Goals for the Week

I wrote some goals for the week on Sunday, but never got around to publishing them.  Here they are a little late, and I'll add some updates.

1. Make it through three days of traveling and attending a conference with my boss. One of us may need to be medicated. 
• I'm glad this is over today.  I just can't relax around her because she won't relax.
2. Enjoy time with one of my closest friends. I'm headed to Baltimore now for a conference and then immediately out to a group dinner. She is meeting me at my hotel and will be waiting for me when I get back from dinner. We're having a slumber party tonight, and her birthday is tomorrow. Looking forward to good times.  
• Had a great time with my girl on Sunday night, and I feel really fortunate that I was able to work that into a work trip.
3. Pack for Aruba. Nuff said. 
• Making a list of all of the things I need to take with me; the real packing will start when I get home today.
4. Get caught up on work so I can spend the next week on the beach with no worries.
• This is looking good.  I got a ton of stuff done yesterday, and I just need to stay on top of it for the rest of the week.
5. Eat healthy on the road. I haven't mastered this one yet, but I brought healthy snacks with me that should help me get a step closer.
• So far this has been a big fail.  I just never choose the "healthy" choice over the "tasty" choice when I am in a restaurant.  To make up for my indiscretions I went for a wonderful run yesterday morning, so I'm feeling pretty good.

Goals for the week.

I'm laying here in bed and trying to convince myself that I'm happy it's Monday.  New week, new beginnings, all that jazz.  I'm not doing a good job of fooling myself though.  It's time for some (positive) change around these parts...something new.

Goals for the week:

1. Send my resume to E.  I was speaking with a girlfriend last week, and her company has a job that would be perfect for me.  Unfortunately it is in the same city I live in, you know... the one I want to move out of.  The also have another office, in the city I would like to move to, so I'd like to explore potential in that area.
2. Continue to eat well.  This may be tough this week. For the last few weeks I have gone to the grocery store and bought stuff I felt like eating and prepped meals to go for the week.  This week I decided to use up the items that I had not used from my last trip to the store so my meals are a little bland compare to weeks past.  I prepped 10 meals yesterday and they were all quinoa and a green vegetable (Brocollini, asparagus, or brussels sprouts - things that I purchased with good intentions but didn't feel like eating last week).  Some had chicken and some didn't.   2 of those a day everyday this week.  How long do you think I have before I get sick of quinoa and a vegetable?  Oh well, starting next Sunday, I am traveling 11 out of the next 14 days, so it made sense for me to finish what I have in the house and not replenish.
3. Work out.  I'm trying to be gentle with myself in this arena, but I'm noticing a trend.  If I can make it to the gym, I give it my all.  Working out until I am absolutely sore for 2-3 hours at a time. When I'm not at the gym though, getting up and getting there is almost an impossible task.  The stars have to align perfectly for me to make that happen.  I'd like to find a better balance in this area.
4. Budget for the month of May.  I started this one yesterday, but I've also made some adjustments to my 401k and my contribution to my emergency fund (to account for my raise and my out of control spending), so I don't exactly know how those changes will affect my monthly budget yet.
5. Have fun.  The weather is starting to look better; I need to get out there and do something fun with people I enjoy instead of hibernating my life away inside these four walls.  I have a (first) date with a youngin planned on Tuesday and movies with an old friend around the end of the week.

That's it for me.  What's on your list this week?

Time Management Woes

I've mentioned here before that I am trying to get in better shape, and I have been working out more.  Since I am taking exercise classes, and as such slightly dependent on the gym, or yoga studio's schedule, I have become much more aware of my time.  I don't have any.  I've been quite irregular on this here blog, because after adding in another regular component (gym time) to my life, everything else has fallen to the wayside.  My house is an absolute wreck, I'm not doing anything social, no time to read or write, etc.  This didn't make sense to me, so I tallied up my time and figured out what was going on.  If you subtract sleeping, working, showering, commuting and eating from my schedule, I have five hours left.  Assume that I am in the gym for 1.5 hours and getting there pushes it to 2 hours, there are still 3 hours left in the day.  So, I have to admit it to myself, a good portion of those 3 hours is probably spent in a comatose state because I am tired post-gym, or is wasted on some time suck like the internet or tv.

I'm giving myself permission to enjoy the occasional time suck because I don't want or need to be too hard on myself, but once my body gets accustomed to this level of activity, I need to get stuff together at home.  Which leads me to the question at the heart of this post - How do mothers do it?  I am only responsible for my dog and myself, and I am BEAT at the end of the day, and often have to let things go undone.  How do people manage life plus children?  I see so many people do it successfully (or it appears so) but I am baffled.  Is this one of those times when I am only seeing the shiny exterior, or is there a secret time management technique for parents?  How do parents add new regular scheduled activities without other things falling apart?

If you've got the secret, let me in on it; I've got to know.

(One of the best things I have done for my own time management/health/sanity is to prep meals at the beginning of the week.  This way I always have something healthy and quick to eat and I have no excuse to eat chocolate for dinner.)

