just some random...

Pretty excited that I won a challenge based on the layout I posted last week. $5 Studio Calico giftcard - woohoo! Here's my layout featured on SC's blog. This was the very first time I have entered my work in any sort of contest - so that's a pretty nice ego boost (even if it was a random drawing). :)

Today I'm still on that productivity kick. Currently listing some stuff on eBay that's been hanging around for months waiting to be dealt with. Hoping for big profits, but we'll see.

The countdown to callbacks for Beauty and the Beast next Sunday evening is on! I just printed my sheet music. Belle has to learn 3 songs. I'm not too worried - I have them mostly memorized already anyway. Hehe.

I'm wondering - is there ever an end to all the stuff that piles up waiting to be done? Will I ever be able to look around and say "wow...I don't have a desperate responsibility today!"? Probably not. The question is - how to find peace with knowing that it'll probably never happen. That's my new thought for the week.

The view out my back door right now:

I am so done with winter.

there are some things...

...that I truly enjoy.

• ...the 5 hours I spend off work on Monday afternoons (during the very short break between AGDT classes - this semester it's 4 weeks, 2 of which are now gone, and 1 of which is Labor Day and doesn't really count). It's the one time of the week when I feel that my house is not a lost cause, I might eventually catch up on the laundry, and there is hope for all of the never-ending projects.
  
• ...finding that there is a new specialty scrapbooking store in downtown Lees Summit, less than 5 miles from my house. It was especially nice to find that they carry a lot of specialty papers that I previously had to drive to Archiver's to acquire. I hope that someday I can have my own little business in a quaint little shop on a downtown street. Such fun!
  
• ...Date Night with Andrew. Sure, I might accidentally leave my delicious leftover Zio's on the table (along with the picture that he drew me with crayons on the tablecloth), and I might be horrified that some Hollywood genius picked Eric Bana to play Henry de Tamble in The Time Traveler's Wife movie adaptation, but... Gap's 40th birthday party meant piano music, free cake, bottled water, and M&M's at the checkout counter, PLUS $20 off delightful new jeans and an additional 15% off my total purchase. Eric Bana may be a crummy actor, but the story was still beautiful and I cried through the last half hour of the movie. Plus I spent time with my amazing man, without worrying about any of the silly projects waiting in my house. Yes, date night is a good thing.
  
• ...the feeling of accomplishment when I finally finish - or even start - a project. I put together the preliminary stuff on the AGDT Spring 09 DVD today in about an hour. That's a really good feeling.
  
• ...having my iPod at work. Really, what's better than being able to tune out the world around you and surround yourself in Josh Groban, fantastic Broadway (Little Mermaid, Shrek, Young Frankenstein and more), Coldplay, Owl City, and random old favorites from Straylight Run, Snow Patrol, Augustana, and Sarah Brightman. It really makes life much more bearable.
  
• ...eBay. There's something remarkable about online shopping, but eBay really takes the cake. I mean, you can find some amazing deals, interesting and exciting things that are either not available in America or out of print altogether, or just about anything. There's really nothing quite like the thrill of winning an auction in the last 5 seconds of bidding. And on top of all these good things, when it's all said and done, you get a surprise package in your mailbox containing these amazing purchases a few days later! It's all around just a good thing. And hey, if you have time and inclination, you can even make money selling things on eBay too. :)
  

That's it for now. What do YOU truly enjoy? Make time for one of those things...it's always worth it.