Figuring It Out

January is always a struggle for me. I have great goals and aspirations, but real life seems to keep getting in the way. Especially here in New England!

Today I had great dreams for doing a Jillian, catching up on laundry, picking up the house and getting in about 20,000 steps for the day.

I also wanted to take a fitness test on Saturday that I postponed to today.

Um, no. My plans did not work out the way I thought.

Instead I got a snow storm. It wasn't supposed to be there. I didn't even see the weather until last night, and realized my plans were going to be unrealistic with a snow storm. Why? Again, it's the mother first thing. With snow here, my kids are home from school. They have demands of their own. Mostly to be fed. All the time.

So, I got my housework done and instead of my Jillian for strength training I did my fitness test -- I'll post all about that tomorrow.

And I also shoveled snow. I grew up in the Rocky Mountains where snow is light fluffy and easy to move around. That is not the case here in Connecticut! I wish I had taken my scale out to measure how heavy a shovel full of snow was, but my rough estimate is about 15 pounds. It's so full of water that it's incredibly hard to lift! My driveway is about 60 feet long, and that makes for a ton of shoveling! I really needed to clear the driveway before my husband got home and mushed it all down with his car. It's miserable to shovel after it's been smushed!

It took me about 90 minutes to shovel the whole thing, and was a very good workout. My muscles have that heavy achy feeling that tells me I did something good for them today.

While I was outside, my kids took a picture of me and then pictures of themselves. What little cuties! I had worried they would take all my time today, but they mainly spent time playing with one another and relaxing the day away.

It snowed the entire time I was outside, so my bank-robber cap was covered in droplets when I came in. I thought it looked pretty and tried to take a picture of it. My picture taking skills are currently being refined. I'll keep working on them!

All in all, I have to say that they day did not turn out as I had planned, but I did in the end make it work for me.  I got in a good workout that taxed my body. I got in my steps for calorie burn and cardio. And I got to spend time with my family on a beautiful snowy day.

All in all I would call it a success.