Still More Status on To-Do

After dinner, I continued in the same productive vein:

• Watched part of NCIS.
• Spoke on the phone with the mother of one of the students I've helped in geometry.
• Continued running laundry through the dryer or hanging it to dry on a rack, and folding it when it was done drying.
• Changed Nathan's diaper and then put him in his pajamas.
• Read to Nathan and put him down to sleep for the night (always a major task, even when he's so exhausted he can't crawl straight).
• Checked the diaper bag to ensure it is adequately stocked for tomorrow.
• Got on WoW to check mail, do a fishing quest, chat with a friend, and take a boat over to Northrend. I am half of a bar into level 70. 80 is a long way away yet.
• Went through a stack of miscellaneous papers, put them into appropriate groupings, and filed them in labeled manila folders. [I actually did one of the tasks allotted for Tackle-It Tuesday!]
• Realized I didn't have the paperwork immediately available for the passport applications, so I'll do that another day.
• Put at least 20 items in the recycle or trash.
• Made my to-do list for tomorrow.

Summary for today's to-do list, as set forth at the bottom of this post:
The things I DIDN'T do were my homework for my career class, Facebook, and cleaning and organizing my bookshelf. And I didn't do my passport paperwork for my Tackle-It Tuesday project.

I'm pretty happy with all I managed to accomplish today. However, success and productivity should not be anomalies; they should be the hallmark of every day. I'd like to be this organized, disciplined, and motivated on a daily basis. At the same time, I must retain a realistic view of what I can and cannot do with the time I have at my disposal. One thing I need to incorporate into my schedule is regular exercise. I guess I'll work on it.

For tomorrow:

• Put together new car seat.
• Career class homework.
• Facebook.
• Get paperwork for passport applications.
• Post on blog.
• Phone calls and e-mails, as per usual.

Further Status on To-Do

I felt as if my afternoon was less productive than the morning. However, in retrospect, I really did accomplish a lot, including stuff both on and off my to-do list.

• Folded laundry from dryer.
• Ate lunch and fed Nathan.
• Engaged in a battle of wills with Nathan, regarding whether or not he was going to take a nap. This took a long time, but eventually, I won.
• Spent some quality time with Sara (though virtual, as she is in France).
• Unloaded clean dishes from the dishwasher, and loaded dirty dishes in after that.
• Made a few important phone calls.
• Went to AAA and got my membership (a Christmas gift from Debbie and Jerry).
• Hosted a little videoconference for Nathan and his daddy (who is doing work in Baltimore).
• Drove a small load of stuff over to the storage unit to keep until I am ready to deal with it.
• Took out the trash from my bathroom.
• Fed the cats and cleaned up their litter.

Now, I've eaten dinner, fed Nathan, and updated my blog. I'm off to do more.

Status on To-Do

It is noon, and so far, I have accomplished the following:

• Gotten Nathan and me ready for the day.
• Flossed my teeth. I don't do this often enough.
• Gotten at least a little food into Nathan and me.
• Run one load of laundry through washer and dryer, have one load in the dryer, and one in the washer.
• Called the engine service place about taking my car in. As it turns out, they are booked solid today and tomorrow, so I have an appointment on Thursday morning. Technically, I didn't actually complete that task on my to-do list, but I think I can cross it off anyway, as I addressed the issue and did as much as I can about it today.
• Restocked Nathan's diaper bag. I do that almost daily, of course, as I like to have it sitting ready to go at a moment's notice. In addition to plenty of diapers and wipes, I always pack a blanket, a burp cloth (which I actually seldom if ever use for burping, but they're great for so many things, such as an emergency changing pad), an extra onesie, and a pair of socks. In the winter, add sweater/jacket and booties for warmth. Then there are the consumables: snack-sized portions of applesauce and/or Cheerios, and the essential Orajel and teething tablets. Oh, and a toy or book.
• Washed Nathan's diaper bag's changing pad.
• Changed Nathan's diaper three times and his outfit once.
• Recycled two papers.

