I have been home for only 2 days in the past two weeks, and my cleaning motivation has been zilch. I made dinner for Brandon on Sunday—lentil soup. Well, I was also cooking some other stuff at the same time, not paying attention, and the soup boiled over onto the extra hot stove, immediately forming a blackened crust on the glass cook top. I still have to clean that up. It’s going to be a real yuck-fest when I get home from my current trip to NY. On the upside, Brandon and I finally split up the chores (I do the living room, he does the kitchen, etc). This is kind of a grade school approach to chores that might seem more typical of siblings than bf/gf’s, but it works for me. If I know that I only have a certain amount to get done, it is easier for me to get it done. Otherwise, it seems that the cleaning process will be unending, and I don’t even want to start it.
I want to get a second job because it would help me make money, and hopefully I can meet some cool people. I like waitressing, and I like having the cash in hand from tips. If I have time this weekend I’ll start applying, but I’m not sure if it’ll work out. I’m on the verge of 2 weeks of work trips, so if I’m too busy this weekend, I’ll have to put it off till the end of the month. It would be nice to do lots of applying/interviewing this weekend, hear back sometime during the next two weeks, and then start when I get back from my trips. We’ll see.
I love reading other peoples lists and entries and getting ideas:
“I have a trick that 9 times out of 10 gets my engine revved when cleaning is the last thing I want to do. I take a baby wipe and find something that needs cleaning, dusting, wiping.
Something quick: the computer desk, the bookshelf, that weird stain on the fridge, a dustbunny convention along the hall floor, a few doorknobs, the TV screen, soap curds in the bathroom sink… something like that. Bam! It’s done in a second. Easy.
Repeat this 3X & I’m usually looking at things thinking “hell, I can do a better job than that… it’ll just take a few seconds more”. Next thing I know, rubber gloves are on, sponges are out & I go into the Cleaning Zone.
And if I don’t… well, I’ve still cleaned up a few little things which eventually adds up.
Try it.”
I think I will.
Well the kitchen is dirty again—big surprise! Stupid, stupid stupid. This is my last weekend at home before I leave for a week. I really want to do a big clean this weekend, then if Brandon can keep it that way while I’m gone, I’ll come home to a nice clean house. Clean and pack. Yup.
Last night I finally made what I think is a realistic budget. I think it accurately takes into account all of my living expenses, allows me to pay off my debt, and will allow me a good amount of savings once the debt is gone. I’ve always been really bad about money. I never know exactly how much is in my checking account. It is more like an approximation. That is all going to change now. I have being stressed out about money—this is so exciting!
One of my other goals is to get my house nice and clean. You see, my house is in a perpetual state of disarray. This makes it difficult and stressful to have people over. As soon as I get the house all clean, I’m going to organize at least a small gathering. Maybe I’ll even schedule it a little before I’m done with the cleaning, so it will be both motivation to get it done, and a reward for finishing. Then of course, I’ll have to clean up from the party, and then throw another, and the goals will go round and round in a continuous circle.
Last night at about 9:30 is was suddenly inspired to clean. My boyfriend and I cleaned until about midnight. He got the kitchen all clean, including the plethora of dirty dishes sitting in and around the sink, while I did laundry, straightened up the living room, and tackled one of many horrible closets. The closets holds cleaning supplies, several nicknacks that have no place, Christmas decorations and wrapping paper, and mainly lots and lots of papers that need to be filed or shredded. There is still a lot to do in that closet, but now it is broken down into a few managable bins that I can go through one at a time, instead of an intimidating mountain. I threw away a lot of crap. I need to do this with each closet. I also need to get more file folders, and a shredder. I shred everything at work, and it’s a pain to lug it all in.
I love to have people over, but I so rarely do. There are lots of factors, but over the coming weeks I’m going to systematically tackle these. More to come…
...and I hate it! This has got to stop! Can’t wait for it to be lovely and clean, organized. The very, very few times in my life I’ve had a really nice clean house it is so great. I feel calmer, happier, I go out more and have people over more. It’s going to be great.
I want to be strong. I want to be able to run miles without stopping. I want to be good at swimming and biking. I want to be fit. I want to kick ass.
I have a long way to go.
I used to take French in high school and a little in college. I have even been lucky enough to go to France twice. I did alright, and could’ve become fluent if I had kept at it. But I have not spoke French regularly for 3 years, and I have forgotten a lot. I want to start back up again, and also learn other languages. I would love, love, love to be multi-lingual. I can’t decide what I want to learn first…
Languages I Most Want to Learn:
French
Spanish
Italian
German
Portugese
We’ll see.
I graduated with my Bachelors degree May 2005. I’ve known for a few years that I want to get my Masters, but I decided to work after graduating instead of continuing school right away. Now I have been at my job for over a year, and plan to continue working there for at least another year, but after that I want to move to a new area, go back to school, and let that be my main focus. I would like to start working on my degree in one to two years. I got my Bachelors in Communication Studies, and I would like to continue studying that.
Reasons why I want to do this:
1. I love school; at the start of the school year I feel like something great is about to happen.
2. I think Communication Studies is really interesting. I’m not talking about public speaking classes—I think those are crap. I like studying theories of communication, rhetorical criticism, cultural studies…
3. I love college towns and I miss living in one.
4. I want to become a professor.
5. My life is very static now; I feel stuck and I hate it; school makes me feel like there are endless opportunites.
Phase One of the goal is researching schools. The school must have a great Communications Department. It must be in the US or Canada. The campus should be pretty. There should be lots of social and cultural stuff going on on campus and in the town. It has to be affordable to attend and to live there. It has to be a school where I can get accepted.
So far I am considering Indiana University in Bloomington (where I did my undergrad) and Arizona State University in Tempe. This list will grow and change as I do research.
Even though this is still at least a year away, I feel very excited just thinking about it!
I have never been to South America, and I think it would be really interesting. In order to fulfill this and my other travel goals, I need to save money. I would also like to learn Spanish, or Portugese, or whatever the main language is in whatever countries I end up visiting.
I have no timeframe for this goal. So, we’ll see!
