Progress Report

Saturdays I review what I’ve accomplished or not accomplished through out the week. Did I meet the goals I set in my Focus post on Monday? Did I regress? Let’s see what grade I got this week.

(stock photo, purchased; I dont steal off the internet)

For April’s Week #2, I got the chance to do a redo of my mostly unsuccessful Week #1 goal due to Passover.

While I ended up staying up a bit late Sunday night (due to sleeping most of Sunday–woke up around noon, took a two hour nap around 5pm), I still got up pretty early on Monday. I woke up and could have gotten up around 7am, but I spent another hour just laying in bed. After awhile I realized I wasn’t dreaming, I was just replaying Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes in my head (the reason I stayed up late Sunday night). So I got up, got dressed, made my lunch and got to work before the rest of  my department. Monday evening, I was pretty productive. I worked on freelance, cleaned and washed out the poo box, and took out the trash. I went to bed before midnight even!

Tuesday morning, I got up ok early. Enough time to make my lunch and have breakfast. Tuesday night, I forgot some source materials I needed for my freelance at work so I couldn’t work on it. I could have washed the dishes piled up in my sink, but instead I stayed up till after 1am watching Buffy.

Needless to say, I did not wake up early Wednesday morning. I didn’t have time to do my make-up or even make my lunch, I just grabbed a can of ravioli. Wednesday night I stayed up till 12:30am watching, well you can guess what I was watching. But I was also working on freelance work during this time, so at least I was mildly productive. The dishes still sat in the sink. >.>

Thursday I got up kinda regular-ish for me. Not early, not late. Thursday night, I did freelance and stayed up later than I should have, but I did do the dishes!

Friday morning, I was up before my alarm went off at 6am. I was up with a horrible tummy ache. I spent a good while dealing with it till most of it passed. Then I was exhausted, so I fell back asleep. I got up in time to get dressed and go to work, and spent the day feeling like crap.

GRADE: C-While it may not look it, I kinda tried this week. I didn’t succeed very well and my effort was kind of minimal, but I feel it was a bit better than last week.

Progress Report

Saturdays I review what I’ve accomplished or not accomplished through out the week. Did I meet the goals I set in my Focus post on Monday? Did I regress? Let’s see what grade I got this week.

(stock photo, purchased; I don't steal off the internet)

My goal for this week was to wake up earlier. Monday, when I was writing my Focus, I had woken from my slumber at 7 that day. I didn’t actually get up, but I was pretty awake while lying in bed for another hour; so I felt pretty confidant on Monday that I could accomplish this task.

Then, Monday night, I got REALLY into reading Emma Who Saved My Life and stayed up till past 1 in the morning. Despite that, I still managed to get up around 8am.

Tuesday night I finished the book early (I always finish books the day they go up on here) and I sat around trying to talk myself out of wanting fast food for hours. Distracting myself by playing Precipice Of Darkness (Episode 1) . After I finished the game though, the fight with my gluttony ended…and gluttony won. I drove to McDonald’s at 10:30pm, got me some McNuggets then came home, changed into my pjs, ate my grease and watched Nana. I hadn’t planned on staying up too late, I’ve seen Nana a couple of times already and just put it on to distract me from my bad habit. However, I got sucked in and stayed up till just after 1am…again.

Wednesday morning was not a repeat of Tuesday morning. I didn’t even realize my alarm was going off till just after 8am. It was then I realized what was actually getting me up on Monday and Tuesday. The construction that some one is doing at one of the neighboring houses (and has been doing since  last weekend) is what was making me wake up; and Wednesday morning there was no hammering or sawing going on. That night, I got in bed before midnight, but stayed up to just past midnight reading BUST magazine (I ordered some back issues and renewed my subscription, so excited about this development).

Thursday morning, I got up early enough. Not as early as I’d like, but not as late as I usually would get out of bed. I took an decongestant/allergy pill once at work, because I was snuffly and sneezing. I then spent the afternoon speeding because of it. When I got home, I quickly crashed and passed out. I woke around 9pm, found something to eat, took out the trash and then it was back to bed around 11:30pm.

