Feeling quite accomplished

Yesterday was election day - I hope you all voted or ... or else! I am not someone who talks about politics day in and day out but I do feel strongly that we should vote. Why? Because we can, duh. Well, my reasoning is a bit more sophisticated than that but I'm savoring some a new cup of hot tea. The steam tends to carry away my thoughts with it. Blame it on the tea.

I also want to comment on the nature of election information on the web: it sucks. I don't know anything else that is as hard to find good stuff on than the simple who supports what and what they plan to do in office. Individual candidates' campaign websites are almost all the same - they all really suck. Do you support the same things I do or don't you? My eyes glaze over after a few lines of politically snazzy gibberish and I beg for plain English. It's no wonder so many people just vote depending on who has got the right letter next to their name. Bottom line was, the more information I could find on a candidate, the more willing I was to vote for them over the guys who had not bothered to express themselves online. There was at least one exception to that of course where the person was just digging themselves further and further into a hole in their crap. I was also mildly surprised when I ran across someone who simply stated "I am strongly pro-life." Good for you, thanks for letting me know that, I almost want to vote for you because you just *told* me something of use. Granted, not all of the positions will ever actually influence big issues like abortion and same sex marriage and health insurance, but I like having people who share my opinions having some power. I think one of my biggest complaints is that people complain the government doesn't represent the people when they are thinking only of themselves. The people are more than one type and their political opinions vary widely. That's why we've got such a wide variety of people in power! It's definitely not a perfect representation. But having less than half of the population vote makes it hard to get closer to a more realistic representation. And I'm throwing out another thought: Do you think this variety is why it's so hard for the government to get anything done?

I'm still ahead on my nanowrimo word count. 6,387 so far! I'm taking a break until the write-in tonight which is why I'm writing a blog entry. Yeah I know it's still writing. But it's different. It's about ME rather than my characters who have quickly taken over in the novel. Don't worry, I am still having fun. There have been lots of surprises already. I'm feeling quite accomplished too. It doesn't matter that it's only the third, that I've written just over 10% of the goal so far.

This weekend I cleaned up and stacked the papers that I'd gone through in October in one big pile. All the papers from the two years of SLIS. When Colin saw it he was amazed. And I finally felt like I actually got something done. So I took a picture of the stack with a ruler next to it. Over eight inches thick (or high?). Which means it's roughly 2,000 sheets of paper. That's not even all of them but it's about 98% of them if I had to guess. Everything has been accounted for - if it hadn't been marked up, I just made sure I had a digital copy before scanning it. But most of it was scanned, back and front, over the course of one month. Phew! No more carrying those papers around!

And we're off!

Well, it's off on a rocky start. First, I spent so much time just trying to print my manual. I mean, how hard could it be to print a mulipage pamphlet? Very, it turns out .. especially when the printer quit listening to me. Got it all figured out but it only took the whole morning. Also, I'm trying not to feel guilty for not finishing my entire GTD list. I hadn't realized how much the website making would hinge on my digitization project. But I just wanted to start so badly today ... so the compromise is to write as much as possible today and then finish the website tomorrow before continuing writing. My internet now works in spurts and the nanowrimo site is very slow today, so I can't post my first word count.

The bright side? My finger that I cut this weekend and my stubborn wrist are cooperating very nicely. I have enjoyed some jerky and tea. And I've written 1,044 words so far! I plan to hit the library after a quick late lunch to keep going. I'm afraid it's far from gripping. I have managed to write two scenes so things are progressing. A lot of it is making it up as I go, including names and exactly how things work in the colony. So probably way too much explaining, but I'm not laying out everything at once and there's action and dialog ... Who cares if it turns out boring for anyone else  who might read it, right? ;)

I'd post a screenshot and maybe a picture of my supplies but the internet is so flaky I'm going to be surprised if this gets up at all, let alone be able to upload pictures. And how's your November looking?

Quick! Stuff about Halloween before I snooze and Nanowrimo starts!

