Friday, September 14, 2012

Progress Report: mid-September

Earlier, I posted a list of goals to accomplish before next autumn.  Here's an update on how I've been doing with them (well, some of them at least):

1-3 : Sewing, new job, move out
No progress.  That's probably bad since these include two of my biggest goals.  My sister bought me some books on finding a job.  I should probably revisit them.

4 : Actually write something
I haven't settled on anything concrete, but I've had some inspiration lately and jotted down a couple ideas for stories.  I need to get something concrete and simple I can work with.   It's not realistic or even a good idea for me to start working on a novel, for example.

5 : Learn to iron
No progress. Pathetic.

6 : Plan Californian vacation
Began talks with some of my CA friends, in terms of when to visit.  That's good.  Haven't really been saving money though.  That's bad.

7 : Improve photography
No progress.

8 : Learn Photoshop and/or InDesign.
Thought about taking a peak at photoshop at the office.  Looked the Photoshop Elements website.  That's all so far.

9 : Exercise
My goal for this month is to exercise at least 4 times a week for 30-40 min.  I got 3 days in last week, and am planning on 4 this week.  Right now I'm doing a combination of running and doing the New York Ballet DVD workouts.  I really enjoy the ballet workouts.  They really give your muscles a beating and the different exercises break up the monotony of exercising.

I've been trying to eat healthier, with healthy snacks instead of candy and staying hydrated, which is usually an important thing for me.  I've been doing a pretty good job.  Between this and the exercising, I may have lost 3 lbs. yay!

Unfortunately, my hip is doing something weird. 
Nothing painful or alarming, but strange.  So I went to the doctor who basically told me to get an MRI and X-rays which seems like a huge hassle.  Blehhhh.  He also drew blood which made me really frustrated but I HATE it SO MUCH.  It is a huge phobia of mine that I really can't control or I control the best I can (which people who don't have the experience don't seem to understand) and is a very upsetting experience for me (cold sweats, weakness/faintness, panic, crying . . . yeah, it's not fun . . . although usually I can maintain a semblance of calm and only get a few symptoms per given torture session).  But it seems like everytime I go to the doctor, even though there is rarely anything ever wrong with me, they need stab me in the elbow with needles.

It's further aggravating because I always try to explain to the nurse/doctor in advance that I'm going to act a little crazy because of my phobia and they usually don't listen to me ("Yeah yeah dear.  Nobody likes needles) and just order me to relax.  Then they get all surprised when I'm crying and expect me to give them status updates every five seconds when I'm just concentrating on trying to think of a calming beach or something.  WTF do they expect me to say?  I mean, I'm basically their prisoner until they unstick me; whether I'm being traumatized by the experience or not is not really relevant by that point.  Although, a couple times I did have a nurse who instructed my breathing throughout and that really helped a lot.

Anyways, HUGE tangent.

10 :  Writing routine
I've been trying to write a few lines before I go to bed.  I also often think of things as I fall asleep, and I'm trying to train myself to turn on the light and jot down my ideas.  Because I never remember these things in the morning.

11 :  Budgeting
No progress.  I have to work on a budget for work though so hopefully I'll put some time into this goal during the next 3-4 weeks.

12 :  Improve blog.
Posting more.  That's an improvement?  I also posted my first outfit post and took photos for a few more.  I'm pretty excited about that!

13 :  Complete a collection of poems.
I've been jotting things down, but haven't really written any complete poems yet.  I've made a few (more) edits on my old poems too.  This weekend I'm planning on looking back through my notes and hopefully putting a few new poems together.

I also had a small freak-out this week.  I came across a blog that at first glance looked like it was going to contain poetry like mine--- introspective, inspired by nature, somewhat terse lines.  But I actually HATED all the poetry on the blog, so panicked and worried that MY poetry sounded like that hateful poetry and had to send a few distress signals to friends for some feedback.  Luckily, it was all a bit of a false alarm.

14 : Play more music.
I've played the piano 3 times this month.  That's much more than I can say for the past 6-8 months, but I'd still like to cook up something a little more regular and disciplined.

15 :  Read more.
I actually read the arts section of the newspaper once last week.  I started to seriously read one of my magazines and not just look at the pictures.  I finished listening to an audio book of Cloud Atlas.  I also went to see a play that was based a little on Chekhov plays--- I'd read most of them, but not The Cherry Orchard.  So I actually got that one from the library and read that in one night.  So excellent progress in this category I think.

16 : Maintain a journal of the cool events/experience in my life.
Total FAIL here.  I've done A LOT of cool things over the past 2-3 months and I haven't journaled about any of it.  If I wait much longer, the backlog is going to be scary. 

17 : Dating drama
No progress.  Too scary and I guess, not as big a priority as my creative projects.

18 & 19 : Work collaboratively on a creative project with a friend/Make a film
I've not done anything on this, but I had a little inspiration yesterday so evil plans may soon be in the works.

20 & 21 : Family newsletter & photo albums
Not much progressed here.  I opened my photo paper box.   I discussed photo albums for a different reason with my mother and it got a bit stressful (we don't work well together usually), so maybe I'll keep this under my hat for now.

22 : Travel more.
Forgot about this one!  I'll have to start thinking about this more.  Although I plan to spend a weekend in NYC soon.

23 : Organize my creative ideas. 
Just focusing on actually getting them down on paper for now!

24 : Haircut?
I collected some pictures of haircut ideas.  I'll probably get my hair trimmed soon, but save any big decisions for later when I've given it more thought.

I've been thinking of trying hair pastels.  It looks pretty easy to do at home, and the colors don't stay in for very long (apparently).

I also tried the first hair style on this post and I really liked it.

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