a holiday organizing...

im doing some holiday chores because, well, xmas is pretty much over now and im gettin' bored.

so im going to organize something.  since ive become lazy this week, its going to be a non-physical organizing - moving my bookmarked internet pages into pinterest
AND
- deleting bookmarked pages that are no longer relevant to me

its amazing how many pages ive bookmarked this year & have no idea what they are.  nor ever looked at them again.  this is the time.

the secret of it is doing a total brain dump of small tasks that you know you need to do "one day" but may never think of again.  an item on my list is the cleaning of the bookmarks.

merry xmas

UPDATE:  9 new boards, 58 new pins

the secret is in...

i had some challenge today & yesterday regarding "project: secret".

in true opposite fashion to what i would have instinctively done, i reacted as "project: secret" would've wanted me to

result 1 - everything was actually ok.  normal even....  there may be something to this specific change im trying to make.  positive result. :)

re-start

im on my hardest project today.  its day 1.  its something ive tried before & keep failing at. 

this one is my nemesis, my enemy, my devil.  and if i dont fix it, im going to drown.  so i re-start this one today. and ive already been challenged. 

and its super hard but i dont have a choice.  so here goes.  "project: secret" back in action.

pray for me through this one.. it is not an easy road ahead.

save the dog, dump the cheerleader

the way the dog is treated got me sad!  it made me want to save all the lonely dogs in the world!!

it was a downer movie but i "got it". people who live back at home, back in the neighborhood you grew up in... the main character a girl who probably acts younger than she should, who's lazy, who goes out too much and cant get her work done.  shes a tad delusional about whats actually good for her and what is not good for her.  she has a mixed tape.  she is 37.  she drinks coke for breakfast.  she texts in public when shes alone to look important.

HOWEVER, shes not nice to people, shes selfish, shes unlikeable,  shes mean, shes full of herself. 

i do love that the guy from "a gifted man" and patton oswalt are in this.  i like both of them.

but because of the dog.  it broke my heart and made me sad :*(
and what it did was make me hate the main character and not root for her at all.

she does figure out shes crazy though.  you find out that she does know she has problems & throughout the movie you see that shes aware shes majorly flawed and is hurt by it. its an interesting look at depression too and for someone whos gone through it and still does, there are scenes where ive felt what shes feeling.  i know EXACTLY what the scene is saying. 

and even though the dog is ignored (BOO), this movie gave me a bit of hope in some way...

document this!!

as i complete goals on my go mighty list, im going to scrapbook-document all of it!! 

this gives me more of a push to get things done!!

view my city!!

ive lived in atlanta for 25 years.  ive done a LOT of touristy things through the years thanks to all the people who have come to visit us, but there are still things ive never done.

i feel like i live in a really entertaining city so i should take advantage of it.

heres my to do in atlanta list... i present "project: atlanta tourist"...

1) stay at stone mountain 1nn - CHECK

2) go to a braves game
3) go to high museum
4) see movie at tara cinema
5) eat at STK
6) go to GWTW museum; tour margaret mitchell house
7) go to music midtown

this is just a start... and i did do #1 this weekend and it was good.  so ill have to work through this list but itll be fun doing so!

mega-fix number 6!!

so, ive made a short list on the gomighty.com site, but i think its a good start!  like 'project: un-hoarder', i need to attack a large project by cutting it up into small and manageable steps.

i have 10 goals now!  :)  and theyre goals ive had on mind for sooooooo long and now i have a place to put them and this blog to track progress with. 

today im going to talk about one of them that needs to be taken care of asap! 
my only business goal so far...

#6 - mega-organize my mystery shopping

between finding new companies, applying for shops, confiming shops, scheduling dates for locations, doing the shops, tracking payments, cleaning out emails and files, etc, this is a big job. 

i need a better system as i have more shops now than ive ever done before.  if i miss a payment here and there or forget to apply for shops one week, im out of $$$.  and being unemployed, every little dollar counts.  even if it is a $5 phone call. 

so tonight, im cleaning out some october receipts, grouping sept & oct checks, and looking at paypal and excel to figure out how to organize my month better.  the more shops i do, the harder it gets to keep track of receips and emails..  and tomorrow i need to take a certification test to get gold certified!  :)

omg! shes such a hoar..der...

im also staring my organizing project with this dec 1st.  with family coming to town for the holidays & the new year around the corner, its probably a good idea to get my stuff together.  with my extremely limited space and ongoing projects everywhere, my space is beginning to look like an episode of "hoarders". 

soooooo, commence 'project: un-hoarder'!!

1) take pics of small areas of my bedroom/bathroom pre-organize
2) choose an area at a time to organize
3) don't move on to a new area until the first area is complete
4) take pics of un-hoardered area!

the more you cut up a project into manageable steps, you can handle a project easier.  so here goes!!

toxing & detoxing...

probably my worst project idea ever.  giving up (AGAIN) queso and soda for the month of december.  however, december is a very social month and ill be doing lots of dinners and drinking lots of jack & cokes... 

the point of 'Project:: detox xmas' is to cut back on the EXTRA cheese and coke consumption.  not ordering queso at every dinner, not ordering calzones, and not drinking cokes at home.  cokes at home is probably the worst habit i have.  its a daily habit and i could be drinking other things like juice, milk or water!! 

so in my most toxically entertaining month of the year, i detox.  and believe me, if anyone can do this... i can.  :)

what a creepster...

