An Update. . .
So, here is an update of where I am. I shouldn’t make excuses, but this weekend has really been messed up for me. My neighbors were making noise during my prime sleep time, and my schedule has been off ever since. I’ve been sooo tired. I’ve not had energy to do anything. I did attempt a few things, though. Anyway, here’s an update. I think I”ll try to do a full update around the 15th of every month (unless I’m working, then I’ll do it shortly before or after).
Apartment:
The bathroom is still clean. I am so impressed with myself. Today, I did a quick wipedown of it. So not only is it organized, but it sparkles, too.
The kitchen is still in progress, of course. That is going to take awhile, as it tends to dirty itself as I try my best to eat at home. It looks a lot better than when I first photographed it (photos still coming). The refrigerator was a bit empty, so I did a bit of shopping to fill it up.
The rest of the apartment is in a sad state, and I’ve a guest coming this weekend. I will do as Sherry Bobbins did, and cut corners, and bury everything under the rug. . .ok maybe I’ll just shove it in the closet. It’s terrible, I know, but she’s seen my place much worse, and she’s like family. I can’t wait for her visit after next. Hopefully there will be a lot more progress!
Career:
I’m still trying to work on that whiteboard, but it’s so overwhelming, I’ve just put it off forever. I am working a week from Saturday, so I’m hoping that I’ll have some time/enthusiasm then. I have a meeting on Wednesday (maybe) with someone who was in charge of a job I did not get. Apparently, the team wants me, but hired someone else (ie an outside FRIEND). They are trying to get me some “special projects” to do. I really want to advance my career, but at the same time, this whole thing smells like rotten fish. We’ll see.
Environment:
I’ve not been to the recycling center yet, but I’ve been saving things to take. Hopefully I will get there next weekend. Today I remembered to take my tote with me to the grocery store. Unfortunately, I bought a little more than my tote could hold. I also returned all of my plastic bags to the grocery store. They really recycle them, right? It’s not just some fake promise, is it?
Finance:
I transferred my balance to an existing card with a much lower rate. My raise has kicked in, finally, so I’m able to make larger payments on the card. I’m still getting used to my new wage. I’m supposed to make a bonus for my shift work as well, so we’ll see how much I can put down when that takes effect. Oh, and that reminds me, I need to do my taxes!
Health:
My weight has been fluctuating 2lbs or so. My diet hasn’t been the best. It’s more that I’ve been drinking lots of soda at work to stay awake. Bad news bears, man. I have been eating at home quiet a bit, though. That’s both good for my wallet AND my body. I made a huge thing of crockpot chicken paella that I found on the Weight Watchers site. However, it was really gross, so my meals for last week were out the window. Tonight, I’ve prepared Buffalo Chicken Lasagna for the week. It’s cooling, and I’m not too hungry right now. I should probably sample it before relying on it for work tomorrow. I really need to get back to the gym and Weight Watchers. I’m throwing money away and my body could be so much healthier, if I’d take advantage of these things. I think it’s a vicious cycle. . . too tired to do anything, but with healthy diet and exercise, I could probably have more energy. I can’t wait til the night shift is over!!
Personal Enrichment:
Okay, so I skipped German class tonight, but there’s so much snow outside that even the snow plows are having accidents! Tonight, I am going to work on my vocabulary. I also found a virtual opportunity to volunteer with the American Cancer Society. I applied for it, but they accidentally put it up as virtual. They need someone in Wisconsin. Oh well. I went out a couple of nights this month. I’m trying to spend quality time with friends. . .getting out of the house and such.
So that’s that. Tonight, I have to remember to change my sheets!
Hibernation is a temptress
It’s so cold in my apartment right now, although the thermostat reads at 72 degrees. All I want to do is hang out in a hot shower or under my blankets. That’s not very productive. My list was not completed yesterday. I overslept both today and yesterday. I went to bed very late this morning, and I’ll need to stay up late today, anyway.
I’m not too disappointed about not completing the list. The important part was that I actually did SOMETHING. I did more than just lay around and waste time (although I still managed to do that a bit).
