Dog Days of Summer!

What does that even mean - dog days of summer? 

I can officially say that the house is restored.  Hooray!  We still have a lot of work to do to clean up but the general contractor is done.  Finally.  It was a long, hard road getting here but we've made it through.  It has already taken days and days to clean - we spent 2 4-day weekends cleaning the house, rearranging and recovering from all the sanding and dust.  It's been tough.  But we now have a beautiful kitchen (pics to come) and a wonderful deck! 

Lost some friends in the process, more on that later, and it's taken a toll on my freshly repaired relationship with Peck.  I have some interesting ideas on my interactions with my friends and why I struggle so much.  Dane said a few weeks ago: "Crystal, you bend over backwards for your friends.  You always drive to them, you always switch your schedule to fit theirs at times convenient for them, you always sacrifice what you are doing so you can go to them.  Who is doing that for you?"  It hit me like a ton of bricks.  No one.  However, when I have asked - 2 of my friends have obliged.  The others?  There always seems to be some reason why they can't bend my direction.  It's a very interesting dynamic.  Then they make me feel like a jerk-ass friend for not coming to them.  It's like they know I respond to that and they manipulate me to suit their needs.  Not what I would call friends at all.  In the one case I had to break away from the friend and in the other case I've drifted away to try to find some balance.  I think it's possible and I even think it's what we both want.  We'll see how it pans out.  I think I just need to stick to stronger boundaries.  That's actually really hard for me to do. 

Son in the case of the lost friend, that's Becky R.  Several times I had told her how busy I was going to be with work, my mom in town, the house restoration and not to take it personal if I wasn't as responsive.  In retrospect I should have never said anything at all.  I should have just let it be and come out the other side bearing apologies for being under water. Lesson learned.  However, in my attempts to be kind I think I set a trap.  I think Becky wanted to be "wanted" enough that I would break away from my career and domestic duties to find time and space for her.  When that didn't happen, I think she felt slighted.  When she approached me about having time to meet and I said I was still working on the house, she seemed frustrated.  I talked to Dane about this and that's when he said that Becky wants to be friends with me when it is convenient for her.  That's when he asked who's going the extra mile for me and suggest I invite her over so she could see the house, see what we were working on and say hi.  I did exactly that and she opted out - I don't even know why - she said that Jamie and Hayden were visiting his father so I'm not even sure what prevented her from coming and honestly I don't care - it doesn't matter - maybe she wanted a quiet evening at home - great!  Just don't make me feel like I'm the asshole because I can't come to YOU and visit with YOU when it is convenient for YOU.  No big deal though, right?  Till the next day I get a text from her that says "Are you at the Ren Fair?" Very much like "Ha! You are sooooo busy yet you have time for the Ren Fair?" Like she caught me.  I sent back "Are you fucking kidding me?"  She's all "Nope lol, just saw Jer at the front entrance - hope you guys have fun!"  Seriously?!  So because you run into my BFF's husband that by de facto means I'm there?! I was beyond over it so I told her that no, I wasn't there but everyone we knew was there celebrating my Couzhena's birthday and we were home washing walls.  She's all "at least we didn't miss you!  can we stop by on the way home?" I said "No, thank you."  Then she understands that I'm upset and whatever.  On Tuesday I get an email talking about a miscommunication.  I agree there was a miscommunication but tell her I don't have the space to get into it right now, can I have some time to collect and think.  Mostly it was the house drama that had me in a space where I was vulnerable and felt like I had no brain capacity for anything.  Becky turns it all around on her and insists that I owe her an explanation and blah blah blah.  I don't owe you shit.  Despite what Becky may think, this was not all about her even though she felt it was.  I don't respond.  I tell Dane later that day "I'm sorry if this will have any impact on your relationship with Jamie."  He says not to worry.  NO sooner than he said that did he get a text from Jamie asking about me and Becky and asks if I'm actually mad at something or just grumpy - cause that's what I do when I'm grumpy, I go around hurting and kicking my friends.  I would LOOOVE to hear the version of events that Becky gave to Jamie, based on that comment! Dane said it was best for them to stay out of it, this was between Crystal and Becky. Jamie says "okkie-dokie" and that's that.  Or is it?  Not even 45 min went by before Dane got another text from Jamie saying "Crystal hurt Becky's feelings and we don't know why.  You can understand that because of this we can no longer be friends."  Wow.  Are we 12 years old?  Is it realistic to think that a relationship - any relationship - will be free of strife and conflict?  What a nut job!!  So Dane and I were like "Wow. Not a whole lot you can say to that."  This is not the first time Jamie has been rash like this, we suspect alcohol was involved, and it is not the first time he has completely revoked friendship with Dane based on an arbitrary line he's drawn in the sand.  Whatever - friends like that aren't really friends anyway.  Which brings me to my next point. 

