I have left two good paying jobs because of the stress and I am happier for it.  I still have some payday and bills stress, but I am able to work through it.  I would suggest to others that things are manageable, even if you do not this so at the moment.  I always ask people who may be facing a challenge, is your glass half-full or half-empty?  That usually puts thing in perspective.

I will invite others to walk with me.  I did try and have a "meeting" during a walk but it was not too successful.  Maybe if I leave the walk for more "mental health checkup" time and less work subjects, it would be better.

In the beginning, it was hard to stick to only working eight hours, but at the end, I did not waver and I stuck to my plan.  This was successful for me!

I have held on to more business professional type clothes thinking that I will wear them but I don't. I tend to have a core business professional wardrobe that I wear and the rest are not used. I discovered this by turning all my hangers backwards a year ago and then if I wear something, I turn the hanger forward. I plan to donate whatever is still on a backwards hanger when our Suits for Success event happens this year.

The Coulee Region is blessed by adequate clean, fresh water. But the Wisconsin has not taken care to preserve and regulate its aquifers in the middle of the state. Some industries are pulling huge amounts of water from the ground with little oversight by the DNR and other regulatory agencies. This needs to stop. There are also states looking to draw upon the Great Lakes as a new source of fresh water and this needs to be carefully controlled. Moving toward more water conservation is important as well as keeping our fresh water free of pollutants, agricultural run-off, bacteria, and viruses.

I know I was not addicted to sugar, but I thought I ate more than I needed to. As I reduced my refined sugar intake, and sparingly used other sweeteners such as honey and maple syrup, it felt good to move in that direction.

Well, this challenge initially stated that baking bread was an option too. I tried making scones from scratch during this challenge with my kids. I have a new appreciation for the old-world kneading that our forefathers and mothers had to do. The scones turned out okay. One of my kids liked them, the other—not so much. As for canning, I'd want to can tomatoes and cukes from our garden. We have the most of them. We currently deep freeze them in bags. I'll have to research which takes more energy, canning or letting them sit in a freezer for six months.