Freedom of the boxes
I just finished tearing up a lovely, empty 2008-2009 planner for recycling. I don’t know what it is that draws me to these things. The covers are always attractive, and when I stare into the inside, the well-ordered lines and boxes fill me with longing. I CAN fit my life into these little boxes, and I will! And I will be ORGANIZED!
This one, besides being pink and striped and flowered, had both a monthly calendar view and a weekly one. I like these the best, although on paper they are complicated because you have to put your entry in twice or something gets missed. But coming from the youth ministry world, where things are often “every other Tuesday” or “First Sunday night” of the month, I grew very accustomed to having the monthly view. I think Google calendars is slowly curing me of that, though.
For years, I have mostly kept my calendar in my head, usually because I forgot to bring the planner or couldn’t find it when I needed to write something down. Keeping it in my head made it easier, in some respects–forcing myself to memorize the calendar meant that if I forgot to write it down, it was still in my head.
But the Flylady says to write everything down. Ok. I am getting a little better at this with Google calendars. I don’t quite trust myself enough to not keep any of my calendar in my head just yet. And neither do I have instant gCal access (via the iPhone, ahem) yet, so I am keeping some things in my head still.
I do need to work on the instinctive habit of saying “sure” without consulting both the calendar AND my brain. This is causing much trouble. I’m learning that I’m not a spontaneous person; when an event is called because of rain or other reasons, often I’ll forget that I was invited for another activity or that there is something else going on that I could do and make all new plans instead. It’s gotten embarrassing, a little.
i think I just need to trust Flylady and get better at writing it down. And get that iPhone!
Quote of the Week
This, dear friends and companions, is my amiable object — to walk with you through the Fair, to examine the shops and shows there; and that we should all come home after the flare, and the noise, and the gaiety, and be perfectly miserable in private.
~William Thackeray, Vanity Fair
Did I figure this out?
problems and confusion. trying to use windows live writer. i think i figured it out. weird that i can’t post from my amyhaha account to the getoutphilly blog.
now i need to figure out how to send an RSS feed to friends with minimal pain and suffering (and time investment)…
Pre-Trip Insanity
Kristin and I are leaving in SIX DAYS!!! aaahhh so much to do still! Mostly packing and getting cleaned up around my house…but still final details like figuring out how we’re going to get to the airport (BOLT bus or Greyhound?), and filling the rest of the days with activities!
I had started to plan things on TripIt, but I really found that annoying. Microsoft Works has a great "Vacation Planning" Template is much easier to use, and more comprehensive too it looks like! I was sitting in a really boring training at work on Monday, and I made a list of everything I needed to do before I left!!
Ordered a bunch of books from Amazon, so excited! One is a general reference book about the history of Peru, it’s huge. Also a book on what to eat and how to order it in Peru, and a couple of travel guides. I wanted to order the Cusco city guide as well, but it would need to be ordered through the South American Explorers Club and I don’t know if I’ll get it in time!! I’m hoping the hostel or the SAE Clubhouse in Cusco will have the book that someone left (and also a Lonely Planet or a Rough Guide :)
Ok, time to focus and get some more done….gonna figure out how to update the blog and send out an email link to friends at the same time…
found!
I forgot to mention that yesterday I found the missing flash drive….in my new Redwing backpack! Used it to haul my computer a few weeks back, guess i tossed the flash drive in there without thinking about it. Very relieved to find it.
Nice Octoberfest (with a “c”, not a “k”, because traditionally Oktoberfests are held in September–really, this is the reason I was given!) today. Big inflatable obstacle course, fun. Then sardines in the dark in the gym. Sorry they are going to be losing that building.
Also I have really done some thinking on my NaNoWriMo project this year, and I’m going to take all these silly daydreams I have and turn them into a novel…maybe a bunch of short stories, but hopefully a novel. About what I wish could happen in life. Hope it won’t be too depressing….
Contacted the fellow who runs the volunteer meetup. Can’t believe I’m going to be getting involved with another project! Have had a lot of ideas about how to make something like that work. Also been coming up with more & more ideas about Get Out More Day, will have to start getting that together really soon…
Two days in a row! Record. Tomorrow I hope I can make it 3….calling Peru about the treks, will def post an update after that.
back again
First post in awhile; been purposely neglecting this. But am reading a book now that is again reminding me, “just do it.” So here.
Went on a day bus trip to Washington DC today. Two nice kids and another nice lady and a dozen other folks on a half empty bus. Wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was a “pilgrimage,” or so they billed it, to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Beautiful church, although it was only built in 1950. Gold & silver & marble everywhere. It was hard to walk through all that wealth knowing that there were people sleeping in the streets in the same city. How do people get so sidetracked? Monuments and shrines to God are one thing, but i think a lot of Catholics (probably other Christians too) seem to forget (or just put less importance on) the fact that we are called to serve living humans first….
Am nearly finished with work, having a very hard time buckling down & getting work done. But that is nothing new. Still no new job on the horizon yet, although my new resume is nearly finished. Also have my idea for NaNoWriMo down, I think…..don’t think I’m going to be able to pull together the retreat, just not enough time and too much to do. And too much to move; I don’t know how I’m going to get it all together!
Office Words 2008
cheating and posting this forwarded email from my dad from a few months ago. thought it was hilarious. will write about memorial day later.
BLAMESTORMING : Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was
missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on
everything, and then leaves.
ADMINISPHERE : The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the
rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often
profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to
solve.
STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.
CUBE FARM : An office filled with cubicles.
PRAIRIE DOGGING : When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube
farm, and people’s heads pop up over the walls to see what’s going on.
CROP DUSTING: Surreptitiously passing gas while passing through a Cube Farm.
MOUSE POTATO : The on-line, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato.
SITCOMs: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What Yuppies get
into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with
the kids.
SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only
to get screwed and die in the end.
SWIPEOUT: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because
magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.
XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one’s workplace.
PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the crap out of an
electronic device to get it to work again.
GENERICA : Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no
matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and
subdivisions.
OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve
just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting send on an email by mistake).
WOOFS: Well-Off Older Folks.
just do it.
i told myself i was going to blog today, even if i didn’t have anything to say. i have three drafts that need to be finished, but other than that i haven’t posted in ages. must write every day…..must write……every day……..
