Resolutions -- or Goals! -- for 2012

It's that time of year again, and I have to assess 2011's goals and repurpose them for 2012.

Thankfully, this is not too hard to do, since I have been pretty steadily working on each of my 2011 goals and thinking a lot during the last week about how to revise them for 2012.

Here we go!

2011's goals were, as I took them in this blog:

1. Improve Overall Health
2. Change My Living Situation
3. Manage My Resources
4. Build a Better Community
5. See Creative Work to Closure

Health: This was only an okay goal, over the course of the year. While I worked on stabilizing my hormones and depression, I did not embrace exercise. For that reason, my weight and overall condition did not improve (note to self: it's true about exercise!). Positive outcomes: my depression is under control, my mood swings and other perimenopause symptoms are under control. My allergies/sinus problems flared up in the final weeks, but using a humidifier every night (!) as well as increasing my intake of H2O hugely improved that, rather than the OTC remedies I started with. Overall, I am in great health. Negative outcomes: my LDL cholesterol is high and not coming down, my weight is still over the line and not budging except bits and tweaks. I need to lose serious poundage and remember to maintain my health through habits of hydration, nutrition, movement, and meditation.

Living Situation: 100% improvement, maybe 150%. No more crackhead landlord, no more cracker box, reduced rent, more green space, and more light. Thsi one was a total success, despite sacrificing a good deal of savings on the 3-month overlap of spaces.

Resources: Time is a constant battle, between "shoulds" and "want tos." Yo, I'm human. However I did add the Rescue Time Robot to my desktop, and it tells me I am 79% more productive than average. So shut up, Critic's Voice! Money is another, different battle, but this year I did pretty well. I have a more affordable appartment (and even though I might only be saving $100/month, the happiness factor makes that huge). I rearranged my retirement $$ is a way that makes me feel more secure. I opened several successful venues of frugality for decluttering, including selling unwanted items. Energy is the real battle, and that's the 2012 focus.

Community: This, too, was a success. I joined a short story group of women I enjoy and while we've only met once, I look forward to more meetings. I opened myself to the performing community in town, and am building bridges there. I opened myself to the community on my campus, and am trying to open out of my division, my school, and into the university in a positive way. I need to set more goals here, however, and be open to groups of strangers.

Creative: This was a big success! I sold my first novel (coming out in June!) and have almost completed the second, which I am certain will be equally salable. I sent out my short plays in a month-long binge and have had one hit so far, and three rejections (so I've got a long way to go). It felt great, however, challenging myself to complete and submit projects.

Overall, 2011 was a good year in terms of my goals. I plan to build on that in 2012:

Improve Overall Health: not much change here in direction. However, I plan to focus specifically on maintaining good habits (like using the humidifier every night) while building new ones (like 30 minutes of movement every day). I'd like to add daily meditation and vitamins, but I think I'll be conservative in this area, since it is one that truly needs daily focus.

• January-April: make it a habit to spend 30 minutes every day in movement of some kind
• May-August: add daily meditation (which will work with my 2012 summer plans)
• Sept-December: add supplements and vitamins
• get a mammogram
• get a colonoscopy
• get a dermascan 

Living Situation: This is easy. Renew lease on apartment (i.e., don't move!). More, start researching the pre-fab house I love in detail through contacting the company and chatting with them. And start looking at the places I think I want to build it: Oregon, Northern California, and Washington are the three places I'm thinking about now. But they might stink once I look around. So... research.

Resources: As ever, my biggest battle will be managing time. I have come to hate scheduling and to-do lists. And yet.... I need a new car, I need a new mattress & box spring, I need to pay down (or off) my credit cards. All worthy goals, all hard to do at the same bloody time! This year I want to build on my basic foundations of frugal saving and repurposing and decluttering: I find that I am about done with the wholesale donations to Goodwill, etc., and while that is an easy and intelligent manner of getting things OUT OF MY HOUSE (and onto my tax savings) I must needs find other ways to open what one of my favorite blogs refers to as "additional revenue streams." And finding new energy is part of the Health intiatives above, plus the hormones.

Community: continued reaching out, across phone, email, work/personal connections to develop relationships with new people/groups as well as people I already like, love, and connect with.

• Habitat for Humanity: in the Dallas area
• Alum group: for connections and fundraising/support of current programs
• Short story group
• Theatremakers/academics/women in both

Creative: Here, I have very specific goals

• Finish and sell second and third novels
• Binge with short plays in February and Sept-Oct
• Journal daily: dreams, ideas, etc.
• Finish and send two reviews
• Finish and send encyclopedia entries
• Polish and send two articles (from ALA papers, 2011) to journals
• Present two-three conference papers (one scheduled, July)
• Blog daily (in either blog) and continue to post my own photos

Here is my overall goal for 2012: Make lemonade all year long, every day.

