eternaleponine

To Do - February 8

2014-02-08T13:02:12Z

Need to post this quick because I need to start writing at 8:00... which apparently is not happening because it's now 8:00 am. Okay, fine, will start writing at 8:05 am, and I will only get a 5 minute break in between 20 minute sessions. If I try really hard, I might be able to get all of my writing done, or at least the vast majority of it, before I go to TKD.

I'm hoping that either there will be a lot of people in class today, or just me and D. Mostly I'm hoping for just me and D., because then we're more likely to do review and less likely to do sparring. Because the more we do it, the more I hate sparring.

But anyway...

( Time to get on with it... )
( Update - 1:00 pm )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 6:00 pm )
( Update - 7:00 pm )

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To Do - February 5

2014-02-05T15:47:54Z

Work opened late today - 9:30 am. I am not there. Why? Because I would have needed to leave around 8 am in order to get in there for 9:30 am. At that time, my road was still not plowed.

Oh wait... it's 10:30 am and my road is still not plowed. This is honestly unusual, but when I called in I didn't even pretend that I was calling in sick. I told them that there was literally no physical way for me to get to work. And there isn't. Driving over an inch or two of unplowed snow, maybe up to three, sure... My car has all wheel drive and presumably the larger roads would be a bit better. Driving over somewhere upwards of 4"? Not happening. Not even in a Subaru.

Although the snow seems to have mostly stopped, we're holding off on shoveling for a few more hours because I really don't want the sleet/freezing rain on the pavement, creating sheets of ice. Also, as mentioned, they haven't plowed, so if we shovel and then they plow... we have to go shovel again. We may end up just doing the driveway and front walk, and leaving the other sidewalks for tomorrow. We'll see.

( Snow Day To Do List )
( Update - 3:45 pm )

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To Do - February 2

2014-02-02T11:50:49Z

I didn't sleep well last night; I kept waking up for seemingly no reason. So even though in theory I got eight hours of sleep, it wasn't particularly restful. I kept having nightmares about something going wrong with my car.

( Not too much to do today... )
( Update - 9:00 am )
( Update - 12:00 pm )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 6:00 pm )

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To Do - February 1

2014-02-01T12:01:07Z

( Presented without comment because it's too early... )
( Update - 9:00 am )
( Update - 12:00 pm )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 6:00 pm )
( Update - 9:00 pm )

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To Do - January 29

2014-01-29T12:19:10Z

Today I have to do one of my most dreaded, hated chores: taking my car to get its oil changed. I hate driving into the garage over the pit. I hate them asking me to turn on this thing or that thing and fumbling to find the controls. I just... hate it. For a long time I would always making Riki take my car for me, and then the last couple of times I've had to have other stuff done to my car so the dealership has just done it. But I'm not driving all the way to the dealership today, especially since they'll likely find something else wrong with my car that will cost me money I don't have at the moment to fix.

If I had the cash, I might make Riki do it for me again today, because I'm really not sure I'm up to it, and it's already past due (not by a lot... a couple hundred miles).

Stupid cars.

( And then there's all the rest of it... )
( Update - 9:00 am )
( Update - 11:00 am )
( Update - 2:00 pm )
( Update - 5:00 pm )
( Update - 9:00 pm )

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To Do - January 25

2014-01-25T12:09:33Z

Having gone to sleep rather early, I find myself awake and attempting to be productive at 7 am on a Saturday. I guess there are worse things. Going to post this, then go make breakfast. Mostly I just want to stay in bed where it is warm, although apparently it's actually supposed to make it all the way up to freezing today at some point.

I really wish I had more than one day off, but sadly, I don't. I don't even have chat/email time tomorrow; it's just all phones, all day. I really, really need to get out of there.

( And here we go... )
( Update - 9:00 am )
( Update - 12:00 pm )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 8:00 pm )

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To Do - January 22

2014-01-22T13:41:53Z

I forced myself to wake up around 6 am today, since tomorrow I'll have to be up at 5:30 am to go back to work. I've been getting up around 7 am all along, so it shouldn't be too hard an adjustment, but still. At least I only have to get through two days of work before I have another day off.

My stomach is in knots and I'm fighting off panic, so I suspect it's going to be a long day. On the plus side, we got a lot less snow than they were originally predicting, although other parts of the state were hit hard. On the down side, it's still brutally cold, so going out and dealing with it is still a less than ideal situation.

I'm off to a slow start. I just need to focus and get rolling to hopefully keep the panic at bay. I skipped TKD yesterday because of snow; hopefully going tonight will help get me back into a better mental place.

