Domestic Geek

I don't know why I can never stick with one thing until I master it. I used to be so into web design. I wanted to be a web designer more than anything. I had a thirst for all things web-related. Now...I can't even change the look of my own site on a regular basis. My co-worker has a new MySpace account and is trying to figure out how to modify the look. The old me woudl've dug right in and would've loved to have figured it out. Now, I'm mildly curious and will dig into it if I have nothing else to do. I had thought that once I had some free time, the love of web would come back. It hasn't. I'm sure part of that is that I sit in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. The last thing I want to do when I get home is sit there for more (unless I'm playing The Sims 2 or something).

I always do this, though. Music, gardening, scrapbooking, computers, cooking—you name it. I know a little about a lot, yet master none. I need to change that. I know part of it has to do with my perfectionist Virgo nature. If I can't be perfect at something, don't do it. I also love to learn. I get easily bored and easily distracted, though.

I really want to master this graphic design thing, especially using Photoshop and Illustrator. I know I'll never be a GURU, but I still have so much to learn. I'm getting pretty darned good in Illustrator and I'm developing more confidence in my Photoshop abilities, but I want to get good enough to start earning some "real" money at this. Not just a minimum entry-level salary, but big bucks. I want to get to the point that I don't have to look for a tutorial or ask another designer's advice when I want to achieve some effect.

I just finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia. Pretty good set of books. I guess I never had read them before. I would've remembered that story. Oh, well. Now I'll have to watch the movie when it comes out on DVD.

I had a really freaky dream last night. Our new moible home park owner (whom I've yet to actually meet) had decided to consolidate the homes left in the park down into a smaller space and sell off the extra land. He took it upon himself to have all our homes moved to one end of the park, packed in tight like sardines with hardly any room between them and then proceeded to bill all of residents for the cost of moving them and updating the lots to code. There was a notice on our door stating that we had to pay the whole amount ($10,000) immediately or be evicted. I was sooooo angry when I woke up. I really hate dreams that make me angry.

Well, better get my butt moving. Lots of stuff I should be doing other than this.

As usual, time spent away from work moves four times faster than time at work. My day off is almost over and I didn't get near the amount of things accomplished that I had planned. *sigh* Oh, well. It was still good to have time for myself.

I had managed to lose last month's bank statement. I've spent most of the day looking for it. Turns out I filed it (without reconciling it) in the folder with my pay stubs. I haven't filed squat lately, so I can't even begin to imagine how that happened. Oh, well. Soon I can figure out how little money I have.

My paperwork really is a mess. I haven't really filed anything since before we moved back to Aurora. That was over three years ago! This weekend I'm really going to have to tackle that mess because I'm tired of stacks of papers everywhere and I can't find a damned thing! I did throw out a bunch of stuff today that I was hanging on to in case I ever decided I wanted to teach music again. It's been over 13 years since I was in a classroom—I don't think I'll use it. I'm still in my de-cluttering my life mode. I was just too depressed to do it while underemployed and had no time while overemployed. Time to get back to sifting through all the junk.

I got to see my first ads in print yesterday. It was way more thrilling than seeing my stuff on a t-shirt. I don't know why. Well, except the Team [Housewares] shirts that I had made for Marcus and Mike, but the thrill of seeing them printed was tainted by losing my job.

Well, better get going—I've got reconciling to do...

Saw a great bumper sticker on a car today that read:

Give Snape a Chance

Made me smile.

I did want to mention one thing today. The Steelers' charter busses and their State Patrol escort passed me on I-70 today on their way to DIA as I was heading to WalMart. Part of me wanted to hate them for beating the Broncos in the AFC Championship game today, but another part of me recognizes that they outplayed the Broncos and deserve to go on to the Super Bowl. *sigh*

TODAY WAS MY LAST DAY EVER OF WORKING PIZZA!!!!!!!

I must admit I got a little misty-eyed as I laid my key and uniform on the desk and closed the backdoor as I left. Not because I was going to miss it, but because I was so proud of myself for finally letting go of it. Whatever purpose punishing myself with that job served, I didn't need it any more. Someone said to me the other day that I seemed a lot more confident since I got my design job and gave my notice to quit pizza. I asked Marcus if he got that impression of me also and he said that he did. Yay!!!! I hope this is the first of many positive changes that I'll be making in my life this year.

Marcus and I celebrated my last day by having an evening out together (since I don't have to get up before the butt crack of dawn anymore!). We started out by trying a beverage at Caribou Coffee. Somebody at his work gave him free drink coupons. Unfortunatley, they could only be used at the one that is out on E-470 and Smoky Hill Rd. Quite a trip from where we live! The web site says there is one at Iliff/Peoria. At least Marcus can use his gift card that he was given for Christmas there until they open the one on the corner of Potomac and Colfax this spring (along with a Chipotle). There was a little fake fireplace there that Marcus and I sat by and sipped our drinks. Very charming. The snowflakes on their cups were made of little caribous and antlers. Adorable! It was nice to actually have some deep conversation with him. It's been awhile. Then we had dinner at Qdoba and ended up looking at books at Barnes & Noble. He bought me a little book on CSS. Awwww. You know we're a geek couple. Then we watched British and American episodes of "The Office" and now I have to go to bed. It's almost 10:00, people!

I've made it through the first three books of The Chronicles of Narnia so far. I read this third one this afternoon. I also watched the last quarter of the Steelers/Colts game. I wanted to know who the Broncos were going to face next weekend after they embarassed the Patriots last night. If the Steelers won, Broncos get home field. If the Colts won, Broncos have to play at Indianapolis. I couldn't believe the end of the game, though. A minute and a half to go, Steelers are ahead, they start celebrating too early, they have the ball, Jerome Bettis fumbles, Colts get within field goal range to tie to go into OT and the kicker kicks wide to the right. Phew.

Anyhoo, it's going to take a few days to adjust to my new schedule. I'm sure my body is going to bolt awake at 3am thinking I had overslept. I napped when I got home from work, but I'm so tired still. It will be nice to actually get things done on the weekend because I won't be so freaking worn out. Now that pizza is over with, I can work on many of my goals that I have for this year. The first is a major redesign of my web sites.

OK, I'm off to bed--for a full 8-hours of SLEEP!