want to mooooove

I've been so antsy at work all day long. I think because my day started with a 2 hour long meeting, I just felt like a little kid had grabbed onto both my legs and wasn't letting go so I was dragging them along. To combat this feeling, I have been running up and down the stairs all day, asking people downstairs to tell me when they have something that needs to go up, so I can take it. I also did 100 calf exercises on the bottom step of the stairs, and....I put a workout video up on my computer as background music - if I can't actually exercise, at least I'm preparing myself mentally for 5pm! Sick, maybe, but it's working. I can't wait to get done and work out.

I am debating working out here in my office, or going home. I think if I go home I'll find other things I need to do and won't work out as much. We shall see.

Otherwise, I need to make lunches, pick up/drop off dry cleaning, do my Sweatsuit to Swimsuit challenge video, and do SOMETHING with the dishes and the dining room table. I also need to eat one more servings of veggies for my StoS extra challenge. Tomorrow is karate, Friday I get off work early, and then - WEEKEND!

this weekend

I am surviving puppy-motherhood...she is asleep under my desk. My favorite times with her are when Adam gets home and we sit outside in white plastic chairs and watch the puppy and Rommel play tug o war with the chew toys, and watch as she bounces as high as she can t0 bite him the the face and then gets nervous and runs back to us and then goes to attack him again. There is also a pattern of her slowing down a little bit around 10pm while I am in the kitchen doing dishes and she comes and lays on my feet and chews on a treat while I make lunches and clean up.

Tomorrow I am working at a transition fair in the morning, and then I am working allll day long and then I have a staff meeting tomorrow night with my staff who are going on the Hollywood Trip with me. Wednesday I have the meeting with the clients who are going on that trip. It's going to be a very busy April for me...

but in any case, It's past 5 and I want to get home and get some bread started in my new bread machine! I also want to get the entertainment center my aunt Julie is giving me - because my house is beautimous right now. I made green and white curtains for the bedroom and bought a bedspread set that has green branches with flower blossoms all over it, and my room is one step closer to being like sleeping in a tree.

I have a bunch of tree branches in my trunk, which I will spray paint and use as curtain rods once I have time for that project. And I also plan on painting two of the walls a light green, and then buying some vinyl decorations from etsy.com - a tree sillouhette over the tv/dressers. ahhhhh yes. I love my bedroom. For a long time it had a "weird unliveable vibe" as Adam put it last night, and now it feels homey!

I am excited about speaking at the Good Vibrations Unschooling Conference in San Diego. I haven't been around a whole group of unschoolers for quite some time. Rosie's birthday party doesn't quite count. ;)

Oh, really quickly - since I last wrote, I made new friends, ate huge calzones, sang loud karaoke, watched the production of Little Shop of Horrors that Roxana asst. directed, saw I Love You Man with said friends, had an A2A event (edison dance), and celebrated Naw Ruz with my family, had long and wonderful discussions with Adam, started watching a new tv show (East Bound and Down...?) made a casserole, scrubbed the bathroom, did 6 loads of laundry - actually, this is not "since I last wrote" but "what I did this weekend."

At some point I'd love to follow up with a friend's post that is titled "I can bake my cake and eat it too" about falling into gender roles, nurturing, doing domestic/household things and being thrilled to death by it, and what our fore-mothers think, etc.
But the time is not now.
Tonight I am going grocery shopping to get bread baking stuff, and going out to eat with Xp and Swasthi and picking up the entertainment center! woohoo!

it's been a while

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted on here for a very, very long while it seems. I have just been ridiculously busy. Work just kind of..exploded lately - it's all really great stuff, (I LOVE MY JOB), and I feel really good about all of it, but I am working without stop all day, every day. The events I am/was in charge of last month/this month/next month and some of my other projects:

1. Valentines day karaoke dance
2. Steering Committee Meeting
3. Publishing a 1500 circulation newsletter
4. Acapulco Fundraiser
5. Organizing a class of volunteers from CSULB
6. 5 Interns
7. Kickball and Carnival with Whittier College
8. St Patrick's day dance with CSULB volunteer group
9. Edison Dance
10. Meeting for staff going on Hollywood trip
11. Meeting for clients going on Hollywood trip
12. Hollywood trip
13. Souplantation Fundraiser
14. Spring Fling Festival
15. Grease
16. Self Defense Workshop
17. Cinco de Mayo Fiesta
18. Transition Nights
19. Medieval times
20. Steering Committee Meeting
21. Another newsletter
22. Updating website
23. Walk for Independence
24. Supervisory Meetings
25. Nature Walk
26. Bowling Blast
27. Color Me Mine and breakfast
28. Race track and dinner
29. Vegas meeting for staff
30. Vegas meeting for clients
31. Vegas trip
32. Figuring out new transportation policies since we will no longer have vans
33. Disney Cruise to the Bahamas
34. Prom on the tiki boat
35. Choosing volunteers
36. Redoing the A2A Coordinator notebook
37. Redefining the volunteer/intern program
38. Credit card blah blah blah for work
39. Taking on a new training program
40. The service records, progress notes and spreadsheets that accompany EVERY SINGLE EVENT
41. Writing a healthy living grant
42. Developing a healthy living program
43. Safety Committee meetings
44. In charge of to go kit shopping/planning/reinforcing
45. Making emergency plan for all programs


