It Can be Done

I actually finished a knitting project, perhaps the second or third in my entire life!

It's Official

Hanging On

I read something on Facebook that I thought worth repeating (with modification)

Many of life’s failures occur when people who don't realize how close they are to success give up instead of hanging on just a bit longer.

Have you seen this happen in your own life?

Here are two recent (and perhaps trivial) examples in my own life. In the past few months I've struggled with  an icky scalp thing (psoriasis?) that caused no end of itching and with way more acne than I should have to deal with at my age. I realized this week that seemingly overnight, both problems are 90% improved. I'm not sure if I finally found the right approach or if the things I did for several months just took time to work, but I'm happy either way. Already, the frustration has faded and I don't think I even remember it accurately.

On a more serious note, I've been pretty low for several months. After weeks of trying to change my perspective on a situation, I finally hit on an idea that seemed like it might stick. A few days later, something happened that I feel reinforced the soundness of my idea. In this case, the memory of how I felt hasn't faded, but I do find myself wondering why I thought things were so bad. And I'm glad that the idea came before the reinforcing event, instead of the other way around.

It's usually possible to hang on for just a bit longer. And maybe that's all we need, in most cases. Even if we have to keep committing to that "bit" over and over, success is probably right around the corner.

Organizational Advice

Not sure how to decide which office papers to keep and which to discard? Here's a simple, sure-fire way to dramatically decrease the deliberation time:

1. If you aren't sure about the item, stack it on your desk.
2. Revisit the stack one to three years later.

Looking Back

I gave a coworker my blog URL today, so of course I had to come home and post and add some tags so he doesn't think I'm totally lame (You see, I obviously don't care if my current readers think I'm totally lame!).

While adding tags, I looked at this old To Do List. It's particularly amusing to read it in "Edit Posts" view, where the bulleted list shows up as an unpunctuated runon sentence. It turns out I have actually done a few things on that list in the two years since I wrote it. For example,

I have a tiny little Flickr account (it would be better if I saw nieces and nephews more often, so I wouldn't have to take photos of myself and my groceries) (thanks for the comments, Starr--you're my Flickr idol.)

I have a Bloglines account, though I haven't logged on in the past two years.

I have a digital camera, an updated resume, a job as the result of those job apps, a Library Thing account, a wiki (that wasn't even on the list), and my car is registered, though not in the same state.

I never taught myself CSS or updated my online portfolio and I still don't drink enough water.

But I passed Capstone and graduated, and I've even taken a few showers since then.

Expanding Horizons

Online Social Activities for the Week

Added picture to Facebook profile

Changed blog template and layout

Replaced blog photo

Sprang for a paid wiki (yay--no more ads!)

Uploaded two photos to new Flickr account

Cataloged a few books in LibraryThing

At Least It's Something

Some days, you take whatever success you can find. Today, I finally unlocked my mailbox after a week of trying. I'm not hoping for anything else out of the day.


(To my credit, it turns out I was given the wrong combination. I got it on the first try once I tried the right numbers.)

View from the Driver's Seat

Timeline of a Trip

Wednesday, 1:36 pm: Leave house, right on schedule, thanks to Dad (and Elizabeth and Mary). Armed with ham crescents, snickerdoodles, Diet Coke, two new cd's (thanks Mary) and Carl Hiaasen's Hoot on cd, I'm set. BTW, do you know that my mother is the world's best cook? I'll be very sad when the ham crescents and snickerdoodles are gone.

Wednesday, 20 minutes outside of Texarkana: Take a break from Stevie Wonder and Music & Lyrics to pop in Marty Robbins' Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs. This, of course, is requisite listening on any car trip, and I felt I needed to start it before I left Texas (sniff, sniff).

Wednesday, 8:30 pm: Having traveled 405 miles I end up at the Travelodge in Forrest City, Arkansas. The room's not much, but for $49.99, what do I expect? Head to Subway for dinner, unpack the car, and settle in to watch Lost on the tiny tv.

Thursday, 10:30 am: After sleeping in and taking my time repacking the car, checking oil and tires (see, I have learned something from you, Dad), I'm finally off on the second half of my trip.

Thursday, 3:00 pm: Arrive in Murfreesboro. On the way, I stopped in at the Tennessee Welcome Center to get a map and some brochures. I also managed to connect to the Internet in the parking lot and looked up the address of my hotel.

Thursday, 4:30 pm: Having partially unloaded the car, I shower, talk to Mom on the phone, and have a lie down.

Thursday, 6:30 pm: Unwillingly get out of bed, sort of fix hair, and head off to Cracker Barrel for dinner (my first visit, ok, but guess I was expecting something better).

Thursday, 7:30 pm: Wander around Target for what seems like hours, dropping an inordinate amount of money on supplies and some food, a watch, and a DustBuster.

Thursday, 9:00 pm: Log on to the Internet and find out there's no Barnes and Noble in Murfreesboro. Head back out to Super Wal-Mart to pick up the groceries I couldn't get at Target (eggs, Light Silk Soymilk, etc.).

Thursday, 10:30 pm: Back at the hotel after spending another obscene sum at Wal-Mart, on things like a frying pan, can opener, and groceries.

Thursday, 11:50 pm: Finish blogging, trying to decide whether to turn in or to first impose some order on my temporary home. Decide I have to do some picking up or there won't be room on the bed for me to sleep.