On Getting my Life Back....

AHHHHHHHH...... yes, I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's shining brightly. After spending most of my vacation week and two 14 hour work at home days, the ASSessment is done! (At least what I could do at home.) I still have some activities to do with the kids at school this week, then I'll gladly pack the binders up and ready them for UPS pickup.

So, now that the HUGE monkey is off my back, I can focus on moving forward. I've been thinking about which direction I want to go in terms of my whole brand and new media presence and have spoken to someone that I trust about revamping my site(s). That is definitely a priority at this point and will get the ball rolling for other changes coming down the pike.

During an evening of chatting with Chris Penn about a variety of things, the convo turned to the social media circles and I mentioned that there were sooo many things cropping up and that living in this world takes up time. He said something very profound which made me sit up and think:

"Just don't get too caught up in it. We spend a lot of time learning the tools of social media without DOING something with them."

So, that's it... not just spending time playing and meeting people, which is fun and nice, but to use them to work towards our goals. Trouble is, when you're not really sure where it is you want to ultimately end up. For me, my initial foray into the online world and community began as a Patriots Super-Fan but there is so much more out there and so much more that I'm interested in.

• Yes, I'm intending on continuing to use new media to move forward with my Patriots passion, but there's always that fine line that I walk between wanting to take it to the next media level and remaining "The Fan".
  
• I'm a Special Educator, and love what I do. Unlike many in the podcasting community, I don't share their aspirations of "quitting the day job". Of course, this may have to do with the fact that the Pats Passion which fuels my podcast is a past-time and hobby, while I love working with my students and if I HAVE to work, there is nothing else I'd rather do. (Of course, if I didn't have to work, I would be home in a minute, but that's not even a realistic thought.)
• I LOVE podcasting and the community itself. However, having a podcast about the Pats requires ample time in the Patriots community as well. Time that I used to spend hanging with Pats people in the forums and chats, is now shared (and at times replaced) with time hanging with the podcast/new media community folks.
  

• I still plan on starting a non-sports related podcast and it's just a matter of getting a chunk of time to get it up and running.
• Of course, I'm learning about the technology as I go along, as I'm a geek world "new blood". (I've been a book nerd my whole life, but fairly new into the tech world, so every day is a learning experience for me.)
  

So, where am I going? What direction am I taking this? What am I going to DO with it? Steve Garfield has some ideas on this subject as well Thing is... I love many things but they're not necessarily related... Yes, they are all tied together through this new media world but there are just so many hours in each day and we've just one life to live. I guess time will tell....

Btw.... just 37 days of school left so I'm REALLY going to get my life back soon!

Technorati: assessment, Chris+Penn, Steve+Garfield, Autism Podcast, patriots, brand

No Denying It....

Rainy school vacation week... time for doing... well things like this just for fun :-)

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast   Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Midland
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Wicked Kewl!

Thanks to fellow Twitterer Virgil66 for the link in his blog.

Technorati quiz accent

Thinking....

This morning was a rare morning for me. Rather than being up at the crack of dawn before the rest of the family, jumping into my To Do list, I actually laid awake in bed for a good hour, eyes closed, curled up with my pillow, listening to the spring rain through the cracked window, just thinking.

It's not often that I'm not actually DOING, rather just THINKING........ (I even tried my best to not think about things I had to do...just think) I thought about my family, thought about that first mouthful of coffee and how good it would taste, how comforting the rain sounded hitting my roof, the feeling of the sheets against my skin, the smell of the earth coming through my window and the fact that I should slow down sometimes and do this more often.... What do you think about?

thinking To+Do+List

Little Changes...

