September, Plus August, Revisited

[all of these, plus eat more ice cream. duh.]

Most of August was spent transitioning from the wonderful, glorious summer to the return of the school year. My goals were simple, but maybe not completely obtainable:

1. Be in bed 10:10 on work nights- I'd say I basically did this, at least 90% of the time. The problem? I'm not going to sleep, whether it's because I'm on my phone or I can't turn my brain off (<-- font="" this="" usually="">

2. An average of 12,000 steps a day- Thanks to the work Fitbit challenge group I'm in every week I am able to do this. Even with that many steps (or more) I still don't usually win! I generally come in third or fourth, since we have some super active people in the group, but it's motivating and fun.

3. Yoga three times a week- I started off doing really well here, but the heat has really put a damper on things, as has choosing cardio as my exercise of choice lately. 

4. Grade summer work- YES! I left work this week with it all in the grade book. Sadly, this is probably the fastest I've ever gotten it done.

5. Spend less money- This didn't happen for two reasons. The first is because I started buying myself things to make myself happier about going back to work. The second is because I had to spend $400 on new brakes. 

September

September is a long month, but we have a lot of fun things planned and the weather is getting cooler which makes me SO happy. I'm fine with the heat when I'm off during the summer and can hang out in the pool, but now that I'm at work I want to be able to walk to my classroom to the car without sweating, not to mention that I miss our long afternoon walks before dinner. Here's what I'm hoping will magically happen this month:

1. No social media, email, or blog-reading in bed at night: I don't care about texting, because there's an actual a purpose there (twenty-first century communication, thanks), but I'm done checking Facebook or answering work email when I get into bed at night.

2. Planks every day: Man, what sad excuse for abs I had at one point are long gone. I love planks because they work you core, arms, and legs, so you get so much bang for your buck. We'll see what I can do in a month. It's important to be in the best shape possible for the holidays, so when I let myself go to shit I am really just getting back to the shape I am in right now. If that makes sense. 

3. Watch 10 TED Talks: I love TED Talks, but for some reason haven't watched any for awhile. I don't have time to watch full documentaries right now, so this is the next best thing. 

4. Finish an audiobook: I have a serious Audiobook Situation right now, which maybe I'll post about later. But finishing one this month would be progress.

5. Sign Up for a 5k or a Toe Surgery (or both?): I have been buddy-taping my useless piece-of-shit toe to the one next to it so I can run and it's helped a tiny bit, but I'm done with the pain and the inconvenience. I see the podiatrist later this month and I refuse to leave without a plan. There's a a 5k I want to do at UCLA in November, so if I haven't had surgery (if I end up going that route) I'll do it, pain and all.