Okay, I'm really tired because I didn't sleep well last night since I didn't feel all that great. Fine today though, which is bizarre. We finished the pumpkins in time for the hordes of kids who came to our doorstep clamoring for candy. We tried to not eat too much of it ourselves but I've eaten more than I have in probably a month or two. Which is still not really that much ...

Just so you realize, these pumpkins maybe not the best you'll find on the internet but it was the first time we did something other than hacking out a regular grinning jack o lantern with a kitchen knife. I created the designs and made the initial cuts. I also scraped out the guts and seeds while Colin did a lot of cutting and also scraping the second pumpkin's inner wall. We attempted at first to try using a dremel power tool but it didn't quite work (it coats *everything* in the vicinity in pumpkin goo), so we switched to the trusty speedball cutting tools. Also, the first one was the crow on a fence and we didn't realize we should scoop the wall from the inside to make it thinner so that's why it's cut so deep. So, without further ado, our glorious pumpkins:

And tomorrow, Nanowrimo!

Productive days, Paneer Masala, and Naan

It's proven to be a fairly productive last couple of days without any major casualties like getting locked out. I will have Colin call dentist(s) tomorrow morning. I will finish off the digitizing project and website tonight or at least before Monday. I have done a lot of pretty heavy duty cleaning especially in the kitchen/den area (where we spend most of our time). As for Europe planning and getting tickets - that's the one bit I think I might need to exempt. I'll focus on doing some heavy planning with Colin this weekend but I think it will be less stressful to not require having tickets by Monday. The point of the GTD list was to, well, get things done, but ultimately to relieve any stress that not doing those things would end up affecting November. I don't want to make hasty decisions and then have to clean up the mess later, such as if we end up needing to change the tickets (note: we aren't the only ones affected by our plans but nobody else has really got things figured out).

I can't remember what initially made me start a blog post just now, but so far it's boring. What else ...

Oh! So last night I made our usual Indian dinner. It always involves a lot of planning ahead, hopping around, and tons of dirty dishes. I don't know how often I make it - maybe once every two weeks or so? First, there's the basmati rice. I've actually forgotten it a couple times while thinking dinner was almost ready. It takes over 20 minutes to make so it's not fun to forget it. Then, there's the paneer masala, most of which is quite simple: a spice packet, milk, can of tomatoes, and the paneer. The paneer is the tricky part and it's been trial and error (lots of error actually) trying to have actual chunks instead of it melting and becoming invisible. We've tried making it from whole milk. We've tried sour cream. Then we realized farmer's cheese is about as close as you're going to find to paneer here. Some say it's one and the same but I have my doubts. Last night I cut it up into cubes and used paper towels to soak up the excess moisture. It worked much better but I don't think it's quite there yet. I also let the paneer masala cook for a bit too long so it was more pastier than goopier. Strangely, this seemed to subdue the spices.

Then there was the naan. Elusive but oh so yummy and, at least for me, necessary to complete a dish. Last time, I figured out how to make one actually turn out thin. But this time? I am so much closer to getting something like real naan. I had lots of bubbles! And they all turned out quite thin! I let every step take more than enough time and then I stored the balls of dough in the fridge for a couple of hours. They were big and poofy when I pulled them out. Interestingly, the upper layer (there were two layers of four balls each) was much easier to make thin. Next time, I won't stack them. Then the final touch? Roll them out a LOT. Roll it one way then straight back, pressing hard. Do it again and if they're still too thick, turn them 90 degrees and roll them sideways. If they keep trying to shrink, have gravity help out by holding them up by one edge. All in all, I was very happy that they turned out nicely.

Also, in case you were wondering how much time this all takes, it depends. I had prepared the dough and the paneer earlier. I don't know quite how long it takes to do that though. However, once it came time to cook, it took about half an hour. I have to work on the timing of things, such as not starting the panner masala right away. But from the time I put the rice on to boil to the time it was done, the rest of dinner was ready.

