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
  

Weekend Update

No...not the infamous Saturday Night Live version, just my game plan. I've got another busy one with tons to do and will try to make a conscious effort to "unplug" as much as possible this weekend to keep the balance in my life (and keep people smiling around here.)

I already started this morning with a chilly walk which was the best way to start my day. I've been walking back and forth to work most days this past week and wracked up close to 20 miles for the week. I'm not "feeling" the yearn to run yet but I'm sure that it will be coming. This morning it was cold out so I bundled up with a hoodie and long pants which was more conducive to walking but once I can get into my shorts I'll likely hit the pavement running. Laundry is already on the line (yes... since my cleanup last weekend, the yard is ready for me to begin hanging out for the season.)

This afternoon, we're heading over to PPAC for Man of LaMancha, one of our favorites since it's the play that we did in high school when Al and I actually got together many years ago. We've been going to PPAC for years but this is the first time it's come to Providence so we've been looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I'm missing my students' Special Olympics bowling tournament today but that's what happens sometimes. (We have two Track and Field event days coming up that I'll be able to make though.) Then, tonight we're going out to eat after the show with Al's sister and her boyfriend.

Tomorrow will be catch-up day and whatever else it brings. I've got some decisions to make and feel a bit overwhelmed right now. Lots of things are swimming around in my head which require some prioritizing. Need a brain dump and just may fire up the iriver on my next walk and muse away. More later...

Multi-tasking Mayhem

I'm a multi-tasker.. always have been and always will be. It's just the way I live my life. I think it's because I definitely have more on my plate than physical hours in the day but also I feel that it's just the way I'm wired. I can't even watch TV or a movie without also doing something else (knitting, writing, reading, homework, surfing, etc.) I also simultaneously listen and watch as well. It's not uncommon for me to be listening to my ipod and watching TV at the same time. I definitely plug-in and even listen to podcasts while reading.

So, I know that this is just who I am and how I operate. This week though, I need to just compartmentalize a bit. I'm bouncing from project to project and have been getting sidetracked. I think it's because there are so many things that I want to get done online that it's hard to stick with just one until completion because a.) I don't have the hours to commit, b.) I get bored doing one thing for a long period of time, c.) I don't really have the answers for all the directions that I'm headed and need to make some huge decisions, and d.) I don't really know HOW to do many of the things that I want to do.


Just a few of the many "projects" that I'm working on and/or have on my list of things that I would like to do:

• revamp website (decide if I'm going to do it myself or go with a company)
• research and make decision about above
• research and switch web host
• switch blogs to Word Press hosted on sites
• make new logos for site(s)
• run feeds through Feedburner
  
• automate my rss file creation (after switching web hosts since I can't do .htaccess on my current one.)
• decide definitively which website addy I'm going to plug into those little boxes when answering comments on other's blogs. (Read= decide where I'm going in terms of my "brand")
• make new (long overdue) promo
• create liners, sweepers for podcast
• background theme music
  
• New intro
• Finally get second podcast off the ground
• make new business cards
• learn how to edit some video that I took and need to upload (long overdue!)
• continue move of all old photo galleries from my site to my Flickr account

So, the head is swimming with ideas and bouncing from place to place. I've already started streamlining the website on my own and have decluttered some pages and will do a few a day for now. If I decide to go with a company to revamp the whole thing then that's ok too...

Those things are in addition to my usual updating of the site, research and podcasting my show, keeping up with my email and daily blog reading, twittering away, doing homework for my HTML class and just spending some random time online surfing, chatting, and playing a bit in Second Life (hey... all work and no play is not a way to live!)

So... I'm off of work today and already have a clean house so I'm jumping into the email box first and we'll see where I go from there.