Truth be told, after the Ren Fair texts and because I had a shit ton of time on my hands scrubbing walls I thought about my friendship with Becky the rest of the weekend and decided that over the last 10+ years it has been riddled with drama, tension and stress.  For both of us - this isn't just me talking here.  I suspect it's just as stressful for Becky to deal with me as it is for  me to deal with her.  For that reason I concluded that while we are both good people, fun people, loving people, we are not good people together in a friendship.  She analyzes my every word and action and I feel I have to walk on eggshells.  It's not good and I can never be the friend she wants and needs.  Realizing that was an epiphany.  I talked it over with Dane and he agreed, after a lengthy discussion and debate, and we realized there is no "fixing" this relationship with Becky.  This was all BEFORE Jamie got involved and settled the score for everyone.  That actually made the decision feel like it was a step in the right direction and it made the execution of the decision that much easier.  I blocked Becky on my phone and email, deleted her from any social media and washed my hands of it.  Hopefully she can find a friend who can be what she needs. 

Ebbs and Flows

As promised - I'm going to try to blog at least a couple times a week.  Quick update on the house: they had to sand and restain again and again due to faulty mineral oil or something like that.  Got the stain and poly on now and I can tell a HUGE difference!  It's looking good and we are back on track. 

Soooo - when I last blogged in October 2013 I wasn't spending as much time with Peck as I usually do and I wasn't talking to my sister.  It's crazy how much can change in just a few months.  Let me explain:

• Peck - so we stopped talking around May 2013 and didn't really talk for much of the summer.  It's crazy looking back but I think we both needed a break from each other.  She was dealing with her stuff, I had my own bidness going on - it was a good time for some distancing.  We hung out over Labor Day and saw each other for various events related to my cousin's wedding, more on that later, and started a very slow rebuild.  By the end of January/early February we were talking more, going to bunco and what not.  We went to Valentine's Day dinner with Shelby and Steph (who were going to take us to the airport for South Africa - more on that later too) and Peck and family came with us.  It was great.  However, had the next decision not been made - we still might be on a very slow road to recovery.  What I mean by that is - we decided to let Dra watch the house while we were in South Africa.  The rest is history, or at least covered in the last post, as the water event completely reset Peck and I back to regular BFFs.  Then in all the to-dos with this thing and my going crazy and rebelling Peck has been there and been back to the Peck I know and love.  It's been the best ever.  I love my BFF and so glad we are back in sync.  We've been sending each other songs on You Tube to express our feelings.  I was thanking her for being there for me in all this water event drama and she sent me "That's What Friends Are For" so I sent her "Wind Beneath My Wings" so she sent me "Lean On Me" so I sent "Stand By Me" she sent "I'll Be There" I sent "Thank You For Being a Friend" she sent "You're My Best Friend" I sent "You've Got a Friend in Me" - my ultimate goal is to turn this to a kinky side and send "Wiggle Wiggle." ......this just in.....just got another text from Peck....HAHAHAHA!!!!
• Stacy - during the wedding my parents arranged for Dane and I to go down to my sister's house to watch the Bronco's game with them and it was great!  It started a bit of a tradition for us to go down and watch several other games during the season.  What's nice about that is Stac and I are back to being sisters again. Though I found out a month or 2 ago that she's moving to California.  So that sucks but at least we are talking again and we can keep a relationship going.  It's awesome.  :-)

