I am Back at Lab1500!

After almost a two-month hiatus, changing the direction of my business, giving my laptop a bath, and accommodating my night owl habits, I'm finally back in Lab1500 working again! It's so nice to be back in downtown St. Louis, typing away at my favorite table and getting more things done than ever before. I get lots more done here than I do at home, and that is still the case today as it was in the beginning of the year when I first joined Lab1500. This is exciting because, as of yesterday, I was one-third of the way to my file cabinet (which I understand costs, like $25, if I know where to look, but the point is to work for it so it's a huge achievement and my home office is that much better when I finally get it). At this rate, I'll have that file cabinet in another month. Perhaps I'll be able to get a bookshelf or a dresser too.

Being SuperBetter is Super Amazing

It's only been one day of me playing SuperBetter, and I'm already having a blast and feeling extra motivated to do everything! It' so easy to get caught up doing quests, using power ups, and killing the bad guys. I also love how all this can be incorporated into my day and into my own Inferno of Productivity game. I get a point when I complete my SuperBetter quests for the day, and what I plan to do over the next few weeks and months is incorporate other goals and tasks into SuperBetter i.e. poker goals, business goals etc. In SuperBetter, you can create your own Power Packs, with its own set of bad guys, power ups, and quests. It would be really cool if I could eventually do this with my own goals, and then write blog posts on how to set these up so others can do them as well. It's exciting because I am essentially talking about a game, but I am also talking about building identity capital and helping others. It would also be really neat to create a Power Pack that works in conjunction with one of Stirring Media's digital content sites. I don't see how coffee would work for this, unless a lot of people really want to increase their daily coffee intake, but it's a good vision nonetheless.

I Want to Play Poker Tonight

Because I am burning in my inferno of productivity (Completing this blog posts puts me at 1o points for the day! And it's only 4 p.m.! I am amazing!), I do believe I will play poker once I get home and have my dinner. I will play at least three sit-n-gos at the smallest stakes, since I haven't played in a while. I played one over the weekend, and I won that, but I did get lucky in a few spots. I don't see it as too much indication of my skill level.

I'm making it a point to get back into playing again and to go for some of those items on my life goals/bucket list because two women have won an open event at the World Series of Poker, and I AM NOT ONE OF THEM! Too much time is passing with me wishing I was playing more poker and being more awesome and winning tournaments. Spending too much time wishing and dreaming, and not enough time making it happen. I need to change this, and then create a Power Pack for this so I can add it to my SuperBetter.

In the meantime, I will try to make it 11 points.

5 Books I Will Read This Summer

I've been putting books on hold at my local library for a few weeks now. With some of them, I still have a to wait awhile because of the long waiting list. For others, I was first on the list, so I was surprised that I hadn't yet received any email or notifications that my books were ready to be picked up. I decided to go to the library today because I had the time and that I would easily find something to read as I waited for my books. Lo and behold, two of my books that I placed a hold on were ready for me. So much for that notification system.

Because I now have a few books for me to read (well, I already had a ton of books because I have lots on my Kindle and a lot on my bookshelf, but they aren't as much fun as library books), I'm going to continue building identity capital by reading good books. No, "Game of Thrones" or "Twilight" aren't on this list. I really don't see those books building the kind of identity capital that I want. Besides, I prefer non-fiction books anyway, so here are the five books that I will read this summer. This is a declaration, and I will totally read these books this summer.

As an FYI, summer is defined as "now until the day after Labor Day," as this is typically when school starts.

The Business of Baby: What Doctors Don't Tell You, What Corporations Try to Sell You, and How to Put Your Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Before Their Bottom Line

I just started this book today, and I am so glad a book like this exists. Maternal health is a topic I'm particularly interested in, since its especially so abysmal in the U.S. Many people don't realize how horrible our maternal healthcare structure really is. I started it today and I'm already learning things. For example, I had no idea there was such a thing as prenatal vitamins, and that they aren't necessarily good for maternal health. This is a book that every mother, or potential mother, or expecting mother, should read. Get it here.

The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine

This is next on my list because I've read the book, and watched the documentary, "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide." Somaly Mam, whom this book is about, is absolutely amazing and she is featured in the documentary (if you haven't read or watched the documentary, then you need to do both right away. Both are phenomenal.) She rescues girls from sex slavery in Cambodia, and actually goes to the brothels to get them. She got out of sex slavery herself, too. In the documentary, she refers to her works as, "trying her best and doing what she can." Well, then I don't think any of us are trying hard enough if "rescuing girls from sex slavery is" Somaly trying her best.

Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights and the New War on the Poor

I want to read this one, but it looks really long and really academic. However, I've taken a look at it and it turns out that one-third of the book is actually footnotes and acknowledgements and what not, so it's not as long as it looks. I also hope that it's not boring because the concept of how health, human rights, and poverty work together is an intriguing one. Plus, Paul Farmer is the author, who has done amazing public health work in Haiti.

Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government

I don't know much about this book. I thought it looked interesting because I am curious to learn perspectives and ideas about how to bring government and democracy into the 21st century. The author, Gavin Newsom, is the current lieutenant governor of California. Seems like an easy enough read, and it also seems like the book isn't just Newsom's perspectives, but a collection of perspectives and anecdotes.

Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play

I have to throw in a poker book here and improve my game! It's been a while since I actually invested time in studying poker and working on my game, and this book I actually have in PDF form right on my desktop. Besides playing more poker, I need to continue reading so that I can build my bankroll and eventually hit my bucket list goal of winning a bracelet and hitting certain milestones with my winnings. I have to learn from those who came before me and have already accomplished such awesome feats.

My Perfect Day

I had planned to do this exercise on paper first, but I think I will start here instead. I don't want to put this off until tomorrow, and the plan was to post this on the blog anyway (for accountability and easy reference). I am going to outline what my perfect day looks like, one that has the freedom and flexibility to do whatever I want. Thinking about it though, I do think that I have two perfect days, depending on my mood and where I am in the world.

Perfect Day #1

My first perfect day would be me, sitting at a poker table at the Bellagio (or maybe the Aria or the Venetian, depending on the action and what's up), and playing lots and lots of poker. I'm thinking eight to 12 hours of poker because it's awesome. Of course, the day would be much more perfect if I saw a famous poker player and/or tripled my money. But, poker all day is simply perfect.

Ideally, it would be good to start in the early evening and to go as late as possible. This is when there are the most fishies. At least that's what I think.

Perfect Day #2

My other option for a perfect day (because I would need to take a break from the poker) would be me getting up at 9 or 10 a.m. and going to bed after midnight. I'm kind of a night owl, and do get some creative juices flowing after 8 or 9 p.m. The day would start with coffee, a delicious warm dark roast with vanilla soy milk and a little bit of powdered sugar. It turns out that powdered sugar dissolves really well. Normal sugar just sinks to the bottom, so nothing it sweetened until the end of the drink. While drinking my wonderful brew, I will write about the new dark roast I've just tasted in my coffee shop/roast review blog.

I would be spending most of my day writing and blogging, covering the topics that needed to be covered and bringing the news and information people desired. I would be writing about my passions i.e coffee, human rights, international news, poker, identity theft, credit repair etc. (that list could really go on forever). I would write for the sake of creating great content and for the sake of creating something the others would find helpful, valuable and beneficial. Worrying about SEO and advertising and traffic is stupid, and is a problem for those who a writing, blogging, and creating content for the wrong reasons.

I would eat a hefty lunch and dinner, away from my desk. It would be a vegan lunch and dinner with at least one awesome person so that I'm not eating all by myself or spending my meal watching something. I would like to have at least one meal outdoors in the sunshine, but if it's winter then perhaps I don't need to eat outside. A vegan dessert would follow dinner, while after lunch there would be more coffee. Coffee will always follow lunch. It counts as a dessert.

Naturally, I can't spend my entire perfect day writing. I would get tired and then I won't be writing as well. So, when the creative juices aren't flowing, I'll be playing fun video games like Skyrim, anything on the Wii, Don't Starve, and Sim City. Not all of them at once or all of them in one day, but just one for the perfect day so that I can relax a little bit and be able to get back to writing.

I think that's about it for my perfect day. How detailed does it need to be? I don't know. I'm not all that high-maintenance anyway. It really doesn't take a lot for me to be comfortable or happy.

I'll Do It!

I'm not Allison Mack, or Bill O'Reilly, but I am just as fabulous.

How's that for a tagline/niche? I need a new one, since I don't even know what "All is On with Allison" is even all about. I'm thinking that I just have a pretty darn good life that I should be a bit more appreciative of, so I should just blog about and blog about what goes on here in St. Louis and in business and that other fun stuff. Although, I must say, 'Mack' is a pretty cool last name. It reminds me of a Mack truck, and that's pretty cool.

