Goals and Projects For 2014

BRRR… I’m cold. It’s cold outside and we have a drafty door near where I’m sitting. But, I feel otherwise good and not at all sick. 2013 ends better than 2012 did and it promises a better January 1 for 2014!

As I say goodbye to 2013 it’s time to set up my goals and projects for 2014. Looking over 2013’s goals and projects I can say that I’m pleased with how well I did in some areas and I know I definitely disappointed myself in some. In some areas I nailed the “or something better.”

“We aim above the mark to hit the mark.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Clean and Organize Project:

Well, last year I dropped the White Tornado idea for 2013 and well, I must say we did a good job of not moving forward on that front. Looking forward now however, I’m less mobile and more clumsy and that makes everyday things more out of reach and clutter more dangerous. In the first couple months of 2014 I’ll be researching and asking questions. After suggestions from friends (hi Edna!) and other family members I’m going to look into avenues for daily living assistance for people with disabilities. I understand there are even people who will help with serious cleaning and organizing a more accessible house.

Like I said research first. I need to find out what assistance I can get, if I am an eligible candidate for disability assistance and how much it will cost/if I can afford it. I figure initially there will be a lot of work to get our house truly organized and safe, then maybe just someone who can help tidy up once a week or so. We’ll see; this is entirely new territory for me. I’ll talk to my doctor too to see if he has any suggestions.

One thing that I must get done is the door jamb on the entryway to the kitchen from the dining room has to come out. There is snuggly enough space to drive the power chair through but if the jamb is removed it will give an extra inch. In all the years David’s been here there’s never been a door there, so the door jamb won’t be missed. A mid-December call to 911 to come pick me up off the kitchen floor because my leg just quit while I was hobbling back from the bathroom made me decide that I had to be able to use the chair in the kitchen. I also want to see about a couple more grab bars in the hallway to the downstairs bathroom, where the chair doesn’t fit at all and I have to “walk.”


Blog Goals:

Blog more regularly?? I did the consolidation in the fall putting all my blogs on The Chronicles of Nani so I have plenty of material for a healthy blog, I just need to get my head in the right place. Counseling is helping; I’m getting g better. I also think that if I can get the help to get the house up to safer and more comfortable it will help too. I can’t let my mental health depend on that right now though since I don’t know for sure that I can get or afford that help! Still, I’ve set some 2014 goals with my counselor and I feel good about my prospects. I want it and I believe it will work, 75% of the battle.

So, with my head and heart in a better place, and getting better day by day, I should be able to commit myself to The Chronicles better. I want to blog a minimum of twice a week. I’m also going to post at least one Tweet a day.


Reading Goals:

This is one place I am very pleased with my numbers for 2013. My goal was to read 2 books a month with a short book review on The Chronicles of Nani. I read 27 books with reviews here in 2013! Waiting in doctors' offices gets a nod for help with that one, but so does reading before bed or an afternoon nap.

For 2014, I’m keeping that goal of 2 books a month with book reviews here.


Health and Wellness:

Of course the January Detox starts January 2, or whichever day I can get out of the house after the snow to stock up on some better groceries. With decreased mobility and depression came some bad eating habits and less movement! I don’t try to lose in December; I just try to not gain any weight or at least very little. This November and December was a fail! An emotional eater in distress, I gained enough to feel uncomfortable emotionally and physically. I do start January with a bunch of containers of my own homemade vegetable soup in the freezer, a very recent Lean Cuisine sale where David stocked me up and a week’s worth of Greek yogurt in the fridge. I need to get out to the produce market.

I want to lose at least 20 pounds by June.

In physical health and wellness goals, I will have my first round of epidural steroids for my lower back next week. I’m not going to hide that I’m as nervous as can be. I remember the worst part of spinal taps I got when I was 18 was feeling those needles when I couldn’t see what was going on. Numb or not it was agonizing. For this procedure I can’t take the bus because I can’t go home alone, David has to be there because I get IV funny juice. Continued pain is the only prospect I like less! Hopefully the injections will help me get up from a sitting position better and give me a little light exercise ability.


Scrapbooking:

The idea of scrapping the current month instead of trying to catchup a year at a time went brilliantly! Every folder for January and February was completed during these months in 2013! Now those are the months I take fewer pictures, but I’ll be catching up some of the December and November during those months this year while I’m keeping 2014 up to date.