So relationships ebb and flow and they take a lot of work to upkeep but so worth it.  To that end, I need to schedule time with Sarah, email Jamie and see if I can't find some time to hang out with Becky.  I'm glad that I have Friday Night Lights (FNL) with Peck and Steph.   I need weekly (if not more) doses of those two.  I love all my friends and they each fill a special spot in my life.  I rely on Peck and Steph to keep me (mostly) sane.  They do the best they can.  Last week I got fed up with life and getting hot while dancing so I took my pants off.  Just took 'em off.  I at least waited till the kids got to bed then whhoooooosh!!  Pance Off Dance Off!!!  Since I'm a problem solver and I don't want to have to take my pants off again, I'm just going to wear a dress to FNL this week.  Hee hee hee. 

The Neverending Nightmare

It's been quite some time since I blogged.  I really promised myself that I'd get it together this time and post more frequently.  Whatever happened to the days when I would start off by blogging, get work done, go for motorcycle rides, do whatever I wanted!  I outsource my housekeeping and landscaping, so that's not soaking up time.  I'm not in school anymore.  Where the toot does my time go?  Like seriously - where? 

 I'll try to blog more frequently but honestly not sure how for real that goal is.  How ‘bout this – I do a small mass update today and save some topics for Wednesday and Friday, slowly getting back into the habit?  

The biggest thing going on in my life right now has been going on since February 22^nd.  While Dane and I were in South Africa our house was flooded with water from the kitchen sink.  We suspect the cats somehow turned the water faucet on and the faucet was left over the counter side, not the sink side, so that’s the difference between a $400 water bill and a $40K restore and remodel.  Though I will say that Peck came to the rescue, as she does, and saved almost all of our stuff on top of managing the sh*t out of the mitigation and handing over to me solidly. Since a picture is worth a 1000 words and I don’t have time to type all day, here’s my picture blog:

Water in basement, 1” standing from what I was told – not in this pic but at the worst.  Peck and the family was on scene to mitigate, Shelby and Stephanie came out, Becky and Jamie, Brandon and Jamie – it was all hands on deck to save our house. 

 

Water logged carpet.  All furniture was saved!

 

Water logged counter top and warped flooring.  You can see how the faucet was over the counter just enough to cause a ton of damage.  Sucks, but what can you do.  I've left it on that side before, I can't really blame Dra too much. 

 

A million fans all over our kitchen and in the basement and a de-humidifier (not pictured) to dry everything up.  Crazy town.  By this time you can see the island has been demoed, the drywall, the flooring, the baseboards.  A ton of stuff. 

 

Arya checking out the damage.  We went through 11 contractors before we finally found one patient enough to do our work.  Of the 11 GCs that visited our house, only 4 came back with bids.  Of those 4, 2 would not negotiate with our extremely difficult claims adjuster.  Finally LR Contracting broke it down for State Farm and I just broke down and went crazy.  I drove to my local agent's office and got an advocate there and went crazy on JoEl, our claims adjuster.  Boring story long - he was holding us up based on $1900 difference between the drywall and painting and he was going to take another 5 days to review our claim.  I said nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope.  The next day the original inspector came back and met with LR, worked it all out and got a check to us the next day.  We signed with LR and finally got moving - it only took 3 months, if you will believe that.  Fuckers.

 

 

Work finally starts!  I told State Farm (on a Tuesday) that if someone didn't come to my house by Friday - even if all they did was drop off a tool and scratch their chin at the situation - then they were going to have to pay out on a lot more claims.  I reminded them they hold all our auto, home, property and life insurances and wouldn't it be something if they had to pay out on all of that.  Okay, I didn't say all that but I did tell them someone would be in my house by Friday or else.  By Friday LR came by and taped up this cupboard.  Progress!!

 

Oh snap - the island is demoed to make way for our new idea - total concept built in dining table out of granite.  Back to no kitchen sink again.  Lame.

 

Construction on the new island framing begins!

 

Drywall starts!

 

 

New island has drywall and the plumbing for the new location of the sink is done. Also electrical - but that was done like 4 pics ago. 

 

WILLY BILLY!!!!  Also some hardwood floors. 