Friday morning, I woke up 10 till 6am and realized I never turned on my alarm the night before. I turned it on and went back to sleep. I woke up for real just after 7 (progress!) but I just had this really intense dream and so I stayed in bed till almost 8 trying to complete it before giving up and getting up. Still, this was early enough for me to have breakfast, make coffee and pack a lunch for the day. After work, I had dinner and then somehow managed to pass out and not wake up till Saturday morning.

Now it is 8:45 am on a Saturday and I am up, brewing coffee and planning my day. I wanted to get up early on the weekends too, and before 10am is early on the weekends for me. However, I hope that I don’t have to sleep for over 12 hours in order to get up early. My social life would severely suffer.

GRADE: D-I didn’t really try. I mean I set my alarm earlier but I didn’t go to bed earlier (well, except Friday night) or follow the go to sleep rules (you know, don’t eat for at least 2 hours before you go to bed, same for smoking, don’t read, etc.). Next week, I hope I can do better.

Progress Report (part 1)

Saturdays I review what I’ve accomplished or not accomplished through out the week. Did I meet the goals I set in my Focus post on Monday? Did I regress? Let’s see what grade I got this week.

This is just a short post as I have to get ready to leave soon. My friend, Sara, is skating in a roller derby bout on the coast so I’m going to go see it (she normally plays 3 hours away).

Anyway, I made some progress this week. And I even went to the gym! And made a plan with Tricia to start taking a morning class at the gym! Ok, so I know it wasn’t a goal this week but whatever.

I put away stuff and sorted out things that need to be trashed or given away. I never took out my deconstructed boxes to the trash, but I will next week. It was rainy and gross this past week and in the evenings I felt like hiding under the blankets with the heater on instead of taking out the trash.

I’ll post pics tomorrow and I will finish up this Progress Report then. Laters!

Progress Report

Saturdays I review what I’ve accomplished or not accomplished through out the week. Did I meet the goals I set in my Focus post on Monday? Did I regress? Let’s see what grade I got this week.

Well, I failed majorly this week. I did not go to the gym once. I didn’t touch a box. When I got home from work, I made dinner and watched Netflix. Every. Single. Day. My lazy side got the best of me. I did dishes once this week. So now, my apartment is a mess and I feel like a fat slob. Today I’m going to spend some xmas/birthday money at Target (I have gift cards) and see if I can’t get some cheap shelves for movies and books.

I did a little too much spending this month. Looking at my bank account, I have just enough to cover rent and fill up my gas tank till my next pay check. Sigh. I really need to get better  at this stuff. I did finish my taxes this week. Both federal and state, so that’s some money that will be coming my way…eventually. I’m thinking I might need to find some part-time work. Or maybe just whore myself out freelance-style  more. I don’t particularly like doing freelance work, though.

Don’t get me wrong, I love graphic design. But when I’ve had freelance gigs in the past, they’ve drained me. I used up all my creative juices way too fast doing graphic design all day at work and then all night with freelance. I would get burned out. I’d like to do just something else a couple nights a week to earn some extra money. However, I remember when I worked full time at an agency then worked nights at a retail chain. I about died. All I did was work. When I’d get home, I was good for nothing. Oh well, I’ll think of something.

Anyway, here’s some pics of how my place is looking right now:

The living room has been destroyed. Man, I need a rug. It would really tie the room together.

This has become a catch all. The stools even hold all my jackets and coats right now. As well as a giant mustache.

Yeah. The kitchen looks rough. You see that stove there? Behind that is where Tom spends his days now.

I've stopped making my bed and I've stopped putting away my clothes when I change. Lazy lazy lazy.

 

GRADE: F – yup, a big, fat fail. Oh well. There’s always next week.

 

 

Progress Report

Saturdays I review what I’ve accomplished or not accomplished through out the week. Did I meet the goals I set in my Focus post on Monday? Did I regress? Let’s see what grade I got this week.

Boy, did I pick a shitty week to make going back to the gym my goal. At work we put together one of our big issues of the paper, so I worked late every night this week except Monday. However, I did manage to get in some gym time. I went Monday and Wednesday nights, so I only went for half of what I wanted; also, because I was getting there late, I didn’t do as much as I would have liked. I’d end up even more starving that usual while there, so I would have to cut my work-outs short. Still, I put in the effort because I said I would on here.