I am so tired of negativity, including my own. I really believe everything is an opportunity, seen in the right light. Context and response are everything... they can turn what looks like failure or an impass into something wonderful. Not to be goopy or stupid about it, but to stop letting myself define my view by others' vision. Ugh! Especially since I am butt-tired of the men in my life having stupid, negative, misanthropic outlooks anyway.

Oh, does that sound negative? Nope: it's all good.

Rent or Buy?

So this year I attacked my "living situation" by fixing an immediate problem (my landlord) and a long-term problem (lack of space).

Since April I have been living in a lovely apartment with what feels like twice the space (moving from 750 sq. ft. to 1050 sq. ft.), with more windows (only 1 more, to be honest--but better views, more light because not backed up on building), more green space (LOTS more green space, trees, grounds), a back porch/patio, and more quiet. It feels more open, more peaceful, more homelike.

I have rented since I was 21 and moved to NYC. Through grad schools--two degrees, two schools--and here in DFW. Even now, in what is really a boom market in Dallas for buying, I rent.

Why?

Every few years I yearn to buy a house. I look, I price, I think... but I don't.

1. I like the flexibility and freedom of renting. If the apartment gets too small/too expensive/too loud or the landlord gets too fussy/a crack habit/guns/too present or too absent, I can go. Moving is a pain, but the landlord who lives two doors away with a coke habit and handguns is no joke.

2. The plumbing is someone else's problem. Ditto landscaping, insurance, termites, and taxes.

3. "Fixer-Upper" is what I can afford in terms of price but not time... so there we are. I'm not buying to flip, I'm buying to nest.

4. I don't want to retire in DFW. But I'm thinking about retirement homes now, as vacation homes/rental properties, etc.

2012 will become the year of researching where I will build this house:

When I know where, I can plan when.

What the future location must have:

• access to major airport for ease of travel
• access to decent medical facilities (just in case!)
• no freezing winters, no muggy/100+ summers
• seasons: 4, not 2
• bookstores, restaurants, museums, theatre/performance venues (or university with same) within reason (4 places I spend my time)
• view of mountains or ocean... or both? + trees
• no extreme weather: hurricanes. tornedos, blizzards, droughts

Ideas? Anyone?

Priorities

It is quite possible that my priorities are out of order. I mean by other people's standards or expectations.

This is something I have been considering for some time.

For example: after I moved again (to this lovely new apartment), one co-worker remarked, "You moved? Again? Why don't you just buy a house?" Like me, she meant. Her first act on moving here 17 years ago, was to buy a house. Of course, she was hired at a better income level and with complete security so... we weren't exactly in the same place then. Another colleague, from a different department, said something similar only a couple days ago: surprise that I moved again, to another apartment, rather than buying a house.

But why have I moved four times since I came to this town, living in five different apartments for periods between one and seven years? Why not buy a house and be like everyone else with homeowner security?

Good questions.

For example: after I got tenured and promoted the first time why didn't I turn around and focus my energy on the next promotion? (There aren't all that many in the academic world, outside of moving into administration, ugh.) Why didn't I invest my time in writing and publishing in academic journals and books, like everyone else? Especially since I like research and find history fascinating. Why put my time into teaching, which is more and more becoming a low-level activity for professors? In other words, I am not defining "success" in traditional academic terms, and possibly not in the terms of My U.

What then are my priorities in the area of teaching, research, and academic progress?

Good questions.

As a kind of sideways answer, I can say that 2011has been about exploring and pushing at new areas in my life for balance. Like improving my living situation by moving to this fab new apartment, decluttering my goods, and turning toward buying land and building a house for retirement (2012 project!).

Like building a new community, improving my current community, and making new ties professional and personal for career, health, and sanity reasons. Initiating new projects to build connections across job and personal lines.

Like changing my diet to a non- (or low-) sugar/no processed or fast foods/three-meals-two-snacks a day minimum. Increasing exercise -- walking, biking, yoga -- for heart health. Taking care of allergies.

Like adding creative habits to my weekly activities: writing prose, photography, cooking, even teaching.

Like working on my resources: money of course, but also time and possessions and friendships and skills. Like using my time in more intelligent, more positive ways -- ways that please me, support me, feed me.

Some of this I have been successful at -- on my terms. So considering priorities and consciously setting some -- for 2012 -- is next. And I can say that it has been a long time since I've even been interested in setting short-term or long-term goals. This is another healthy step.

