Daily Must Do's

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I am a list maker. Whether it's for the grocery store, chores, or work-related items to tackle for the day, I make a list to make sure nothing is forgotten or overlooked or--gasp!--not attended to.

Along with this, there are certain daily habits I aim to cultivate. Things or actions that are important to me and that I want to make sure get done every single day on top of whatever might be on the list of the moment. The problem is, there are only so many hours in the day, I appear to have a limited amount of willpower upon which to call, and the list keeps growing.

For example, my current list of "daily must do's" reads as follows:

  • Meditate
  • Morning pages - handwrite 3 pages about anything first thing in the morning.
  • 8 Minute Workout - This is weight training from George Cruz's book by the same title. I'm trying to get myself into the habit of working with weights now, so that when my running schedule picks up again, the habit is fully formed.
  • Write 1,000 new words EACH & EVERY DAY on a new YA novel I'm working on.  The "each and every day" part must be stressed or else I'll do the "I'll write my 1,000 words tomorrow" trick and suddenly it's Friday and I owe myself 7,000 words!
  • Stretch. Especially that right hamstring which still appears to be tightening instead of loosening.
  • Drink 8 glasses of water (or thereabouts).
  • Play with cats.

The almost daily activities include:

  • Run - 5x/week
  • Yoga - Would prefer 3x/week, but I've been doing two.
  • Cook - 4x/week

There is more I'd like to add to the weekly list, such as a certain amount of time to spent outdoors, reading, focusing on marketing work, straightening the house, connecting with family/friends, etc.

When I look at my main list, it doesn't look bad at all. It's only 2-3 hours, depending on how long the 1,000 words take. So it just shouldn't be that hard to fit in. But somehow when I add in e-mail and work and runs and showering and phone calls and errands... things get set to the side.

I'm not really complaining. I love my life and the freedom that comes with it. That's probably part of my problem. I know I have "all day" to get stuff done and time just slips away. Plus, there is the teeniest-tiniest chance that I may be too regimented in my approach to life. (But just a tiny chance...)

What about you all? Any "must do's" on your daily list?

Car Shopping - Part II

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I have been a busy little car shopper. To date, I have test driven a Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Saturn Aura, Saturn Ion, and a BMW something or other (I expected to love it but it was a sportier model and made a ton of noise and the acceleration felt jerky). I have looked at Malibu's, Kia's, Lexus', and ... oh shoot, a lot more. (I'm not a car person -- I don't easily recall makes or models. But I can tell you the colors of the cars I looked at...)

Blair went with me to CarMax today where I sat in quite a few different model cars and was able to eliminate them based on little more then that. I believe I have settled on the car I want. Not the exact car itself, but I know the make and model. I'm not revealing it yet. Want to do some online research first.

But I feel like a weight has been lifted. Most of this is due to wonderful friends.  Aside from the advice posted on earlier blog entries, several friends have e-mailed me and put me in touch with their mechanics, their husbands who work in financing and car sales, etc. I feel well cared for. I'm over the "Aaaugh, we bought a lemon" phase and am looking forward to having a new (used) car. 

Still, no rush. We're going to price compare online and talk to friends with connections at auto dealerships before we buy.

But at least the test-driving-looking process is close to over. And I am a happy, happy camper for it.

Have a great Memorial Weekend.

Car Shopping

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I spent two hours car shopping today. It's all I could take.

The guy at the Nissan dealership was lovely. Very low-key, actually talked up Honda Accords (he owns a Honda and used to work at the Honda dealership.) I test drove a 2005 Altima and, aside from the dashboard, liked it very much. The dashboard has these funky looking... tunnels... you peer down to see your speed, mileage, etc. Not lovin' the tunnels. But the ride was great.

Then I went to the Honda dealership where I met the very definition of a used car salesman. Super nice guy but just dripped used car sales. I was his favorite customer. He liked me. He would fight for me. He was just an ol' country-boy trying to do the right thing.  What set me off is I went in and said, "I'm not buying today.  I just want to test drive an Accord." And instead of taking me out to the lot, he went to talk to his manager about the best deal he could get me--today--for a car. He was selling me the car before we were even on the lot. I drove a 2007 Accord, 23,000 miles. Nice, but didn't really do it for me. I liked the Altima better.  But if I could make a decision in the next 24 hours (and here he pulled me to the side so his manager wouldn't see that he was just giving the car away), he could problably get me an aggressive end-of-month deal.

It's a great car and decent price but just... ick. I hate being sold to.

I went to Saturn's site and I think I want to test drive an Aura. I loved my Saturn SW so maybe I should just go back to them.

Unfortunately with all of these, I'm creeping out of the price range I'd set for myself.  I swear, is there no service I can pay and just say, "This is what I want. Go get me the very best deal possible and call me when it's done?"

And why is there no damn mass transit system in my area? Phooey.

Dena

(Who apologizes to her readers for her foul mood while writing this.)