It's Beautiful Here

In my living room I’ve got a couch and I think it is really comfortable.  I’ve been thinking about getting another place for people to sit, though, and I think that I’m going to get something that isn’t like a normal couch.  At first I thought I should get another one but then I was like I think I want some more variety in my room.  So I’m looking at some of the different things that are available and I have really been wondering if I should get a bench.  I mean just like a bench that people can sit on if they are watching TV or something and then if not it’s not really going to take up anything cuz you could put it behind the couch.  But then I was thinking I should probably get something else.  My living room is pretty traditional and I want to change that up so I was thinking that there are some things I could get that would give kind of a different feel in that room.  And I don’t know if it’s because of the kind of furniture I have or what but when I walk in there I just think that everything looks really kind of normal.  So I was going to see what kind of options there were for furniture that is a bit different and I was also thinking that I might want to get something I can put next to the couch.  So I’ve been looking at some of the things that are available.  I was thinking that a futon might be what I want.  Of course, I’m not talking about a futon like the ones people have that are really thin and uncomfortable but I’m talking about a nice one that is actually pleasant if you sit on it and that is a good bed.  I’ll have to see what I can find, though.

I like the style of a futon and I think it would be something to add to my living room but I don’t know if I’m going to be able to find one that meets everything that I have in mind.  I’m also going to see if there is a type of couch that might work but as for now I think I’m going to stick with my idea of getting some less traditional type of stuff.  That way if someone wants to crash at my place they could sleep on it.

My friend was over the other day and we were talking about snoring.  He told me that he was reading about some of the different things that you can do to stop snoring but he doesn’t really know any of them work.  I don’t snore but I know a few people who do and I think that one of them wears a mouthguard or something to bed that is supposed to make you stop but I don’t know if it works and I don’t think he knows either because he’s asleep!  I should probably ask his girlfriend.  He told me about this website sharing some tips of the different things you can do.

I don’t know.

I have another friend who said that he insists on sleeping on his side because otherwise he won’t be comfortable.  That sounds strange to me because I usually fall asleep on my back but I’ll wake up in weird positions.  I guess I flop around a lot and I have been known to move the blankets and stuff, too.  I am not sure why I do that, I get really relaxed and I fall asleep and then I move around a bit.  I don’t usually try and I don’t even know if I’m waking up or what, I just seem to change positions.  A lot.

Speaking of sleeping, I also love stuffed blankets.  I have this blanket that has little sections and each of them is filled with something super soft, I don’t know what’s in it, but it is the greatest blanket.  I also like being a little chilly when I sleep.  In the summer it’s all hot and I just can’t fall asleep and certainly don’t need a blanket but in the fall it’s nice because I can pull the blankets up and get all cozy.  I also like to sleep with only one pillow.  I kind of get it positioned a certain way and then I’ll lay down but I really only want one pillow.  I need it to be thin, too.  Those huge pillows that are all puffy look really soft but I’ve never liked sleeping with them.  I wouldn’t say that I’m particular about the way I asleep, just that I know there are certain things that work for me and other thing that don’t.  I also like having exactly three blankets but that is another issue altogther.  One pillow.  If I have more than that I’ll just move them out of the way.  Plus this way my bed looks nice.

Remodeling is a bigger chore than I’d ever imagined. It’s not that any single task is hard, it’s the fact that my house is old and out of date and I feel like I want to change everything. Almost everything this house came from either my parents or friends of my parents when I first moved out after college. Well, now I’m a bit older and I’ve started living life in the real world. I got my first ‘real’ job a couple of years ago but I’ve been pounding away at student loans. I’ve made significant progress in paying off loans and I’m finally starting to build a nest egg. I think it’s time to start focusing on making life more comfortable for me.

Now that I have a nest egg, it’s time to turn my house into a home. I’ve been living here for a few years but haven’t updated anything. Like I said, all of my stuff is old, and for lack of a better phrase, was given to me by old people. It’s definitely time for me to start branching out and getting things I like, rather than things a broke college student can afford. One of the first things I need to get is a new bed. The bed in my house is the same bed that I have been sleeping in since I’ve been around fifteen years old. At this point, it’s a bit uncomfortable…as well as embarrassing. Of course I’ve graduated from my superman sheets, but the style of the bed is something my mom picked out, and their home is 1950s at best.

