I got a volunteer position!

I have to give a giant shout-out to this website.  I went from no research and no opportunities to a volunteer quite literally overnight!  Here's the story.

After posting my journal entry here last night, it was weighing on me that I've done absolutely nothing about researching volunteer options.  To jump start my research for later this week, I decided to do a very fast Google search: "How to volunteer at a pet shelter."  The third link down was this website.

Now I've signed up for websites like this before without any chance of response, but I thought it might be a step forward.  What's the worst that could happen - I sign up, hear nothing back and have to track down individual shelters like my original plan?  No big deal.

So I filled out the form.  It was very to the point and had a multitude of check boxes for anything you could think of doing. I submitted it last night before I went to bed assuming that'd probably be the last of it.

Then I woke up to an e-mail from a local pet shelter.  They have pet adoption events at an even-more-local store every first and third Saturday and wanted to know if I could help out.  Within just a few hours, I was already a volunteer and my first shift is this Saturday!

So, if you're looking for a volunteer opportunity, love pets and don't know where to start, give AdoptAPet.com a shot!

End of the Month To-Do List

Here we are, the week I wanted off this month.  I fell behind last week, so I'm still up thanks to working 16 hours a day two days in a row just to finish my work off.  I did indeed see my income rise high enough, but it came at the price of scheduling commissions for this week.  It's not even a light week of work, plus I have a lot to do if I want to catch up with my February goals.

This month has been tough on the diet.  I had a cheat week on purpose the 11th through the 17th.  Unfortunately, it's been hard to get out of.  I was good for a few days and then junk food was introduced into the house in the form of a delicious brownie cake that I couldn't refuse.  Add a surprise visit from my best friend turning into lunch out and a surprise box of donuts from my husband and well... you get the picture.  The worst part?  Carbs bloat me.  So I don't know where I honestly am weight-wise.  My goal is to work out most every day this week to make up for the fact that I cheated so horrendously much.  We'll see where I am at the end of the month.

And let's not even get into the book I was supposed to read.  Or my meditation.  Bleh.

The point of this journal is to outline everything I need to do this week to polish off my January goals, sectioned by days. Because, honestly, there's only four days left.  So here goes nothing.

Monday

Work.

Plan MDArtist design, pages.

Finish sketching personal illustration.

Exercise for 30 minutes.

Meditate afterward.

Check Aaron's budget for the week.
70% book read.

Tuesday

Work.

Design MDArtist site template.

Clean up and flat personal illustration.

Exercise for 30 minutes.

Meditate afterward.

Organize my desk.

Ask Aaron to organize his.

80% book read.

Wednesday

Work.

Organize and design gallery for MDArtist.

Detail personal illustration.

Exercise for 30 minutes.

Meditate afterward.

Research volunteer opportunities in the area.

90% book read.

Thursday

Work.

Complete other pages, revamp resume for MDArtist.

Exercise for 30 minutes.

Meditate afterward.

Tidy office.

100% book read.

Friday

Check-in, weigh in and create new month's goal list.

Work.

February: Week 3 Check-In

Doing this check-in a little early since a lot has already changed.

FEBRUARY 2013 GOALS

Month is currently 68% over.
Overall: 70% Complete.

CAREER - 124% Complete
Hit target number of monthly illustrations. - 163% complete.

Number illustrations completed - 130% complete. 

Make target income for the month. - 177% complete.

Draw one illustration for myself. - 25% complete.
Some notes: I still need to sketch out some thumbnails for future personal illustrations. My target income will not budge now as I won't be accepting any more commission for this month.  By the end of this week, I should be looking at the number of illustrations completed closer to 150%.  One of my goals is to focus on my personal illustration this weekend.

FINANCIAL - 84% Complete

Make target income for the month. - 177% complete.

Keep budget. - 68% complete.
Some notes: None.  I still need to check in with Aaron on his budget, but I'll do that on Friday.

HEALTH - 83% Complete

Continue taking thyroid meds. - 68% complete.

Get my blood work done the week of the 11th. - 100% complete.

Lose 3 pounds by drinking 8 glasses of water and eating a piece of fruit every day. - 80% complete.
Some notes: My cheat week set me back a pound - I clocked in at 166 yesterday, which is 2.4 pounds less than January 31st.  That's okay though!  According to my planner, I'm still a pound ahead of where I wanted to be at this time.  While my planner simply lists out a pound a week skipping one week each month, I calculate my pounds lost here based on my weigh in at the end of the month.  So I was about a pound ahead from January.  Still means I want to lose three pounds this month and three pounds I shall!  My cheat week should make losing weight a bit easier for a month or two.

HOME - 50% Complete

Organize the office. - 50% complete.
Some notes: Cleaning the office has four parts: My bookshelf, Aaron's bookshelf, my desk and Aaron's desk.  My bookshelf and Aaron's bookshelf have been organized.  Next is my desk.  Aaron needs to organize his as well.  It'll take us one evening, so I'm not terribly worried about when we do it.

KNOWLEDGE - 70% Complete

Continue taking thyroid meds. - 68% complete.

Continue taking supplements. - 68% complete.

Continue daily mental exercises. - 50% complete.

Read one book. - 100% complete.
Read January's book. - 65% complete.
Some notes: I still need to finish January's book.  I'm slowly catching up on my daily mental exercises.  I still need to read January's book, which I anticipate finishing this weekend.

PERSONAL - 48% Complete

Continue taking thyroid meds. - 68% complete.

Meditate once a week. - 0% complete.

Draw one illustration for myself. - 25% complete.

Lose 3 pounds by drinking 8 glasses of water and eating a piece of fruit every day. - 80% complete.

Adhere to my planner schedule. - 68% complete.
Some notes: Still slacking on meditation.  Ugh, I really need to catch up on that.  I don't want to have to meditate four times in one week.  Kind of defeats the purpose.

RELATIONSHIP - 100% Complete

Do one date night. - 100% complete.
Some notes: My husband and I watched Mama.  I was on the last day of my cheat week, so we grabbed popcorn and pop, plus sushi afterwards.  I also checked out a new local dollar shop where I found bamboo place mats and bamboo chopsticks!  That was actually before the sushi.  Kind of exciting!  My husband and I also want to go see Warm Bodies, which will have to be soon before it's out of theaters.  Maybe this upcoming weekend?

SPIRITUAL - 0% Complete

Meditate once a week. - 0% complete.
Begin researching volunteer options in Kansas City. - 0% complete.
Some notes: I'd like to look into a local pet shelter in particular.  I haven't had a chance to touch any of this yet, but I plan to focus on researching this weekend.