The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari- 1919

the dramatic makeup, the extra high stool of the town clerk, the really cool font & a dr seuss looking town background made of sheets and handrails...  all their apartments look like where edward scissorhands grew up.

and ive never seen such well dressed & clearly insane people!!

and let me just say that nothing is scarier than waking up and having a person in your room staring at you sleep??  omg.  that would be the scariest!!

and its creeeeepy that he keeps that guy in a box.  :0

and unitards.  the scariest of all.

on to the archer...

"all ive had today is like 6 gummy bears & some scotch...."

since my sis' company animates "archer", its my next pick for tv show!!
its like mad men meets family guy meets south park

"you want me to take a baby.. to a murder.."

and a Rush reference!!!

after shows like "breaking bad" and "sons of anarchy", an animated comedy is a good change of pace.  and its FUNNY! i loved it and sad that i cant yet watch the next season til it comes out on netflix!!  :)

go mighty or go home!

i totally stole an idea from a fellow tweeter.  i actually stole her "thing".  but after seeing it all on twitter and instagram, it made me want to check this out.  and the whole site seems to run parallel to this blog.

www.gomighty.com - Go Mighty

this is like pinterest meets oprahs lifeclass meets social media
its brilliant.
and it is mixed up with charity!  i couldn't love it anymore & im excited to get started with it.

it helps you put your goals in an organized manner.  exactly the same reason i started this blog. 
and so to gomighty.com goes i....

project: go mighty - goal 1:  learn to play the ukulele.
ive had a ukulele and a beginners book for about 6 years.  it will be my first goal :)

roll the bones...

im going to direct you to kimberly snyder's site.  this is an interesting look at dairy, calcium and the truth about osteoporosis.  ive heard this side of it before and i think theres something to it.

STOLEN PIC BELOW!!  from kimberly snyder's site.  and if you havent' read her book yet, do it.  you wont think of food in the same pattern again...

ways to combat osteroporosis!

thankful for the right to pig out...

so, my big idea Project Sans Queso is so far a failure!  :p

not only have i had cokes and queso a LOT lately, but Thanksgiving is coming up and we all know what that means - nutritional fail overload.  Times 10.

however ive come up with a side addition to Project Sans Queso...  the detox.  i dont eat much on t'giving anyway, at least not in comparison with the average American.  but for me personally, it is a lot and it makes me mad because ive always said one thing about t'giving eatings - we all do it because we're "supposed to". 

that's what you do on thanksgiving
we have to make 6 pies... we need 1 pie per 2 people
you have to have gravy with the potatoes, potatoes with your stuffing, stuffing with your turkey.

thanksgiving is not meant to celebrate that we're a bigass fat country.  but we act like theres no other way to do it.  one year i made my own pumpkin pie to put out with the others.  the difference is that mine was made with cottage cheese.  yes, you read that correctly.  and no, i did not make a typo.  and without telling anyone what was in each pie, mine was the first one that was completely eaten. 

i wish i could find that recipe today but i havent been able to find it in years.  but BACK TO THE POINT,  we have about a month plus or minus from t'giving to christmas.  im breaking out the juicer and returning to kimberly snyders blog and glowing smoothie thing. 

im also going to google 'thanksgiving detox' because im not the only one out here that thinks we eat like pigs on tgiving...  thats the way ill be thankful for being American this year, not making a pig out of myself :)

follow your path....

book club book #4.  i LOVED this book.  it was easy to read, a simple story almost like a parable and i felt i learned something from it. 

i read it in a day and it made me feel like anything was possible and that we all have a path.  that following your path will take you exactly where you need to be. 

i finished this book feeling like i was a better person for having read it.  thats what a book should be.

aye! stigmata!

wondering what to netflix the other night, we agreed on scary movies.  and we found one that neither of us had seen, did not look stupid and looked like it may actually be scary - "stigmata"

i remember this movie coming out and i remember it had patricia arquette, but nothing more than that.  it was scary and it was interesting and we both liked it !  yay netflix!

aside from being a scary religion film, which in my opinion are the scariest, it had some good stuff.  people figuring out their faith, people who have faith in nothing & people who all they have is faith.

and the best movie line ive heard in a long time:  "i love being me."

thats so sinister...

sinister!!  it was creepy.  crreeeeeeepy.  and i loved it.  unfortunately most of the scary scenes are in the movie trailer, but the twist at the end?  didn't see it coming.  it made it creepier.  :-0

i missed seeing ethan hawke lately and it was good to watch him on the big screen again.  the house was creepy and mr bougy!??   i was scared of him just watching the commercials.  loved it. :)

session 9 - halloween time...

watching a scary movie ive never heard of..  but it has scary and abandoned hospital so im set

however, its a boring, not scary and confusing movie :(  an hour & a half ill never get back nor understand nor be scared of and one more blog post. 

sequels - not a good idea

since its halloween time, im watching scary stuff.

tonight?  "blair witch 2".   worth it? not really.  it wasnt anything like the first one.  it seemed like a movie and was not as believable paranormal as the original.

but its another netflix to cross off my list.  i was disappointed though.

sons of anarchy

"just AKs and shotguns..."
omg, i want a motorcycle.  and guns!
i started this show and knocked out 3 -13 week seasons in a week.
i am hooked.  totally hooked.

other than the scene where the ill baby is pushed in his stoller thru the smoke-infested clubhouse, i approve of this show!  :)
and where can i get this jake danzel tennessee whiskey??

best part - a few episodes were produced by one of the double trouble twins.  :)

27TH & 28TH in retrospect...

i did miss blogging the last 2 days because i didnt have internet access.  which sucks by the way.

so i get to make a 10 task list of what i did.  to put things in writing, whether on paper, on a blog, on facebook, in an email... makes it real.  it makes you accountable for what you announce that you will do.  so even though i was technically challenged...i still need to do this for my own accountability.

