Thu Nov 10 - Mom is still okay in Amman, Jordan, and sending photos and stories and encouragement. Get that? Mom is in a town that had three homicidal bombers yesterday and she's encouraging us. *shakes her head*

If I get permission, I may post some of Mom's stories about the experience.

On a lighter note, it's official: I'm completely addicted to the archive blog entries of the Yarn Harlot. I adore her writing style, her projects, her vacation photos, and her absolute addiction to all things yarn, knitting, spinning, and fiber. I have a new "I wanna grow up and be like so-and-so" to add to my list. The best thing about reading her archives is that I go away from the experience thinking "I want to do projects now!"

I have so many crafts supplies and sewing things at home, so many website and programming plans, organizing and filing and tidying projects, culinary adventures, and other wild ideas in my head, that I'm inspired to get back to my "do one new thing" methodology again. One of my mantras in life is to "do one new thing" as a method of tackling any overwhelming big project. Part of my organizational and planning tactics include keeping outlines or lists on a project horizon so I can figure out *which* next steps I can choose from, when I'm not pressed by any deadlines.

I've been getting better lately at keeping up with the tiny details of housework, calendars and to-do lists, email correspondence, balancing my checkbook, paying bills on time, keeping my car clean, keeping my shoulder bag organized and ready at a moments notice. So it's time to get back to the "what are my big projects?" lists and prioritizing. And seeing all the Yarn Harlot projects spinning out of her fingers and into the photos in her blog are very encouraging.

(Of course, I still have to finish reading all the archives. I have managed to read January through August 2004 in two days, so that's only another 4 days to be all caught up on her entries, right? And some people think *I'm* prolific in my journal!)

So I'm looking forward to sharing my ideas and successes on this adventure with you. Wish me luck, dearies.
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On a different note, at work, we're all done with our 5-day class after only 3 1/2 days. We have a de-brief tomorrow with the instructors, and I have a de-brief with just my boss in 20 minutes. I'm horribly disappointed that the reality is that I didn't have the book done in time, but scary relieved that I sorta kinda got away with it since the only student was a new hire for tech support with experience in our software. I also kept getting more and more distracted in class and had less and less interest in paying attention as each day went on, and I have no clue how much of that has gotten back to my boss. But *sigh* I'll just hang in and deal with whatever happens.

Time to massively buckle down (again).

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Recently Listened to: Gravity Willing Requia
Recently Watched: Veronica Mars

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Mel, one of the best roommates ever. She didn't even say anything to me about having run up the electric bill by not knowing I had a thermostat in my room.