Let's try this again

Starting today and ending in one week, I will get my study in terrific working order! Yes, I've said it before, but now is the time...

Thursday:  Sort out paper clutter on tabletops

Friday:  File holding bin into filing bins

Saturday:  Buy new shredder and put it to good use

Sunday:  Clean out three old bins into new bins

Monday:  Hang art and bulletin boards in study

Tuesday:  Change closets for season

Wednesday:  Vacuum, dust, water plants

Thursday:  Re-organize shelves, notebooks, boxes

By next Friday, I'll be working in a newly-clean study.

September goal

Yes, on top of the "7 in 7" I am adding a September goal... in part because my month has gotten hijacked by teaching, thanks for inspiration from Unclutterer.

Why am I surprised that the 14 hours I spend weekly in the classroom, plus the 14-20 hours spent weekly preparing the classtime has hijacked my house, my cooking, my friendships, and my personal work? It is, after all, familiar territory. I spend 1-2 hours outside class for every hour I spend teaching... plus meetings with students, emailing students, in meetings with faculty peers, and planning projects (two on burner now).

This is, however, why I set the resolution about both Community and Creative Work for 2011: so that my day-to-day teaching would not overshadow these necessary elements of my life.

Completing the organization and decluttering of my study is a necessary step in both these areas, since the study includes not only my at-home writing/research space, but an area for sitting down with friends.

What needs to be done, now? Completing the organization of my study. Started it, got well into the task... and then stopped. I need a new shredder (killed mine!), need to file paperwork, need to hang bulletin boards and framed art, need to clean off flat surfaces.

October 1 is the new deadline for this project being DONE.

1. Buy new shredder
2. Shred sensitive documents
3. File all retained documents in filing bins
4. Hang bulletin board
5. Hang framed sampler
6. De-clutter flat surfaces and study floor
7. Get rid of cartons, boxes, extra bins in recycling and Goodwill

 Good luck to me!

Goals 2011: Updates

For myself, I am checking in on my 2011 goals.

Improve My Health: I am really pleased with my work over the last couple of months (the summer) in this particular area. After hearing about the jump (whoo!) in my LDL cholesterol, I took specific action here: red yeast rice, oatmeal, increased activity. I am revising my eating habits to eliminate sugar, processed foods, white flour, and other nasty triggers. How do I know it's working? Last night I went out to eat at a local restaurant that specializing in souffles. I had a souffle for dinner that had great flavor (tomato and pesto) but was basically a triple helping of bread pudding, with apricot tart and ice cream for dessert. did I feel bad? Yes. Bloated, sleepless, congested, constipated, and all-around uncomfortable from both the amount of food and the nasty sugar-carbo dump. Don't mean to overshare, but this is a good thing. It means that on a daily basis I am eating a healthy, well-portioned, non-sugar diet incorporating fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. Yay, me!

Stated goals: on track with room for still-signicant accomplishments in 2011

Living Situation: Well, my living situation has improved for the better, as we all know. I lurve my New Apartment, and it is slowly but surely getting clutter-free. This week, I did whip the Dreaded Study into shape, and will continue that work this week; the plan is that by Wednesday it will be where I want it for the beginning of the semester.

What's next? Managing resources (time and space) to make the apartment rally comfortable and workable.

Managing my Resources: I am still working on managing my time and focusing better. Some days, it simply feels as is I have ADD: I am scattered, multi-task without balance, and feel at the end of the day as if nothing was accomplished although I was "busy" all day...

Financially, I have re-tracked my retirement funding and alrady (since January) seen a significant growth in that area. This summer I also started gradually increasing my own donations so that by the end of the year I will have shifted pre-tax dollars to retirement funding in such a way as to not feel the loss. I have also paid down or eliminated my credit card debt positively, and my overall credit rating is excellent. By spending time focusing on my spending habits, I have been able to curtail impulse spending as part of my overall move toward decluttering/minimalizing my life. While I will never be a "100 things" or a "six items or less" person, I have definitely moved away from old habits of getting and spending.

This fall, I intend to focus on time as my significant resource: time for student work, time for my creative endeavors, and saying "no."

Build a Better Community: This goal is tough. The community I was tied into has scattered significantly during the last year, and I am still looking for new ones. I beleive my greatest challenge this fall will be re-integrating myself into my department at My U well, and on my own terms. I have already been talking to colleagues about creating new "groups," and I realize that I have work to do in recognizing and building community.

Part of this is about me seeking out communities for various aspects of my life. I both want and need to reconnect with my own students. I need to connect to communities that reach across campus outside of departmental lines. And, yes, doing the work that community building entails: meetings, contributions, nurturing and working. Too often, this doesn't interest me. Why,  I am still uncertain.