1 - cat sit - CHECK
2 - sign up for end of month shops - CHECK
3 - deposit check - CHECK
4 - meet in midtown - CHECK
5 - send week resumes - CHECK
6 - get apartment lot clicker - CHECK
7 - call to arrange last med bill payment
8 - file september mystery shop proof and discard paid shops - CHECK
9 - call car ins to check on increase  - CHECK
10 - start organizing aunts scrapbook

29th...near the end!

got a day left after this.  im going to use tomorrow, the 30th to complete any and all tasks for the month so this will be my last 5 task list :)

1 - cat sit - CHECK
2 - chili cookoff - CHECK
3 - organize end of month/october shops - CHECK
4 - finish laundry - CHECK
5 - get shop photo & submit - CHECK :)

the 26th

the 26th.  i dont want to fail at the end of the month :(

1 - do 2 phone shops - CHECK
2 - send resumes - CHECK
3 - update unemployment survey - CHECK
4 - clean emails - CHECK
5 - watch an episode of sons of anarchy - CHECK

end of the month sept 24-25

im 2 days behind and dont really recall what I did this day.  being unemployed has also messed up my days of the week.  i dont know what day it is anymore.  so im giving myself the 24th & 25th off. 

lazy 23rd

the 23rd apparently is a day of rest

1 - finish season 2 sons of anarchy - CHECK
2 - clean sink
3 - finish laundry
4 - print out shop reward - NA
5 - recycle plastic bottles - CHECK

happy 22nd - september 22!

today i get to do some good...

1 - GOCA charity walk - CHECK
2 - give jamie & greg their gift - CHECK
3 - start new tv show for blog - CHECK
4 - read car book
5 - check ebay - CHECK

september 21...closing in

ah, my tasking is falling apart!!

1 - shoe shop - CHECK
2 - email about legal shop - CHECK
3 - look for new shops - CHECK
4 - pay car insurance
5 - return old navy before its too late!! - CHECK

"the tudors"

"the tudors.."  it had several historical inaccuracies including merging historical figures into one character.  however, i liked it.

katherine of aragon's actress had man hands but the person was faithful and tragic
anne boleyn - i knew the story but i learned more...
jane seymour was probably the love of his life.  henry viii was buried next to her if ive read correctly
anne of cleves was very gracious and very likeable
catherine howard was an idiot
katherine parr was just perfect.

i always knew "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived" but i didnt know the stories...
the whole thing makes me want to go back to church & drink wine!
it also drove me to do lots of reading on the Tudors.  very interesting & im glad i watched this one...i learned a lot.

into the 20s - september 20

i have a decision to make today, an important one.  and although i think ive already made it, i still have to give my decision...  not looking forward to that but it is what it is

1 - give my decision - CHECK
2 - finish real estate shops - CHECK
3 - deposit check - CHECK
4 - finish the tudors - CHECK
5 - start legal shop - CHECK

I DID GOOD...sept 19

i did good today..    staying on track with my mystery shops and my budget.  :)

1 - atlanta attraction shop - CHECK
2 - do real estate job profile tests - CHECK
3 - do phone shop - CHECK
4 - watch big brother finale - CHECK
5 - update coke rewards - CHECK

frankly my dear...

so i go in to check an updated ancestry hint and verify that its actually our relative and i see something else...

another person's tree that is connected to ours through my grandmother had a new relative added.
it was like a whole new tree of people that come from my mother's great-grandfather.  how unreal is that!!  its so neat.

his name is frank and hes got siblings and kids and grandkids,etc.  what's interesting is that they were all from vermont.  for a bunch of family that went from spain to california, its really weird to us to find a whole other side of the family that ended up in vermont.  :)

september 18.... back on track

because i didnt do anything yesterday i have extra to do today...

1 - brunch shop - CHECK
2 - finish cell phone shops from yesterday - CHECK
3 - call real estate office about a job - CHECK
4 - wash bedding
5 - bring in receipts

into the 2nd half - september 17

i didnt do as much as i wanted to get done today because i wasnt feeling 100%.  but everything has been rescheduled and i have a busy week ahead

1 - lunch with sister - CHECK
2 - sign up for new shops - CHECK
3 - catch up on big brother - CHECK
4 - send resumes - CHECK
5 - shred old paperwork - CHECK

halfway, september 16

i was lazy yesterday.  due to last minute plans, i didnt do much of anything...  but i tried.

1 - catch up on 'resident evil' - NA
2 - organize shops for the week - CHECK
3 - read some of  'flags of our fathers' - CHECK
4 - update ancestry.com - CHECK
5 - add photos to moms new facebook - CHECK

on the way...september 15

getting close to the mid-month point.  i went over the last 2 weeks of posts and there are 5 days with unfinished tasks.  unacceptable!!