( I keep telling myself it looks worse than it is... )
( Update - 11:00 am )
( Update - 2:00 pm )
( Update - 5:00 pm )
( Update - 10:00 pm )

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To Do - December 28

2013-12-28T12:01:51Z

I need a vacation. Yesterday wasn't relaxing in the slightest, and today isn't shaping up to be much better, although maybe if I can get my writing done early I'll be able to just chill out this afternoon. I know that I need to back and get rid of a lot of what I wrote last night because I was tired and just trying to force words to happen, and I decided that part of it I would rather have happen later, so I have to figure out something else to have happen. Or maybe it will just be a shortish chapter.

Anyway... this is what I'm up to today.

( Once more into the breach... )
( Update - 11:00 am )
( Update - 1:00 pm )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 8:00 pm )

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To Do - December 27

2013-12-27T12:05:13Z

I slept a little later than I'd intended, but then I went to sleep a little later than intended last night as well. So time to get things rolling for the day. On the plus side, I actually have two days off today, so maybe if I'm super productive today I can relax tomorrow.

( It's mostly stuff I can do from bed... )
( Update - 9:00 am )
( Update - 12:00 pm )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 11:00 pm )

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High Brown Belt Testing

2013-12-22T23:31:44Z

Yesterday I tested for my high brown belt. Once again, I was the only adult testing, due to other obligations (work, a class that couldn't be gotten out of). I'm kind of used to it by now, although Amy did actually test with the group the last couple of times. This time around it wasn't so bad; when we did stuff with partners the kid I ended up facing was at least roughly my size.

We started with warm-ups, then basic skills (kicks, strikes, blocks) and somehow that ended up taking half an hour. Mister L., who does our testing, spent a lot of time talking for some reason, and over the course of the hour (which ended up being closer to an hour and ten, fifteen minutes) we probably lost ten to fifteen minutes to that.

A lot of it was having the younger kids get up, then sit down, then get back up, because they were slow and didn't say 'yes, sir' (which granted Master Paul doesn't enforce, like, at all in regular classes, so I tend to be the only one who says it) and whined when they were told to do something they didn't want to do (push-ups).

Which actually led to an interesting moment, where Mister L., who had been talking about saying 'yes sir' added, "Or 'yes ma'am' for a female instructor," to which one of the kids commented that we don't have any. Mister L. said, "Not yet," and then looked over to the side of the room where the higher ranks were sitting and said, "There are future female instructors here," meaning, presumably, me, Danielle, and Audrey, who are three of the four brown belts. (I guess it's a good thing that I've figured out how to tie other people's belts as well as my own. One of our littlest guys only had his belt wrapped around him once, so the ends were hanging way down. Master Paul was busy with his brother, so I went over and said, "Let's fix that," and managed to get it right. You wouldn't think it, but it's a lot different doing it on someone else than on yourself.)

Luckily, my group (which was four brown belts and a red belt) were better about getting up quickly, remembering to say 'yes sir' and generally treating it like testing instead of like fun time. So we mostly just had to sit through the lectures... or sometimes stand in ready/fighting stance for extended periods of time while he talked. And in my case, I got to be called a 'big stinky pumpkinhead' repeatedly (because he knew I wouldn't get upset) while he discussed how being told that you were not doing something well is just an opportunity for improvement and not to take it personally. At least I think that was the point of that particular tangent.

We did a little (very little) step-sparring (for the higher ranked students) and self-defense (for the lower-ranked students), and then we did our forms. He had the brown belts also do the yellow belt form, since next time around we'll need to know all of the forms when we test for our black belts.

From the way he was talking, it sounds like he actually expects us to be testing for black in the next testing cycle. I had honestly expected that it would take six months, and we would test in June, but that might not end up being the case. I'm pretty sure I can be ready by March anyway, but I'm not as confident about two of my beltmates. (Danielle will be fine; she knows the forms better than I do, although she's not as solid on step-sparring and self-defense all the time.) Audrey and Alan don't train as often, and are younger, and I'm less sure they'll be ready. But we'll see.

He had Master Paul, along with his son (who had apparently decided this morning that he wanted to come along with his dad for the testing, resulting in Mister L. having to cut down one of his old black belts to make it short enough for his son to wear; his own belt was at the school) do one of the black belt forms, and then he had Master Paul do one that we've actually never seen before, and holy shit... It seems impossible now that I'll ever be able to remember anything like that, because there was a lot of moves. (It was called Banya or something like that.)

After testing was over, Mister L. shook my hand and said something about how I wasn't upset by being called a pumpkinhead, right? To which I responded of course I wasn't. He's such a nice guy, there's pretty much no way to take anything he says (especially something that silly) personally.

