Practice Wearing Heels

Let's do that thing where I anticipate what your reaction is here:

Amanda, this is the most ridiculous thing you've added.

I know. And I won't pretend that there weren't some very valid contenders for today's post. I still have a multitude of things that need to be decluttered and cleaned, such as my car, my bathroom, and my closet, to name a few. I also have fully intended to add to my exercise routine... eventually.

BUT, I have a paper due tomorrow, so all that takes a back seat. (I've already accumulated multiple hours of study/ work time today, and this puppy isn't even done yet). Slipping on a pair of shoes while I go about the rest of my business around the house though? Totally manageable.

As with wearing makeup, I don't believe that it is my obligation as a woman to wear heels. I'm sure anyone who knows me personally can count on one hand the number of times they've seen me in them. I tend to be pretty plain Jane with regards to how I dress, and that includes footwear. However, (fun fact,) from an aesthetic standpoint I love them. They are just so dang uncomfortable.

I realized a couple years ago that like working out or flossing your teeth, wearing heels might be one of those tricky things to get into because it hurts a lot at the beginning, but then maybe once you become used to it, it becomes more tolerable. This is still just a theory. I haven't actually worn them consistently enough to know. I did try to work my way up to real heels once. I bought a couple pairs of work shoes with about a 1 inch lift in the back. My goal was to work up to some of the fancier ones pictured here. That didn't take though.

The gold ones in the front are hands down my favorite. I'm not much of a shopaholic or shoe lady. These gave me a glimpse into that mentality though. When I saw them, I fell in love. I didn't need them for an upcoming event. I couldn't think of one thing in my (limited) wardrobe they complimented. I wasn't even sure when I would conceivably ever wear them. I just wanted them. I knew the minute I laid eyes on them that between the gold glitter and the platforms they were better suited for a drag queen or street walker than for little old me, and I didn't care. I have attempted to wear them in public approximately twice. The first time was to a club a friend brought me to a couple summers ago. She took one look and told me she didn't think I'd last the night in them. I had a pair of Tevas in for the ride home, already anticipating the sharp pain my toes and arches would endure. I got about halfway across the parking lot to walk into the club before circling back to the car for the more sensible option. The second time was for a staff event at camp. My feet hurt as I mingled, but I figured as soon as I sat down I'd be fine. The mistake I made was letting a gentleman friend of mine, who is of shorter stature, try them on as a gag. He was so pleased with the additional height and had such an uncanny knack for walking in them that he did not give them back until the end of the evening. I can't say I blame him. As I stood in front of the mirror today my immediate thought was, "Holy crap, I am a GIANT!"

In my current job, heels are completely impractical. There are a few women at my school who wear them, but I suspect they have more experience with them than I do. They also don't spend as much of their day wrangling 5 year-olds. When they do, however, in a pair of shoes that would make me nervous about twisting an ankle, I am always in awe.


Today's Accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Folded my Laundry
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Flossed my teeth
• Put on makeup
• Cleared off my futon
• Cleaned the corner of my room
• Checked my bank balance
• Went to a worship service
• Logged an hour of study time

Clean Out My Inbox

This is one of those nights when I am not up to doing a full on post on how a menial task fits into my grand life plan or reflects on my overall character. Guess what, my inbox is overcrowded and cluttered, just like so many other things in my life. Shocking.

Today's  trip to get out of the house was pretty amazing though. I went on a scavenger hunt at the National Mall organized through MeetUp.com. As I said on Facebook, this is exactly the type of thing I moved to the DC area to do. I got to meet new people and did a whirlwind tour of 6 museums. Afterwards there were drinks and dinner at Gordon Biersch, a nearby restaurant converted from an old bank. A perfect Saturday outing in my book. The event was organized through one of the many "geek" subcategories of groups. Everyone at the hunt had shared my affinity for the museums. Everyone on my team had a knack for riddles and word play (which is why we came in 2nd place!). Over dinner,  we discussed World of Warcraft, board games, crafts, This American Life and Planet Money podcasts, education reform and Zombie literature/culture among other things. Needless to say, I was in my element.

