As seen on shellefly:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!

My choice.

For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

• I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!


• What I create will be just for you.


• It'll be done this calendar year.


• I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.


• You have no clue what it's going to be.

The catch: you have to put this in your journal as well. Spread the creativity around!

I've been getting a lot done, though I know I could be doing a lot more. My sleeping patterns are still really screwy, but I'm working (not very hard) on that, and I am still mostly avoiding the less fun stuff like filing and cleaning. But all-in-all, I'm being very productive.

1. I am on Lesson 7 (Important Phrases) of my Italian CDs. I can ask how much something costs or where the train station is. I will be a great tourist one day soon. Now all I need is a trip to Italy... :)
   
   
2. I have added more to the blanket I am crocheting for Rob.
   
   
3. I have finished and hung my cork board (that is, a board made out of wine and champagne corks). If I ever got my digital camera back, I would take pictures of these sorts of things to show you all. I know you are desperate for art...
   
   
4. I have watched all but the last episode of Season 1 of Friends.
   
   
5. I have begun a cake decorating class with Liz. It's a lot of fun, and I'm not too bad at it. I suspect I will be making all upcoming birthday cakes... I'd better, actually, to justify the expense on the tools!
   
   
6. I've hung up my framed Broadway posters in my living room.
   
   
7. I've been walking more days than not.
   
   
8. I've become pretty good at making healthy smoothies and I have a freezer full of fruit to prove it.
   
   
9. I've been eating at home far more than I have been eating out.
   
   
10. My entire downstairs is spotless and 100% cleaned up and out.
    
    
11. I've purchased the materials for but not yet hung up a rod for my laundry room.
    
    
12. I've collected the DVDs spread out around my house and alphabetized them on my DVD rack. There are a lot of them, and I mysteriously have two copies of The Truth About Cats and Dogs, so if the extra belongs to you or you would like to have it, let me know.
    

Still, there is always more to do, and there are things I will kick myself for if I don't finish them before I have to go back to work, so I should get cracking on those tomorrow. Someone call me and bug me about that...

Rob and I have a double feature date night planned tomorrow. We are seeing a Sneak Peak of The Terminal and then ladyandromeda, passingfancy, shellefly, and others will join us for Stepford Wives. We've decided to all dress up in Stepford dresses, much as Star Wars fans dress up for the opening night of those movies. I don't know if I </i>have</i> a dress that qualifies, but I'll figure something out... :) Too bad my pedicure this afternoon had to be rescheduled for Saturday. It should be fun, nonetheless. We're seeing the 9:45 showing at the former Funscape, if you want to join us.

C'est tout!

I've found myself with some down time, due to the fact that I can't go back to work yet, following my brain surgery. I have a lot of projects I'm working on. I always have better follow-through when I am organized. Here's the list, in no particular order:

1. I'm learning Italian. I am trying to do one lesson each morning. So far, I've covered Basics, Basic Phrases, and Transportation Nouns. The problem with learning a language from a CD is that I have no idea how any of these words are spelled, so I may have trouble reading and writing them. I need to remedy that...
   
   
2. Finish cleaning my house. I've made very little progress on this since I got back from my parents' house. I haven't even finished unpacking yet.
   
   
3. Become a smoothie making expert. I love smoothies, and I have been making them most days for breakfast. And I'm making them in a healthy way, not in a calorie-laden way.
   
   
4. Get back on track with eating right and exercising. I've lost 16 pounds since I went to the hospital, and I intend to keep it up. I've been cooking at home much more than I used to (which is much easier when I have a clean and organized kitchen), and I have been trying to do some walking every day. I am not yet allowed to exercise fully.
   
   
5. I've been reading a lot of books. I love to read, and I think I have spent more time reading than anything else. If you have the time, check out The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. It's a great story, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Plus, I went to high school with them, so that's kind of cool.
   
   
6. Finish my cork board. Those of you who have ever been around me when a bottle of wine or champagne is opened know that I always keep the corks. This is because I have this vision of making a cork board out of them. I finally started putting that together today, and if I don't finish it tomorrow, I will have no where to eat dinner because it is spread out all over my kitchen table.
   
   
7. Finish various crochet projects. While I was at my parents' house, I made three baby blankets and a very cool scarf for my mom for Mother's Day. I am more than halfway through the blanket I am making for Rob, and then the line for blankets is long: Dave, my mom, my brother, and probably others that I have forgotten by now. Plus, I bought yarn for all kinds of scarves for myself and for gifts. In a similar vein, I have a needlepoint piece I have been working on for the Albans for a long time, and it would be good to make some progress on that.
   
   
8. Write an inspirational book about my experiences with facing adversity. Perhaps I should join shellefly's Sunday morning write-ins. I don't generally use that time for anything more productive. I think I even have a title: All My Light Bulbs. See if you can figure out why...
   
   
9. Start volunteering again. I don't know if I will have too much time to devote to the shelter once I go back to work, but I know they could use my help now at the height of kitten season.
   
   
10. Maintain a regular sleep schedule. Ever since my surgery, I haven't been sleeping 100% well. I tried taking some sleeping pills a few nights, but they left me needing naps the next day, and I never take naps. I didn't even do it when I was a kid. But keeping to a normal schedule is what will let me have productive days. I'm not doing well with this one tonight.
    
    
11. Do some gardening. For each of the weeds that alannariva and I pulled from my flower beds before my surgery, two more have grown in their place. I need to take care of them, and plant some flowers that are sitting on my porch.
    

I know there are more things on my list, but this will do for now.

Good night!