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The Good Life. |
I am a professional musician ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 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. |
Headed to the doc for what I believe is a sinus infection. Meanwhile, in performance news, Potbelly Gahanna is closing its doors this Sunday. May I ask WDC friends to find my FB post announcing the news and comment on it? Many thanks. It would make a good blog topic. It also makes my weekly repertoire expansion a bit less urgent. I have to set my long-term goals aside for the week and focus on these shorter-term goals: * Compile mileage and receipts by Wednesday * Implement and clean up book inventory by Wednesday * Publish summer camp literature by Friday * Budget renovation - I may do this next week Peace out. See you on the other side of some strong medication (I hope.) |
Today is the St. Patrick's Day Party and Irish Festival, planned by our volunteer teenage event coordinator, Ashley. She has great ideas! I'm not entirely sure what to expect as far as how many people will show up and how much help we'll need, so I'm hoping it all works out. I'm usually better prepared than this, but I've been sick all week. Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: add one repertoire song per week ![]() ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: Bleh. Um... granola bar, coffee, chips, tortilla, birthday cake, turkey nuggets, and two slices of pizza. |
Apparently, Internet access on the ocean is spotty and expensive. I'm not sure whose idea this "cruise" thing was, but I'm a little nervous about getting bored. So I'm saving up a few tasks that I can do without the Internet: reading, writing blog posts, and updating my business plan. Maybe knitting. I do NOT plan on bringing my guitar, but I suppose I could work on songwriting through the use of Finale music composition software. Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: add one repertoire song per week ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: Bleh. Does Nyquil have points? |
Home. Sick. I'm so blessed to have such a competent staff that I can stay home without worry. Meanwhile, I'm drugged up on Sudafed and Nyquil and wasting the day away browsing the Internet for computer lab applications. And working on my long-range business plan. And planning summer camps. And blogging. Want to start your own business? Make sure you consider "leisure" activities to be what most other people consider "work." Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: I have no freaking idea. I can tell you that I could barely finish my Mexican meal last night, thanks to quickly developing sinus flu symptoms. It's okay, though, because I'm sure I made up the calories in Girl Scout cookies earlier in the day. I may have to wear shorts and tank tops on the boat instead of a bikini. ![]() |
Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: Um... zzzzzzzz. Today, I've had five Girl Scout cookies and coffee. |
Yesterday was actually Saturday. March 12th. Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011 3/21/2011: ![]() I have one week. {e:sternlook} Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() ![]() In related news, I have a stalker. Okay, that was actually a joke, because when she introduced herself and told me, "I've been following you," she went on to explain, "but not in a stalker way." ![]() Meanwhile, here's another musician who wants to collaborate, and she said she doesn't want to earn money, just have fun playing music. It might be really fun, but I just don't have time. I almost wish I could just give her a job or something, but we just hired four computer lab attendants, so right now I don't have a job to offer her. She does not (yet) have a degree in music. Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: At Robert Waltz ![]() |
Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: Grr... I'm going the wrong way. |
Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() In related news, I sent a resignation to Abbott this morning. Technically, I was still on a 12-month personal leave of absence, which is up at the end of the month. Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: Another margarita last night and no exercise this morning because of the snow. And probably because of the margarita, too. Cruise! Cruise! Cruise! Sheesh. |
Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: Yeah, I blew yesterday's plan. First, I had a margarita. Then I had like 6 points' worth of ice cream instead of 3. Plus I'm pretty sure I nibbled on more snacks than I'd budgeted. And today, I didn't jog because Keith and I carpooled last night (yay for saving gas dollars) but then I had to leave early to catch a ride with him. So no exercise today, either. I suck at this game. Today's Meal Plan: 30 points 7:00 Fiber granola bar (1) and coffee (1) 8:30 Girl Scout cookies (3) 10:00 Snack (3) 2:00 Snack (4) 4:00 Snack (3) 5:30 Snack (3) 7:00 Soup (6) and one breadstick (3) at Olive Garden NO SALAD!!! 8:30 Ice cream (3) |
Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: Today's Meal Plan: 29 Points 7:00 Cream of Wheat (2) and coffee (1) 8:30 Banana (2) 10:00 Girl Scout cookies (5) 1:30 Girl Scout cookies (5) 2:00 Coffee (1) 4:00 Snack (3) 7:00 One taco (4), guacamole salad (2), 14 chips (4) NO MARGARITA! No! No! No! I did walk/jog one mile again today. ![]() |