I mean, it's a start for a tagline right? I just read this long article about the dysfunctional guide to blogging and business success, and I think that 'dysfunctional' is a good word for me. I prefer different and original, but dysfunctional would work too. People probably do think I am dysfunctional. After all, I did go vegan and then I ran out of money for food so I had to eat all the meat that I had stored up and now I'm a horrible, horrible vegan.

A Week of Moping

Yeah, that's seriously what my last week and a half it's been. Probably the worst week and a half to mope too, since Memorial Day weekend is this weekend and I should have started the moping three days later. Time it with the vacation so that I wouldn't have been moping when everyone else was at work being productive and doing things with their lives. I haven't been working enough and being productive, even though work is slow and that's part of the reason why I'm moping.

I don't want to be moping. The moping is turning me into a loser. I want to be better and to be awesome! I am doing that by going to my VIP day tomorrow to work on my business and my personal branding. It starts at 8:30 a.m. and I will be getting free breakfast and lunch. How could I not go? I'm also going to be spending the day with my business coach and she will guide me in the right direction and help me tap into my purpose power and all that good stuff. I can do it! I will have a successful business and make money and save the world!

You Can Do It!

I can totally do it, and I must do it because the great Daniel Negreanu said I could do it. He totally said this when he participated in a Q&A on the FlopTurnRiver poker forum. I asked him a question about veganism, and how to go vegan, because he's also vegan, and this is what I got:

First, watch Forks Over Knives | Official Website it has a lot of great information. Then pick up the cookbook it's incredible. Also checkout Vegetarian & Vegan Starter Kit | Guide on How to Become Vegan / Vegetarian | PETA.org for help getting started. Good luck and congrats on your decision! Stick with it and you won't regret it.

Okay, so there's nothing in there that's all that encouraging except the 'stick with it' part. However, I've been telling myself that he was encouraging for like, six months, so I'm just going to 'stick with it' and tell people that Daniel Negreanu encouraged me through the interwebs and so that's why I can do it and that I won't fail.

That also really has nothing else to do with the rest of my life, except poker, but that's okay too.

I've also just concluded that my tagline sucks. I'm working on it. I also need to work on this whole page too.

So... About That Video

I know yesterday I said that I was going to make my first video and get it up on YouTube. That didn't happen, or else you would have heard about that. It's not that I didn't try. I ran into a few obstacles along the way.

The Oblivion Video

With Oblivion, I made the character. I tested the software I had downloaded to see how it worked and to see how good it caught my voice and the audio. However, when I recorded a minute of game play, I stopped it because I wasn't sure if it was still catching the audio since I was still wearing a headset. This is when I discovered that it didn't catch any of the game visuals. It was only catching the desktop. So, I couldn't make an Oblivion video and that made me very sad.

The Poker Video

However, that did not stop me! I decided that what I can do is make a video of myself playing poker. I would accomplish the same things, except that it would either be a short or long video depending on how long I lasted in the tournament. So, I actually started recording myself! I got 12 minutes of recording done, and actually learned a few things (there's no evidence of this 12 minutes because I deleted it, but it's not wasted time I promised). Here's what I learned throughout this whole little recording, making my first video ordeal:

• Talking while I'm Playing Poker is Really Tough - I found that trying to play and to say what I'm thinking is very difficult, and probably hinders my ability to play my very best. Communicating my ideas and thought processes only slows down those processes, and trying to explain what I'm doing and what others are doing is tough to keep straight to do before the hand ends. Perhaps poker videos just aren't my thing, at least not yet.
• I Do Need to Plan What I'm Going to Say - Even though I do have experience in impromptu and extemporaneous speaking, I do think I do need to plan some of what I'm going to say. At the very least, I could outline my introduction and a few big points that I want to mention in the video. Obviously, more planning is going to happen for the talk show, the nightly news show, and any other shows that I do.
• I Need More Practice at This - After the 12 minutes, I continued to play and to speak as if the camera was still rolling. If I'm going to do these types of videos, I do need to practice constantly talking and having something to say. The big reason why I deleted the 12 minutes is because there were too many instances where I didn't say anything for several seconds. I would have had to throw out most of it in editing anyway.

Still Testing Software

Today, I spent time looking for a solution to the Oblivion problem, of which I am still researching and testing. First, I looked for an option to play Oblivion in a window, versus the full-screen takeover, and there is no such option (unless its been disabled with one of the mods, but I don't think so). Then, I looked at recording software that's designed for video games, and I found one that's highly rated. It took some trial and error to get the hot keys right, so starting and stopping recordings is easy and doesn't interfere with the game play. I think I have something, but the first one I tried froze the game and I had to reboot. I'll have to try again to see if it was just a one time thing.

