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About This Author
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La Bene Vita
I am a professional musician  , worship leader , small business owner , songwriter , aspiring author and freelance nonfiction writer with a chemical engineering degree .
But that's just my resume.
My profile of qualifications is only one of the ways in which I am unique. Here I chronicle my personal and professional goals and my efforts to achieve them. Occasionally I fail. Mostly, I take daily baby steps toward all my long-term goals. Much like the stories I pen, the songs I compose, and the businesses I run, I am always a work in progress.
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Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
164 and climbing again. We're only 11 away from hiring our first receptionist. Woo-hoo! On a related note, I really, really need to review my tax returns this weekend and get those sent out. I'm getting a refund that would make most normal people drool. Yes, I filed an extension, but I sure would like the cash.
Compile book inventory:
 No activity.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No activity.
Reading: One book per week.
 I didn't even try. Although, I do have hard copies of "Eclipse" and "Eldest" that I have been wanting to read for awhile. I'm a bit spoiled by my Kindle.
Writing:
(1)  Blog at MT.com by the end of Wednesday: Nope.
(2) 30 minutes of daily freestyle writing: See below.
Right now, I am inspired to create a business, not a song or work of fiction. I surprise myself with my lack of creative motivation in the arts, but it is what it is. When a thing you created becomes larger than life, higher than the moon, or more viral than any cliche, it captures your attention. Whether your inspiration was divine, or triggered by some scientifically analyzable firing of the synapses, or strictly born of external influences, one thing is certain: if we remain true to the inspirations which most motivate us, we will always be successful.
Someday soon, I hope that inspiration will lead me back to writing. It may start with an analysis of my own. Why do I want to write something anyway? What do I hope to gain? What can I market, and why? What will earn me the attention, income, and inbound links that would support my career?
Does anyone besides me prefer to journal the old-fashioned way, with pen and paper?
Count points:
Morning weigh-in: 167.8
Yesterday's points: 28
(3) Coffee
(4) 1.5 cup cereal w/half cup milk
(9.5) First Watch "Lean Machine" breakfast and half an order of bacon
(2) Easter candy
(9) Pizza (I'm estimating about 3 points per strip, but it's hard to tell since they rarely cut them in slices anymore!) |
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Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
We happily cleared 160, but did realize that we actually cleared 160 about a month ago. We've been processing all the enrollments as we received them, including those for May and June, showing an artificially low number of April students.The overall number is still helpful, because it reflects our sustainable business, and we make business decisions (such as when to hire a receptionist) based on that number.
Compile book inventory:
No activity.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No activity.
Reading: One book per week.
Writing:
(1) Blog at MT.com by the end of Wednesday: Pending.
(2)  30 minutes of daily freestyle writing: Not quite 30 minutes, but it was a start. I devised a plan - write a daily hook and mind map - and implemented it. I didn't do anything with the mind map, which is the next step. I'm thinking of imposing a daily plan that includes hook, mind map, write. It might be songwriting or flash fiction. At least I'll get back into the habit. I also have reviews and revisions on my list, but I'm not sure where to fit that in yet. As it is, I did the hook and mind map last night before bed, and I was tired, so I didn't have a lot of creativity. My writing time needs to be in the morning.
Count points:
Morning weigh-in: 169.2
Yesterday's points: 33
(3) Coffee
(2) Banana
(3) Two slices swiss cheese
(6) Two bowls Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
(3) one breadstick
(1) Two Andes mints
(1) Mini KitKit
(4) Bread with butter
(2) Broccoli
(2) Salad
(6) Half a 7-oz steak |
April 27, 2011 at 10:53am April 27, 2011 at 10:53am
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My Potbelly is still open through the end of this week. I'm tentatively poking around for other gigs, but if I were serious about it, I'd be cutting a CD and taking it to every bar, restaurant, and coffee shop on the east side of Columbus. Instead, I'm peeking at restaurant reviews online and making lists, but not really acting on them.
Meanwhile, I wrote a Textbroker article this morning and caught back up on my Helium rating.
I believe that this Potbelly door closed in order to open a new, unexpected door. I always hate it when that happens, though. I don't know where the opportunity will be: Gigs? School? Writing? I start digging around for possibilities, which makes me crazy.
