A Week In Review

I did four things differently last week.

1. I wrote every single day. I worked on blogs. I worked on a couple of longer/larger works I've been kicking around.
2. I turned off the notifications on my smartphone except for the ringer. I went from 8 AM Monday, August 4 to 8AM Monday, August 11 without being signaled by my phone. I only used it to answer calls or respond to messages (Hangouts, SMS) sent directly to me.
3.  From 10 PM Friday night to 10 PM Saturday night I did not use technology. My smartphone was off. My laptop was off. If I owned a TV it too would have been off. I went "No screens" for 24 hours.
4. I started x-stitching again. I'm using someone else's pattern to get my hands/fingers nimble again, but I will start creating new patterns next month.

So what does this all mean?

     a)  It means that my brain is less foggy.
     b)  It means that I both appreciate and respect the screens in my life a little more.
     c)  It means I got a METRIC SHIT TONNE done around the house.
     d)  I really enjoy stitching swear words and odd things into fabric.

Ultimately, this is what I learned:

1. My brain, some days, is not as broken as I think it is.
2. My Pavlovian response to my smartphone notifications isn't strong. That's actually a surprise. But I appreciate what they do for me to make my life easier and respect the fact they can also allow me to fuck up my day fast and efficiently.
3. I require 7 hours sleep to properly recover from a day of light activity. I require 9-10 hours sleep to properly recover from a day of heavy lifting and physical activity. This helps me with my time management more than I can possibly explain.
4. I really, really like to swear. A lot. Like as much as I love coffee and baked goods, I love to swear.
5. I really love lists, too.

A good Friday

I got a lot done this Good Friday. I cleaned out the front closet leaving only what we will need to use for the rest of our time here (laundry soap, vacuum, broom, mop, dust brush) , the coats I am moving, and the coats the Joe needs to decide about. I vacuumed the floor of the closet and cleaned the top shelf. I cleaned out the four drawers I use as a bedside table. I cleaned out my hanging folder file drawer full of x-stitch patterns and cloth. I had this wild and crazy idea that I could move to Ontario with just one banker's box of craft supplies, but that is quickly going to become a funny idea I had once and had to reject in the face of reality.

Had some good new today as it relates to our move. I already feel less stress because of this news, but it certainly doesn't solve every problem, that's for sure.

Tomorrow we give notice on our apartment. I'm pretty excited about that because we both HATE THIS APARTMENT. It's ugly and small and hot. I can hardly wait not to live here.

Tomorrow is laundry, clean sheets, clean towels and a start on the actual packing of boxes.

I moved to British Columbia with two suitcases and nine boxes.

My goal is to leave with two suitcases and five boxes.

That is not a crazy idea.

Filling space

I have been trying to write and I've been trying to plan the next year and I've been trying to write a business plan and I've been trying to find a job.

And I've been trying to finish a commissioned x-stitch project, sort all the information I got at the organizer's conference and figure out how to stay well.

Staying up until 3:30 AM watching Republicans' heads explode and then getting up at 8:30 AM for no other reason than Joe turned on the bedroom light probably was not the best way to help me say well.

Meh, as long as I only do shit like that once every four years I guess it is okay.

I also need to use my time management skills to break these things out into smaller more manageable pieces.

I also need to stop engaging wilfully ignorant white men about "women's issues" on the internet. That would be a much better use of my time. I know this.

I totally know this.

Not inspired

Purple was 1-1 this weekend. Minnesota won and Baltimore lost.

The four things that need to happen for a successful NFL weekend. Purple needs to win and the Patriots and Steelers need to lose. If the Steelers lose this game (Go Bengals!) then my weekend will be 2-2.

***

I miss hockey.

***

I have five x-stitch projects that just need finishing into greeting cards, fridge magnets or pillows but that's the part that sucks and isn't any fun so they're just sitting unfinished. I have the best of intentions to do that tomorrow, but I am sure that something will come up.

***

I have a spreadsheet of all the materials I have available for x-stitching. Next weekend I am making a white glitter star fridge magnet, and starting a set of 3 or four glitter backed magnets according to my spreadsheet. I have six days to think about it. 

Or not.

***

The NFL has stolen my heart. I don't follow US college football because I reject organized religion.

***

I had two phone interviews last week. I have no idea how they went. I have a job search group meeting on Tuesday, all day.

yay...

I still hate looking for a job.

***

Somebody give me some inspiration. No Gandhi quotes or pics of kittens or flowers, please.

Working on it.

I decided on the eve of my 38th birthday that I would not be the same person on the eve of my 39th birthday.

