Monday, July 26, 2004

Best Wife Ever

That would be me. After I posted on Saturday I let my Sweetie sleep in as I prepared for a marathon weekend of homework. He woke up at about noon knowing he could play his FFXI game. I insisted that he get dressed and eat breakfast before beginning. Turns out that was good advice. He played for 29 hours straight. The only breaks he had involved quick trips to pick up lunch and dinner. Other than that, he played and played and played. I made sure to sleep in between papers and such, but not him. On Sunday I had a group meeting at noon. When I got back home at almost three, I really expected him to be asleep. NOPE, he was still going. At five he said he leveled enough - needed to get to 30 for a LAN party that I am giving him for his b-day (although I am not one of the people who play the game and it is not at my house). While he took a two hour nap to avoid screwing up his schedule too much I ordered pizza for his dinner. It arrived about 5 minutes after I woke him up.

Guess you can tell, I am a little crazy about this guy :-)

Saturday, July 24, 2004

The Mailbox

So we come home after the concert and Amy's Icecream. We were feeling great. Due to work we were in two cars and my Sweetie stopped for at the mailbox on his way to the house. As we enter the house I asked him what we got in the mail.

He says calmly "something from those accounting people".

My heart stops. Is this the letter I am waiting for? He hands me two envelopes. Two, two has to be good right? I open the thinner envelope first, the one the size of the "we need more information" letters. To my surprise I read the first line "Congratulations! Your Application of Intent is approved". WOO HOOO The second envelop is my form to send in saying when I want to test for each section.

This means that I can test. for the CPA This means that they have all of my paperwork and approved of my education. This means that I have to take the next step.

In order to not stress over something that is not even there - I told myself that I could not think about when to study and test until I received the approval letter. Now it is here. It could not have come on a better day - after the Sarah Concert. However, I have 4 papers to write this weekend and cannot think about the CPA exam yet.

But I am so excited. I am so proud. I am so scared.

Sarah Was Perfect

Last night was the Sarah McLachlan concert. It was so wonerful. Butterfly Boucher opened and was really good. The lines were too long to purcahase her CD so I will investigate on-line. Sarah sang 9 songs from Afterglow and 10 from Mirrorball. There were about 3 or 4 that I did not know. And she sang Black Bird - I love that song.

This concert is not like a Madonna or any of the boy bands. There were no dancers or gimicks. She walked out on stage in jeans and a spaghetti strap tank top type shirt. Perfect! She looks great. We had great seats. And when we felt we needed more detail there were two large screens on either side of her. She was even wearing one of the yellow Lance Armstrong bracelets.

One thing that I loved was when she was on stage alone with a spot light and sang "You are my Sunshine" as the intro to "Hold On", which was Perfect. She talked to the audience with such ease - she is good at what she does. Everything was so perfect. Her band left the stage and I told my Sweetie to wait for an encore. He mumbled something about artists not doing encores anymore. Haha I was right. She came back out to sing like 5 or 6 songs. She just kept coming back on :-) The last time she came out all the equipment was in the process of being packed up so she took to the piano and finished from a song from Afterglow.

It was like I knew her. It is funny there is a friend of mine that is very confident and powerful. Sarah sounded just like her. We both were reminded of the dark Diva. I will have to tell her and hope it is not an insult :-)

I believe music is very important. It stimulate learning and encourages thinking in a way that a text book cannot. While I do not currently play an instrument - I do listen to music. However, I do not listen to music in the way of mindless on the radio. I am sure I am not the only one. Whenever I have a rough time in my life I turn to music - normally one artist - and completely embreace the albulm. It helps me deal with the issues. This has been true since I was in Junior High and Chicago helped me through a breakup.

I love Sarah McLachlan. However, I have not always been a die hard fan - heck I did not know about 4 songs last night. But her CD Mirrorball helped me through one of the roughest patches in my life. For that I will always be grateful to her and her music. I listened to this CD almost daily for a year. It was my therapy. And it was amazing to experience my therapy live. This has to be the best Valentines present from my Sweetie.

Thursday, July 22, 2004

An Adult??