Oh yah... all that SNOW that I've been dying for all winter, will be coming today, just when I've switched to Spring mode! (Sure enough, the minute I put away all winter decorations at home and school, it comes!) As I told a friend last night on Skype chat, Murphy's Law says: Always bring an umbrella on a field trip and you'll be assured great weather!

decisions multi-tasking web+host

Friday Catch-Up and Branding Decisions

It's FRIDAY!!! woooohoooo! Can you tell I'm happy? :-) Most M-F workers usually are and I'm no different. It actually was a very good day at work today... come to think of it, it was a very good week!

I've got a busy weekend ahead with heading out to eat tonight then tomorrow we have tickets for PPAC to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I've got tons of homework to finish and lots of web type stuff to do.

This leads me to the place I'm at right now. I've been thinking alot about which direction to go head in, in terms of the website as far as a redesign and hosting options. I've been contacted by someone who would like to overhaul it, and need to find a new hosting service as I haven't been happy with mine since the summer. There is so much to think about... I KNOW it needs an overhaul and have it on my infamous TO DO list as I've outgrown my initial footprint in the online world, but it's scary to think of someone else doing it... (Don't we mothers usually have trouble letting go of our babies?)

Then, there is the cost factor. If I decide to host with the folks that do the web design it will cost me more than triple what I'm paying now BUT things will be done right. I'm also SOOO at a crossroads in terms of my "personal brand" since I've always been known in Patriot Nation as Mrs. B and most of my online presence has been as a Pats fan. Thus, kcardoza.com was born for all things NOT Patriots football. (Too bad karencardoza.com was already taken although it's just "parked" as of right now.) So, there's so much to think about with all of my things going on. Patriotworld.com for all things Tedy Bruschi and New England Patriots. The podcast show notes site, for links and blog, and this blog for my personal ramblings. I think that CC Chapman has the right idea with a blog in his name as the hub with all of his other things linked from there.. Oh yah... of course, I still plan on starting another non-football podcast which will add yet another dimension... yikes! So, I'm quite overwhelmed with the decisions right now and need to take some time to really think about the big picture.

Added a new blog to my list at right.. Christopher Penn of the Financial Aid Podcast started a personal blog this week as well.

Technorati Tags patriots patriotworld mrsb cc+chapman Christopher+Penn
personal+brand

Times They are a Changin...

Change... sometimes it's hard, sometimes easy.

This Week: I welcome the change from going to work to being home this week on February vacation... I've got lots to do this week and some decisions to make. I need to treat it as a "work from home" week though in terms of schedule because I've got to make a huge dent in the ASSessment.

Website: I'm not sure which direction to go in with the website as I've got some options; revamp either with someone's help or alone, let it go the way it is, call it a day, downsize... I'm sure I'll know what's right for me at some point.

Health/Weight: Although I'm not obese, I did catch a talking to from the doctor last week because I had gained some weight since the last time I was there. He wanted to know what was going on with me because I was in such great shape (getting up and going to the gym at 4:45 every day will do that for ya...) back then. He was concerned because even then, my cholesterol was borderline but I had great "good" cholesterol so the ratio was fine, BUT he's worried that the weight gain might have ruined that. So... being one to refuse to go on medication, that is serving to be more of a motivator to drop the extra 15 pounds than seeing my naked body and wanting to puke is...

Podcasting: Finding the time to keep up with my show and also the desire to start a completely new one while at the same time keeping the peace here and fitting it all in.

Decluttering and cleaning house... Letting go of old crap that is bringing me down and moving towards simplifying my life.. I've actually made a huge dent in this since the new year. I've donated so much stuff to someone who can put it to good use, and it's a freeing feeling and makes keeping things straight here much easier. Of course, all these "projects" take time but I've got extra this week so it's a good time to make some good headway.

Clearing my mind: Doing some good things for me emotionally and taking time just for me...

So, that's where I am right now. We may get some snow tonight (hope so!) During my early morning walk it certainly had the snow smell in the air and it was like the calm before the storm; very quiet, still and grey. Plan for the day is to work some more on the ASSessment, keep up with my twittering peeps, and maybe even do some playing online in Second Life for a bit. (Seems like lots of time on here lately has been spent working although that's not how it appears to some...sigh...)