 

New porcelain tile in our bathroom - Calacatta Gold or something like that.

 

Floors are sanded!

 

And stained!!

 

Wall texture is done.

 

 

WTF is this?  Freshly stained floors are ruined due to a possible water/oil pocket and discoloration. 

 

 

Partly human error, partly weather and humidity.  Floors have to be redone. 

Another Mass Update

I have quite a few topics I want to journal and once again have ignored my blog.  I'm so busy I ignore my own self!  Actually things are calming down quite a bit.  I had a mandatory quiet weekend this past weekend and it was great!  After an amazing event at WFP with some of our field staff (Muthi, Sherina and Claudia) on Thursday night Dane and I went to a late showing of Machete Kills at SoS, that was fun.  Friday I got to chill out with Dane (who was feeling sick) and watch After Earth - good movie.  Saturday I went to boot camp then spent the afternoon searching South Broadway for my Halloween costume.  I'm going to be Alice as part of Steph's Alice in Wonderland theme.  Got everything but the shoes, stockings and apron.  I might just wear my black casual shoes if I can't find good heels for cheap.  Stockings I might have but I might also buy.  And I'll make the apron.  Should be easy, right?  :-)  Stopped by my couzeen's house for a bit then moved on to home for a quick nap before I picked Jamie up.  We went to Punch Bowl Social and had a great time talking and drinking and bowling.  Then we cabbed to Cowboy Lounge and had a great time dancing (even though my feet hurt) then cabbed back to PBS and decided to go to Boyz Town - too much fun!  Just had a few drinks all  night so I wasn't all wrecked Sunday which was nice because I wanted to put up the Halloween decorations and knit some more mustaches for Tara.  Broncos won (again, 6-0!!). 

Now for the updates:

Janet Crawford brain/biology: I still need to dedicate an entire blog just to this.  Coming soon, I promise!

Basement clean of 2013:  Okay - Dane and I spent the better part of 2 weekends and some weekdays completely cleaning out the basement.  We bought a bagster and got rid of all the boxes we've been hanging on to and donated a TON of stuff that has been lying around for years!  Then we moved EVERYTHING and dusted and vacuumed all the surfaces - it was craziness.  Then we organized everything into categories (need to access throughout the year and storage/seasonal) and put it all away in a manner that makes sense, not just wherever it landed.  We even made a nice little library nook with the chaise cushion and big green chair.  It's much better now.  All this was done to prepare for Dane's mom and sister. 

The visit of Dane's mom and sister:  I don't really want to talk about it.  It didn't go all that bad, but it was tough in ways that I just can't prepare for.  They don't plan anything, his mom is sooooo sensitive to smell we had to rid the house of all smells (it's only smellz!), they are both passively antagonistic, I feel like no matter what nothing I do is good enough and I know that's probably my own issues and not so much real life but it contributes to the stress.  The highlight was going to the Wild Animal Sanctuary - a place that is a haven for wild animals born in captivity.  I was so moved that I "adopted" a tiger for $30/month.  Can't wait to go back. 

Work - relationships:  Work is going really, really well.  I've been having minor anxiety issues about a "certain salt rimmed Mexican beverage" returning to work, but have also been supported by other folks.  It will be okay.  Not sure why everything has to be so hard with the Beverage, but at least I'm not alone in my thoughts or struggle.  In other news, things are on the mend with Los Otro.  Small things have happened to help the relationship and I think the biggest challenge will be on me to keep it at a level it needs to be at and not fall for any bait.  In a way, they brought it on themselves - they pushed it all on my claiming it's all mine to manage and be the expert - well guess what - momma's been getting educated and now you all are going to have to refer to me as the expert and follow my recommendations, even (and especially) if they are different from your opinions.  Tee hee hee.  Coping mechanisms!! 