That's where I am in this whole video thing. I needed to take a break and write this post before getting back to the problem. Hopefully, it's just about solved and I can actually make a video today. If not, then I might just do a powerpoint or me talking or something. By now, I need to start making some videos and getting some things up on YouTube.

Where Has the Time Gone? This is Ridiculous

I have not blogged in a really long time! I promised that I was going to blog while I was in Las Vegas, and after Las Vegas, and I got sidetracked and I didn't do any of that. That was almost two months ago, and so much has transpired over that time. Essentially, what's happened is that I lost money playing poker, I got really busy with the business, now the business doesn't have a lot of money, so I think I need to rethink my life or something. Actually, I probably need to rethink a lot of things. Except the poker, as I'm slowly making my money back online.

Blogging Case Study

Obviously, this is out the window. I've long past the deadline at the end of the quarter to evaluate where I've come with the blogging. I've probably lost most of the ground I made in the first 70 days or so of the year. I also need to come up with a whole new list of blog post ideas and a brand new goal for this blog and all that other good stuff. I could just shoot for turning this thing into a business and becoming famous online or something, but then I feel that's what every blogger shoots for.

Oh no, I need to think about this like how technology evangelist Ramon Ray does. I am a publisher, although I'm not quite sure what I publish yet. That goes with the figuring out blog topics, new blog goal, maybe something else to study. I don't know. While I am at it, I should come up with a cool title, like how Ramon Ray is the "technology evangelist." I don't know what I am yet.

Saving the World Mission is Still Here, Though

Besides the fact that everything else has gone to garbage, I am now the St. Louis Community Ambassador for the Half the Sky Movement. The movement is based off the book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (which is a great book that everyone should buy/borrow and read), and is about ending oppression for women and girls worldwide. I think I'm going to be devoting some content to that, promoting documentary screenings (the book was then turned into an AMAZING PBS documentary, which you should watch after you read the book) and thinking of other awesome initiatives to do to encourage action and to end oppression. This falls right into line with the 'saving the world' mission, which was cornerstone to this whole blogging thing. Can't forget about saving the world! What's the point of life if you are not going to save the world?

So, What's Next?

Good question, after two months of my life has gone by so very fast. So very, very fast. I do have to plan my first Half the Sky screening, which is planned for June 6 at 5:30 p.m. It is going to be about economic empowerment, but that's all I know so I need to work on that. I also want to do a business blogging class, which I think would be valuable to potential customers. I think I could charge $15 for entry or something. I do need to make changes to the services that I offer with Stirring Media, since I think I need to change direction with the business. I might need to revert back to freelance writing, or focus my services a bit more on just a few verticals or something. Not sure yet. I'm going to work on the new service pages, take a way a few services that no one wants, and see how much of a difference that makes.

My Big Fat To-Do List

See, I have my daily to-do list, where I write down the things that need to get done that day (as well as whatever else I can squeeze). This leaves a lot of things forgotten, especially personal things, or even bigger tasks that are tougher to break down into a few steps that could get accomplished over the next several days. I've decided to put together a to-do list of these things, as most of them either get forgotten or squeezed into the weekend, when I don't want to do them because it's the weekend. Hey, whatever works to remind myself and to hold myself accountable.

