Still here and still walking it out

Almost a week of no blogging, but I'm ok with that. I do kind of feel like a slacker and know that follow through isn't a strong suit of mine, so I'm back and determined to not give up, even if I'm not perfect (which we've already determined is the case).

Update:
1. Clean house: The house is still in progress, but I'm making headway. The dishes are clean, the laundry is in process, the floor is washed, and I've been doing a bit more every day. I do believe I'll make my 12/1 goal.
4. Fruit daily: I went grocery shopping finally and I have fruit now, and although it's not every day, I did have apple juice yesterday and a banana today. Further back than that, I can't remember, which I guess, is why I need to not wait a week to blog.
6. Dishes daily: Not exactly daily, but much better and under control.
7. 12am bedtime: Still not there quite yet. I've had a few nights where I've done this, but mostly out of exhaustion and I have not remembered to take a pic of my clock. Have to get better at this. I am getting to be earlier usually though. Failed last night: 2:30a.
10: Car fixed: Much progress has been made here. Gave the garage the money to buy the new engine. Last week authorized them to do the labor, and I was able to ditch my rental and use their loaner. $2900 give or take $100 left to go. I paid them $750 today, so I'm well on my way. I can't wait to have it back because I did get spoiled with the cushy rentals and now...well...I just want mine back!
17: New pic every day: Not so much, but I am shooting more for fun.
18: Post them: Soon
20: Blog about goals: later today.
30: Gadgets charged: Not so well this week. Phone died the other day, Ipod died. Other than that ok, but just ok and sometimes wasn't my goal. Need to do better.
55: Jenny's blog: I have been reading and posting to her blog.
59: Call brother: He actually called me this week, so I guess that counts, and ya know...it's really good to be in touch with him regularly. We grew up together and I forgot how much fun he is to talk to.
74: Donate blood: I was supposed to be able to do this last Sat. Didn't happen. I went, but I couldn't give. Why? In late Sept., I got this illness called costochondritis (inflammation of the intercostal muscles), and myocarditis (inflammation of the tissues around your heart). When you have this, it makes you feel like you're having a heart attack. When I got diagnosed at the ER, they told me that I would feel significantly better in 4-6 wks and the virus would be gone in six months. SIX MONTHS! At the blood drive, I was answering all their health questions and I wanted to be honest. I'm not contagious or anything, but the Red Cross said I had to wait 6 months from the date of my last symptoms, which happened to be last Friday. Blah. Such a thing as being too truthful? Now I can't donate until May. I still might be able to do the 2x next year...

That's all for now.... some progress I guess, but I need to stop slacking!

Two days of no blogging

I didn't blog for a couple of days. Maybe I should say that I couldn't blog. Why? I had no words and even less motivation. And it was kind of easy to stay away, but I knew I had to come back, that I had to get up on my feet and start moving, or it would be too easy to quit.

