The Klutterpillar's blog

My favorite file folder is called TO FILE. Simply genius I thought at the time of it's birth. A place to store all the paperwork I need to file. Only the papers never got filed and this folder kept growing. I now have 3 folders labeled TO FILE.

My many TO FILE folders

A little while later and I now have this:
The Super-est most awesome-est organizi-est drawer.  YAY!!!!!!

Tools: All you need is a label printer and plenty of folders and you'll be on your way.

A perfectly filed drawer

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Need a reason to get organized?

What got me thinking:

I called my mother this morning, I told her I missed sleep. Glorious Naps. Laying in bed just being. I miss personal time.

How many balls do you have up in the air?

Work, family, personal fulfillment, fitness , health, being skinny... learning a new language.

What about all the dreams you have written down on a scrap of paper that never gets noticed until the day before your birthday when you contemplate another year gone without learning to scuba dive.

(Ok, I know it's nothing fancy like learning Latin. But I figure if I ever get called in for a mission to find buried treasure with Johnny Depp I'm going to need Scuba Skills!).

Another ball dropped. Dag-nag-it!

WORK: I love my computer, online banking, cell phone, instant messengering and calendar that make communication easy, work completed faster and projects run smoother. But those are the very things that stress me most too. Remember snail mail. You had a day to compose a letter. To get it just right before it was mailed away. Email gives you an hour at most to whip something up. There's always some important detail that has to be sent as an addendum later on.

That's just work. What about your social calendar. Often we try to cram excursions, entertaining, voluntary responsibilities, health and fitness quests, housekeeping, duty visits, spending time with friends and on your own. Even my leisure time doesn't feel like my own.

What being organized means:

• More time for myself, my friends and my family.
  
  
• A little less time scheduling emergency meetings and putting out fires and freaking out over deadlines.

• No more stress and feeling drained.
  

• Able to tackle projects with more clarity. If I'm not juggling I bet I could focus more on getting better results.
  

• A sense of accomplishment and a pride in a project pulled of perfectly and on time.

Success is time for everything and a little time even for me

Where I found my keys: On my nightstand. What happened to that great catcher idea for my computer table. Computer table is currently filled with all kinds of junk including lip gloss and Sunday's empty drink cup from Starbucks. So tonight my mission is to clear that table.

Looking at my one of my favorite sites this morning I came across this quote:

We become what we think about all day long.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I believe this firmly. What is your automatic response to criticism? Do you let it cripple you for the day? What about compliments? Do you believe them to be true? What we think about ourselves is what we believe we are. If you think you are a hermit. Soon enough you will be cloistered in your room playing EverQuest all day long. Listen to sad music long enough and you'll be mopey, angry music - more irritable or annoyed. Listen to Bob the Builder Soundtrack and you'll be convinced any problem can be solved.  I'm not saying that what you think changes reality, all I'm saying is that that's how people who have dreams they are passionate about achieving operate. They keep their goals in their thoughts and before you know it - it's a reality.

Here's a list of what I thought about this morning:

1. Power stations - I mean the towers that are shaped like mini-Eiffel towers that surround my neighborhood. I keep thinking if I jog by them everyday, in a year I'll have cancer.

2. Cooking- woke up at 4.30am and boiled rice. My co-worker and I are going on a cheap/healthy diet. So today is dhal and rice. We usually stick to Subway foot longs - which means expenditure of $13.25 each per week. However this dhal diet will cost about $20 per month for lunch.

Are we being too cheap? *sigh* Probably, but right now I have thousands of dollars in dentist bills and this is rather appealing.

3. Foreign names: Some names just sound sexy. All those French and Italians have it good.

Remember Marcello>

Raoul Bova plays Marcello in Under the Tuscan Sun

from 'Under the Tuscan Sun'?

*er... that's the only photo I could find. Honest. er... moving on swiftly.

even Gerard Depardieu 

Gerard_Depardieu

who is not particularly pretty has a glorious fantasy invoking name.

Indian names like Naidoo just makes me think of photocopy machine paper or industrial floor cleaners.

4. Independence. I _ N _ D _ E _ P _ E _ N _ D _ E _ N _ T .  Do you know what that means? 

5. Where are my keys?: I found them on a stack of mail that I brought in yesterday. Which of course was buried under some pajama's. I think I need some kind of catcher on my computer desk just as I enter the room.

What's the closest thing you have to a time machine?
Submitted by Verisimilitude.

Yes Glorious Flan. 1986.

It takes me back to a store called hyperama

hyperama_logo

Back then it was called Flambe (pronounced feh-lamb-bee). It's like a jello but creamy, it's like creme brulee, only less work. It's like heaven only instead of access by stairway you get a spoon.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/09/fit.quiz/index.html

I just took CNN's fitness quiz this morning. I learnt something new, an hour of exercise a day can add up to 2 hours to your life. That's a good reason to keep at the treadmill.

So what does a dessert a day do to you then?

Friday: Woke up at 4.44am this morning. That was a good sign. The number 4 is my lucky number. Crazy, if it happened to be 4.45am I probably would have hit my snooze button. But 444 really got my attention. That was the only good thing about this morning... the rest slid downhill. 

