i feel we may be losing sight...

...of those goals that we laid out over a month ago.
So, Totes, a recap.

on february 11th, I said I wanted to focus on:
creativity + productivity
abolishing the snooze button
being healthy + glowing + awake
conquering my apparent fear of housework
being reliable + available
getting a job that i love
nourishing my relationships + collaborating
becoming debt-free
continuing my education

on february 11th, you said you wanted to:
- Cook more!
- Continue learning.
- Finish your upholstery project
- Buy a ukulele and learn how to play it.
- Do laundry more than once every three or four weeks.
- Spend less cha-ching.
- Do something physical.

How are we doing?

Well, I guess I'll go first...
I am having a hard time getting over to my studio as often as I would like to. Really, I only make it in about once a week. I am using a planner now, though--as of last week! I am going to pencil in all the things I hope to do along with all the things I am supposed to do--like, hey! pay my parking tickets on time to avoid an extra 30 bucks! whaddyaknow!

hmmm, before I move on I want to speak more about my planner. I think I may fall in love with it. It's a teeny 3-ring binder that holds half-sheets of paper. Bought it at Staples a long time ago for work but discovered it was useless for the purpose I had in mind. Now I have outfitted it with little tabs for sections--month-at-a-glance, weekly planner, financial planning (used to be on paper scraps), project ideas, and project planning. And other shit too, like notes and whatnot. DIY Planner inspired me but they have ugly layouts so I had to make my own in InDesign. Plus it was one of the things I was supposed to get according to One Year :)
...and moving on...

Oh my god "abolish the snooze button"! No progress on that one. If anything I have been having more trouble with waking up. Andy lays between me and the alarm clock. It goes off, he slaps the snooze button for me! I don't even have to roll over or get my arms out & cold or anything! This is not working. Either I need to switch places with him or move the clock or something. I need to see the damn time before the snooze button is hit. Or else I have no concept of what time it is and am very happy to continue laying in bed/in ignorance. Going to do something about this tonight. Tally ho!

healthy + glowing + awake. I have not exercised in eons... Although I did shovel a very long driveway clear of a foot and a half of snow on Sunday! With Andy's help. I did at least 50% of the work though! And I was realllllly happy that my back could take it. It didn't even hurt yesterday or today! Which is awesome because I could really feel it getting weak on Saturday when we were helping Andy's mom move her quilt shop. I was caught between wanting to be as helpful as possible and not wanting to relive that week of bedrest I was subjected to last June. That sucked. The other thing I need to do is get my health insurance application filled out. Gotta find that old policy number.

housework. making progress. One Year is helping.

reliable + available. I haven't flaked out on anyone. I've been on-time to work an unusual amount of times recently. I've communicated with my mom a bit more regularly.

getting a job i love... well, I am finding ways to love my job. I am also dreaming about working on a farm, or as a ranchhand, or a photographer, or a book-reader! Know of any job openings for a book-reader? 'Cause I shore do love readin' dem books.

relationships. I've been seeing friends and family. I could do more though. Write some letters. Make some phone calls. See my sister more often.

collaborations. I haven't taken a single step on developing this. There is one guy I should call who offered to take me on a sports photo shoot.

Debt-free! Working on it. Like I said, so close I can almost see the day.

Continuing my education. Recently, I've read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and half of After Photography by Fred Ritchin. I highly recommend the former and would like to chat about its pros and cons if you decide to check it out. The latter is pretty heavy. Mentally. Still need to wrap my head around it. On the other side of the spectrum, I have not looked into grad school at all. I don't know where to start. I'm not particulary interested in committing four more years to UCSC although I loved my time there. And I'm not particularly interested in moving away. What to do, what to do. I suppose browsing is my first step.

I can't begin to list more goals or wishes until I get through some of these... too much for my brain!

And, what about you? What obstacles are you up against? What have you been up to that you are pleased with?

ps I like calling you Totes 'cause it's like Toots.