the view on the hill

I've been gone but here's pretty much what I do everyday

2009-03-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

The Cult of Done Manifesto

1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.

Yeah that's what I mean.

and we are BACK!

2009-01-28T18:35:00.001-08:00

Whew. Finally got my inbox back down to nothing tonight. It was TOUGH. I've been wrangling with it for at least 2 weeks now and I was so surprised when I hit send and archive and was presented with "you have no new mail"! I'm going to continue to keep up with it to the best of my ability. I have been managing my time better at work and at home so maybe we're finally getting into a groove.
In other news I have NOT BEEN ABLE TO SHAKE THIS COLD. ergh. It's bugging me. I went to bed last night at 7:30 right after we put my daughter to bed. But I did not sleep super well. It took me forever to go to sleep and then in the early morning I woke up and did not ever go completely back to sleep. If I could breathe I'm sure all this stuff would be much easier. :)

In defense of my vice: coca cola

2009-01-24T15:06:00.001-08:00

Coca Cola is my vice. I started at an early age. So early I can't remember when I had my first sip. I gave it up for Lent one year and it was harder than when I quit biting my cuticles. I figure it may hop me up on caffeine and sugar but I could be drinking a martini everyday and this might be slightly better than that. I might quit if somehow it was actually killing me. Sadly you should notice that I said "might".

When I realized I was a grown-up

2009-01-24T15:03:00.001-08:00

The first time I took my cat to the vet I knew I was an "adult". She had only me to count on and I knew if I didn't take good care of her I would feel horrible.

Why my hip-hop posse would include My Bad Ass friend Caro

2009-01-23T19:01:00.001-08:00

My Bad Ass friend Caro
She's an awesome person to have in your corner. 1 part great friend, 1 part ass kicking gotcha back girl.

what an honor

2009-01-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

It was wonderful to watch the inauguration today and listen to President Obama's words and know that we the people can do so much.
Blessings to the people in our government to be able to go forward and work hard. Keep working everyone. The hard work is yet to come and we can do it. Yes we can.

definitely caught the cold

2009-01-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

Chills? check Slight fever? check Body feels like someone ran over me with a truck? check
Got the mail back down to 2 in the mailbox today. I'm heading to bed with those left in. They are both things that have to be followed up on and I haven't found a good way to put them somewhere else that I can see them so I remember to follow up. Does that make sense? If not blame the cold. Also the 2 things are ongoing/future things I need to do so it makes sense not to archive them yet. Right? Or just a lame attempt at rationalization?
Gah. We are moving forward on the goals and that's all I can ask for now. In bed with a hot water bottle is where I'll be for the next 24 hours.

not doing so hot on the mail

2009-01-16T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well it's been an interesting week and here's what I learned: 1) I forgot how hard it is to go to work in the morning 2)if you deal with your mail all day it is easier to keep the inbox clear each night.
Now I have not cleared the box out this week, except for Wednesday night. I've kept it to 10 or under for the rest of the nights but frankly once I got ready to go to bed the willingness to stay up even for those few extra minutes was nil. Having to get up and go in to the office every day has been killing my efficiency.
I know, I know, I hear you saying "boo hoo. At least you HAVE a job." and yes that's true. I have been better at managing my time at the office this week so I think next week will be easier. It was only my first week so we'll see how it goes.
Ugh now I am tired AND sick. I think I have caught my kids cold. Thank goodness it's cold outside and I don't have anything to do all weekend. Except teach one class but that will be fun! :) Yay for Mondays off!

getting better!

2009-01-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

Much better yesterday and today. I'm heading off to a new job tomorrow and I'm excited. It should be fun! I haven't had an office job since before my daughter was born. I remember the first time I had an office. I am such a sucker for office supplies and I loved decorating it. Sadly my old job was insane so the office, while nice, was no match for the evils of working there. This job will be so nice since I can come in and work and then just go home! No worrying or taking the work home with me.

The email situation is still going well. I am planning to go through my archives to clean out more old mail. I want to get my labels cleaned up since I have mail from 2001 in there. I'm using a program called Gmail Backup to make a file of old mail and then I'll be deleting most of it from the server. I'm currently using 1631 MB (22%) of your 7282 MB allotted. I want to get that down to the mail I might actually want to search and keep on the server. I'll report on the Gmail Backup program and how it works for my mail.