#1 - Clean house: Still in progress. Hoping to make some good progress this weekend.
#4 - Fruit every day: I REALLY have to go grocery shopping this weekend.
#6 - Dishes every day. Well, more than before, but not EVERY day. I do rinse every day so they don't get gross, but this goal is showing me how much I'm not home! Breakfast is usually a couple of bowls, spoons, and glasses. Dinner really depends on if it's just me, and if I'm even home.
#7 - Midnight bedtime: Yeah, this is a lot harder than I thought. I'm more conscious of it, but haven't made it all week. I'll post my clock pictures later. I haven't taken them every night either. What is my issue? Last night, I did go to bed around 12:30am and got a good 6 1/2 hours of sleep and I feel good. So, if I want to feel good, then I need to sleep. It's not hard to understand, yet I still struggle with work taking more of a priority than sleep. What's up with that?
#10: Fix car: It's getting there. Still waiting on the check to come in, the garage is working on it, and I have a loaner from them. (Think about that scene in the movie "The Mask" - "Hey Marv! Bring around....the LOANER") It's not THAT bad, but I really got spoiled with the nice new 2008 PT Cruiser rental. But on the flip side, this car will make me SO grateful to get my nice CRV back.
#17: New pic daily: I didn't blog Wed or Thurs, but I did shoot. It's been fun doing this one because I have my camera with me and I'm conscious being more observant about things around me and trying to see my environment through a different lens (pun intended).
#20: Blog about goals. Later.
#30: Keep stuff charged: My gadgets have not died since I started this, so I am plugging them in more often.
#32: 24 hr email response time: I have been taking the time to answer my emails more quickly, so I'm not sure about the actual 10 responses per day part (and I don't want to get obsessive), but with this project in mind, it makes me want to care of it, and it makes for happier clients.
#44: Make bed: I never realized how often (like mostly every day), that I don't make my bed. What to do about that....
#45: Wash face: Sad as it is, I am not doing this well. I take my make up off, but don't take the time to do GOOD skin care at night.
#61: Photography list: I started the list and add to it as I think of things and go through files and emails. I don't want to miss deadlines because I'm spending so much time on the list though, so it's a work in progress.
#82: New ways to profit from photography: a friend suggested Istock. I'm going to start the process. They have a pretty rigid screening process, so I need to pull my best stuff together.

That's it for today.

Goal #17 pics on 11/5

These were shot at my local pizza place, literally around the corner

from my house. I had to do SOMETHING while I was waiting.

I kept looking around to see what I could do with this place. I got

some interesting looks from people wondering what in the world I

was doing, but it also made me feel kind of "artsy" since I was really trying to see differently and stretch my mind. I got that rush of adrenaline like a dog on the hunt.

for Goal #17 - New pic every day

Here are my "fun" shots for today. I grabbed some shots at the polls. A few in the morning when I went to vote, and the last one that night. My town held true to this being the biggest turnout for elections in a REALLY long time.

Goal #21 - This is long but worth reading. It's a cool story.

(In keeping with Goal #20)
Goal #21: Get back in touch with the man who's life I saved a few years ago.

Picture it, Worcester, 2006. (for all you fans of Sophia from Golden Girls, a smile just spread across your face.) A young photographer (that's me) is part of a team of 4 photographers selected to take pictures at a historic event taking place at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA. The event is to honor those men and women in our military and specifically those that fought in the Korean War. The entire hall is filled with people; Gold Star families trading stories about their loved ones lost, Blue Star families holding each other up as mothers hang on to hope while they await their children's return from Iraq, Ex-POWs enjoying a relaxing lunch and each other's company, being so grateful they were not forgotten. Throughout the day, we are visited by General Peter Pace, Senator Ted Kennedy, and even Ed McMahon. So, there I was, in a room, surrounded by Ex-POWs, listening to their stories, capturing photos of these men sharing their stories with friends and strangers alike.

From behind me, I hear, "Oh my God! Somebody help!". I turn around to see a man, the color of a blueberry, choking, and his wife slapping him on the back. My immediate thoughts: "he's choking! Please, God, let someone come and help! No one's coming! I should do something!". I put my camera down on the table, go over to him, stretch my arms around him and begin the Heimlich. More thoughts "My arms aren't long enough...find his belly button...ahh, there it is....remember your training...I'm never going to be able to do this hard enough!...Where are the medics!!?!". Amazingly enough, after 5 or 6 times of inward-upward, he coughs up the object (i'll spare you the details of that), falls back into his chair, and is quickly attended to by the medics, (who's timing was NOT impeccable). He was fine. The hostess of the room comes over, hugs me and thanks me, and exclaims "You're shaking!" to which I reply "That was scary!". She asked if I had done that before, to which I replied "Yeah...on a mannequin!". Praises and thanks from his wife and eventually from him, and the lunch continues. Sometime later, I'm approached by General Pace who seemed to be about 7 ft tall. "Young lady!?" "Yes...sir?" (I thought I had done something I shouldn't have and was in trouble. I didn't know he was in the room when all this happened) "I saw what you did for that man. OUTSTANDING! How about a picture?" So, the other photographer came and took the picture, and for the rest of the day I was greeted with "Hey. You're the girl! You're the girl that saved that guy!". "Yes, yes I am".