My premium membership is up on April 15th, and I have decided not to renew. I went through this last October, and although I need a webpage for tracking "October Novel Prep Challenge" ![]() This year, I have decided that if you don't know your username, you aren't smart enough to play the game. So on April 15th, I downgrade to upgraded (heh... that was fun), which means portfolio spring cleaning is in my future. Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() I guess I'm not sure what I've been doing the last four days. I suppose when you consider we dropped to 136 by the end of the month, then made it back up to 150 by yesterday, it justifies all the phone calls, emails, payments, enrollments, withdrawals, and related paperwork. We are also integrating four new employees. On the weight loss front, I am up to 165 pounds, which is 20 up from my rock-bottom weight of 145...which was two summers ago. I plan to start walking in the mornings, and the 9-year-old has agreed to join me. There's nothing like a 9-year-old to hold you accountable, believe me. And here's my food plan for the day: 7:00 Fiber granola bar (1) 8:00 Coffee (1) 9:00 Banana (2) and coffee (1) 11:00 Snack (3) 1:30 Lasagna (5) and Girl Scout cookies (3) 3:30 Rolls with butter (8?) 5:00 Apple (2) and piece of cheese (1) 6:00 Crackers (4) 9:00 Girl Scout Cookies (3) That's 3034 points. Tomorrow, I will eat 28. Now, 'scuse me while I dress out for the cruise around the 'hood. |
Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Develop and market summer programs by 3/31/2011: ![]() Pick scheduling database by 7/31/11: ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week *thumbdown* Nope. Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() I can't even keep up with summer programs, expansion projects, and other long-term planning due to day-to-day administrative tasks. Blogging is wayyyy down on the list right now. Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: I AM GOING ON A CRUISE FOR SPRING BREAK. And I'm sailing from Miami. Miami, Florida. During Spring Break. Crash diet. |
Reach 300 students at MTMS ![]() ![]() Customized database by 12/31/11: ![]() It never occurred to her to look for such a tool. Her former employer would never have considered such an unnecessary investment. (See how, with my overwhelming political savvy, I've avoided the word "cheap"?) Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week *thumbdown* Nope. Messiah: One noteworthy accomplishment per month: ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: gah. I need a new strategy! It may involve hiding in a cave for a year. |
*stares at the WDC declaration, "BLOG - Last: 6 Days ago"* ![]() We are at 138 students, which is not as high as I wanted to be this close to the end of the month. But we have four samplers going with really good batches of students who all seem to want to be there, so we are pretty sure most of them will enroll. The last batch of samplers seemed to have kids whose parents were making them take the classes. We also have a drum sampler starting next week that has one opening left. W00t! My only worry is our adult songwriting class. Lots of people say they want to take a songwriting class. Few actually enroll. Now, if I could just get our summer camp program in order. It's a logistical nightmare, because we need teachers, but we can't let them go over 40 hours, and we need rooms, but we're currently scheduling day classes and will have to work around them, and we need space and curricula and advertising, but we need to know how many students we can accommodate first. And we need it fast, because advertising and enrollments take time. Meanwhile, we hired two new teachers and extended offers to three computer lab attendants. We are confident that all three candidates will accept our offer, so we should be officially announcing their hires by the end of the week. That makes 15 employees: 10 teachers (one of whom is also the assistant manager), 3 lab attendants, the office manager, and yours truly, a.k.a the site manager. We have the BEST employees. I only have concerns about one or two of them, and I'm just keeping my eye on the situation. For the most part, we seem to have assembled a crazy cohesive band of music lovers. We found an existing online scheduling database called JackRabbit, and Chris tried it out. It has pros and cons. It seems more geared toward a dance studio than a music studio. But we're considering signing up for a trial to really test it out - AFTER we hire a receptionist and have the manpower to duplicate our scheduling for a month. I find myself in need of an electronic drum set, two pianos, and a somewhat-major renovation to keep up with our growth, all of which I have been spending time evaluating and pricing. This is an expensive business. But I get to buy cool toys, so who am I to complain? But life is busy. Yesterday alone, I was confronted with four dropped balls (all my responsibility.) I hate letting people down. I also am keeping a close eye on cash flow, because the growth is costing us some investments, and I don't normally like cutting it so close. And I'm eating. What do you want? People gotta eat. I suppose they don't need to eat pizza, candy, and huge meals at the Japanese steakhouse, but that's a problem for another day. Specifically, tomorrow. Or Monday at the latest. You know how I love new weeks... and this one almost coincides with a new month, so perhaps refreshed goals will be in order next week. Peace out. |
