stop procrastinating

Someday/Maybe List: now at 11 categories and 42 items. I’m happy about that.

To Do List:
1. post office
2. Knit again
3. Start bridal book
4. Pictures for J
5. Pay Visa bill
6. Midnight star pottery
7. Finish Unica
8. Have normal sleep hours IN PROGRESS
9. Pay off debt $9,820 IN PROGRESS
10. Finish gulag IN PROGRESS
Everything else moved

To Do:

Look over the Someday/Maybe List (72 items in 12 categories) and figure out what needs to be
-acted upon
-left on the list
-tossed

Now that the GRE is out of the way, I have an updated To-Do list that I began attacking today with the help of the 5 year old I babysit who kept asking “What can I do? I want to help” which was AWESOME!

1 move the bed frame
2 clean the windows
3 dust fan blades, vacuum
4 vacuum and dust in the hall
5 clean out the refrigerator
6 rearrange bookcases for the kids
7 program the thermostat
8 vote in the Georgia senate runoff
9 clean out the kids’ bins
10 get the shoes out of the pile and into a row in the closet.
11 move the bins behind the couch
12 clean off the bookshelf
13 schedule tutoring for first week of December
14 charge cell phone
15 clean the bathroom
16 get materials ready to go to the bank
17 frame J’s pictures
18 pictures into the album
19 order any missing pictures
20 clear off project table
21 clean out the jeep
22 finish reading volume one of Gulag Archipelago; 50 pages
23 clean the stovetop
24 call MS about Mondays and Wednesdays
25 clean office floor and windows
26 plan trip through Athens
27 find 2 people to write letters of rec
28 pay off credit cards (payment plan set)
29 write 2 page essay
30 go running

I sat down and put my goals (all 30 of them) in order. I’m hoping by organizing that, I can more quickly knock them out and give up my crown as Person with the Most Entries on the 2nd Most Popular Goal on the Whole Site. The reign is fabulous, really, but I’m ready to move on to other things.

As always, suggestions from those of you riding the Kasha Wave are welcomed and looked forward to!

1 fill out grad school application
2 fix bike kick-stand
3 schedule the GRE
4 put air in bike tires That was so easy! I can’t believe I was gonna put that off!!
5 order Christmas calendars and pictures for J
6 fill out form for Fed Aid
7 laundry
8 request transcripts from 2 schools
9 clean sap off jeep
10 look for extra work more babysitting
11 clean inside of jeep
12 figure out what in the world is wrong with my Bluetooth and fix it
13 check deposit online
14 empty the trash
15 look up graduation stats
16 call that guy back that should’ve called by now
17 ask about work at the house
18 call bank over billing error
19 read FT article
20 respond to emails, messages
21 schedule time to add new photos to album
22 schedule time to put together J’s present
23 Go for a run
24 improve GRE practice
25 find 2 people to write letters of rec
26 pay off credit cards (payment plan set)
27 plan trip through Athens
28 write 2 page essay

With the cold weather (SO gonna blame an outside force), I’ve done nothing. I play on the computer, eat out of boredom, and do nothing. I know what I want, and I know what I need to do.

Want: to go to Spalding Univ in Kentucky for grad school
Need: a 1350 on the GRE

Want: a 1350 on the GRE
Need: to study and practice

Want: to pay off my trip to Costa Rica and save towards school
Need: to work

Want: to knock out the end of this To Do list
Need: to learn to keep working through a project to the end and not stop when I get close.

Want: to not feel freezing cold all the time
Need: to exercise so my body can naturally deter weather (I mean a few degrees, nothing drastic)

Want: to move out
Need: to complete much of the above

Want: to rebuild a broken social life
Need: to stop setting social activities to the side or viewing them as a means to an end.

I think that’s everything.

I got a job.
Sort of.
I’m babysitting again, and following up on a tutoring gig my mom told me about. Anything to pay the bills!

And I’ve printed out everything I need to do for grad school.. just have to make myself do it. I took a practice GRE and it was pretty bad. So now we’re at:

Take the other 2 practices in the GRE book
Take the practice GRE I downloaded
Dig up two people to write Letters of Rec
Write a 2 page personal essay
Have my university send my transcript
Fill out paperwork for financial aid
Schedule the GRE
Stop wasting time

Costa Rica was rainy and cold. But I got a lot done, learned some spanish, perfected my spanglish, and am BACK! When I got home, I had company in town, so I went right into hostess mode. I’d used some downtime in Costa Rica to come up with a flexible plan for 4 days of entertaining that worked really well. I took a day off after that, and now I’m back. This morning, I took the car for a oil change, picked up some prescriptions I’d used up in Costa Rica, and applied for a job with the government. Next, I need to make a decision on where to go to grad school. I’ll be studying International Business Communication, and I want to keep up with my spanish and sign language on the side with community classes or something.

I’ve got some big expenses coming up (new tires, new battery, Xmas) and I need to get a job. I applied for the gov’t one, but it’s called a job-hunt, not a job-wait-around-and-see-what-happens. I’m hoping to pick up some seasonal work to get me through until I hopefully head off for grad school right after the holidays.

being out of your element to force some action into your day. I´ve been in Costa Rica for 2 weeks in a tiny little town north of the capital. Not too many tourists, so english is not common. I have class 3 times a day and the luxery of putting off everything in favor of naps, tv, etc went out the window with a 5:30 wake up, 5.5 hours of class a day, an average of 3 hours of homeowork, conversations with the family, doing laundry without a washing machine or dryer, planning travel (walking) around the weather (it´s the rainy season and it´s not a joke) and reading some books in spanish. I´m exhausted, I haven´t been anywhere fun or cool, and I haven´t even had a chance to use my camera because of the rain. But man, has my spanish improved. So procrastination, ironically, went out of the window in a country that prides itself on being laid back.

Leaving for Costa Rica in 8 hours to study spanish for 3 weeks. I’m a tiny bit nervous, and very, Very excited! My to-do list is to-done. That feels good. I need to take a shower and get some sleep.

And I broke a toe while packing today. I’ve done it before, but never did it turn purple so quickly and my foot such a shade of blue! It’ll make travel tomorrow a little rough, but it’s not an arm or leg or something else that could have canceled the trip. I’ll paint my toenails a pretty purple, add a bandaid, and no one will notice.

The show must go on!!! :D