Am I supposed to be focusing on the school? It's wildly successful, and our summer camp program is ambitious, but also unique for the area. Maybe I'm supposed to focus on that. Or maybe I'm supposed to find venture capitalists to support my planned 2013 expansion. Right now, I have plans to open one new school, but why not three? Why not five? I could spend the next two years strategically planning a mass growth that could employ hundreds of people and make my family comfortable enough to prevent the ulcers Keith gives himself over finances. Or maybe there's a brand new gig that will pay more, bring me more attention, and land me a record deal? Or maybe I'm supposed to be revising a novel, writing a new one, writing songs, or starting some kind of nonfiction work?
Since I have no idea which door just opened, I am compelled to peek down all the hallways. This is why I get so scattered. I run back and forth a lot.
Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
Actually, we are holding steady at just over 150, because we're withdrawing as fast as we're enrolling. The stagnation is frustrating, but that's because I'm impatient. One more month of this, and then we will see growth again.
Compile book inventory:
No activity.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No activity.
Reading: One book per week.
I managed to jump ahead to 71%.
Writing:
(1) Blog at WDC daily: I missed a few days.
(2) Blog at MT.com by the end of Wednesday: Yes.
(3) 30 minutes of daily freestyle writing: No, but isn't it ironic that I implemented this goal just before I lost a job?
Count points:
Here's the plan. I'm not counting today, tomorrow, or Sunday. It's Easter weekend, and I have family plans. But Easter Monday is a day of new beginnings. It's never too late to start again. |
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| Potbelly Easton announced that it will be closing at the end of this week. No more Potbelly. |
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The 9-year-old turned 10 yesterday. Today, she proceeded to sleep in late, mope about her leotard going through the dryer, crab about the breakfast selection in the house, and almost miss the bus and she went in circles around the kitchen looking for something that obviously wasn't there. Someone needs to explain to this child that she is now a TWEEN, not a TEEN. She's three years early. 
Interestingly, it was around the middle of the month last month when she had her last meltdown.
Just sayin'.
Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
We hired one new full-time teacher, one part-time teacher, and prepared a Revision 5 to our renovation plan, which adds three lesson rooms instead of two. We also bought a piano last week. So we're optimistic, though enrollments have plateaued, because new enrollments are balanced with withdrawals for spring sports and summers out of town right now.
Compile book inventory:
No activity.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No activity.
Reading: One book per week.
Eh. I did a little quick math. When the book stays at 55% for four pages, that implies that the book is approximately 400 pages long. Gah. I just don't care about Captain Nemo's latitudinal and longitudinal positions, their WNW-erly direction, or the names of the multitude of flora and fauna in the ocean at that particular place on earth. The fight with the shark? Now, that was cool. The captain's secret activities? Mildly interesting, but not nearly as suspenseful as I think Verne hoped.
Writing:
(1) Blog at WDC daily: Yes.
(2) Blog at MT.com by the end of Wednesday: No.
(3) 30 minutes of daily freestyle writing: No.
Count points:
Today: 1
(1) Coffee
Yesterday and Saturday: a bunch. I had pizza, ice cream cake (which, from Dairy Queen, is more like ice cream shaped like a cake - disappointing), a cheeseburger, chips, blueberry muffin, and other 9/10-year-old food. Monday! We start again! |
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Well, I chose to let my premium membership lapse. I did the math, and when you pay for 12 months at a time, premium costs $12/month versus upgraded at $4/month. My portfolio is down to 238 items (max Upgraded:250, Premium:1000), and I frankly think that I could clean it up more. I only have three books (U:10, P:25). I can still host groups and forums (i.e., October Prep), but I'll have to host the tracking web page offsite. No biggie, since I own several domains. I can't host a shop (damn - hello, I own a brick-and-mortar retain store? and several domains) or use the submission tracking tool (I don't even write these days, let alone submit). I thought the custom links tool was cool and novel, and I set it up, but I have not clicked on it once ever since. I use Google bookmarks for that. I'm thinking the biggest things I'm going to miss are the favorites bar and my rock band costumicon. Are those features worth three times the price?
As a businesswoman, I pay extra close attention to my own reactions to other people's products. Bottom line: Can I afford $12/month? Sure. Could I come up with $140 now for the 12-month price? Yes. Do I want to, when the upgrade is only $50? Well, that depends on what I'm getting for my money and how badly I want it. Apparently, I didn't want it badly enough, which is interesting, because there was a time when I paid hundreds of dollars on gift points, which I mostly gave away to other people. The idea of an online store was very interesting to me, and I dabbled in c-notes like half of the WDC community. The businesswoman in me notices all of that, too.