Anxiety is not your friend

2009-01-06T17:54:00.000-08:00

...or my friend either for that matter. I finally realized today that I was in the throes of a pretty massive anxiety attack. I know it seems like I should recognize it by now but sometimes it's really hard to separate all the noise in my head to see the component parts. Oddly once I know that I'm having an anxiety attack it's much easier to get over it. When I file all the pieces in the right spots I can just ride it out and know it's my brain chemistry screwing with me. So tonight I'm heading off to bed early and I will hopefully be better tomorrow. :)

The inbox is remaining empty and it's pretty easy (so far) to keep up the maintenance. I think the key is to go ahead and clean everything out and then try to keep it that way. Again, we're only a few days in but I'm still feeling pretty good. About the email anyway. ;)

trying to get back in the swing of things...

2009-01-05T19:47:00.000-08:00

Gah. The kids finally, no FINALLY going back to school tomorrow. I know it's a cliche but I am so glad to get back into a routine. I'm trying to get thing a little more organized around here. Getting my yarn stash together, putting together stuff to go out in packages, getting miss thing ready to go back to school. It's all a job. I'm heading to bed feeling a bit more put together but today I'm damn tired. I think it's this horrible weather. Too much heat, too much rain, to much blegh. Maybe tomorrow will be less gray.

*still no mail!

Got my new calendar and I'm working on the future

2009-01-04T19:44:00.001-08:00

hee. I like titling these things. It's so easy to say something insanely cheesy. And no I didn't mean to rhyme. :) See what I mean!? I have done my email sweep for the night and I am feeling good.

I am continuing a little thing I started last year but I'm being a little more vigilant now. Someone was telling me about the "2 minute" rule. I think they got it from Lifehacker and the basic thing is if it takes less than 2 minutes, just do it now. So whenever I need to move something or throw something out or whatever, if it takes less than 2 minutes I just do it right THEN. It seems like such a little thing but you would be amazed at what you can do in 2 minutes. Load or unload the washer/dryer. Clean off the kitchen counter. Wipe down the bathroom. Straighten up the living room.

If you, like me, find clutter CRAZY MAKING then you should try this. It really does make a difference in your day to day life. Making other people follow it is REALLY DIFFICULT, just like "making" people do anything. But it is worth your while to at least throw it out there for people, to make them think about all the things you do in a day that if you just did them right NOW it would make your life easier. Really! Try it today!!

Or just pat your type A friend/spouse/crazy next door neighbor on the head and tell them you'll think about it. :)

*still no mail here!

Day 2 - still no mail!

2009-01-03T19:42:00.001-08:00

This is a fun project though I'm going to have to keep an eye on how anxious I get if I can't get an email out of the box fast enough! My strategy is pretty easy: Label, Respond, Archive. I use Gmail (as you can see from my original post) and it has been a great way for me to keep things organized.
I was never a big inbox hoarder in the first place but I always had between 20 and 30 items hanging around at any given time. I know to most people who have 100s if not thousands of items that may not seem like much but it was an annoyance to me and a source of stress the longer the items were not dealt with. Once you start letting things pile up in your inbox you can lose things so easily. It's hard enough for me to get through each day without a "to do" list and forgetting a commitment because my inbox got so full I couldn't see the item is just one more hassle I got tired of dealing with.
I am, by nature, a procrastinator and this is a great training exercise in the "just do it" school. I hope to see it carry over into other aspects of my life this year. I spend a lot of time planning to do things and wondering why they didn't ever happen. This year I hope that my inbox is a jump start to some other aspects of my life that need to have their own victory. :)

Inbox victory!!

2009-01-02T19:58:00.001-08:00

On January 1st I made the amazing happen, I had no email in my Inbox!! I took the screencap and sent it around to my pals and one of them was amazed and said if I could do that all year she'd sign up for lessons. :) Well I laughed and then thought to myself, hey maybe that's a good goal! So my plan is before I go to bed every night all mail must be dealt with. Replied, archived, labeled, etc...so that every night all I see is "No mail here!" I can't wait to see if I can do it! We are on day 2 and so far so good! I'll be posting my progress here and it should be fun to see if I can do it. Good luck to me!

Back Tack 4!!!!