Now I'm all hungry thinking about the leftovers. Maybe we will eat dinner earlier than usual tonight ...

The oddity ensues

While Colin was gone, I watched two movies in one night, slept until I couldn't sleep anymore, and ate way too many powdered sugar donut holes. Oh, and locked myself out of the house. With no money or ID or car keys. If I had money, I most likely would have walked to the train station and gone downtown to get Colin's keys. If I had car keys,  I could have simply unlocked the car to use the garage door opener. As it was, we have no hidden spare key (soon this will turn into "had" after this experience - I promise you that). And Colin couldn't be back until the following late afternoon.

Fortunately the sun was shining, it was 70 degrees, and after trying to break into my house without busting a window, I sat down and plugged my computer into an external outlet to try to figure out what my options were and to talk to Colin. He was busy and took awhile to respond, and meanwhile I chatted with his mom. I was trying not to panic and get mad but I finally got ahold of Colin. There were many options discussed (should or could or was it worth it to walk to the station and try to have them take my reduced 10 pass? I didn't have any extra money nor do I have the required ID card they neglected to mention I needed to be eligible for in order to get but I still don't know what to do with the remainder of the stupid card). In the end, it just made more sense to go ahead and call a lock smith, even though we both got paranoid reading the lock smith scam stories online. Two and half hours and 85 dollars later, I was back in the house. It didn't really make sense to commence with my plans to spend the afternoon in Gurnee so I relaxed for a bit with a cup of tea before heading to the library. And that's the story of the first time I've locked myself out since graduating from college.

I was very glad to have Colin back yesterday late afternoon even though he was exhausted. I must mention a story about a coworker I have yet to meet. Apparently, they've started a fast friendship, his wife's name is Karen also, and he felt the need to text me while they had had quite a bit to drink. The text read: "I will be very gentle and tender with Colin tonight. It may be the best experience of his life." Colin had mentioned he was straight and married. I knew he was joking and I laughed at it although I only had confirmation from Colin that it was a joke over half an hour later. I simply couldn't think of anything to reply to the message from someone I have yet to meet, so I left it alone. Neither of us are all that great at getting jealous, let alone suspicious. Everyone always laughs whenever Colin tries to put on his jealous boyfriend act. I think we're just really comfortable because we know we love each other so much.

In weather-related news, it continues to be very blustery. I struggled with toting a breakfast-in-bed type tray from a thrift store to my car at least four blocks away and it felt like a sail no matter how I held it. I've been on the look out for one for awhile. It'll be great for toting food into the den or having another desk option. I don't know yet if the external keyboard will fit on it, but if it does even better. I have arranged a nook in the guest bedroom with blankets and pillows and a short table in which this would work very well in. If not, yay for more space to put papers and hot cups of yummy drinks. I also found a a "So you want a revolution?" glass, a tee shirt with Wonder Woman all over it, and a pair of jeans that fit.

Note to self: need to get rid of all those clothes that no longer fit. If I do ever get back to their sizes, shopping for new clothes at thrift stores is better and more fun than lugging too many clothes around when/if moving.

I also found a hat that I have dubbed my "crea cap." Crea is short for creative, and in some not-so-good Spanish it means "think, believe, imagine." (For those that care, "crea" is the subjunctive form of creer for he/she/it. More appropriate would be creo - which would mean I believe without a doubt.) It's red, knitted, soft, and good for indoors and out. I plan to wear it only when I'm actually writing the novel. I've read of a lot of people have something they wear during nanowrimo that becomes another trigger to get into the mindset of writing. I might not wear it all the time, but it helps that I do like it.

So yes, November 1 is now less than a week away. I'm doing really well on the scanning and digitizing project and the pre-novel research. At least I think I am on that last one. I'm going to try to catch up on laundry but it's not imperative. As for the rest of the GTD list - plans have been thrown off kilter this week and things like calling possible dentists to check if they take Colin's insurance and the planning for Europe in December are tough to do when I barely ever see Colin and he's so tired most of the time. Usually, we just want to zone out and simply be together when we are together. Hopefully the rest of the week isn't quite as stupid. The weekend will largely consist of pumpkin carving and handing out candy to the gazillion kids in the area.

