I Love Me Month

February means a lot of things to a lot of people: I love to read month, Black history month, Valentine's Day, the Superbowl, Groundhog Day, Flag Day, and even Louis Riel Day. But for one stay at home mom, it is I Love ME month.

Big changes are coming. I quit my job at that woman's daycare and decided to start my own home daycare. Two kids start next week. I've also hired a personal trainer. It worked for me in the passed and I hope it will work again.

Both of these endeavors are costing me big money, but if I stick to it, there will be big rewards in the end.

Thank to family, I was given some seed money to start my little business. I've been buying as much second hand as I can find. Value Village and Kijiji have had some great deals on stuff I really needed. If this works out, I can add one more child to my home daycare, and I'll actually make enough money to live. I get to stay at home with my daughter, make money, and I can still go to night school in the fall. I can't believe the pieces are fitting together to well.

My career and family goals are on the right track, but I wanted to do something that was just for me. I desperately want to get back into shape. It's been 5 months and I haven't been serious enough about getting my body back, but now I am very serious. The only problem was that I didn't know where to begin.

All the things I used to do to stay in shape I can't do anymore. I can't join a gym or do pole dancing. I'm pretty much stuck at home until the snow melts and I can push the stroller without swearing. I have free weights, and my apartment complex does have stairs. But getting motivated is hard to do and I don't really know what to work on or where to start because it's been so long.

Enter Joel. He's a certified personal trainer who's created a work out plan just for me that I can do in my living room. He'll be meeting with me once a week for a month to go through the work out with me and really push me. He'll also offer nutritional advice. Tomorrow is our first day together.

I like idea of being held accountable. Yes, I'm doing this for myself, but when you do something for someone else, and try to please someone else, the stakes are higher and I actually like the pressure of trying to impress someone. It's like he's my boss or something. I'm just going to do what he tells me to do and work my ass off. Literally.

We'll see what sort of results I get after 4 weeks. If it's going well and I like working with Joel, I'll definitely pay him for one more month. The idea is that he's going to get me started and once I get into the routine, I'm going to keep up the good work by myself.

I really feel like I'm taking control of my life and making good decisions that are helping me to live a successful life. To all my readers, if you love yourself, make February I Love Me month for yourself and celebrate by doing something for you!