DAY 76, Post 3

Merry Christmas in April to me! Look what Chris made for me and my inventory today!

DAY 61, Post 4

I've spent a good bit of time job searching tonight, only to reach the conclusion that job searching SUCKS.  Monster.com and Careerbuilder produced few results that I even looked at, and even those require more experience (in whatever field the job is in) than I have.  And although I applied for quite a few jobs on Craigslist, I'm dismayed that I received quite a few canned responses asking me to visit such-and-such a website to fill out a credit report or some other bogus offer.  Sigh.

So...  I've decided to look at the progress I've made on my Mini-Goals instead...

1. Keep on job searching.  Doing it!
2. Scrapbook!  I've got most of my inventory back, and it's about time I use some of this stuff for my personal use!  Doing it!
3. Keep my apartment clean and start throwing out clutter.  Trying to do it, but I could be better...
4. Turn off the lights and TV every night.  Trying to do it, but I could be better...
5. Cook a real meal every night that I have the boys.  Getting better at this!
6. Read every night, both to the boys and to myself.  Thing 2 enjoys reading the Childrens Bible I bought him and Thing 1 with me before bed.  While we don't do it every night, we do it a few nights a week.
7. Knit 3 more blocks for my blanket....  Let's be realistic this month! I finished the front and kangaroo pocket for CL-WoW's sweater.  Does that count?
8. Buy a new board or card game for my boys once a month and make a point of playing a game every night with them.  Not in the past two weeks due to money constraints.  Perhaps by the 14th though!

DAY 51, Post 3

An inspiring morning, to say the least...

I realized that over the last four months I have let my personal dreams slip.  While I've spent lots of time worrying about people and things that couldn't be changed, I've forgotten about what I want to do.  And it's time I refocus, or at least spend a good portion of that time on my dreams.

I've had the dream of starting my own scrapbooking supply business.  I've always wanted to have my own brick-and-mortar store selling all the supplies I have (which, thanks to "friends" are less than they should have been), but I want to design and manufacture my own out-of-the-box supplies.  And to do that, I need to design them.

Martha Stewart didn't start her first catering business until she was 39.  I'm just barely 32.  So, with 7 years left, I should be able to make some headway.  But this time I'll do it right.  Martha wrote in her book, The Martha Rules (see below) that she recommends only investing in your business with cash.  That's how I messed up the last time.  Credit, credit and more credit.  I'll be paying off that debt until the end of time.  But now's the time to make a change.  Do something that I want to do and do it the right way.

And that day starts today.

DAY 50, Post 3

Thanks to Julie I've been scrapbooking again.  Yesterday afternoon I finished, although I still believe it's missing something, my New Years Eve layout.

It was a great night, I had great pictures, and the night deserves a positive place in my memory and scrapbook.

The whole layout...  Pardon the glare...

Close-up of left side...

Close (closer?) up of right side to show how I did journaling tag.

DAY 44, Post 3

Tonight I scrapbooked.  It's been almost six long years since I last scrapbooked for me, and I loved every second of it.

Julie, my neighbor, invited me to be part of a Facebook scrapbooking group she founded, and last week's Humper Day Challenge was to create a layout using primarily the colors pink and green, and to use a minimum of six flowers.  Well, I did it.  And I finally used some of my company's inventory for my personal use.

Here's the final layout...

A detail of the journaling...

My motto for what December 8, 2010 gave me...

A close-up of the top-left picture...

A close-up of the bottom right picture...

DAY 43, Post 4

Almost a month ago I posted a bunch of Mini-Goals for the month.  I decided it's time to evaluate my progress and set new goals for next month...

1. Get an oil change for my car.  It's overdue and I've been neglecting it due to money. DID IT!
2. Inquire about design jobs.  I may not like working at a desk all day, but I'd rather do that than give up my nights and weekends being bossed around by kids 10 years younger than me. I've been looking for jobs, but haven't been focusing on only interior design.  So far, I haven't found anything, but I'm not giving up.
3. Buy some paint and start the S.O.S. collection.  Due to money I wasn't able to do this...  This month...
4. Keep my apartment clean and start throwing out clutter. Eh...  I tried...
5. Turn off the lights and TV every night.  Yea, I must admit my electricity bill is inflated because turning off the lights and TV makes me lonely. The lights have definitely been turned off more than they were last month, but I need to get better at this still...
6. Make a wreath for my front door with my boys.  Due to money we didn't do this either...
7. Start cooking actual meals.  Eating CMG and only CMG is not good for me.  Eh...  I cooked more this month, but I didn't make as much progress as I had hoped.
8. Read every night, both to the boys and to myself. I've read the Bible quite a bit, but I need to be better about reading to the boys.
9. Following up on #8, work on paying of the library tab, haha. Yea...  Didn't happen...
10. Knit 10 more blocks for my blanket. Didn't even finish one more...  But I started!
11. Buy a new board or card game for my boys once a month and make a point of playing a game every night with them.  We bought UNO this month but only played a couple of times.
12. Positive visualization  I've decided to eliminate drama-filled people from my life, and stay positive.  The visualization isn't necessarily up to me.

