Getting Ready For 2007

So, thinking about my “Things I’d like to do in 2007,” I decided to get a head start.

• I took the To Do lists — daily, 2x a week, weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, 2x a year, annually, etc. — and assigned the items dates or days of the weeks. I put them all into my Palm Z22; the to do program has a repeating functionality which allowed me to do all sorts of neat things. I am giving myself permission to go ahead and check things off even if I don’t complete things, accepting they’re there for reminders, not punishment.

  However, after a few days of doing the daily things on my list, I had an “Ah-ha!” moment. It suddenly occurred to me that even if you start with a big mess, if you do a little every day and maintain the clean part every day, eventually it’ll all be done and the clean section will be easy to maintain. Right now, my kitchen is so easy to keep clean. I just have to keep following the daily maintenance and not let it slide back into chaos. It’s easy if you break things up into manageable pieces.

• Using the Now Reading Wordpress Plugin I already had installed, I created two pages and linked to them in my sidebar on the right — N’s To Be Read Book List and N’s Finished Books List.  I haven’t figured out how to only do a 2007 Finished Books List using the plugin yet, but this is a good start, I think.  It’ll be a good way to keep track.  The TBR list lists the books I’ve currently started and the books I’ve bought and are in the wings waiting to be read.   I expect that list to get longer when I sort through my books to put them in some sort of actual order in a few weeks.

  Here’s an interesting question: Where do you keep your TBR books?  Do you keep them where they will end up or in a pile somewhere separate?  Is there a special place for books that haven’t been read yet in your house or do they mingle with the books you’ve already finished?

• I actually knitted 5½ rows on my scarf!  It’s hard to decide whether to read or knit.  Has anyone figured out how to do both? –  and no, I don’t want to “listen” to books.

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, knitting, reading, books, housecleaning

What To Do With Books You’ve Finished Reading

Over the weekend a friend of mine asked me what she should do with the piles of books she’s finished reading. Apparently selling them on eBay and Amazon hasn’t turned out to be all of that profitable or rewarding for her and I’ve apparently become the expert on what to do with your stuff when you want to get rid of it since I’m no longer the reigning packrat.

So, here’s my recommendations:

• Nursing Homes — Believe it or not, old people do still read. Actually, my grandmother was an avid reader until her death and I was quite horrified by the reading selection available in her nursing home in New Mexico. I can’t recall the exact name of the book I found on her bedstand when I last visited her but I think it was something like “Death of a Hussy”.
• Hospitals — At my last job, when I worked at “the big house” itself, I was always hearing requests for new books for the library. I don’t actually work at “the big house” now, but I imagine it’s the same. When you finish that best seller, someone in the long-term wing would probably be grateful to read it.
• Schools — They have libraries too.
• Local libraries — Duh.
• Our boys overseas — they don’t have Barnes & Nobles in Iraq or Afghanistan and I’m sure they’d appreciate anything you have to send.
• Anyone raising money for anything via some sort of sale.

If you have any other suggestions, please add them to the comments sections

Tags: books, charity

Discombobulated Thoughts - 06/19/06

• Even though I asked for my mail to be temporarily stopped beginning June 23rd, it was stopped June 16th. This wouldn’t really have been too annoying if all of my Netflix had arrived for the weekend before then.  I really wanted to watch Memoirs of a Geisha too.
• I had finally found a set of headphones I really liked and let the personal organizer haul off every other pair I owned. The puppy has eaten the plastic cushion piece of the left ear piece. I really need to figure out a better place to put my purse so he can’t get into it anymore.
• I saw this book in the local book store and could not believe it.
  

  The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.

  Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack

  1. Organize before they rise!
  2. They feel no fear, why should you?
  3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
  4. Blades don’t need reloading.
  5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
  6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
  7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
  8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
  9. No place is safe, only safer.
  10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

  Don’t be carefree and foolish with your most precious asset—life. This book is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now without your even knowing it. The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead. It is a book that can save your life.

  Now I’m just trying to figure out which of my oddball friends to give it too as a gift.

• I am trying to decide if it’s better to roll your clothes to pack them in the tiny suitcase or to fold them flat.  Which is the most space saving method?
• I was feeling a little uneasy about the girl who was supposed to check on my cats while I was gone even though she worked at my vet’s office.  She just seemed not responsible to me.  When I called today to tell her I was going to find someone else, I learned that she had been let go, which explains why she hadn’t been responsible enough to call me and come to my house to do a walk through for the cat-sitting.

  I hired the woman who answered the phone.

Tags: discombobulated, zombies, books, packing methods, cat-sitting

You Can’t Get That At Wal-Mart…

I found this bookshelf at 50Books.com.  If I could find it in something other than that lime green like maybe a wood color or even black, it would be perfect for my living room.

Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find it available for purchase in the U.S. Actually, I’m not sure where you’d purchase this design called Dryade.

Tags: bookshelves

Quote of the Day: On Books

Barnes & Nobles and Amazon are my own personal crack-houses.
– Layne @ Running Scared

Tags: Quote of the Day, books, Amazon