It was a nice change of pace. On the whole, I don't get to socialize much. I don't see much of my camp friends who live in the DC area. I've hung out with my coworkers outside of school only once this year. I love both of my roommates and their girlfriends dearly, but share almost no common interests with them. I am at such a loss for conversation topics with them that I'm now convinced I have social anxiety issues (I'd say "sorry guys!" but I'm 99% sure neither of them read this blog). It was nice to be back in a confluence of "my people".

Here's part of the list of clues we received for today's hunt. I'd be curious to see which of these riddles people find the most solvable.

Today's Accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Flossed my teeth
• Put on makeup
• Got out of the house
• Knocked something off my To-Do list
• Checked my bank balance
• Took a walk (I'll count spending 2 hours hustling around the National Mall as 'a walk')
• Logged an hour of study time (This now replaces "Did Some Homework")

Log an Hour of Study Time

This is the part where I start to up the ante. 

As previously mentioned,  when I put "do some homework" on my list, the emphasis unintentionally fell on the word some.  When it comes to homework and studying, I have always had issues buckling down to get things done. My earliest memories of procrastination/ academically related stress are from 4th grade. My guess is I didn't have much school work to do outside of the classroom prior to that. It always seemed that no matter how much time I spent sitting in front of a book, I never got much accomplished. I don't just mean in 4th grade, I mean through college and my first round of grad school.

I'm not a totally oblivious. I did realize that when I sit down to work, I am easily distracted by, well, anything and everything. When I first took a reading specialist course back in New Hampshire, I decided to figure out how much time I actually spent studying. I would start the stopwatch on my iPhone. Every time I checked my Facebook, got up to get a snack, started glancing at some unrelated reading material, wandered aimlessly out of the room, went to the bathroom or did anything that wasn't actually school work, I would pause it. It is a practice I still use to keep myself (relatively) in line. In those early days of progress tracking, I might get an hour of work done within a 4 hour block. Now, I'm down to 90 minutes or so on a good day; three hours on a not so good day. The study log above helps me keep track of how consistently I work overall (or rather, makes me face how inconsistently I work). I recently started to use the "lap" feature to illustrate just how long I actually sat and focused on a task for.

I'd love to tell you this was an off day, that I have an attention span of more than 10 to 15 minutes, but the fact is this is way better than it used to be. DOUBLE DIGITS! Hooray!!! (Sometimes, I am shocked I graduated high school).

There is an exception to this rule/ habit: When I have a paper due in 2 hours, my fingers nearly fall off from continuous typing. This is how I know that somewhere in me, there is a reasonably focused person. The trick is now coaxing her out on a regular basis. (When I described this whole thing to a coworker, she asked if I had ever been tested for ADD. I pointed out that when attempting a preferred task, such as sewing, I can work for up to 5 hours straight. These were literally my words. This is how I find myself talking now that I work with special ed students. Oh, life as a neurotypical- another new favorite word). My hope is by hitting the hour+ mark everyday, I can focus on shaving down the time it takes to get to that hour and/or stay focused for longer.

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Read a book
• Did my homework
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Flossed my teeth
• Put on makeup
• Worked on Wedding stuff
• Cleared off my futon
• Cleaned the corner of my room
• Checked my bank balance
• Took a walk

Take a Walk

With all this talk about how insignificant the amount of working out I've been doing is, yesterday I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. I would walk over to campus (just over a mile), do some homework in the library and walk back. The one cog in my plan? It's spring break at my university, so all the libraries/ computer labs were closed early. 

March in Virginia is turning out to be beautiful, so the walk itself was pleasant. The extra hour of sunlight from day light savings time this weekend didn't hurt either. I'll walk again a few times this week (hopefully). Next week I'll try hitting the library again.

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Did my homework
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Flossed my teeth
• Cleared off my futon
• Cleaned the corner of my room
• Checked my bank balance

Get back on Track... take 2

I had such high hopes for today. I set my alarm so I could get up and head out to the 9:15 service at the UU Congregation. I got up so early that I read for a while to pass the time. Then fell back asleep. No worries, I thought to myself as I drifted off. If I miss it, I can go for the 11:15. I woke up again at 10:55. Not enough time to get dressed and make it.

