Beating the Dead Horse

So, if you've ever met me or read my blog, you probably already know that I don't make resolutions. I'm just not a fan. They always get broken anyway, and I just don't need the guilt. However, being the obsessive list maker that I am, I can't let the beginning of the year and decade to pass without at least setting some goals for myself. I mean, it's always good to have goals, right? Right.

But first, let's review last year's list. I was certainly crafty, and in more ways than just one. I took up painting, and I did learned some new crochet skills during the summer lull at work. I did not take up beading (though, to my credit, I did help my mom pick out the beads for the watch that she made me. That counts for something, right?). Turns out beading is an expensive hobby, and I already have enough of those to keep me busy.

School. Well, I didn't finish, but I did get that much closer. I only have two classes and a CLEP test to take, as well as an advisor to speak with (again) about my Spanish credits--long story short I took higher level classes than they want to accept for my degree, which makes zero sense in my mind. So, I'll be done after the Spring and Summer semesters.

I am very happy to report that I made progress by at least one leap, possibly a few bounds, as far as the whole "Being Healthy" thing went in 2009. The biggest thing for me was ridding my life of the toxic assets that were weighing me down (in the most literal sense). Soon as he, I mean, said toxic assets and all the associated stress was gone, my body started functioning differently. Better, I would say, by much. And I can be nothing but happy about that!

I don't think much has to be said about writing. While I did a fair amount of it here in 2009, I also did a fair amount of it elsewhere. I took a writing class in the Fall, which was awesome, and I filled 3/4 of a journal between June and December. The whole staying organized thing was a partial success. I bought my place in June, and up until about October I did a really good job keeping it clean. Then the holidays came around and things got out of hand. That is shortly to be remedied though.

One of my first goals for 2010 is to deep clean my house. The Christmas decorations are coming down ASAP and everything that is currently piling up in my second bedroom will be packed back into storage. It really needs to happen--it's getting ridiculous. Also, part of that is actually purchasing a filing cabinet, because trying to keep all of my paperwork organized in the box that the folders came in is just not working out so well any more. So that's the immediate plan.

The more long term plan is a bit more complicated, especially considering how awesome I am at remembering anything other than birthdays, movie quotes and random bits of useless knowledge for very long. In 2009 I gained my independence in all ways save one, and now I face 2010 realizing more than ever that I am naught but a slave to the hormones and their resulting emotions even still. Now, I realize that I won't ever be able to fully conquer, and by no means to I believe that I can fully tame my emotions, but I do believe that by investigating the events and things that trigger my emotions, I will come to a more full understanding of them and myself. I'm hoping that this understanding of the causes can help me to reign in some of the more violent reactions to which I am prone (hey, I'm a Leo--it happens).

I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense outside of my own brain, but rest assured it makes sense to me ;-) I foresee this endeavor to be difficult because, as a human, it is my natural instinct to run from the things that scare me. In fact, my brain already resists the prospect of confronting some of the things that set off my emotional side. But, as the saying goes, the only thing to fear is fear itself. So I'm going for it, because it must be done for the sake of progress. Or something like that.

So that, more or less, is the plan for 2010 and beyond.

Lists. I Make Them.

It is FINALLY Thursday. It has been a REALLY long week. I have failed miserably at accomplishing most of my To Do list, which looks like this:

Monday:
Work (check)
Chiropractic appt (check)
Start writing required essay
Cleaning
Grocery Shopping

Tuesday:
Work (check)
Pottery class
Work on essay

Wednesday:
Work (check)
Homework (half check, because I did most of the required reading in the 45 minutes I had to spare between work and school)
Class (check)

And this is the list of things I have to do over the weekend:

Chiro. appt on Thursday after work
Write required essay (first draft only)
Grocery shopping (don't forget stamps and toothpaste!)
Buy and mail birthday card for the Shnookie Shnook
Cleaning (bathroom, kitchen, bedroom)
Brunch with the girls on Saturday
Laundry
Catch up on writing assignments I've been neglecting b/c they aren't due until the end of the semester
Have a social life
Post pictures of T's Tea Party on FB
Blog abt Halloween
Organize spare bedroom
Return Halloween costumes
Mail bills
Write for fun!
Clean out car
Start planning for Christmas (decor, gifts)

Now, I may be a list maker, and that's all fine and good, but when it comes to accomplishing the full list...well, I'm not so good at that part. I'm so not good at it, in fact, that I generally add things that have already been accomplished so that I can check them off the list. Pathetic? Maybe a little. Okay, a lot because I put things like "Make To Do List" and "Get Dressed." Surely things like that don't actually count, but like I said: It's nice to be able to check off some of the items on the list.

