Happy (early) birthday to me...

I got myself my birthday present yesterday! I have the CS version of this on my old laptop but couldn't get it to work on my new one, plus I still have the education discount for a couple of months so I figured now was the time to get it (at about a third of the regular price). I am so excited!!! I have some sketches already of some things I would like to make, including a weekly menu planner that I want to make so that I can use it RIGHT AWAY! I miss Illustrator!

PS: I did NOT put it on my credit card! I paid from my checking account (thank you tax refund). I am paying OFF my credit, not adding to it!

Overheard in room 306

I had a 5th grade class today and we were watching Cars for fun and relaxation. There's a scene near the beginning when the racecar falls out of the tractor trailer and ends up in the dirt. One of the boys said (in a very loud whisper), "And he still got that shine on him!"

Hah! Sometimes they still seem like children. And then you turn around and see the sixth grader with the full sleeve tattoo...

No good at all!

I just took a shower and lost about 1/3 of my hair. This is not good.

I suspect it is a nasty combination of stress, split ends from needing a trim, not so great nutrition and more stress. This can not go on! My action steps are:

- Get a trim a.s.a.p.
- Clean up my system with a relatively bland/safe diet for a little while
- Do something about the stress*




*Clearly this item is not as well thought out, but it should help that I will be done with my master's portfolio on Monday and with my whole program on May 7th. Also, the school year will be over in about 8 weeks and I anticipate my quality of life rising immensely as a result. Until then... I am not sure.

Right now the only house numbers we have are the small stick-on variety right next to the door - not attractive. I love these blue enamel numbers from France, but they are a little pricey (85€ = about $135). Also, we have talked a lot about having the numbers printed on the semi-circular transom one we get the doorway redone, which I think would also be lovely...

One of my problems is that I have trouble focusing on the immediate projects and start dreaming away about big things like stripping the entire front of the house of paint, having it re-pointed and getting an entirely new doorway/ transom. Expensive and not in anyway necessary right now (although the door is actually a priority now that there is duct tape holding one of the locks in place).

In the black(ish)

I am happy to report that my paycheck and my tax refund were both direct deposited yesterday, so not only did I pay my monthly bills but I also sent in the final three months of my car insurance payment (instead of one month, which has been all I can afford lately), and took care of renewing my registration, paid off a small chunk of each credit card and still have some room to start my newfound... well, not frugality since that's just not me, but budget-consciousness.

A few months ago I found myself in a sort of early quarterlife crisis and looked for some literary guidance in solving some of my problems (not hating my job, making new friends, saving more money, etc.) and found the book up top. Now, I know what you may be thinking ("Self-help books? Ewwww!") because I was skeptical at first myself, but I must say that this is a very helpful book for the younger set. It didn't make me feel overly guilty about my spending habits, which I know are not always the best. It didn't give me advice I found impractical about things that will be important to me in a few years but aren't now. Best, it gave me very specific doable steps towards a better financial life.

Also, I got it from the library so it was totally free and I still was able to use the code in the book to set myself up at the corresponding website which has a whole questionnaire you fill out and then tells you exactly which action steps to do and in what order. As mentioned in the previous post, my current action step is to pay off my credit cards (I have two). I have already gotten my credit score and negotiated a lower interest rate on my older credit card, both things that scared me before.

I know, I have been MIA of late. Not that anyone reads this to notice...

However, I am happy to report that I earned a grade of 100% on the paper I was working on that created the paper explosion on my desk! I am very proud of myself - that was a difficult assignment.

Also, I have since cleaned my desk (and bedroom, and even vacuumed) and just succeeded in catching up on bills. I have this unfortunate current habit of living pretty much paycheck to paycheck and I am getting one direct deposited tomorrow so I wrote out all the checks to drop in the mail tomorrow A.M.

Which brings me to the point: I need to budget more effectively. I make enough money that I should not be having this problem. Yes, I have had some unexpected expenses lately (namely three different courses of doggy antibiotics over the last three months, all expensive), but this is ridiculous. I am a smart, educated adult. I need to budget better and ERASE MY DEBT.

More to come on how this is going to go down later...

I am taking a short break because I want to record for posterity (and for the information of anyone considering a graduate degree) what I am currently looking at. I am writing a research paper on education policy for my masters program. I feel like I am in a den of words.

And on a lighter note, this is what I see when I look directly behind my chair:

How's that for moral support?

The "Antique"

This was my free antique store find from yesterday - yes, the broken off top of a plaster column. As you can (kind of) see, my plan is to use it as an umbrella stand. I was inspired by many recent posts on blogs and also a recent Domino image of a fish umbrella stand, but wasn't really sure what I wanted. I suppose this solution found me.

Score!

I am posting from a coffee shop here in Philly (Chapterhouse on 9th and Bainbridge) because I was forced to leave the distractions of my house to try to actually get some work done on this paper I have due Tuesday. I am nearing the end of my masters program, which means I have a lot of research and writing to do but my procrastination has been at an all time high lately. So, I left the chair where I was "working" (but really napping and reading novels all morning) and came here to caffeinate and work.

Of course, on the way here I stopped at Vintage Connections (diagonal from Chapterhouse, great women's vintage clothing and jewelry at great prices) and this antique store (Anastasia's on 6th and Bainbridge) and picked up some amazing finds. Which I will duly photograph and share when I get home.

Because now I really must get to work.

Petering out...

Now that I have that lovely file box, my energy and focus for the day is shot. However, I did manage to sneak in some furniture-buying (must stop... at least until tax refund comes):

This baby is going to live right in between my doorway/ teeny entry box and the bottom of the stairs! I picture contrasting her with some tall woven baskets underneath and a curvy mirror up top on the wall...

Organization (The Paper Kind)

This being tax season and spring cleaning season all rolled into one, I have been focused a lot on getting my files and documentation in order. Especially since I am now supposed to be an adult, I figure this is a good time to start.

Also, people do strange things to procrastinate, and I have a lot of graduate work I am supposed to be doing. But let's not think about that.

Anyway, that organizational urge led me a few places:

1. Unclutterer's series on dealing with paper clutter, particularly this post about the FreedomFiler system.

2. The FreedomFiler website, which led me to determine that I cannot afford such a fabulous pre-printed sticker system. However, I did find an excellent DIY guide the FreedomFiler people helpfully provide.

3. The Captio TaxCase Organizer, another useful organizing tool that is both more than I need and can afford.

After perusing all three resources for longer than I care to admit when under deadline for completely unrelated work, I developed my own filing system incorporating suggestions from all three places, a bunch of hanging files I already had, and (of course) my colored markers. The image up top is a work-in-progress shot of my hand labeling technique. The two dots next to the black line indicate an even year and the purple is part of the color coding. Below, behold the finished set of hanging files just waiting to be filled with my papers!