I got up and quickly packed for my last minute trip this weekend. The rest of the morning my mind wrestled between whether I had remembered to pack everything and how I could finish my tasks for the week, since I had a dentist appointment in the afternoon. I was so distracted I missed my bus stop. Then I got onto the bus again, and missed my stop again. Whereupon I headed on into Macdonald's, ordered some pancakes and called it a day. 10 minutes later and laden with my pancake-booty. I headed for the bus stop and there was the bus. Yay! It turns out I was waving down the Sherrif's bus. Looking rather bashful I sat back down on the bench and pretended to be examining the inside of my Macdonald's bag.

This is it. I'm convinced I need help. I'm going to put my head down and just go according to a list of tasks I have on my desk. Nothing else can go wrong if I just stick to that.

What I remembered to pack:

1. T-shirts (it's hot in Orlando, why do I not own spaghetti strap tops or at least sweat patch friendly T's)

2. Jean's. 

3. Running gear. ( Ipod, sneakers, shorts) 

4. 2 cosmetics bag (1st = shower gear, 2nd= make-up and other prettifying potions)

5. Socks and other bits and pieces.

6. Phone charger

7. Evening clothes (all this mean is I have 2 shiny blouses packed in too)

What I forgot to pack for Orlando:

1. Phone

2. Camera and camera charger

What I forgot in Orlando:

1. Oprah magazine. The reading issue!

2. A container or fruit and some banana's. Man I could really go for one of those now. I only had half an apple for breakfast.

3. Pillow

What I forgot today:

1. Handbag in Subway. Thank goodness it was still there when I rushed back to pick it up. On my way there, I kept thinking, there's nothing in it I would miss.

Status on the 27 list:

Professional perfection: I was too tired to workout this morning or take the bus. Bus-ing it requires waking up at 5am. I roused meh-self somewhere around 6-ish. I can't use this excuse tomorrow.

Money Matters:Money spent on trip was incredible. My roommate said something about eating sandwhiches for the next few weeks. He may just be onto something.

BPB: I was so worried about not turning into a puddle from the heat that I never bothered with this one.

Weight loss: 136!!!!!!!! 2 pounds down from Friday! Whoooooopie!!!!!!! That's a new record folks. I said something rash this weekend about trying to only eat uncooked fresh produce. I would eat a burger or pizza. Then I would make the claim again for the next meal. It was a vicious cycle. I don't think anyone believes me anymore.

Reading: I read a chapter of John Irving's Water Method Man. That's sensible stuff, right? 

Something new: I have decided to be cold. I am forever bundling up and keeping snug. Today I have decided to open the A/C vent in my room and live with the frosty air. I'm not sure if I'm doing the reasonable or crazy thing here.

Learn to Spell: I made a new word today, Doubtieness. The mindset that lends to one being suspicious of new ideas.

Run: No running. There was so little sleeping done this weekend that running is the farthest thing from my mind.

Say only nice things: I should change this one to 'say anything at all'. I spent the weekend with new people being shy and silent for most of it. I don't mind my shyness too much. I only worry that my lack of conversational input may be regarded as stubbornness or worse boredom.  Ah well.

Learn to whistle: Love the sound of my voice in the morning. It's all mucous and gritty sexiness.

Share a song that makes you laugh.

The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room
by Flight of the Conchords

My good friend likes this one. It's a good one alright. Use it as an ice-breaker the next time you start chatting with someone online.

I like anything by Bill Bailey, the man is hilarious!!!!! Hilarious. Smiling just thinking about it.

How and when do you reward yourself?
Submitted by Rainbird.

Yay! Rewards! The best reward is a slice of New York Cheesecake, A Town called Jayne episode from Firefly and cold cold cold apple juice, all on a Friday night.

When? er... I haven't actually given myself this reward yet. I just closed my eyes and imagined the best one. I have an ever growing To Do list that somehow gives me the chills and garlands of guilt that wear me down.

But enough of that, The lists are endless. Mostly because I've always been fond of lists.  In 3 months I'll 27. Yes I know that's awfully close to being 30. Crickey someone call me a plastic surgeon STAT!

I drew up a small list. I figure it's now or never. I need to complete the following tasks before I turn 27:

1. Run 5km/3miles in under 30 minutes. So far I run 1 mile in 11 minutes. Not bad. 2 miles takes me 35 minutes.Clearly some walking and collapsing happens between mile 1 and 2.

2. Professional perfection, finish my articles on time, and somehow keep track of my keys which I've lost 3 times in the last week.

3. Learn to Spell. I have a 12 week coursework book that I need to complete. I've reread the first chapter more times than I can count. It's getting to chapter 2 that seems to be the barrier. Once I get there, I'll kick some chapter 3 tush!

4. Learn to save money. JUST be a saving worker bee.

5. Lose the last 20 pounds. My BMI is currently 25.4 which is still in the overweight range. So no cheesecake for a while yet.

6. Read Ulysses by James Joyce. Turns out the you have to read A Portrait of the artist as a young man- to get the background story.

