The Jumpstart Project – 365 Day Challenge to Shatter Complacency (Week 1)

Week 1 -Friday, January 1 – Sunday, January 3

Friday, January 1, 2010

• Made black eye peas and collard greens for the first time. You may not think this is different but given that my Japanese mother always served us mochi for good luck on New Year’s Day, our family was not apt to have black eyes peas. I am not even actually sure if she even knew how to make it.  How was it? Just okay. I used the black eye pea recipe on the back of the bag and used bacon instead of ham hocks.  I will put a little effort into finding a more tasteful recipe for next year. If anyone has a good one, pass it my way. Collard greens were yummy. 

• Offered to help a young French couple find their destination. I have never done this before. Of course, if someone asks me for directions,  I am more than happy to help out but this young couple just seemed not to be able to figure out the map so I felt that okay why not offer to help them. And by the way, my french sucks. It took me a moment to figure out what street they were trying to get to. Yikes. 

• Shopping at the Conrans moving sale. Okay,  maybe shopping may not be different but Conrans has been over at the 59th street location for years and I never seemed to make it over there.  Since they are moving to ABC Carpet and Home, I thought why not check it out and see if there was anything worth buying. And no there wasn’t. I must admit the crowd was pretty interesting, lots of hipsters, gay couples, women in fur and just plain folks, I don’t ordinarily shop with it ended up being different.  Along the way, I happened upon a Japanese market where I ended up buying mochi, ensuring more good luck. 

Boat Seat Sofa by Ben Fowler – Original Price $16,900 Reduced by 50%. This sofa may look nice but is sooo a sofa for show, not sitting. You can barely sit in let alone get out of it.

Isamu Noguchi Classic Table $1,349, so not reduced. Why should it be? This table was originally designed in 1948 and stands the test of time, is timeless, and instantly recognizable.

Sunday, January 3, 2010
My personal coach picked up on one of the goals I am trying to work and is somewhat hindering my job search, my utter lack of organization. Seriously, after a year of unemployment, you would think I would have a schedule down pat, yet….  She recommended that I go and buy a big whiteboard and every Sunday, write down all the stuff that is rumbling around in my mind rather than a notebook. That way, I have to pass by it every day to ensure I am making progress on my goals for the week. I split my action items by job search, blog, organization and daily/weekly stuff. Mind you I will still have my notebook because let’s face, you can put a whiteboard in your bag.