Goals for the Week

This was a pretty good week, y'all.  Well, work was interesting.  My boss bounced into my office on Monday morning and told me that she had volunteered me to go to our New Jersey office this upcoming week.  No warning, no heads up.  I can't help but feel like she wouldn't be signing me up for travel on such short notice if I had children, but eh...I love to travel (even for work) so I'll roll with it for now.  It's not the first time she has done it, but hopefully it won't be too frequent.  So, I'm off to Jersey in the morning.  I had to make arrangements for my pup  but he is staying with his favorite guy (one of my old boos) so no worries on that front.  

Goals from last week:

Random Thursday Thoughts

1. I prepared my taxes using Turbo Tax months ago, but I haven't filed them yet.  What am I waiting for?  My procrastination is out of control; I'm getting a refund, I need to get on that.
2. I worked out with a trainer last night, and I really enjoyed it.  This was a free introductory session, but I might actually pay for this.  I felt..."capable" when it was done, and I liked that feeling.
3. I still haven't hung the art in the living room, but this is the week for it, yes it is.
4. Abstaining from sugar is going really well for me.  I am usually a sucker for chocolate, and I have a ton of it stashed in my house right now that I am not eating.  I even went to my stash to get some this evening after eating a healthy dinner, but that Cadbury Creme Egg (YUM) has been sitting beside me for hours and I haven't reached for it yet. (I did cheat and eat a cookie on Monday, but I don't feel bad about it at all - such is life).
5. I've been doing well on the shopping ban too, but I have been spending more money than I should on other categories like housewares (I really want a new rug in my living room) and kitchen appliances.
6. My boss gave me incorrect information about my raise.  It doesn't go into effect for another two weeks.  I still don't know what my salary will be.  Sigh... quit playing with my money.
7. I haven't been reading as much as I expected to this year.  I got stuck in a reallllly long book (Count of Monte Cristo), and haven't been able to make significant progress.

How is your week going, any notables?

Goals for the Week

The view yesterday during my very mild workout.  I was enjoying the sun too much to work hard.

Hey Y'all

Yesterday was a great day.  I went to my cooking class, ran the stairs at the local dam while looking at the view above, and I repainted my bathroom.  Repainting my bathroom had been on my to-do list for ages, so it was great to stop procrastinating and finally get it done.  Sneak peek here.

Now that the weather is better I feel a spurt of productivity coming on.  I can't wait to get outside and get sh!t done.

Update from last week's list:

1. Choose a gym, and join that gym.  I figured out which gym I want to join, but I am waiting to join until after I use up the free pass that I have.  (Side-note: the fact that a guy I have had a crush on for years works at that gym did not affect my final decision at all ;-)
2. Create my monthly budget.  Done.  
3. Hang art in my living room.  Yeah, I moved some art into my living room, so at least I took a step in the right direction, but I didn't do much.
4. Eat Healthy. - Done.  I ate mostly vegan food, and did not eat anything with added sugar all week long.  This was particularly challenging because Easter candy was on sale, and there was a bake sale at work.  Someone even had the nerve to put a brownie catalog on my desk.  A catalog of nothing but different types of ooey-gooey brownies.  A pox on his house! Whooo, that was a rough day, but willpower prevailed.  Confession: Sunday through Saturday I ate well, but yesterday I binged on mac and cheese and chocolate.  Between the chocolate and the dairy by body went haywire, and within a few hours my eye was severely inflamed; it was so bad that I immediately had to take prednisone.   I knew those foods weren't good more me, but I have never felt such a direct link in my body before.  I know better, so I've got to do better. 

This week:

1. Hang the art, dang it!
2. Get outside anytime the sun is shining.
3. Continue to eat healthy - I'm sticking to no or low sugar, and green vegetable juice at least once a day, aiming for two.  
4. Workout at least three times. - I have an appointment with a personal trainer (the crush mentioned above) on Wednesday, and I want to work out at least two other times.

How are you doing?  Any goals in progress?  Did you get some better weather this weekend?

XOXO

MCS

1st Quarter 2013 Financial Update

I've made it through a quiet first quarter, and besides some general dissatisfaction and malaise, there hasn't been much of note.

When trying to summarize my finances for the first quarter, I thought the best way to demonstrate what my money was doing was to show differences in my spending between the same period last year.  2012 was the first year that I really took an active role in managing my finances, and really tried to control my spending and increase my net worth.

Lower in first quarter 2012 than 2013.

Education: In 2012 I paid off a large student loan, so in 2013, I no longer had those payments to contend with, and can divert that money to different places.  I still have other significant student loans to pay off, so this category will be around forever for the foreseeable future.

Shopping: I've mentioned numerous times before that I am on a self imposed shopping ban.  No clothes, shoes, makeup, purses, etc, unless something NEEDS to be replaced.  This went into effect in July 2012, so in comparison to the first quarter of 2012, my shopping category is way down in 2013.  I spent 38% of what I spent in the same time period last year.

Auto and Transport: Since I don't have a car payment, this basically boils down to spending less on gasoline.  No complaints here.

Entertainment: So, word on the street is that I haven't been very social this winter (which you may have already picked up on).  In fact, just yesterday someone told me that they hadn't seen me in so long, they thought I moved out of town.  Most of my expenses from this time period last year were from dating, and since I have not been on a date in 2013, that explains a lot about the difference.  I've really gotta get out more.

Higher in first quarter 2012 than 2013.

Kung Fu Grandpa

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