So for next month...

1. Keep on job searching. 
2. Scrapbook!  I've got most of my inventory back, and it's about time I use some of this stuff for my personal use! 
3. Keep my apartment clean and start throwing out clutter.
4. Turn off the lights and TV every night.  Yea, I must admit my electricity bill is inflated because turning off the lights and TV makes me lonely.
5. Cook a real meal every night that I have the boys.
6. Read every night, both to the boys and to myself.
7. Knit 3 more blocks for my blanket....  Let's be realistic this month!
8. Buy a new board or card game for my boys once a month and make a point of playing a game every night with them.

DAY 42, Post 2

I'm feeling a little bit like a Mercy Me song I've been listening to...

"I'm finding myself
At a loss for words
And the funny thing is
It's ok."
~Word of God Speak

This past week was interesting...  Good, bad, easy, difficult, funny, sad, etc.  I really don't know what, if anything, I could say about it.

Entertaining enough, however, was work yesterday.  The hot water heater broke, again, so the restaurant had to shut down for a bit at 3:30ish.  I was off at 4, however, so it didn't impact me.  I hadn't gotten a break, so I helped reduce some of the inventory before they had to throw it out by eating before leaving.  While I was eating, the evening shift crew started cleaning, preparing for a solid close.  One of the workers was cleaning the fryer (I think) and the next thing I knew, I heard yelling and saw flames, small flames, coming from the fryer.  It's funny how some people, including myself, don't know how to put out a grease fire.  Luckily someone knew and threw salt on the flames.

Tonight I tried out the Singles Group at Ginghamsburg.  I was younger than everyone else by about 15 years and for me that was sort of difficult.  I can't explain it, but to say I was looking for people closer to my age who would know what I'm going through.  While some of them knew and understood, I just felt...  Awkward.  I decided to leave at "Intermission" and come home.

CT and I hung out for the past two nights, and Julie helped me organize my inventory on Friday night.  Thank you, Julie!  I made pasta on Friday night for CT and I, and I have to say that a highlight of the evening was the pasta readiness test...  After we had already eaten.  There is a secret to throwing pasta, and sometimes it sticks better than others.

Right now I'm watching the portion of Star Trek (the movie) that I slept through last night.  We started off the night with Jackass 3 and pizza from Cassanos (thank you, Bronco!!), but I just couldn't last through a second movie.  I don't think I've ever been able to last through two movies.  Jackass 3, by the way, is hilarious, but also gag-inducing.  I'm just glad the boys didn't see it.  I don't even want to think about the crazy ideas they would get watching it.

Now, I think it's laundry time for me.  So much to fold, and I believe a clean apartment would make me feel better.  Unfortunately all the scrapbooking supplies I recovered are taking up a huge amount of space.

DAY 40, Post 2

What a difference a couple of days makes!

I'm up at 2am, and for once it's not because I woke up thinking about too much.  Actually, CT graced me with a phone call after work, and I have to say, I enjoy having friends who work 2nd shift.  Having someone to talk to in the dead of the night is REALLY great!

Anyway, he made me terribly hungry while making himself a breakfast burrito, and I made myself a ridiculous plate of Pizza Rolls.  Ridiculous meaning like thirty of them...  Drenched in Smoked Tobasco Sauce...  Mmmm...  It's WONDERFUL to be eating again!

CT's Breakfast Burrito (picture messaged to me...  to make me jealous, I think)

Here's what was left of my pizza rolls when I was full...

Did I mention that the hospital weighed me when I was in triage the other night?  148.1.  Yea.  Not good.  If I lose any more I want it to be because I'm exercising and doing activities that are good for me.  NOT due to stressing out and not eating.

I'm entering this weekend with plans already, and it feels great to know my weekend doesn't revolve around work.  Tomorrow night I'll be scrapbooking (in some way or another) with Julie, and then I'm making dinner for CT and I.  (Julie, if you read this - you and J are invited!)  Then...  I get to SLEEP IN on Saturday morning before having to work from 11-4.  I am happy to be able to go to church on Saturday after work...  Pending they let me out on time.  I guess I'll have to see.