I have some time to kill before my class - so I thought I would jump on and enter some thoughts. Do any of you feel like an adult? Does being an adult feel the way you thought it would? I do not mean in meeting goals or where you thought you would be at this age. What I mean is simply the feeling. Sometimes I get hit with adultness - like all of the sudden it hits me that I am married and own a home. But over all I stil feel like a kid. Yes, I have more responsbilities. Perhaps it is because I am still in school - but not much else "feels" different.

This morning was one of those adult moments. My Sweetie was ready to go to work and he completely took me back - he was an adult. In his work clothes, phone on his belt, and briefcase bag, it seemed like he aged from 16 - 28 right in front on me. OK so that might be because he has aged right in front of me. But I am sure you all understand that feeling. I wonder if I will ever feel what I thouht I would as an adult. I have friends of all ages and even they don't seem like adults. Perhaps adultness is reserved for parents, grandparents and the like.

It is funny because I live not more than 4 miles from where I grew up, talk with my mom most days, am married to my highschool sweetheart, still have homework at night, and have an incredible urge to play video games. Perhaps I will never grow up completely because of so much that has stayed the same. Now is this so bad? I am the Queen of Fun - said by my 7 year old niece.

I have a real date planned tomorrow. We are going to see Sarah McLachlan!!!! I am going to make sure that I leave ALL stress behind for a wonderful evening.

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Computer Issues

I am sitting here writing because I cannot get into the drive on the computer that holds all of my information that the auditors need. Fun.

Other than that, I am in a great mood. I was good yesterday again for a total of 2 phase one days. I tried the ricotta cheese dessert - maybe I made it wrong - but that was GROSS - I even spit it out. This week - even with everything that is due - is not stressing me out as much as normal. Of course I had my normal end of the semester nervous breakdown on Sunday - but I am doing better now. Everything will get done when it gets done.

The good news is that I show another loss from yesterday. I KNOW it is water weight and I don't expect to continue to lose at this rate, but it makes me feel good. Tonight is my MIL's b-day dinner. I am going to try my hardest to stay on phase one. We shall see.

Drive is back up - must get back to work.

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

A wonderful invention - the alarm!

So I wake up an hour late this morning. OK not quite an hour, in theory I had about 5 minutes to get ready and out of the house. My poor Sweetie woke up after he should have left. I apparently changed the alarm in my sleep. I remember changing it from 6 to 7, but not from 7 to 8. I might have hit the button twice. Needless to say - we woke up late. However, we were not stressed or bitchy to one another - like the normal situation with a messed up alarm time. We just moved a little faster and accepted our lateness. It was actually a nice morning.

But yesterday is the subject worth writing about. I RULE!!!! Three successes yesterday:

1) I was on phase one yesterday. On my way home from work I stopped at the drug store for my thyroid medicine. I went inside to get the prescription because I hate the drive through - not faster. Inside the store there are all kinds of bad things to eat and drink, and I was hungry. So I looked and found what I wanted - nuts and a flavored water (no calories) - and completed my purchase with my meds. YEAH ME!!!!
2) Went to the grocery store (no time on Sunday) and shopped the perimeter of the store. This allows for the least amount of processed foods. I bought healthy items for both me and my Sweetie.
3) This is the biggest one: went to dinner with friends. The good news is that we did not go to TexMex. This saved me on chips. We went to Applebee's and I had a salad. This salad was completely phase one except for some tortilla chip strips. I ordered my salad without the tortilla chip strips. I rarely have any changes to a meal - and most of the time it is adding something. Then everyone ordered dessert, even my Sweetie. I was so good. Not only was I full, which is a rare gage for dessert, but I simply did not want any. I did not have a bite. I was not upset about this or feel deprived. I walked out feeling strong and satisfied. I kept telling myself that I can always have something sweet on Wednesday or Friday. This was the biggest success because I can convince myself that it is a special occasion to eat badly - since we are out with friends. This was not the case. I ate for my health.

So yeah me!!

I bought a new scale on Sunday because mine was dying. It was great for the ego though. Get on get one weight, get on again and it would show an instant loss of .5, try a third time and see a loss of 1.5 within a minute.