1 - clean out old shop info from email - CHECK
2 - help mom with facebook - CHECK
3 - show mom ancestry info and verify - CHECK
4 - start training again (project: vegas)- CHECK
5 - list ring bearer pillow on ebay - CHECK

what happens in vegas...

yes, i know.  im unemployed & poor.  how can i even THINK of going to vegas???

well, for one, i daily think of going to vegas
second, vegas can be done on a super budget
thirdly, i have a budget plan :O

AND IT BEGINS THIS WEEK!!
i have people to go.
i have the weekend to go
this gives me about 10 weeks.

this week, i did many mystery shops and will get 2 small checks.. with my plan of staying in for 2 weeks to save $$$, i was able to pay my car insurance and my medical bills outstanding. 

this also gave me the idea to mystery shop EVERYTHING i can til then.  its a little money here & there that adds up.  and like i said, its easy to do vegas cheaply.

so - project: vegas step 1 - mystery shop as much as possible, pay off current debts and save!!

falling behind & succeeding - sept 14

its been sucky... im averaging 4 of my 5 daily tasks.  since i dont have a job, this is unacceptable.  and apparently my ON TIME payment to old navy has decided to give me a late fee.  however thanks to this blog project and my notes, i know for a fact i paid it on time.   sooooo, tomorrow old navy gets a call and a card account cancellation.

1 -  call old navy!!- NA
2 - do 3 cell phone shops - CHECK
3 - update spreadsheet - CHECK
4 - laundry
5 - bring one item in from car

its a mystery to me...

ive been doing mystery shops since fall 2001.  ive done all kinds of shops in all kinds of industries for all kinds of companies.  but now, being unemployed, ive really had to step up my game.

this month ive taken on 30+ shops.  and already ive made enough extra money to pay my car insurance for this term. 

there are different types of shops - reimbursement, flat fee, or reimbursement + fee.  right now ive been trying to do pay shops only, but ive been doing reimbursement shops to do dinner with friends, put gas in my car, etc - things i would have to do anyway. 

although this has always been something ive done on a monthly basis, i now see the huge potential it has for me in my current situation.  so in october, ill get payments for my september shops, and so on. 

if youre paying for mystery shopper information, its a scam.  all the info is free and all the companies to shop for are free.  PAYING IS A SCAM!

look for companies like A Closer Look, Bare International, Shop N Check, Intellicheck, Sinclair, Person to Person, Bestmark, etc.  Basically google 'mystery shop'.  :)  theres something for everyone.

and if you have kids and do attractions often, theres Amusement Advantage.

LUCKY ME - september 13

tomorrow is more of the same....

1 - 2 test drive shops - CHECK
2 - 2 repair shops - CHECK
3 - check on real estate report check - CHECK
4 - make payment to car insurance
5 - bring in one thing from my trunk

the 12th!

i did stuff today.  it seemed like more than it was but im on track...

1 - do test drive shop - CHECK
2 - do 2 repair shops - CHECK
3 - watch "the tudors" - CHECK
4 - organize maps for tomorrows shops - CHECK
5 - find one item for goodwill - CHECK

revamp your diet...beauty detox solution

for a fast food addict, the book "the beauty detox solution" hit a nerve.  i know that fast food is not good for you but i dont want to know exactly why.  i did take some nutrition classes though and have an interest in food vs disease so i read this book.

if you dont know kimberly snyder, look her up.  
if you dont know the book "the beauty detox solution", look it up.
and if you like fast food, read this blog post.
also try her green smoothie - really really good!

you will look at food differently and you will think of eating differently.  

september 11 - take a moment

we all know what today is.  however, i still have things to do...

1 - meet whitney at 130 - CHECK
2 - work on mom's wedding album
3 - check tire pressure
4 - finish book club book - CHECK
5 - take a moment and say a prayer - CHECK

where were you?

september11...  for any one of us, we know exactly where we were 9/11/01. 

i was at work.  at a job i loved.  with co-workers i loved.  and my mom called and someone came into her office and said a twin-engine plane ran into the WTC?  i hadnt heard anything yet... keep me posted.

as the morning went on, my office was standing in our office gym watching it all on tv.  and then the tower fell!  and then the other fell!  i went home.  i called my sis who was asleep and didnt know any of this.  she turned on the tv as the towers fell.

you know where you were, i know where i was.  and i doubt ill ever forget it.  take a moment today and say a prayer for the US.  and know that this was so bad, they saw it from space.  :(

10 days has it - september 10

im writing this list the night of the 10th, but only because today was busy.  however, the purpose of this "project: september" is to prepare for the next day.

1 - complete 16 mystery shops - CHECK
2 - make coffee plans with whitney tomorrow - CHECK
3 - track down "walking dead" season 2 - IN PROGRESS
4 - do unemployment for this week - CHECK
5 - make deposit - CHECK

:)

september 9 - sunday night

so i still have undone tasks from last week... i am failing this project horribly so far...

so what to do?  fix it.  and here, for your entertainment, the tasks of september 9, 2012...

1 - dinner in midtown - CHECK
2 - send resumes - CHECK
3 - sign up for new shops for next week - CHECK
4 - pick out some new goodwill items to take - CHECK
5 - get some sleep - CHECK

8 is great.... september 8

i cant understand how its already the weekend again.  i feel like we just had one..

anyway, i need to keep on track with this project.  its been officially 1 week of september and i already skipped 2 days.

im also adding a new rule - each week, i cant make a new list until i complete all the tasks from the previous week, so i did that yesterday.

1 - do one ancestry relative update (*see 'project: ancestry')- CHECK
2 - post pillow on ebay - CHECK
3 - recycle plastic bottles - CHECK
4 - organize shops on calendar - CHECK
5 -send resumes - CHECK

back on track...sept 7

alright, i should've set this up earlier today or yesterday, but here goes...

1 - pay honda bill - CHECK
2 - sign up for new car shop - CHECK
3 - send resumes - CHECK
4 - pay old navy bill - CHECK
5 - do more laundry - CHECK

september 6 - a day off...

i forgot to post yesterday but here goes

1 - work on reports - CHECK
2 - dinner in midtown - CHECK
3 - update mystery shops - CHECK
4 - let go of a grudge - CHECK
5 - sign up for new shops - CHECK

Old school...