2008-12-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

Whoops!!! I'm sorry to be late posting with this but WOW!!!! Seriously I could not have been partnered up with a more generous and talented person. Karalea over at : Karalea - Karalea was beyond generous with all the beautiful things that she sent me!
Here is the package I sent to her:

The theme was Gold/Frankincense & Myrrh. The "Gold" was the sparkle in the felt used to cover the notebook, the "Frankincense" was the spicy hot cocoa mix and the "Myrrh" was the eye pillow and the yarns. I always add a felted rock to the package as I love them and the way they are a little oxymoron of soft and hard!
I think Karalea enjoyed them and I really enjoyed making them for her. Check out her blog for pictures of the gorgeous stuff she made for me!
I love back-tack and it was an honor to participate this year. Thanks guys!!

driving me crazy!!!

2008-12-02T06:37:00.000-08:00

Ok I know no one is really reading this but I have seen this FOUR times in the last few days and it's bugging the hell out of me.
When you are sad and crying really hard? You are BAWLING your eyes out. You are NOT "balling" your eyes out. God. The incorrect usage really screws (ha! no pun intended) with the tone of your post. It's hard for me to feel sorry for you when I have to picture you having sex in the middle of your post about your horror over the condition of man.
Whew. Sorry. Back to my regularly scheduled moments of positivity.

Grograin giveaway & thanks!

2008-11-30T19:18:00.000-08:00

Ok guys, this gorgeous dress is show stopper! Check out this beautiful giveaway from the always lovely Grograin blog.
Recital Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

1) I am thankful for my pets! I am always assured of a loving welcome and lots of meowing. :)
2) I am thankful for my knitting shop! I love Knitch! It's not only a great shop but the people I work with are so wonderful.
3) My friends!! I am so happy to have such wonderful people in my life and I am glad to have them to support me in all the hard times of my life.

I have enjoyed my thankful for 30 and I will keep trying to stay focused on things that I'm thankful for!

something fuzzy!

2008-11-26T13:31:00.001-08:00

something fuzzy, originally uploaded by budgetnaginata.

A sneak peek on my back-tack 4 package! It went out today and I am excited to see how my partner likes her things! It was really fun to meet someone new and make some cool things for her.
Now some more thanks!

I'm thankful for back-tack! It's such a great idea. I love meeting new people online and making something for them as a surprise. Packages are always fun!

I'm thankful for my family. They have been really wonderful lately and I don't know what I'd do without them.

I'm thankful for my extremely sleep-deprived, whiny, sassy, annoying, wonderful daughter. It's been "one of those days" and I know someday I'll look back on this wistfully. For now of course I am trying to keep from locking myself in the bathroom to get away. but I LOVE! ;)

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-11-23T17:38:00.000-08:00

I am a HUGE fan of Small Magazine. They did a Q&A with the amazing blogger Kathleen of Grosgrain Fabulous for the winter addition. I have a new addiction! As I gear up for my new sewing projects it is wonderful to have a new inspiration. She also has some really awesome giveaways (see below). I love finding new ways to be inspired!
And I'm thankful!!
I am also thankful for my BED! I have the best bed ever and I am heading for it now! Good night!

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

More thanks!

2008-11-22T09:17:00.001-08:00

Whew! What a week it has been. I've been wrapping up my back-tack package, such yummy and fun goodies! :) I've been finishing my November classes, my last one is today at 2pm. And I get to do a fun night out with my my lovely friend Theresa for the Night before Thanksgiving! I can't wait!
I read a great blog by BStewart and he had a great quote for today:
"We must destroy the myths once and for all, shatter them. We must continue to speak out and most importantly every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family, you must tell your relatives, you must tell your friends, if indeed they are your friends, you must tell your neighbors, you must tell the people you work with, you must tell the people in the stores you shop in, and once they realize that we are indeed their children and that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all. And once you do you will feel so much better. — Harvey Milk"
To all my friends and family who are gay, thanks for coming out. It means the world to me to have been able to share in your lives and to love you for who you are. LOVE to you all!
And now on to some thanks!!!
1) Thank you for blogs! I know it might seems silly but I am really thankful for all the insightful, passionate, personal stories that I read everyday. And I'm even thankful for LOLcats! If you can't think, laugh and love everyday then what is life for?
2)I am thankful for SLEEP! Every Saturday morning my husband makes sure to get up with our gal so that I can sleep in and I don't know if he knows how much I appreciate it. :)
3) I am thankful for Thanksgiving!! This is my favorite holiday and my favorite time of year and I am glad for all the wonderful things that I have to be thankful for.

ack! I'm behind in my thanks!