He also asked about knife defense, and I said that Danielle and I knew 1-6. He said that maybe he would have us do it next testing, but sometimes it made parents nervous. Juniors don't do knife defense, only the adult class, so it's not as if they have to worry about their precious darlings wielding plastic knives at each other... but I can kind of see why it might make people nervous in general, because in addition to their being weapons involved, several of them involve takedowns, and are just generally violent overall. (Which is kind of why I love it... the more dramatic a thing is, the more I tend to like it.)

Overall, it was probably one of the easiest testing sessions that we've had, at least for the higher ranks, because so much focus was placed on managing the behavior of the lower ranks. Some of them just aren't used to the process, but others really should know better. But like I said before, Master Paul doesn't really enforce the responding to commands with 'yes sir' and all of that, so that's part of it. I really wonder if some of the behavior that happens would be tolerated at all in another school. It got to a point where it was embarrassing to me that these were the students of my school. Hopefully next time they'll be better behaved.

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To Do - December 21

2013-12-21T03:54:57Z

I'm posting this tonight so I don't have to worry about doing it in the morning.

( There is no rest for the weary. )
( Update - 8:00 am )
( Update - 11:00 am )
( Update - 2:00 pm )
( Update - 5:00 pm )
( Update - 7:00 pm )
( Update - 10:00 pm )

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To Do - December 20

2013-12-20T12:57:01Z

Due to schedule wonkiness, this week and next week I am off Friday-Saturday, because normally on these weeks I would have been off Saturday and Wednesday, but since Wednesday is a holiday they have to give me a different day off. (It has to do with making sure that everyone "works" the holiday and gets holiday pay... I don't know how they work it out, but I get an extra day off so that's all I care.)

I am trying not to give myself too much to do... we'll see how it goes. I really would like to actually do ALL THE THINGS one of these days.

( It would help if I wasn't having random fits of anxiety on a near-constant basis... )
( Update - 11:30 am )
( Update - 4:00 pm )
( Update - 6:00 pm )
( Update - 11:00 pm )

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To Do - December 15

2013-12-15T11:05:29Z

Last day of my vacation, which one would think would mean I'd allow myself to have a day to just rest and be To Do list free. One would be wrong.

I made myself get up at 5:30 am, which is the time that I have to get up for work, in the hopes that it would result in my going to bed early (or at least at a reasonable time) tonight before returning to work tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

It doesn't appear to be snowing right this minute, but it's not officially supposed to be done until about noon. It looks like we got somewhere in the 6-8" range, but I haven't actually been outside so I'm not sure. That's my guess based on looking through the window at what is built up on my car. In any case, it could have been better, but it looks like it could have been worse, too. With three people shoveling, it hopefully won't take too long.

And yes, shoveling is on the To Do list.

( I don't want to go back to work! )
( Update - 8:00 am )
( Update - 10:00 am )
( Update - 12:00 pm )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 5:00 pm )
( Update - 8:00 pm )

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To Do - December 14

2013-12-14T13:01:28Z

I slept in, which I hadn't planned on doing, but I guess I needed the sleep. Lots to do today, and maybe for once I'll actually get it all done, but honestly, I'm not holding my breath. It's not as if I don't have a month before Arisia to finish the costume stuff; I'd just really hoped to get it done while on vacation. Oh well.

And great, they've increased the snow prediction from 4-8" to 8-14". Sigh.

( All I can do is try... )
( Update - 12:00 pm )
( Update - 2:00 pm )
( Update - 5:00 pm )
( Update - 10:00 pm )

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To Do - December 13

2013-12-13T12:25:08Z

Friday the 13th, and I have about a million errands to run. It's really cold out, so I think I'll be sporting my lucky hate, because I'm preeeeetty sure nothing bad can happen when I'm wearing my lucky hat. I'm fully expecting, though, that errands are going to take 3 hours or more, and eat up a good portion of my day. I'm hoping to get writing done before I have to leave for the doctor, just so that's out of the way at least.

We're under a winter storm watch from tomorrow afternoon through Sunday morning, which does not make me happy at all. The only "good" thing about it is that it's happening over the weekend, and we should be able to have it all dealt with before I have to go back to work on Monday. Also, it's not supposed to start until after I'm home from TKD tomorrow, so as far as timing goes, it's pretty good.

In any case, it's good it's not happening today.

( Because I'm going to be busy... )
( Update - 9:00 am )
( Update - 10:00 am )
( Update - 12:30 pm )
( Update - 4:00 pm )
( Update - 6:00 pm )
( Update - 10:00 pm )

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To Do - December 12

2013-12-12T12:45:22Z

I decided to skip TKD (again) today; it's just too cold to leave the house unless I absolutely have to. Which, of course, means it's the day we're going to Boston which obviously involves being outdoors, but so it goes.

I probably won't get everything done today... there's a part of me that just wants to forgo the entire To Do list for the day, but I'll post it anyway.