Seeing Creative Work to Closure: Here, I have been very successful.

• brought playwriting festival to successful fruition, including 7 scripts nurtured (March)
• completed, edited, and submitted novel to publisher and received contract (to be signed, this week)
• proposed, wrote, and presented paper at national conference (May; now, rewriting as article)

I have avoided perfectionism and space issues. I have just submitted four more paper proposals (through summer 2012) and am 1/3 of the way through my second manuscript. I have initiated a writing schedule and am doing a pretty good job of keeping it... most days. I am also setting monthly goals--more manageable for me.

July's goals:

1. increase weekly activity for good of LDL lowering
2. get all clutter out of dining room
3. get second ms. 2/3 completed
4. get all syllabi completed
5. initiate one new student-based activity for fall

7 in 7, Part 2

My personal 7 in 7 challenge last year was very successful. Time for another one. Now that I've completed my big project last night (opera panel), I'll be starting tomorrow, Saturday, and going  thru the following Friday, I'm challenging myself to complete seven tasks in seven days.

1. photograph and drop off a Goodwill shipment
2. visit a consignment store with the best of my "giveaways"
3. post 7 items on Craigslist with photos
4. re-vamp my Amazon store
5. get my new printer/fax/copier/scanner up and running
6. hang 7 pictures or boards in the new apartment 
7. hang the birdfeeder, repot three plants, hang windchimes on back patio

7 in 7.

Back on line!

I've been out of town and dealing with stepping up to the summer schedule I created for myself. That's been giving me a lot of "to do" priorities.

 

Things I'll be talking about in the next week or so:

1. My annual check-up and summer cooking
2. Big D's Farmer's Market: is it worth it?
3. My trip to the Great NorthEast
4. Paris: the Caillebotte Brothers' exhibition (would that I were in Paris!)
5. Downsizing my stuff
6. Temptations
7. Men in Power
8. Bad Chat

Yes, a lot has happened that I've been thinking about, talking about, and doing. Looking forward to sharing!

Boston

Another interesting week!

Finally, after a month of planning, I am in Boston. In a lovely hotel room overlooking Copley Square. And last night I had a delicious dinner of lemon sole with one of the best martinis I've ever had. Seafood that doesn't have to be flown in... because they make it near here.... Ahhhh!

This morning was quiet. I was up in the wee hours because I never sleep well in a hotel the first night. I was able to watch the sun come up on the Charles, a few folks out sculling, and gradually note the increased traffic noise. The air is cool and crisp, and the day looks beautiful.

After a lifetime of going to conferences I finally (accidentally) figured out that to fly in one day early is a great thing! I have all day today to relax, putter, tinker with the paper, and tomorrow (at 8:10) I give it. Then drive off to my folks' house.

I may go back to have dinner at the same place tonight. It is only a block or so from the hotel and I didn't get to try the steamed mussles, fried clams, clam chowder, or apple pie. And a second perfect martini? Ahhh.

Being at a conference is excellent: you gain no weight, no charges actually go on your credit card, and people bring you things.  Like, just now, the housekeeper brought me more coffee packets and soap. I remember why I love taxis and room service.

Because this is my HUGE reward for finishing the move out of the Old Apartment. Yes: finito!

Monday and Tuesday I put in the final hours shredding documents, hauling garbage to the dumpster, and token-cleaning the apartment. I could only token-clean because, a week ago, the hot water heater rusted through its base and dumped gallons of water through the ceiling and onto the first floor. Since I am not living there, I walked in on the aftermath: my landlord had heard the deluge and turned off the water, but he hadn't done anything else. I saw the mess (puddles of water on the floor, dripping ceiling, buckled wooden laminate) and walked down to his apartment. "Oh, yeah," he said, "I was going to email you as soon as I sent these important business messages." O-kay.

I went back and mopped, laid out towels, and placed buckets/pans/vessels to catch the drips as best I could.
Upside:

• none of my belongings were affected by the water because I had moved out already and the little remaining stuff was out of the way
• my renter's insurance can't be tapped for it because none of my stuff was damaged
• the water is turned off in the apartment so I could not clean it
• I had already cleaned the bathroom and some of the kitchen, which were unaffected by the soaking

The ceiling continued to drip, and two days later a huge portion of it crashed onto the floor, creating a worse mess.  Again, none of my remaining things were affected.

Saturday, one of my students came and helped me move the remaining furniture and papers to the New Apartment. I made three trips that day and two with him: he is a great kid but super-strong and has a truck. Two fantastic qualifications.