I’ve been looking online, and I think I really want to see if I can find a new bed, preferably something contemporary. I already found the mattress I like, it’s one of the new high-tech super comfortable mattresses, but I need to find a frame that fits my personality. Personally, I’m starting to really like platform beds and there are some that are very cool and contemporary looking, like the ones on this lit design site. I may end up going with a traditional frame with headboard and baseboard, but either way I just know I want something that doesn’t look like it came out of a cabin that only recently got electricity. I’m not knocking my parents’ taste. I love my mom and dad unconditionally, but it’s time for me to get out and discover who I am and to furnish my house accordingly.

I’m feeling restless.  I want to get out and go do something.  I’ve been working so much recently that I haven’t really gone out with my friends or really even done anything exciting in the last few weeks and it’s starting to get to me.  One of my friends is coming into town from another state this weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing them just cuz it will be something to do.  We’re all going to meet at another friend’s place and grill and have some drinks and just chill.  I’m going stir crazy right now!

I may have to put in some PTO and just go somewhere.  Have you ever just randomly gone on a trip without having any particular place in mind?  Like just go to the airport and get on a plane?  I don’t know if I’m quite spontaneous enough to do that, but I want to do something.  I want to go surfing in Costa Rica.  I’ve never been surfing before but it looks like it would be fun.  Actually, speaking of surfing, I saw a show on TV a few years ago about this indoor surf park they have in Japan.  The waves are created artificially but you can ride them the same as normal waves.  The show talked about this surfer from Australia who went to the park when he was in Japan and he liked it so much that he moved there and now he’s an instructor.  Talk about doing what you enjoy for a living!

Japan may be a bit far away, so I think I’ll stick with Costa Rica for now.  I have a friend from University who studied thee for a semester as part of his degree in teaching Spanish.  He said it was awesome, and in fact when I first thought about going there he popped into my mind so I sent him a message and asked him about his time there and he was like “omg, do it, go, now!”  So, that’s just encouraging me.

Is surfing hard?  Have any of you gone before?  I remember trying to skateboard when I was a kid and I wasn’t very good at it.  Wasn’t skateboarding actually invented because of surfing?  Like they wanted to be able to ride the waves even when they weren’t buy the ocean so they put some wheels on a board or something?  I may have that completely wrong but I think I heard that somewhere.

If I go you can expect pictures!

I use a Mac.  I’ve been told it’s because I’m a girl.  Do more women use Macs than men?  Actually, now that I think about it, most of the people I know who are nerdy into computers are men, and they all have PCs.  I’m sure that’s not a big enough sample size to constitute meaningful statistical data, but still.  I know plenty of guys who use Apple products, too.  Now that I think about it, however, many of them are hipsters.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that!  I’m going to stop here before I get myself in trouble!

Where was I going with that?  Oh yeah.  I use my computer for everything.  I keep music on it.  I have lots of photos.  Bank statements.  Papers from university.  I use it to surf the net.  I watch movies on it.  I check Facebook a few times a day like everyone else.  I would be upset if something were to happen to it, so I’ve decided I need to start backing my stuff up.

I know it’s standard computer using procedure: always make backups!  I save my work when I’m working on it all the time.  In fact, I’m kind of OCD about it.  I’ll hit Command + S every few minutes or after I finish a really good sentence or something.  But I haven’t ever backed up my hard drive.  I want to look into Mac Cloud backup options because I figure that might be easier than having to get an external drive and worrying about keeping track of it.  I know they’re not big but I have a tendency to misplace things.  If I’m backing up on the “cloud” then there’s no actual physical thing to worry about.  Plus, I can access my stuff from wherever I want.  I see those commercials on the tele where they’re like “it’s on the cloud” and they always drive me nuts, but it might not actually be such a bad idea.  But really, why not just say “online” instead?

Anyway, I like my computer.  I think I’ll put it on my list to get this backup thing taken care of by the end of this week, otherwise I’ll keep putting it off and it will be one of those things that I always say I should do but never actually get around to doing, and this is the kind of thing that I want to do before I need it.