Ok, so all of that is the background. Why are these people on my list? Well, because for every holiday after that, I received a card from this couple. And I do mean every holiday...Christmas and Thanksgiving, Easter, 4th of July, New Year's, and even St. Patty's day. We talked a few times after the incident, including one conversation where his wife told me "John told me that's the closest to death he's ever been", to which I replied "Well, he managed to survive being a POW, I wasn't about to let him choke to death on his roast beef!".

Eventually the cards and calls stopped, so that's why I set this goal. I have their number and I want to reconnect with them. This man might owe me his life for that day, but I owe him mine for fighting for my freedom and he deserves my attention and respect.

Scared but brave

Well, I said I might post what I wrote and am hoping to get published somewhere, so here it is. I'm not sure it's done yet, but I like it's direction. I wrote this because I intepret through Sign Lanugage at my church, and I was inspired and excited one particular day, after the woman I interpret for, learned and accepted something totally new in her faith. I thought about how we all have different gifts and how God uses my hands to speak to someone who might otherwise not know Him.

God Speaks through My Hands

My face softens with His peace
My hands form His words
Pictures of love and mercy
Forgiveness and grace
Truth and life
God speaks through my hands
To open the ears of the Deaf
To hear our Creator speak
Eyes fixed upon mine
Searching my face, watching my hands,
Yearning to hear our Father’s voice
Through Deaf ears
God speaks through my hands
My heart listens as
God speaks through my hands

Bed time...

To stay accountable and because I said I would, I'm posting the pic of my clock at the time I went to bed. I'm not proud of it, but I'm hoping that since I know people are going to be checking, I'll take some action to make progress. Yes, that time is actually 1:59am. Zzzzz....

Pushing onward

Goal #20 - Me...sort of...blogging about my goals.

Specific progress:
#1. Clean house: The house is still in progress. I put the video cabinet back together last night, minus the 5 videos we are going to donate. I still have two video boxes to go through. I did take a pic of the status of the house, but I'll post those pics when the house is clean. That way I can show something positive, because, it's scary right now! I'm a bit of a slacker during wedding season when it comes to the house. You would think that it would stay cleaner considering I'm hardly home during that time, but somehow, that equation isn't adding up. Hmm....

#4. Eat fruit: I made a decision to buy some fruit juice today, and as tempting as the orange juice was, it was only 10% juice, so I bought 100% apple. My fruit for the day.

#6. Dishes: Didn't touch the dishes last night because I went dinner with a friend, so they're not any worse, but not any better. HAVE to finish and put away night.

#7. Midnight bedtime: Didn't do so well with this, yet again. I did take a pic of my clock at the time I went to bed though and I'll post that later. I'm not moving my clock next to my bed because I'll never get up that way. I need to physically get up out of bed and shut it off and start my day or the snooze button and me are going to be good friends, and that's bad. So, on a positive note, I did go earlier than I did the night before. That whole accountability thing was on my mind as I watched the minutes tick by. Accountability is scary, but it's good scary.

#10. Car: I'm well on my way to getting my car fixed and back on the road. I booked another wedding and will be receiving the contract and check for that this week, so I called the garage and gave them the thumbs up to do the work. And, they in turn told me they have a FREE loaner for me until the work is done. HALLELUJAH!!! A rental at $200 a week is painful!

#17. New pic every day: I took some shots at the polls this morning. (I'll post later in keeping with goal #18. I don't have my card reader with me.)

#20. Blog about my goals. One each day maybe.

