Amazing how the mind works sometimes

So..........

Another night where I just don't even know what to say. My mind is going a bajillion miles an hour, but I can't seem to form a coherent thought. The unexpected loss of our high school classmate at the young age of 40 has been on my mind most of the day, and has had me rethinking some things.

Heather was the last person that I would have ever expected to have had a heart attack. She seemed to be so happy and so healthy. She hiked and had a garden and a good job and just seemed happy. She was only 2 weeks older than I am, and when someone who is your age dies, it makes you think about how it could happen to you too. Or, at least it does that to me, but I also tend to overanalyze things.

Still...it got me to thinking...there are so many things that I could be doing to be healthier in so many ways. I know I could eat better. I know I need to exercise more. I know I need to take care of my finances better. I know I need to keep the house neater and more organized. OK, so maybe these don't all relate to physical health, but they are part of my overall health. And I know that I've made half-hearted efforts at these things before, but I never follow through with them.

So, I have some goals for the next few days. I am going to list them out here with the hopes that it will help to keep me accountable and on track. Yeah, we'll see how that works. Anyway, here they are, in no particular order:
1. Make a menu for the next couple of weeks - healthy meals and snacks.
2. Make grocery list from the aforementioned menu. I cleaned out my cabinets the other day so it should be easy to make the list and not buy a bunch of stuff that I don't need.
3. Go grocery shopping and actually buy the stuff on the list and avoid the junk foods.
4. Actually set aside time on my calendar to work out - either walking or working out if the weather is bad. But scheduled the time and then stick to it. I do have a half-marathon to prepare for, you know.
5. Set aside time every day to actually balance my checkbook. *gasp* I haven't done that in about 2 years. Time to start over.
6. Make a schedule for cleaning and laundry - that may sound silly to some, but if I break it down and clean 1 room and do 2 loads of laundry every day, it won't take long at all to do my housekeeping every day (instead of slacking for 2 weeks and then killing myself to get it all done).

If I can set up a plan - use the date book and plan out a schedule to do everything, and have it on paper where I can check things off as I get them done, I am much more likely to stick with it. I am the type of person who has to have things in black and white - and if I have to schedule when to do laundry, that's what I have to do.

I have to take better care of myself. It's something that I've never done, and I know now that I have to. No one else is going to do it for me.

Time to start on the menu....