Goals

Although I lead a rather pleasant and non-stressful existence, I somehow have found a way to schedule practically every hour of my life for the past few months.  Day to day, this is fine, however after a few months of this I am B.U.R.N.T O.U.T.  I hadn't realized how burnt out I had become until I began looking at my impending vacation as a chore.  It was another thing on my schedule and all I REALLY wanted was a free weekend at home with the Hubby and the cat. Now on vacation in Florida with good friends and NOTHING on the schedule until my flight home Sunday, this escape what more what I needed than I realized.  I have no concept of time or date, and I'm not sure my body knows what to do when I don't have a To-Do list or what to do when it gets enough sleep(because day to day sleep is low on the To-Do list).  This strikes me as quite ironic since only 7 months ago, I was unemployed with nothing to do on a day to day basis except watch CSI and NCIS reruns, and I wished for nothing more than a reason to set my alarm in the morning.  I guess you need to be careful what you wish for.

Taking the time to STOP has given me time to actually think.  While here I have started to read Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project.  I must admit, I am rather ADD when it comes to reading lately- I am also in the midst of Chris Guillebeau's The Art of Non-Conformity.   While here in Florida, I handed The Art of Non-Conformity to my friend to read while I started on the other- I owned TAoNC afterall (the library didn't have it yet) and I need to return The Happiness Project to the library sooner than I realized.  My agenda for tomorrow? reading by the pool or beach.  That it.  :)  Anywho, back to my reflections on life.

*Disclaimer* there may have been a few glasses of wine imbibed before this blog post.

In The Happiness Project, where I am currently reading, she is talking about how she wrote down her goals, her plan to achieve said goals, and her rules to live by.  Although all of us probably have these topics floating around in our heads, few of us have written them down.... putting them on paper makes them tangible.  For instance, I may have stated to you that the GOAL of this blog is to figure out who I want to be in life, however, aside from making these statements, I have yet to figure out defined goals as well as milestones which will get me closer to my goals.  That, I feel should be my next task in this journey.  I need to write down what is important/priority in my life, what makes me happy, and what steps I feel will get me closer to figuring out my life by 30 as (laughably) planned.  Over the next week, I VOW that I will not only contemplate these topics, but commit them to paper, and ultimately to this blog... and you can (and should) harass me as necessary if I do not post them in a timely manor.

No ifs, ands, or butts...

Only a week ago, I blogged about how I was not ready to think about houses yet.  I am ashamed to admit I have let Hubby's enthusiasm and impatience wear off on me.  We looked at our first house ever this past Sunday.  Although that particular house needed more work than either of us were prepared to do, we've got the 'bug.'  I can't wait to tackle home projects- I love that stuff!!  I want to create curb appeal with a colorful garden and help a house live up to its full potential inside and out!  I love the process of expressing yourself in the form of a room and giving antiques new life by refinishing or re-purposing.  I haven't had that kind of project in a while and I miss it.  There's only so many projects you can do in an apartment, and sadly, I exhausted those over a year ago.  Change is necessary for growth. Is the whole house buying process terrifying and unnerving?  You betcha!  Will it be worth it?  I hope so, but I'm not going to find out by sitting on my butt. I'm not going to get what I want out of interior design by sitting on my butt either.  I feel very lucky to have stumbled on the Boston Design Salon!  The event last night, "What the Tweet?" was fantastic- I never realized the power of twitter as a business builder.  In addition to the wonderful speakers, @CreateGirl and @StacyStyle, the space it was held at was just as inspiring, the brand new design store/studio:  Twelve Chairs.  More importantly, I've become part of a network of like-minded creative women and have 20 new connections on Twitter.  I can't wait for the next event!

Where My Time Goes

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Good Morning world.  I am regrettably awake and marginally functional on a train to NYC for the day for work (did I mention its 5:18 AM??).  I have not, however forgotten my promise to you.  Projects! First things first, the Scrabble gift card box.  I made this for my friend's wedding on the 26th which had a totally charming Scrabble theme, right down to the table names and 'thank you' gifts.  If you ever need to cut through something like a Scrabble board, however, I would recommend a heavy-duty utility blade, because a simple X-acto knife is about as effective as a butter knife.

Next project is a baby shower cake.  The kitchen has still not recovered from this one.  This was for the first of 2 baby showers I attended this weekend.  (Too many pregnant women right now, I have to make sure I don't drink the water!)  When talking to a guest at the shower about my cake, she commented "you must have a lot of free time."  I was able to keep myself from laughing at her, but that forced me to reflect on the long lost friend called 'free time.'  Between my 9-5, my part-time jewelry home parties (need new jewelry?  www.liasophia.com/kpgoodman), projects, events, and life, I would not be able to name the last time I had a free weekend.  Oh well.  I hope you enjoy the products of my sleep-deprived glue gun and fondant (not together of course) adventures!

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p.s. Happy Birthday Mom!!