Simply Cindy: Humbly Yours by Val Crawford

Simply Cindy: Humbly Yours by Val Crawford: ABBA FATHER, I thank YOU for the opportunity to share YOU again. Thank YOU for showing me my own issues and more importantly for extending...

Why complain if you're not willing to make a difference?

Why complain if you’re not willing to make a difference? Thanks to MGST Retired R. Branch for this post.

Going through this thing called life will often bring you face to face with scandal and wrong doing.  When you face these circumstances, you actually have a choice.  You can choose to sit on the side line and complain, or you can lace up your boots, dust off your uniform of life and get involved to correct matters.  All too often, people stand around and complain about things that they are not willing to do anything about.  When you do that, you do nothing more than add fuel to the fire and thus, subconsciously make things worse.  Anyone can talk about what’s wrong, but the real question is – what are willing to do about it?  If the answer is nothing, then maybe your position should be on the bench and not on the field.  The people on the field are actually those trying to win, those on the side line are either those that are waiting their chance to get in, or those that like to talk about what’s wrong on the field.  You choose who you are going to be, but like it or not…believe it or not, you’re going to be one of them.

 

As always…think…and grow.

I CARE

 

Posted to Facebook on May 30.

 

It is a very sad day for the Department of Veterans Affairs. General Shinseki resigned this morning and I am just heart broken. VA Core Values, becuase I CARE, I will...
Integrity: Act with high moral principle. Adhere to the highest professional standards. Maintain the trust and confidence of all with whom I engage.
Commitment: Work diligently to serve Veterans and other beneficiaries. Be dr...iven by an earnest belief in VA's mission. Fulfill my individual and organizational responsibilities.
Advocacy: Be truly Veteran-centric by identifying, fully considering and appropriately advancing the interests of Veterans and other beneficiaries.
Respect: Treat all those I serve and with whom I work with dignity and respect. Show respect to earn it.
Excellence: Strive for the highest qualitiy of continuous improvement. Be thoughtful and decisive in leadership, accountable for my actions, willing to admit mistakes and rigorous in correcting them.

VA CORE CHARACTERISTICS: TRUSTWORTHY, ACCESSIBLE, QUALITY, INNOVATIVE, AGILE, INTEGRATED.
Those that reported to work every day and did not embrace these core values and characteristics should be ashamed of themselves. They let down the Veteran, their families, the Department and the Secretary.
It was an honor to serve under his leadership when he was the Chief of Staff of the Army and as the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sir, I salute YOU.

My Collection

A5 Finsbury, Personal Finsbury; Personal Chameleon, Personal Malden, and Mini Finsbury

My collection has grown to include a lovely A5 Original in green and purple. 

 

I love my Filofax Collection. I also have a lovely Kate Spade organizer in orange,  Coach Organizer in Black and two Franklin Covey Organizers.  One big happy family!

Making Time

January 2014

February 2014

Here is a view of January and some of the activities I have planned for February. We have 24 hours in a day and I find it hard to take time to plan.  I took a Franklin Covey course years ago.....having one calendar, and checking the calendar before committing to another event is one of the techniques I learned however, find it hard to follow.  Keeping an electronic calendar and a paper calendar is so time consuming. I need to figure out a method because we are two months into the year, and I want to make the best of each day.

Pens and More Pens

My Rainbow of Pens for my Filofax

This picture does not do my rainbow of pens justice because you cannot see all of the vibrant colors. I like to use the different colors to brighten my Filofax pages. I do not have a color scheme, just whatever color I pick out at the time is what I use. It makes me happy using a bit of color.  I do not know about you, but it is hard for me to pass up a new set of color pens.  A friend gave me the pens below which have glitter accents. Just delightful! 

Rainbow

Pens I keep on the night stand

Goals or Objectives

The calendar I am using for my Original Filofax has a section for monthly goals. I did a little research and found this chart on line. I need to focus on objectives which I can measure...like lose 5 pounds or read a book a month...that I can do.

                                    Comparison chart

	Goal	Objective
Meaning	The purpose toward which an endeavor is directed.	Something that one's efforts or actions are intended to attain or accomplish; purpose; target.
Example	I want to achieve success in the field of genetic research and do what no one has ever done.	I want to complete this thesis on genetic research by the end of this month.
Action	Generic action, or better still, an outcome towards which we strive.	Specific action - the objective supports attainment of the associated goal.
Measure	Goals may not be strictly measurable or tangible.	Must be measurable and tangible.
Time frame	Longer term	Mid to short term

Determined!