I've been trying for years now to change my life into something fabulous and awesome. Since the British Columbia Lottery Corporation has not yet seen fit to issue me the $50 million winning LottoMax ticket, I decided that this year I was just going to work with what I have got. And what I have got is not much.

After spending two weeks angsting over it, I finally figured out what I like to do. I'll probably never become rich doing any of it, but I might be able to do it just because I love doing it. I'll worry about making an income later.

Next week I am going to attend an information session on becoming a professional organizer. At this time I am not really interested in starting my own company, but in using the skills that I have with the skills that I will learn to pad my Executive Assistant resume. I am spending the summer working for my ex-boss it seems, and that place is the craziest mess of paper you have ever seen in your life. So I'll get some real-world-as-close-to-hoarding-as-I-am-willing-to-get experience.

Next week I am also going to talk to an educational counsellor at the community college around the corner from my house to see about some English writing classes to fix some of my grammar issues and other brutalizations of the English language I am sometimes wont to commit.

I am also taking part of my upcoming long weekend to write new product descriptions for my Etsy shop (though I am considering changing the shop name and there's nothing for sale at this time because I want to change everything) and I can show off the mad foto skilz of Donna. She did such an amazing job taking new photos of my completed works! I can't wait for you to see them.

In a nutshell, I'm going to try to figure out how to use what I like doing to help me not hate a whole bunch of things about my life. Like my job. Or lack thereof, as the case may be.

No idea if it will work, but I know that 50 weeks from now I will be glad I started two weeks ago. This is my jumping off point. The future is uncertain, I don't know if I'll be any good at any of it, but at least I know I am working on it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

RESOLUTION OF THE SOLE SHAREHOLDER
OF
LVK VENTURES INC.
WHEREAS LVK VENTURES INC. is a fictional extra-provincially registered corporation headquartered in British Columbia, Canada;

AND WHEREAS the sole shareholder, LVK, acting as the only legally recognized adult that resides in her head has declared that she is “sick of this shit”;

AND WHEREAS sometimes the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the sole shareholder establishes the following guidelines for the year 2011:

1. The sole shareholder will make and keep all personal appointments, either health or mental health related, in a timely and proactive basis. These appointments include and not limited to:

a) Doctors, and other health care professionals;
b) Hair stylists; and
c) Estheticians.

2. Complete one hour of visual art practice each day, which will almost always be limited to the completion of counted cross-stitch works, usually including profanity.

3. Ride the stationary bike for 20 minutes each day, 7 days a week and preferably in the morning, and walk for 20 minutes each lunch hour on scheduled work day when a one hour lunch break is in place.

4. Practice mindful eating, realizing that when the mind says “mass produced take out” what it is really saying is “You’ve lost the will to live, because that ain’t food.”

5. Write a minimum two hundred-fifty (250) words a day, even if that means typing, scribbling, writing in flowing long-hand, or printing with the left hand the words “I have to write 250 words today” over and over and over again.

6. This resolution of the sole shareholder does not count toward that total. Though her lazy brain thinks that it should because it’s now well over 275 words.

7. To irritate lazy brain, the amount is not cumulative. That is, the overage in a daily word count one day does not allow that overage to be counted toward the 250 word count of the next day. So take that, bitchy lazy brain.

8. The sole shareholder is to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight.

9. This resolution shall be revisited daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually to ensure that adjustments are made for the health and capacity of the sole shareholder to act upon them.

Signed, Sealed and Delivered
on this 1st day of January,
2011 in the presence of: (original signed)
LVK
The people on the internet
reading this. Love you all.

Football and frustrations.

I LOVE PAYTON MANNING AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!

There, now that I've got that out I will continue. My comments will be brief.

I am trying to remember how to sew. It is not going well.

I have a great project complete except for the sewing. Drives me bonkers when I can't move forward with a project because of some crazy logistical problem.

Three more in the works, which is awesome.

I am also trying to figure out what to make for my friend Jackie. My creative juices are not flowing.

I will figure out something.

Thursday brings my appointments with the gynecologist to try to solve my chemotherapy induced menopause issues. Friday brings me to the urologist to see if me having to pee 3,058,673 times a day is related to the menopause or the MS- because apparently it is one or the other.

MS does indeed suck.

Projects and Impulse Control

The symbol is now official.

If your childfree and lovin' it this is for you.

It's for sale.

I like kids, really. I just don't know if I can eat a whole one.

Had my (what will now be) annual MUGA scan to check for heart damage due to 5 rounds of mitoxantrone. I don't expect anything interesting.

I am exhausted, not from MS, but from this day. Exercising this kind of restraint on a daily basis is really, reeeaaallly making my head feel 'splody.