Monday and Tuesday I finished off the Old Apartment, including doing my best to clean the refrigerator, microwave, countertops, bathroom sink and toilet, and bathroom floor without water. I swept up a lot of the ceiling pieces (some more than 8 ft. long!) and toted to dumpster. The worst part of the ceiling detritus was stuck to the floor and will require more effort to get it up.

Left keys under mat of landlord (he wans't home) and came home to crash for a few hours. Then pack.

Yesterday, up at 5:30 for the shuttle to the airport, and here I am. On vacation... oh, and yes, I must tinker with the paper, print it out at the business office, check in to the conference, and have dinner (again) at that delightful restaurant.

So happy to be here!

The "Stuff" Diaries: Moving, Frugality, and Minimalism

Being about 3/4 through the move from Old Apartment to New Apartment--and living day-to-day in New Apartment, I have noticed several things.

One. The "stuff" still in my old apartment is not necessary to me on a day-to-day basis.

Which means... what? First, what remains at the Old Apartment is the following: boxes of packed away things in the understairs closet, contents of bathroom cabinet I don't use daily/weekly, pantry/dishware items ditto, clothes to go to the tailor, and The Study.

Furniture and things I intend to sell on Craigslist (and have just got the ball rolling on) are there, of course, but so is stuff I thought "necessary" to my life... which isn't. I eyeball this "stuff" and think, can't I just forget it? So as I clean the apartment (looking for that deposit refund), I am also cleaning and editing what will be transported to the New Apartment. Or donated/thrown out/sold.

I'm hoping it is about a 1:1:1:1 ratio of the above.

Two. I've already transported stuff I should have edited.

How do I know? When I go to put it somewhere in the New Apartment, I have to create a spatial category for it, like "old photos" or "shoes I rarely/never wear" and store it. But not in a place where I have to get at it readly, or without one of my two stepladders (hey, I'm short!).

Note to self: if I am storing something where it won't be any trouble or reachable, it needs to be edited/donated/thrown out/sold.

Three: I have divvied up my clothes between two closets, and one is getting all the play.

What does that mean for the smaller but stuffed closet? Clothes I don't wear. Sure, there are some seasonal items that have to be stored for the return of fall/winter (starting in late October!), but again there are simply lots of things I Do Not Wear. So... why am I storing them?

I love my Express Checkout Closet with only the clothes I am wearing now, my shoes, my purses, my hats, and (to come) t-shirts and accessories. It is almost a dressing room in its orientation, where I can actually see everything circulating in a lively way. I can also see "my style," if you will, and appreciate its clarity. The older, fancier linen dresses I loved a decade ago don't fit the person using this closet, literally sure but metaphorically either--or maybe some of them do, but some of them don't. That would be a good start.

Four. Suddenly there is light and breathable space everywhere in the apartment, even with/among the many, many things I have kept and will not part with.

Not only because the apartment is bigger in square feet and with more and better situated windows, but because there is space between furniture pieces. On the shelves. On the walls.

All the more reason to edit mindfully. I don't want to crowd the apartment up again, because all of a sudden I feel like there is energy, air, breath moving through my living space. In my bedroom that means not having my sheets kept under the bed in their former plastic storage boxes... and editing the sets of sheets I keep. Having an in-house washer-dryer helps. Two flannel and two cotton sets will be enough; everything else will be donated or tossed, and another storage space will have to be found. I have already minimalized here, by the way: I don't use top sheets, only duvets or conforters, bottom sheets, and pillowcases. Ditto, towels: three sets is enough for myself and guests.

So I guess while I continue to move out of Old Apartment and into New Apartment, I will continue to mindfully edit the contents thereof.

Summer 2011, then, will include Editing Projects for the apartment, wherein I choose one room, space, or category to edit every week, with the final goal being nothing but "beautiful and useful" things in my living space.

Moving Day--After the Fact

Friday past was the Big Day, but I woke on Friday to find that the hail of the night before had knocked out my DSL wireless for the day... and AT&T was discontinuing my service at the old place and initiating my service at the new place (supposedly!).

Most of the day I spent loading my car for the ultimate move, as well as cleaning surfaces of the furniture to be moved. Mr. Z and his three guys showed at 5:30 (3 hours late!) but loaded everything in 45 minutes. We drove to the new place, they unloaded and drove away...

I have been in the new place since then. Lovely, large space with light and air. My two brief trips to the old apartment reminded me that it was dark, tiny, and that moving was a great idea, despite being in the middle of the semester and overlapping so that I had to pay double rents.

Of course, AT&T threw a spanner in the works: despite having an appointment for 8 pm to hook up my DSL, their technician turned up at 1:52... leaving a chiding note for me. Sigh. On Saturday morning I called and after 45 minutes managed to find someone to schedule a new appointment--for Saturday afternoon.

