Oh hi.

I abandoned the heck out of this, didn’t I?

 

Well I’m proud to report that since my last post, I got a job.  I’m a part-time reporter/photographer for the local newspaper.  The pay is decent and I was able to make my first student loan payment this week.  It wasn’t nearly as much as they want (they want hundreds up front) but it’s better than nothing.

 

On the health front, things aren’t terrible.  I threw my back out so that wasn’t cool but it seems to be doing better.  I signed up for a weight loss competition and am getting my tushy in gear.  First prize is a trip to the Caribbean.  I may not win but I can do my best.

 

As far as mental health goes, I’m feeling like a new person.  I’m happier about nearly everything.

 

Checkmark!

Today is a success in my book!  Now that I feel better, I was finally able to complete the plan for last week’s Thursday.

 

And even better than that, I found a supplier for my grout!  It’s a few hours drive but it will be totally worth it.  This means I can do tons of work!

 

And… I got a job.  Another one.  But this could blow up into something much bigger.  I hope so, anyway!  I’m writing for the local newspaper.  It’s really exciting because I want to be a novelist someday.  This is a great start to perfecting my writing.  Lots of extra practice!

そんあ自分にさよなら。

Saying goodbye to old habits is a very hard thing to do.  Overcoming yourself is like a really hard mirror match in Mortal Kombat.  It can be done but it might take a few tries, unless you’re really good.  I’m not.  I need to button-mash before I get it right.

 

The day after my last post, I got sick again.  This time it was severe vomiting and came out of nowhere.  Then I had a few days where I just laid around but I’ve been feeling quite a bit better for around a week now.  But I didn’t get very much done on my list before I got sick.

 

Good news?  I got my dining room almost completely finished thanks to the excellent motivation from a site I found.   

I intend to post before and after pictures, like a rockstar!

Break it down now.

I dissected my list.  This is going to be my week.  I will follow this devoutly, as if it were scripture.

 

Friday

S. 1 Mercury wand + compact

Phase 1 of 3 Neptune wands, 2 Pluto wands, 2 Saturn wands, 2 Uranus wands (grouting and setting out to dry)

Painting 4 Pegasus wands

 

Saturday

Start 6 more Pegasus wands

Finish custom bracelet

Work on SSR necklaces

 

Sunday

Finish up SSR necklaces

Make the Serenity Crown

Phase 2 of 9 outer wands (sanding and painting, resting to dry)

Paint tier 1

 

Monday

Phase 3 of 9 outer wands (2nd and 3rd coats of paint, resting to dry)

Begin Cutie Rod and 2nd tier (measuring out wood, cutting pieces, grouting)

Finish up both KM scopes (painting, sealant, gems)

 

Tuesday

Final phase of outer wands (sealant and Swarovski crystals)

Continue work on rod and tier (more grouting, sanding as needed)

Make Super compacts

Paint Cutie Rod

 

Wednesday

Finish Cutie Rod

Finish Tier

Make tiaras

 

Things I can’t finish until I have more supplies…

Order 4: 1 Pluto talisman

Order 10: Glaive, crystal key, spiral rod, tier, pink sugar rod, 10 tiaras, Saturn’s earrings, crescent earrings.

Indulgence.

ABC Family has been showing Harry Potter every night for the last week and I can’t help but watch it.  Tonight my favorite is one – The Half-Blood Prince.  I love Harry Potter so I’ve been indulging in sitting on the couch and watching each episode for the last few nights.  Tonight is the last night, which is probably a good thing.

In spite of indulging in some of my favorite movies, I’ve been getting quite a lot done in terms of work and chores.  The dishes are under control (for now) so I think what I need to do finish up all the orders that are backlogged.  I would like to do this before I even reopen my store because having a clean slate would be lovely.

In no particular order of priority…

Order 1: Sugar Sugar Rune necklaces

Order 2: S. 1 Mercury wand + compact

Order 3: Neptune wand and Eternal Tier

Order 4: Four pegasus wands, 4 outer wands, 1 Pluto talisman, 8 S.1 wands

Order 5: Princess Serenity Crown, Cutie Rod, Super Tiara

Order 6: Custom bracelet

Order 7: Super compact, KM scope, Super SM tiara

Order 8: Super compact, KM scope, Super SM tiara

Order 9: 2 Pegasus wands, eternal tier

Order 10: Glaive, crystal key, spiral rod, tier, pink sugar rod, 10 tiaras, Saturn’s earrings, crescent earrings.

Phew.  Some of that stuff is from before I got sick, so these poor customers have been waiting for months.  My natural instinct is to write that I suck and feel terrible.  I actually backspaced out “I suck” but I need to just worry about getting it done instead of focusing on the fact that it’s late anyway.  I think I can get all of this done within a month’s time.  The trick is going to be shipping it.

