Secretary Skills

A lot of the things I did at Teen Voices today were secretarial in nature. All of them were important. I don't think I am above any of these tasks, but I have been a secretary before. I want to be an editor. So, I think there should be secretarial interns to take care of the little odds and ends. Being a secretary is complicated and important. There is lots to know and, in my experience, there are many things you are expected to figure out on your own along the way. I think offering secretarial internships would be beneficial to companies and to the interns.

Teen Voices Thursday

get up
breakfast
blog
shower
make bed
To Teen Voices for additional training, post-production work on online magazine, database updating, email catch-up, letter writing, and the like.
Commute home while reading Black Elk Speaks for class, confirming reservations for this weekend, and talking to my dear friend Irma.
Home for dinner, cuddling, excise tax paying, city survey filling out, valentine writing, dishes, folding and putting away dry laundry from last night, starting another load of laundry, and cuddling with the cat and the husband.
Bed.

Word and Image

I stopped to listen to a street musician yesterday. My idea of the day is a book of photos of street performers accompanied by their story or an interview with them by the photographer.

Wobbly Wednesday

Wake up
Breakfast
Make B's lunch
Put away clean and dry dishes
Blog
Wash dishes
Make Bed
Shower
School
Home
Dinner
Reading
Bed

Tuesday Tumble

Wake up
Eat cereal
Cook bacon before it goes bad
Make husband's lunch
Wash dishes
Put green beans on stove to steam while I am in shower
Dress
Twitter
Blogger
Assemble paper and project due at 12 today
Go to dr.
Home to gather everything needed for the day
Walk to bus
Ride to Harvard Square
Walk to Lesley University
Meet adviser
Walk to Harvard Square
Ride subway to Downtown Crossing
Walk to Teen Voices
Fact Check and call record companies and talk with Becca
Walk to Downtown Crossing
Ride to Harvard T-station
Switch to bus and ride home
Husband waiting at bus stop
Drive home
Eat dinner
Do dishes
Run dishwasher
Husband takes out pre-compost
Play games with husband
Wandering around internet
Bed

Mixed-Up Monday

Wake up
Cuddle with husband
Have breakfast
Read blogs
Wash dishes
Find out husband bumped curb and cracked plastic covering undercarriage of car
Follow husband to dealership and drive him to work
Drive home
Work on paper
Have lunch
Make bed
Take shower and dress
Work on paper
Go to dentist
Go to Starbucks steps from husband's office to wait for him
Pick up husband when he is ready
Drive husband to dealership to pick up his car
Go home
Prepare dinner
Eat

I plan to work some kinks out of my paper and watch President Obama on television before bed.

So Sorry, So Glad

I was making my bed yesterday and thinking about my half-sisters' uncle. He was a Vietnam veteran who struggled with drugs and alcohol after returning from war. He eventually got it together, got married, had three beautiful girls, and worked as a carpenter. The weekend of February 1st, he passed away from cancer at the age of 58. He leaves behind his wife, three daughters (the oldest is 24), mother, sisters, nieces, nephews, etc.

As I was making the bed I was thinking about his life, his journey, not his death. I kind of felt like he was listening to me and in my head I kept repeating,

"I am so sorry that you died, but I am so glad that you lived."

Sunday

Up at 6:00 to go move husband's car from the school to the street
Outside to watch the sunrise and nature journal for 45 minutes
Inside to put away dishes in the drying rack
Call Mom and Dad for first time in a couple weeks
Clean up little things around the house
Finish sewing pocket pillow
Upload photos
Put pocket pillow up in Etsy shop
Update To-Do lists
Update planner
Email neighbors about cat care while we are away next weekend
Print out tax forms with husband
Make husband bacon, eggs, and toast
Wash dishes
Finish reading packet for class
Make Bed
Husband goes grocery shopping while I work on paper for school
Husband home. I put away groceries.
Back to toiling away at paper for school.
Lunch
Walk to library with husband for fresh air and a book he has been wanting to read
Write two sympathy cards
More paper toiling
Put dry dishes away
Wash husband's hair in the kitchen sink
More paper toiling
Make dinner
Eat dinner
Wash and put away dishes.
Watch T.V. and play Wii games with husband
Bed

Saturday

3:00a.m Wake up because fell asleep early last night & have completed 7 1/2 hours sleep
Catch up with blogging
Fold dry laundry
5:30 Move Mr.B&B's car from the school parking lot to the street
Come back in the house, hang up coat, etc.
Sew for five minutes
Go back to bed
9:15 Wake up
Blog on sincerelyalex.blogspot.com and brainyandbeautiful.blogspot.com
Upload pictures for my nature journal for school.
Put away already folded laundry
Put away dishes on the drying rack
Shower
ACLU Conference
Home
Dinner
Wash dishes
Continue reading packet of poems assigned for school
Sleep

Friday was Yesterday

I fell asleep at 7:30 on Friday night and am now awake at 3:00 Saturday morning.

Friday:
Wake up
Make husband's lunch
Hand wash and put away some dishes
Eat breakfast and do some reading for class while waiting for energy audit guy to arrive
Energy Audit Guy, Tom, arrives at 11:30 - one hour late
Tom stays until nearly 3:00
Make "lunch"
Run dishwasher
Run washing machine
Put away dishes
Make bed
Throw clothes in dryer
Husband home
Neighbors home - go tell neighbors about how home energy audit went
Sit and talk with husband while he eats - I had late lunch so not hungry
After he eats continuing talk on couch with Celtics game on in background
Fall asleep on couch at 7:30P.M.
Husband moves me to bed at 9:30P.M.

Thursday was 2 days ago

I am finally getting to post.