Should I tell you?

Right: the technician never showed, never called, and when I called AT&T's customer service number at 7 pm to say he hadn't shown up, their customer service was closed. For the weekend.

Despite that, I love the quiet new place. Jack loves the quiet new place: more space, more birds, more dogs, more smells. More windows: he likes to run from window to window, sniffing and surveying. Very successful for him.

So 2011 goal #1 is complete: my living situation has resolved itself in a big, new apartment. I have a few weeks of overlap/cleaning/selling via Craigslist, and then... we're completely done. Joy, oh joy!

Frugal Tuesday... and more!

Yesterday's task was to contact credit card companies and see if I could get a better rate. Remember, if you will, that in December I made these calls and no one could improve the rates?

Same thing yesterday... except it turns out I HAVE GREAT RATES... comparatively. Which means I am sad for the rest of America. But I also checked my credit rating and golly wow -- good news! Except that they are two months behind on two cards... so maybe it is even better?

This is happy news, as was my comparison on all cards, because with two rents this month, I am broke. Good to know which card to use for lowest rates... sigh.

Keep in mind:

• April pantry challenge (not taking that food with me!)
• April freezer challenge (ditto!)
• Craigslist ahoy! Furniture and appliances and computers, oh my!
• Consignment store visit ahead
• Book/record/DVD selling ahead
• Returning two pairs of Lee jeans bought online and not quite right... this week!
• Cleaning out crazy study -- shredding papers, old checks (!), tossing dusty files

Minimalism and de-cluttering make me happy.

Catching up on goals for 2011

Since the first quarter of 2011 is gone, I want to update myself on my progress this year.

Improving my health: While I haven't lost any weight, the weekly yoga classes and rides on the bike to and from My U have been great. Ditto moving the "small stuff" into my new apartment. I feel better. And I'm adding happy face stickers to my calendar on a daily, not weekly, basis for every day I complete 30 minutes or more exercise. Weight Watchers has been a bit of a bust, but I am hanging in there. The best news: thus far, I have had no serious allergy/sinus episodes (meaning, lasting longer than 4-5 days), which is already a huge difference from 2010. And I have definitely improved my mental self-talk: no more beating myself up. I am catching myself earlier, rescripting my interior monologues, and simply refusing to listen.

Changing my living situation: In progress. By April 30, I will be entirely in the new apartment, enjoying 50% additional space, a wet bar, an outdoor patio, and a kinder, gentler, non-crazy landlord.

Manage my resources: Regular payments into credit accounts have already closed out three of my four cards; the other is being paid down steadily. Moving means decluttering, selling, and throwing away; yesterday I visited Buffalo Exchange with some clothing, for example. Pantry challenge is slowly but steadily emptying my cupboards and freezer. Time continues to be precious, but I feel I have a better handle on it right now. technology: set "acting" folders in emailboxes, clean out email boxes weekly, set daily times to check email (no more than 3 times daily!).

Build a stronger community: Making time for coffee, dinner, brunch with friends. Part of the charm of my new place is that I can, finally, entertain friends at home again!. Working on My U community and local theatre community to develop connections. Working on distance relationships with great friends who live too far away. One goal I want to leap on: connecting with Habitat for Humanity this month.

Creative work and closure: Sent out novel manuscript. Sent out plays and monologues. Subscribed to Script Frenzy, and opportunity to write 100 pages in 30 days (11 down!). Pitched proposal for play translation to colleague (more about this, this week, and I continue to negotiate this situation!). Brought playwriting festival at My U to successful process/production incorporating not only students but faculty and guest visitors. Oh, and writing my blog at least 5 times weekly.

The good news is that I have been active in each category and accomplishing small goals, or parts of larger goals.  Since balance is my overall goal for 2011, I am pleased with my small series of accomplishments; a lot has actually been done.

The Job

Yesterday I had a phone interview for what might be the perfect job... not to jinx anything, which I definitely believe in. (After all, look what happened when I asked the universe to get me thru to Monday with the car!)

I say "the perfect job," but I have learned in my life that no job--like no man--is perfect. Just maybe "excellent" or "intriguing" or "compatible" are good, at times. Yes, you want the zing but you also want the substance... sigh.

Substance?



Zing?



Dude?



Baker Boy?


I think I got off-track... and while Michael Kitchen's Christopher Foyle is definitely substance he certainly has zing, or at least sizzle, while Depp's bad boy zing has given way to... substantial settled-down Daddy? And who could complain about a Baker Boy who grows up to be The Dude... or is it the other way 'round?