Coming up on spring vacation from school, I'm determined NOT to spend the entire thing working on the dreaded ASSessment so I've really put the pedal to the metal this week. I'm happy to say that I've actually made some progress :-) So, this is my last night that I head to bed knowing that I have to get up for work for another day. As I sit here typing right this minute, my 15 yr. old is begging me to skip school tomorrow (Day Before April Vacation = National Bunk Day) but to no avail. I'm hearing sounds of "I'm feeling ill.. I may puke tonight, just to let you know!" (God.. I love that kid!) hehehe

Anyway, I ran the blog feed through feedburner tonight, so if you're not subscribed, you can easily do so by clicking the rss icon on the right. I also went back to the white background because it looked better with some icons and pictures on the site. I'm going to attempt a switch to Wordpress hosted on my site next week, with the help of friends.

I've also mentioned to a web designer that I would like to talk to him next week about the "big picture" and getting some guidance so that's on the agenda. In addition, I've got something new and totally cool for the podcast and will unleash it with the next show.

So... I am making a dent in my wish list and making progress.. one little baby step at a time!

Procrastination? Not Me!

Getting to be crunch time now. I'm totally in overdrive with the ASSessment so that's the priority numero uno for sure. I have made some contacts to begin working on my "social media map" and all of the things on the infamous list of things that have been swimming around in this brain.

Just got caught up on all the feeds about PodcampNYC and corresponding Flickr surfing.... lots to look at and think about and definitely lots to keep me from getting busy with my business of ASSessing!

So.. with husband snoring on the couch (after working 36 hours straight) and kids in respective rooms, I'm jumping in like a good little girl.. and will.... resist.... Twitter.... Skype... gmail.... Google Reader... etc.......................

Technorati procrastination assessment podcampnyc flickr

Good Friday Plan

What is that yellow, unidentified foreign object in the sky that I see? Wow... although it's cold at least the rain has stopped and the sun has emerged. I'm off today so I'll get some clothes on the line and start working on my ASSessment once I finish reading what's dropped into Google Reader over night.

I still have lots of things swimming around in this head about where to go with the site, podcasts and blogs but ASSessment and homework are top priorities right now. Of course, it's hard to concentrate on that boring stuff when creative thoughts constantly sidetrack me. I must really try to focus and stick to a time schedule and allow myself 15 minute breaks from work for something fun. :-)

First 15... chatting on Skype and catching up on Twitter, while finishing my coffee, then on to work.

Must Do's for today:

• Enter rough assessment info into computer for at least one student so there is an online copy (God forbid the paper copy that I've been working on gets lost!!)
• Laundry (not a problem since I love to hang out)
• Exercise
• Shop for nephew's birthday gift (yuck... hate to shop)
• Catch up on email, blog posts, Pats news
• Take some time for play :-) (mess around with photoshop or research the WP blog to work on some of my To Do list .. yes, that's fun for me.. god I'm such a geek!)
  
• Club tonight then movies with my husband
  

Time Crunch

While I'm thrilled that it's April and time is flying by, I'm really starting to feel the crunch! My huge ASSessment project deadline is fast approaching and I'm not even close to being done. I've still got tons to do with it and I've got homework to do for my class as well.

I've been making an effort to unplug more which is good for the family and body (by going to bed much earlier) but it does nothing to help my To Do list and the things that I listed here The 25th Hour: Multi-tasking Mayhem. I have done a few things on the list but there are so many that I've yet to work out. I think it may be time to enlist the help of someone who's more experienced than I am for some advice and assistance. (Although that generally goes against the way I usually do things by being self taught.)

No work tomorrow for Good Friday but the weekend will be busy so it won't really be like a bonus day for me in terms of getting things done, more like a regular weekend due to the loss of Sunday.

This weekend is PodcampNYC and I may try to catch some things online if they stream like they did in Toronto but I've really got to NOT allow it to distract me too much if I'm working on homework or Assessment stuff. How I'd love to take part in things like that but it's another story for another day.... sigh...

I changed the color scheme of the blog but not sure if I like it and may go back. What I really want to do is change the whole thing completely to Wordpress hosted on my site but I'm not sure if my host will support it (will be changing hosts anyway) and also just how to do it so it'll have to wait.

Time to head to work soon... a quick check of the email and feeds then I'll be off!