Work - New hire: So Kat has decided to move over to a job share with the Office Manager, still holding onto 10 hours in accounting for as long as I can make this happen.  Because of that, I need a full time spot in my department.  We posted for the job and a LOT of good peeps applied - I was not expecting that!  I was thinking I'd have to settle.  After a systematic narrowing I found 12 candidates to phone interview.  Of those 12, 4 seemed promising to bring in.  Of the 4, 2 especiallly seemed promising so I brought them in and settled on the one that stood out in every way.  His name is Mark and he is really passionate about WFP and even spent time in the Peace Corps in Mozambique.  He handled all our questions with grace and style, including my mad libs, checking app and superhero questions.  He's a good guy.  He was so excited to start that he met me the following night at Hamburger Mary's to talk logistics.  We stayed till close (with Kat and Pyz) and had a great time.  He started on Oct 7th and hit the ground running.  I did not make a mistake in hiring him.  He will report to Tara which will be good two fold - gets me out of HQ and gets T some good experience. 

Work - Capacity:  Now I have the capacity to really focus on the things I want/need to at WFP like the nonprofit trap, impact memos, grant management, rolling budgets/forecasts, financial analysis, etc.  Plus spend more time with the field accountants - they need it so much and I'm happy to finally be able to provide it.  Good changes coming down - I'm happy with WFP for now.  Tis the cycle.  :-)

Paleo "diet":  Part of the Janet Crawford post will explain my recent research on the paleo diet but suffice it to say that I have concluded that I need to do my best to eliminate grains, sugars, dairy and processed foods from my diet as much as possible.  Our bodies just aren't built to digest this stuff and especially not at the quantities I consume them.  So time for whole foods that my ancestors would eat - mostly meats, veggies, fruits and nuts/seeds.  In the short time I have been somewhat following this plan, I have seen differences in my appearence, weight and overall state of health.  I can even tell when I have eaten grains (more that than dairy or sugars).  I am working on slowly transitioning into this type of diet while eliminating the grains/sugars/dairy/processed foods from my pantry.  Don't want to waste anything and don't want to go to crazy and cause shock to the system.  I'm not giving up alcohol though.  But trying to stick with wine when I can.  I think I am stronger, healthier and in the best shape that I have ever been in my life these days.  That didn't come without a price though - seeing Andy (now 3 times a week) definitely costs a pretty penny but with the results I've seen I'm not willing to give up on it.  These days it is more about being/living healthy than just weight loss.  Same with the paleo - this isn't just a fad, for me it's a way of life. 

Floods:  Colorado experienced a 1000 year flood in September - crazy.  Boulder, Longmont, Lyons - a bunch of towns destroyed by the waters.  We volunteered with Brandon (and his trailer) to help folks clean up their destroyed homes.  It was rough but folks were in surprisingly good spirits.  It felt good to help out, even in the little way we did. 

Getting old:  Dane and I are getting old.  He just recently celebrated his 35th birthday (to put it in perspective, we met when he was 22 and I was 21 - we are only 1.5 years apart in age).  I found a blog entry that I wrote back in 2006 maybe where Dane was quoted saying "I can't believe I'm turning 28 tomorrow - I might as well be 30!!"  When I mentioned that to him all I got in response was a forlorn "FML" from his side of the bed, clearly under the covers and (probably) sobbing.  Okay maybe not sobbing but definitely with a hint of perspective.  Now let me tell you one possible good thing about getting older.  All the young bucks like the idea of flirting with a "cougar."  Now I'm not anywhere near....CORRECTION - according to Urban Cougar's Cougar 101 a cougar can begin around 35 but this is not necessarily the standard or norm.  In fact UC introduces the Theory of Cougartivity which expands on the idea that being a cougar is more of an attitude of a sexy, confident woman who knows what she wants and is willing to teach than an age range or number of years of age difference.  In example, a 15 year old boy might look to an 18 year old as a cougar just as much as a 23 year old looks at a 35 year old and so on.  It's all relative, I guess.  So with that - the nice thing about getting older is there are a lot of young bucks, or "cubs" as I have now learned is the term (though that's weird - that implies a mother-son relationship whereas buck implies a prey [cougar's perspective] or a budding male [dude's perspective]).  I told Dane that now I get attention from men simply because I'm old - HOORAY!!  Dane rolls his eyes.  Whatever - he dated a 33 year old when he was 17!!!! I think I get to have fun with this.  Go cougars!!