Almost out of the woods.

This tonsillitis stuff is almost over.  I still have about 3 days of antibiotics left so I should be good as new by the end of the week.

On Saturday I had a craft show, which was rough being so sick.  I had also only had a couple hours of sleep, but my friend Luke went with me and kept me going.  I made enough money to pay almost all the bills for the month, which was a huge relief for myself and for Mister Picky Pants.  Once that was over, I came home and did lots of work for my replica shop.  I need to make a list of everything I’m behind on so I can really tackle it!

Crud.

I got sick.  It started with a tiny sore throat that grew into a big sore throat in a matter of hours.  Long story short, I have tonsillitis.  I had been feeling under the weather for the last few days, but I chalked it up to stress.  Unfortunately, chronic stress will deplete the immune system.  I would say that’s what happened here.

 

MPP has been pretty stressed too.  He just woke up in the middle of the night upset about money.  I wish there was something I could do to make him feel better.

Do ALL the things.

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.  Maybe a lot overwhelmed.  Today I worked on cleaning the kitchen, which was already looking upsettingly similar to how it was before.  It’s beginning to become obvious that unless I get the other two inhabitants of my household on board with what I’m trying to do here, I’m going to continue to be stressed.  It just won’t work.

So as happy as I was being able to get the kitchen cleaned up (and try eggplant parmesan for the first time – my mother made it and it was quite good), in the back of mind there are so many things that need to be done that I’ve just not been able to touch in a couple weeks.  Like orders from my replica business.  I can’t reopen my shop until I’ve finished my backlog and I really, really need to reopen.  It’s so hard to balance everything.  Cooking, cleaning, running Picky Pants around because he can’t drive yet – we haven’t even been able to practice driving – preparing for a craft show, exercising… I feel really overwhelmed by it all, and I find I really spend a lot more time thinking about it than doing it.  That’s just stupid.

Tomorrow morning at 9 I’m getting certified in CPR so that’s good.  Picky Pants is supposed to be at work at 10 so this will be quite a trick.  I guess I’ll just have to drop him off somewhere and he’ll have to walk.  Part of me thinks maybe I just shouldn’t go, but I really do want to get this certification.  I don’t like the idea of someone needing CPR and not being able to administer it.  I also don’t like the idea of Picky Pants having to walk to work in the cold from… well, I don’t know where yet.  We live too far out of town for him to just walk from there.  My mom suggested he sit at the library and walk from there but they don’t even open until 10.

I’m going to have to schedule times for him to drive because he must learn.  I need to stop prioritizing some things over others because for my sanity, it all needs to be equally important.  I need to sit down and make a schedule and stop putting it off.

My plan for tomorrow is to make a schedule.  Scheduling time to work on my replica business, to work on my candle business, time for exercising, feeding times (like I’m a shark!), cleaning… There’s just a lot to do.  If I missed anything, let me know.

Hello, pain.

My husband worked his first 10 hour shift today and I guess it didn’t go well.  He had to work alone for the first time, which would normally be fine except he only trained for two days prior to this, so it’s a little soon.  He said it was a nightmare and that whoever worked the previous night basically hid things from him.  On top of that, he has really flat feet and standing for a long time hurts him.  I need to get him some arch support insoles.

Me?  Well, hauling wood yesterday was an excellent workout, but today my arms hurt (in a good way) and my back is absolutely killing me (in a truly bad way).  I have back issues anyway so I need to see a chiropractor.  Unfortunately there’s only $20 in my paypal account and I actually have to refund someone for an item that never made it to its destination, so seeing the chiropractor isn’t an option.

The plus side as that these things are temporary.  I can get something for Picky Pants to help his feet and I can see a doctor if the kinks don’t work themselves out.

But I do love the way my biceps feel!

We’ll be warm for a few weeks.

My mom, my husband, myself, stepdad, stepbrothers and a friend hauled wood today.  I have never hauled so much wood before.  It was a great workout but I made myself sick from overdoing it a couple of times.  We have a great big pile of wood in the yard now.  The house was so cold when I got home, but luckily there were some embers in the furnace so I was able to get a new fire built pretty quickly!

I did well on food. Kept my carbs under 100 as planned.  I have yet to do my Pilates for the day.

I’m stressing really bad about money.  My husbands first paycheck was $9.  Ouch.  He doesn’t get paid for another two weeks.  In the meantime I really need to catch up on work so I can reopen my store and start pulling money in again.

So, financially – bad. Very bad.

Mentally – Okay. Could be better.

Physically – I’m doing my best.