Spicy Motivators: April, May, June 2026

AJsRandom

AJsRandom

Well-known member
Welcome to the Spicy Motivators! Come and join us to be motivated:

" You might need encouragement in exercising more (that’s me). You might want to do more walking. You might need encouragement to eat healthier or lose some weight. Your desire might be to cook more home cooked meals. Maybe you need some push to get more memory pages scrapped or maybe a desire to do more other crafts like sewing, yarn crafts or painting. You might like to set yourselves a monthly goal of how many challenges you want to take part in... or how many pages you want to achieve for an album you are putting together. "

You are welcome to start a post to share your goals and edit to add when you achieve things. Otherwise just pop in here at the end of each week and share how your week has been in achieving your goals.

Also, please feel welcome to ask for any encouragement you may need.
 
I need to exercise more ... I am looking forward to the weather getting nicer so I can take a daily walk around the apartment complex. It is pretty cold here in SW PA right now, guess going up and down 2 flights of stairs several times a day will have to do for now.

I need to come up with healthier ideas for breakfast in the morning. Usually, I just want to grab something quick and go up to my office; but I need to remember how important the first meal of the day is. AND not to skip lunch either; which is usually what I do. Bad, bad, habits.

My Blog/Website: I just can't seem to get motivated to work on it. I have all these ideas, but not the umph to get them going. I bought a dot com for it too, so I don't want all that to go to waste. I know once I brake down and get it all done, what I want to do with it in the future will be so much easier to work with.

My Disney Trip Scrapbooks: I only got one done, my 2010 book. I started on 2012, and 2016 ... but never finished either one. Hopefully I can get them finished before our trip back to the magic next year.

My book: I have been wanting to write a book either about my experience with breast cancer x 2 (2023 and 2024) or an inspirational guide for those going through it. I have so many documents and daily journals to go through, edit, and put together .... then there is the task of finding an editor and publisher. It is a lot of work for sure.

I also wanted to take a stab at writing some children's books ... but then I would have to find an artist to do the images and that is an even bigger task. I won't let AI do it for me, I would rather let someone's talent get the credit.
 
@honeybee Melissa, I totally hear you about needing to exercise more. That is how my sciatica came back, I think. I forgot to put a gym goal down, but I'd like to do some major exercise at least 3x a week.

May I suggest a healthy option for breakfast? Do you have a rice cooker and does it have an oatmeal setting (most do these days)? Cooking oatmeal in your rice cooker can be staged the night before. We like to add things like frozen berries, peaches, or even jam. Cinnamon and brown sugar works too.

I have a blog that I took a break from about 2 years ago (so I could work on my master's). I'd write reviews of books I'd read or my own whimsical ramblings. The thing about a blog is you have to have a schedule and no matter what, post that day. That's what I found helpful anyway.

Good luck on your scrapbooks! Again, it's just a matter of setting aside time to work on pages. Templates make things tons easier! And wow, you want to write a book--awesome! Looks like you have a pretty good handle on how that works. I wish you luck for that, too!
 
I can always use some motivation, so I'll add my goals too, even though I'm basically a month late. :)

- Be more mindful of why I'm eating what I'm eating. I am an emotional eater, and my nervous system is all over the place, so I tend to eat whenever I have any negative emotions. It just makes me feel better in the moment. The problem is, I do NOT feel good. I'm carrying a lot of extra weight, partially due to overeating, and partially due to perimenopause. I want to feel lighter and more energetic, and I feel like a good starting point for me is really thinking about why I'm choosing to eat so I can recognize my own patterns.
- Stretch and do movement exercises daily. This goes along with my other goal. I've been having so many aches and pains. My feet hurt, legs hurt. It's getting ridiculous, and I don't want to lose mobility!
 
@kelley I've practicing qi gong for a while, and the breathing exercises help to manage the bad emotions and anxiety, as well they are so easy to do, and gentle to the joins. My neck and shoulders thank to qi gong. I wish someone had told me when I had the perinomenopause that drinking water is the best that you can do to your body, if possible check some keto diet, I started a keto diet six years ago, and it was one of the best decitions that I've ever made.
 
Kelley, perimenopausal weight gain is something I definitely identify with! (((HUGS))) My sciatica sometimes interferes with my regular workout, but I need to get back to the gym and just do it. Water definitely helps! My urologist (I had a kidney stone) told me that if you drink 80-90 oz water daily, it almost doesn't matter what you eat--it will keep away the kidney stones.

Grace, thanks for helping Kelley out! I may give that qi gong workout a try. I feel like I need something new.

So far, I'm doing OK with my current goals. I'm taking a month off from school, so that is kind of a relief--no homework. I need to do regular exercise as well as my sciatica ones, or the pain will come back (pun not intended). I'm not reading as much as I should and I have book club in a couple of weeks. I'm doing pretty well on water consumption, so yay for that, lol!

As for what's going on for me, I have my youngest child's college graduation activities in less than 2 weeks, then we are taking them and a friend to Hawaii for just over a week. That will eat up the end of May and I start my next course in June.