And this was the guy I first noticed--remember him, in that truly terrible KING KONG?--caught my eye as an early version of The Dude. So cute. Seriously.

Wow, I am waaay off-track!

What's so great about this possible new place? Location and size, first of all. Engagement and politics, for second. The possiblity of teaching everyone from undergrads to doctoral students. Taking my "show" to a new location and crowd and trying it out, after a few years of not being quite so appreciated.

How did it go: I would give myself a B+/A- (but I am a hard grader, after all). They had five questions which were more creative than I expected--which was a bonus in my column. That's not a reflection on them or my opinion of them--just an observation that most phone interviews are as interesting as white cheese.

Cross your fingers, and hope that I get a callback.

Spring Break, Day Six!

Today will be interesting:

12 noon -- phone interview
2 pm -- take load #3 to new apartment
2:30 pm -- car inspection
6:30 pm -- feed cat for friend (do another load of laundry? Dare I?)

Plus miscellaneous grading/noting/reaidng of student work. I completed Book #3 of my week, this time an audio-book.

Yesterday: I rode Bella throughout the 'hood, and it was grand. Perfect weather, little traffic (at 1030 am on the mean streets!), and easy going. Today plan to ride again, farther. I also took a load to the new place as well as photo'd it. Bumped the bumper of a parked Lexus, left my number and name--he called me this mroning to assure me there was no damage and to welcome me to neighborhood! Well, how nice! And good karma for my interview, I think: the universe is watching!

Felt sleepy all day yesterday--which was why I took an impromtu bike ride! I still have so much to get done by Sunday night, but am glad I changed my plans to visit a friend in DC (talked to her and hope to god later in April; good news about her mum as well!), to do the Big Move early in the week (really happy about that one!), and general slow-down on move.

Since I am decluttering while I move, filling the car to haul stuff from here to there has to be a more thoughtful process than previously, when I was doing it all in a couple of weeks, prior to the move of the "big stuff". This is a more civillized practice, forcing me to examine everything prior to a/ moving it, b/ moving it into the new place and finding it a place, and c/ helping me make the new place home as I move, rather than simply slinging it all into the space, as I did five years ago when I moved into this place.

Thinking about balance: long-term and short-term goals

Duchesse of Passage des perles brings up a good thought: balance.

My several resolutions are all about bringing balance into my life in multiple ways. I realized a couple of years ago that my life was way out of balance. If my life was a pie chart, it would have been 90% job and 10% everything else, which made me cranky and sad. I felt stuck, which wasn't only about particulars of this job, but about how I was approaching the whole of my life.

Long-term goals had been ignored or disabled to handle the daily/short-term goals thrown at me by chairs and deans, requiring re-actions rather than planned actions. And the drah-ma of other people's emergencies obliterated by energy and personal goal planning, making me depressed and disconnected.

This has changed, thanks to my own new awareness and redirection.

My total long-term goal, in fact, is to become more conscious about the balance in my life and to slowly, slowly make adjustments until I am spending part of each day investing in each area: resources, living situation, community, health, and creative work. Or at least, part of each week. To identify and balance daily/short-term tasks with long-term tasks, and then to bring both to completion. To eliminate re-action in favor of conscious and planned action.

For example, one long-term goal is to buy a house. But in confronting my current need to move, I have also (re)discovered that I might not want to buy here in DFW, but instead find a vacation/retirement house for long-term use. That would require redefining my housing goals and broadening my field of possibility.

This month, I have been really fulfilled in putting forward the scripts of my students for performance, making sure the process of their rewriting and the nightly rehearsal hours were fruitful for everyone--including directors, actors, and stage managers. This week we'll have audiences, and this project will come to an end. It was a short-term goal that started really in October and is now almost over: 5 months in length with over 52 collaborators.

The next short-term task connected to a goal--which is moving to the new apartment--will start mid-month. This will be shorter in duration (hopefully, only about 4 weeks) and less of a production.

The terrible thing about moving is the upset and the hoisting, hiring movers and being ready for them. The wonderful thing, for me, is being in a new place and nesting. I am really looking forward to having more space to put out my furniture and belongings, especially with the monthly rent savings. To spending the next six months "nesting."

Two apartments ago, the space was too big. This apartment is too small. I think this new one, like Baby Bear's bed, will be "just right."

Just about the time that project is complete, I'll be looking at the long, hot summer without an extra class to teach. Which--glass half-full--means freedom. I can indeed spend most of every day writing.

Halleluyah!

With most of May, June, July and August open, I can set short-term writing projects that must be completed by 8.15. Long-term project: get writing career up and flowing. Short-term: finish specific projects, save money, stay cool.

