Monday, March 31, 2014

Last Day of March!!

But I'm going to talk about April:

Once again- you can find all of these by a simple google search- but I think it is still fun to see the whole list.

National Humor Month
International Guitar Month
Keep America Beautiful Month
Lawn and Garden Month
National Poetry Month
National Pecan Month
National Welding Month
Records and Information Management Month
Stress Awareness Month
Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Week 1 Library Week
Reading a Road Map Week
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday



1
April Fool’s Day!
International Fun at Work Day
International Tatting Day

2
Children’s Book Day
National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
Reconciliation Day
3
Don’t go to work unless it’s fun day
Tweed Day

4
Hug a Newsman Day
National Walk to Work Day
Walk Around Things Day
School Librarian Day
Tell a Lie Day
5
Go for Broke Day


Week 2 Garden Week
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
6
Plan Your Epitaph Day
Sorry Charlie Day
7
Caramel Popcorn Day
World Health Day
No Housework DAY
8
All is Ours Day
Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
9
Name Yourself Day
Winston Churchill Day

10
Golfer’s Day
National Siblings Day
11
Eight Track Tape Day
Barbershop Quartet Day
National Submarine Day

12
Big Wind Day
Russian Cosmonaut Day

Week 3 Organize Your Files Week
Medical Labs Week
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
13
Scrabble Day

14
Ex Spouse Day
International Moment of Laughter Day
Look up at the Sky Day
National Pecan Day
Reach as High as you can day
15
Rubber Eraser Day
Titanic Remembrance Day
16
National Eggs Benedict Day
National Librarian Day
National Stress Awareness Day

17
Blah Blah Blah Day
National Cheeseball Day
National High Five Day
Pet Owners Independence Day
18
International Juggler’s Day
Newspaper Columnists Day
19
National Garlic Day

Week 3 Administrative Assistants Week
National Karaoke Week
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
20
Easter
Look alike Day
Volunteer Recognition Day
21
Dyngus Day
Kindergarten Day
Patriot’s Day

22
Girl Scout Leader Day
National Jelly Bean Day
23
Executive Admin’s Day (Secretary’s Day)
Lover’s Day
National Zucchini Bread Day
Take a Chance Day
World Laboratory Day

24
Pig in a Blanket Day
Take your daughter to work

25
East meets west day
World Penguin Day

26
Hug an Australian Day
National
Pretzel Day
Richter Scale Day

Week 5
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
27
Babe Ruth Day
National Prime Rib Day
Tell a story Day
28
International Astronomy Day
Great Poetry Reading Day
Kiss Your Mate Day

29
Greenery Day
National Shrimp Scampi Day
30
Hairstyle Appreciation Day
National Honesty Day






Thursday, March 27, 2014

More behind again!!

I've been letting myself get bogged down by depression.  I need to stop doing that- but honestly it is hard not to sometimes.  I don't have anything great to write tonight- I'm just writing SOMETHING so tomorrow I can be like- I did a post yesterday- I'm going to do a better one today.

cheers!
Nikkie

Monday, March 24, 2014

!@.@! <-figure that out bwa ha ha ha


Ok- so I've fallen flat on this project.  My last post was 12 days ago- and I think I missed about 12 days in February as well.  I spoke to my sister in law a little embarrassed that I haven't been able to keep up the daily post and she suggested that instead I just work towards 365 posts- instead of 365 days of posts.  SO I'm going to try that.  I'm also going to try to not get so far behind again.  I probably will not be getting caught up until after finals.  I have 5 more weeks of the semester.  That means I need to finish 300 sketchbook pages (this is not to say I'm going to do 300 pages in 5 weeks- but that I need to finish up those sketchbooks) try to re-paint 4 paintings, I think I have about 4 more for that class to do (that number depends on the professor) 3 illustrations to touch up for another class and I think we'll have at least 2 maybe 3 more illustrations for that class and then 3 illustrations for another class.  Which is a lot of words that basically say this: I have a LOT to do in the next few weeks.  Not really news or anything- its the end of a semester- that is how it goes.


