How to Procrastinate 100% Guilt-Free

August Procrastination Post....Enjoy!!

1. Plan your procrastination. If you let a task sneak up on you and then blow it off, you'll feel guilty. 
   
2. Indulge all of your guilty pleasures until all of your guilt is gone. 
   
3. Carry a list of your accomplishments dating back to childhood to ward off thoughts that you're lazy. 
   
4. Think of all the people who don't even have a task list or goals. 
   
5. Remember a great time you had while avoiding something you loathed. 
   
6. List all the nonprocrastinators you know who lead balanced lives. Short list, huh? 
   
7. Make a list of the productive plans you'll make in the near future. 
   
8. Procrastinate with a friend. That way you can always say, "Well, they did it too."
   
9. Learn a neat skill like juggling that you'll have for the rest f your life. 
   
10. Master Task Value Assessment (TVA) - the art of evaluating the task versus the alternatives. 
    

And your personal procrastination list challenge: List 10 valuable things you do while procrastinating. (Keep this list handy when you feel guilty about procrastination.)

What I'll Miss.....

People keep asking me "Aren't you going to miss this?" as they point to something while bringing up the fact that I'm moving. And since my time here is limited (8 weeks from today the movers arrive....5 more Mondays, 3 more Tuesdays, 6 more Wednesday - Fridays), I decided on my drive home that I would address this question and list what I will miss about California.

First, addressing the question... Yes, there are certain aspects of California that I will miss. On the other hand, there are a number of things that I will not miss.... but that isn't what this is about. Here's some of the things that I'll miss, and I confess that I'm stealing some of these from the Queen:

1. The fog coming over the mountains
2. Walking to the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building
3. Easy access to the wine country
4. The weather since it is pretty consistent and runs on the cooler side
5. The fog wrapping the city in a cool cotton blanket
6. My friends and their families
7. LaBelle's Spa for massages and their comfy, comfy robes
8. Tahoe, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay and the drives there
9. KFog - radio station
10. Friends and family coming to visit, but this way I'll have friends come East to visit me now
11. My Primary Care Physician.... she is really great and I feel very comfortable with her
12. My quilt store... I learned how to do long arm quilting there and they are really nice ladies
13. Monterey Bay Aquarium, even though I only went there once
14. All the great parks around and the great views
15. Camping with friends
16. Horseback riding in the Santa Cruz mountain area
17. Taking the Ferry to Sausalito
18. All the great restaurants
19. Sitting in Sam's backyard by the fire drinking sparkling wine
20. Medjool's, even though I haven't been there in quite some time
21. Watching the fireworks and the Blue Angels from the roof of my apartment
22. Calistoga and just resting there

I'm sure there are lots of things that I've forgotten, but those will just need to be things that I do/see when I come back and visit. And yes, I made it to a list of 22 for all you 22-ophiles. And I also wanted to note that I'll be leaving the general Bay area on 9/22... Coincidence?

Addendum:

A couple of things that I forgot from my initial list:

- Going and seeing my friend Abby and her circus perform

- Tartine Bakery - They have THE BEST croissants!!

How To Relax...ABBA-style

I have had a crappy day. Very stressful and verge of tears crappy. Out of the blue, my friend Vanessa pings me and asks if I want to join her for dinner and I say "YES!" We chatted about our bad days over Mimi's salads and bread then decided to walk over to Target. She needed to pick up some mascara and I just wanted to kill a little more time to let the traffic die down.

So, we wander around and end up in the toy section. We ended up pushing every "Try Me" button and just cracking ourselves up. It was really a great way to get rid of some of my stress and tension.
Therefore, ABBA's way to relax is very cheap and easily obtained....play with toys and laugh like an 8 year old... I highly recommend it.

Brain Dump

I really wish there was some way that I could just brain dump some of my ideas into fully formed blogs. I write GREAT blogs as I'm driving to and from the office but by the time I get to where I'm going and I fire up ye ol' computer I'm distracted into doing something else or the idea has evaporated into thin air. I really wish I could have my blogs spring fully formed from my head much like Athena did from Zeus's head....

My latest mind rumblings have been around my post-Texas move post-life with the Queen living situation. I started thinking about living in a loft because I want to think of myself as a cool artsy person and living in a loft would epitomize that. But then I have to say to myself, "Self, you are not an Urban person. You have realized this over the past year while living in your current digs. So stop trying to dream your way into a cool lofty atmosphere."

I was also giving thoughts to getting into a condo in a high-rise building. Kinda like the pad the Jeffersons lived in...."movin' on up....to the East side....to a deluxe apartment in the sky-hi-hi...". But again, "Self, that would be too urban, even in the Turtle Creek area with all the trees around."

So, where to do I see myself? I'm not a yard person, so if I get a house it'll have to be a zero lot-line place. I could stay living in apartments around the DFW area, but I'm tired of apartment living. It'd be nice to get an older place that has established trees around it and a small town feel. I could start trolling for a man who already has a place and just push my way into his life.

I guess I can't really make that decision just yet, but it is something that I have to think about....

In the meantime, it might be easier for me to figure out a way to have these blogs spring fully formed Athena-style from my head....