The Waiting Game

So how should I deal with the stress of waiting to find out if I got the job (and the potential for bad news)?

This morning, I'm going to take my parents' dog Bo for a walk. He's neurotic, and I think he could use some destressing as well. Then I will go for a run. I can't take Bo running because he will go out ahead of me, and with the momentum of running, I won't be able to pull him back. I don't want to end up on my face with scrapes and bruises.

After my run, I will perhaps do some kickboxing or an abs workout. Oh getting in shape--such a delightful boost of endorphins. I can use those to cope with the wait, and if I get bad news, an endorphin boost would be nice for bouncing back.

I have a couple of errands I have to squeeze in today, too. Mom needs a piece of glass to fix the door on the little mudroom/breakfast nook off the back patio. I also need to get a chip in my windshield fixed to avoid ending up with a cracked windshield. After that, I might try to do some cleaning to help out my mom since Kerrie's baby shower is here tomorrow. Productivity is good for a sense of well-being.

This afternoon, I am going to have drinks with my mom and some other stressed out teachers--teachers really need drinks with all they put up with. I would be in tears constantly if I had to deal with some of what my mom does. Kids just don't have it as easy as they should, and that creates a lot of stress for teachers. I'm not talking about academic ease, I'm talking home life. She's got foster care kiddos whose real parents have drug problems, etc., kids with divorced parents, kids whose parents make excuses for them, kids whose parents need to lighten up--all varieties of destructive parenting. Enough of this rant--today is about cheeriness.

Then to close my day I am going to Molly's book club with her since I happen to be home and they're talking about a book Molly insisted I read. Molly loved the book. I thought it was so-so. Should be fun anyway. Wherever I go, I really should join a book club. If there's time, I might ask to go to Molly's to play the new Zelda. :)

Productivity! (cue Superman music)

Yesterday, I finally conquered the lingering dishes. I also copied a number of CDs onto my computer so that I can get rid of them. Books to donate are consolidated into a single box, which they are spilling out of. Other donateable stuff is in another box. Laundry is done. I even crocheted a few more rows on the frog hat for Kerrie.

Today I need to bake some zucchini bread for Beej and some pies or gallettes with my peaches. I also need to put some ears on the sock monkey coffee cup sleeve that my boss and I were collaboratively working on Friday night.

Right now I have Star Trek going, and I am packing books into a boxes. I'm going to try to pack as much as possible this week and move it to my parents this coming weekend when I visit them. I'll be bringing their truck back to GJ with me and leaving my precious subaru behind.

With the truck, I can rent a U-haul trailer, which is much cheaper than renting a truck.

I just need to figure out who can help me load the big stuff into the trailer. I don't mind asking my boss and her family for help with most of the stuff...but the entertainment center is monstrous. I may have to just break it up and put it in the dumpster. :(

Captain Productivity....Up, up, and away!

So, I have been out of town the past two weekends. It's resulted in my apartment being a general disaster all week, so I'm gonna clean up my mess, and then hopefully still feel enough motivation to apply for a job or two.

I've already loaded the crochet projects into their appropriate baskets, made coffee, sorted laundry, put the clean dishes away.

Right now, I've got the timer going for a load of laundry. I have four more lovely, color-coded mounds taking up the living room floor. It's a laundry rainbow, but I guess that's what happens when you wait 3 weeks to do laundry--towels, bedding, bathrobe, all the random extras need washed at once. I wore most of my jeans at least 3 times.

I've got a stack of receipts and mail next to me to sort and log. I will sort the mail into piles for filing, shredding, and responding. I log all my receipts into a notebook with categories of spending so that I can see how much I am spending and assess how I can improve my finances. My budget is pretty tight, so it's important to know where I stand. Right now I stand in a mound of receipts because I've been on the road a lot, and that happens. This will have been a pricy month. Hopefully October will be like August...surprisingly cheap.

