8 posts tagged “daily life”

If you must constantly coax, cajole, and ultimately bribe your dog to obey the simplest command, you're lacking in leadership. The sit-stay command, properly taught, can single-handedly reverse this unfortunate situation.

 

The dog is taking over my life, as is the renovation and I am letting some important things suffer and no I don't mean the photography business.

when I handed it over I asked the woman to make sure my vote counted.. I didn't want to be disenfranchised.  She was a sweet little old lady of about 90 and I don't think she found me funny.... I like in a pretty white bread area so we don't run that risk here..but she looked a bit shady!

 

 

 

I am back from vacation and if there is one thing I am taking away from this trip is that I can not be that busy again - the busy that I was before I went to Chicago - the so busy I ordered out most nights because I didn't have time to cook.

I am a believer of outsourcing stuff in my photography business that I am just not good at - which is why I have an accountant for my taxes and why I use a professional designer for my logo... I got to thinking on my trip that I might use that same philosophy on my life.

When I came back I read Wendy's blog post about Erin, and I would agree Erin does a TON TON TON of stuff... but where does she get all the time?  And if she can do all of that then how come I can't do my piddly 2 jobs??? I mean we are all busy right?  We all say it but how many of us really are?  Or how many of us have looked at what it means to be busy!

But before I made any decisions I decided to take a look at my life and where the hours go - I made the small chart below!  I found it helpful to clarify where my time is going, and it also affirmed to me that I actually do run out of time each week and its not just my poor planning!  I don't actually have a shoot every week year round but for the past 2 months I have - so more often than not I am out of time.

 

	168
Sleeping	56
Day Job	40
Commute	15
Church	4
Hygiene	7
Meals and Meal Prep	14
Time with Matt	8
Cleaning/Laundry	5.25
Errands	4
Gym	5
Photography Business	8
Photography Shoot	8
Total w/shoot	174.25
Total w/o shoot	166.25

So what do I do with this information?  Well first I had to look at the priorities in my life and they go something like this:

• Day Job (so I can pay bills)
• Audra Bayette, photographer
• Church
• Matty/Relationships/Family
• Weight Watchers
• Gym
• Sleeping

So as you can see working is pretty high up there, followed closely behind my relationships with God and family and Matty! 

So I took at look at my priorities against where I was spending my time and realized that
1. When it comes to relationships I have time in there for Matt but not for anyone else!  I haven't had dinner with friends in quite a while and that doesn't seem right. 
2. I have to keep a day job and I am not giving up the photography that I am passionate about. 
3. Sleeping is low on my list yet gets the most of my time... I wish I could do with less sleep.

So OK... really what I need here is more down time for me (notice how there was no fun in that list) and more time with friends and family.  Outsourcing part of my life is the way to get that!  I can give up things like grocery shopping and running errands and free up a bit of time!  Look at my time schedule post outsource

 

	168
Sleeping	56
Day Job	40
Commute	15
Church	4
Hygiene	7
Meals and Meal Prep	10
Time with Matt	8
Cleaning/Laundry	1.25
Errands	0
Gym	5
Photography Business	8
Photography Shoot	8
Total w/shoot	162.25
Total w/o shoot	154.25

Sure it only gives me and extra 6 hours on a week with a shoot and an extra 16 on a week without - but that's enough time for me to catch a nap on weekends, have dinner with some friends and catch a cuddle with the girls... its a step in the right direction and I don't have to feel again like I felt before Chicago.

I actually wish we all lived in a commune and split up chores and such... I think it would make for more creative time for all but I have never been able to convince my sisters its a good idea.

I thought this was an interesting exercise... do you know where all your time goes?  If you put this list together would you feel things were going in the right place?

um this weekend was p-nutty busy!  I had two session this weekend and while I haven't even gotten to the pictures yet I do plan on finishing up the couples session tonight - so I promise something on that tomorrow.

When I got home Saturday nightI actually went out to work in the garden.  This is one of those areas where not having cable/TV comes in handy.  If there had been a TV  in my house on Saturday then I would have come home dog tired from the session and plopped down in front of the couch for a few minutes of mindlessness.  But since one wasn't there I went home, put on my overalls and Matt and I went outside to work. I planted 2 rows of peas, a row of beets, a row of radishes and two rows of lettuce.  I told Matty that by May 24th we can have a lettuce and radish salad.  He told me that the dates where usually general so it would be around then but I held fast to the timelines listed on the back of the salad package.

I felt good after doing that work, Matt cooked us up some yummy veggies and then we had Martel's ice cream.  It was a seriously perfect day all the way around.