By the way, speaking as one who has give "angel" upgrades in the past, I can tell you why people do it anonymously. Well, I can tell you why *I* do it anonymously. Because once you pay for somebody's upgrade, what do you do 1, 3, 6, or 12 months down the road when the upgrade lapses again? The person is now counting on you. I've created a few monsters that way. It's better for me when the person doesn't know on whom they're counting. That may sound cold, except for the fact that I did something nice in the first place, and I - like everyone (even Robert Waltz  ) - have a limit to my resources, and as much as I would like to help every youth, college kid, single mother, and elderly person living on social security, I simply can't.
Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
I have three teacher interviews today, and another teacher who was working three days just opened up two more. I love that our teachers love their jobs as much as Chris and I.
Compile book inventory:
No activity.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No activity.
Reading: One book per week.
I read in the car on the way home, and then  the book actually started to get interesting! For the curious, it happened at 44% of the way through the book. So I read at home before bed a little, too.
Writing:
(1) Blog at WDC daily: Up to date, and I've been consistent, so that's a good start.
(2) Blog at MT.com by the end of Wednesday: No. See #1.
(3) 30 minutes of daily freestyle writing: No. See #1.
Count points: I lost track because I was temporarily locked out of my blog. After my premium lapsed, I found myself at 900 of 750 entries. I archived entries from 2007-2009, and now I just need to find a home for the archive and point to it. Add that to my to-do list.] |
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First of all, I thought I had edited my template for yesterday's post, but somehow it ended up duplicating Wednesday's post. Sorry about that. It's fixed now, for whatever good that does.
Yesterday, Yahoo featured this blog post, which claims that a woman cut $14,000 off her grocery bill last year by clipping coupons.
http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-112514-9255-1-confessions-of-an-...
Here's my question: In order to save $14,000 off of your grocery bill in one year, you would have to buy more than $14,000 worth of groceries in a year. That equates to $270 per week. Do any of you spend $270 per week on groceries??? That's an insane amount of food and toiletries. She only has three kids... we're not talking octomom, here.
Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
I have three teacher interviews today, and another teacher who was working three days just opened up two more. I love that our teachers love their jobs as much as Chris and I.
Compile book inventory:
No activity.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No activity.
Reading: One book per week.
I read in the car on the way home, and then the book actually started to get interesting! For the curious, it happened at 44% of the way through the book. So I read at home before bed a little, too.
Writing:
(1) Blog at WDC daily: Up to date.
(2) Blog at MT.com by the end of Wednesday: No.
(3) 30 minutes of daily freestyle writing: No. I have been sleeping in all week. That vacation made a sloth out of me.
Count points:
Today:
(1) Fiber granola bar
Yesterday: 27
(2) Coffee
(3) Fiber granola bar
(3) Ham pita pocket
(8) Crackers
(2) Ham
(5) Cheese tortilla
(2) Peas
(2) Berries |
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What the heck? I rewrote my whole blog post, and then yesterday's crept in anyway. My original post was almost an exact duplicate of yesterday. Here is the revised, correct version.
Tomorrow is April 15th, which represents two deadlines:
1. Tax Day. My tax return is complete and ready to submit, but my accountant (mom) recommended I do a thorough once-over to make sure we didn't miss anything. I have not had the time to do that this week and wonder if I should file an extension. It will delay receipt of my sizable refund, but I might have missed something.
2. WDC Membership Expiration. I have hemmed and hawed about this, because I just don't see myself paying to extend my premium membership at this time. At 11:59 tomorrow, my hand will be forced, and I will make a last minute decision. Either that, or I'll forget, my membership will lapse, I'll realize that I didn't really need the features anyway, and I'll move on with life.
Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
We're hiring! It's time to start advertising again so we can fill our teacher schedules.
Compile book inventory:
No activity.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No activity.
Reading: One book per week.
No activity. I actually left my Kindle at work last night.
Writing:
(1) Blog at WDC daily: Up to date.
(2) Blog at MT.com by the end of Wednesday: Nope.
(3) Nope.