Peck: I seem to be on the long, slow road to recovery with Peck, which is good.  It will be on me to maintain a distance that is sustainable for both of us and not bend to her every beck and call.  I miss the old Peck, can't say I miss the new Peck and I'm sure she feels the same about the Crazy Work Crystal.  Time to hit the reset and find a common ground where we can have a great time but still lead our own lives.  It will be a challenge for me not to give in to her or let her take advantage of me but a challenge that I am willing to take on if it means we can get back on track.  We are bonded together and will never, ever be able to exist without being involved in each other's lives to some extent so it is worth our time to make sure that influence is positive and healthy for us and not negative or mentally draining.  Hoping this recovery will help her back off our mutual friends and not put them in awkward positions where they feel they have to choose between us, join in on the gossiping or just sit and endure a monologue where they can't/don't want to participate in the conversation.  I'm looking forward to this. 

South Africa:  Dane and I finalized our trip to South Africa.  We will leave Feb 15th and return on Feb 28th.  Going to a 6 day safari then go on a 2 day hike sandwiched between some time at the beach.  It has been a nightmare dealing with the travel agent but we are hopeful the end result will be a great vacation.  It will be an adventure no matter what, that is certain!

That's all for now, hopefully I can work on the Janet/Brain/Biology post next before the bachelorette party, Couzeen's wedding and my parents visit. 

30th Birthday Revival Post!

So I found this post somewhere in 2008 (28 and Life to Go) and realized (cause I didn't blog for 4 years) that I never closed the loop on my goals for my 30th birthday which I think I originally posted in 2005.  Suppose I'll update it and make goals for about 2 years from now - something simple and sweet.  I be gettin' too old for big time dreaming.  Who even knows if I'll still be kicking at the well-ripened age of 35.  :-P

Goals for 30th birthday
Education
Completed Bachelor's degree - achieved
Completed Master's degree - achieved
CPA exam (or at least enrolled in a CPA study program)  - achieved
Information gathered on law degree or PHD - information gathered, no decision made

Career
Earning at the very least $55,000/year ($43K inflation, $2K BA, $5K MA) - achieved
Revolving CFA and/or more corps under my belt or mini-controller - achieved

Community
Continue fostering animals for Humane Society - this stopped when we moved out of Seattle :-(
Become a mentor for children - never did this, got on a volunteer list but it never went anywhere and I didn't actively persue
Obtain info on child fostering/adopting - information gathered and decided (at that and this time) not to adopt

Body
Tattoos removed - achieved, except the rose stays for no particular reason
Junk hair removed - achieved, though this wasn't permenant >:-[
Teeth whitened - achieved and ongoing
Augmentation - achieved
Stable 130 - 140 lbs - actively working on
Non-dyed, healthy hair - not even close - I love the blond too much
Eyebrows touched up - achieved and ongoing

Mind
Continued yoga practice - nope
Painting - nope
Dancing - achieved

Frivalties
Tanning [bed?] - achieved, salon not bed
Hot tub - achieved, but we had to get rid of this to move back to CO so back to square 1 again
Massage membership - achieved
Maid - achieved
Convertible sports car - achieved
New motorcycle - nope
Travel - achieved -  I've done nothing but travel! Colorado, California, Oregon, Florida, Amsterdam, Mexico, and now Egypt and Texas - the list goes on!
Kauai - we still need to do this
Greece - nope
Vancouver - we did Victoria Island, so close enough



Goals for 35th birthday
Education
On-going CPE (don't lose CPA)
Financial knowledge
IFRS/FX knowledge

Career
Don't jump off parking garage
Don't go crazy
Maintain Controller position at WFP
Increase regional capacity

Community
At least 1 fundraiser run each year
Knit for animals/people in need
Volunteer with seniors and or special needs folks

Body
Goal weight of 130-145, depending on muscle mass
50 push ups, from the feet
10 pull ups, unassisted
Consistent 3-5x/week workouts
Paleo lifestyle maintained

Mind
Crafting (knit, sew, crochet, quilt, paint, whatever)
Dance Party!
Reading
iPad gaming

NEW! House
Redo the deck
Finish the basement
Hot tub (again)