#30. Gadgets charged: I did! I plugged in my phone, bluetooth, and Ipod touch last night. GPS stays plugged in the car. Camera batteries are charged because I'm not using my main camera. I'm using my XT for this project. More portable.

#32. Email response time: 24 hours - I have been better about responding quickly. It's good for business to say the least.

#50. Video cabinet: It's put back together minus 5 videos to be donated. Two more boxes to go.

#55. Jenny from the Farm: Read her blog today, offered a suggestion, and asked a question to get her thinking about one of her goals.

#66. Jewely: I wore my watch today, and that counts because I don't usually wear it. A small start, but it's something.

#77. Publish something written: I finished (I think) something I wrote about my Sign Language. Maybe, I'll get brave and post it here. I'm looking to see where I'm going to try and get it published. I've decided that posting it on the web myself and hoping someone sees it doesn't count. I need an outside person to read, like, and want to use for something.

Progress report 11/4

I'm going to try and post a short progress report weekly so you don't have to dig through my old posts to see just what it is that I'm actually talking about.


1. Clean house: in progress.


2. File CD/DVDs: in progress.


3. Organize studio: 0/1


4. Eat fruit: 1/4


5. Photocopy wallet stuff: 0/1


6. Dishes every day. 1/4


7. Midnight bed time: 1/3


8. Sell lightmeter: 0/1


9. New camera: 0/1


10. Fix car: 0/1


11. Summit saving plan: 0/1


12. Lakeside saving plan: 0/1


13. Brother visit saving plan: 0/1


14. Plan vacation time: 0/1


15. Get flu shot: 0/1


16. Journal 1x/wk: 0/1


17. New pic daily: 3/4


18. Blog pics: 1/4


19. Someone to buy pic: 0/1


20. Blog about goals: 1/101


21. Get in touch w/ USMC guy: 0/1


22. List b-days: 0/1


23. Buy video camera: 0/1


24. Photo session: 0/1


25. 2 chapters of bible daily: 0/8


26. $50 into savings weekly: 0/1


27. Tithe 10% monthly: 1/33


28. Scrap film pics: 0/1


29. Create business plan: in progress


30. Keep electronics charged: phone 2/4, bluetooth 2/3, laptop 4/4, GPS 4/4, camera batteries 4/4, Ipod 1/4


31. Train for women's 5K: after Jan. Recovering from illness


32. Answer 10 emails within 24 hours: not sure how to track this.


33. Prepare receipts for tax time: 0/1


34. Hang fav. shots in studio: 0/10


35. Send flowers just because: 0/5


36. Go camping before end of 09 summer: not yet


37. 101 clutter gone: not yet


38. Scan all contracts: 0/1


39. Plan each week: 1/1


40. Pay bills on time: not yet


41. Use Quicken: not yet


42. Create budget: not yet


43. Clean room: not yet


44. Make bed 6 days per week: 0/840


45. Wash face every night: 0/3


46. 4th step: 0/3


47. Return voicemails: not sure how to track this


48. Clean Jason's room: 0/1


49. Re-arrange living room: 0/1


50. Clean video cabinet: In progress


51. 1001 new ASL signs: 0/1001


52. Wander and take pics of Middletown: 0/1


53. 25 things to sell on ebay: 1/25


54. Chapter of book weekly: 0/140


55. Check Jenny from the Farm blog weekly: 2/140


56. Pay off car: 268/6700


57. Take online course: 0/1


58. Recruit 3 people to 101 in 1001: 0/4


59. Call brother 1x/week: 1/1


60. 30 days no late: not started


61. Photography to do list: 0/1


62. Do the to do list:


63. Pray with Jason nightly: 0/2


64. Get a facial 0/1


65. Get massage 0/1


66. Different jewelry: 1/140 (I wore my watch today)(yes, that's different for me)(hey, it's a start!)


67. Wedding suit: 0/1


68. 101 no spend days: 0/101


69. Mom factor: 0/1


70. New step study: 0/1


71. Contest: 0/1


72. Passport: 0/1


73. Jason to Disney: 0/1


74. Donate blood: 0/6


75. Water/Milk 1 wk: 0/3


76. Quilt: 0/1


77. Write and publish something: 0/1


78. Make Crescia: 0/6


79. Make Pastate: 0/6


80. Bowling: 0/1


81. Bya Yahoo: 0/1


82. 10 ways to make money with photography: 0/10