German class is HARD. I guess with skipping a class, I should know better. I feel like a C student right now. I just have to remind myself that I’m a C student who skipped a class. I need to find more practice exercises online. I used the exercises in the book, the workbook, and the practice book. Oh, I must remember to buy a German-English dictionary. The vocabulary book we have is daunting. First, one must look up the word in the back of the workbook. The workbook indicates the page on which the word is located. After finding the page, the exercise is noted, and THEN the word can be located in the vocabulary book, as they’re indexed by exercise. Sheesh.
Today’s list:
Cook all meals at homeGo to German classDo the dishes- Finish cleaning the bathroom
- Change the sheets
Cook meal for tomorrow- Pick up ten things
- Go to sleep at 6:00 am (or earlier)
- Drink 6-8 glasses of water
Shrink-wrap kitchen windows
Eating isn’t cheating . . .
I started my German class tonight. It was difficult, as I expected, but there was a dictation, and I got most of it right! I’d say about 95% of it right, to be exact! That part was awesome. The part that wasn’t awesome was my inability to tell time and remember my numbers. The second not awesome part was my seat partner who has a HORRIBLE accent. . .not just a bad one, but a HORRIBLE one. Hopefully her friend will be in attendance next week, so I won’t have to sit by her.
In food news, I went to the grocery store today. I took all of my used plastic bags (hooray, I remembered!), in hopes that they actually recycle them. I also remembered my grocery tote. Unfortunately, I haven’t done REAL grocery shopping for about 2 months, so I had far more groceries than bag space. I probably saved 2 or 3 bags, though. That’s something, right?
Tonight, I cooked. I made alfredo with shirataki noodles. Shirataki noodles are made from tofu, yam flour, and something else. They’ve got a really interesting texture. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to run out and replace all pasta products with these, but I think if prepared correctlty, they can be pretty ok. I think I mostly just had a time adjusting to the texture. It’s not quite chewy or too hard or squishy. It’s really hard to explain. Anyway, aside from getting used to the texture, the meal was pretty good. I believe it was a total of 4 or 5 points, since the noodles are supposedly zero points, I added an extra for good measure. Here’s the recipe for the alfredo. I should have snapped a picture!
Laughing Cow Alfredo
3 wedge The Laughing Cow Light
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
1 Tbsp reduced fat parmesan cheese
1/2 Tbsp Molly McButter Natural Butter*
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
In a medium-sized saucepan, combine all the ingredients over a low heat,
until everything is melted and the sauce is velvety smooth, about 20
minutes. Serve immediately over hot cooked pasta of your choice.
*NOTE: I used a pat of butter instead of Butter Buds/Molly McButter
I’m advancing
Today, I went to sign up for my German class at the Goethe Institut. I haven’t taken German since I was in 11th grade. That would have been around 1994, nearly 13 years ago!
I signed up for the Beginner’s Class, because of my rustiness. I went to Germany three years ago, and my speaking was just horrible. However, the instructor wanted to ask me some questions anyway, although I insisted that I’d forgotten it all. He asked me my name, where I was from, where I lived, and what time it was. I couldn’t remember what time it was, but I did ok on the rest. He told me to sign up for the Advanced Beginner class, because he thought I’d be bored in the first class. I am so excited. This will get me on the faster track to speaking German. He said it would be better for me to sign up for advanced and then realize I need beginner, than to be bored in the beginner class and not be caught up with the advanced as they progress. That makes sense. I paid for my books today, and I got the extra book, too, in hopes that it would help dust off all of the cobwebs in the German part of my brain.
I start class next Tuesday! I don’t know how I’m going to study in this catastrophe of an apartment. I am working Friday and Saturday nights, though. That should be a good time to study, since it will be slow and no one else is working so I won’t be bothered. I guess I should work on my Wiki, though, since CAREER is also one of my goals.
On the way home, on the train, I could have sworn this guy was looking at me. He was kind of cute, but I bet he was 23. I am so bad at gauging ages. I couldn’t make eye contact with him. I am such a twelve-year-old. Perhaps I will make that my focus in 2008. I have to get myself right before I can even think about dudes. Why can’t I keep eye contact with attractive men? It’s not like they can see into my soul. . .or can they?