Monday, July 19, 2004

Back to the grind

This weekend was nice. Only a few nervous breakdowns. I got my paper done in time for my Thursday class and I got the house cleaned in time for the party. All in all I was very productive. I also finished my Marketing homework by the end of Sunday. The party was nice and relaxing. We even played horseshoes.
 
The last time the family got together like this was back at the end of February for my SIL's 30th b-day. This was during the peak of my unhappiness at my last job. I could tell the difference in myself this time. That is a good thing. I enjoyed the food this weekend knowing that I would get back on track today.
 
I did have a break down yesterday. If you thought last week was bad here is the schedule for this week:
 
Wednesday - MIL's actual b-day will go to dinner to celebrate
Thursday - Last paper in Accounting due :-)
Friday - Sarah Concert
Saturday - Marketing Article due, Marketing Case due, Marketing discussion due
Sunday - my part of the accounting group project due
 
And somewhere in the week I need to figure when to work on my marketing group project. The semester has 24 days remaining - and counting.
 
After more pain with my knee this weekend and reading an article with Prevention about my knee problems, I made a decision. I am going to concentrate on my weight loss, walking, stretching, and weight lifting for the next 6 weeks. If after that I am still in pain, I will add on the physical therapy.
 
My goal is to complete phase one through my Sweetie's b-day. Allowing myself to go off for MIL's b-day and Sarah concert.
 
I am so tired. This semester is killing me. Worse than last semester, which sucked because of evil zombies at work. I am going to try and take a week off in between semesters. I think I will sleep the whole time :-)
 
It was so nice to see the out of town family this weekend. Really they are my in-laws. However, I have known them since I was 15, so I do not refer to them as such - and I do not have any aunts, uncles, or cousins of my own. 
 
I still have a little voice in my head telling me to train for motive. I know that I shouldn't because of my knee - but I would really like to get a couple more long distance "races" under my belt before mentoring. Speaking of which - I told TNT that I will not be able to mentor this season. They took it well, said they will miss me but appreciated the honesty.  I want to be ready next year to fully mentor. Of course the same voice that wants the motive walk this year wants the Motorola marathon in February - first year as Freescale.
 
OK I have rambled long enough. Back to work.
 
 

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

And I walk away with a blister

Yep - got one from walking all over down town with my sweetie. Meeting changed from lunch to an office meeting. Guess where they are located? Across the street from my Sweetie's office. So I went - parked at a meter and got up to the 18th floor just in time. Nice office - elevators have TV's.

The meeting was good. Felt confident. Very strange since I am not looking for a job. Bottom line is I said that I did not want to start until after graduation. Of course I am still scheduled to graduate in December and have through August 15th to decide, but we shall assume May - and that is what I said. I met the recruiter and she was very nice. Now I wait.

Sweetie was nice enough to go to TSBPA and drop of my notarized SSN and e-mail address today. Hopefully they have everything they need. Shhh - if I am completely eligible I "might" consider graduating in December. We shall see. Will cross that bridge when we get to it.

After the meeting went to Chipotle with my Sweetie. It was so nice to be that close to him during the day. Now I am back plugging away numbers for another Big 4 for the quarterly audit.

Nerves of Steel

OK maybe that is not true. I am not doing so well right now. Less stressed about the house work - my Sweetie cleaned the kitchen last night for me. We have cousins coming into town on Friday and that is making me happy. However, before then I must finish my paper due tomorrow, get annual reports for group project, and finish marketing papers for the week. Then of course there is the house work. AUGH!!!

I am nervous about lunch today. This is huge and I am trying very hard to convince myself otherwise. At 11:30 today I will be speaking with a partner of a Big 4!!! That is crazy. The more crazy thing is that I am not looking for another job. I really like my job and the people. Hell the pay and benefits are wonderful. However, I have always had a desire to go into audit. Too much to think about right now. I will go to the meeting and simply be myself. What happens, happens.

I will be so happy when this semester is over. I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown. So much to do in less than a month. I will survive, I always do. But I can't wait until the 2 week break. I am hoping to take one week off from work to completely relax. I really need it.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

In case you didn't know - I rule

So yesterday I worked through lunch and until 6. However, the good news is that I completed the big awful report that I was working. In a nut shell - I am so cool. I did not get as much done as I wanted to last night. Spending 9 hours staring at excel manipulating numbers did not motivate me to go home and start it all over again with my accounting paper. Good news is that it is only 5 pages to write before Thursday.