Really the bad part of this time of the semester is the fact that I start to get overwhelmed and shut down.

That is actually why I stopped posting for 12 days.  Now most of those days I do have things I wanted to post- I just haven't uploaded them yet.  I still will- just, as mentioned above, I'm not sure when.

Tomorrow I will have a more researched post- but for today this is what you are getting :D

~Nikkie

P.S. I have been re-using pictures- not because I'm lazy- but because they convey so well the way I'm feeling.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

A few thoughts on fear... and other stuff.




Monday the 3rd I did some research and made a goal to start sleeping at least 7 hours a night.  I have successfully followed through on that goal- and go figure- I have more energy. YAY!! However- I still only have 24 hours in my day and about 36 hours a day to do it all.  So I need to come up with a system to get everything (or at least almost everything) done in a day that I need to.

I like making plans, goals and systems to achieve them.  I'm great at it in fact.  I'm less good at actually following through with anything.  Not that I'm an epic give-uper (not a real term I know) more like I'm a get-overwhelmed-and-then-not-starter.  I find I let fear control me more often than not.  Fear of failure specifically.  I share this thought a lot I think- bear with me as I share it again.

Fear is binding.  More so than any other emotion.  I can only speak from my own experience- but I imagine that many others struggle with the same issue that I do.  Fear comes in many different forms- but ultimately it all boils down to that basic emotion- and it seems every phrase associated with fear starts with 'what if'.

What if I mispronounce the words I'm learning in a new language?
What if I am unable to perform that solo properly?
What if I stumble in front of the entire theater?
What if my voice catches and a sing a sour note?
What if I cry uncontrollably in front of a crowd I am to speak to?
What if I draw that line wrong?
What if I never get any better?

What if? What if? What if? What if? What if? What if? What if? What if?

These are all real thoughts I've had.  Crippling real thoughts.  They may seem trivial or silly written down- but thoughts like these and many others have plagued me for years.  Not to say that I've spent my entire life boxed up not doing anything.

I pronounced the words wrong- they were nicely corrected.
I practiced the solo and was able to perform without anyone noticing any glaring errors.
I not only stumbled but did a full somersault during a dance once and got up and kept going.
My voice has caught while singing- and I continued on.
I've cried in front of people more times than I can count.
I draw badly all the time- but I'm working to get better.

The last 'What if' is the hardest of all.  It is what everything else boils down to, and could be phrased a completely with a slight word change to really illustrate the true question.

'What if I fail?'

What if?

The fact of that matter is simple:

I will fail.

So will you.

However.  I can keep going.

So can you.

The realness of these statements is something that we often ignore and forget.  The world we are in right now will show us in shining colors all of the success of everyone around us- without showing us their insecurities and their own failings.  I do not think that this is necessarily a a bad thing.  It is natural to want to put your best self out there for everyone to see.  You should.  You should also keep in mind that everyone else is doing the same.

I learned while writing this that there is a term for the fear of failure: Atychiphobia.  If you read the wiki entry it sounds pretty extreme.  I'm not suggesting that I'm to that level of extremeness, I just found it interesting that it had a name.  I'm far more interested in this article that discusses fear of failure in more realistic terms.

Ten Signs you Might have Fear of Failure

Now as the article points out it is not an official diagnosis of anything- but the 10 points it brings up are pretty interesting to me.  I'm pasting them below- but do check out the full article- it is worth reading.