Tackle-It Tuesday

This Tuesday, I'll be tackling: Papers and paperwork!
In this society, one of the banes of existence is the preponderance of papers that threaten to overwhelm our homes and our lives. Even if we just get rid of it, as with junk mail, it still requires some of our resources to look at each piece of paper, evaluate it, and then put it in a recycling container. If the papers are worth keeping, we then expend even more energy deciding how to keep it, and where, and with what other papers. And with bills, bank statements, Christmas newsletters, information from businesses, and more, all building up, it seems as though even good papers become negative when they sap so many of our resources.
Anyway, I'll go through papers that have been in my room, some of them for weeks, some of them as recently arrived as today.
I will also apply for passports for Nathan and me.

My Day

In an effort to keep the blog posts coming and even increasing, I thought I'd start trying to write about minutiae such as what I did today or what I need to do tomorrow.

This was a very busy day, and I accomplished a lot. It made me wonder how anyone handles it when she is working fulltime in addition to being a mom. The errands and appointments must happen miraculously, or perhaps she borrows Hermione's time-turner. I'll find out soon enough, I guess.

After getting up and getting ready (not only myself, but Nathan too, of course), I was prepared to face my day. I went to:

• Doctor's office - Check-up appointments for Nathan and me. The doctor was very encouraging about Nathan's health and development; he is healthy, alert, intelligent, all those things a parent desires to hear. She was also encouraging about my continued breast-feeding. In fact, she is completely pro-lactation, and refuses to take as patients any infants who are not breast-fed. Now, there's someone who puts her money where her mouth is. I am also in decent health, thank you very much.
• Bank - Depositing some checks, and all that happy stuff. One of the checks I deposited was a rebate from State Farm.
• Gas station - Filled my tank for slightly over $30. The price of gas is creeping upward, unfortunately.
• State Farm office - I had to pay a premium for some insurance. I had a question about the bill, so I stopped in to see my friendly State Farm agent (or rather, to see his office manager), had my question answered, and then paid my bill. The premium I paid was actually about a dollar less than the rebate check I had just deposited. If only State Farm would sort out its Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable, there would be much less juggling of paying this versus getting back a portion of that. But their left hand does not seem to know what their right hand is doing.
• Oxnard College Job and Career Center - I drove over to Oxnard to drop off some important paperwork for my county job search program eligibility worker. I'm telling you, the local government is probably single-handedly responsible for the razing of at least one third of the Amazonian rainforest. I don't mind shuffling papers and sending in all my info for them; the county programs are being helpful to me and I appreciate it. However, a lot of times, they get their signals crossed or get caught up in the proverbial red tape. For example, they asked me to send in my completed quarterly report by January 5. But... I didn't even receive the paperwork in the mail until January 5! The mail delivery was probably slowed up due to the holiday and weekend. Technically, the quarterly report was already late by the time I got my hands on the empty form. I've pretty much gotten that one sorted out now, but it's a regular pain.
• Trader Joe's - Grocery shopping! We patronize Trader Joe's because they have, overall, great prices, high quality merchandise, and a corporate philosophy that we can whole-heartedly support. [Speaking of their merchandise, I have stumbled upon a revelation that has transformed my life (being as how I own cats): Silica litter! None of the dust or smell of clay litter, and much less of a mess, as the silica gel crystals do not adhere as much to paws and get scattered around the litter pan. There is also a lot less waste than with regular clay litter. So far, I'm really liking it.] And yes, I brought my own reusable shopping bag in which I carried home my groceries.
• Starbucks - After several hours out and about, doing useful and important things, I decided I needed a little boost and treat as a reward, so I picked up a frappuccino on my home. By the way, Nathan behaved beautifully all day. He is such a darling little boy.

And for tomorrow, my to-do list includes:

• Take my car in to get the engine serviced.
• Go to AAA.
• Take a load of stuff to the storage unit.
• Sort, organize, and file papers.
• Recycle or throw away at least 10 items.
• Do my homework for my career class.
• Make several telephone calls.
• Send a few e-mails.
• Actually get onto Facebook and update and respond to people. I'm so bad about Facebook.
• Two loads of laundry.
• Clean and organize my bookshelf.