83. Homemade bread: 0/1


84. Braces: 0/1


85. $100 at Casino: 0/1


86. Pay debts: 0/3


87. Own health insurance: 0/1


88. Hallway closet: 0/1


89. Dance lesson: 0/1


90. Broadway show: 0/1


91. Organize files: 0/1


92. Network w 25 people each year: 0/75


93. Famous person photo session: 0/1


94. Jason photo session: 0/3


95. Reconnect w Mr. Lunn: 0/1


96. Mac counter: 0/1


97. Class at Apple: 0/1


98. List of 25 fun things: 0/1


99. Long term proj: 0/1


100. Cruise: 0/1


101. New list: in progress

Duh! I almost forgot!

I actually did do something for Goal #17: Shoot a new pic every day that I'm not contracted for. On Sat. night, I ventured over to downtown Middletown to grab something sweet from Cold Stone, and I passed Javapalooza (great coffee place. Swankier (is that a word?) than Starbucks). Upon gazing in the window, I came upon...well, to put it frankly, Willie Wonka and a couple of Oompa Loompas. I grabbed some shots right then and there, and on the way to back to my car, after getting a sweet ending to a Sat. night (strawberry ice cream with Ghiaradelli chocolate chips), they came out of the coffee shop and asked if I wanted them to pose for me. Well, sure!! So, this is my shot from Sat. that was just for fun.

A method to my madness (AKA why I'm doing this project) Goal #101

In keeping with goal #20, here's a feeble attempt at blogging about each of my goals and eventually having a picture with each. Since the beginning is often a good place to start, it would only make sense to begin with goal #1. On the other hand, in keeping with my attempt to be at least slightly creative, I think I'll start with....with...ummm....decisions, decisions! OK...I'll start with goal...number....21? Nah...I think I'll keep the suspense on that one going a bit longer. Let's do goal #101. Backwards...ok...only somewhat creative, but I'm functioning on, let's just say, less than 6 hours of sleep (not in keeping with goal #7. I'm a work in progress). I'll be creative tomorrow.

Goal #101: Create a new 101 list. Well, I'll be totally honest with you. I stole this idea from about 874 other people. Maybe a few less than that, but my point is this is a common goal. And a good one at that. After creating my 101 list and seeing all that I hoped to accomplish in just under three years, I said to myself, "Self, this project could have major implications in your life. Good ones too! In that case, I think I'd like this to be an ongoing project". I don't know about you, but I hope to still be learning and growing when I'm 98 yrs old. As long as the growing isn't horizontally, I think it should have some good results. :) That's one reason for wanting to do another list. The second reason is that once I got going, I was on a roll! After my list was done, I still had other ideas. So, the blog for that list is in draft form in my blog box, waiting to be added to as ideas come, only to be published on July 30, 2011 (this is the day after my current list is to be completed).

And so it begins...

#17 - Picture for 11/3. Compute keys. These are my keys to the world! Scary thought, but true. Isn't technology grand?

I've learned quite a bit just in the two days since I've officially started this "project". First thing I learned: This might not go according to plan. Why? 1. Life happens. 2. I'm not perfect. Big surprise? Not really. The fact that I seemed to be striving for perfection... Even less of a surprise. It's a character defect of mine that I struggle to rid myself of. Mind you, I'm not saying that I actually achieve perfection. In truth, far from it. But, my list shows me that, yet again, I tend to strive for unattainable goals. Pretty much anything on my list that I put down "do X every day"....yeah, not such a hot idea. I'm setting myself up to fail. Some of these things I can't manage to do once a week, yet I expected myself to jump in and start doing them every day, without fail.