 

Sunday was dinner at his grandparents where I also learned out to play 83 - its a card game.  And here is what I learned.  Matt has the same demeanor/face at work that he has in competative games - I am not going to say its my favorite face - he gets all serious and rolls his eyes alot and is not tolerant of mistakes.  Geez, I was just learning how to play the game but when I played a card that he wasn't happy with his face told me so!!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't  know - playing games with him isn't as much fun as I thought.  I am going to bust out Clue the next time he is over and see how that goes:)

 

 

matt and I can survive anything.  We have finished emptying out the living room and office in preparation for the renovation.  That means that in my already small house all of that stuff, except for the couch and chair, had to go somewhere else.  Some of it went to the basement in preparation for the tag sale, but all of my business stuff (cameras, computers, lenses, files, etc) had to go upstairs to my already small bedroom and storage room.  Add to that the dog, our clothes, a couple of stools we couldn't figure out where to put and we are cramped.  I can hear him now telling me it is cozy and I am ready already to jump out the window.  Thankfully Matt is calm and level headed and is worried about me when I am stressed - he is my rock for this and I am going to lean!

We are also having a tree cut down today - come back tomorrow for some pictures!

In other news my 70-200 lens came back from Sigma today all repaired!  It was so easy but I didn't know what to expect.   Here is a shots I took from across the lawn of Cali - its the only way she lets me photograph her - if I am far away:)

 

 

Here are the buds on the tree - again from far away - I love my lens :)

 

 

and this??? well this is a rooster doorstop my mom got me for my house b/c she knows I love roosters!

 

Thanks Mom!

 

 

You have probably seen pictures of it if you read this blog.  Its tiny - now it might not be that tiny for someone just starting out or but for someone with several active (or used to be active) hobbies there isn't enough space.  I thought at first it was a matter of organization.  If I just had things cleaned up and in order then I could create a space to work on photos, make cards, scrapbook, etc.  But what I found it out of site out of mind takes over and I haven't touched a scrapbook in over a year!  I haven't made cards in months!  Of late I have thought that it was a matter of too much clutter.  So I am trying to get rid of alot of items that are not necessary and just take up space.  For example, I am trying to archive my sketches and sketch books from last year.  I usually don't reference them back as they are just a place for me to look.  I am also DESPERATLEY trying to figure out the best storage systems for my photos.  I purchased a couple of years back and large flat file like this one.  THe ones that archietects use to store large blueprints and flat files.  Well that is GREAT but in this house I have to store it in the basement b/c the 

downstairs is too small (less than 700sq feet) but the basement has too much water so you can't really store photos down there.  Good grief the dilemmas.

Add to this the fact that I had hoped within a year I could undertake the renovation project I had planned on when I bought this house (new walls on the downstairs, new rooms on the upstairs) but things have not gone well at my job as of late (early and late) and I had to replace my furnace, my washing machine and tires on my car in the past 30 days.  Things are not good in the house renovation area.

Which brings me back to my original dilemma of hobbies and space and feeling like there isn't enough time.  Is that the problem?  Did it just come out in a stream of consiousness?? Is time my problem!  Well certainly I feel that is part of it, I don't have alot of time.  I have a job that keeps me away from home 12 hours a day and weekends are a race to get it all in.  And I think time will continue to be a problem until I am working from home and doing what I love.  Until them I could maximize what little time I have left 1. having a better systems for keeping all my stuff or 2. not caring and just taking it as it comes.  I like option 2 - just doing what you see in front of you except I miss my scrapbooks and I think some of the photograhs I have taken have gotten ruined b/c I don't have a place to keep them.

I have a weird little room upstairs that has no heat and is the dumpiest room in the house.  It has basically been a dumping ground because I refuse to use that room as storage of any kind because then I would have to admit that I am not getting a renovation any time soon.  You see if I keep saying:  I can't put anythign/spend any money in that room because I am going to renovatione it then hope lives on!  But as soon as I buy some shelves for that room and use it to help me organize all of my life I have admitted defeat.  Maybe I shouldn't see it as defeat, maybe I should see it as maximizing my life today UNTIL I have my renovation!

Here is my house:

christmas has been a madhouse - just the way it should be!  I am in the process of installing and trying out my external DVD burner right now!  Not a moment too soon either because my pictures are taking up way to much room on my hard drive.

I also went PRO at Flickr - you can see my christmas pics on Flickr here:

I am not dressed up today - my office is a bit conservative in that arena so I am in my uniform (all black).  Now that Halloween is over and daylights savings time has ended I am moving into my hibrenating phase.  At this point I like this phase because it means I get alot more "art" created and this winter I am planning on picking up a new craft.  But I also know by February I am DONE with it.  I bought a light box last year for the super dark parts of winter and I have to tell you its the best money I have ever spent - I bought this one if you are interested in them.

So first on the list is getting my pictures organized for the gifts I am going to give for Christmas - Calenders, stationary, totebags - they are all on the list.

OK - I have got to get to work!!

HAVE A CREEPY HALLOWEEN