Odd Times

Already this is quite an unusual week. We had a relatively normal Saturday; we tried out a pizza place nearby that has double decker pizzas and we spent sometime enjoying the library. The weather is a bit odd - we had frost one night recently but yesterday I ended up having to take off a lot of layers a couple times and would just sit in my tank top outside for a bit. Then there's the rain. Lots of small thunderstorms, almost nightly it seems. And tomorrow we're supposed to get high winds with gusts up to 60 mph.

Then Sunday rolled around and Colin had to be downtown Chicago by noon for the start of his company's conference. We didn't know how long he would be down there but I decided somewhat last-minute that I wanted to be with him on the 1.5 hour one way train ride. It worked out really well because Tom and Keegan were able to join me for an afternoon and early evening of sitting in cafes. It was fun to talk with Tom about library science since I hadn't seen him for two months or so and he's in his first semester of lib sci school. Made me somewhat nostalgic for grad school but I didn't envy the introductory class assignments he's going through. I read a lot of "Coal: A Human History" which I'm finding quite fascinating.

I ended up getting home earlier than Colin at 10 pm. I had no reason to stay for another two hours until the next train and I knew I'd be worthless for socializing that late. My shoes and bottom half of my jeans were pretty soaked from the rain so I was very thankful to be able to hop right into a hot shower when I got home. Also, I'm glad I had every bit of clothing I did have including wool socks which meant my feet stayed warm even when damp, rain coat, wool scarf, and an umbrella which I loaned to Tom and Keegan when they needed it. Couldn't have really been more well prepared for the wacky weather I'd encountered during the trip, except maybe some waterproof footwear. Even then, I would have needed something that was not too hot and that I could walk a lot in comfortably.

I struggled to stay awake while reading a (exciting) book and ended up taking cat naps, which meant I'd dose off partway while sitting up. Finally Colin got to the station at midnight and I picked him up. It turned out I had to drive him back to catch a train before seven this morning. He was pretty wiped out when I picked him up and he wasn't able to get much sleep :( I went back to bed and crashed until almost 11 though ... I've been building up a sleep deficit for awhile from the virus we had and the lingering side effect of sinus congestion, so I was glad for the extra sleep.

Colin won't be home until who knows when tomorrow night. I'm trying to stay positive and focus on doing things I enjoy, perhaps things I normally wouldn't do with Colin. Perhaps I'll eat a dish with tons of mushrooms tonight ;) Or borrow movies from the library that he wouldn't like at all. I have some things I have to do but the list isn't huge and I need to focus on not getting too sad that he's not here. It was actually hard to see his train leave this morning, knowing it'll be longer than usual before I see him again.

Planning and Productivity

Every once in a while I think about how to better organize, plan, and prioritize things. I know I was not a normal teenager, especially if you take note that I was drawn to books about how to be more productive, how to get more things done in the day, how to find balance. Why yes, I did enjoy reading "Cheaper by the Dozen," how did you know?

One of the things I remember best is the idea of big rocks and little rocks and trying to fit them in a jar. The concept is that a jar represents the amount of time you have or space in one day, the little rocks are small tasks that don't take up a lot of minutes and the big rocks are those time-consuming and hopefully either necessary or rewarding endeavors. First, fill the jar with the little rocks, then pile in the big rocks on top of them. Notice how many big rocks are left over. Empty the jar and refill it, but this time with the big rocks first then the littler ones. The idea is that by inserting the big, important time-consuming tasks first you will have more room to fit in more of the smaller tasks.