After getting up "for real" I puttered around the house a bit, then went out shopping. After I got home, I batch cooked 4 meals and cleaned the kitchen. I decided to take a quick TV break before diving into wedding planning and/ or academics. Two episodes of The Following, some internet browsing and four hours later, here I am.

Why post at all? Again- accountability. I realize not every one of these is griping reading. That's why I don't link every post to Facebook the way I did with Coming Clean.  I'm holding myself accountable for these small goals, yes. But the unspoken goal behind this or any other blog is to write everyday. It doesn't have to be earth shattering, but as mentioned, something is better than nothing.

Here was today's project off the To-Do list. Put up my Magnetic Poetry set in my room. When this was on my old fridge, I used to enjoy little creative moments while passing through the kitchen. My favorite part is the unexpected creativity. A few key words grab your attention, so you throw them together and hunt out the specific linking words/ phrases that will finish your thought; only 9 times out of 10 you can't find exactly what you're looking for, so you find something close, but those subtle differences change the meaning entirely. I always liked those surprises. Now it is set up next to the door of my room. Should be interesting to see what evolves.

Today's Accomplishments:

Made the bed

Read a book

Prepped tomorrow's meals

Prepped the coffee pot

Folded my Laundry

Flossed my teeth

Got out of the house

Cleaned the corner of my room

Knocked something off my To-Do list

Checked my bank balance

Vacuum the floor

As previously noted, recently I went through a "aww F-it" period. It is proving more time consuming than anticipated to bounce back from it. In the past things like, "clean out the corner of the room" meant look at said corner, confirm it is still clean from the day before, and check it off the list. Today, and all out cleaning spree ensued, which included vacuuming the floor. To give you an idea of roughly how frequently that happens, I'll tell you that I spilled a whole container of cashews roughly 3 or 4 weeks ago. I sucked up at least a small handful of them today from under the table.

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Read a book
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Flossed my teeth
• Got out of the house
• Worked on Wedding stuff
• Cleared off my table
• Cleared off my futon
• Cleaned the corner of my room
• Knocked something off my To-Do list
• Checked my bank balance

Get Back on Track

Bet you thought I was done with this blog, didn't you?

Bet you thought, "Well, she gave it a good shot, but once she started skipping days, the writing was on the wall."

Not exactly. Close, but not exactly.  I myself  contemplated that this might be the case;  that this, like many New Year's Resolutions, just sort of petered out after about 6 weeks.  

I have recently discovered that perhaps I have bitten off a bit more than I could chew. Turns out, Grad School + Wedding Planning + Work+  Trying to Pursue a Normal Adult Life +Blogging About All of It, is an equation that I have yet to master. 

Three things happened here: 

#1:  At first I didn't worry about doing posts on the days I had class, but I still kept up with the daily to-do list.

#2: Then I had a couple trips to New York to see the fiance, so nothing got done over those weekends. Funny story: I surprised Nick for his birthday by telling him that I had a paper due that Monday and I was in the library all day when I was really driving up to see him. He totally bought it and was super surprised.  Punchline:I was so convincing because I did indeed have a paper due that Monday. I just resigned myself to the fact that I'd write a whole 8 page research paper on Sunday night after a 5 hour drive. Which leads to,

#3: Even though I was making a point to do some homework everyday, it wasn't quite enough. Basically I was doing about 30 minutes of reading every morning. It was better than nothing, but in the same way that doing 6 minutes of a Shake Weight exercise is better than nothing, yet falls WAY short of a well rounded cardio/ muscle building workout.  I was hitting the same wall with my wedding planning. One  or two emails a day was not really getting anything accomplished. 

With the feeling that everything was due at once, I let the blog go. Then the room (as seen by the general disarray pictured above), then other parts of the list. I stopped reading for fun. My make-up bag remained closed. My Shake Weight started collecting dust.  I gave up on even the idea of culturally enriching trips to the city.  The bed did not get made. 