2008-11-18T06:19:00.001-08:00

Whoa! 5 days since my last post and I don't even know where the time went! Things are relatively uneventful here. I am coaxing my hubby back from the ugly bronchitis and my peanut is finally not ill so that's a huge relief. Now we are looking forward to the holidays and working all of that out. We got a great surprise of Nutcracker tickets! I am so excited to take miss bean. She will love it I'm sure. Dress up + ballet = happy kid. :)
Now onto the thanks!!
1. This was so exciting! I'm thankful to all the people who are so into the political system and voting now! I think this election has really galvanized a lot of people who felt disenfranchised. Now they are seeing that with action comes response!
2. I think it's cheating to say again how much my husband rocks but I think he's great and I'm looking forward to 6 more years of fun.
3. NAPS!!! I'm thankful for them. :)
4. Our extended family are awesome. I'm thankful for Aunts and Uncles of our choosing.
and finally 5. I'm thankful for COLD!!! It has finally gotten chilly here and I couldn't be happier.
In keeping with a combo of #3 and #5 I'm heading for a nap right now!! :)

son of thanks

2008-11-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

:) I am thankful today for my bright beautiful bean. She sings me songs and makes me laugh and I don't know what I'd do without her. Thank you sweetie.

ugh...

2008-11-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

We are feeling the blahs over here. Daddy has bronchitis, I have a hideous fever blister and our daughter is slightly overtired and cranky. I am looking for some sort of magic door that I can use to slide out of here and into a lovely hotel where a nice soft bed and room service await me. Anyone? When will teleportation be a reality??? I don't car about my flying car just make it so I can magically appear anywhere in 5 seconds. *sigh
See what happens when I'm thankful for health?? ;)

Today's thanks X 2 :

I am thankful for warm covers and soft beds. Even if they are invaded by small people and animals from time to time.

I am so thankful for all the military families who sacrifice so much for all of us. I hope that in the future they may be not stretched so thin and they have all the support of our countries resources when they come home. Thank you.

whoops!

2008-11-10T04:53:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I have let this much time pass between posts! I have been busy with a sick husband and a kid that only wants to be with Daddy. Poor guys! I am working away on my back-tack contribution. I want to get it mailed off to make sure it arrives by the first week or so of December. I had a moment of panic the other day and somehow thought that I had missed the deadline! whew!
So my thanks are these:

1)I am so thankful that we are in good financial health. We could not have done things better in the last two years than if we had KNOWN the economy was going south. Thank goodness.

2)I am grateful for warm mugs of tea on cold mornings. And it is finally cold here! yay!

3)I am thankful for my teeny house because it makes me very mindful of what I bring in since I don't have space for much. Usually things in our house are things we love because of this.

4)I am thankful for the gift of relative good health. The beginning of this post notwithstanding I am happy that we are able to fight off most illnesses with the only real consequence being a missed day at work or two.

We are truly blessed! Have a great morning!

Post election buzz and more thanks!

2008-11-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

What an amazing couple of days it has been. I am so happy and sad. I am hoping that there are more changes to come and that all people can truly be equal. I am excited to do more and be a better person.
My thanks for today (and yesterday!):

1. I am so thankful that I live in the same town as my mom. I could not be the best mom, wife, friend, person that I am without her. She is really a gift and I hope I tell her that enough. (hmmm...I think some flowers are in order!!)

2. I have the BEST husband. Seriously. He's just an amazing person and it's been a pleasure to be on this journey with him. Seeing him with our daughter and knowing what a fantastic dad he is has made me fall in love with him all over again. I am so thankful for him!

More Thanks and Election news

2008-11-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

We had a great time voting this morning. We were lucky and our 6:45am arrival time was right on target. We only had to wait about 1 and 1/2 hours. It went pretty fast and our gal was GREAT! She wrote in her books and played games on our cell phones. She was patient and super. Whew!

We thanked our poll workers and I was surprised by how touched they were by our thanks. I think most people think that they get paid to work on election day but the truth is they are all volunteers. The do this work out of the goodness of their hearts and because they think it's important.

