NaBloPoMo’09: Christmas Conundrum

I have a Christmas Conundrum.

I have about three people in my life who are impossible to buy for.  They either have everything they want, don’t need anything, or have no interests or hobbies of their own which make it easy to buy for them.  I know that last year, I did okay, but this year, I’m at a total loss.

I think I’m going to send these people’s Significant Other (or someone who knows what they want) out shopping, get the difficult recipient the gift they want, stick my name on it, and I’ll cut the buyer a check.  It just seems easier.

Am I breaking the spirit of Christmas law doing this?  Everyone gets what they want, there’s no particular disappointment involved, what’s the harm?

NaBloPoMo’09: In Which I Have Given up on WordPress for B’Berry

I’d been feeling pretty beat up lately as far as working on MK was concerned.  Intended or not, I put it on the backburner. That is, until I had been chastened by a customer I had forgotten to touch base with months ago.  There’s no incentive quite like being embarrassed.

Even though I worked to make up for the embarrassment, the point is that I worked.  And, I felt pretty good about the work I got done. Sometimes, getting the work done is more important than the sentiment.
BlackBerry

NaBloPoMo’09: Christmas Creep

I have been keeping track of Organized Christmas because there are few things I find more pleasurable than being organized and Christmas (these few things may or may not include winning the lottery and naps).

And every day, they diligently send me another task to complete on my Christmas Countdown so I can get ready for Christmas.  I haven’t even started reading the countdown entries, much less gotten a binder together to keep track.  I currently have a very slapdash Excel file that I’m using to keep track of holiday receipts, and what needs to be planned for [The Boy's] annual Christmas party.

I’m trying to fight letting this over-planning for a semi-distant holiday mean that somehow, my life is spinning out of control.  I tell myself, I am very busy: I am going to school, I am working full-time, I am working part-time.  I’m trying to balance.

But at the same time, I’m very acutely aware that I have a finger-tip grasp on all of the things that I am trying to get done.  GTD, productivity, and organization practices are life practices designed to help busy people get everything done.  But my practice of this art comes in fits and spurts.

An engine works harder when it starts and stops (city driving), than it does by working continuously (highway).

I also have to keep reminding myself that wearing a hair shirt doesn’t make me a better person:  killing myself working on the skulduggery projects in my life doesn’t mean I’m  better person.  It might just mean I’m a masochist.  Sure, I need to plan a time to make Christmas cookies for Christmas, but I really should be fitting it into my schedule because I like it, not just because I feel like I have to do it for a productive Christmas.

NaBloPoMo’09: Oscillo-Whatever-You-Call-It

I can say with authority that I do not have the flu, swine flu, HamAIDS, Hamthrax, or Hammonia in any way, shape or form. So, cheers to that.

I can’t even tell you what I do have, except to say that it feels like I have a dust bunny in my throat at approximately clavicle level that won’t move at all when I cough.

Right now, I took oscillococcinum as a preventative (again, I know I don’t have the flu), and drinking a lot of water (any water for me is a 100% increase than what I usually drink – pass the Diet Coke, please), and my three-cigarettes-a-day is now whittled down to nothing.

I don’t feel any better or worse than yesterday, so I think that’s an okay sign.

The thing that makes me nuts, though, is that I finally feel the drive to take care of my body when it is broken. Obviously the smoking is not helping, and I make excuses about my hydration with the Diet Coke as a substitute for water. But I just feel gross right now, and I want to feel better. More importantly, I want to feel better all the time, not just when I get over not feeling well.

I’m at the point where I’m really just tired of smoking. It’s more of a pain in the ass than not, so I’m really working on being done. Not eating like a little kid and having healthy and balanced meals is even a fun challenge: I like to cook, I like to be organized, I like to plan meals, no sweat. I can stick with that.

It’s the working out that’s going to suck. It hurts a lot for me to work out – and not even in that “ooh! Feel the burn!” kind of hurt. As in, “I am laid out on my back for two days after 30 minutes on the elliptical” hurt because of persistent hip and knee problems. I would like working out if I weren’t so terrified of being crippled for days afterword.

The best part? Presentation tonight – I think I’m going to lose my voice midway through. Charades, anyone?

NaBloPoMo’09: College Lessons

Things I know now that I wish I knew in college:

1. Steal food from the cafeteria – you never know when you’ll be desperate for a snack.
2. Get everything done in the morning so you can screw around all afternoon.
3. Keeping your dorm room organized and spotless; it will help when you live in your own space.
4. Better yet: don’t live on campus if you can avoid it.
5. Start the project when it’s assigned, even if it’s just perusing Wikipedia.
6. It’s a lot easier to print flashcards to study than it is to hand-write them.
7. Learn how to be prepared when things go wrong on projects – it’s going to happen.