I could call it quits. I could decide that the fact that I failed to stick to a regiment negates the whole point of this project and means the whole enterprise was a flop.  If I do, the picture above is what my room will look like all the time.  I will gingerly step over laundry and haphazardly  push everything to the side of the table to make room for whatever chaotic "I need to get this done NOW" task has me on red alert. Or, I could accept that fact that this project is all about building better habits, and maybe that includes not simply throwing my hands up and saying "welp, I'm done" after a few minor set backs. This blog may not follow its intended format of daily updates, but like six minute workouts, some progress is better than none. 

Today's accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did my homework
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Folded my Laundry
• Flossed my teeth
• Worked on Wedding stuff
• Cleared off my futon
• Checked my bank balance
• Went to a worship service

Go to a Worship Service

There are plenty of get-to-know you conversations I have had as I've moved around over the past few years. Certain topics always get covered right away: Where are you from? What do you do? Where did you go to school?  What are your favorite books/ movies/ TV shows/ pizza toppings/ coffee flavors/ etc? 

Discussions about spirituality have been far much less common, but still arise. Interestingly, sometimes they come in the early relationship-building chats; other times I've known someone for years before the subject comes up. When I get asked about my beliefs, the response I give is the same. "We used to go to a Protestant Congregation on and off when I was a kid. Since then my sister has converted to Catholicism and a brother is now staunch atheist. Isn't that wacky?"  And my companions usually agree that yes, that is wacky, and we talk about that for a while and no one seems to notice that I've side-stepped the actual question.

When I went to Sunday School as a child and was told, "This is what we believe..." It seemed a bit odd to me that someone else what dictating what I believed. From my early understanding of the term, I thought to believe something meant you had the idea originally or had spent sometime thinking/ learning about it for a while and settled on what made the most sense. This definition of the term still feels natural. I have had conversations with both of my siblings about spirituality, and certain things from both of their view points have made struck a cord with me. But placing myself somewhere on the spiritual spectrum they represent has proven difficult.  And what do we do with issues that are hard to nail down? Set them aside and get busy focusing on something else (By we, I mean I, though I suspect I'm not the only one with this approach).

It's not that I never think about my personal relationship with a higher power or what I believe as an individual. It's just that I've rarely, if ever, consciously make time for it. This project, however, provides the structure I need to start examining those questions. It may seem odd to essentially place, "Find God" on a to-do list. It feels like it should come from some life changing event or that clarity should just strike me out of the blue. But I've had plenty of life changing events and none of them have pushed me toward a church. I spent my late adolescence/ early adulthood waiting  for an "Ah-ha" moment that never came.  I figure it's better this way than not at all. 

And where did I go this morning, you ask. Given the background I've just outlined above, I'm sure it is not surprising to hear that it was to a Unitarian Universalist Congregation. I have many Unitarian friends, and I've always like what I've heard about the sense of community that surrounds the individual spiritual quest. I'm not sure if I'll eventually join as a full member, or if this is just the starting point that leads to something else, but that's the beauty of this blog. I don't need to worry about what the end result is, just what I am doing today. 

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Did my homework
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Folded my Laundry
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Flossed my teeth
• Got out of the house
• Worked on Wedding stuff
• Cleared off my table
• Cleared off my futon
• Cleaned the corner of my room
• Knocked something off my To-Do list
• Check my bank balance

Check My Bank Account

The internet is filled with about a bajillion lists of "Things I Learned in my 20s". I've read many of them, but only one observations really stuck: "Making a budget that you never look at and not having a budget at all are the same thing."

While I am not great at even making budgets, I have felt the sting of ignoring the status of my bank account. I always figure, "I couldn't have spent that much this month/ week/ afternoon" and I am very frequently wrong. In an age where you can access bank statements in real time, as opposed to being sent one once a month, there's really no excuse for this. 

