January 9th, 2010 (12:03 pm)
current mood: accomplished
Financial:
In the process of dumping Citibank like the bad habit it is. Sorry, but I cannot support a bank bailed out with tax money who then turns around and dumps ridiculous fees on me as thanks. I've already opened a new account with TD Bank which only requires me to have $100 in my account at all times to avoid fees as opposed to Citibank's $1500. Once my direct deposit goes through, it's Good Riddance, Citibank.
Waiting for a new, lower fee credit card (also from TD) before I mulch my Chase credit Card. I do not plan to use this card except as travel backup (because hotels do weird things to debit cards) and emergencies.
Capital One is out the door once we get a proper business credit card for Dream Weaver Press. Capital One started adding finance charges even if I pay the card in full and on time so they're getting a boot to the face as well.
Upped my 401k deduction to 20% and with the returning company match I'll be saving a quarter of my paycheck like nothing!
Health:
Since December 28 I have been exercising regularly with the exception of 2 days. And on those 2 days I really felt it. I've finally came up with a system that I like, especially the strength training part and I already feel a difference in my arms (oooh! muscles!). Unfortunately I seem like the type that builds muscle easily but holds on to fat like a fiend but I'm hoping everything will balance out. I'm still a tad sore but it's all good. I am avoiding weighing myself because that is so not good for me mentally. Instead I will bee looking out for how my clothes fit, especially my work pants since they're the snug type. My goal is to be able to fit back into my costumes and convention clothing.
I've also still kept the habit of eating my "New Year's Soup" (the failed green smoothie) for breakfast and lunch and I am completely addicted. I love following Atkins but I felt I needed more veggies and less cheese. The soup made it really easy to get tons more greens in my diet (I could never eat that much salad as is) and it's very filling. The only problem is that I've been indulging a bit too much on vegan brownies but I plan to rectify that this week. I still have cheese but I'm sticking to Goat and Sheep types. They seem the best for my stomach although drinking actual goat milk wasn't too successful.
I bought a book about "raw food eating" for the recipes. I hope to find a good medium between Atkins and Raw Food (so far I've been sticking with low-carb greens which seems to work). I don't miss pasta, breads, rice, etc at all - in fact, I actually got sick after eating an brown rice avocado/cucumber roll from Whole Foods so that reinforced it. My Mom is sending me her professional-grade blender so hopefully I can make proper smoothies instead of soup. But if not, I will seriously consider getting one of those 3hp blenders the Raw Foodies use in all those Youtube videos. I found one on Amazon for $400. I may have to sacrifice buying a Burberry purse but hey, I can always get that later. ;)
Art:
Since December 28, I have worked on my pages for 8 days (about an hour each time). I just finished inking page 8 of Egoraven which doesn't sound like a lot concidering I can only get 2 panels done each hour. I'm not going to dwell on how little work I have. Instead I am going to make sure I continue chugging along every day and just get as much as I can done. Inking for color is still throwing me off. I bought new inking pens from Prismacolor and they are a billion times better than Pigmas (the nibs don't shred). It's hard inking simply and I keep reminding myself the pages will look much better in color. I'm still on schedule so that's good.
Note: Yes, I usually ink with tech-pens but I got tired of constantly having to clean them when I needed to work. I had to get rid of that block and move on with tools that don't give me an excuse to not do anything at all.
The only thing that really bothers me is that I have yet to work on my three other art projects: The Tall Tails color special, my color sketchbook, and my diet comic that I haven't worked on since we got back from SDCC. They are on my calendar but I just haven't gotten my schedule to the point where I can really accomodate them.
I have yet to work on my "new job" plan.
I must get my commission schedule and pricing in order since this is the "easiest" way to make extra money (short of getting that new, higher paying job). I will put together a plan by Sunday night.
* * * * *
I have a calendar where each day I have my important goals listed and each day I cross them off as I do them. So far I manage to get 4 out of 7 items done (since the goals are identical each day). I figure by the end of the month I can review my progress and adjust accordingly. I may have to remove the diet comic and the sketchbook for next month just so I can get some Tall Tails work in but we'll see. I have to adjust my actual hourly schedule so that I can work on things at a specific time in a specific order. One thing I learned that didn't work is that I cannot work out first thing in the morning. My workouts are better after I've been awake for about an hour so I'm going to have to change my schedule to reflect that.
So that's my first week.
Now excuse me, I have to go work out now or my body is going to make me regret it. ;)