My family has semi-started ancestry records. We actually have a LOT of info & photos but it needs organizing.

I did subscribe to ancestry.com which is simply wonderful!!! Got some trees set up but soooo many pics to upload still.

This week ill start doing this. Its been on my mind for a year...its time

remember remember... september 5!!

tomorrow is a busy one... and im thankful for that.  ive been a bit bored.  but i have a little of everything... job, social, charity, etc...

1 - go to take test for admin job - NA
2 - do 2 mystery shops tonight - NA
3 - work on BPOs - CHECK
4 - take box to goodwill
5 - find book club book - CHECK

september 4!!

today is the first day back after labor day.  but im unemployed so i had time to do errands etc.  nothing exciting...  but here goes

1 - start BPO project - CHECK
2 - pick next book to read - CHECK
3 - scan paperwork - CHECK
4 - claim unemployment for the week - CHECK
5 - sign up for at least one mystery shop - CHECK

bonus - send availability email for work :) - CHECK

coffeemates!

im a super coffee drinker.

lattes, chai tea lattes, pumpkin things in the fall.... and when i was working i drove thru a coffee place every morning.  cha-ching.

so now that money is an issue...  i make my own.

coffee, ice, vanilla creamer

and my favorite new flavor  is vanilla natural bliss by coffee-mate.  this one is extra good because its all natural, flavors, cream and thats about it.  not all the other stuff products usually have now.
get a coupon for it here and save another couple cents

and of course the international delight creamers which are super.  get a coupon here.

third of september...

september 3 - last day of the labor day weekend...
ive been terribly lazy the last few days, but lets get on with it...

1 -post finished book on amazon - CHECK
2 - do a load of laundry - CHECK
3 - do a face mask
4 - send 10 resumes - CHECK
5 -fix pillow to sell on ebay - CHECK

september 2....

september 2 - labor day weeked.  day of rest from work right?  well, since im unemployed this does not apply to me.

so...

1 - finish my book - CHECK
2 - hang out with friends for labor day - CHECK
3 - recycle all plastic bottles - CHECK
4 - clean out 5 emails - CHECK
5 - pick up prescription - CHECK

project september...

30 days has september...  if i do 5 productive things a day, thats 150 things off my list, right??
brilliant.

today is september 1, 2012.  i start now...

today top 5:
1 - finish season 1 "the tudors" - CHECK
2 - mail book i sold on amazon - CHECK
3 - clean bathroom - CHECK
4 - find & scan SSN card  for payroll purposes - CHECK
5 - make a car payment - CHECK

im now accountable to this blog.  :)

history repeats itself...

so im waiting for netflix to put some season 5's up, and i started a new show.  i shouldnt be doing this though... i should be catching up on movies.  but this one popped up & im in history mode lately for whatever reason.  and this one is on a season 4 like all my others, so it seemed logical...

"the tudors" - so far, i like it.  it was the longest, most event-packed hour ever.  but i like it.  i am a bit confused about some of it though & may have to re-watch the first episode.  i think theres stuff i missed.  thats what happens when too much is going on & im on the internet while watching netflix....

but i love history and i think this one will be really interesting.  :)

reason to get back to vegas..

ah...robbing banks in a simpler time...i liked this one a lot.

i knew the story but no details about it.  i knew it was a true story and i knew they were thieves but i didnt know the story.  and i didnt know that the grandma from "roseanne" won an oscar for playing a 1930s bank robber.

watching this movie made me look up some info about bonnie & clyde.  interesting.  especially interesting is that the bullet-riddled car is located at whiskey petes in vegas

this movie said to me:
- her hair was more 1960s than time-appropriate
- just like in the '70s, you didnt have to aim to shoot someone
- bonnie was high-maintenance
- solidified the fact that i never want to live in on or near a farm
- renewed my interest in banjo lessons
- i need to renew my pistol permit

cooks & bombs & bells...oh my

i did it! i finished season 4 of "breaking bad"!

now for some 'on demand' action and to catch up on season 5.  i am behind on this one but following my "mad men" obsession and my new 'project: netflix'... i knocked it out.

technically im not caught up because of season 5... but i can get thru that in the next few days and another checkmark goes on my list...  :)

im also on a new side mission to catch up a friend on the glory that is "the walking dead".  im caught up on this one, but he is just starting. then ill throw in the "resident evils" & he'll be good to go. 

power up!!

so may-june was in the $236 range.  june-july was in the $370s.

this definitely was not what i expected.  i thought i was going to make small changes that would LOWER our power bill, not raise it over $100!!

and we just got our most recent bill (july-aug).  yep.  another $373.32.  what?!?

now in all fairness, it is summer & we've been running the a/c a lot more, we had family in town for a few weeks and being out of town for a few days left some lights on endlessly.  but $100+ increase?

this is not ok with me.  so ill have to start over.  and start today. 

- ill have to double check items that are plugged in at all times, small appliances, etc.
- set the a/c temp a bit higher
- double-check  lights that are usually left on at all times
- check our local power company site for a power-saving checklist

not only do i want to see a reduction in the bill due to less a/c usage, but a big difference due to our changes.
round 2!!!

thats news to me...

after hearing so much about it, i decided to catch a few episodes of "the newsroom".

by the end of the first scene, i was hooked.  im only a few episodes in at this point, because im still catching up on my "breaking bad".   but definitely my next show...

F***ing up all around...