Frivalties
Tanning
Massage
Wax
Cleaner
Travel: South Africa, Ft Lauderdale, Las Vegas
Credit cards and debt all paid off (student loan doesn't count)

Seattle, Staycation, Walden and Life in General

I really want to make the time to dedicate to this journal, it just doesn't always happen.  For that reason - I have a lot to catch up on!  Here goes:

Seattle - Seattle was great!  Got to hang out with Heather during the day and meet Jody Tief, the Controller of Clear Path International.  We ate at Cutters and had beermosas and passed the time till we went to the Noc Noc, which is being pushed out of business by the new landlord to the building they are in so we attended the last Sinner Saint Burlesque show.  It was bittersweet.  Laura Rose even had the emcee give us a nod, which was nice.  It was standing room only - crazy!  We had a great time and I got Scotty's information so I can stalk him at the new bar he goes to and continue to get drunk on his El Fuego Frio drinks. We tried going to the Deja Vu but it was expensive and the doorman was an asshole.  So we went back to Noc Noc, left our credit cards there, got in some taxi and went to some Mediterranean place in Pioneer Square (pic below).  After that we tried to go back to Noc Noc to get our cards but it was 3 am and shut down.  So Mike took us back to Heather's and we crashed out. 

We stayed in Mukilteo on Friday and Saturday and the wedding was probably the worst wedding I've ever been too.  The bride and her family definitely acted like this was her 2nd wedding.  I'm happy for Joe but also sad for him too.  I think Meg is pregnant again.  I'm also not convinced that Benjamin is Joe's biological son.  I also thought it was pretty tacky that the reason the wedding was on such a budget was because Meg wanted to wear 2 Vera Wang designer gowns.  I also didn't think the venue was worth everyone flying out to Seattle for, but whatever.  It was nice to see my Seattle friends and hang out with my CO friends in WA.  After the wedding we went to the only open bar then back to the hotel for dance party.  Mike shared a room with us (poor guy) and his waking comment was "I downloaded about 15 disco ball apps last night."  LOVE that comment - it totally describes drunken dance party! Good memories if nothing else. 

Sunday we hung out with Mark and Angela and the kids and just "were" with them.  There's not many folks that we can just *be* with and Mark and Ang are.  We had fun, both Ang and I had hangovers from the night before.  I love their new house and the kids are so cute.  I can't wait to come back to WA and spend more time with them. 

Staycation -  After Seattle I had a couple days at home to rest, relax and do productive things around the house.  It was fun.  I wanted to do a little more yardwork, knitting and organizing but ran out of time.  Where does it all go?

Walden - Walden was great - I went up a day early to get Dane an air mattress since the one we had petered out.  It was really fun.  In the end it was us, Dick, Christy, Julius, Cindy, Kieth, Jer, Peck, the boys and Charity and Rene.  We had a great afternoon adventure that turned into early evening adventure - it was a great exploration of the ridge behind the dunes and everyone had a great time (even though the Mirabal's dog puked in the car).  Damion rode with me and we just had a blast going over the bumps and he got sprayed with cow poop - so much fun!  We ended up having a late night dance party on the beach with our Saudi friends and some other guys from Mexico came out and we had a blast - I loved the mixed bag group.  :-)  We all packed up and headed back on Sunday and had a nice day of rest on Monday, gearing up for work on Tuesday. 

Life in General - I still need to post about the Women in Leadership meeting we had at work - very valuable information.  This month is crazy with the relay, Dane's family, preparing for Dane's family - all craziness.  I'm looking forward to the weather cooling down and getting back in the house for knitting and crafting and just things calming down in general. 

I applied for a serving job at Brothers and even had an interview but I don't think it will work out - I have very limited time I can work and I think they are looking for folks with more flexibility.  WFP is going good - I haven't received an email from Kim in over 6 weeks and it's been amazing!!  It's about ready to ramp up again soon so I'm gearing up for that. That's about it for now.

Glenwood Adventure!