Wake up
Make bed
Make husband's lunch
Make my lunch
wash and put away dishes
shower
gather items for the day
Go to Teen Voices from 8:40-5:00 - fact check, edit, work on book reviews
Commute home
Get home about an hour and a half later than normal
Eat
Clean up from eating
Sleep

Wild Wednesday

Here I am, two days later, catching up.

Wake up
Make bed
Do dishes
Make husband's lunch
Take shower
Clean snow off car
Volunteer at Perkins School for the Blind
Go to bank to deposit condo fee
Go home and nature journal for twenty minutes
Then shovel driveway, sidewalk and front porch for 2 hours
Go to school
Come home
Dinner
Sleep

Busy Bus

Idea: Overhead compartments for commuter buses.

They have them on fancy, long distance buses. They have them on trains. They have them on planes. They even have them on bikes but their usually front mounted baskets. Why not commuter buses?

Commuter buses are always super packed with people trying to get from one end of the bus to the other where the doors are. It is hard enough to maneuver around people never mind all the bags, purses, umbrellas, etc. that they carry with them. Overhead compartments are also fairly cheap and easy to install. It just makes sense.

Tuesday

Woke up.
Had breakfast.
Washed dishes.
Caught up with email.
Worked on TV paper due 2/10.
Took shower.
Went to dr.
Came home.
Made bed.
Put away dishes.
Went to TV.
At T.V. edited some articles, did some fact checking, looked through book catalogues.
Long commute (double the time it usually takes) home in the snow.
Husband picked me up at bus stop.
Home. hang up coats and winter gear.
Put away stuff in my bag I lugged around all day.
Put dinner together.
Wash dishes.
Sit with my love and the kitty on the couch watching the Celtics game and sewing.

Plan to spend rest of the night catching up on blogs, posting my One Word February photo to Shutter Sisters, and reading a chapter or two of Black Elk speaks before bed.

Coin Card

Idea: Swipe cards for parking meters.

I love old fashioned parking meters and the cla-clink as the coin hits the bottom.

I'd actually love to have my own parking meter in my house and maybe use it as a coat rack or something.

Even I, lover of all things vintage and "old-school", have to admit the whole coin in the meter idea is a little impractical.

Today I was running into the store for 10 minutes maximum and I only had a quarter which buys a half hour or an hour of time depending on the meter. The meters in my town take all silver coins. I searched everywhere for a dime or a nickel, but only had a quarter. So, to the next person who parked in my space I say "You are welcome."

If I had a swipe card issued by my town that I could put a certain amount of money on and then choose how much I wanted deducted. Well, so much easier.

For now I'll have to make it romantic. If you are ever in a parking lot and see a girl put a coin in the parking meter and then spin around it like Gene Kelly on a lamppost in Singin' In the Rain, that crazy person is me.

Magic Monday

Woke up.
Had breakfast.
Made husband's lunch
Wrote out and mailed postcard to M
Checked email
Caught up with blog
Called and rescheduled dentist appointment
Made dr. apptmt. (3/5 8:15)
Made Bed
Ran dishwasher
Washed dishes in sink
Emptied pre-compost into outside compost
Cleaned oven and racks by hand
Made vegi/bean/lentil soup
Took shower
Saved beginning to burn soup
Put away all dishes (dishwasher and drying rack)
Went to CVS and got toothpaste and milk, but they were out of tissues.
Went to Old Navy and bought a blouse with my 14.99 gift certificate.
Went to bank, but had forgotten check book. Will go tomorrow.
Came home, put away purchases, and went outside to Nature Journal.
Uploaded photos I took today for nature journal and Shutter Sisters.
Posted a picture to Shutter Sisters "One Word Feb." contest
Did a bit of organizational work on my T.V. paper and gathered materials for it
Had dinner with husband
Cuddled on couch talking, laughing, and watching the Food Network
Worked on my pocket pillow while catching up on some dvr'd tv
Read some Black Elk Speaks
Bed.

Wisdom of Wharton

Thought: Part of being wise is seeking wisdom from others.

One of my favorite quotes from Edith Wharton in her autobiography, A Backwards Glance:

In spite of illness, in spite of even the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.

Sojourn Sunday

Today was a day of sojourns.

First, the husband and I stayed in bed for a while upon waking. We talked while petting the kitty cat who rested on my tummy.

I got up first and got took a little sojourn into internet land. I tweeted on Twitter. Caught up with blogging. Got to work on the silly Powerscopes I can't seem to finish, but keep plugging away at.

Meanwhile, my husband got up and MADE THE BED! How helpful!

Around 12:15, my sister-in-law called to tell us she was on her way over to have lunch. I showered, washed and put away the few dishes in the sink, and folded and put away the dry laundry while husband went out to pick her up at the bus stop. When they got back, I dressed and prepared (i.e. heated up) lunch. Homemade soup and homemade chicken pot pie for sister. Homemade soup and a grilled ham and cheese for husband. Pita bread and hummus for me. There was a quick bit of Wii Fit workout fun. Then we sojourned to Kick *ss Cupcakes in Davis Square so sister could try their Gluten Free cupcakes. Then we dropped her off and saw her dorm room.

Back at home I took a sojourn to the backyard for nature journaling which is required for my class. I also took photos one of which I will post on Shutter Sisters as my "Fresh" photo for the day.

Soon I will sojourn to the couch where my husband and the Super Bowl await. I will bring my laptop with me and finish the Powerscopes and then I will do some reading of Black Elk Speaks.

After that, the sojourn back to bed.

UPDATE: Finished and emailed off Powerscopes. Washed the few dishes in the sink from husbands dinner. Made my dinner and washed dishes from that. Baked sweet potato rounds for later in the week and washed pan. Read a few chapters of Black Elk Speaks.