1. Failing makes you worry about what other people think about you.
2. Failing makes you worry about your ability to pursue the future you desire.
3. Failing makes you worry that people will lose interest in you.
4. Failing makes you worry about how smart or capable you are.
5. Failing makes you worry about disappointing people whose opinion you value.
6. You tend to tell people beforehand that you don’t expect to succeed in order to lower their expectations.
7. Once you fail at something you have trouble imagining what you could have done differently to succeed.
8. You often get last minute headaches, stomachaches, or other physical symptoms that prevent you from completing your preparation.
9. You often get distracted by tasks that prevent you from completing your preparation that in hindsight were not as urgent as they seemed at the time.
10. You tend to procrastinate and ‘run out of time’ to complete you preparation adequately

Sadly- just about all of those describe me.  Which brings me back to my original paragraph before starting in on this little tangent.  I'm great at putting together plans and systems.  Often I will spend so much time working on the plan I never get to the goal itself.  SO what can I do about it? How can I fix this behavior.  Obviously I have accomplished things in my life- and I hope to be able to accomplish a lot more.  So I looked up some ways to move past these mental barricades- 'cause honestly- I've been letting fear get the better of me in recent years.

Stealing from the article again- I love the two things that Dr Winch shares on how to deal with fear.

1- Own the fear.
          he goes on to explain doing this can help you not sabotage yourself inwardly (read the whole thing he says a lot more than just that)
2- Focus on aspects in your control
          clearly- there are many things that you cannot control (usually other people) but you can control how you react and prepare for situations.

the next few are from me- things that I have done and do to get myself to try things. (They also tend to fall into the two categories that Dr Winch suggested)

3- Never say 'I cannot'
          I've learned the moment I say this I've given up control and no longer am willing to try.  If I keep thinking along the lines of 'I can' or 'I will' I tend to work at something.  (Also- it drives me crazy when people just sit down and say they cannot do something... of course they cannot you're just sitting there!)

4- know that failure is a way of learning
          OR- Be Friends With Failure <- this little graphic novel is amazing to me.  It sums up exactly how everyone feels at one point or another in their career.  (well almost everyone- I do have some friends that ooze confidence and seem to think the world owes them everything.  I think they either don't feel fear or have mastered the art of controlling it)

5- Just Do It!
          Nike kinda had a point.

6- Make goals.
          I've stated a few times that I like making goals- it's the achieving them that is hard.  I've read the best thing to do is set your goals, then break them down into smaller goals and achieve them one at a time. This is something I'll probably research farther, maybe another blog post later on?

7- Be nice to yourself
          Honestly- most people don't judge you anyway- but I know a lot of people (including myself) feel that way often.  However- you can control how you judge you.  And you have to live with you.  So be nice to yourself.  If you fail- and you will- find things to learn but more importantly don't tear yourself down.  'Hey self; yea that sketch isn't the best- but it isn't your last- lets keep going!' Or whatever self talk is most effective for you.

8- Practice and prepare (most applicable to performances)

9- Follow through with plans
          even if you have to drag yourself kicking and screaming

10- Don't Give Up
          that is the only time you can actually fail.

So most of these are restating themselves- that is ok- humans learn through repetition.  I have to repeat things to myself all the time.

I don't have a great conclusion to my ramblings (largely because I didn't get to writing this until pretty late and my mind is now having a hard time focusing) So I'm off to bed.

The gist is this- work for your dreams, make plans- but don't spend to much time making them, and then follow through and be the best you!

~Nikkie

Other interesting articles:
Overcoming Fear of Failure







Tuesday, March 11, 2014

part 3 Spring Break Progress


I'm rapidly running out of time! So today we continued the great shift.  It took all day but the Kids room is mostly set up.  My office has furniture in it but nothing else at the moment.  I'm exhausted so I'm turning in early- tomorrow will be a day of homework and organization.  Will be awesome.
~Nikkie

Monday, March 10, 2014

More Spring Break Progress

Once again I don't have a lot of time to write- I spent the whole day cleaning and shifting rooms.  I've done TONS of laundry- and my office that was full of boxes is just about empty now- soon it will be a the kids bedroom/toy room/tv room.  Soon as in tomorrow.  Assuming I can keep up the pace.  Of course all of this moving around has involved flooding my moms home with books and book shelves in order to make room for the new arrangement.  She is as of this moment in the process of putting all the books away and making everything look lovely.  She has a knack for that- it is something I need to work on- making your living space beautiful no matter what curve-balls are thrown at you.  Also have been working my way through that mound of laundry I mentioned yesterday- I think I only have 4 loads left.  Not sure though- its really hard to tell.
Like I said- I do not have a lot more to say beyond that so- I'm back to try to do something productive.
~Nikkie
10/365