Reach 300 students by 12/31/11:![]() Customized database by 12/31/11: Design web page interface for potential form. ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() ![]() ![]() Messiah: One noteworthy accomplishment per month: ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() ![]() If Seisa-sleepingcatbooks.com ![]() ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: 44 Coffee (1) Egg (2) with toast (2) Sticky bun (3) Crackers (8) String cheese (1) Jelly donut (6) Olive garden: Two plates of salad (12), two bowls of soup (6), and a breadstick (3). So much for salad being healthy. Good thing I decided to take home the 850-calorie, 47-fatgrams serving of lasagna after I filled up on soup and salad. I'll leave that for the boy. That one plate of pasta is worse than a jumbo margarita. |
Reach 300 students by 12/31/11:![]() Customized database by 12/31/11: Design web page interface for potential form. ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() Messiah: One noteworthy accomplishment per month: ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: 46 Coffee (1) Egg (2) with toast (2) Sticky bun (3) Crackers (4) I lost track again. DAMN IT. I know I had Mexican, including a margarita (10), chips (5), guacamole salad (2), and a taco (4). But the snacking all night at work? I think I had a piece of string cheese (1) and maybe some peanuts (1), plus more coffee (1) and about (10) points' worth of trail mix. |
Reach 300 students by 12/31/11:![]() Customized database by 12/31/11: Design web page interface for potential form. ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() ![]() Messiah: One noteworthy accomplishment per month: ![]() Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: 28 Coffee (1) Granola bar (1) Sticky buns (8) Crackers (4) Peanuts (1) Thin Mints (8?) Goulash (5?) |
Reach 300 students by 12/31/11: No new enrollments since yesterday, seeing as how we're closed on Sundays. However, recitals were a blast, and we got lots of compliments, videos on Facebook by our customers, and even some new FB likes (perhaps by students who noticed our new "Find us on Facebook" sign?) Bring on the PageRank! Funny thing about PageRank. Before we opened, I was pushing rank with everything I had. I was blogging religiously, updating and changing the website content frequently, and hawking over my Alexa number, since that's the one that actually moves. My Google PageRank has been 1/10 since the days when the website exclusively hosted my performance information. So the Alexa rank was steadily climbing, and it peaked at about 450,000. Then I stopped watching, and somehow it dropped back down to around 750,000. There it has hovered ever since. And yet, more people than ever are actually viewing the website. People walk through our doors, sign up for lessons, and say not only did they find us on Google, but they really like our website, finding it helpful and informative (implying that they browsed around for awhile, clicking on the various links.) Existing customers check frequently to find our snow day status, pictures of their kids at the latest recitals, and when the next drum sampler will be, because their children are cycling through all the samplers to try everything out. Meanwhile, my Google PageRank hasn't moved from 1/10. And yet, we get more hot leads from Google than any other source except our two exterior signs. These days, a web search on "music lessons Gahanna Ohio" and related keywords places MTMS on the front page, in the top three or so listings. I no longer have much faith in Alexa and Google ranks. In fact, I am starting to believe that by checking my own website for Alexa ranking daily, I was somehow elevating my own Alexa ranking. Now that I don't care, it's no longer climbing. But Alexa ranking doesn't bring my business revenue. Customized database by 12/31/11: Design web page interface for potential form. ![]() Potbelly: : Add one repertoire song per week ![]() Messiah: One noteworthy accomplishment per month: ![]() See, this is what I do. I feel neglectful and guilty, so I get on a kick. I'll overcompensate for my neglect until I can turn around and neglect the job for awhile again. This is how I keep variety in my life. Heaven forbid I should ever get bored. Reading: One book per week. ![]() Writing: Goals TBD: (1) ![]() (2) ![]() ![]() Count points: TOTAL POINTS YESTERDAY: Tall, nonfat, no-whip white chocolate mocha (7) Three cookies (10) Veggies and dip (3) Crackers (4) String cheese (1) Two jumbo margaritas (30) A basket of chips (8) with bean (4?) and cheese (4?) dips One beef taco (4) Guacamole salad with pico de gallo (2) I should probably stick to the taco and salad and skip the chips and margaritas. I found the Weight Watchers points for the margaritas - 5 points for 4 ounces - and I have a hard time believing it. I'm estimating the ounces of the two jumbos, of course, because I get them on the rocks, and they don't skimp on the ice. Somebody debunk my WW calculation, please!!! I really don't want to give up margaritas, but good gracious, I can't consume those kind of calories. |