• Find and Choose Recipes - I've been eating out too much lately, so this means I've probably slacked on my veganism and nutrition. I need to get back on track by picking a few good recipes, buying the ingredients for those recipes, and then cooking the food. I have Pinterest and a couple of cookbooks, so really I don't have any excuses.
• Go Grocery Shopping - Purchase said ingredients, and other needed things.
• Prepare Food and Water for the New Kitty - Our new kitty is finally arriving from the shelter on Monday! We need to prepare the home for our new family members i.e. put out the food and water. The water dish just needs to be refilled since I've already washed it. I do want to change the food dish since the food has been sitting there for a few weeks with no one to eat it. It's probably dusty by now.
• Post a Hand on Flopturnriver.com - Did you really think I wouldn't have anything poker related to do? I played a cash game yesterday for an hour and lost two dollars. This was after being up three dollars after playing heads up. I grant, I got lucky. I'm not sure if I kept running into hands or if people were playing back at me. Maybe both. This is why I ought to post a hand (or two).
• Play Poker - I always need to play poker. It's always on the to-do list. Despite yesterday's losses, I might play again tonight. Poker is fun!
• Revisit My Content Inventory - This is an inventory of all the lead generation content Stirring Media has, and the last time I looked at this thing as at least a few months ago. Maybe more than that since I don't remember. I know I am planning new content, and have created new content since I last looked at the inventory so it does need a revisit. It'll also be a good chance to see which kinds of content I ought to create.
• Work on My Internet Marketing Guide - One of my first pieces of lead generation content was a white paper on building a keyword strategy. It was meant to be a series. However, I've only written the one, and I've kind of started on the next in the series, which is about business blogging. Not only does the first one need uber updating, but I should finish the series as well.
• Call HubSpot - Apparently, they still don't have my new address. So, they are sending checks to my old address, in which Ken has to call and tell me to pick up the mail. I don't want the building owner to see me, because I've cancelled my services with him, so I don't want him to get the idea I'm trying to steal. I swore I told them, but I need to do this.
• Exercise - I need to do lots more of this. I need to play more Wii, or go to Tower Grove Park, or take a class, or go running, or a combination of the above. It's part of my vision to achieve Oprah status!
• Drink More Coffee - This is always on the to-do list. It's yummy and empowering. And, obviously, I have a lot to do. When do I ever have nothing to do?

My Parents are Reading

They totally are, which is fine, except that they print out my blog posts and the criticize them for having too much information. That's the point of a personal blog! I'm certainly not going to rant about politics like too many other bloggers out there. I also don't need a place to blog professionally, as I already have plenty of that. I could do a 100% poker blog, but I don't think I have a cool enough poker story to tell. However, I am now self-conscious of what I write here, and this post is probably going to warrant a phone call and a scolding.

"You talked about us in the blog!"

"We don't criticize."

"TMI, TMI."

"Cats suck."

As punishment, I am putting pictures of the two possible cats we are getting this week. I can't wait, as we need a kitty in the apartment again! They are brothers, and quite frankly, I'm not sure which one the shelter will bring to our house for us to keep. It doesn't matter, as both are cute, fuzzy kitties that will bother my parents because they don't like cats. Print this out! Pretend they are scratch-and-sniff pictures!

Oh, and Facebook

What's worse than the blogging is the Facebook! See, my mother has a Facebook page, but she doesn't post anything. She doesn't even have a profile picture. However, she happily uses it to stalk my Facebook page and then comment on how I share stupid things and ask why I share this and why I share that. Too much information,  she says. But that's the point of Facebook! It's the epitome of TMI! It's not fun if it's not TMI, and I could be a lot worse!

Why couldn't my parents have figured out Twitter first? See, with Twitter, then they would read about marketing twice a day. They would learn things and think that I am very professional and knowledgeable. I don't spend time on Twitter retweeting funny statuses and sharing clever memes. I don't spend much time on Twitter period. Although, they would probably love Pinterest. My mom can finally get all those crafty, creative ideas she's been seeking at craft fairs for the past 15 years all in one place, and all without leaving the house.

Cash Games

I started playing cash games online over the weekend. I lost the first couple of times I bought in, but yesterday I almost doubled my buy-in in the two or three hours I played. I actually went 140 hands without going to show down! The table was incredibly nitty, so it was just a matter of raising and taking the pot, or betting into the flop, or even getting a few walks. I don't even think I was playing all that aggressive; it was just that blinds weren't being defended and hardly anyone was willing to call or to raise. I wanted to try and to go to 200 hands, but then my streak broke (with pocket 10s, so it could have been worse), and then I wasn't interested in playing anymore. In all those hands, besides the one that went to show down, I only went to the river once and the turn maybe two or three times. On top of all that, I won between a quarter and a third of the hands I played. I don't remember the exact percentage, but I hope to continue that win rate! I might play again tonight.

Back on Track

I woke up today and committed to making today a productive, awesome day. I committed to making today a great day and to getting things done. Not only did I accomplish that, but I also found a dollar bill this morning on my way to the bus stop. It's the second dollar bill I've found in a three-day period. I hope I find more money on the sidewalk within the next few days, the next one being a 10 or a 20. You know it's going to be a good day when you find money on the ground, especially when the ground is covered in snow.