Not only did i screw up project secret, i strayed on project nutrition

This weekend saw fast food, coke & queso. The deadly trifecta im supposed to avoid. It was however a fun weekend so i gave in to the weekend & decided to restart monday

After tater tots & a patty melt on monday i figure restart tuesday.

Tuesday is restart day apparently... But just because i screwed up doesnt mean i give up. You just get back on track :) no worries

#1!!!!

olympics are over!  way to go USA!!!  #1 in the medal count!

its fo' real yo'....

book club book of this month - i read it in one sitting... couldn't put it down.  and from a kid's point of view?  you dont get more honest than a kid.  i loved it.

'heaven is for real' - gave me some hope.  and ive been, for whatever reason, reading a lot of books & watching documentaries on this subject matter lately.  maybe its because we just had ANOTHER death in the family..   maybe its because i always feel connected to certain relatives who have already passed...  maybe its because a chunk of my family is employed in the death biz. 

whatever the reason, i have a need to know not only what is on the other side but that there is another side.  a situation involving a current death in the family also gave me a glimmer of hope of the other side.  and there are so many stories of life after death...  there has to be something to it.

as far as i believe, there is.

one down....

one of my non-club books this month came off of my multiple bookcases.

through the years ive been a member of everything from the one spirit book club to the good cook book club to the military book club.  i have more books than ill ever be able to read.  not to mention my love of biographies which is a whole other bookcase altogether...

so after deciding i couldnt get through the current second-month book of the club, i blindly grabbed a book to read instead.

'how to marry a millionaire vampire'

fun easy read about vampires with a conscience.  but not gay and lame like a twilightish twinkling-in-the-sun vamp we all know... 

it doesnt take itself too seriously but keeps it light.  i read this one pretty quickly.  and one less book off of my shelf....  

meet you in the club....

i got talked into joining a book club.

being that im currently unemployed, i have more free time than i'd like so i joined.

its really just my sis, me, a few of her bff's, my mom, another mom...  and we drink wine.  and so far, actually read the book.

but being that i dont drink wine, i get bored.  :p   but with all this time & renewed interest in reading, im up to 3 books / month.  non-club books.

the first book though was sooooo good, that im hooked on 'club'.

"let's pretend this never happened" - best. book. ever!  i identified with this author soooo much.  the panic attacks, the being misunderstood & awkward in social situations, the odd stories that make me.... me. 

it was funny and drew me right in.  even with the heavier subject matter that she deals with in the book, it was great.  my fave books are biographies because i like to know that other people, all through life & history & the world, have been through what i've been through & worse.  i like to know how they deal, how they survive.  :)

super funny & entertaining book.  i could NOT put this one down.  can't wait for her second!! 

do unto others...

if everyone gave 1 hr per week to volunteer, do you know what a difference that would make???

52 hrs / wk per American.   thats a lot.  for so little.

im unemployed at the moment and i have lots of free time.  i do the little bit that i can.

i pick charities that mean something to me...

GOCA - georgia ovarian cancer alliance:  they hold an annual fundraising walk every september

Special Olympics Georgia:  asks for scarves made every january for athletes and hold a bowling event in the fall

APDA - american parkinsons disease association - holds events thru the year

angels among us:  helps stray animals find foster and forever homes.  you can even transport animals to adoption events to increase their chances

"giant f***ing Q..."

so, i am, in my being, a true insomniac

as i now have some form of a cold/flu combination, i decided to nyquil last night.

nyquil works wonders for my family.  and my friends.  everyone has suggested this to me the last few days as im fighting something icky.

but, in the true nature of stacy-being-backwards, it made me anxious.  i was up for an extra 4 hours and woke up at 5am.

medications often work backwards on me or just not at all.  unfortunately this applies to my sleeping too.  the one thing thats supposed to make me sleep made me anxious.

so back to the drawing board on what is wrong with me.  im thinking of visiting the mental part of my sleep habits and see that if maybe something as simple as "liking night more than day" plays a subliminal part in this.

and as im currently unemployed & looking, a night job may be on the agenda to balance out someone "backwards" like me...  :)

i cheated...

being that this weekend was my sister's birthday, i strayed off my plan of food exclusion.

i ate potato skins, hot dogs, a mcchicken, a chocolate shake and a sprite.
and although i checked in with my food exclusion check-in person, i still did it.  which concerns me...

even though i had to tell someone that i cant control myself, i didnt care & did it anyway.  will i do it again?

im going to chalk this one up to the b'day celebrations of the weekend.
thing is, i STILL dont feel any different at all from cutting out all this bad food.  and i ate it on a very regular basis so i should be noticing something at this point.

ok, bday weekend celebration cheating over... im back on track.  

electric boogaloo...

to my happiness, netflix is full of tv shows i've never seen.  and truthfully, ive seen almost every tv show ever.  except 'glee'.  not that interested...

so i'm on season 1 of "breaking bad".  i started this one a few months ago after my 'mad men' marathon.
*'mad men', by the way, is one of my all time faves ever

this of course is in addition to my movie-watching.  but after episode 2, i was hooked.  :)
i am not yet at the point where the show makes me want to make meth & sell it... but im only on season 1.  haha!

queso no!!

so i went to a fundraiser with my mom last night.  with lots & lots of snacky food.  and there it was...

the hugest tray of queso dip ever!!  and i said, "no, queso!  i shun you!"

and i walked past it.  :)

i also passed up a cheeseburger/fries/coke lunch with my mom in lieu of a club/grapefruit/unsweet tea. 
i know, i dont recognize myself either.

the one & only saving grace is that i am responsible to answer to someone if i eat this stuff.  that is the only way i can get this done.  to answer to someone.  it keeps you honest.

back when i used to work out, i did the same.  i had a friend that i worked out with every day.  we never skipped a workout because we answered to each other for that very reason.  makes you feel like big brother is watching you if you eat that bowl of queso...

i would like to report that i feel so different/better/lighter/energetic at this point but i dont.  however, i have skipped the following since monday...