So we came home to make them some cookies! It went swimmingly, mostly because I already had some ready made cookies in the refrigerator. Miss thing made them a card and we'll take them over after they've cooled. Which brings me to my Thanks!! Since I seem to be doing them in twos:

1.I am SO thankful to live in a country where my vote counts and I am able to vote freely and without fear.

and

2.I am also thankful for the people who make this day possible. Here's to all the poll workers, we couldn't do it without you!

Thankful for 30

2008-11-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a tip from my amazing friend Sarah I am also participating in "Thankful for 30" from Confessions of a Craft Addict. What a great way to keep in mind what is really important right now. I am a day late but here are mine for Saturday and today.

I am grateful for the wonderful friends that I have. The last year has been extraordinarily difficult for my family and I would not have survived if not for the support of some amazing people. Thank you guys.

and that brings me to today's gift of a place for my brother. I am so thankful that he'll be getting the help he needs now and that the housing burden is off of my mom. I think the adjustment will be hard but that it's going to be much better for all of us from now on.

Here's to the positivity of this season. Hugs!

social networking is teh devil...

2008-10-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Not really but I can see why it can be such a time suck. I just got an email from an old friend and she pointed me to a group of our old friends on facebook. So an hour and half later I have 20 new friends and I'm reconnected to some guys I haven't seen in almost 20 years! Which is awesome and why I love the internet. But I can also see how easily you can fall into spending an inordinate amount of time on the site. It's a great way to find folks but it's a huge time waster too. I just have to be aware and look up from the computer from time to time!
I'm off to knit a sock!! :)

Why is it that my daughter only gets sick on Wednesdays?

2008-10-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

It's a little weird. Oddly it's a good day for her to BE sick since it's the one day I don't usually have anything to do. :) Maybe she's just considerate.
I've been crafting Halloween stuff. I made my daughter's Batgirl cape. It was surprisingly easy. I am NOT a great sewer but straight lines seem to be my forte! I am busy planning my back-tack package. I like to list everything all out and then list the supplies I'm going to need. Then I check everything off as I go. It's a little anal but it's the only way I get anything done right!
I'm heading off for early voting! Yay for Georgia's ease of access to early voting. It's been really popular here. We might be able to turn this red state blue! Or at least purple! :)

new ideas!!

2008-10-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

I grabbed the new Martha Stewart Holiday Christmas edition today. There are some cute ideas with beading that I might try for some of my handmade holiday giving. I loved these initial ornaments. I will post some pictures after I get some beading wire and try it out. :)

the crazy week so far...

2008-10-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

It's only Tuesday and already I'm feeling a bit frazzled. I am so glad Ronin took a day off today. I think it's a big thing for him to make sure to take care of himself. I know it's hard for him but he's so much better when he does. He's such a great husband and father and I want him to make sure he's here for us for the long haul! :)
If everything stays on schedule (ha!) we'll all be in good shape. We'll see what happens!

and what was your name again?

2008-10-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

Hi from my house! I'm popping back onto the scene to do a swap!! A great project that I always wanted to be a part of is back on! back-tack 4 is here. And I got in! Yay me. I will be posting for the swap and maybe on into the future. I know I like it when I am writing even if it is just for me. :)
So hello again!

2007-04-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

Taking a smart suggestion from a friend, you know who you are!, I am heading over to the Budget Ronin and now our blogs will be combined. Thanks for stopping by but we'll be over here if you need us!

---

Count down to Mayday

2007-04-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

Over at our brother blog, Budget Ronin, there is a great explanation of our purpose. Here's a snippit:
"So there it is. My five minute manifesto. I'm cutting myself free from all my bad purchasing habits and putting them at arm's length for a year. This is where the wandering begins."
Mainly that personal spending for this year (May 1, 2007 - May 1, 2008) is quietly being eliminated. Well not really quietly, hence this blog and the OTHER blog.
This will be my space to vent and cry and moan and hopefully GROW and find the pleasure in smaller things. I don't think this will be hideous but I think it will be very hard. I also think it's a mindset adjustment instead of a real behavior change. Or maybe both. Who knows? (I must say I can hear you laughing from here T. :P )
Hopefully you will find the differences in our approach to this challenge entertaining!
Hmmm....I better order some stuff online before next Tuesday....