Count points:
Today:
(2) Fiber granola bar
(3) Coffee
(3) Ham pita pocket
(8) Crackers
Yesterday: 47
(2) Coffee
(3) Fiber granola bars
(3) Bacon and cheese
(1.5) Tuna
(4) Crackers
(2) Carrots with dip
(12) Twizzlers *kicks self*
(4) Taco
(2) Guacamole salad
(3) Chips and salsa
(10) Small margarita *kicks self* |
April 13, 2011 at 11:15am April 13, 2011 at 11:15am April 12, 2011 at 11:06am April 12, 2011 at 11:06am
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I need to stop being so scattered. I find myself pulled from one thing to the next, and I practically have to start over every time I get back to the original project. In frustration, I eat. Welcome to my train wreck, random, nosy, morbid readers.
Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
We rented a table at a local Jewish preschool's fundraising flea market event, which resulted in one on-the-spot enrollment and a handful of potentials. We also have a couple of marketing campaigns coming up to push our summer camps.
We need a piano. We also need a text marketing service. Any readers have good leads?
Compile book inventory:
No activity. I need a big, uninterrupted chunk of time for this one... preferably one when nobody else is at the school. Wednesday morning? Yes, maybe Wednesday morning.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No activity.
Reading: One book per week.
No. Activity. Either I'm too busy, or Jules Verne is just not engaging enough. It's not his plots, characterizations, or settings I find dull - he actually had a fantastic imagination. It's the fact that it takes him three pages to say what he could have said in one. I'm starting to wonder if "epic" isn't really the opposite of "economical."
Writing:
(1) Blog at WDC daily: Up to date and keeping up.
(2) Blog at MT.com weekly: Pending.
(3) Establish daily and weekly writing goals: I established the goals, and then promptly failed to meet them this morning.
New goals in addition to the above goals:
(1) 30 minutes of daily freestyle journaling, blogging, or fiction writing. I scheduled this in the mornings, while the house is quiet and everyone else is still asleep, and then I slept in the first day on the job.
(2) MT.Com blogging by the end of Wednesday each week.
Count points: 11.5
Coffee (2)
Fiber granola bar (1)
Cookies (6)
Tuna (1.5)
Lima beans (1) |
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Sometimes, I get these random, nosy, morbid impulses to read the blogs of users I don't know very well in an effort to discern something about them. Typically, the act is prompted by some unanswered question, some confusion about the person, such as a user who I thought was a mature adult unexpectedly referring to parents as "mommy and daddy" in a public forum. Even though it's none of my business, I wonder, how old is this person, anyway? So I dig through a portfolio looking for clues, and I stumbled across a public diary personal blog. After rubbernecking a dozen or so scenes from the person's train wreck of a life, I wonder if I was born on a different planet. People and their lives are so vastly different from one another.
Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
A flurry of enrollments in the last two days, and we're back up to 158. 
Compile book inventory:
No activity.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No activity.
Reading: One book per week.
No activity, and I have a busy weekend going down. Payroll taxes are due, as is my own tax return, which has grown increasingly complex this year.
Writing:
(1) Blog at WDC daily.
(2) Blog at MT.com weekly.
(3) Write something... else. At some sort of frequency.
Count points: I'm not exactly counting points, but I've been eating a lot of fiber. The good news is that I'm full almost all the time for minimal calories. The bad news? Let's just say you should all be grateful that you know me electronically. |
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Either I have another sinus bug, or I have allergies. Since I've never had allergy symptoms before, and I work full-time in a school for the first time ever, I'm going with the bug theory. Don't these kids know I have a performance career to maintain? LYSOL WIPES, PEOPLE.
Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
Still hovering around 150. I think we're at 152. Meanwhile, we have half a dozen full - FULL - sampler classes, which often result in private lesson enrollments, and summer camps, which may also bring in new students.
Compile book inventory:
Pending.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No progress.
Reading: One book per week.
Nope. I put together a rough weekly schedule, and I decided that the best time to "read" is in the car... not because I have no free time, but because I'd rather spend my free time doing other things. Therefore, I need a better set of earphones for the Kindle.
Writing:
(1) Blog at WDC daily: Catching up.
(2) Blog at MT.com weekly.
Count points:
(1) Coffee
(3) Nutty granola bar
(4.5) Fiber granola bars
(1.5) Tuna
(2) Breakfast bar
TOTAL: 9 |
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Okay, first of all, it's time to start counting points again. Sheesh. I feel like a damn yo-yo.
Reach 300 students at MTMS by 12/31/11:
Gah enroll, withdraw, enroll, withdraw. On the bright side, we already have our first summer camp enrollment, and we are getting lots of questions about it.