I was pretty productive in general this week. I picked up (finally) from the weekend, kept the dishes done each night, took the trash to the curb on trash days even! This won’t last. BUT it’s fun to celebrate this stuff while it’s happening.

I even started working on filing my taxes. Started. Didn’t finish. But it won’t take me long to finish. I just need get some more forms so I can finish.

Also, I had a bit of forced productivity. My friends/landlords had an electrician working on their part of the house this week and he needed to do something in one of my walls. This one:

Remember? I put all the boxes here so they'd be out of the way for all my guests for the Mustache Party.

Yeah. So I had to move all of those. And the dresser with the tv and DVD player. Move them I did…to this wall:

That Debbie Harry art print was my xmas gift from my friend Annie. It's too awesome.

And this one:

So. Much. Crap.

Now that corner looks like this:

It's so empty now. Oh hey, maybe now that I can get to it, I can finally hang some art on that wall.

I don’t know that this was actually productive as much as it was something that wouldn’t have been as big a deal had I finished unpacking already.

GRADE: B – while I didn’t do so hot on the goal I actually set out for this week, given the circumstances I think I did alright. And plus, I was actually pretty productive…for me.

Progress Report

Saturdays I review what I’ve accomplished or not accomplished through out the week. Did I meet the goals I set in my Focus post on Monday? Did I regress? Let’s see what grade I got this week.

Erm, I think you might notice that it is not Saturday that I’m posting my progress report, but yesterday was crazy. But I’ll save that for a different post. ;{D

Down, to business. In the last Focus, I made it my goal for the week to get my apartment ready for company. I have to be honest though, I didn’t do much through out the week besides keeping the place “as is” and not adding more work to the list that needed to be done. Friday night and Saturday morning I did all the work.

You've seen this one before, but this was pretty much how my place looked last Monday.

Another repeat, but here's what the bedroom was looking like on Monday.

 

 

Friday, after work, I moved most of the boxes to the bedroom so the living room could accommodate more people and the necessary arrangements when it came time to for all my guests to go to sleep. I also washed one set of sheets and some blankets. Saturday morning, I got up early and washed a second set of sheets and blankets; did the dishes; swept and vaccuumed the place. Then it was off for the day’s festivities and then my guests started showing up. So I didn’t have time to post this.

Here’s how the place looked before my guests showed up:

Here's the living room after my rushed "clean up."

And here's the kitchen area. Tricia is loaning me the stools while I live here.

Here's how the bedroom was looking. The sheets for my "bed" were in the wash at the moment.

Here's a better look at the corner of my bedroom where I stashed almost every box left to unpack.

 

Progress Report

Saturdays I review what I’ve accomplished or not accomplished through out the week. Did I meet the goals I set in my Focus post on Monday? Did I regress? Let’s see what grade I got this week.

Ok, so I didn’t write up a Focus post this week (didn’t have internet till Monday evening); yet even without one, I think most of you could guess that my goal was to unpack as much as possible.

The boxes...are plottin'.

My new place started out the week looking like this (above). I had most of my clothes unpacked by Monday. Same for the kitchen. I had to figure out where to put stuff in the bathroom (still working on that one) but it’s coming along.

The rest of this stuff though, I just need the furniture to put it away in! I need shelves. Lots and lots of shelves.

My unpacking was put on pause a bit this week though. Wednesday night, Tom decided he’d see what was behind the stacked washer & dryer. And got stuck. I got Kenny and Tricia down here to see if we could move the machines, but Kenny said to just throw some sheets over the machines and then anchor them in the dryer so Tom could just climb out on his own. Tom was never able to climb out. So, Thursday, Kenny and a friend of his moved the toilet, then moved the machines out. Tom came out and tried to get behind the oven. I think the move has him a bit freaked out. But my bathroom is back in order, Tom is safe and happy, and the washer and dryer (as well as the oven) have been barricaded. I can talk about it calmly now, but at the time I was in tears and very upset.

Still, here’s how the place looks now…er, or here’s where a photo would go if my camera’s batteries weren’t dead…and my recharger wasn’t in a box somewhere.