( We'll see how it goes. )
( Update - 9:00 am )
( Update - 12:00 pm )
( Update - 10:00 pm )

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To Do - December 11

2013-12-11T11:05:04Z

( Here we go again... )
( Update - 8:00 am )
( Update - 11:00 am )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 7:00 pm )
( Update - 9:00 pm )

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To Do - December 10

2013-12-10T12:17:18Z

So far I haven't been successful with getting everything done from each day's list, although I've gotten pretty close. Maybe today will be the day... although depending on what the weather does - how much snow and at what time - TKD may get nixed just because I don't feel like driving. We'll see.

( I'm honestly not sure how manageable this is... )
( Update - 9:00 am )
( Update - 11:00 am )
( Update - 1:00 pm )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 8:00 pm )
( Update - 10:00 pm )

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To Do - December 9

2013-12-09T12:03:45Z

We got a bit of snow last night, and we have a winter weather advisory in my county (and only my county...) until 6 pm. Luckily, I don't have anywhere to be!

Yes, there are blank sticky notes on here. It's so I have a place to put some costume-related tasks once I made the Costume To Do list. So this will be a bit of a work-in-progress all day today, both in the creating and the deleting.

( The weather outside is frightful, but I'll be too busy to notice... )
( Update - 11:00 am )
( Update - 12:00 pm )
( Update - 3:00 pm )
( Update - 9:00 pm )

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To Do - December 8

2013-12-08T12:16:01Z

Yes, you can pretty much expect to see these all week. I'm trying to find the balance between relaxing because it's my vacation and getting stuff done. Most of the stuff I have to get done is fun stuff (working on costumes) but I still suspect it's going to look like A LOT of stuff when I've got it all written down and turned into Sticky Notes.

I had a great birthday yesterday, with only one bit that was a bit annoying/frustrating/disappointing - Riki got a coupon for 30% off one's entire regular priced purchase for today... right after we left Jo-Ann's. I used a 25% off coupon at Michaels, but if the 30% off coupon had arrived sooner I would have waited until today and gotten as much stuff as I could at Jo-Ann's, and it likely would have saved me a good bit of money. (If I'd had the coupon just for the stuff I got at Jo-Ann's, it would have saved me about $10.)

But so it goes. There are worse things. Otherwise, the day was lovely.

( I think this looks like more than it is... )
( Update - 11:00 am )
( Update - 2:00 pm )
( Update - 6:00 pm )
( Update - 10:00 pm )

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To Do - December 7

2013-12-07T11:59:38Z

It's my birthday and the first day of my vacation, so why are there this many sticky notes on my desktop?!

( Happy Birthday to Me... )
( Update - 9:00 am )
( Update - 12:00 pm )
( Update - 4:00 pm )
( Update - 7:00 pm )
( Update - 10:00 pm )

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To Do: November 30 & December 1

2013-11-30T13:26:14Z

( Here we go again... )
( Update: Saturday, 12:00 pm )
( Update: Saturday, 7:00 pm )
( Update: Saturday, 10:00 pm )
( Update: Sunday, 8:00 am )
( Update: Sunday, 1:00 pm )

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To Do: November 16 & 17

2013-11-16T02:54:54Z

Here we go again... post this tonight so I don't have to do it tomorrow.

( I'll have enough to do as it is. )
( Update: Saturday, 9:00 am )
( Update: Saturday, 12:30 pm )
( Update: Saturday, 3:00 pm )
( Update: Saturday, 6:00 pm )
( Update: Saturday, 9:00 pm )
( Update: Sunday, 9:00 am )
( Update: Sunday, 12:00 pm )
( Update: Sunday, 3:00 pm )
( Update: Sunday, 6:00 pm )
( Update: Sunday, 9:00 pm )

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To Do: November 13, 2013

2013-11-13T13:05:57Z

Lots of writing to do today, since I didn't do any yesterday. Going back to TKD is definitely going to make keeping up with writing a bit difficult, but I'll do my best. I've managed to write enough words that I've built myself a couple of days buffer. I'm hoping not to lose that, but we'll see.

I meant to post this earlier, since technically at this point it's no longer accurate (I've already done some of the stuff on it) but I'll hold off on doing an update until a bit later.

I feel like I'm missing stuff, but oh well. This is what I feel like I need to get done today. Anything else I do is just a bonus, I guess.

( My day in sticky notes... )
( Update: 11:00 am )
( Update: 1:00 pm )
( Update: 10:00 pm )

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To Do: November 11, 2013

2013-11-11T12:05:26Z

( This is what we call a day off around these parts... )
( Update: 10:00 am )
( Update: 2:00 pm )
( Update: 9:30 pm )

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