Health and best wishes to everyone! <3
 
GOALS for 2026

Scrapbooking:
*Get A page DONE, Oh come’on girl! (got two done, but they were traditional paper)

Cards:
*mailing birthday and anniversary cards every week

Life in General:
*journal daily
*log my meals
*desk exercises once every 90 minutes

Apr/May - I can’t believe that I haven’t even chimed for over a month! Figures.
Well… let’s see.
Easter weekend was pretty huge. Lacy, Nick and Kolten were confirmed in the Catholic church on Saturday night at Easter vigil. THREE HOURS later, at 1150pm, we finally got home. smh… We’re not Catholic, but wouldn’t have missed it for the world! We’re very happy for them. It’s something that they obviously took a lot of time and thought and prayer about.
Easter Sunday was at their house for brunch. It was wonderful.
The following weekend was one of my bestie’s birthdays and we had an EXTRA-LONG weekend (Th-S) retreat not far from home. In fact I had to scoot home once to grab some extra supplies and then I drove us all to dinner one of the nights, only about 5 miles from home! HAHAHA! The great thing about that was that Lacy had called and asked to exchange cars because Kolten was practicing for his driver’s test and was going to be using my car. I drive a Kia Sportage. Mom drives a Chevy Traverse and Nick drives a Ford F150 4-door! Kolten was used to driving their old Equinox, closer to my size. I didn’t mind at all since hers is MUCH newer and had all sorts of bells and whistles. WooHoo!
The next week, April 17th to be specific, one 16-year-old Kolten Wyman Cooper successfully passed his driver’s test on the FIRST attempt. As is tradition, he drove to Grammy’s house, showed off his new license and backed out of the driveway for a full day in Grammy’s car of “joy-riding”. Yup. He got the car for the day. Under the express requirement, “no riders” and “don’t get into trouble”. Where does he go? To school to take a test! WHAT? That’s my kid! Gotta love him. Straight A’s and he doesn’t want to mess it up. So he went JUST to take the test and then to Chipotle and then minigolf and bowling and somewhere else. Saturday we met for his birthday dinner and I got my car back and he was so happy. He’s a great kid. Love him SO MUCH!
Then LAST weekend, I spent in New Ulm, MN (90 minutes SW) with my upline for her 25th Stampaversary. Kinda big deal. 25 years with Stampin’ Up, just happened to occur on the 25th of April, so it was her Golden Stampaversary. She had a big celebration event at her church and she asked several of us to teach card classes at the event and asked me. I was honored and spent the weekend. Then turned around on Monday and went to St Cloud (90 minutes NW) for a school/state billing conference.
The BIG NEWS….
I'm on a LOA. Left at 1130 on Friday and officially begins Monday. I'm done. Retirement officially June 10th, but I'm out. They did it to themselves, the way they've treated me for the last six months. The kicker was when they posted my job on Tuesday (while I was at the conference) ..... TWO rate classifications HIGHER than what I'm at now. Never told me. Never gave me a warning, head's up; never offered ME a "bonus" of any kind. They obviously think "the job" is worth the increase. They just don't think I AM WORTH the increase. So, that's it. I may have some out of pocket for my insurance if my PTO doesn't cover it, but I don't care. I am the ONLY person in the district who does my job. They can figure it out. I've warned them for the last 12 months that I was retiring and they haven't lifted a finger to get ready. I was going to be gone in five weeks anyway.

Take care!
Love and Blessings!
Carla
 
GOALS for 2026

Scrapbooking:
*Get A page DONE, Oh come’on girl!

Cards:
*mailing birthday and anniversary cards every week

Life in General:
*journal daily
*log my meals
*desk exercises once every 90 minutes

May 10/18 - It’s been hard; a rollercoaster. Lots of tears and anger. But I’m really close to being sort of over it. How does that sound for a commitment?!? HA! I think it really hit me when I was driving with my bestie to pick up a piece of furniture and I said to her that they’d be in the same position if I’d been “hit by a bus”. I knew I was NOT irreplaceable. I just took care of the situation for them. I hit myself with a bus! BUT!!! The big difference is, I’M STILL STANDING! I left them in a lurch. They have to figure out how to deal with life without me! And that’s going to be tough because I really, truly was THE ONLY PERSON who did (and knew) my job. So good luck to them. And good riddance.

So last week was a little tough. Two funerals and the dentist, but it ended gloriously with two lunches on Thu and Fri. Thu was so sweet. Several of my billing ladies from other districts wanted to take me out to celebrate my retirement so we met in the middle. Then on Fri I met a dear old friend for our bi-monthly-ish lunch/dinner/whatever we can fit in THREE-HOUR meal. And yes, we do stretch it out for at least three hours and we never know how we talk that long, but it’s always that long.

Yesterday was a baby shower for bestie’s son and DIL and the weather held off long enough that they were able to hold it outside. It did thunder-storm last night which Harley was none too happy about, but we got through it.

And that’s about it.

Take care!
Love and Blessings!
Carla
 
GOALS for 2026

Scrapbooking:
*Get A page DONE, Oh come’on girl!

Cards:
*mailing birthday and anniversary cards every week

Life in General:
*journal daily
*log my meals
*desk exercises once every 90 minutes

May 24 - MUCH better week of almost nothing to do. I had a couple appointments but that was about it. I’m just trying to relax now and enjoy reWIREment, as a friend called it.

Take care!
Love and Blessings!
Carla
 
GOALS for 2026

Scrapbooking:
*Get A page DONE, Oh come’on girl!

Cards:
*mailing birthday and anniversary cards every week

Life in General:
*journal daily
*log my meals
*desk exercises once every 90 minutes

May 31 - Had a really pleasant week. Got my nails done just in time for the district milestone and retirement celebration. It was actually pretty nice. The best part was when I went to shake the hand of the superintendent and instead he hugged me and whispered in my ear, “You’re missed in the office. Just so you know.” I was so taken aback. For the first time ever I thanked him and called him Michael. I’ve always referred to him as Mr. Baumann just because he’s one of the few people I’ve always respected.
Friday was our 45th wedding anniversary and we went out to the Lake. Our Lake Minnetonka, where Freddy grew up and had lunch at a new hotel/restaurant The Shoreline. It was really nice. Saturday morning we drove south a bit to our dear friend Lindsey’s new spot for breakfast and came home with loads of leftovers!
Today was just a chill day.

Take care!
Love and Blessings!
Carla
 
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