Today, I didn’t do much. I went to get artwork framed for my brother (it was one of my gifts to him for Xmas). Then I made a pie for Tricia and Kenny as a thank you for saving Tom. Went to Lowe’s to get a garbage can and some other things. Then came home, did some freelance work, made dinner and finished watching Girls Will Be Girls (I love that movie…”AS-TRO-PHYS-I-CIST”). I may work on some unpacking tonight. Probably not though.

Tomorrow is for hanging artwork! Maybe!

REVIEW WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED OR DIDN’T ACCOMPLISH.

GRADE: D – it looks somewhat better than it did, but really I did almost nothing this week.

Progress Report (more like “regress” report)

This week…well it kinda sucked. I only went to the gym on Monday night, but I did clean up that pile by my couch when I got home. Put some things in the give-away-box, too. Tuesday, however, I did not go to the gym, did not clean, nor did I put anything in the give-away-box; but I already talked about that (see Boxey Lady). Wednesday, I worked late–didn’t get off work till 7–so I decided to just go on home, instead of going to the gym. Again, I didn’t do anything. Thursday, worked late…again; then I went to my brother’s for dinner and did my laundry. So that’s kinda like cleaning. Have I put away my clothes yet?

 

What? Leaving your clothes in the basket and on the couch doesn't count as putting them away?

 

Not exactly.

Speaking of clothes, I actually kinda took two steps backwards this week. Instead of putting my clothes/shoes away when I got home and changed after work, I…well, see for yourself:

 

They're sorta "in" the closet... (sorry for the crap quality)

Ok, the pile is actually dirty clothes that didn't get to the wash this week. As you've already seen, my laundry basket is currently occupied (sorry for the crap quality).

 

Basically, I didn’t “progress” this week. I regressed. *sigh*

But the week wasn’t all bad. A friend of mine decided that all those craft supplies I’ve talked about on here should get put to good use, so she sent me this:

 

How awesome is this?! I was so excited and surprised to find this package at my door! (again, sorry for the crap photo quality)

 

Today, I was an extra on the short film I’ve been working on as their photographer/graphic designer. It was super fun. I’m not supposed to share any photos from it, but I figured this one was safe.

 

This is actually from last weekend (11/6/10). I was roped into doing more than just taking pictures that night, so I passed off my "fancy" camera to another person for a bit.

 

Today was a day shoot, and a heck of a lot warmer than that night. That’s me with the clapboard, by the way. I look fat, but I’m going to blame that on the crap in my hoody front pocket. And layers. Yes, the layers I was wearing, that’s what it was. >.>

Anyway, I’m going to think really hard about what I want to do next week, which is going to have some social activities taking up a few evenings. I don’t want to further regress.

PROGRESS REPORT

The not as messy mess as of 10/29/10

Good morning! Saturdays are going to be my progress report days. Where I catch you up on how I’ve done this week.

So, my friend is coming in this morning, instead of last night. I had extra cleaning time this morning. After that, I ran to PJ’s this morning to grab a coffee and some breakfast (I have a gift card, normally I do not go out to buy coffee). Then I took the photo posted above to show you my apartment as it looks currently. Ok, so it’s not clean-clean, but I can live with my friend staying with me in the apartment now without feeling obliged to pay for her tetanus shot before she goes home. You have to admit it’s a lot better than this:

The Mess as of 10/26/10

 

I had every intention of taking out all my trash a little at a time, but that never happened. Instead I ended up hauling the majority out this morning and leaving the rest in my kitchen, too embarrassed to make another trek. Oh well, my friend is used to the trash in the kitchen. I’m just grateful that the fold out can be pulled out, that the floors aren’t completely covered in dust and cat hair, the bathroom is cleaner and the dishes are done. Small victories.

I want to try to post on Sundays my grocery list and what I’m planning on cooking/eating for the next week; but seeing as tomorrow is Halloween and I’ll be at the Voodoo Music Festival all day (and then who knows all night), I’ll just have to start this segment next Sunday.

If I’m not dying on Monday, I’ll try to do the groceries post then (no promises) as well as the post I have planned for that day.

Now, I’m gonna sit here, enjoying my coffee and thinking about how I got up way too early for a Saturday. Oh well, it needed to be done. We have to go work a booth this afternoon at Voodoo and then go spend the rest of the day there enjoying the good weather and great music. Happy Halloween! Be safe and have fun!