12.12.2016 -- Eighth and final week of Bullet Journal Reboot

This is Week 8 of my Bullet Journal reboot. I am still loving it!

What worked?

Everything. 

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Nothing.

What did I change?

My new weekly spread is still awesome. I love it, and I will be using it again.

My trackers are working well. I may make another for 2017, not sure yet.

The weekly task list is working. I am not able to overschedule this way. I like it. Even if I change up my weekly spreads in 2017, I will definitely keep the limited space for tasks for each day.

Wrap and Map is working well. Making a time to review my day is very valuable and I’m sure will help me remember much more than I have been.

I suspect that any new spread I do may well have a Dutch door because I love it!

What will I change?

Nothing.

This is the final week of reporting on my Bullet Journal Reboot. 

I think I will use the next two weeks to talk about planning for 2017 since that is a big part of my work this month.

I’m not sure what to do in the new year. I love the Bullet Journal and am not planning on exploring any other options. I can still check in every week about my Bullet Journal, but I’m afraid you might get bored with that.

If you have any ideas about what you would like me to address in January and after, I’d love to hear from you. This blog has been for me, certainly, but it is also for you. If there is anything that would help you and it is within my power to do it, I would love to.

Have a terrific week!

Bright Blessings   – Cedar

You can find me on Facebook on my personal page: 

https://www.facebook.com/cedarwolfsinger?fref=ts

And my company page:

https://www.facebook.com/CedarsProofreadingAndEditing/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

and – drum roll please – at my new Author page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-Wolfsinger-1538605939498546/

I am also on Twitter:

@michelle owings-chri

LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-owings-christian-bbb7278

branded.me:

https://branded.me/michelleowings-christian

Week 7 Bullet Journal Reboot

This is Week 7 of my Bullet Journal reboot. I am still loving it!

What worked?

Everything. 

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Nothing.

What did I change?

My new weekly spread was awesome. I love it, and I will be using it again this week. The strategy of only having four lines for tasks worked well – except for the day when one task I thought would require four hours required eight instead!

I created two trackers last week. I liked them, I liked using them, they were very good for me. I changed one up a bit.

The weekly task list worked very well. Again, I overscheduled a bit, however, I had a high fatigue week, which did make a difference. I believe the concept to be sound and I expect to be able to improve how I use it.

Wrap and Map was wonderful. Making a time to review my day was very valuable and I’m sure will help me remember much more than I have been.

I am still deliriously thrilled with my Dutch Door.

What will I change?

Nothing.

November

--I finished NaNoWriMo with 70763 words and wrote every day. I won the badge!

--I completed this Blog every week.

 --On my Wordcrafter Blog, I posted the following NaNoWriMo Pep Talks (which also went on a forum on the NaNoWriMo site) – four in week 1; three in week 2; three in week 3; three in week 4; and one in week 5.

 --I hosted four Write-Ins at the local library.

 --I participated in eight of my region’s Online Write-Ins.

 --I also kept up with my bullet journal, and got more and more creative with it.

Goals for December

Assessing 2016 and planning for 2017

--I started one online planning class on the first of December.

--A second class starts today.

Preparing My 2017 Bullet Journal

--I have a list of collections and spreads to look at for January.

--I am waiting for the results of the two planning classes to determine EXACTLY what will go in the 2017 Bullet Journal.

Closing out my 2016 Word Count Spreadsheet

--I have a few additional ways I want to see the information I’ve already recorded.

Building my 2017 Word Count Spreadsheet

--I have some ideas about making more categories and placeholders for next year

--If the additional ways of displaying information work out, I will build that in.

Making a few gifts

--I have a few Christmas gifts I want to make, and the other day I found a whole stash of the materials to make things!!

Learning Music for Christmas Eve

--I must make every rehearsal from now until Christmas, so I have time to learn the music. Most years, there is a mix of new pieces and those we have sung before (this will be my 10^th or 11^th Christmas at this Fellowship). This year EVERY PIECE IS NEW.

--I will be attending and performing in both services we have on Christmas Eve, which I have done for many years. I expect that will be more taxing this year than it has been in the past. I don’t care!

I hope your December will be wonderful, full of small joys and wonderful celebrations. Have a great week and I’ll be back to report next week.

