Archive | September, 2008

Part-time Landscaper

22 Sep

My front walk area has been a mess for years it seems. I kept planning in my head to make it into a lovely, well kept area. FINALLY a few weekends ago I drove myself down to the hardware shop with a garden center, grabbed me a wagon and started loading it up with shovels, dirt, redwood shavings and plants.

Get this, I had a completely awesome before picture, but now I CANNOT find it. I’ll continue to look and in the meantime you can just picture the now plant filled areas as dirt and weeds. Maybe similar to my backyard photos shown here.

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The Art of Making a List

19 Sep

Do you ever just need to make a list of all the things going through your mind that you know you need to accomplish on any given day? That’s me. Today. I have a list somewhere on my desk, a list in my head and a list in the car that I scribbled on while at a stop light this morning. Now I’m just going to make my list on my blog because I can.

I actually have a system for my lists. Let me divulge. First jot down everything and anything that is on your mind to accomplish. Second, prioritize. Third, get going on your list. Forth, scratch or check the tasks as you finish them. Fifth pat yourself on the back for finishing your list. If you don’t finish your list, that’s okay. I once had a very wise boss who told me, “whatever you don’t finish today will be there tomorrow”. I think this in my head all the time. It really helps to ease the burden and guilt from not finishing something, and at the same time reminds me I can do it tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day.

1. The Brainstorm Phase.

Today:
Fold laundry
Start a new load of laundry
Wash car
Do dishes
Sweep/mop floors
Workout at lunch
Get mail
Manicure and Pedicure

2. Prioritize from most urgent to least urgent.

In this case the dishes aren’t all that urgent. They are my least favorite chore, er um, task I mean. So I’m going to just get them out of the way.

1.Do dishes
2.Start a new load of laundry
3.Fold laundry
4.Sweep/mop floors
5.Workout at lunch
6.Get mail
7.Wash car
8.Manicure and Pedicure

3. Begin with task 1. Pardon me, while I go do the dishes. Be right back.

4. Check mark off tasks as they are completed.

We have a problem here because there is not an option for me to “strikethrough” item number 1 on my list. Stupid Blogger doesn’t have that capability. Or I just know how to do it. Now I need to add another task to my list: figure out how to “strikethrough” words on Blogger. Please pretend item 1 below has a big line through it or a fancy check mark next to it.

1. Do dishes
2. Start a new load of laundry
3. Fold laundry
4. Sweep/mop floors
5. Workout at lunch
6. Get mail
7. Wash car
8. Manicure and Pedicure

5. Kudos to you for finishing your list!

I still have many tasks to mark as completed. Wish me luck! I have a busy day ahead of me.

Rizzle

Garage Sale

15 Sep

Tales from a garage sale held this past weekend in my driveway. (Click on pictures for a full view.)

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Missing the Sun Already

10 Sep

Is anyone else mourning the loss of Summer? I thought for sure I had another week or two before it was time to say goodbye, until I looked at my calendar and saw Mother Nature had other dates in mind.

Temperatures in these parts resembled those of hell on Sunday. Suddenly Monday it was cooler, breezier, crisper. Cravings for hot apple cider pang my belly. Clearly these are signs that its time to let go of my friend, Summer.

Goodbye juicy, sweet peaches. Goodbye watermelon running down my chin. Goodbye Strawberry stand with the creamiest, juiciest, most delicious, red, little strawberries with green hats on. Goodbye swimming pool. I will miss the scent of chlorine on my skin. Goodbye shorts, flip flops and sunscreen. Goodbye tanned skin. Goodbye warm nights and long days. Goodbye BBQ ribs and chicken. You’ll all be missed!

Goodbye, Summer!
Rizzle

My Quest

10 Sep

My shoulders are mimiking the custard that was in my donut on Saturday because I can barely lift my arms and hands to type.

I’m on another quest to get in shape. This time I’ve dove into CrossFit and not willingly at all. In fact, I’ve been sorta wanting to do it because it looked like such a good workout, but the picking up a sledge hammer to pound a huge tire was intimidating. So finally, I sucked it up and signed my bag of bones and fat (no muscles in there!) for the craziest workout of my life. I was ready to leave after just 15 minutes.

Let me back up a bit because I realize some may not know what CrossFit is. Wikipedia defines it as “…a strength and conditioning fitness methodology. Its stated goal is to create the quintessential athlete, equal parts gymnast, Olympic weightlifter and sprinter. It is not sport-specific. CrossFit features varied workouts based on functional movement performed at high intensity. Workouts are brief (often 20 minutes or less) and do not use weight machines. Recently, concerns have been raised that CrossFit can cause injury or death from rhabdomyolysis.”

Obviously the CrossFit gym I went to does not listen to the definition because my class was a whole hour, not 20 minutes as described above. That explains why I was ready to pack it up after only getting started. Also, I think I may have had a small bout of rhabdomyolysis…whatever that is? I do believe I nearly died of it from CrossFit though.

Wish me luck as I reluctantly attend three classes of this a week.

Despising CrossFit,
Rizzle

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