Things about today that are totally awesome. And by awesome, I mean crappy.

1. Woke up with zits by my nose and mouth. Sometime between my shower and 11:00 a.m., another one sprang up on my forehead. This is a violation of the ceasefire established between me and my body. We are now in all-out war. (I think my body is mad at me for putting it on a diet.)
   
2. Working as fast as I can to finish a big, fat rush job for a very good client of mine. It's not happening fast enough and I'm already sick of both the project and the stress.
3. It's so windy by my house right now I keep expecting small houses to blow by my office window. The noise is making my dogs bark. It's really annoying
   
4. The batteries in my wireless keyboard went dead. I have shloads of AA batteries and D batteries on hand, but not a single AAA, which is what goes in my keyboard.
5. Went to Target to buy AAA batteries so I could continue working on my rush job (see item #2). I was barely able to force my car door open and then got my hair and clothing whipped around while walking the thirty feet to the door (see item #3). Once my purchase had been made and I pulled into my driveway, I glanced in my rearview mirror and realized the zit by my mouth had reached epic white-head proportions, and I had walked all through Target with it.
   
6. Somehow I have to put on a happy face and go visiting teaching tonight when all I really want to do is go back to bed and pull the covers over my head.

How's your day going?

A littla this and a littla that

Basement
About a month ago, work to finish my basement started. Not by me, heavens no, don't be ridiculous! I'm paying people to finish it. Currently it's framed, taped and mudded, and ready for baseboards and doors to be put in. After that it's paint, carpet, and the finishing touches, including the bathroom fixtures. Once it's finished, I'll be moving my office down there and writing the whole thing off as a business expense.

My kiester
I'm on a diet again. So far, not bad. I haven't even really been hungry. Or maybe I have been and I've just been telling myself to suck it up and ignore it. At any rate, I'm already down about three pounds. Huzzah!

The stupidest thing I've ever heard
I read a story today about guys who say they've received revelation stating the girls they're dating are supposed to marry them. PLEASE. If somebody said to me, "I've had a revelation for you; I'm the one you're supposed to marry." I'd say, "Incorrect, sir, and that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I shall not be marrying you because you are obviously full of yourself and have no idea how personal revelation works. Here's a hint: it's personal." Also, this is officially false doctrine. Please alert your friends, sisters, daughters, roommates, etc. Also alert them not to date any tool who would actually do this sort of thing. He would be ZERO fun at parties.

Forcing talent I don't have
I finally realize that I regret quitting piano lessons when I was seven and decided to take back up where I left off. I bought myself a second-hand keyboard and started teaching myself to play using the handy-dandy LDS hymnbook. It's taken me about three weeks to perfect "Be Still, My Soul." I'm still tripping through "In Humility, Our Savior," "Sweet Hour of Prayer," and other groovy hits. Billy Joel, I am not.

Official declaration
My second 29th birthday is coming up in two and a half weeks. I've decided to be 26 again. Spread the word.

Treadmilling

This is my treadmill (see right). You can tell this is really my treadmill and not some picture I stole online because nobody would proudly post a picture of a TV (and a tiny one, at that) mounted above a treadmill with all the ugly wires showing. That's not how fancy-pants people roll, you know. I, however, am not a fancy pants and I am also too lazy to do anything other than wrap a twisty around the cords to keep them contained, so you can rest assured that this is indeed my treadmill and television.

That said, I'd like to share with you my theory on treadmilling and television watching. I love watching television. I hate treadmilling. "Maybe I won't hate treadmilling so much if I hang a TV in front of it," I thought to myself. Ironically, the TV didn't make me like treadmilling more, it made me like watching TV less. TV is really only truly enjoyable if you're slouched on the couch (preferably with a Diet Coke and/or treat/full-blown meal in-hand). Anything else is just a farce. Include sweaty, breathless exercise into the mix and you've totally ruined it. Sort of like pooping on a hot-fudge sundae; you don't even want to eat around the ruined parts.