Compile book inventory:
Pending.
Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11:
No progress.
Reading: One book per week.
I need to create a weekly schedule and stick with it. Since I lost six hours of Potbelly, I can reallocate that. My problem now is that I spend every free moment farting around with business-related stuff... searching the web for copyright laws... looking for resources for summer camps... modifying the business plan... planning renovations... I wake up in the morning, pick up the laptop before I even get out of bed sometimes, and I do those things. I need to establish a real schedule for myself that involves scheduled leisure and scheduled work.
Writing:
(1) Blog at WDC daily: Catching up.
(2) Blog at MT.com weekly. Nope.
Count points:
Coffee (2)
Nutty granola bar (3)
Fiber breakfast bar (2)
Fiber granola bar (1.5)
Tuna (1.5)
Fiber granola bar (1.5)
See what I'm doing? Every time I have the urge to nibble (stuff my face), I'm reaching for low-point fiber granola bar.
Okay, not every time...
Cheesy garlic bread (10?)
Guacamole salad (4)
Taco (4)
TOTAL POINT: 29.5
NEW GOAL: Devise a weekly schedule that incorporates all my other goals.
Pending.
I'm getting those "Your premium membership is about to expire" nastygrams. I should also budget some time to clean up my port and make sure I'm not going to lose anything important. |
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Did you all hear about the fuel tank explosion at the Miami airport a week or two ago? So now, instead of taking the planes over to the fuel tanks to refuel, they're trucking it to the gates. You can never get a straight story, but apparently, our truck broke down, so we sat on the plane in Miami for two hours waiting for fuel. Naturally, we missed our connection, so here we are, a day later, at the Airport Days Inn in Sunny Atlanta, waiting for our replacement flight. Delta may have redeemed themselves when they bought me a margarita last night. And, luckily, it was on the way home from vacation, and not on the way to vacation... and I just checked Weather.com and discovered that we're currently missing a rain/snow mix on a balmy 49-degree day in Ohio. Damn you, Delta.
The good news is, the vacation was great! We got motion sickness on the boat and got ripped off by at least one Mexican.
(The motion sickness just one morning when the ride was really choppy - on the way past Cuba, not sure if that's related to the bad sea conditions, with that Castro clan anti-American voodoo stuff.)
(Oops, I forgot, we're supposed to be working toward a "New Beginning" with Cuba. Sorry, Mr. President.)
I wore dresses three days. Out of four. Did I mention I wore dresses on vacation? I also got a pedicure and an eyebrow wax. Keith is digging the girlie stuff. He got so into it that even helped me haggle over some red jasper set in silver and a pair of sapphires. Yay dresses, pedi's, and eyebrow waxes!
We snorkeled in Cozumel. I thought we would just see fishies and coral, but I was surprised! There are ancient Mayan ruins under the water!!!! Not, like, whole temples and stuff, but a couple statues. Wayyyyy cool.
We also talked to one of the cruise musicians pretty extensively. He let me play a couple songs during his break, then we chatted about the school. He is very interested in some mentoring about getting into the music ed business. Apparently, he's 3.5 months into his 6-month contract on the Imagination and tired of being there.
Wait, do I have some, like, goals or something? I'm still on vacation. I may stay on vacation for another month or two.
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Even better if she can whistle to the tune of Mozart or something. 
Comment 
, also known as Michelle Tuesday, is a musician, educator and writer hailing from Columbus, Ohio.![Merit Badge in Music
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To a dear friend whose talent for writing music is sensational. May you have a fabulous New Year, (((Brandi)))!!! *^*Kiss*^*
Big hugs,
Sherri *^*Heart*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif)
![Merit Badge in Organization
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I don't know how you do it, but I assume there's magic involved *^*Bigsmile*^* I have really enjoyed this month of planning and preparation for NaNoWriMo and I love how organized it all is. Thank you for hosting a great challenge and for your dedication to helping so many of us prepare with confidence and trepidation for National Novel Writing Month (known to sane folks as 'November' *^*Laugh*^*) at your [Link To Item #1474311]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Organization-1150.gif)
![Merit Badge in Leadership
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For your hard work, commitment, talent and innovation in running the October NaNoWriMo Preparation each year, which helps many of us get our scattered thoughts together for November's novel-writing. And also because this badge has ducks on it.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Leadership.gif)
