26. Finalize the wedding blog so it's ready by the time invites are sent out

It's not perfect but it's done to the point of ready for people to get information off of it.

http://www.michaelandjenneliwedding.blogspot.com/

A very productive week

This was a very productive week and my urge to read news and surf the web has really gone down. I spent a couple hours reading my old news sites and although it was fun to catch up, nothing had really happened that I needed to read. Though it was nice to get some details.

This week I'm going to focus on cleaning the house and getting everything put away in a good spot. After I get done with this post I'm going to add a few cleaning goals to the list. I'm also going to try to allow myself to do a little searching and surfing. I'm going to try to keep it below hours a do. Today I went a little over that but I'm not going to look the rest of today and just clean.

I feel pretty good about my progress.

8. Send out invitations for wedding

They are out! Well at least 95% of them. I took 300 to the post office this morning and posted them off. This is the first big project I've finished since my return to productivity. I've not got to finish off the website so when people receive the invite they won't be confused when hitting the website. Which if you are curious is michaelandjenneliwedding.blogspot.com

Hockwald helps with the invites

The end of day 3

Honestly, I thought I'd be able to check off at least a few items by today, but I guess one always underestimates the length of a task and over estimates the number of hours in a day. I'm really pushing to get all the invites out tomorrow.

It was far easier to do without looking up news items today. I'm beginning to think this is like any compulsive behavior. I'm always going to have a desire but it's manageable. If I can make it to Monday I want to shoot for one more week before I let up on the restrictions. Ideally I'd like to only research news an hour or 2 a day. I've gotten so much done the last 3 days I don't want to let that go. It's weird how memory works, this week has brought back memories of college and working at FSR. Not to say I've been working so hard but I've been at a task all day without breaks. I'm wondering if my mind hasn't adapted to the breaks I do give it, like this blog. Maybe I'll understand more next week.

Getting the invites out

We also can't decide on the stamp. All the choices!

EWB party on the beach

In a parade for Russ Warner

(I'm also testing updating this blog via my phone)

Jenneli paints @ LA Works

Jenneli and I spent the day painting a school at a LA works event. After painting few doors and some walls we proved ourselves worthy of mural work.

Day 2 of not reading news or surfing online

This morning was easier than yesterday morning. I still had pangs of wanting to do a little research on Obama's ethonal policy vs. McCain's but I'm persevering. Making french toast for breakfast was also a nice distraction. I figured out why NPR just isn't enough as I originally thought it should be. While it does a good job of covering topics it often leaves out the details, often the details are the most interesting.

I don't have to do 7 loads of laundry today so maybe I'll be able to get the wedding invites all ready to go out the door. I'm sad they just changed the price of postage, it limits our options on stamps. Why don't they just make all stamps "forever"?

Jenneli Having Fun

We volunteered for LAWorks last weekend to paint a school. Jenneli is
putting the finishing touches on her mural.

13. Post Blog on Hillaryis44 comments

I actually did this but within a couple posts I realized that http://hillaryis44.blogspot.com was doing a far better job than I was so I took mine down and just supported her efforts. If I wasn't swearing off reading news I would have already visited both the big pink and hillaryis44.blogspot.com by this time this morning. I'm still fascinated by the big pink, it reminds me so much of the creationists blogs I used to read it's a little scary.

23. Volunteer for Mark Warner

I can't remember when I first volunteered for Mark Warner. It must have been pretty soon after I put it on the list. Since May I've volunteered probably 20-30 hours by making calls, walking in parades, and mostly canvasing. I really think he's going to be able to win. The national media still does not see the race as competitive as the incumbent David Dryar has several million to spend on the race but there has been a shift in the demographics in the district and a lot of excitement on democratic side. Only time will tell, I plan on splitting my time this fall between Obama and Warner.

5. Get first draft of the wedding site blog up

The first version is up but it's going to need work before the invites go out.

http://www.michaelandjenneliwedding.blogspot.com/

Time to get back on the wagon

My grand plan fell apart but I'm back and more serious than ever. There are many things to blame my lack of action on but I'm going to single out reading the news. As a result I'm spending the next week focusing on this task list. I'm not going to read news online, nor will there be any surfing. I'm limiting my access to blogging, wedding, and managing my finances.

My friend Adam did something similar a few weeks back, we'll see if I can last as long as he did. I can already tell this is going to be very difficult. I've only been up since 8 and the past 2 hours have been long. I've gotten a lot done though, so I feel good about that. Right now I'm cleaning and doing laundry. As soon as most of the cleaning is finished I'm going to start cranking out the wedding invites.