*cheesesteak
*8 cans of coke
*cheeseburger combo meal
*bacon/egg/cheese croissan'wich
*checkers burger
*hugest tray of queso dip!!

"project: nutrition"  lesson of the week:  cheesesteaks are considered fast food  :(

hours you'll never get back...

hmmm... "king of paper chasin'"...

only watch if you enjoy bad acting, people gettin' shot and some more bad acting...

thats all i have to say about that. 

no mas queso...

i'm doing it again.. i'm giving up.

i tried this in may and ended up eating a bowl of queso and downing it with 2 cokes at the end of the week.  but this time i have someone to answer to.

and its only been since sunday, which as of today makes 4 days, but i haven't cheated...

* no queso
* no fast food
* no soft drinks (except for jack & cokes)

i already had to get permission to have a philly cheesesteak & was denied.  :(
and im wanting a coke soooo badly, its ridiculous.

but i have way less desire to give up & have one of my "forbiddens" because of this monitoring system. 
let's see how long i can go this time.  she...may...go...all..the...way......

and as of today, 7/25/12, im at 120.8 lbs. 

transporation vote - july 30

if youre in georgia, you've heard about this...

the transporation special purpose tax...  t-splost

voting on this is set for july 30.  i hope that you guys are already registered, and i hope that you'll vote for this as well as everything else you vote for this year...

here's a full project list...

so, read up on it, make a decision & go vote about it... 

for your information, i, personally, am voting no.  and so should you!!  ;)

droppin' the hammer....

i finally saw a movie that id been wanting to see!  "thor".

and i liked it.  :)

it was easy, fun, less than 3 hours long, full of action, takes place in the scary scary desert & has some particularly frightening looking bad guys.

i love natalie portman.  i love kat dennings.  i love norse mythology.  for real.  i have a book just on vikings and norse mythology.  :)  these things make me happy.  and anthony hopkins as odin??  brilliance.  and i almost didnt recognize rene russo.  this movie was a superstar explosion. 

you have a good-looking blond action hero, and you have the slimmer dark-haired semi-villain brother.  i love it. 

and did you spot stan lee?  ;)

its funny 'cause his name's willie...

"willie!  oh willie D, (willie D...)"
this one has a very catchy tune but its no shaft.

"willie dynamite"... where to begin...
the hot pink-wearing pimp who is not very nice but good at his job... and is played by no other than...

are you ready?

you have to be ready...

you have to be really ready...

gordon from sesame street!!!!   its hard for me to get past the fact that this very flashy, fur wearing and successful pimp was also in "elmos potty time".

i was bored during the neighborhood pimp business meeting.  i checked twitter during that scene, but it was oh-so-triumphant when he gets all his bitches out of jail.  they even played the theme song again during this scene.  all his bitches love him...

what did i learn from willie dynamite:
"black is booti-ful"... so says the jail wall in this movie..... ,
that i want leopard interior for my car,
and i dont wanna be a 'ho.

power trip

its mid-July.  the operating cycle for our next power bill is starting.  its also mid-summer which means we're running a/c constantly.

ive been wanting to do this for a looooong while - see if i can single-handedly reduce our power bill. 

may - june: $236.54
june - july: no bill yet.  im assuming its in this range though...

can i make july - august less?  im certainly going to try. 
1 - i know theres a window in the house that doesnt close completely.  you cant tell by looking but its slightly open at the bottom.  im fixing this.

2 - i know theres rooms in the house that go unused for weeks at a time whose vents are open and using a/c.  im fixing this.

3 - i know that theres lights on where theres no people.  im fixing this.

4 - i know i have extra fluorescent bulbs that aren't being used.  im fixing this. 

i also know that power company websites often have tips on saving energy.  and they'll even send someone to your home to do a power inspection.  to tell you where youre wasting power.  wasted power = $$
http://www.georgiapower.com
http://www.georgiapower.com/earthcents/residential/energy-checkup.asp


i dont like losing $$$ because i dont have any.  therefore, im fixing this. 

do u feel lucky?

2 c1int eastwoods in a row...woohoo!  from westerns to 70s cop, hes just a badass.

working in a video store for all those years, i saw a lot of crap movies, nothing really worth noting.  but ive never seen this one??

good 1970s actions movie fun - lots of guns and shooting and glass breaking.  and apparently in the 70s people just took out guns and shot into crowds at bad guys.  or shot randomly without stopping to really, i mean REALLY, aim at anything or anyone.  And 70s action movie blood is always probably thick red paint.

and i have never ever never seen a creepier looking killer.  unless you count "smiley" which i am not, because no one and nothing is creepier than smiley.  (*look this one up if you want to be disturbed)

LIKE:  although the threat of puke happened more than once, im happy to announce there wasnt any!

and i know why they call him dirty harry...
great action classic!

next up: "willie dynamite"

register!!!! its good for you...

if you haven't yet, register to vote.  its your right and you didnt have to do anything to earn it.  it was earned for you.  appreciate it, be grateful for it & utilize it!!

and if youre one of those that complains about government, register to vote :)

and not just for the pres... theres lots to vote for, congress, local, etc.  if you want to make a difference, then make one!

jo' kidding, right??

and action & adventure - adventure classics - movie #2 is "joe kidd".
honestly, anything with robert duva11 & clint eastw00d is ok with me...

this one makes me wanna learn Spanish, like i shouldve already.  i'm ethnically lazy.

and i didn't know you could shoot a guy while drinking a beer & i didnt know you could drink holy water, but apparently YOU CAN!

what did i learn about myself from "joe kidd": 
spurs annoy me

soooo fly....