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been keeping up with my goal of running a few times each week.  I’m quite proud of myself because I have a tendency to set goals and then never really follow up on them.  Kind of like that time I wanted to learn Italian and I bought a bunch of Italian books and courses and studied it really hardcore for about a week and then stopped.  I still have all the books sitting on my shelf, and every time I see them I think “I’ll start that back up one day,” but I haven’t yet.  I think part of the problem with that may have been I jumped into it really seriously, like trying to study for hours a day.  I suspect that if I had only tried to do 30 minutes a day or so I might have stuck with it.  And so that could be why I’ve stuck with the running since I’ve only been doing it a few times a week.

Anyway, I’ve decided that I really like running.  Although it’s only been a few weeks, I can already see a difference in how I look, and I definitely feel better, too.  I’ve got a bit more weight to lose but so far so good.  I’ve also been trying to eat better and I may consider trying a supplement like green coffee bean extract as well, but I think the running will play the biggest part in everything.  One of the coolest parts about running that I didn’t even expect is the community.  I went online to try and find the answers to a few questions I had and ended up finding some forums full of cool and helpful people.  They were able to give me some info regarding shoes, how often I should run, what supplements I should use, etc.  Totally unexpected!  I didn’t know there were such large running communities!

I’m also looking forward to this spring when it gets a bit warmer and I can run outside without needing to wear a hat and gloves.  In the winter you go outside and it’s freezing and then you start to sweat a bit, and then when when the wind hits the sweat it makes you even colder!  Of course, the summer isn’t much better when it’s so hot outside that you start sweating before you even start running!  Somewhere around 10-20 degrees C is perfect (that’s 50-70 F for any Americans reading this).  Of course, I always have the option of going to the gym and running indoors, but I prefer to run outside cuz the air is good for you!

My brother got in a bit of trouble last weekend.  He got a DUI.  Fortunately, no one was hurt, but he’s pretty upset over the whole thing.  And I’m kind of upset with him.  He’s my younger brother and I feel responsible kind of when he gets in trouble — even though we’re both adults and haven’t gotten “in trouble” in years, but you know what I mean.  Of course, it was one of those “I only had a couple” situations, but he still had to take a breathalyzer and I think he said he was just barely over the limit, but the limit is the limit, so there wasn’t much he could say or do.

I told him he should probably find a DUI attorney to help him out.  I sent him a link to a blog thinking that maybe he’ll learn something there.  I know it might be expensive but it will save him in the long run since they may be able to work out a deal or something.

I know depending on where you live, sometimes the penalties can be harsh.  I think you can lose your license for a while, there are classes you have to take, your insurance rates go up, gotta pay a fine, etc.  What a mess.  It was his first offense, though.  He’s never been in trouble with the law ever before so I’m hoping they go easy on him.

Ok, on to another topic: I can’t wait until our job goes back to “summer hours”.  Summer hours are when you get to leave at noon every other Friday, but it still counts as a 40 hour week.  So the way it works is you work a normal week, and that’s 40 hours, and then the next week you work a normal week except you leave at 12:00 on Friday and you don’t have to work any extra hours to make it up.  It’s awesome, and my company does it every summer, except of course right now it’s winter and so we’re on a normal schedule.   And once winter comes to an end, that means an end to this cold weather, too.  And snow.  Sometimes I count the days until next summer.  Maybe I’ll take a vacation to somewhere warm this year when it’s freezing here.  Maybe I’ll go visit my brother in Miami.  Well, I don’t really like humidity that much, either, so maybe I won’t go there.  I guess we will see.  Alright, time to go make dinner.

I have too much stuff.

Seriously.

I didn’t realize it until I decided to move into a smaller flat, and as I started going through my closets I realized that I really, really have a lot of stuff.  I’m also incredibly efficient at organizing, because I have way more things stuffed into various containers and stacked up in the closet than I should.  The problem is that I kind of form a sentimental attachment to stuff.  It’s not that I’m a hoarder.  I most definitely am not!  It’s just that I like to save stuff because you never quite know when you might need something again in the future.  You know, like computer parts, for example.  I have RAM from my old computer that probably isn’t even compatible with current computers, and even if it were, it’s like a 1 gig stick.  Who uses a 1 gig stick?  But at the time, of course, it was like “oh hey, I think I’ll hold onto this just incase I need an extra stick of RAM in the future.”