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Did my homework
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Flossed my teeth
• Worked on Wedding stuff
• Cleared off my table
• Cleared off my futon
• Cleaned the corner of my room
• Knocked something off my To-Do list

Chip Away At My To-Do List

Let's start with the obvious:

Isn't this whole blog just one big To-Do list?

Yup, but this is a different kind of list. This list consists of a myriad of things, many of them small, many of them I only need to do once. When I encounter a minor inconvenience  I almost never take care of it right away, if at all. Take the buttons on my winter coat, for example, the subject of tonight's post. I lost one a couple years ago. No big deal. It was still a perfectly functional coat, so no need to stress about it.

Then I lost another. Again, totally fine. It was mostly decorative anyway. 

Then I lost another.

And another.

I now have two functional buttons on my coat. I haven't been able to actually close it in a couple years. Makes you look like kind of an ass when you're bundling all the kids up for recess, insisting that everything is zipped up/ fastened securely, and you are constantly standing with your arms crossed to hold your own jacket closed.  NO MORE! These are some of the super sweet replacement buttons I got; gonna redo the whole coat. 

If you think this is exciting, just wait. I broke my glasses in December. That scotch tape that has been holding them together for the past couple months is potentially on it's way out. 

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Did my homework
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Flossed my teeth
• Put on makeup
• Got out of the house
• Worked on Wedding stuff
• Cleared off my table
• Clear off my futon
• Cleaned the corner

Clean Out My "Corner"

And so the cleaning continues. When I moved down here in September, I only had a car full of stuff. Not a lot of room for furniture, meaning I don't have a lot of horizontal surfaces on which to stack my crap. The corner of my room has been a great stand-in though. Tonight I finally unpacked all the stuff I got from Christmas and sorted that old pile of mail.

Looks like it may be time to invest in a bookshelf. 

Amid all the riff raff, I did stumble upon this note. It was in a composition book that appeared to be an early attempt at a project similar to this one (I had written, "The Dailies" in big sharpie bubble letters on the front page). Oh I am so pithy.... Good thing I had it there too, as clearly I also needed something on which to jot down some info on my car. Inspirational words and practical stats for my mechanic; gotta use up all the space I can. As a teacher and grad student, I'm pretty sure I only have access to about 2000 Post-Its at any given time. 

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Put on makeup
• Cleared off my table
• Clear off my futon
• Flossed my teeth
• Read a book
• Did my homework

Clear Off the Futton

I've decided that this week I will go on a cleaning kick. Maybe by the weekend I'll have my whole living area clean... maybe....

Today, I tackled the futon. I haven't sat on it in weeks.

My favorite part is the pumpkin. It is from a field trip we took in October. No signs of rot yet, but I chucked it anyway. I figured if I didn't take care of it now, I'd totally forget about it and then accidentally put my hand in rotting pumpkin goo one day.  

Not a lot in terms of other accomplishments today. Still trying to figure out how to pace/ schedule myself with a lot of this stuff. I will say that I have pleasantly surprised myself with how much I get done on days I don't do posts. Realistically, if I've hit everything or almost everything on my list, I don't have the energy to sit down and write about it. 

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Flossed my teeth
• Worked on Wedding stuff
• Cleared off my table

Work on Wedding Plans

I'm getting married in June. My fiance and I have been together for over 9 years and engaged for over two. We knew it would be a long engagement. We decided to wait until he finished dental school. I thought, "Awesome, I will have so much time to plan a kick ass wedding." This is true. I DID have so much time. I neglected to factor in my extreme procrastination through.

I decided I would make my own dress. That's where a couple hours of my weekend have sporadically  gone for the past couple months. ("Oh THAT'S what I'm looking at." I hear you saying. Yes. That is the top of the practice dress I've been putting together. Once I know all the ins-and-outs of the pattern, I'll start on the real thing.) We've gotten a few things done, but there's still a long way to go. Lots of emails to write, pricing to do, registries to make, craft projects to tackle, addresses to collect; the list goes on and on. Might as well throw this into my daily routine.

I did hit everything on my accomplishment list, but I'll be honest, it was over a two day time span. Like I said, I have a developing sense of self discipline. I'll get there though.

