Project Updates:

OK, so in my plan to not plan anything I forgot the part about only planning things specifically for me.

Yesterday was my birthday. My only birthday plan was to go to Trudy's and retrieve my free mex mart. Anyways I didn't hear from anyone all day (except for Megan and my Mom). I got home and the announcer on my answering machine said, "You have no messages." I was a little worried. I hadn't sent an email out telling people when or where but I figured that wasn't important. People would call or email to say happy birthday and I would fill them in. But that didn't happen.

Roy called at 7:30 to wish me a happy birthday and I realized that I was all alone. I was feeling pretty pathetic. Roy (who was very sick) left his house to come and cheer up a very unhappy Jen.

Last year I sent an email out a little less than a week before my birthday saying that I would be at Trudy's and gave a location and a time and few people showed up. I felt a little rejected but the important people showed up.

This year I didn't want rejection and I wound up being totally forgotten.

I think I will take rejection over forgotten any day.

This is a good week for me as I have no clue where my time goes. Maybe its with the lost socks.

What did I learn?

• Its nice to have people over at my house. Paula and Amanda came over for tea and we chatted about a number of things. We were supposed to be working on Paula's Carnaval outfit but most of the time was spent having show and tell and gabbing.
• I took Intro ArcGIS 9 for 2 days and didn't want to go back to my desk. It would be nice to work on something I enjoy doing more often. Even if it means scrapping job 11 for job 12.
• Nothing beats a home cooked meal. Roy and I made veggie pot pie on Friday night. We even made the crust from scratch.
• To make an iron non-stick you can run it over a piece of waxed paper.
• The guys at Atomic Dance Factory finally redid their website. Maybe this had a little something to do with the fact that one of the employees had a website that was much cooler than theirs.

Projects

• Its crunch time for the sewing projects. 2 babies are due in February. Carnaval is in February. I can do it. Paula's Carnaval outfit is the only item with a set date for completion. The baby gifts can be a little late :)
• Websites- No new stuff.

Stuff I learned:

• Iron on vinyl is really cool.
  
• I've still got it. Megan and I went out on Thursday night and managed to get free drinks and a game of pool out of some fairly decent guys. We plan to do this more regularly.
• Call notes vs. answering machine. Both do the same job but the answering machine is cheaper.
• Megan and I went on a tour of a few piercing shops downtown. The goal was to find a place to get my bellybutton pierced and her tragus (its on the ear). Of the places we went to, True Blue was the one that we plan on returning to. Why? The guy was straight with us.
  
• Airfare to cool places is really cheap. As a person who is planning on travelling alone I would prefer to stick to one of those travel group things. Unfortunately the costs are much more expensive if you go that route. I am leaning towards Costa Rica or Machu Pichu.
  

• I am currently working on some baby gifts. I will post the final outcome in a few weeks. I have learned how to insert zippers, sew on vinyl and I have tested my patience many times.
• Paula has hired me on to create her carnival outfit. We have a few ideas, a corset, some fabric and some spray glue. I will post the pictures when we are done.
  

What did I learn this past week?

• There are tons of wacky holiday calendars on the internet. My favorite so far is http://www.brownielocks.com
• Vision is important. I picked up my new glasses and contacts on Saturday. I can read street signs once again. I can also spot a clearance rack from farther away.
• I don't like the plateau. Tom Peters says that you should love the plateau and take that time of stability to research/reflect to move forward. I NEED change. Right now I am thinking that I need to work from home and come up with an amazing tool for measuring the curvature of one's backside for better fitting pants. Where is job #12.
• I miss working with artists. I went to a party this weekend and I was reminded of a part of my life that one day just disappeared. I decided to be "responsible" and get a job with health insurance. Is health insurance really that important when you get rid of a part of your life that aided in preserving your mental health?

Projects, projects, projects:

• Websites: No work done. I thought about it but decided to work on other things
• Sewing: I made pants on Wednesday and a skirt at 2 am on Sunday morning (I was in a funk after a party and I needed to express myself).

Here is my top 10 Things to do for 2005

1. I will focus more on me this year. Call me selfish... Call me SURVIVOR!!!
2. I will leave the country.
3. I will stop working for the STATE.
4. I will not plan anything that is not specifically for me.
5. I will find myself... or atleast get closer to figuring out who I am / what I want.
6. I will take the GRE and apply to grad school.
7. I will drink more water.
   
8. I will not clench my jaw (I got a head start on this one. I haven't done it since the acupuncture adventure with Megan).
9. I will stop scratching at my face and picking at my nails.
10. I will spend more time at my house with other people.

That would be me. I just made my first garment today. I made a pair of pants. It looked like it would be easy. Then came the part where I had to rework them so they would fit my ass better. Its not that my rear is gigantic (like you can set a beverage on it). Its just not flat and saggy.

The next round of pictures should go up on the picture page over the weekend. Me modelling my new pants... and maybe a skirt if I sew like the wind.

Since Christmas and New years happened to be on back to back weekends I decided to take a mental health week in between to hang out, sleep in, project, ect.

What did I learn?

• Not many people carry around jumper cables. How did I discover this? Well my car wouldn't start on 3 different occasions last week. Monday: Hancock Fabrics, Wednesday: HEB, Thursday: Costco. I'd ask people for a little help with jumping my car and they would say they had no cables. Luckily I have a 12 foot set of cables I just needed a live vehicle to bring my car back to life.
• Car batteries do not last forever. Chris says that they last for 4-5 years. He helped me put in a new one in the Costco parking lot on Thursday evening. I also learned how to disconnect and install a new battery.
• It is important to have pattern pieces laid out in the same direction. I made a top out of a satiny rayon-esque material (once the bottom half of a dress) the other day. It would fit much better if I had done this.
• The palm pilot repair people are quick. I got my palm pilot back on Friday. It was gone for less than a week. I have no clue what they did but it hasn't blanked out on me since it came back.

Projects

• Website: I added photos to the pictures section of my website. I have done zero work on my other web projects.
• Xmas Presents: DONE. Check out the pictures.