Bright Blessings   – Cedar

You can find me on Facebook on my personal page: 

https://www.facebook.com/cedarwolfsinger?fref=ts

And my company page:

https://www.facebook.com/CedarsProofreadingAndEditing/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

and – drum roll please – at my new Author page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-Wolfsinger-1538605939498546/

I am also on Twitter:

@michelle owings-chri

LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-owings-christian-bbb7278

branded.me:

https://branded.me/michelleowings-christian

Week 6 of Bullet Journal Reboot -- 11.28.2016

This is Week 6 of using my Bullet Journal again. I am loving it more and more each day.

What worked?

Everything. 

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Nothing.

What did I change?

Nothing.

What will I change?

Oh, My Goodness!  I have joined several Facebook groups for Bullet Journaling. Besides being some of the nicest, most caring, and most creative folks, they are willing and eager to share their ideas. I have also poked around on the Internet. I am SO EXCITED – I made a totally different weekly spread AND it has a Dutch Door. (There will be photos!)

Recently, through my Bullet Journal, I have re-discovered my creativity for areas other than writing. I don’t draw and I don’t do fancy lettering (although I am thinking of poking at free resources on the Internet to change that). However, I can use stickers and pull pieces of different spreads together to make them work for me.

This is the first page of my new spread:

One of the reasons I went to a spread with less room to list tasks every day is something I have discussed on this blog before I tend to over schedule my days. This spread only has four lines for tasks per day, making it less likely that I will overschedule since I WON’T make a task that says “Do all the things!”

This is photo of the second page of my new spread:

As you can see, I made a list of the things I want to get done this week. Each night, when I do my Wrap and Map (wrapping up the day and mapping out the next day), I will put a few tasks on the next day’s spread. I think this is a good plan and I am happy with the concept. I don’t know if it will be effective – I’ll try and report next week!

Last night, when I turned off my electronics and picked up my BuJo, I realized that I have some things I do every day that I want to see in front of me to remind me to do them and then give me the satisfaction of knowing I have done them and checked them off. There was no place to do that in the new spread. OOPS!

Then I remembered seeing spreads with what they call a Dutch Door – and I made one!

This morning, after I did my Journaling, I found these little stars and decided to use them instead of check marks or coloring in the boxes.

 On the other side of the Dutch Door, I made an “Unlisted Tasks Done” column. I have the two inside columns blank. I may fill them as the week goes on and I think of what might work on them. At this moment, I can’t think of anything.

General accountability:

This is the last week of NaNoWriMo. I have written every day. I hit 50K on November 18^th. I am still writing. I still have my eye on that badge generated by the NaNo site for writing every day. I want it. We’ll see if I can do that this year. I also decided I needed a new goal to motivate me to get to Wednesday in style – I am now shooting for 70K.

I will do an assessment of November and goals for December next week. I hope this week brings you joy and many creative outlets!

Bright Blessings   – Cedar

You can find me on Facebook on my personal page: 

https://www.facebook.com/cedarwolfsinger?fref=ts

And my company page:

https://www.facebook.com/CedarsProofreadingAndEditing/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

and – drum roll please – at my new Author page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-Wolfsinger-1538605939498546/

I am also on Twitter:

@michelle owings-chri

LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-owings-christian-bbb7278

branded.me:

https://branded.me/michelleowings-christian

Week 5 of Bullet Journal as my Portable Calendar

This is the fifth week that I have used my Bullet Journal for my portable calendar. I love it.

What worked?

Everything. 

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Nothing.

What did I change?

Nothing.

What will I change?

I have been poking at new weekly spreads. I won’t change that THIS WEEK. However, I have marked out some time on Thanksgiving Day to play with the new spreads and see if I will change that up NEXT WEEK.

General accountability:

This is the fourth week of NaNoWriMo. I have written every day. I hit 50K a few days ago. I am still writing. However, the pressure is off, and that’s good a good thing. I still have my eye on that badge generated by the NaNo site that is the badge you get for writing every day. I want it. We’ll see if I can do that this year.

If you are in the USA, have a Happy Thanksgiving and travel safely. I hope you have a productive week! If you are participating in NaNoWriMo – write prolifically and HAVE FUN!!