However, I'm Nervous

I applied for an Arch Grant about two months ago, and today is the day when they are notifying who moves on to the next round. Haven't heard anything yet, although they announced on Twitter three hours ago that the notifications will go out by the end of the day. It's less than an hour until the end of the day and I haven't heard anything. What's considered the end of the day? I'm nervous because if I don't get the grant, I will start on my project that I hoped to fund through the grant. If I do move on, then I will do the next round and go through the waiting game once more. Getting this grant will be huge, but I think my idea is even better, and I will want to make the idea a priority. However, I don't want to start on it if I do move to the next round. When will I hear something? Eeek!

Other Than That...

Today was a committed and productive day, and I will continue this by playing poker tonight (or maybe game night with the neighbors, as they haven't said anything yet). I played a SNG yesterday and lost, but I was incredibly spaced out. Before I knew it, I only had 2/3 of my original chip stack, and it felt like I hadn't played any hands or made any bad moves. I had no idea where the money went. Alas, I will play again tonight. It will be fun, and I will make the best decisions possible.

Poker, Poker, Poker

I need to practice for my Las Vegas trip, which is less than month away. I am super excited to go! I can't wait. I have this trip to look forward to as well as the Heartland Poker Tour in April. On Pokertube, they have videos of two separate HPT final tables. I plan to watch that to get a glimpse of how tough the competition is that these HPT events. I'm excited, and nervous. I feel my awesomeness exponentially growing. I want to be featured on Pokertube because that would be the coolest thing ever. I would be a semi Internet star. Also, if I happen to win big over the next few months, I could maybe make it out to the World Series of Poker to play one tournament or two. I want to play in the WSOP so bad, even though 2014 is probably when I'll make my first appearance. I need to win super huge to be able to play this year, even though a couple of events have a $1000 buy-in.

Finishing Up

I need to hurry and to finish this post because I want to catch the 5 p.m. bus. I was hoping to catch the 4:30 p.m. bus, but I took too long thinking of something to write about and then I got distracted with the Arch Grant announcement. I keep hitting refresh, hoping to see the notification, but a watched pot never boils. It'll probably come in while I'm on the bus, and then I'll get home and completely forget about it. Then, I won't see it until tomorrow morning or something. Why wouldn't it happen that way? It's usually how these sorts of things go.

Snow Day Today

Today is a snow day in St. Louis. Lots of places ended up closing, closing early. I ended up working from home because the event I planned to attend tonight was postponed to next week, and even though I take the bus (and the bus is always running) the weather made it seem like the sidewalks were going to be awfully slippery. I don't like the idea of eating it on the sidewalk. I don't like the idea of waiting for the bus when it's below 20 outside, and that the bus is probably running late because the road conditions are so horrible. I love snow days because they don't exist in Hawaii, so interesting things happen on snow days like people leaving early from work to beat the weather, and fun things falling from the sky, and the fact that things close in St. Louis but if this happened in other cities around the country nothing would close and it would be business as usual. I also like the idea that everything shuts down and that people stay home and its okay to be lazy or to take the day to plan or to think about the future (when am I never planning or thinking about the future?) Snow days are interesting. I wish Hawaii had sun days, where it would be too hot or humid to go to school.

Today is Also Poker Day

Yes, it is! I think I might start playing in an hour or two, after I finish this blog post and maybe do a bit more work. Yes, even with the snow day I've been getting things done. I still have to catch up from not getting much done over the past few days, so I do find it a relief the event got postponed. I feel like I have some extra time to get things done. The only thing I'm worried about with playing poker is if the power or the Internet cuts out. I've had problems with that previously when the weather was severe, so it would really suck if I'm in the middle of a good hand and I lose it because I couldn't place my bet. I actually had a strong showing the last time I played. I was up for the day, even though I did make a few bad plays. Those bad plays did cost me some money, no doubt about it, but I feel like I'm playing very well and that I just need to plug these leaks.

Building the Business

One thing that I've realized recently is that I haven't been pursuing jobs on Elance and on other sites as much as I used to. Part of it is that I'm worrying about meeting the needs of current clients, so I don't have the time anymore to pursue leads. Part of it is also that I am starting to get more leads, and more qualified leads, through my website, so the time that I do have is better spent on those. Both are good problems to have, but I also don't want to be put in a position where I am unable to grow or unable to support growth.

Another thing I just realized about building my business is that I've slacked off somewhat on improving my website. It was a point since the beginning of the year to tackle a page per week, making the necessary improvements. I didn't do a page this week, and I don't think I did one last week either. I should put it in my calendar for next week, so that I don't forget and then end up not doing any more improvements until 2014. I should do that now, before I forget. I planned poorly for this week, so I'm being extra careful to make sure that I properly plan for next week.

All good things to do on a snow day.