Taking on food, finances and work all at the same time ;-)

There are some weeks that are better than others...for the first week back to work after the summer holidays.  So far this week I've started work, began buying more organic produce, made meals that were more than pizza and macaroni and cheese and starting going through Dave Ramsey's Total Money MakeOver.  Overall a successful week I would say!

B has become more and more independent and interested in asking questions that are not only thought provoking but scary.  Tonight's questions began with "what is a question" to "what is information".  She has begun to question all aspects of life but sadly enough still worries consistently about all types of issues.  Her biggest worry is death - how to work through that with a 4 year old?  So we have gotten to the point of just not bringing it up at this point.  I will always answer her questions but for being 4 she has questions that are well above her chronological age.

We finished going through the "I Quit Sugar" recipe book today so next week we will begin our process of quitting sugar.  I wish I could say it would be easy but we all know that's a lie ;-)  Yet she is super excited to be involved in the process.  And that's a huge goal this year - in order to help her make good food choices when I'm not around she needs to be involved!

When it comes to money she is not being paid on "commission" - a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Junior concept.  Another project we did today was to go through and make a commission chart - things she can get paid to do around the house.  If she doesn't do the work she doesn't get paid.  We shall see how it goes!

New Year - New Goals

Today was the first day of the academic year in the UAE.  Teachers reported and many walked into new buildings.  We arrived Wednesday evening and are still adjusting after a summer of fun in the USA.  As I start the new school year I have a variety of goals to reach and am hoping by working through this blog that I'll be able to keep my goals within reach as well as become the parent I wish to be.  So here I am listing my goals for the world to see and hoping someone helps keep me accountable for these ;-)

1.  Finances - I came to the UAE to help my finances and haven't done a great job as of yet.  This year I'll be working through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and B will be starting the Junior version in hopes she will do better with finances when she is older!

2.  Running - I like to run but my consistency hasn't been there over the last year. So I'm planning on running the Abu Dhabi Striders Half Marathon on November 14th but that means I need to get motivated and do the work.  So here's me saying that I need to do it and I will be finishing it feeling good.  Do the work and it should be able to be accomplished.

3.  Nutrition - This summer I was really struggling with keeping the positive nutrition habits we had started and that really got shot to heck this summer.  So we're starting over and this time we're going to carry it through to the best of our abilities.

I firmly believe that small changes are the best way to go.  So each time there is an error then we reset and keep going.  It's time to stop quitting and instead move towards the path that makes us better people overall.