The Reconstruction: January 2008

Monday, January 14, 2008

Status bars

Okay, so Ravelry has me addicted to status bars. It falls right in line with my love of to-do lists. I admit it - if I do something that wasn't on the to-do list, I add it - just so I can have the joy of crossing it off. So, I added status bars to the blog to track my progress on house stuff. The bars show how far along I am in various rooms of the house. Although I am no longer living in a house without floors or drywall, I still have a bunch of stuff to do in every room. For the most part, it's not necessary stuff, but stuff that should be fixed or fixed up or improved upon somehow. I'm not counting pure decor stuff like how I need a real coffee table or how I want a tailored bed skirt (the nesting instinct is back), because I could be at that forever! But stuff like new cabinets and countertop in the kitchen, a new medicine cabinet in the bathroom, built-in shelves in the hallway, attempting to take over the semi-public entryway as an extra mini-mudroom for me. If I decide I don't need these things - well, extra status bar movement for me!

And, by the way, if your to-do lists are forever being put on stickies, junk mail envelopes, or scraps, and lost in the bottom of your workbag (am I projecting?....nah) and you want to rely even more on the internet for your daily existence (I'm not saying it's a bad thing), try this website. It keeps your lists and you can get to them anytime you can get web access. Plus, it has a progress bar of sorts, too. The bullet in front of the list name shrinks as you complete tasks from the list, and it saves your old lists so you can look back and feel all accomplished. Can't do that with the paper scraps you end up tossing, now can you?

Thursday, January 10, 2008

That new year stuff

I don't usually get into all that new year's stuff. Pledging to exercise more, or waste less time on the web, or wake up early - eech! It just makes me feel pressured and uptight, and I take failure badly, so why set myself up for that? But this year, following a milestone-of-sorts birthday and the whole new years fiesta, I did get to thinking about what I want and rather than feeling pressured by the new year ahead, I actually feel rather excited. (This might not last, so I'll take it while I can get it).

The highlights: I'm ready for a change of venue. This might be a move from DC, or maybe it's just a change in neighborhood, or a change in apartments. I am excited about the dreamy day when I move into a house where I can have more of the things I talked about here.

I signed up for a photography class, which has been on my to do list for way too long. I always admire people's photography skills, but I've never taken a class, in part because I may just find out that I suck irreparably at photography. And maybe I will take the most wretched photos ever, or maybe I'll be the greatest photography talent the world has ever seen. What? It could happen. For now, though, I'll just take the class and see.

I'm still job hunting, and trying to look at it differently, but it's a little raw, so I'll keep that to myself for now. And the house - well, it's a journey, not a destination. That's what they say about life, right? Well, my house has a life of its own, so it's appropriate.