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Spring Break Progress

a scene from one of my favorite movies ever-
Howl's Moving Castle.  This is Sofi cleaning house
Normally I try not to do housecleaning on Sundays; but today I decided that I only have 8 more days of vacation and about 15 days worth of stuff to do- SO I did some cleaning today.  We bought some bed risers yesterday for our bed- and today I put the bed on them.  It was a lot bigger of a job than I thought it would be- but often that seems to be the case.  After that my husband helped me sort all the stuff in the room.  We ended up with about 3 bags of trash plus a bunch of cardboard for recycling.  What remained was one laundry basket worth of household stuff and a heap of laundry that took up most of the room outside our bathroom and came up to my stomach.  So we're washing all of it- and as it comes out of the washing machine it is being sorted into the regular piles (towels, me, husband, son and daughter) and an extra pile for donation.  HOPEFULLY by tomorrow afternoon we'll be done and our room will work better.
I should have taken 'before' pictures- but I might still post after pictures to show some of the organization solutions we came up with for our room.
I know this post is a little lame- but I've been cleaning all day so I didn't have a lot of time to write up a really good post.  (This is something I am trying to find time for- as part of the reason for this blog is to help me find my writing skills again)

Night all
~Nikkie

Saturday, March 8, 2014

March is....

is... a pretty exciting month!
Tonight I just looked up a lot of random info about march- I'd heard it was national craft month and was wondering what else it was.  Below is what I found (I didn't have to look to hard- there are websites devoted to this kind of thing)  In any case- still interesting.

Did you know?

March is:
Irish-American Month
Music in Our Schools Month
National Craft Month
National Frozen Food Month
National Irish American Heritage Month- designated by Congress in 1995.
National Nutrition Month
National Peanut Month
National Women's History Month
Red Cross Month
Social Workers Month

Also for March the second week of the month is both national bubble week and crochet week.  (who knew?)

And then here are the fun weird holidays for march:

Sun.
Mon.
Tue.
Wed.
Thu.
Fri.
Sat.

1






National Pig Day
Peanut Butter Lover’s Day
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Old Stuff Day
Holidays in Notes Section

Holy Experiment Day
Hug a GI Day
Multiple Personality Day
Dentist’s Day
Frozen Food Day
Employee Appreciation Day
Salesperson Day
Be Nasty Day
International Women’s Day
9
10
11
12
13
14 Pi Day
15
Panic Day
Middle Name Pride Day
Johnny Appleseed Day
Worship of Tools Day
Girl Scouts Day
Plant a Flower Day
Ear Muff Day
Jewel Day
Popcorn Lover’s Day
Learn about Butterflies Day
National Potato Chip Day

Holidays in notes section
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Everything you do is right day
Freedom of Information day
Submarine Day
St Patrick’s Day
Goddess of Fertility Day
Supreme Sacrifice Day
Poultry Day
Earth Day
Extraterrestrial Abductions Day
Proposal Day
Fragrance Day

National Goof-off Day

23
24
25
26
27
28
29
National Chip and Dip Day
Near Miss Day
National Chocolate covered Raisin Day
National Agriculture Day
Pecan Day
Waffle Day
Make up your own holiday day
National “Joe” Day
Something on a stick day
National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day
Smoke and Mirrors Day
30
31





Take a walk in a park Day
Bunsen Burner Day
National Clam on a half shell day







notes
3rd: I want you to be Happy Day, If Pets had Thumbs Day, National Anthem Day, Peach Blossom Day
15th: Everything you think is wrong day, ides of march, incredible kid day, dumbstruck day, national quilting day

I thought this was fun info- maybe I'll look it up for next month as well- but on the first day of the month. I'm thinking of celebrating some of these holidays- and posting what I do.  For sure though I'm going to do something to celebrate the different themes of the month.  

Happy Days!
Nikkie