I did keep a tally of the pages I completed each month with my goal of averaging a layout a day. In 2013 I finished 484 scrapbook pages with my record month being July (When the ramp was still new for discovering all the places I could go and it was hot anyway) I did 66 layouts in July!

In this too my goal shall remain the same; average a page a day with a tally kept.


Project 365:

Now here was a fail this year. I figured out that where I completed 2012 but fell behind and dropped 2013 was in the randomness. 2012 was just a line or two written about the day and a layout with those thoughts each week. 2013 was a structured “writing assignment” that had to be written and scrapped every week with pre-assigned topics for each week. I like a challenge, but hobbies are supposed to be fun and as challenging as I want them to be on any day. This year my Project 52 will be “2014: That’s So Random!” I’m going to do a page a week. It might be a journaling page, or a quote every day, a picture a day, a mix of ideas each day or just a layout of a highlight event for the week. I won’t know until the week is under way what it’ll be.

We’ll see how that works!


Employment Goal:

Part of working toward working for me in 2013 was volunteering. Volunteering means networking and earning some current references who have worked with me in a professional setting. As the year was winding down I had some wonderful ego-building surprises as a result of volunteer work that have pushed me into leadership and more detailed work. That means that I not only feel like I have a lot to offer even with wheels, but I’m perceived as having a lot to offer by other professionals. I can’t even express how good that feels and how much it does for my confidence!

So my goals for employment this year are to keep doing what I’ve been doing, shoring up my resume presentation and add at least a few professional items to my wardrobe. Ideally it would be great to land something part time and either have that go full time or move on to a full time placement from there. I know it’d be best to build my stamina rather than jump into 40+ hours a week right off the bat. I want, no need, to feel I’m making a valuable contribution at work and to the home income too.

And there is my plan for 2014. 

 Of course, this or something better!

A Fragmented Mind With Blanks To Fill In

So this is the one day that tells the retail chains if they will make a profit this year. I’ve read in a few places that Black Friday’s name comes from the fact that the day after Thanksgiving is the pivotal point where stores can forecast the rest of the year’s sales. Considering that most corporate fiscal years start November 1, that’s pretty impressive. I’m not saying I doubt any of it; marketing has become quite a science.

  
Since I have a few of them, we’ll call that tidbit that I believe to be true, my first fragment this week. I’ll add that the “I believe to be true” is because I think I remember reading it on the Internet and you can’t trust things you read on the web abut Black Friday because it might be a Cyber Monday shopper just trying to make the crazy Friday shoppers look silly. Of course, carpal tunnel and camping out on your own porch might be considered cra….

………………………………………………

I’m back. Sorry, doorbell; I had to go get a package off the porch.


Where was I? Oh yes, Fragments! So here’s some more!

*  A Facebook friend did some questioning of employees at Target about working on Thanksgiving. At Target, working on Thanksgiving was volunteer only, they were paid time and a half and got a $100 bonus for taking the shift. I’m actually kind of glad for that because I usually find a thing or two at Target and I like their novelty Christmas candy selection. I’ll again consider them a store I’ll shop at this holiday season.


*  This is mostly a photo-fragment: Last week when David was working nights and there was some sun, enough sun, because Norfolk Sothern’s Southern Heritage Unit was in the area! (I’m wearing my Southern t-shirt as I type this) Isn’t she beautiful?

*  As 2012 draws to a close, there is a little somethin-somethin I for me. I bought my first real Smash book!

I know, I know, why would I want to buy a Smash brand book, when I’ve already put my “smashables” from all the years up through 2011 in binders with repurposed scrapbook paper? Well, first off the stock of scrapbook paper won’t last forever and the price of decent weight 2-sided paper pus a binder and glue starts to get near the price of a Smash Book, but not bound quite as solidly.

There’s also what I call the “London Fog Effect.” My Joey Votto jersey has the London Fog Effect too. I am really not a champagne taste kind of gal. I like nice restaurant now and then, but going out for dinner at Cracker Barrel is a fine treat to me. Kelly made me that beautiful Pandora-styled bracelet and I love it. I love looking at Pandora, but if I’m buying beads and a bracelet, Pugster is a lot less expensive and I have no gnawing desire for an actual Pandora. (Although I often still use Pandora wallpapers on my computer) But London Fog was one of those things for me. I had a few okay raincoats over the years, but in the back of my mind I wanted a nice real London For dress raincoat for work/interviews. When Mom and I saw a London Fog tent sale at an outlet mall we went to, we stopped to look and there was a beautiful taupe double-breasted trench with a button-in lining for winter. It was my size and Mom told me to try it on just to see how it looked. It looked great, it felt luxurious! Tent-sale prices, Mom is the one who told me it looked good and very professional and I ought to have it. She made it a gift. That coat still makes me feel like a million bucks when I wear it.