After that, I think I will make zucchini bread to work as breakfast. I have a rule when it gets down to the last month-or-so before I move that I have to be very creative with my food and eat what I have. I ran out of cereal yesterday, so the baking supplies will be developing breakfasts for the remainder of my time here. I think when I get down to the bare bones of my fridge, freezer, and cupboards, I will buy 1 bag of  potstickers and 1 of edamame for my dinners. I will perhaps buy a few sale microwave box meals for lunch at work. Potstickers smell like feet when microwaved, and it's never a good idea to make your work environment smell like that.

Of course, the cat crawled into my lap while I've been blogging, and that always ruins my motivation to do anything. This morning she was curled up next to me on the bed, so I read the first 50 pages of Water for Elephants instead of getting up. I really do need to apply for jobs though, and I'd also like a relaxing bath to perhaps indulge in more reading about circus folks, so I'd best clean up this place. A serious vacuuming should be in order after the laundry rainbow is washed, dried, and folded and no longer on the floor.

Ready to Be Productive

So, I finally finished watching all of Lost. I thought the conclusion was a bit lame, but really, I'm somewhat impressed they had the guts to go with that sort of ending because it's hard, and most people go for the other endings because they are easier to do. So kudos to the Lost people for being brave.

I have been playing Epic Mickey, which I think is a cool game, but it turns out that I really don't have the stamina to complete a whole game. I am bored, and I am ready to be reading and writing again. It's good that I got that out of my system while my Blockbuster subscription was still in trial mode.

I have been reading The Female Man by Joanna Russ. It's a weird book, and it's only like 200-some pages, but it's been taking me forever to read. I'm starting to really get into it (at 170 pages in). I'm in reading mode again. Forget TV and video games.

I've been re-plotting my novel in my head for my most recent change in plan-of-action (this is the 3rd major change in the focus on this novel). I also need to make a research plan/book list to help in developing it. I can do some of the early revision now, but I really need to do some serious reading before I can get a more solid new direction. I have been working on this novel for over 7 years now. It needs to be finished.

Productivity is Lost...Literally

So I keep telling myself I am going to cook, and blog about cooking or read and blog about books. I keep telling myself I will work on my novel.

Nope, nope.

I haven't done much of any of that. I just keep watching Lost. The more I watch, the more hooked I am. I should be asleep so that I can get up and work out before work tomorrow, but noooooooooooo. I'm watching Lost.

The saddest part is, I'm only partway through Season 3. Lost takes too long, but I'm addicted now. Blergh.

Project? What Project?

I wanted to work on my project today, but there just wasn't time. I was very productive today though.

1. I graded/responded to proposals for my students final projects.

2. I read all the web design articles for tech comm and wrote my response.

3. I attended the SAGE meeting.

4. I workshopped Emily's statement of teaching philosophy for a scholarship application.

5. I helped Angel come up with reasons why a certain professor should get the service award from SAGE.

Now I'm going to bed. I will wake up at the crack of dawn to finally finish my project...at least, that's the plan. I think I am feeling a little dejected because my friend, nicknamed Cheever, explained to me that gamers make poor friends. They invite you to a quest and then take all the diamonds. Online gaming might be a no-go, except with Lindsey because she will be nice.

Scone-Fest Fail, Good for Productivity

So I spent my morning yesterday baking scones for Chris because he always wants baked goods. I made cheddar dill, which turned out amazingly! Then I made some chocolate coconut lime, which were only so-so because I used dark chocolate instead of white because that's all I had. They would have been better with lime zest, too. I didn't have any limes though, just juice. A bit lame.

I took the scones over to Chris because he wasn't feeling well, and we talked for a bit about silly stuff. It'd been a bit long since we discussed how we deal with the impending long-distance when he moves for a job. It went about as well as last time, so it was time to be done. I'm sad, but that's life. I can't say that I'm that surprised.

Thus far it's been good for productivity. I'm ahead on my reading for Indian Children's Lit now--I read late into the night. Later today, I will try to tackle more grading, but students don't need water damaged documents returned to them, so for now, grading is on hold. On a more positive note, I'll probably be as productive as I was when Chris put me on quarantine because he didn't want me to get him sick. When I have nothing to do, I can move mountains of work (even when sick).