I really do need to get that stuff done. Not in any particular order, though, and things like cleaning out the car and organizing my spare bedroom aren't exactly time sensitive, so they likely won't get done this weekend. The really time sensitive issues are grocery shopping and cleaning, which always seem to be on the list. Seriously. Why can't my refrigerator just stay stocked and the house stay clean? That would make my life so much easier.

So, even though I make lists of things that don't actually get accomplished, that doesn't mean I don't get anything done. I don't need a list to get things done. I just need a list to keep track of all the things that need to be done. You see, if I write it down there is a permanent record of it at least. That way, should I forget (which is likely), I may stumble upon the list sometime in the future and be reminded. So I guess "need to be done" is too strong a phrase. It's more like things I want to do, or could stand to do, or probably should do, but not necessarily NEED to do. For example: I have made more than one list of all the different types of lists I want to make. What does that even look like? This:

List of Lists:
Bedroom Furniture to be buying
Office Furniture to be buying
Living Room Furniture to be buying
Crochet Projects in Progress
Crochet Projects to be finishing
Party Theme Ideas
Decorating Accessories
Household Things to be buying (sheets, towels, etc.)
Art Supply Restocking Needs
Christmas Gifts for Fam/Friends
Pieces to be made in Pottery

Etc., etc., etc. You get the point, which is that I'm a list making fool. Judge me if you will, I can take it.

The End is Near!

Actually, the end is here. Of the week, I mean. ;-)

So, it's Friday. Hooray for Friday. I am very much looking forward to not being awoken by my phone at 4:26 a.m. tomorrow morning. Knowing me, though, I'll probably wake up by my own accord at 7 ish, which technically is considered sleeping in if you get up at 4:30 usually, but is still uber lame.

Anyway. This week has been short and sweet. Wednesday was the dreaded Tax Day, and at my work, Tax Day is the end of what is traditionally a very stressful six months. This year's tax day was not too bad, since it fell on the day of the week that we are actually fully staffed. I'm extremely glad that it has come and gone. Now if all the people that missed the deadline could just go away, we'd be in even better shape!

In other news: Things that I found amusing/annoying/interesting/lame/etc. this week.

This Photo. Oh yes, deer are cute. But, um, drive up liquor store? I'm not really on board with that idea.

Hand made paradise aka internet crack (how many hours do you think I can spend looking at the "Recently Posted" scroll? If you guessed 8 and a half, you're right). Hello. My name is Jessa, and I am an etsy addict.

Dude. If you've never seen this site, your life probably sucks, and that's really unfortunate for you.

Check out this condo in downtown. Don't you dig the blue carpet in the bedroom? I sure do!

I was on Twitter a long time ago before it was all the rage, and I still think it's lame (sorry, AK. I love you, but I don't care what you're doing every minute of the day).

I've said it before and I'll say it again: This site will make you smile no matter what. Go on. I dare you to prove me wrong.

Netflix is my friend. It's going to take me far longer than the two week free trial to get through all the things I have in my queue. Oh well!

Apparently you can only apply to be on HGTV if you live on the East Coast or in LA. That's locational discrimination if you ask me!

Baudrillard's Simulacra in action:



I remember when Jim Carrey was the epitome of awesomeness...

So that's it. In case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening and good night!

Awesomness in a Stressful Week

Sometimes it's only the little things that get me through the working days. Okay. Most of the time it's only the little things. The big things (the big important things, I should say) don't always come into play in every day life, so one must cling to the little things to make sense of all the chaos...

1. YouTube Instructional Videos.

In particular, wheel thrown pottery and crochet. Watching other, more effective potters work on the wheel has been surprisingly helpful in more ways that one. Of course, most of them have pointers to give while they demonstrate, but also I get to see that no one is perfect. Simon Leach, who is awesome, even ends up with uneven rims sometimes and trims through his pots. Seeing such things is good for my confidence.