Also, I don’t know if it’s just me, or maybe I’m having a good hair day, but I think some dudes in Walgreen’s were also looking at me. I’m not really vain at all, honest. I did make an effort to look nice today. Perhaps it’s paying off. I think I’m probably really unapproachable, though. I think I don’t want to seem vulnerable, and I end up coming off like an ice queen. I’M REALLY FUNNY AND KIND, GUYS!! I HAVE REFERENCES!! I think I’ll make more of an effort to make myself look presentable. Can I add that to personal enrichment?
I think I am going to skip Weight Watchers this week and start fresh next week. I’m going to the gym tomorrow, before work. I want to get on the plan a week before I go back to WW. I am getting ready to do some grocery shopping.
I can’t wait til my rhythms are reset and I’m back on track in every aspect of life. This post seems so new age and weinery. Hah. I’m just riding on the adrenaline of skipping ahead of a class I thought I needed. GO ME!
I feel like I’m already failing. . .
APARTMENT: I’m just about finished with the bathroom. This is merely cleaning though, not decorating or anything. I’m almost through the Apartment Therapy book. I’d really like to find a better way to store my bathroom products, but my bathroom is so awkward. I wish that my sink did not have a storage area underneath, so I could stick a cart or something between it and the toilet as I did at my last place. The shelves will have to suffice for now. I also wish I could paint my bathroom. Half of the wall is white, wooden paneling. Is that called a chair-rail? I’m not sure what it’s called. The other half is a very off-white paint. Gross. It looks pretty bad. Additionally, I think there’s something wrong with the area above the tub where the curtains hang. I’ve got a claw-footed tub, and I think the piece above the tub is too small. It makes the curtains look weird. Part of me wants to find a new one, but the other part doesn’t. I rent, so any improvements I make will also benefit the landlord, and I will reap nothing but aesthetic pleasure. Is it worth it? I’m not sure.
I’m glad I’ve decided to go with the bathroom first. When something is in the wrong room when I’m cleaning, I usually just throw it in the room where it belongs. I probably won’t have many things that belong in the bathroom that aren’t there already. This will make cleaning faster, and I’ll be cluttering the other rooms less.
So far, I’ve gotten rid of tons of junk, cleaned the tub, changed the shower liners, cleaned the medicine cabinet and shelves, cleaned the toilet, and the sink. I’ve emptied the wastebasket, cleared out all dirty clothes, wiped down the light switch and outlet. I even cleaned all of my bottles and wiped off of the crud that gets around the top of the products. Oh, and I wiped the scale off, too.
The next steps are: clean/sort everything on product shelves, wash floor, clean/sort makeup, clean out magazine bin, and wash the bathmat.
HEALTH: I’d been doing pretty well until yesterday, which was a horrible day for nearly everyone I know. I had a bad, bad day at work, which led to weakness, which led to having a soda or two. Tomorrow is back on track. I need to wash out my water bottles so I can reduce waste (from cups and bottles) and drink more water! I’m also scheduled to go to the gym, and menu planning will also begin.
PERSONAL ENRICHMENT: I’m signing up for German class on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT: Well, I went shopping today, and didn’t take my cotton bag with me (FAIL). I have, however, arranged a few paper bags for each area of recycling (cardboard, magazines, bottles, cans). I washed out the bottles of things I threw out today, and put them in the bags. Go me! My goal is to take all of the recycling on the last Sunday of each month. Oh, also, I bought a customizable stamp so instead of wasting paper for address labels (which are bound to change anyway, since I move about every year), I’ll be stamping away instead.
CAREER: I’m going to the night shift soon, which hopefully means I’ll be able to concentrate more on my Wiki project. I am also working next Saturday, and Saturdays are typically slow, a perfect time for a project. My raise kicks in next week, and Monday is orientation!
FINANCE: As I mentioned, the raise kicks in next week. I haven’t really sat down to do any particular budgeting, though. I think this home “cure” or “renovation” is going to dip into the finance department. I should get on track before that, but my main focus right now is the apartment.