In order to make the treadmill palatable I have to get geared up like I'm going on a plane trip. I arm myself with every type of media known to man to keep myself distracted enough to realize I'm getting exercise. Like giving your dog her heartworm medicine in a giant scoop of peanut butter. By the time she's worked it all off the roof of her mouth she hasn't even realized she's taken that tiny pill she spit out ten times before you wised up and buried it in a peanut butter spoon. Anyway, as I was saying, I prep for the treadmill by turning the TV on and finding something I want to watch with the sound off. Reruns of Law & Order, NCIS, and House are ideal, with HGTV renovations coming in a close second. You don't want the primo shows (Thursday-night NBC lineup, I'm looking at you, you sexy monkey) because the exercise will just ruin them. Once I've chosen my television program, it's time to get out the iPod. How anybody can exercise without an iPod is beyond me. I won't even consider working out if I don't have my iPod with me. Exercise without music is like breakfast without a Diet Coke. It's just not going to happen. With the TV and the iPod, I can usually stand to stay on the treadmill for about thirty minutes. Back when I was thinner--well, that's a stretch, let's say back when I was less fat--I got deluded into thinking I liked the treadmill and would stay on for an hour or more. Now it's an epic win if I even put my treadmill shoes on.

And that's why I'm writing a post on treadmilling. I've been letting the old girl lie fallow for a while. Over the next two weeks I'm going to try to muster the wherewithal to get back on. I'll let you know how it goes.

Full disclosure on my 2010 resolutions

Remember at the beginning of the year when I posted my goals for 2010 so I'd have to actually do something to achieve them? Well, it's been about five months now (where did the time go?), so I thought I'd show a little accountability and tell the two of you who read this how I'm doing thus far. Here goes.

Goal #1: Stick to a daily schedule. HAHAHAHAHA! *Wipes tear* What was I thinking? I stuck to the schedge for about two weeks before I was like, "Forget this, I like to sleep in." The good news is I've gotten up between 7:00 and 8:00 for the past month or so because I'm having my basement finished and the construction guys like to come early. So, not a total loss. We'll see if I can keep getting up that early even when the basement is finished. Also, I've made my bed every day for, like, a week and a half, so suck that, Martha Stewart.
NEW GOAL #1: Don't sleep past 11:00 on school days, then make a list of crap I need to get done every day and do it.

Goal #2: Shower and get dressed at least six days a week. BOOYAH! Totally doing it! I'm showered and fresh as a daisy right this very second. Things aren't looking as bad as I thought as far as these goals are concerned.

Goal #3: Use my treadmill. **Facepalm** Okay, spoke too soon. Sooooo, the treadmill. Yeah, I've been crap. I've been taking the dogs for walks almost every day but the treadmill hasn't seen any action in weeks. I'm gearing up to start using it again, I SWEAR. It takes mental preparation. I promise I will get back on in the next two weeks.

Goal #4: Stop spoiling myself. Does spending massive amounts to finish the basement count as spoiling myself? Honestly, I think I've done a lot better about not buying crap just because I want it. Where I've royally failed is in the eating out department. Okay, renewing resolve to only get take-out twice a month....NOW.

Goal #5: Increase client base. Groan. My plan to do half an hour of marketing every day only lasted about a week. I HATE IT SO MUCH. The good news is I've gotten a bit of repeat business from people I didn't really expect to hear from again, so that's good, but I do still desperately need to work on getting new clients. Blerg. Okay, how about on Mondays I take ten minutes and send out some emails to prospective clients. I know you're not overwhelmed by my ambition, but I seriously loathe marketing myself.

Goal #6: Work on financial preparedness. Yeah, so this isn't looking so great. Right now I think I only have two or three months' worth of living expenses saved up. I'm considering putting ten percent of my income aside for savings every time I pay my tithing. I don't know if that will break me or not, though. Well, I still have my goal to get six months' living expenses saved up and then open a retirement account. We all knew I couldn't have this done in five months anyway.

Goal #7: Get Milo 100% house broken. Done and done! *Wipes hands in self-satisfied manner* Milo is an outside-pottying champ. I haven't seen an accident in the house in I don't know how long, and for the past week I've been letting all three dogs run around the house as they please and still haven't found any puddles or Tootsie Rolls. I'm so proud!

So there you go! I'm not perfect (yet...), but I have made some good progress on some of my goals. By December 31 I hope to have solidified some good habits. Then I'll throw them by the wayside to make room for my 2011 goals.