Goals for March 2011

Already! It's March and I'm trying to set goals.

February got sucked into the "student project" vortex, and actually, I'll still be there until 3.11. The outcome is completely worth it, but time has been scarce for anything else.

With that in mind, here's what I want to do in March:

• start moving into the new apartment (and maybe finishing, too!)
• sell several things out of the old apartment on Craigslist and Amazon
• continue the pantry challenge into and through March, so I won't be moving all that food
• ride the bike to school twice weekly
• go to the batting cages once a week
• read 5 books on my list of 50
• find a site to learn to shoot

In addition, I want to plan my summer completely, given that I probably won't be teaching any classes. I intend to go to Utah to see a friend at the Shakespeare Festival there, but otherwise to stay in Big D. I will be writing a lot, riding the bike, decorating the apartment, and doing research. And... ?

2011 Goal #4: Changing My Living Situation

Yesterday I signed the new lease and paid the new checks. Starting next month, I'll be transferring possessions from the tiny old apartment (with the #*%$@# landlord) to a larger new apartment with more sun, a back patio, a decent kitchen, a wet bar, and... a washer-dryer.

Sigh.

Goal #4: Done. Well, sort of. By April 1.

Now to call the movers, gather up boxes, and start the many, many trips to and fro...

At the end of Day Four: Snowpocalypse

Yesterday I:

• caught up on The Daily Show (3 weeks)
• cooked my favorite carrot soup
• washed dishes in dishwasher and by hand
• responded to email, including Facebook
• posted pictures on Facebook
• burned 15+ CDs into iTunes library so I can sell CDs
• culled out another 10 CDs for burning/selling
• approved new retirement allocation
• scheduled March payments for March bills
• scheduled transfer into savings of last week's grocery savings
• juiced 10 Texas red grapefruits slowly going bad on my dining room table
• blogged
• played with Jack
• rescheduled this week's friendly lunch, friendly dinner, and curricular events for for next week
• rescheduled doctor's appointment and lease-signing meeting
• continued to organize student project taking place in 5 weeks
• started next Goodwill bundle while also cataloging my current wardrobe
• organized year's savings plans through December 2011
• made a date for brunch tomorrow at my favorite restaurant, to signal end of Snowpocalypse
• resent manuscript+ in correct format (duh!)
• wrote 5 new pages of new manuscript!
• made pantry/freezer/fridge challenge for February 2011

Not bad for being snowbound, Day 4.

January 31 -- Check in with 2011 goals

 

1--Improving Overall Health: since 1.5, I've

• signed up for and am attending yoga classes weekly
• joined Weight Watchers
• added extra biking to weekly scheme... still working on that one!

2--Living Situation: very recently, it looks as if by March 1, I will be in a new apartment, owned by friends. The advantages include:

• 50% more space overall
• HE washer-dryer included
• an additional closet
• outside, enclosed patio space
• a bigger complex with more green space and no one looking in my windows directly!
• still within 3 miles of campus and nice biking routes as well as easy drive
• a swanky wet bar!
• less rent! (which will go right into the IRA fund)

This means 2011 goal #2 will be resolved by March, and in a way that will make me very happy. Amazing!

3--Managing my Resources: working on it. Since 1.5, I've

• organized specific daily times (3x daily) to check and send email
• cleaned out 3 email inboxes and unsubscribed from multiple 'new sellers
• focused my two-class-day weeks to allow 1 more day on campus for meet-and-greet with students
• reassessed/assigned my retirement funding and IRA for improved outcome
• continued to pay off credit card debt and not incurred new debt
• made one Goodwill run, mostly clothing
• bought no new books but downloaded free classics to my Nook (for 50 Books 2011)
• started to burn CDs to laptop/iPod for selling
• pulled out CDs, DVDs, and books for selling

4--Improving My Community. Since 1.5, I have

• reconnected with 2 friends via email; now sending weekly quick-touch emails
• made plans to visit one in march for long weekend
• this week, contacted 2 friends on campus for drink/dinner meetings
• connected a colleague into my divisional project and made a lunch date with her to talk about her project
• reached out to connect 5 artists from local theatre scene into project

5--Bringing Creative Closure. Since 1.5, I have

• started working on manuscript submission to publisher
• already writing a new novel
• started talking about a new on-campus project with one fo the colleagues I met this week
• organized, bullied, spear-headed departmental project (via creative management) so much so that colleagues who initially pulled out and forced me to redefine the entire program now want back in to play in my playground!

Lots of "start-up energy" and circumstances. Hopefully, this will sustain me through the coming two months (crazy period!) and then into summer. I am actually surprised at how much has bee started and accomplished in a short time.