in one's system (a yeast overgrowth can not only have negative physical effects, but also affect a child's learning). There are many additional  benefits of grapefruit seed oil that can be read about here.

I continued to read and/or browse through the books recommended by Dianne Craft (the speaker at the homeschool conference who had many sessions about how to help children who are struggling to learn by changing the way they eat, and provide nutritional supplements and vitamins that they may be missing from their diet).

3. Do a nice Mother's Day meal. We have the time determined and a tentative menu. Other than that, I have not worked on this goal since it is still over a week away.