I am leaving early today to get my SSN card notarized and off to the TSBPA. Hope this is the last thing I have to send.

I am so nervous about tomorrow. I need to come up with questions. Like I have time to research. Why did this meeting have to happen this week. Here is my schedule:

Thursday - Accounting Paper Due
Saturday - Marketing case paper due, discussion due, article paper due
Saturday - Accounting Group paper mostly due - at least need to have annual reports read and reviewed.
Saturday - Mother-in-law's b-day party.

UGH - yes still in a good mood and still stressed.

Trying to be very good on diet today. I am such a stress eater and that is not good. I have to figure other ways to deal. Why can't I have a desire to run when I am stressed?

OK back to work.



Monday, July 12, 2004

The Power of Socks

No this is not an ad for odor eaters. I am in a great mood today, actually I have been in more good moods than bad lately, even in spite of complete stress. See I bring you in with a great title and now you get to listen to my stress. Let's begin.

School:
Four papers due this week

Work:
First Close and Auditors arriving on Wednesday

Home:
Have to clean like a mad woman

Career:
I have a meeting with a PWC partner on Wednesday. Of course it is this week. Everything else is happening this week.

I am very stressed.

I am wearing jeans today that cover my socks completely. To help ease my stress I wore my Motive Bison socks. They are the socks that I received for completing my first half marathon last November. They are quite powerful.

Thursday, July 08, 2004

I Feel Great

It is true. I have to confess to have Wendy's last night. After almost three perfect phase one days - I went to Wendy's for dinner. Was not good. The most important thing is that I am not allowing it to alter my day today. Tomorrow is my ma's b-day so I will have to go off then for cake.

Work is good. Came in on the Holiday and worked late last night. Hope that I am impressing. Unfortunately I am my own worst critic. Tonight is class which means a very long day. That is ok. I will survive. I am hitting burnout bad. In a nutshell that means I think I will NOT go on for my PhD.

Received a letter from the TSBPA saying that I need a copy of my ss card notarized and sent to them. That sucks. I sent an "approved" ID before. The worst thing is when I was contacted for my transcripts I was told that they had everything else. BLAH.

I need to call about physical therapy. Maybe I will do that today.

My Sweetie is the nicest and most loving man in the world. I forgot my lunch and vented to him about it. Was not upset about having to buy lunch but about the food going to waste as it was all cold items. All of the sudden I get an IM asking where I left it. When I said that it was on the counter and he said it was not there, I knew he drove all the way home to get me my lunch. I also suddenly had a fear that I did not forget my lunch after all. I walked down to my car - one flight of stairs down and two up to get to my car. Sure enough my lunch was in my backpack. I completely forgot because I NEVER put it in there. DUH. So I walk back the long walk to my desk to let him know that I had it the whole time and his surprise trip was a waste. He was not upset. His only response was "I wanted you to be happy". He is the greatest.

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Support in Numbers

I like that. Not only because I believe that numbers are very important but the statement is true as well. Yesterday was very good on the diet. But the best part is that one of my great friends and my ma also began the diet yesterday. I think I will be more likely to stay on track knowing that someone I care about and respect is doing the plan with me. For those who do not know I am following the South Beach Diet

I still have not called regarding physical therapy. I am not looking forward to that part. I have been looking into gym memberships. We shall see. Also looking into the Total gym. It is supposed to be good for no-impact exercise as well as pilates. The only issue is where to put it. If only I could create a new room in my house.

I just need to get off of my butt and start my walking again. I don't think I will be able to mentor for Team in Training this year. Between school, work, knee rehab, and potentially CPA exams, I don't see how I have the time. As it is I just entered the busiest time of the semester and the time when I don't get to even see my friends often enough.

45 weeks until graduation.