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Did my homework
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Folded my Laundry
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Flossed my teeth
• Put on makeup
• Got out of the house
• Cleared off my table

Clear Off My Table

Just after Christmas, I made a comment to one of my roommates that it looked like a tornado had come through my room. I hadn't bothered to clean it before heading home to New England. When I returned, the mess grew as I chucked all my Holiday loot into a corner.

A couple days ago, when discussing the overall cleanliness of our house, I told my roommate that it looked like a tornado had come through my room. I'm not sure he caught my repetitive script, but I did.  It is the exact same mess it was a few weeks ago, with only a few things moved around.

For those of you who have followed one of my other blogs, Coming Clean, you know that I am not a neat person. Hopefully by tidying up on a daily basis, I can work on breaking this habit.

If you've seen that blog, then you are also familiar with the before and after shots. This is my work desk/ craft table. I moved it out to the middle of the room two weeks ago to work on a sewing project. Just put it back today.

               

Put on Makeup

Let me preference this whole thing by saying that I do not believe women need to wear makeup. I usually do not. However, on the rare occasion that I do, I feel a little bit more put together and have an easier time taking myself seriously. So, I figured in the name of this grand experiment, I would try to wear it more frequently. 

I'll be honest. I am a bit of a magician when it comes to ladies cosmetics.  I usually start with some light eye makeup and just when I am starting to think, "Hey, I clean up pretty well" I loose all fine motor control. Somehow, one slight mis-stroke with an eyeliner pencil and I go from looking well put together to looking like Kesha... if she had been dragged by wild dogs through a swamp. It's a pretty remarkable transformation.  

Practice. It's all about practice.


Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Watched a Ted Talk
• Flossed my teeth

Floss My Teeth

A few things to cover this evening:

1) As you may have noticed, this "daily" blog gets updated maybe 4 or 5 times a week. I'd love to give you a viable excuse for the missing time, but other than a developing sense of self discipline, I have none. (Can you tell who's been working on teacher comments this week?)

2) No picture tonight. Sorry. I did not have the energy to take a handful of shots of my dental floss at quirky angles to make it look intriguing, pick the best one, upload it, etc.

3) Nothing would make me happier than to write an insightful, witty post every night. I have to be honest with you though, I can't bring myself to wax poetic over dental floss. Not tonight.



Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot
• Watched a Ted Talk

Get Out of the House

From the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden

Here's the short version of how I ended up in Virginia: I Googled "Graduate Reading Program near Washington DC". 

I had been to DC a handful of times in my life and loved it. It made sense to go to school just outside the city. I figured it would be great. I'd go in all the time to check out the museums, monuments, speakers, events, etc. 

To date, I have made more trips to New Hampshire and New York than I have to DC since moving to a suburb of Washington DC.  

So this morning I took the train in. Wandered around the Mall. Popped my head into a couple of museums I'd never been to before (Sorry Air and Space. You are still my favorite, but today was not your day). And knocked my homework out of the way by reading on the train home. 

It's not just the city. After work I come right home and I tend not to leave again unless it is for something super glamorous like grocery shopping. Now might be a good time to challenge myself to get out a little more. Not everyday, just more. I don't want to look back at my time here and just think, "Wow. I took some really great naps when I lived there."


Today's other accomplishments:

• Watched a Ted Talk (specifically this one on doing nothing for 10 minutes a day. Wonder if that will make it to the list eventually) 
• Did some homework
• Read a book
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot

Watch a TED Talk

  This is actually a post for yesterday. Kind of a lazy Friday. Above is the talk I watched last night.

 Back in 2007, I started living with my then boyfriend, now fiance. Our job schedules were slightly off kilter. He had to leave the house around 7am, and I did not have to be in to work until 10 or 11. Right after he after he left, I would begin a media-heavy morning routine that include The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, NPR and/or Democracy Now, at least one TED Talk and an entire pot of coffee. I became deeply infatuated this "Newsertainment" model. I was downright giddy whenever I saw the same person or concept cross-over from broadcast to broadcast (or maybe that was just the coffee jitters).