Anyway, I’m downsizing my living space.  I’m moving downtown where space is at a premium, and so I’m leaving my current 75 meters squared flat for a place that is only 60.  And the thing is, 60 square meters is actually a pretty decent size for where I’m going to be living.  I’m paying more, too.  Luckily for me, I found a place where you can sell stuff online for free, so a lot of the stuff that I have that is still useful (not the 1 gig RAM stick!) I’m going to be able to sell.  All I have to do is scan the barcode.  I’m not expecting to get a lot of money, but whatever I do get will help.  I’ve got some old clothes, a videogame system, and a bunch of books.  I might just put the rest of it up on eBay or give it away or donate it to charity or something.  My new place only has two closets (one hallway, one bedroom) so I have to make sure I don’t get carried away like I did here.  I’m not even sure if all my furniture will fit in my new place.  I may end up having to give away some of that, too.

I’m excited, though.  I hate moving, but I like once you’re actually settled in.   It’s the packing and stuff that I don’t like.  That’s probably why I don’t move very often.

One thing I want to work on this year is my ability to get things done in a timely manner.  It’s not that I’m a procrastinator (yes it is), it’s just that sometimes I tend to get distracted kind of easily.  For example, I will have some work I need to do, so I’ll sit down at my computer and plan on getting it done, but after I work for a little bit, I’ll be like “oh, I’m just gonna take a quick break” and open up YouTube or a forum that I like to read or something, and I’m really only planning on looking at something for a minute and then getting back to work, but what always happens if that I see something interesting, and then that links to something else interesting, and so on and so on, and before I know it, my 2 minute break has turned into 30 minutes and I’m still not even done yet!

This happens with all sorts of things, not just computer stuff.  The other day I had some work to do and I ended up cleaning my entire bathroom just to avoid doing it.  It was like “well, my floors are a little dirty… let me just scrub them really quickly” and then I was like “well, if I did the floors, I might as well do the shower, too,” and then the rest of the bathroom, and like an hour later and I still hadn’t started on my work.  My bathroom was really clean, though!

I’m not sure why I do this.  In university I was the same way when it came to writing papers.  I would put them off until the last minute, but then I would be really motivated to get them done, and I usually got good grades on them, too.  Maybe it’s like I need to feel the pressure of something being almost due in order to do it.  I know that’s not a good way to do things, but I also remember trying to start papers early sometimes and I just wouldn’t really produce anything good.  It seems that’s an old habit that dies hard.

I even do the same thing with my taxes.  I take a while to get all my tax stuff together, which means it takes longer for me to get it to my accountant, which not only probably gives them more stress, but it gives me more stress, too.  And I fully admit that it doesn’t make sense to do it this way.

So I’m gonna try and stop doing that.  I’m going to try and get the things that have to be done taken care of before I do the things that I want to do (like surfing the net).  I’m going to start by making lists of all the things that have to get done each day and doing them in order, and not wasting time until they’re all checked off.

I am on a mission as far as getting my townhouse more organized. I’m just going to be honest and flat out say that I have let the place go in the last year or so. I was really sick there for a while and had some other personal problems pop up but I’m past all that. I feel better both mentally and physically now and want my home to reflect that. My biggest problem is my 2nd bedroom which I sort of just threw everything and anything in there as a makeshift storage locker. The problem is it isn’t organized at all and looks horrendous. I know a lot of it has to go but I have also been looking for plastic storage bins on this site because I do want to keep some of it. There are a few things in there that belonged to my Mom and those are definite keepers.

Besides that my place is in ok shape and won’t need a major makeover or anything. I just need to set aside a full weekend to do a thorough cleaning. I asked my sister Amy if she wanted to come over and help and she said she would get back to me. She likes to think of herself as some kind of master organizer which I think is funny. She likes to start things but finishing them is a different story. You could ask her husband Bill all about that if you knew him. I actually feel sorry for him but he knew what he was getting into when he married her. That was 12 years ago which makes me feel old seeing as I’m 6 years older than her.

I actually want to start thinking about trying to sell my place. I know that will be easier said than done but I am sort of tired of living here. I don’t know any of my neighbors and the location isn’t all that great. I think a fresh start somewhere new would be nice but we’ll see. I know the housing market isn’t great for sellers right  now and I certainly can’t afford to lose money on the deal. I might put out a feeler to my friend James that works in real estate to see what he says. I haven’t talked to him in a while but I think he always had a thing for me so he won’t mind helping me out.