Not at work:
1. Adam at academy. I still do dry cleaning, laundry, lunches, and other random picking-up-of-supplies, plus help with flashcards, etc.
2. Fish, and the fact that the fish had 150 babies
3. Rommel - regular feeding, playing, etc.
4. Backyard - trying to get it ready for...
5. NEW PUPPY, this wednesday!!!!
6. New bed, trying to sell the old one
7. Karate
8. Sparkpeople
9. Exercise every day
10. Moose at Sunset cross stitch (ALMOST DONE!)
11. Art Supply Room - puppy proofing
12. Garden - collecting seeds of winter veggies, planting new ones
13. Adam's graduation - June
14. Marina's wedding


So anyways, that's an incomplete list of my life right now. And me being me, and the job being the job, that list of work stuff does NOT keep itself within the M-F 8-5 time slot. ohhh no.

in any case, life is pretty grand my little duckies..and one day soon I will be back. one day. one..day...

it started out tired and ended up inspired

Oh man oh man oh man. I just keep getting more tired. Last night, despite the best of intentions, I didn't make it to bed til 11pm. Adam had so much stuff he had to do - I don't know how any of the other police cadettes can make it through the academy without at least one other person helping them. I spent the night hemming his tshirts and cutting all the "Irish Pendants" (little hanging strings) off his uniform.

Amber and Chris also came over and brought Amber's computer desk for me! YAY! Now I have a real computer desk, our dining room table is back in the main room, and I am that much closer to an organized art space. I really, seriously, desperately want to sell the calking mattress so I can get a new bed. All of my plans hinge on having a queen sized bed!!!

Anyways, yesterday I made lunches, made dinner, did dishes, fed fish and dog, took out trash, watered garden, cleaned the bookshelves, organized some of the boxes in my art room, hemmed one of adam's shirts, cleaned the threads off of one of his shirts, and did an ab video.

Tonight the plan is work - decorate my coworker's office for her bday, go to Julie's and paint chairs, go to karate, then pick up coworker's gift certificate, put laundry in dryer, fold laundry, make lunches, cut up little soaps, bring in the trashcans, water the garden, wash and put away the dishes.

This blog has turned into my giant grocery list of to-do - which I apologize for. I am sure you are interested in my thoughts and opinions and ideas and stuff... but I am SUCH a mess at my own organization that I need to use every tool possible to help KEEP me organized. The inside of my head pretty much looks like these blog posts lately anyway. Lists and lists and lists and lists.

I feel - successful, I guess. A little on the tired side, but successful - not creative, successful. It's a strange feeling. Waking up early to do the things I need to get done - no time to stay up late and paint, but, when I get enough sleep I don't need that outlet anyway. I am watching less TV also, actually, which I am really happy about. I am getting pleasure out of the small things - books in a row and the sound of the fishtank and of course my doggydog following me around the house while I put things away. I am enjoying my home. I am enjoying being there for someone else without thought of what I am getting out of it. I am enjoying cooking tremendously - nothing gourmet, just making something filling and healthy out of raw ingredients has been filling me to the brim with satisfaction and joy. Feeding Amber and Adam my split pea soup the other night was blissful.

Other things I am excited about are getting my internship/volunteer program at work off the ground. I work for a nonprofit, and see HUGE potential for our internship program - and I finally have the interns to do it. I am so excited. I've been spending a lot of my time at work redoing the old material, interviewing, going to internship fairs, etc. Based on the interviews I've conducted this week, it does seem to have paid off.

Let's see - all my idealistic interns have me excited about THE NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE - January 19th, which I will definitely be participating in!!! I can't even tell you the thrill I felt when I saw the email subject in my inbox "Your call to service." THAT my friends, is what patriotism feels like! If you haven't heard about it - go to USAService.org to find out more. Or if you email me, I will forward you Michelle Obama's video. Anyways - I will be at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands on January 19th from 9am-12pm helping to clean up and do my part for our country! YAY VOLUNTEERING! YAY!!!

That is truly amazing to me - yet another reason why I voted for the Obamas and why I am still so thankful that they won that I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it. They rallied a country together for the election, with massive donations and people coming out of the woodwork all over. We all marveled at how they were catalysts. Here's proof - they are using their amazing cat-herding momentum for the good of our planet. I am in love with our presidential family, love that they serve, volunteer, and are so connected to community. I love that they are providing the tools, resources, and drive for other people to do the same thing. The president should be a damn near perfect human being, and the presedential family should be exemplary as well. I finally, finally feel like we found people I want to model in behavior, actions, and ideals.