I won't say that this block of daily gluttony is something I am striving to regain. I do miss the exposure to new ideas that the TED Talks offered though. At the time, I was a fairly recent college graduate fresh off my first teaching job. I had been wrapped up in studying, discussing, and teaching language arts for so long that I hadn't paid much attention to what was happening outside of the realms of literature and education. These videos sparked an interest in me for topics I had either long neglected  or had never really considered: mainly scientific discoveries, real world math applications, and diverse viewpoints on history and sociology.  It is the spark I am looking to regain. As I jump into a new semester of grad school, I am want to avoid slipping back into the tunnel vision that makes me forget about all the really cool stuff that is happening outside of my own field.



Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Read a book
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot

Do Some Homework

It took all of two weeks of being in my new grad school to remember one key fact I had overlooked when deciding to go back: I am a terrible student.

Time management has been an issue for me since the dawn of my academic career. As early as 4th grade, I can remember getting up early in the morning to finish my homework, doing it on the bus on the way to school, or simply resigning myself to the fact that I would miss recess to compete it (assuming it got done at all). This continued on through high school, college, and my first graduate program. The irony here is that I would go on to teach whole courses on study skills, including time management. When looking over curriculum, I would often think, "Oh man, I could use this!" (Key word, "could", not "will" or "did").

Last semester I did the majority of my reading on the weekends. I neglected my "on-going" projects until just days before they were due. In the last week before break, I slept about 2 hours out of every 24.

The graded papers and projects I got back were all  in the A range. I would often wonder, if I could write something of that caliber in little time under pressure, what could I do if I actually applied myself consistently?
Maybe this semester, my 35th, we will finally find out.




Today's other accomplishments (all this and a new post by 8:30 am. Gotta love 2 hour delays):

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot

Sort the Laundry When It Comes Out of the Dryer

I have more than two grades of laundry, okay? There's not just clean and dirty- there are many subtle levels. If you hang this outside the window for twenty minutes, it's perfectly fine..."

-Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ghostbusters 2

This is not an everyday activity, or even a particularly exciting one for that matter. But, it is a necessary habit to get into.  Usually my M.O. is to leave the laundry in the basket I brought it up in, where it stays for roughly a week as I pull clean (and wrinkled) clothes from it daily. Usually, by the end of the week I put away whatever is leftover, fill the basket with the dirty laundry that takes up about 6 feet of floor space around the basket, and repeat the whole process. Just one of the many things I do to drive myself crazy that I am trying to put an end to. 

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Prepped tomorrow's meals
• Prepped the coffee pot

Prep the Coffee Pot

Let's be honest- every "I barely function until I have  a cup of coffee" joke under the sun already been told and then printed on a T-shirt that sells at that crappy "gift" shop at the mall that is essentially the middle-aged Mom's answer to Spencer's. I'll spare you the frills.

By putting grounds and water in the pot the night before, I make much less noise fumbling through the kitchen while everyone else in the house is asleep. Done and done.

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book
• Prepped tomorrow's meals

Prep tomorrow's meals.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Pesto Chicken and a Southwest Frittata

I don't want you too get too excited here. Cooking will not, at least at this stage of the game, be an everyday activity. Making sure I have food for the next day, however, will be. 

Like most people, Monday through Friday I have a small and/ or rushed breakfast and then have to find something for lunch. When I have no food in the fridge, that means hitting Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Lunch is purchased at the grocery store across the street form work. It usually consists of some sort of pre-made sandwich from the deli counter. These stops are tough on the wallet when they become a habit, and require me to leave the house early. Lose-lose. The other option is scrounging our kitchen for an eclectic mix of dry goods to throw into a brown paper bag. This is how I started pillaging my roommate's fruit snack supply. They go really nicely with a small can of pineapple chunks and left over Christmas candy.

And so, one of my new mini-resolution is to simply keep myself fed. Pack my lunch the night before. Plan for breakfast. Shop when necessary, not just when I feel like it. 