Bright Blessings   – Cedar

You can find me on Facebook on my personal page: 

https://www.facebook.com/cedarwolfsinger?fref=ts

And my company page:

https://www.facebook.com/CedarsProofreadingAndEditing/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

and – drum roll please – at my new Author page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-Wolfsinger-1538605939498546/

I am also on Twitter:

@michelle owings-chri

LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-owings-christian-bbb7278

branded.me:

https://branded.me/michelleowings-christian

Week 4 of the Bullet Journal as portable calendar

This is the fourth week that I have used my Bullet Journal for my portable calendar. I love it.

What worked?

Everything. 

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Nothing.

What did I change?

Nothing.

What will I change?

I put a few pieces of paper behind my December monthly calendar. This way I have a place to put brain dumps for what I want to do next month.

General accountability:

Today starts the third week of NaNoWriMo. I have written every day. I am eight days ahead of the target word count. I’m very glad because today I woke up with a cold – stuffy head, crunchy lungs, coughing… and I expect I will go down for a nap after I post this blog. I plan to write today, and I will.  If I don’t write as much as I have been, my cushion will see me through.

I have created a Thread on the Writing Groups and Clubs Forum on the NaNoWriMo site. It is entitled “Pom-poms and Pep Talks”. It takes much less time than cutting and pasting into direct NaNoMails for 40 people.

I hope you have a productive week! If you are participating in NaNoWriMo – write prolifically and HAVE FUN!!

Bright Blessings   – Cedar

You can find me on Facebook on my personal page: 

https://www.facebook.com/cedarwolfsinger?fref=ts

And my company page:

https://www.facebook.com/CedarsProofreadingAndEditing/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

and – drum roll please – at my new Author page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-Wolfsinger-1538605939498546/

I am also on Twitter:

@michelle owings-chri

LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-owings-christian-bbb7278

branded.me:

https://branded.me/michelleowings-christian

Election 2016 -- The Person I CHOOSE to be in the World

This morning, when I heard the results of the Election, I was devastated. I have the bad taste to be poor and I believe that the party that is coming into power will do all it can to ensure that poor and disabled folks die and help decrease the surplus population. (Apologies to Charles Dickens.) I was miserable and depressed and convinced I would be dead within the year. Yes, I had a true “Dark Night of the Soul”.  I finally went to sleep at around 4 AM. I woke up at 6 AM and went right back to sleep until 8:30 AM. The alarm was set for 9 AM, and as I snuggled up in bed being warm and not wanting to get up, I began to think of who I am and who I want to be in the world.

A few weeks ago, my sister and I were talking and she said: “There is no ‘give up’ in you, girl.” Obviously, in the middle of the night, I was made entirely of “give up”. This morning, I started thinking of my family. I never met my paternal grandmother, she died when my Father was 13 years old. However, when I was a teenager, I found a photo of her – and it was like looking in a mirror. I look exactly like my Grandmother Flossie. I suspect she was a strong woman since she held on to life for six years after her husband passed away. She was there for my Father, and it couldn’t have been easy for her. My maternal grandmother, Rosina, was born in Italy. When my Grandfather asked her to marry him, her family didn’t approve. She said, “Either you give me your permission or we’ll live in sin.” That was anathema to an Italian Catholic family, so they gave their grudging permission. Rosina raised ten children in NYC from the late 19-teens to the 1940s, on very little money, and without knowing English very well at all. My Father had no “give up” in him. He was in the US Navy, attached to the First Marine Division on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in World War II. Daddy made up funny stories about his time in the South Pacific, which I didn’t understand was NOT a funny time until I was in college. Finally, my Mother, Patsy, was a strong and opinionated woman. She didn’t know the meaning of the phrase “give up”. These are my people. These are the people from whom I came, the people from whom I learned about life. Their granddaughter and daughter would not be wallowing in despair. I also came from a very musical family. When I was a child, my parents and aunts and uncles listened to Woody Guthrie, the Weavers, Joan Baez – protest songs and activism. That is what I know.

