Money

Do you feel happier when you have money coming in, or when you have money going out?

I had an epiphany on this today. I sure like it when the money is coming into my check book (am I so last decade for still keeping track of my money on a bank register or what!). That's obvious, right? I bet all of you feel the same. Don't we all prefer to add numbers (especially money numbers) rather than subtract (it's so much easier: 5 - 7 = what again?)? But when it comes to my wallet, I feel a distinct sense of relief when it's empty. Seriously--I hate cash, especially change. I think part of what I don't like about it is the burden and responsibility of carrying around real money. I think the other part, and maybe the greater reason, is that it feels like clutter to me. There's nothing more satisfying to me than de-junking my purse of receipts, trash, and spoons from yesterday's lunch. Therefore, I feel unclean and unorganized when there's money in there that I haven't spent yet! It's a good thing I don't live in a state where carrying around cash is a must!

P.S.--Just spent my last 26 cents on candy from the BYU bookstore--I love that I can order candy by the price rather than the weight!

A miracle

I have talents. I will not deny that. But I've never ever thought that cooking was one of them. But after Friday I realized it could be . . . maybe.

I'm pretty bad at planning meals consistently--I'll be really good one week and have a meal planned for every night, and then the next week we'll have cheese sandwiches and frozen dinners because I just didn't get around to planning and grocery shopping. Last week was the latter. But on Friday, I knew I should attempt to cook something and I knew I had some ground beef I needed to use (and tacos and spaghetti were out of the question because I had made both of those within the past month--a big no-no for Royce!). I did a quick internet search, but I didn't find any recipes I could make without having to go to the store first. So when I got home, I looked through all of my cookbooks, with no luck.

So guess what I did? I browned my ground beef, and then I just started throwing things in. And then I started adding spices, and then I would step back and say, "What is missing?" and then I threw in some more things. And I was absolutely shocked--it tasted really good! Maybe it was a fluke, but I'm kind of encouraged!

My mantra

I've been wanting to write this post for awhile. I've been working on a mantra of sorts for the past month or so that has been fairly enlightening for me. However, I deliberately put off writing about it because I wanted to have a better grasp on it first. Turns out, the procrastination is kind of ironic. My mantra is this:

Do It Now!

Sigh. Easy to say, hard to do.

When the idea first came to me, I pondered a lot about the pros and cons of having such a philosophy. I also tried to weigh the practicality of it--was I going to drive myself crazy forever trying to reach its unreachable grasp? Or could I become that person?

My conclusion? I think I can do it! (See disclaimer)*

I confess that I haven't totally embraced it into my life; it's not my MO (mode of operation) quite yet. But I really, truly believe that I can become a non-procrastinator. It's all about remembering the purpose behind doing it and keeping a few rules in mind. Here are some things (in no way comprehensive) I've learned about "Do It Now."

1. If it takes less than one minute, don't think--just act! Put that coat on the hanger, pick up that piece of trash, respond to that e-mail, etc. You'll feel so much better and you'll find a little more space in your mind to focus on other things.

2. My physical well-being affects everything I do. Therefore, if I want to be productive (whether that be productively working, exercising, or even playing) I need to feel good. This is simpler than you may think. Eat when you're hungry. Go to sleep when you're tired (ok, ok, I know that's easier said than done for you moms). Take a walk when your eyes start to glaze over and your legs feel cramped because you've sat at your desk too long. Put on a sweater when you're cold. Go to the bathroom! (How many times have you not been able to fully enjoy your food, a conversation, your nighttime rest, etc. because you had to go to the bathroom. Ok, maybe I'm the only one who puts that off.) You get the idea.

3. More on sleep: when your alarm goes off, get out of bed! This morning I was supposed to get up and do Yoga. I did not get up. My justification? I went to bed an hour later than planned. Let's be honest here. Did I feel that much more awake/rested when I woke up at 7:00 than I would have at 6:00? No! It always takes me 5 or 10 minutes to snap awake, so why not get up and do something that will give me real energy?

Also, if you wake up 30 minutes or less before your alarm (or your child) goes off, you might as well get up. The rest of your sleep is not going to be very deep, so you might as well use that time to do something you haven't had time for. Like shaving! This one is even harder for me than getting up to my alarm. When I wake up too early, I feel defiant and want to say to the world, "You can't make me get up before I decide. In fact, I'm going to sleep in for 30 minutes now. Take that!"