So go serve. January 19th, the day before the inauguration and MLK day. It's going to be a good day.

busy and tired!

today's update:

last night was one of those nights that when you wake up you wonder what the heck happened and where was the smart part of your brain? I am paying for it today.

In brighter and moving-on news, tonight is the office Holiday Party, my office is full of raffle baskets, I have a cable box that records tv shows so I can fast forward during commercials, I lost another pound, I went for a bike ride yesterday, Adam put letters of resignation in to both his jobs, I bought a blue tooth from my coworker, I have a NEW COMPUTER, and I am very, very tired.

More later. Today is crazy. Tomorrow is movie night. Then weekend. Thankkkk goodness.

Time to unload

Phew. I have that feeling right now like life is starting to get just sllliiightly out of my control - and it would be very simple to solve that feeling, I just have to stop, breathe, and take the time to organize.

This feeling tends to be induced by a messy car. I don't know what it is with me and a messy car - but as soon as there starts to be more *stuff* than carseat, I start feeling a little anxious. It starts to feel like water is rising while I'm sitting at the drivers wheel, and it's stressful trying to keep my head above it. Like I said - ten minutes of cleaning out my car would do the trick, it's mostly just a bunch of jackets and water bottles and my karate clothes spread out in the backseat. But it's one of those things I procrastinate which then makes the rest of my life feel tense.

The other thing that is looming is a presentation I am doing tonight at Whittier College for work. It's turning into being a bigger deal than I thought (students are getting extra credit to come listen to me speak). I am wholly confident in my ability to get up and speak, but I am not wholly confident in my factual information regarding specific developmental disabilities, nor am I wholly confident in my power point. What would fix that? Spending a solid hour today updating the powerpoint to include the information I want it to include.

I have been doing okay with my sleep schedule - the last two nights I ended up sleeping around 11-11:20, which is getting to be a little too late again. I would really like to be in bed by 10 tonight. However, there is a Young Alumni Mixer that a few of my friends are going to, who I haven't seen for a long time, and it would be nice to see them. I don't get done with the presentation til about 7:30, then I want to go to karate, then am I meeting them for dinner AFTER that? I won't get to bed til midnight-ish if that's the case. I don' t know when I got to be such an old lady, but it's very apparent to me that I just WORK BETTER with more/earlier sleep.

I am also trying to get the newsletter for work DONE - I am trying to send the giant file to the printers. As soon as they say they have it, that will be a load off my shoulders.

Last night I attached handles to a few new bags, and started crocheting another one. The canvas straps that I bought at the fabric store seem to work well! I am excited by this prospect. My goal is to have enough stuff to sell at a craft fair in December. Amber and I talked to the lady who runs the Long Beach Sunday Craft Fair, and she said all she needs is a few days notice, so we are going to split a booth in December. I am SO excited about this! I am going to try to have a bunch of bags done, and some ceramics. It's time to crank up the production line.

Oh - one more little stressor is my psychology class. I need to spend all of my spare time reading my textbook - I have a quiz tomorrow, and I have one more chapter to read.

Last night Adam and I went to the gym and I did day 2 of Week 5 again. It's two 8 minute runs. This run was the easiest of any of them so far. I was really, really pleased with myself. I listened to Les Miserables and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and sang along in my head and actually enjoyed running. Could this turn into something I like to do after all?

I am still tracking my weight watchers points, I am into week 5 of doing that now also. I have no idea how much I weigh, but I feel really, really good, so that's all that matters. I'd like to start doing more crunches and ab things too - when I go to the gym I do things I could do at home..I just don't do them at home.

Okay. You know how I love my lists. Here is the list I am going to stick to today!

1. Call Commonwealth Printing, make sure they got the newsletter. Ask about timeline.
2. Tell Rudy what day Day Program should come help out.
3. Print labels (compare them to Bernard's, make sure I don't overlap)
4. Print Movie Night labels ready for Nancy when she gets here
5. Update powerpoint, print notes pages. Go through and decide who will say what.
6. Print directions to Whittier.
7. Bring extra paper/pens for activity.
8. Lunch, pick up Nancy, do other work.
9. Presentation
10. Karate
11. Stuart and Sal?
12. Wrap pencil holder.
13. Read at least a few pages.
14. Throw away trash in car

Tomorrow (friday)
1. Work
2. Read other chapter
3. Take quiz
4. Do activity/discussion board
5. Mail pencil holder
6. Go running
7. Sew linings for bags.

Okay. That's all for now. Enough updating, time to go do the things that will make it all better.