Another connected concept that I like is the idea of the big three. I'm not sure what it is technically called but it doesn't matter because it works anyway. I decide "what are the three big things I will get done today?" It helps me focus on working towards completing tasks that will take more than one day to finish. They usually take an hour or two each. Then, combining this idea with the big and small rocks idea, I space out the big three (usually the big rocks) throughout the day and keep in mind what little rocks I have that I can do in between each. I rarely actually schedule things down to the minute or even the hour. Instead, I keep a list and if there's something that makes sense to do at one time than another or an actual appointment, I'll keep that in mind. My days are quite unstructured but this helps me focus on the tasks rather than the time.

Periodically, I've searched again and again for pearls of wisdoms and magic formulas to maximize time and productivity that I seem to believe do exist. It's not relentless. In fact, it's how I do most things in life. I have lots of interests and hobbies and passions but I'll maybe be actually doing something about one or two of them any given month and that's about it. They'll fade to the background and neglected ones will rise to the surface. This is certainly not the case for everything in life but for many things.

Yesterday, I browsed the web and looked for what else is new out there in terms of software and ideas. I've tried Remember the Milk in the past but like any other electronic organization set-up, it fell to the wayside. I always feel like I'm spending so much time plugging things in when I could be doing some of them. With paper, I enjoy the flexibility and it feels like a faster system. I like the way I can get a good feel for the week or month or being able to just pencil things in. Often when I try to stick with purely electronic methods I get an itch to just grab some paper and a pen. But I don't carry a paper planner and I always have my phone with me. I don't like seeing empty days or weeks when things were just too simple for the need of a planner.

The biggest reason for an electronic planner is so that I can share things like grocery list with Colin. But for some reason, the cloud lists program hasn't updated and synced our shared lists in weeks. It was buggy before then which means it caused more headaches than it should have. "Oh I didn't see (foo item) was needed." "I put it on the list two days ago." "Well, it's not on mine. See?"

So since I'm used to it and it works just fine without sharing, I've changed the focus of my lists. Along with things like shopping lists and movies to see, I've simply got four to do lists: @ home, @ out and about, @ people, and @ online. It's pretty new but it helps because I get annoyed when I realize something on my list can't get checked off because I didn't remember to do it where I could get it done. It's not perfect but it's simple and fits for now. (Side note: @ people are things I need other people to do some part of the tasks or have them with me in order to get it done.) For timed things, I just use Google Calendar which sends alerts to my phone.

My most used and biggest list is the books I want to read, usually with what library I visit that holds them and where it can be found. I'm not exactly gung-ho about social sites for book reading since I find myself wanting to read rather than spend time on them, but I do have a goodreads account. It gets updated! Whenever I'm reminded of it by an email notification of someone else posting something.

I'm not some super efficient do-it-all, not even close. I seemed to need those deadlines in school to push me to get them done. I only pulled one real all-nighter but I did stay up late and spit out papers that would juuuust slide in under the deadline. I don't exactly thrive under that kind of pressure but sometimes nothing else would give me the focus and energy to get something done. Not the best way to do things, but it obviously worked well enough.

So you might remember from earlier this month that I dedicated this as a Getting Things Done month (yes, loosely related to the GTD philosophy which I don't completely understand). How am I doing? Well, I'm optimistic and think I'm doing just fine. Okay, so dentist appointment hasn't been made yet ... and tickets to Europe haven't been reserved ... and my website hasn't really been worked on ... these all depend on Colin's participation to some extent. I'm not putting the blame on him because that's not fair (he's got the website all set up) but it's hard to remember to ask what his dental insurance company is and to have him remind me how to get to the web pages to edit them. He's especially busy this month since his company's annual conference is this weekend where they roll out a new release of their software. Also, we keep mentioning Europe but never can seem to make any actual decisions and the decisions involve more people and their plans. At this point, we just need to decide and make plans ourselves. But I've accomplished quite a few things (many that weren't on the original lists but were propelled forth by its momentum). I'm well on my way to completing everything by Halloween, especially since I'm treating it like a hard deadline. I can't start nanowrimo until I finish the list! I know I wouldn't be able to stand it if I had to delay nanowrimo even for a day ...