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed
• Did a little exercise
• Read a book

Read. A Real Book. For Fun.

I used to read a lot as a kid. I loved it.

 I loved it so much that when I went to college I became an English major. I didn't always read everything that was assigned to me, but balanced a steady diet of classic literature and recreational reading (Harry Potter books were still being churned out every year at that time. Lord of the Rings hit the big screen- meaning if you were a book nerd it was socially required to read as much Tolkien as possible. There was a cool locally owned book store within walking distance of my campus where I spent more time and money than I should have).

After college, I decided I would become an English teacher so I could share my love of reading with children (if you've read much of what I've written, you know it wasn't because of my impeccable mastery of spelling and grammar).

After a few years, I discovered everyone else who majored in English EVER also wanted to become an English teacher and the job market was just a tad over-saturated.  I decided to bring it to the next level and go back to grad school to become a Reading Specialist.

If my career trajectory stays on course, it will literally be my job to talk about reading all day everyday.

"WHOA!" I hear you saying. "You must read SO many books!"

That is where you are, very sadly, mistaken. This semester I spent hours each week with text books and journals, reading about reading. When my brain hurt from that, I escaped to Buzzfeed articles, blogs and whatever New York Times piece was trending on Facebook. The sad truth is, however, in the past five months, I have read two books recreationally. Two, since September.

I'm not saying that online reading doesn't count as "real reading". That's an entire debate that can be tackled elsewhere. But I didn't fall in love with reading sitting behind a monitor. I grew up in house with bookshelves in multiple rooms; where after my mother would read me my own books at bedtime, I would stay awake as long as I could listening to her read to my sister across the hall. Starting in my late teens, one of the only reasons I ever carried a purse is to hold whatever book I was currently reading. I abhor most shopping, but can spend hours in a bookstore.

I miss real books. I want to get back in the habit of reading them on a regular basis.



The above photo is of what is currently on my nightstand. 

Today's other accomplishments:

• Did a little exercise
• Made the bed

Do a (very) Little Exercise

This past fall I turned 30 and immediately realized my arms were starting to jiggle.

Mild terror set in.

Shockingly, the horror of this discovery did not prompt me to do anything about it.

But when the office Christmas party came around and someone *hilariously* brought a Shake Weight to the Yankee Swap... Jackpot.

Tonight was not the first time this came out of the box. After opening it at the Christmas party, a number of my coworkers tested it out. This is, however, the first time I've popped in the DVD and done the 6 minute workout. Yup. The entire 6 minutes. 

Today's other accomplishments:

• Made the bed

Make the Bed.

Yesterday, I got out of bed at 7pm.

No really. 7pm.

I did not go out the night before. I did not have a super stressful week at work. I am sick, but the head cold I have did not really necessitate sleeping in for an entire day.

As I rolled out of bed in the early evening, I reflected back on how I had accomplished absolutely nothing with the day. While my Saturday To-Do lists are usually jam packed with task that never get done, my slacking had sunk to a new level. I can count yesterday's activities on one hand.  Other than napping, I ate, watched some Netfilx, and read.

Clearly, something must be done.

I didn't have a clear cut resolution when the ball dropped earlier this month. Those that I had toyed with were variations on familiar themes: get healthier, be more organized, accomplish more things. These have been my basic goals since childhood. I have a split A/B personality. I can organize my thoughts and plan well, but execution has never been my strong suit. I have made countless personal schedules, 1/5/10 plans, fancy spreadsheet To-Do lists, and inspiring Pinterest boards. Yet here I am, looking sleepily at the clock and telling myself I'll get up in half and hour... if I feel like it.

So I am going to try a new approach. Instead of crafting a new five-part plan to turn my life around from the top-down, I am starting with baby steps. Everyday, I will add one small thing to my daily routine. This morning, I made my bed. Not a huge accomplishment in the grand scheme of things, but a starting point.

"Why the blog?" you ask. Simple: Accountability.

If you need proof of how little I get done until decide I need to blab about each small milestone, start reading here.