I was tickled pink to find so many crochet instructional videos! Reading crochet patterns online or in the books from the craft store is basically impossible for me, but watching someone do it and having them verbally outline the stitches and what not is like magic in my brain. I get it now! It's fantastic. Etsy here I come!

2. Speaking of Tickled Pink...

How freaking awesome is this? Pretty freaking awesome if you ask me. I want a pink dolphin!

3. Hulu is an awesome place.

Yes, I know I mentioned this before, but it's worth mentioning again. I watched two episodes of The Tick last night instead of doing my homework (because yes, I am awesome like that). HILARIOUS! Patrick Warburton is so fantastic...from Seinfeld to the Emperor's New Groove and now as The Tick. Love it!

4. Cute Overload Anyone?

I'm down. This site is so much fun. Seriously. There is no way this site will NOT make you smile. Don't believe me? Go there. I dare you. I double dog dare you.

5. Pottery, as always.

Should be an every day occurrence, really. I love it. I wish I had more time to do it. My life would be a lot less overwhelming if I had the time focus on the things that I want to do instead of the things that I have to do...The trick, I think, will be to make the things I enjoy doing profitable. Once that happens, I'll be golden!


So, it's probably sad that I can only come up with five things that have made me happy this week. My mind keeps reverting to all of the things that either piss me off or make me depressed. But I don't want to focus on those things. Negativity is never a good thing. So I will just focus on the fact that it is Friday, and that class was cancelled today so I get to go home at 3:30 instead of 4. Awesomeness for sure. =D

Won't You Take Me to Funky Town?

Bright spots in my week:

1. New color
Dark Neutral Brown. Eryn was kind enough to do it for me, then I did her highlights. We love having hair day at her house =D Weird picture, but whatev. It's a web cam after all. Which brings me to my next point...

2. New Compy
Acer Aspire 5100. It's pretty neato (way better than my Dell...), though it was a bitch to transfer all of the data from one to the other. You never realize how much stuff you acquire until you have to move it all.

Speaking of which, I'm already dreading moving. It's not going to happen any time within the next six months, and we haven't even toured any houses yet, but I'm already dreading having to pack all of our stuff up!

3. Chris

In a silly hat at Toys R Us. God I love that place...

4. Just now finding these pics from our recent jaunt up to Idaho!

These are my favorite kids ever. Seriously. And it's not often that I get to hang out with all of them together.

How can you not just laugh at them? I'd venture that it's impossible.

5. Pottery.

6. Finding this fantastic blog

Seriously. If you're from UT, or if you've ever been to UT, or if you know anything about UT, you'll totally get it. You'll probably even know someone (or multiple someones) like that (I sure do). Thanks for linking to it, Sarah!

7. Really?! With Seth

Really Kellog? Really? Hilarious because it's true!!

8. Cupcakes

Yum. Enough said.

9. Photoshop and Emo Valentine's

Emos need love too.

10. Candy

How do you resist that face?

You Look Like Me On a Sunday Morning...

That reference is for you April. =D

Reasons I love Sunday Mornings:

1. Sleeping in. Saturday's are no good for that...my body is still too use to getting up at 4:30, and sleeping until 7 a.m. hardly counts...I managed to sleep until 8 a.m. today. Not that much better than 7, but I'll take what I can get!

2. Breakfast. The hubby hub and I usually always have breakfast together on Sunday mornings. It's usually our famous breakfast potatoes, eggs (I like to have an omelet, he has his over-medium) and good bread (homemade or the expensive stuff from Costco). He makes the cappuccino. Today we added cranberry juice and my favorite tomato and cucumber salad. Yum!

3. Relaxing. Sunday mornings (actually, all day really) are my chance to relax and do nothing. All of my chores were done yesterday, so now I just have hours and hours to watch movies, waste time on the internet (Hulu is an amazing place, despite Alec Baldwin's annoying super bowl commercial for it...) and just relax.

4. Family. Sundays are usually my sister's day off, so I get to go hang out with them. My brother-in-law makes food, Eryn and I get to hang out, and I get to spend time watching my nephew grow up (right in front of my eyes it seems!).

All of the above are on the agenda for today. Plus, Eryn and I will be dying my hair. I'm going to go as dark brown as possible. I'm very excited about it!