Sick little boy

Nathan is sick today. Poor little Nater-bug. His tummy is upset, and he hasn't been eating much. He didn't even keep milk down this morning. I'm hoping the sickness passes soon.

Seriously, folks

Mr. Obama isn't even inaugurated yet, and I'm already sick of him.

Vinni Pukh

As it turns out, the misdeeds of the former Soviet Union were not limited to violation of human rights (enforced political "education", imprisonment in gulags, limitation of free speech, to name a few) and maintenence of the constant (and terrifying) threat of nuclear war. They also engaged in shameless, large-scale copyright infringement. Tsk tsk, comrades! In the late 1960s, there was produced an adaptation of A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh; it has apparently become something of a cult classic.



See it here if it won't embed.

In spite of (or perhaps because of) the bargain-basement visuals (I'm cutting them some slack because they didn't have Disney's studio and artists) and the fact that I don't understand Russian, I found this cartoon utterly charming and amusing. True, this production jettisons Milne's overly precious Englishness (exemplified by here-absent Christopher Robin), but retains in spades his celebration of the universal quality of childlike wonderment and appreciation of the absurd. There is Vinni Pukh himself, looking like a slightly deranged Siberian bear cub and sounding like June Foray with laryngitis. There is Piglet, who lives in something of a slavic chalet, looks rather like an actual piglet (unlike whatever animal Disney's Piglet is supposed to be), and wears blue gingham high-waisted shorts. There are the bees, wild-eyed and menacing in their military-like organized defense of their honey hoard. All in all, strangely wonderful. If only I could understand the (martial-sounding) songs and the dialogue (which is reputedly very witty in Russian). I can't believe I haven't heard of this before!

File this under A, for Awesome!

11th Lunaversary

Nathan is 11 months old! I can't believe it!

Improvement, continued

Well, as it turned out, it was more efficacious to recycle eight items and throw away two, but the net result is still the same.

Improvement

I'm not making any big resolutions in this new year, but I plan to take little steps to improve little things.

For example, tomorrow, I will throw away five items and recycle five items.
Just that simple.

2009

Happy New Year!

Christmas

Luke 2:14
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among those with whom He is pleased."

It seems as if nearly all people, beauty pageant contestants not least among them, have a desire for world peace. For many of us, the mention of peace on earth may conjure images of nuclear disarmament and perhaps the end of violent conflict in the Middle East. Peace on earth, certainly, is a big deal. And yet, the Bible's idea of peace does not start with just stopping a civil war, or diplomatic negotiation of cease-fire in Israel. Rather, it starts in the minds and hearts of the people of God, those who please Him with their willingness to obey, producing an attitude of desire for an end of conflict at a personal level. "Blessed are the peacemakers," Jesus says in Matthew 5, "for they will be called sons of God." Desiring peace, and acting on that desire, is a family trait, an attribute that marks a person as belonging to God and having Him as a Father. In Romans 12, Paul directs his readers, "In as much as it depends on you, live at peace with all people, especially those who are of the family of believers." We are responsible for promoting peace in every area under our influence. Peace on earth begins with you and me.

Let us ask ourselves, "What in my heart, in my life, is a hindrance to true peace, a barrier to gracious love of my fellow human beings? What do I need to do to follow the commandments to become a peacemaker?" If we all genuinely sought to live with gentleness, humility, and love toward those in our lives, and they in turn reflected those qualities to others in their lives, and so forth, the Lord would transform the world in a very short time. Maybe work to bring peace to just one of your relationships this week. Let us know what happens as a result.

Some time ago, I posted about how Touchy and Hobbes (primarily Hobbes) are able to open doors. I affirmed that they could open doors with handles, and sliding glass and screen doors. I mentioned that I thought it unlikely that they would be able to open doors with round knobs. Well, as it turns out, I was wrong. [Ha!! Take note. It's not often you'll hear those words from me.]