The authentic Joey Votto jersey with his name and number and all of the official Reds accents has the same effect. You can just feel that it’s the real deal. So I wanted a Smash Book for the same reason. Yes, I bought into the branding. The pages are thicker than the ones in my books, more durable, especially for thicker or heavier items I put in it and the way it’s put together is sturdy, quality. Of course, it feels special with nothing in it. Time will tell if that feeling stays as I use it if it truly is in the class of my London Fog coat or Joey Votto jersey. I have a folder full of 2012 smashables to help me find out!


I’m going to take a fragments break to visit Hilary’s Friday Fill-in.

This week’s statements:
1. I put ___ on a hot dog
2. when it___ I ____
3. If my house____then I would be able to___
4. If I was getting married tomorrow I would _______________ differently so we could ________________differently now.


My Answers:

1. I put mustard and nothing but mustard on a hot dog unless I’m having a Coney, then it’s chili with onions and mustard. I usually add yellow mustard when I have chili to enjoy it as a “dogless Coney” too.

2. When it snows I am happy to stay indoors with a big mug of mocha.

3. If my house was self-cleaning then I would be able to get more accomplished in a day!

4. If I was getting married tomorrow I would approach the photos differently so we could enjoy the scrapped pages differently now. My only regret is that I didn’t go a professional photographer or at least a dedicated photographer with a list of shots to get for our reception weekend. I would have loved to have 2-shots or 3-shots with each of our guests and a few of the balloon release we did. I would not have done anything else differently. :)


*  Windows 8 is Windows moving toward the smart phone, tablet and computer all working the same. There are touch-screen laptops out now and Windows 8 really is made for those! There are things I really like about it and one thing I really hate. I can’t stand the fact that if I move a window too close to the edge it instantly becomes full screen. I also don’t like the way windows will snap to either side for 2-window viewing that fills the screen. I know that’s supposed to be a “cool” new feature, but I’ve always used three to five windows open, sized and spaced so I would see the contents of all of them to select elements for scrapbook pages. That takes having windows in the corners, but if I get them too close, snap they go and I have a full screen of one of them instead of five. It messes with my organization. I’m slowly getting used to it, not dragging things too close to the edge and when I do, I curse under my breath and pull it away to snap it back to where I wanted it. That’s a pain, but for the most part, Windows 8 is pretty user-friendly.

David will give you quite a different opinion!


*  I have been too lax on tweeting and scrapbook gallery commenting! That’s a project I’m going to work on! I find I use Twitter a lot more during baseball season because a lot of my tweeps are fellow Reds or Tigers fans and I follow a lot of baseball players, who also tweet less in the off season. We’ll see if I get to tweeting more.

I know I‘ll be sure to be leaving more gallery comments at Ginger Scraps because I was invited to join the praise team there, essentially the cheerleaders who make sure every layout gets some love. There are perks in the form of scrapbook kits for meeting comment goals. Yeah, that sounds like copping out and using the freebies to encourage myself to do the polite thing I wanted to do anyway, but it does mean I’ll be commenting even more than the minimum I’d set for myself, so I consider it a win-win.


*  Finally, I’d like to take some suggestions for Friday memes. I kinda like doing three smaller memes but sometimes I can’t really answer the 5 Question Friday questions in any serious way because the questions assume I am a mom. And I am a cat-mom and was sort of a fill-in mom when my nieces were growing up, buy I really can’t answer questions about being with human kids every day, so I’d like to do one or two others too and choose the ones that have the questions I’m best capable in answering on any given Friday. Does anyone host a trains meme?? :) Just if you have a suggestion, I’d love a link!


And so I’m ready to post on this day after Thanksgiving. In the Nani-David household It’s not Black Friday, but dark gray Friday for sure; lots of serious wind and some rain. I’m glad to just be inside blogging, smashing and scrapbooking…oh, and I guess a little laundry too.