4. When something pops into your head, either do it now, or write it down. Because chances are it will pop out of your head as quickly as it popped in. This may mean interrupting the task you are currently doing (so long as the task you are currently doing isn't easily forgettable). I have always had a problem with not being able to transition easily from one task to another. Once I'm doing one thing, I can't move on to something else until that one thing is done. But this, I'm discovering, really leads to lower productivity. I'm not talking about being a crazy multi-tasker. But I think you'll find that you don't lose that much ground on your first task, and bonus--you just got something else done in the meantime!

On writing it down--I have to be careful here because there's a part of my brain that feels like I've completed a task when I write it down. Post-its are much more effective for me than an organized list--I hate clutter, and I know I can't get rid of the Post-it until I do the task. However, that works much better at work than it does at home.

5. Do the dishes. Enough said? Sometimes it just looks too overwhelming or I'm just too tired. "I'll relax now by watching this show, and then I'll have more energy to do the dishes," I tell myself. But what about that nagging awareness of how messy your kitchen looks? Do the dishes now, and then you'll really be able to relax!

6. Also take out the trash and make the bed.

All of this is easier said than done--the days I really took this to heart were great! But often, the next day I wasn't up to it again. It's important to have balance and prioritize. Some days, there really will be something more important than doing the dishes--you'll know deep down in your heart when the excuse is valid or not.

It's hard to prioritize. But I'm realizing that it's like we've been told over and over: Put the most important things first, and everything else will fall into place. Say your prayers, read your scriptures, be with your family. The "Do It Now" idea seems to be most applicable to things. But I really think that it can be so easily applied to people. Have you received a request from your spouse or child to do something with them, and you say, "I will after . . . "? Sometimes we really can't stop what we're doing, but I propose we [I] limit that statement. Get a prompting to make a phone call? Do it now! Want to go on a walk with your sweetheart because it's so beautiful outside? Do it now! Somebody needs their feet rubbed? Do it now!

*My purpose in writing this post is to remind myself of the reasons why I chose this as my mantra and the ways in which I want to live it. I would hope that no one would read this post and feel any sort of guilt feelings. This is the way that I've found gives me motivation. Something else may be a better motivator for you. So I just want to make that disclaimer here.

Google it Part 2

As Heather and I were driving up to Salt Lake yesterday to see Romeo and Juliet I was reading The Westing Game (don't read the whole thing wiki article if you want to read a fun mystery book to figure out) to Heather and we came upon the word "Hassock". Which Heather or I didn't know the definition of. So I decided to google text it. "Define Hassock". The result Google text gave me..."Glossary: hassock: ottoman: thick cushion used as a seat Source: wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn" So apparently not only will google text give you directions, but a glossary as well! They however don't give you recipes (We tried google texting "recipe for vegetable lasagna" on the way home), but will give you everything mentioned here: http://www.google.ca/mobile/sms/index.html

Google it

Did you know that you can "google" on your phone? Yup. That was my favorite discovery from our trip to California last weekend (more on that to come). You can text Google (46645) and ask where something is in a particular city. Example: "Outback Steakhouse in Orem, UT." Within seconds, you will receive a return text with the address and phone number of the place. But it gets even better. You can also text Google for directions. Just type "from ______ to ______," and you will receive pretty good directions to wherever you are going.

I love Google!

Police Beat

Feb. 6: "Police received a call from a professor in the JFSB who reported hearing a noise sounding like a horn every 15 minutes. Other professors said the noise sounded like a bird, superman and a racecar. The sound turned out to be an air conditioning issue."

Classic.

Half a post

Are you dying to know how the party went? Have you been biting your nails all weekend waiting for this post? I thought so.

Despite the fact that I was way-unorganized, and spent too much time cleaning the bathroom rather than cooking the food, it turned out to be a successful party.

1. People came! (Don't you always kind of get nervous about that when you have parties--but I also worry about people feeling obligated because everyone is so busy!) Actually, the perfect number of people came. As much as we would have loved to have every single one of you there, I don't think our tiny apartment could have fit you all.

2. The food turned out decent--we had half-English Muffin pizzas, half-Little Smokies, half-circle of shrimp, half-bowl of carrots, whole meatballs (I ended up dropping the ball on that one), half-cookies, half-and-half chocolate/yellow cake, and a bowl of gold-fish and snack mix divided in half by a piece of the Fruity Pebbles box, courtesy of Royce.

3. Royce received half-gifts: One mitten, half a plate of half-cookies, a whole plate of half muffins,
half a bag of homemade biscotti, half a deck of cards, and half a box of Little Caesar's pizza!

4. We played games: Pin half-the-Nose on half-the-Clown (I gave away two prizes--now you wish you had come, huh?), Scene-It, and Ticket to Ride Europe.

5. And I took no pictures--sad, huh.

So there you have it--the best half-party ever! Well, until next year . . .