7. Go on 10 dates. Er... well there are quite a few honorable goals above. So don't judge me on this one.BPB
 
8. Learn to whistle a tune and the kind that involves two fingers while hailing a cab.

9. Learn a new skill.

You'll notice there's no 'give to charity, be good or stop swearing'.... no none of that.

 er... my left ear is itching. I think that's guilt setting in. Ok maybe there'll be one... let me think.

10. Hmmmmmm how about, only say things I wouldn't mind hearing about myself? This one might need some monitoring.

If you could do anything you want tomorrow, what would it be?
Submitted by Becca-Pink.

I would start it off with a drive in silence or maybe reading out loud for an hour or two. I like the steady ebb and flow of words. It disregards the need for conversation yet you are both involved just like a conversation, one of you is talking while the other listens. Only with reading- both of you are listening at the same time and sharing nothing.

Then I would like to walk around a town I've never been to aimlessly. I went to Whole Foods yesterday. I had 10 minutes before my dance class to waste. I ended up in the coffee aisle smelling the newly roasted bins of coffee. Oh it was heavenly. When the purpose of shopping is removed: the lists, the desires, the tallying up of the cost of price tags. All that goes and I was able to just relax and enjoy the atmosphere. I discovered they carried a whole lot of things I hadn't previously known they sold. Walking aimlessly with $2 in my pocket would be AWESOME. The $2 helps the aimlessness cause along. Give me $20 and I'll be thinking of ways to spend it rather than just enjoying the moment.

Fireworks. I'm a hopeless romantic. I love fireworks from a distance. Up close it's all smoke, fumes and burnt hair. We can't forget the noise of screeching children that doesn't abate until the last flame has died and the last popper lit or  until the last fuse of the parent in charge has burnt. I remember being a kid and thinking it was hilarious to 'bust' (does anyone still use that word to mean light a firecracker?) a Tomthumb in my mouth. Burnt fingers, scratchy throats, singed hair and stinging backsides from parents we scared witless by the stunts we pulled. My rascal youth is far behind me and this year there are no children to look after. So I would like to watch the 4th of July fireworks from a distance in silence.

To end the night? I guess I would like to look through the pictures I took of the day. Because knowing me, I never record the best days in words. Words are never enough. I like to leave it to my memory where in 50 year's time I will extract the story and torture some unsuspecting grandchild with it's retelling.

How have you changed in the past year?
Submitted by littleduckling.

Somehow I think this is meant to be answered in a positive fashion. Well no darn it! I have not changed for the good. In my aged-ness I have become cranky, set in my ways, and that smell you smell > that's me. I ain't ashamed. But seriously,  I learned a lesson. And I try to carry it with me at all times.

Live in the moment now.

Sounds simple enough. Not quite. I retell stories all the time. In fact if you've known me long enough you've heard the following "I probably told you this story before, but let me tell you again...". They're probably self deprecating, or how I was done wrong way back when.

1. In order to practice 'living in the moment' catch yourself re-telling the same-old-same stories that show you as a victim. Just stop. Whether it happened 10 years ago or 10 minutes ago.  It's over now. It's how you live right now that counts. You can't live in the future either. This is the only moment (right this second) you have influence over. I can't plan to be happy in 10 years once I've retired, lost a few extra pounds and the loser boyfriend. Or for that matter in 10 minutes.

Today I got so angry I could have spit. I clanked around in my heels, sat down huffily and squinted at my computer screen with my 'mean eyes'. Then I thought the person I wished to funnel all this agitation towards wasn't even in the same building and quite frankly wouldn't be bothered. And right then I couldn't have been bothered either. I chose to be happy. Get on with my life and do a little blog entry. (If you happen to be reading this- er... it's not about you...er...really!)

2. The grass is always greener on the other side. No hunny bunny, it ain't.  

"Wishing and hoping and
thinking and praying,
planning and dreaming"*

Yes plan, but also plan to be happy right now. I can't imagine being happy on Saturday. I used to work this city job, maybe I've told you the story before but... lol. See what I did there! Hilarious!

-   Sorry I need a moment, may have just wet myself a little bit from all the laughter.  

Where was I, oh yeah, I had me a laborious job and a 4 hour commute which I spent reading. On my day off I used my time most productively by vegetating on the couch eating Chinese takeout while reading or sitting at the laundromat -reading. And I used to think - my life is so bland, so boring and so blurgh. I just wished I was out and about.

Now that I am out and about, I can't remember when the last time I finished a book was. I've read plenty half way. But I get so carried away living (er... with meh social life). That a couple weeks later when I  do have time to get back to it, I've lost the narrative emotional wave I had been riding along with the author and I have to start again. And well, I just start a new book instead. That long winded story was just to illustrate that I've lost one of the things I loved most - hours and hours to read. 

 
You know how many times I've told that story? 1, 2, 3, 4? Hmmmm, maybe 5. Wait now would be 6.

3. The more things change the more they stay the same. Like my stories. So, be vigilant. I'll have to remember that one too.

 *Dusty Springfield - Wishing and hoping Lyrics