Monday, July 05, 2004

A Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was wonderful. Friday night my Sweetie and I went to see Dodgeball. It was so funny. Saturday was productive with a trip to my Sweetie's parking garage at work to allow a tow truck to enter. Good news is that the cost is less than one thousand. Yeah. We finished the day watching the Lago Vista fireworks with friends. It was a very nice evening with many laughs. Sunday was the fourth and like most great holidays the family meets at my little home. It was a great day. Good food and good conversation.

I am ready to get my health and fitness regime in motion. The next holiday is on Friday with my ma's b-day. The good news is that she is also starting the same plan as me today - so we are going to enjoy ourselves but within limits. I can do this. I know I can. I am also entering the craziest time of my semester with large projects due weekly. I need my health in order to meet these many deadlines.

Foot for thought - in spite of my weight and lack of exercise routine - I can still put my big toe in my mouth :-)

Friday, July 02, 2004

Close Rush

I wanted to make sure that I logged on today and at least checked in. I work in accounting so our busiest time of the month is the beginning. There is a time period for closing out the previous month, quarter, or year depending on the situation. I am experiencing my first close in this position and it is hectic. It is also, my luck indeed, a quarter close as well as our testing for Sarbanes Oxley So there is a lot of pressure. I might have to come in this weekend. But you know what? That does not upset me like it would with other companies.

As far as the diet goes, I have been doing well. Because of holidays and such I am not making myself go on a strict phase one plan. I went to Chipotle today. YUM. I had the bowl and it was sooo good. I will have to tell my sweetie about it, he loves salads.

Here to a wonderful weekend that is fun and healthy.

Thursday, July 01, 2004

The results are in

Yesterday I went to an Orthopedic Surgeon. This is the doctor that fixed my best friend's knee. So I trust him. I kidnapped my ma and we went together. Of course I overestimated the trip and we had time to eat lunch and then go to a couple of cool shops on Georgetown's square. It was fun.

I like the office building - it reminds me of camp with log cabins for offices. The wait was not terribly long and the people were very nice. The Dr lived up to my expectations of being a hottie. This is important :-)

He asked some questions and then moved my knee cap around and looked at my alignment. My knee hurt for hours after, but it was nothing that could be avoided. I really appreciate his up front personality. I even more appreciate that he is not a doctor who believes to cut now and repair later.

My fears did come true. I feared that the process would be long and the solution unclear. I should have gone to Vegas yesterday - I was right on.

The problem is that my knee and hip alignment are off. Short people have this problem even without injury. My injury made it worse. Another factor to cause the knee to move is weight.

This is the part that hit me the hardest. I know that I need to lose weight. The last doctor to look at my knee said that it was the weight - however, she did not explain why. The difference is that this time I was not put on a scale and he told me to lose weight. This means that I actually do appear heavy. Every other time it has been the doctor looking at my chart and then mentioning something. This was better in my brain. Yesterday hit me pretty hard - had a lot to think about.

The other very strange thing, I believe in signs and "meant to be's" is this doctor did not appear on my insurance list the first time I checked, but was there the second. I knew I had to go to him. After all he came so highly recommended. Then a couple of weekends ago I buy the South Beach Diet book and read it from cover to cover, completely on a whim. Well yesterday in the office as the doctor discussed weight loss he recommended the South Beach Diet to me. How strange is that? I just finished reading it. So I am doing it - on it today. Hoping for good signs.

Here is the summary of my plan:
~Lose weight
~Physical Therapy
~Have to wear in-soles in my shoes - no more sandals for awhile. Good thing I work in a casual office.
~Go back in 6 weeks - if these things don't help we will discuss more options.

So I have 6 weeks to do things correctly. I looked at what I have going on and planned my "off" days. Then last night my Sweetie and I went to dinner and I finished with ice-cream. How else do you start a new commitment?

I did not lose weight during my half marathon training because of my thyroid. The good news is that I have been on my medicine for a few months now and I am normal again. This means that I can work on losing weight any my body should agree with me and cooperate.

I am supposed to meet with Team In Training tonight about mentoring. However, with school, work, friends, and now knee treatment - I don't think I will have time. BLAH. I think I will still talk to my physical trainer and discuss the option for Motive Bison. However, I know that I might be told to lay low from long distance walking until the weight is gone. Will keep you updated.