I finished, finally!

This week, I finally finished Luke, the 15 year old yellow Lab. The lady who commissioned me to draw him, loved it. Feels good to have this monkey off my back. :)

Charlie bought me new roller blades for Valentines Day. Finally, no more old school clunkers. I bought myself a new MP3 player as well. Profit sharing checks come out on Valentines Day every year. It is like Christmas all over again.

Still no word on the new job. It hasnt even been posted yet. And believe me, when it does finally post, I will write all about it.

Still working on getting up early...not much luck yet. Going to try to go to bed earlier tonight. I am hoping it will get easier. Just hoping. Sigh.

Weekends and holidays?

Well, it seems like much has happened in a week. I might be changing jobs. Nope. Not from being a flight attendant, but from being an instructor. There is an opening to work in the Regulatory and Compliance department. I would be writing and updating the flight attendant manual. That part might not be so exciting but the part of investigating accidents and incidents on the airplane would be. It would be a 12 month pull. So basically, I remain a flight attendant, but I will be working in an office. I would learn tenfold. And I would get weekends and holidays off. Weekends and holidays. I just love the sound of that. And if they cutback on jobs, they will always need a person to write manuals. (That is, if that big merger happens...but of course, it is not.)

So I am going to apply. They announced the position today. This also means, I would also be giving up teaching. That part will be tough to let go. And I will be giving up the photography job. That was never a guarantee though...and that would only be for a couple of months. So this changes the name of the game. Should I still join toastmasters to learn public speaking? I will not be dealing with people anymore...so is this still worth pursuing?

This will be something to think about.

The job is supposed to start March 1. So if I get the job, I will know something soon. I will keep you posted. What ever will be will be.

I get knocked down!

Well. I have not wanted to write in the blog because I have not been proud of the fact I have not finished anything I have started. Maybe it was just too much too fast? My 30 day trial of waking up early lasted 3 days. My self portrait project also needs to be restarted. But hey, at least I am keeping with this goal of writing in my blog at least once a week. :)

So I should focus on the positives. I have been juicing at least 6 times last week. It has definitely given me more energy. Now I know why spinach made Popeye so strong. But I find that familiar side of me becoming bored with this project already. I am going to research some different combinations. I would like to overcome this part of my personality.

I also ran at least 3 times last week. I have signed up for the March 8th Bayou City 10k run. It has been a rusty beginning since the half marathon but I am sure I will be up to speed in no time. I have given up sweets for Lent, and that has been also been a tough one. The cravings have been horrendous and I hope they start to fade away. Charlie is doing it with me so that is helping me more than he will ever know.

What have I learned so far in the first 11 days of this month? I am not going to change overnight. I tell Charlie, my motto is from that song from Chumbawamba, "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never going to keep me down!"

I am going to treat the getting up early like a baseball team on a winning streak. My goal will be to make the winning streak 30 days. Now this might take all year, but I am going to do this so I can cross it off my list.

I have been doing some more reading too. I would like to highlight the biggest points I have learned.

1. Sing on the top of your lungs when you are alone in your car. It makes your voice stronger.


2. There is a man in Alburquerque who lives on under $4,000 a year comfortably. I found the article interesting and inspiring (although I would never follow his extreme, I admire his self discipline.)


3. Too much time is spent time looking at the grass in other people's lawns that we dont see the diamond mine in our own yards. (From Earl Nightengale: Take the Lead)


4. I missed teaching. I am glad to be back. I am still shaking off the cobwebs though. I learned today, people will say to my face they dont like me because I am a mean. (I did not let people cheat on their testing.) I shall not take this personal. It's just business and I will not take it to heart. That was my challenge of the day and probably will be for the month.

Welcome back to the training center, Jenny.

Day one: Wake up early trial

Ok. So I failed on the first day. I was supposed to wake up at 5:15 am. I did not wake up until 6:15am. But I have some pretty good excuses lined up. Ready to hear me out?

1. We went to the birthday party of our friend Brandon this weekend in Austin. We sang karaoke until the wee hours of the morning. I went to bed close to 4am. It was a blast! My voice was hoarse all day Sunday. Does this mean I can cross this goal off my list? I am undecided, because it is easy to sing in front of friends....but strangers? That is a different story. Maybe I should just modify that goal...


2. The GIANTS. Need I say more? I was so pumped up last night. It took me awhile to calm down and go to bed. Best Superbowl game ever for me! It was so awesome. And the fact we won $450 in our football pool is gravy...just gravy. :)

Okay, so maybe I only have 2 excuses. But damn it! They are big ones! I was just a wee bit sleep deprived. Not the best time to start this trial, but nevertheless, I still tried.  So, here is the new plan. I woke up at 6:15am this morning. Tomorrow, I will wake up 15 minutes earlier, 6:00am. And then 15 minutes earlier the next day...and so forth, until I can get to 5:15am. And that is when the 30 days will begin. Baby steps to victory! Who is with me?!

Oh, and if you have been wondering about the self portrait project, I am still going strong. I just need to upload those. I will get to them soon. Promise.