get by with a little help from my friends

"Friendship is what you make it. The best of friends can survive long pauses and millions of miles, while the daily acquaintance can rarely withstand the day to day turmoil that exists in between our own ears" -- Me. 

Another week and now weekend down. This weekend I managed to do nothing. (By nothing I of course mean that accomplished every little task that required no great deal of exhaustion -- filed my taxes, online shopping for some stuff to teach handwriting at Gigi's Playhouse, made a mock itinerary for the boyfriend and I for Italy, and watched a few netflix movies in there on my computer too). Okay, okay, I made it to the gym as well, but still ... I did nothing. It was refreshingly awesome. 

So as I lay here (yeah, I'm not even sitting upright) with 7 different tabs on my browser of everything from Venice hotels to Georgia triathlons, I can't help but wonder how I can make this next week count. Not in a save the small african children kind of way, but in a shake up my daily lifestyle routine kind of way. So, goals. I'm going to set some goals for myself this week. Seven goals for seven days.

Alright well, let's see .... Mon-Thursday I've got a regular work schedule. Friday a work strategic planning meeting ALL day. Tuesday and Friday mornings I've got spin classes at 5:45am. And Thursday night I've got a study sess. And Saturday teaching at Gigi's. So hmm ... Goal 1: Drink a glass of wine. Goal 2: Take a bath. Goal 3: Go to the thrift store. Goal 4: Try a new coffehouse in my area. Goal 5: Get a hair cut.  Goal 6: Plant some new flowers on the balcony. Goal 7: Attend a yoga class.

As for now ... sleep! 

swet sour

 Well, another weekend down: Finally ended an epic game of phone tag with 1 of my 2 'opponents'. The boyfriend is still in the middle of nowhere and with such spottie cell/internet service I haven't really talked to him in a week. (Which kind of makes Birthday Week Vaca planning a little difficult...)

I did manage to get the house clean, rearrange the dining room (don't look so shocked), filed my taxes (BANK!!!, and even got to play with Robbie -- my camera, I named it that after my last one was stolen 2 years ago --

Happy weekend every body, I'm going to start planning my gym attack plan for tomorrow! 5:30 spin class comes very early!

he's a willing test subject

all we care about is talkin'

"The more people I meet, the more thankful I am for the few close one's in my life".

The count of people close to me in this life is a small, single digit number. 

And this fact makes me very happy.

Things I have done today:

• Breakfast with my favorite family of 3. 
• Drink way too many cups of coffee -- as I sit here sipping on another. 
• Reaffirm my belief that I'm happier as an introvert. 
• Drive in the monsoon/hail storm. 
• Attend and give to a great local foundation, The Cindy Donald Dreams of Recovery
• Catch up on emails and my blog (clearly...)

Things I really want to do today:

• Fiddle with my camera and perfect some photo shooting tricks
• Start the bathroom his/her mirror project
• Begin the mudroom/foyer renovation
• Start making washer necklaces for Etsy to keep raising $$ for my OT Gigi's classes

Things that I'm going to do instead of what I want:

• Clean my house --- holy moly this place is gross. Starting with the kitchen, then dining room, then living room, then my bathroom/bedroom. I'm talking like bleach and scrub brushes here people. It needs it bad... 
• Organize my tax info from 2011
• Perhaps paint another set of kitchen cabinets... the kitchen's only like 1/4 of the way completed and I already want to move on to a new project. I blame Pintrest.
• Laundry. Sort it, fold it, start a new load. Repeat, repeat, repeat. 

Okay, Saturday. Let's do this huh? 

gigi's playhouse of atlanta

Most of you have read, glimpsed, scanned my multiple posts about raising money to make a donation in my nephews name to Gigi's Playhouse of Atlanta. A lot of you have even supported the cause to promote Down Syndrome by purchasing the washer bracelets with the 'heart strength djk' message or one of your own. ((my favorite being the one that says 'miracles happen')). Lately I've been spending a lot of my weekends at Gigi's teaching parents the in's and out's of proximal stability, tying shoes, and even using forks and spoons while bonding with some pretty incredible kids.

Now, what you may not know ... These kids are amazing. Best part is, now Davis is one of 'em! This weekend he and my sister made it for their first class, a physical therapy 'Learning to Roll' class. And I was so touched to be there to share it with them both. Davis is what brought me to volunteer my time and resources at Gigi's and now he's getting a chance to let Gigi's share their resources with him. Gigi's Playhouse is an amazing facility. They provide FREE therapy sessions, FREE social time for parents and kids who live the life of an extra chromosome every day, and FREE infinite amounts of love, caring & good karma to those who walk in the doors.

So, the big news .... 

We met our goal of 1,200 dollars to donate in Davis' name ... 

AND my mom's company is going to match it! 

So Gigi's Playhouse can be expecting a donation of $2,400 from Davis James Kohl.

So to all of you who helped support the cause, whether monetarily or through assisting me with keeping my sanity.. THANK YOU. You have helped provide double the money and double the love to an amazing cause for some pretty incredible families in Atlanta!

PS. I will continue to sell the bracelets and coming soon necklaces to raise money for supplies for the classes at Gigi's, so keep spreading the love and awareness! 

pinterest

 Lately I've been Pinterest stalking for new fun ways to entertain my pallet. So .. here's what I've done for dinners lately. Personal lasagnas in a muffin tin & zucchini pizzas!

 

posted from Bloggeroid

twenty.twelve

Happy New Years!

Spent a very long weekend out in Keystone, CO with the boyfriend pretending to snowboard, enjoying the local flavor, and trying to stay warm!