I have no way to influence the results of yesterday’s election. I voted. The candidate for whom I voted did not win. That’s happened to me before and I have survived. Those other candidates were never as frightening and repulsive to me as this one is. I can choose the way I will be in the world. I can choose to be kind and polite and sing my heart out about not giving up and supporting the people who are at risk from the policies and beliefs of this candidate. Then I WILL DO IT. I will stand between the people at risk and those who would harm them. I will fight for them. I will link arms with others and surround their places of worship to protect them from the police and those who would take away their freedom of religion. I will listen when they are low. I will tell them I love them. I will sing when there is nothing else to do.

I am a Bard from a line of Bards. I eulogized my Father and my Older Brother when they died. I did it because I love them and they deserved to have someone who loved them honor them. I did that because it was given me to do.

I choose to be the ME I have mostly been in the world. I REFUSE to let them change me into someone who acts like them. I will express my anger when I am angry. I will do so in as calm a manner as possible. Since I am Italian and Irish/Scots/English and Welsh, I might not always be successful. When I am not, I will apologize and hope to learn better and do better. I refuse to act out of hate. I refuse to hate. And FEAR (f**k everything and run) stopped being an option at least a decade ago.

I have young people who look to me as a Mentor, and Elder, a Wisdom keeper. I will fight so they can see what fighting looks like. I will put myself on the line for people who are at risk. My ancestors would have done it. They are not here. I will do it, for them and for me. I will do it so my Great Niece and the other young people who look to me will see how a committed person of faith acts in difficult times. I will stand between the Nameless Dark and the people it wants to hurt and will say “No. These are not for you. BE YE GONE!!” and the Nameless will go – at least for that time.

(These are the songs I had playing in my head earlier today. I posted them on Facebook today. Listen or scroll past. Your choice. I hope they give you strength.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ3WycQhGsI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPwRnS7ZEA0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNM1w_POhE0

I hope you can choose your own way out of despair and fear. If I can help you with that, please feel free to contact me.

Blessings to you, your friends, your family, and our country.

Cedar

Bullet Journal Revisited -- Week 3

This is the third week that I have used my Bullet Journal for my portable calendar. It is working very well. I’m not particularly surprised since I loved it the first time I tried it.

What worked?

Everything.  

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Nothing.

What did I change?

I have been looking at spreads online, and even have joined a few Facebook groups of Bullet Journal users. So many of the spreads are beautifully drawn and carefully lettered and amazingly colorful. I am drawing-impaired, can’t afford to go out and buy washi tape right now, and was feeling down because my Bullet Journal just wasn’t PRETTY. It was useful and effective and certainly wasn’t UGLY – it just was NOT pretty. Then I discovered something that does NOT require drawing skill that I already own, that will make it pretty. STICKERS!!! I went a little nuts with stickers. It makes me happy and I am using my Bullet Journal all the time now, keeping it open on my desk, propped up so I can see it, and it is the last thing I grab when I am on my way out the door.

I also have been using a Habit Tracker and a NaNoWriMo word count tracker I printed from the Internet.

 What will I change?

I have a list on scraps of paper that should be in my Bullet Journal of spreads I want to consider for 2017.

General accountability:

I finished the first week of NaNoWriMo. I have written every day. I am ahead of the target word count, which is wonderful.

I am using Scrivener – AND LOVING IT.  I am using the split screen function daily. I can have research up on one side and the story on the other. It is a treat.  I have also discovered that if you click on the Chapter folder, it will give you the word count for all the scenes in the chapter. Since I call my Chapters by the Day of NaNo (Day 1, Day 2), when I am done for the day I only click on the Chapter that says that day and there is my word count. Like Magick!!

I have created a Thread on the Writing Groups and Clubs Forum on the NaNoWriMo site. It is entitled “Pom-poms and Pep Talks”. It takes much less time than cutting and pasting into direct NaNoMails for 40 people.

I hope you have a productive week! If you are participating in NaNoWriMo – write prolifically and HAVE FUN!!

Bright Blessings   – Cedar

You can find me on Facebook on my personal page: 

https://www.facebook.com/cedarwolfsinger?fref=ts

And my company page:

https://www.facebook.com/CedarsProofreadingAndEditing/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

and – drum roll please – at my new Author page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-Wolfsinger-1538605939498546/

I am also on Twitter:

@michelle owings-chri

LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-owings-christian-bbb7278

branded.me:

https://branded.me/michelleowings-christian