SUPERFLY!  it will never win an oscar for cinematography & there is the longest tub scene ever in history that i coulda done without...

but add one really cool photo montage that tells a story in like a minute & a half, a groovy diner i would love to work in (minus the black light, naked lady pic on the wall), and then throw in one super slo mo fight scene and there you have it.

i now, however, miss phone booths, wood paneling, coffee shops, macrame', and wicker furniture...in other words, my childhood.  wha' what?!  oh, and i cant forget all the cocaine...

next up?  'joe kidd' starring c1int eastw00d :)  im really looking forward to this one.  there's a lot of movies i havent seen and i have almost certainly never seen a western.  unless you could 'the quick & the dead" and one of my all time top 10's "3:10 to yuma"....but thats another movie for another project...

netflixishness... its so fly...

like i need a new project subject...  but i found one.  today.  it popped into my head just like that.  pop.  netflix.  :)  im going to watch every movie on netflix haha!!  for real yo'....

so lets start with any online movie site - netflix, blockbuster online, etc...  i happen to have a netflix so there we go.

im starting with the first genre on the list, first category in the genre & first movie in the category.
what movie is that, you ask??

superfly.  and surprisingly enough, i havent seen this one yet...

made in the USA...

if youre not yet aware of it, the US olympic team uniforms were made in china...

reaction has been angry.  as it should be.  we keep giving the world these signs that we're not serious about taking care of our own first.

check this out:  its an article to read if youre interested in this...

project by project...one state at a time...

i will be writing about several projects at once, so if youre reading this, and youre following a certain project, search the posts by labels.

the reason i have to do this is because my brain runs on different tracks all at once.  and i get ideas all day every day for every project subject i have on board. soooo.... with that.... official "project: project" subject #2....  America

and the first post is going to be about what we buy as a country.  with so many Americans out of work, it just seems logical that we buy American.  and its soooo easy but something we dont think of.

so im going to give you a step 1: check your bathroom - go through your bathroom.  check the items you use on a daily basis.  your shower wash, your toothpaste, your mouthwash, your shampoo, your deodorant, etc.  what do you see?  how many of those daily items, those 5-10 simple items, are made in the US?

step 2:  find new items- for the items you did find made elsewhere, look & research American companies that make these same items & start picking out substitutes.  the next time you shop, you can now buy American.

step 3:  tell your friends - have people you know do the same.  what a totally small & easy step that could make such a difference

ok, check this out - World News has a site that shows US companies.  its a good source. 

now, what you do is just be aware when you shop.  do a bit of research.  and keep American jobs in the US, where they belong.  such an easy step towards a solution....  :)

Too doggone tired!!

I had to postpone project: sleep deprivation until next week. With the July 4th holiday & all, i havent had a legitimate way to measure my sleep. Ive also been dogsitting for 5 days.

When i dogsit these dogs, and i do often, they wake me up several times a night to go out. They also have a pretty serious schedule & eat and go out at 5:30 on thr dot! They are very punctual.

Even thru the day, napping isnt possible. Soooo..... Starting next week. But i have found some sites worth noting & i will still start with removing parasites to see what happens.

Im also going to start a sleep log to figure out whst im actually working with here in the first place. Very broken, very light, & very sporadic sleep patterns....

nightmares: day 1

so last night i tried to sleep "early"... 1am.  i woke up a little after 2am.  and couldn't get back to sleep.  i did doze off but woke up again in the 3am something range...  i dreamt a lot.  but didnt really sleep a lot.

i tried to take a nap today which was a lot of the same - waking up, not really sleeping and dreams.  but lately my dreams have been a bit nightmarish and i end up waking up.  but even with normal dreams, i still wake up.

i also looked for pumpkin seeds today and did not find any :(  i will look again tonight.

Parasite Cleanse?

through the years ive gotten lots of advice on how to get my sleeping back on track.  i've also read lots of articles, books etc...

my first "project: sleep deprived" entry is going to be about the most recent cause that i read about - parasites.

i dont know if a parasite can really cause as much sleep trouble as i've had for the last 10 years, but its all experimental and part of this project.  so lets look...

i google'd "parasite sleep"... i got a lot of info.  and for the record, parasites are gross.  and it makes me freaked out that this may be happening inside of me!  :0   and probably you too!!  gross!!

so, starting tomorrow, 7/3/12, ill start trying to rid myself of these parasites.  ill also keep track of my sleep to see if theres a correlation.

you can try herbal remedies or something as simple as pumpkin seeds. i will be careful though what i use.  nothing weird i buy off the internet.  and i dont know the order of cleanses having to do with parasites.  i know that most cleanses start with the colon first and then move on to kidney, etc.  i ASSUME the same applies here but haven't looked that up yet... 

conclusion:  "project sleep deprived" starts tomorrow.  :)

intro :)

so, my brain is constantly going with all kinds of probably projects that i should start.  do i ever start them?  sometimes...  do i ever finish them?  of course not. 

so ive come up with some new projects lately and one of them inspired me to start a new blog. this is a project that i actually NEED to do and complete.  so lets go...

im going to start with a sleep project.  i havent actually slept since 2003 and have had a lot of trouble because of it... so welcome to project: project.