Have you ever lived next to a nasty neighbor?

Here’s hoping that our neighbors never find this little old website…we have one family that live right next to us and to put it nicely, they are jerks.

Most of our neighborhood consists of friendly retirees with beautiful lawns and freshly washed cars.  They usually always wave, and never call the cops on our early morning hammering.  Then we have our jerks next door.  Mean since day one.  Have called us in to the city officials for a supposed leak in our pool, all the while violating about four or five city codes themselves.  We wave, they glare.  Don’t even get me started on the oil stains in front of our house.  End Rant.

Today, we are going to make an effort. Let’s think about it.  Fenced in back yard for leisure, long days at the office, a garage that lets us in and out of our house with no human contact, no kids to play outside, no time to wash our car, no time for anything really.  These are the things that make us inaccessible to our neighbors.

With the fantastic weather Missouri has been dishing out, we are going to take this week to be outside.  Social butterflies in our community, hopefully someone will talk to us.  Or at least wave while they are driving by.  We also made a deal to go to our next community meeting…maybe it will give us an edge in the holiday decoration contest.

Are you a good neighbor?
Do you live in a community of youngsters?
Should I bake our mean neighbors cookies?

This Monday’s challenge seems especially appropriate after our announcement last week.  By the by, I just have to thank you all again….seriously amazing.  So much support and love. Did you know that 50% of adults do not get enough physical activity and 24% are not physically active at all.  Not even a little bit.  Not even a stroll across the living room to change the channel on the boob tube.  That results in 66% of people being overweight.  Hello my name is Christina, and I am lumped into that 66% club.

Even worse is how being overweight affects your health.  One in three adults have high blood pressure, hi that’s me again.  Over 100 million people have high cholesterol levels.  These health conditions can lead to strokes and heart disease, which by the way cause deaths every 36 seconds.

I am no doctor, and I am not telling you to go out and run a marathon tonight.  But maybe take a walk, or just take the stairs.  You could even just park really far away when you stop at Target.  Stop saying, “I don’t have time” and make thirty minutes of sweating a priority.  Drink your water, do some stretching, and set a goal.  Now close this window down and get you some….exercise that is.

Tim and I have been hiking on weekends lately, and one of our new favorite things to do is bring a little plastic bag and pick up as much trash as we possibly can.

It all started when Tim picked up one little bottle, now we have started making a game to see who can pick up the most “treasure”.  Today I want to translate our little beautification process to everyday life. You know how we love our animals, so I find it disturbing that nearly 300 species die from ingesting or getting entangled in marine debris annually.  What a shame, think of the ducks.

If every single person picked up just one piece of litter today, there would be over 3 million fewer pieces of litter.  If everyone picked up 10 pieces, there would be 3 billion fewer pieces.  Even though picking up just one piece seems like it could never make an impact, it could be saving a little life while improving your community.

Confession time:  Are you a litter bug?

This Monday’s challenge holds a special place in my heart.  Mainly because it is something I absolutely love to do…but always find an excuse not to.  Usually those excuses revolve around that pesky little thing called time.  Always holding me back. Did you know that only 1 in 6 people read at least 12 books a year?  Did you know that book buying only makes up 6% of recreational spending?  Did you know that 43% of habitual readers participate in volunteer work?  That’s right…good people read and there aren’t enough of us.

The last really great book I read was The Host by Stephenie Meyers, and please don’t judge a book by its movie.  Speaking of, when does the second Hunger Games movie come out?

Today, I challenge you to start a new book.  If books aren’t your thing, then buy someone who does enjoy reading a book.  Promote literacy my friend, be a do-gooder.

What was the last good book you read?
Did you watch The Host?
How do you feel about my married name being Christina Gray…hmmm.

I feel like a whole new woman after this weekend.  Totally invigorated and remotivated.  I had a really rough last week putting on my management pants, so this week I talked Tim into some “resale retail therapy”.  We went to our very first estate sale, and have now declared ourselves addicts.

I can’t wait to tell you about all of our treasures.  But first, I want to get this week started on a better foot and Make this Monday Matter.  This challenge will be a tough one for me. I will hang my head in shame as I admit that I have a lead foot.  It is only because I am perpetually late, which is a whole different story.  At least once a day I curse myself for not leaving earlier.  Tim thinks I thrive on the pressure and chaos, I think I just like my bed a little too much.

Did you know that car accidents are the number one killer of people ages 4-37.  Not to mention those tickets are never cheap.  We are all in a rush, but is it really worth the sacrifice.  Whether it’s a ticket, insurance claim, injury, or worse…is it worth the few minutes you shave off.  Probably not.

Let’s slow down today.  Maybe even use a blinker and wave at people who let you in their lane.  You may even have time to smell the roses.  What a novel idea.

Are you a speedy driver?
Ever gotten out of a ticket?
Anyone else always late?