The kitties have been spending most of their time in one of the bathrooms here at Willow's Cottage, while we humans (1) work on constructing their outdoor enclosure and (2) wait for the end of inclement weather in order to construct the aforementioned enclosure. Aside from a tendency to scatter litter on the floor, they are doing just fine (there is no furniture in there for them to scratch, of course), but they hate being confined to one room. They meow and scratch at the door, especially at night, when the nocturnal creatures prefer to be roaming around.

Because the bathroom door closes with a knob, I assumed that they would just be stuck inside making noise, since they lack opposable thumbs and are too short to reach the knob anyway. But these resourceful creatures have somehow managed to get out of the bathroom, repeatedly. It's not a fluke, one-time occurence. Since we humans are always on the other side of the door when they perform their stunt, we can only make a guess as to their methods, but we think that they get up on the counter, and then reach their paws out several inches and wiggle the knob till it turns enough to unlatch the door, then pull the door open and stroll on out. It's crazy. These kitty cats KNOW what they are doing. They have a method and employ it on a regular basis.

The papa went to the hardware store and got some plastic kid-proof door knob covers. The cats have still managed to get the door open at least once. I am not making this up!

I keep telling my mom, it stands to reason that if there ever existed cats that could figure out how to turn door knobs with tiny paws and no opposable thumbs, it would be my cats.

SOS!

Or rather, SOC (Save Our Cats).

I need to move my beloved cats from the apartment where they are currently living, but they can't stay in Willow's cottage, where Nathan and I live. I need a temporary foster home for them until I can make permanent arrangements and/or get a place of my own (4-6 weeks). Touchy and Hobbes are sweet-natured, loving cats; they are great with people and love to play.

If you live in the Southern California area and have (or know of) a SAFE and KIND environment where I can keep my kitties, please let me know. I will pay for their room and board!!

Well

My attempt at NaBloPoMo was an epic fail. That's okay, though. I can transition to Holidailies, which posting is more fun and interesting, anyway.

The holidays are well and truly upon us. Thanksgiving came and went, and the Advent season begins tomorrow.

Thankfulness

Psalm 136
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights— His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.
13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.
16 to him who led his people through the desert, His love endures forever.
17 who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings— His love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites His love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan— His love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever.
22 an inheritance to his servant Israel; His love endures forever.
23 to the One who remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies, His love endures forever.
25 and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

Disneyland picture!

A few weeks ago, Dan and Jennifer took Nathan and me to Disneyland for Nathan's first real trip there. Nathan appreciated a lot of it, but more than that, he enjoyed getting to know his Uncle Dan and spending time with his Aunt Jeffie. They really have a special relationship, because even while Uncle Dan was serving overseas, she was a big part of Nathan's life. She even came to visit him in the hospital when he was just a few hours old!

(Photo credit: Dan)

Nathan says it in his own words:

Deer ant Jeffy,
I luv yu. I miss livving neer yu. Tank yu for takeing me to vizzit diznylan. I reely liek yor nue hare kut. I wil sea yu sune.
Luv NATHAN yor nefew

Horror

I was watching TV earlier tonight, and was exposed to a truly horrific advertisement. And apparently, the horror is proliferating throughout the nation.

The drug company (Merck) is trying to market an anti-HPV vaccine with the slogan "One Less". What?! Where is the outrage? Obviously, this is a job for the panda (the one, of course, who eats, shoots, and leaves). The panda deals directly with punctuation, but I'm sure he's willing to branch out into other grammar issues, as well as the field of proper syntax.

[Next up: I address Starbucks' slogan for their new piadini (pricier breakfast sandwichy thing): "Wake up to a new toasty warm and savory delicious." Aaaaaaaaugh!!!]

Signing off, I remain ONE FEWER woman who will tolerate this sloppy slide into linguistic imprecision.

Tempus fugit

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is only a week and a half away.

I know I'm thankful for a roof over my head, and plenty of food to eat.

I'm thankful for baby teething aids like Orajel and Hyland's teething tablets.

I'm thankful for Starbucks java chip frappucinos. It remains to be seen whether or not Starbucks will keep the faith and remain true to our relationship, though.