So now I can see that I didn’t do so well three weeks ago (75% accomplished), but am doing a lot better this week (91% so far). 

So far, I’m loving this system. I love that I can miss a habit and not sweat it, but then still feel the drive to pick it back up the next day. I love that I’m slowly improving several aspects of my life, and not feeling too put-out in the process. My house is cleaner in general, I’ve lost five pounds since I started tracking calories, my teeth feel healthier & cleaner, and I’m generally in a better mood all-around, due in some part to getting better sleep. 

My husband and I have been enjoying good quality time each night when we take the dog around the block after the girls go to bed. We’ve found that 9 or 10pm is a nice time to go, as we can let the dog off-leash, since there are not many people or other dogs or cars out at that time. Then I usually come home, do my quick speed pick-up, wipe the bathroom counters, start the dishwasher if it hasn’t already been started, brush my teeth & wash my face, then settle into bed for a bit of phone game time (not sure I could ever eliminate that from my day!), followed by reading and lights out. It’s developing into a nice routine, or – dare I say it: habit?!

I hope this isn’t some sweet spot or pinnacle that will eventually start to degrade, but rather, the beginning of more good results. At the end of this week, I’ll be a quarter of the way through the challenge. (Wow! It hasn’t felt that long!) Maybe I should reward myself for making it this far with an overall 85% success rate. What kind of reward would be appropriate? Not food, since I’m tracking calories. Nothing too expensive, since my husband and I have been talking about earnestly starting Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps again. (I think my next weekly habit will be something financial.)

You know what I want to do? I want to go thrift shopping for a coffee table. We just sold my motorcycle, which I haven’t ridden since we had kids (ten years ago!), so we have a bit of extra cash. I designed a coffee table to make, but supplies for the table cost over $600, and if you include the router I want for the table edges, the total cost would be over $900. Yikes, that’s a spendy coffee table! So if I can find one that I like from one of the many used furniture stores in Portland, we could potentially save hundreds. Of course, I would still love to make the one I designed. If I don’t find anything, I may still go that route. But the search itself would be rewarding enough. Either way, I’ll have a direction for the coffee table, and can either put my feet up and drink some coffee, or start a fun new project!