PROJECTS!! in Open Diary 2001-2018 (Pre-Prosebox)

In an effort to keep myself completely occupied instead of obsessing on my love life and alcohol, I’ve come up with three major projects to concentrate and work on. If these things don’t do the trick, I don’t know what will:

1. Project OPAL: (Operation Prettify A Loft)

A. Paint—Finally going to be slapping some paint on the inside walls to add a bit of personality in here. I bought the paint today, and though I’m half tempted to do it myself, I really need to figure out who is willing to paint. And paint. And paint. Of course, said painter will be handsomely paid…it would be a bonus if he were handsomely good looking as well (oops, I’m slipping), or maybe not.

B. Boudoir—I’ve decided that my sleeping nook is going to be a “boudoir”, and not simply a bedcove. Since I’m not getting romance anywhere else, I might as well give it to myself, right? So. I’ve decided on velvety red bedstuffs (duvet, luscious pillows, etc.), and I’m thinking animal print accents. I guess you’d have to see what I have in mind. Um…just tried to do a google search to no avail. Take my word for it. I’m going to try to take pix along the way.

C. Living Area—this place needs work! In addition to paint, I need something that will fill a long, gigantic wall. The place is so big, that it just seems to dwarf the furniture that I have right now, so I’m thinking about getting a big entertainment center with bookshelves and a space for a nice new wide screen TV. Not that I watch a lot of TV, but it would fill a lot of space! Again, photos will be involved.

D. Bathrooms—the guest bathroom is almost done because I simply filled it with my old, single bathroom stuff. I just need to hang a couple of shelves in there. How nice it is to almost have something done! MY bathroom, on the other hand is a disaster! I’m not even 100% sure of how I want to decorate, but I know I want it to be a continuation of the romantic boudoir theme, perhaps with a whimsical twist. I already have a mirrored console and two silk prints hanging on the wall….hmmm….plenty of time to think about this one. There are lots of other things to do here.

E. The Hallway—okay. Here’s the deal: I have one of those big, long lofts with a big long hallway. It reminds me of an old bowling alley with its long, hardwood slats and the long, long wall space. It’s perfect for a gallery of paintings, but I want to do something different and unusual here. It just seems to be a lot of unused space right now, and there has to be something cool I can do in there. Plus, it’s not a narrow hall, it is wide and looming. AtH has put gorgeous old 19th century benches and consoles in his (and of course, his beautiful paintings), and he already had built-in bookcases. Not fair! I have nothing in mine!

Enough work? Notice I didn’t mention the kitchen? It’s fine. Thank goodness. And I didn’t mention the guest bedroom/area because, hell. I’ll be lucky if I EVER get around to doing something in there. Right now, it’s a catch-all. Unfortunately, it’s the catch-all space that everyone sees when they first walk in the door. So um, yeah. Need to do something there too, even if it simply means shuffling some boxes around.

2. Project MMASS: (Make My Ass Somewhat Smaller)

A. Weightwatchers.com—I’m back on it. I thought it was a waste, paying for it month after month, so about a year ago, I quit. But when I came back and started paying again, I was happy to find out that they’d kept all my records under my old username. This is good because I was starting to get discouraged about the weight coming off so sllllooowwlllly (yes, after only two weeks!). I was thinking that my beginning efforts were not working and I was going to have to do something drastic (not sure what, but…). Anyway, when I looked back at my progress chart, I noted that it did take a long time for me to get back to the weight I wanted to be. In fact, it took me 8 weeks to lose 10 pounds. And I was working out pretty hardcore and eating very healthfully (as I’m trying to do now). But then it did drop steadily. It took me about 15 weeks to get down to my goal (a loss of 15 lbs—might seem piddly to some, but what a difference it makes on me!), and I also remember how proud I was because I looked a million times better and I felt a billion times better. I don’t know why it takes me hitting these personal rock-bottom levels before I get myself in gear. I was also traveling just as much as I have been with my new job, and occasionally having minor drinking binges (but not as much as I have of late)…so there’s no excuse for me not to get back into great shape. [As a side note, however, I would like to get down 5 pounds under my last goal. It’s where I was when I was in whirlwind shape. It was also when I was deeply involved with LDL, and physically in the best shape of my life, but mentally, probably the lowest. Ultimately, I’d like to get my body back there without being encumbered by a dysfunctional relationship (now being the PERFECT time, eh?!). I can do this! Watch me!]

B. Le Gym—I think I already said this, but I’m back!! I finally got back into my old gym after some questioning regarding having to pay something like $500-$700 just to get reinstated. I called bullshite on that since I was a former 7-year member. So they finally waived the fee (after about four arguments), and I’m back in. The greatest thing is, I’m running into my old gym buds! It’s a lot like finding long-lost friends! AND the other great news for me is that since it’s a nationwide chain (which spells YUCK to some), there are several locations in NYC and several in Los Angeles, and also in most larger metro areas, which means that at least while I’m traveling domestically, I should be able to do the gym thing on most of my trips.

B. EXTRA—I did sign up for some special classes at the gym: 8-12 weeks of extra workouts to really kickstart Project MMASS. I’m bummed though, because I started taking them, and now they’re not having them at all this weekend (because of the Memorial Day holiday). These classes are important to me because I have a hard time motivating myself to work out alone. I’m just going to have to suck it up the rest of the weekend. For example, I’m going on my bikeride tomorrow AND on Monday too. It would be fun to go with someone, but I don’t know anyone who has a bike here. So. I’ll do it by myself and not kick my own ass, and it won’t be as good. Note to self: find another novice bike rider around here. One who is just barely the tiniest bit competitive.

3. Project MASC: (More Accessible Social Circle)

Here’s the thing: I’m pretty good about making friends…in every nook and cranny of the world except for the place I actually call home. It’s weird. When I’m traveling, I’m out and about and running like crazy. So when I get “home”, I want, no, NEED downtime and recuperation. And sometimes I’ll recuperate for days on end. I guess it’s not that much different here than it was in the Great Midwest…I thought it was the location…turns out, it’s just me.

So I’m starting with home. I want to get my place in order and create a space I’m happy with. Then I can begin to bring people into my space. I do have a weird thing about my space, and I’m not sure why.

I’m also thinking aboutorganizing a small happy hour next Friday for work friends.

Baby steps in this department. At least I know where to start.