I am determined to make some positive changes in 2014. To stop dwelling on the past! To be in the moment. To stop procrastinating. To eat better and make physical fitness a priority!

A New Approach for a New Year

Blogging is not for everyone, and it appears not for me. It is hard for me to find the time to post on a regularly, so I am going to try planning my posts. For 2014, I have decided to dedicate three days of the month to blogging, 1st or 2nd, 15th and 30th. Hopefully, I will have something to say worth saying, it not, I will say it anyway.  I am going to plan more, so I can do some of the things I really enjoy..running, reading, and trying to blog!

This is off topic, but I wanted to write about it.

In 2013, I had too many of gadgets, apps and calendars (Filofax Personal, Erin Condren, Moleskin planners).  To get my day started I had to remember to bring my phone, iPod, ear  phones, iPad, Blackberry (work), attach my Fitbit or my body media to my clothing or on me. When I arrived to work, I had to plug in my iPhone, iPod, and iPad.  It was too much! To make matters worse, I was using several apps for my workouts and tracking food intake.  In addition, I was using a couple of productivity apps.

I am cutting back.  I have decided to stick with my Fitbit, and Nike+ for my physical activity.  I am going to use Evernote to manage my documents, and Nook and iBook  apps for my magazines and books.  I am using the Filofax A5 for my calendar. That is it.  As much as I like the Moleskin, and Erin Condren, I just cannot keep up with so many calendars.

I hope to have positive results to report on January 15.

Busy Is An Understatement

It has been so long since I have posted to this blog! Why? Because I have been BUSY. Between work, JL, Sorority, family, and life, I have not had a moment to rest. In late April, I flew to SC to run in the DIVAS Half Marathon. I had a blast!


Opps, forgot to post! Really busy!

My New Filo-Makes My Heart Sing!

My new Filofax.  The Original-makes me wanna sing-Isn't she lovely, isn't she wonderful!
She is so full, she is bursting at the seams. To reduce the bulk, I was thinking of removing the first six months of the year to another Filo for safe keeping. Maybe, maybe not. I just cannot add another thing to her or she will not close.

Here are a few pictures.

Filofax Week 11 of 52

Filofax Week 10 of 52

Malden Week 10 and Erin Condren Week 10

Week 10 is a wrap. I am using the Malden for personal stuff and Erin Condren for work stuff.  I really like the EC for work. I am able to list my goals and things I need to do for the week.  The day is also divided by morning, day, and night.  I've been using EC to track my daily actions, and to plan ahead for the next day.  I do not have enough room on the Malden calendar to include personal and work. So far this is a happy partnership. 

Filofax Weeks 8 and 9

Playing catchup posting weeks 8 & 9. Never enough time to get it all in. I purchased the stamp that was posted on another site to add order to the day. Week 8 began with a holiday, and I was sick on Tuesday and Wednesday. The rest of the week was busy, but nothing exciting.  Week 9 was emotional as we bid farewell to Pope Benedict XVI. There was much discussion on his sudden departure.  Sunday, I participated in the reenactment of the 3 mile Women's Suffrage March which occurred 100 years ago on March 3. So off to week 10. Cheers!

Filofax Week 7 of 52

Week seven under my belt! Finished my Lean Six Sigma course with an A! Made a short trip to NC to visit my mother. She is doing better. So happy. It is Lent season, so I need to do better!

My Filofax Week 6 of 52

The weeks are flying by! Having a good year so far. I am looking for a better quality paper for the calendar! In my notes and projects sections I have Kate Spade from a time long ago. The paper is card stockish and feels good when writing.

My Filofax Week 5

It was a good week. I was able to accomplish most if my goals. Met a few friends for lunch, which was a nice departure from my noon workout. Applied for a new job! Getting serious about moving forward in 2013. I participated in my first Skype call with Philofaxy! Did did stay on for the entire call, I had to go to Mass. I hope to catch them next month.

Email Overload

Reading email messages takes up the majority of my time.  I have decided to read, act, file or delete.  The cc line if for information only and sometimes I do not need to know.  If an action is required I highly recommend sending the message to the person who has the action.  In addition, I can just as easliy respond by phone to a question or just walk down the hall to see the other person's smiling face. 

My Filofax Week 4 of 52

My theme for this week! Dance Like Nobody's Watching!

My Filofax Week 3 for 52

Week 3 of 52
Busy and productive! I really need calendar pages for work and another for personal tasks. I am running out of room or I have too much to do!