Hmmm...Time to rethink a bit, which is what I did in the shower this morning (a great place for deep thoughts to happen!). First thing I did was take some of the dates off of some of my goals. Why? The goal is 1001 days. I don't have to accomplish 45 things in the first 30 days. 101 things, 1001 days.... I've got time. Breathe! Besides, I don't want this to be the New Year's Resolution I give up on by January 15th, ya know?

In thinking about the point of this project, one overall goal is to get better organized. This project has set me on a path to get there.
- I did actually start working on the house (goal #1) and will probably have it finished by Dec 1.
- I did do my dishes this morning (goal #6) and am motivated to keep my kitchen clean. It's good to have clean dishes. I like not having to eat cereal from a cool whip bowl! (a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea).
- I have been more conscious about what time I go to bed (goal #7), even though I haven't made it yet. Not that this is a great excuse, but I'm still finishing up wedding stuff. The actual season of shooting weddings is pretty much done for me from now until March, but I'm still processing the last few events and want to hit my deadlines.
- As for taking a picture of each of my goals (goal #20)... I'll post pics of the CLEANED rooms as they become complete. Too embarrassing to post the before shots! Dishes...I'll shoot a pic of those later. It takes time to do dishes, and I didn't want to be late getting out of the house this morning. (I was still 10 mins late leaving). The bedtime thing... Hmmm...I can't do it for the days previous, but I think I'll move my alarm clock next to my bed and maybe shoot a pic of me in it and the time it is. I promise not to cheat. And that will keep my accountable. If I have to shoot a pic and post it showing what time I get to bed, maybe that will motivate me to get there earlier.
- I have a plan for #24 (photo session of me). When I told a friend/client about this one, she offered to do the shoot, and we'll probably do it after we all thaw out in the spring/summer and head to the beach at the Cape. I won't be able to complete this one for a while, but there's a plan being formulated. (Thanks Sarah!)
- #27 - Tithe 10% each month - I did put my check in the plate last Sunday for my 10% tithe for Nov. I'm very humbly proud of myself. God always provides and I've known that. Hopefully this will get me out of living in a spirit of poverty. It has been said that the spirit of poverty is not that you're afraid you don't have enough, it's being afraid that more will not come. Something like that. God has always taken care of me and I need to trust that he will continue and will bless my faith in Him.
- #29 - Business plan - I have started researching and writing notes for this. It's not going to be perfect from the start, but that's why they call it a rough draft, right?
- #39 - I did take some time to plan my week this week. I put in appts, things that I need to do (i.e. go to Staples and get DVDs so I can keep producing weddings). Not really feeling the good effects of this one yet. I'm sure I'll appreciate it soon though.
- #50 - Video cabinet - Jason and I started this yesterday. I had him pull all the videos out and pick 5 to get rid of. Unfortunately, life happened and we had to leave and now all the videos are stacked in the middle of the living room floor. A work in progress...
- #57 - Online course - I haven't actively done much on this except start thinking about what kind of course I want to take. I'm thinking about marketing, or small-business finance if there is such a thing.
- #74 - Donate blood 2x/yr - I'm donating on Sat. and last Sat., I went to a health expo and signed up to be a platelet donor and a bone marrow donor.
- #95 - Reconnect with Mr. Lunn - I'm going to try and get to the high school one day at lunch, but I'm also planning to go to a football game soon. I wanted to go to homecoming this Friday, but I have something else I HAVE to do. :-( (I'll tell you about Mr. Lunn soon)

It has begun, a little unsteady, but it's a start. I have a feeling I'm going to learn much about myself through this. To keep things updated, I think I'll post an updated, shorten list periodically. Not sure how often yet.

Stay tuned! (p.s. I promise to try to be less long-winded)