The Healthy Pony Contest! NOW to NOV 1st

[Crowning_Glory13]

Those are amazing!!!! They look do detailed!!!! I am behind on announcing and shipping it wont happen until the weekend:) sorry for the delay.

[LadyAmalthea]

I guess this is the last day to update, so I will! I really fell off at the end there, both with the exercising and the money spending. I don't know what happened. Well, it is a time thing with the exercising, plus recovering from a minor injury, so I suppose that's not a mystery, but why I fell off the spending wagon, I really don't know. Maybe it was because my husband bought a project car (when we already each own 2 vehicles)and I feel like our money could be better spent elsewhere, or because maybe I feel like, well, if we're doing well enough financially that he can drop money on that, then why should I feel bad about spending a small fraction of that on my own hobby...at least in the moment, until the guilt kicks in. I will never get used to not making my own money...it was never my dream to be a stay at home mom. I never feel like the small stipend my husband gives me is really 'my own' money to do what I want with, no matter how often my mother and others try to tell me that it is; if he had to hire childcare for 3 kids, a maid and a cook he would be paying way more than the couple hundred bucks every month or 2 I get. So the spending goal is really more about making myself feel better about what I'm spending my money on, and quite frankly, I don't regret any of my purchases this month, only the shame I feel about it. If I were working and earning my own money from an actual job (I mean, I DO work!), I wouldn't be freaking out about it.

I did get a bunch of my projects started, and that is something I can be proud of. One of which I wish I didn't start...that stupid castle...because I don't want to finish it and my son is going to continue to badger me about it, but I'm a little stuck on the logistics of its construction and I don't want to devote my limited time to thinking about it. But I'm happy with my pony projects so far.

As far as the school/bedtime schedule, I feel like I've succeeded! Kids get in bed at a reasonable time, and I have never been late dropping my son off for school.

Meal planning is hit or miss. Some weeks I make the meal plan and stick to it, some weeks I am stuck winging it and we eat Hamburger Helper.

It has really helped me reach my goals by writing them down. It has helped organize them in my own head to have them out there in a physical place I can look at and go back to to remind myself what I'm working towards. I didn't accomplish everything, but I did accomplish some things. November is going to be a whole new set of challenges for my family as my son begins his long-awaited ABA therapy; our routine will be completely disrupted and it is good that I made the changes I did back in September in order to work our way into this new phase. Sorry, I totally rambled on and on here, but just wanted to wrap up my past couple of months. Thank you for giving me a place to do this.

[Crowning_Glory13]

I loved what I got to read!! No rambling here...it was amazing. So many positives that just warm my heart. I know online business can be daunting and had some issues but it's worth a try. My wings and online sales are my pony fund. I do work but we have many goals to reach. As a child care worker we are underpaid and so are you!!!! Haha. It is ok to take a project break. If I keep at something that frustrates me I make it look ugly or put a match to them....so step back you might find the simple answer when you step away.

I have come to the realization that I can no longer do free shipping:( the cost is going up so high I just dont have the extra funds. I love doing games, photo contests, and giving prizes, but I just dont see anyone participating if I dknt bribe them...sigh.

Wings have been sent!!! I have 2 prizes and only 2 people gave me their address. So those 2 people got PM with tracking!!! I flaked out on trades recently. Nothing was really set in stone...I just did not have time and some were feeling like work:( so i just went quiet.

I did not reach much for my goals except the wings and i am grateful for that part. I will back away from healthy pony until January. It gets crazy busy for me either music lessons this time of year!!! Anyone can totally take over if they choose to.

Good luck to all of you.

[BlackCurtains]

Thank you for hosting. Sorry I didn't participate more, but there were/are a lot of obstacles in my way. I don't think setting goals for myself really works. My health is so unpredictable and with everything else going on in my life, it just takes over. Then I get depressed and mad at myself for not finishing the goal, which I think is the opposite of what it's supposed to do

Maybe in January I'll be in a better place mentally/emotionally and I can have more fun with it.

[Crowning_Glory13]

But you took the time to try and see it didnt work. That is ok:) the only way for your desires to come true is to find the path that works best for you:) learning is always a plus.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

Didn't quite hit my next weight goal but I did keep running and I did lose inches and even if I have some to go, I know that I can manage it with time.  And I did more projects than I set a goal for. 

November is the beginning of Nanowrimo so we'll see how many projects I actually finish--but I have several stories started that could use some major work so maybe those will count as my projects next month. 

I look forward to the next one! 

[Crowning_Glory13]

I have wanted to do write a Novel November!!! I just have no working lap top:( so out of date. I do hope to get one soon for my music lesson business.

I have thought this over. I might be doing healthy pony for Nov and Dec. No prizes or anything but a forum open to those wanting advice or pick me up or just a safe place to record progress. I know the holidays get busy so it's more of a place to feel loved:)

[LadyAmalthea]

I loved what I got to read!! No rambling here...it was amazing. So many positives that just warm my heart. I know online business can be daunting and had some issues but it's worth a try. My wings and online sales are my pony fund. I do work but we have many goals to reach. As a child care worker we are underpaid and so are you!!!! Haha. It is ok to take a project break. If I keep at something that frustrates me I make it look ugly or put a match to them....so step back you might find the simple answer when you step away.

I have come to the realization that I can no longer do free shipping:( the cost is going up so high I just dont have the extra funds. I love doing games, photo contests, and giving prizes, but I just dont see anyone participating if I dknt bribe them...sigh.

Wings have been sent!!! I have 2 prizes and only 2 people gave me their address. So those 2 people got PM with tracking!!! I flaked out on trades recently. Nothing was really set in stone...I just did not have time and some were feeling like work:( so i just went quiet.

I did not reach much for my goals except the wings and i am grateful for that part. I will back away from healthy pony until January. It gets crazy busy for me either music lessons this time of year!!! Anyone can totally take over if they choose to.

Good luck to all of you.

Childcare workers are underpaid (much like teachers) for what they do...it's unfortunate. Kind if a quandary, as the cost of childcare is so expensive  and in some cases, unaffordable, so in order to raise the wages, the costs of it would have to go up. A catch-22 if I ever saw one! When I was working, I looked into a daycare center for my son and it was $80/day. When I found out I was expecting twins, the first words out of my mouth were, 'I'm going to have to quit my job, then, right?' No way could we afford it for 3 kids!

Shipping is getting ridiculous these days. Another reason I need to scale my Ebay addiction back. There's no such thing as a good deal anymore once you pay shipping. Totally understand why you can't offer free shipping...hopefully people will still participate anyway. I will! It helped me organize some of my cluttered thoughts, even though I didn't succeed at all of my goals.

[Ponyfan]

I want to participate but I’ve been really bad at posting and my motivation is completely dried up even though I know I should try to be healthier.   I’ve tried setting small goals vs large ones or goals that mean something to me but my motivation is still lacking.

One positive though is I’ve continued learning French on Duolingo and can understand a few words and phrases.

Ponyfan

[Crowning_Glory13]

Ponyfan that is still great!!! That motivation will come. It too 5 healthy ponys to kick my junk food addiction so that motivation will come. Each try is a step closer:)