Dane and I took a long weekend to hike and bike in the mountains and it was amazing!  So amazing that I'd like to re-purpose our Labor Day Walden trip into more of a CO Adventure trip.  We'll see if that actually pans out.  I also have a million things around the house I can (and should) do instead. 

Friday: worked all day then volunteered at a drinking fundraiser for WFP downtown.  It was super fun!  I thought we'd leave by 9pm but ended up staying till midnight then going out with a few WFP folks (Maya, Katja, Double, Jeremy plus Todd and Joel) afterwards till LATE.  Dane drove Double home (me in his lap) then we dance partied till 4am!  Apparently I threw the couch to the side, my clothes to the floor and danced all crazy till I passed out.  Good times. 

Saturday:  Amazingly we still got up (semi-)on time and were on the road for Piney Lake by noon.  We got up there almost in one piece - at some point the train horns became disconnected. I blame the rocky dirt road, Dane disagrees.  Other than that, Rally Raptor was fun and we spent about an hour canoeing on the lake, which was a lot of fun!  We got lost in a little winding river-in-the-lake thing, navigated through reeds and watched a dog splash around.  We ate dinner at Piney River Ranch then headed towards Glenwood Springs just in enough time to check in to Ami's Campground and set up our tent.  The campground had showers so we made a quick trip to Ross to get towels, enjoyed a shower then played PvZ2 till about 10 or so before calling it a night. 

Sunday: Got up early and biked the Glenwood Canyon from Dotsero, so about 17-20 miles give or take.  The ride was great - beautiful scenery, animals and just a lot of fun.  We stopped at Hanging Lake and hiked up the trecherous 1.2 rocky miles to the top - amazing!  Such a beautiful lake and a waterfall that appears right out of a rock - it's crazy!  We had fun there and took our time.  On the way up we found a purse that was FULL of cash and all the valueables of a Kristin Schmidt from Oak Something, IL.  Luckily we also found Kristin from Oak Something and were able to return the purse to the rightful owner.  Hopefully I earned a few karma points.  After the hike we continued our bike back into GWS having great conversation, mostly about Janet Crawford and the training/leadership discussion she facilitated for WFP on Thursday (a different blog will be dedicated to this).  Once back in GWS we decided to forego the white water rafting trip and go straight to Aspen.  Good thing too because we snagged the last walk-in camp site!  We managed to set up camp and get showers at the Aspen rec center and dinner at Hickory House BBQ (as usual) and back to camp just in time for rain.  We snuggled up inside (Dane wanted a fire so bad but nature said no) and played more PvZ2 till it was time for bed.  The roaring river was much better to fall asleep to than the roaring highway of Ami's. 

 



Monday:  Woke up around 8 so we could get a 3.6 mile hike of the Maroon Bells in before we had to leave by noon due to the Pro Cycle race.  We did it and in about 2 hours.  The hike to Crater Lake is moderate, a bit rocky and steep (though not as rocky or steep as Hanging Lake) and I remember last time we did the hike (May 2012) I was about 30 lbs more in weight than I am now and certainly not as strong.  It felt good to be able to hike, canoe, bike and hike again 3 days in a row - a far cry away from where I was last year!  It's motivating and encouraging me to continue my efforts towards fitness (while still having fun with dance party and delights :-)).  After the hike we took a detour in Aspen and I spent money that I don't have at a boutique shop on an infinity dress, a couple maxi skirts, a cute crochet shrug and a belt.  I literally abandon ship from Dane's car to run in the shop then had a fun time with the owner and a couple shoppers.  There's lipstick on one of the maxi skirts and the inifinity dress is cute but I might need more tools (bra) in order to make it work.  We also stopped at Independance Pass on the way home, getting in around 5:30.  We were unpacked and watching the season finale of True Blood by 8pm, dead tired from the weekend.

 

 

So all in all a great weekend and one I hope to have again soon.  Feeling pretty good about life/work/things.  We'll see if I can get all my chores done before we leave Thursday for Seattle adventure!  In the meantime I have a Bacardi Party tonight and the Sanctuary event tomorrow for WFP.  Busy bee!!

Guess Who's Back...Back Again...Shady's Back...Tell Some Men....

After about 4 years of break I find myself ready to blog again.   And it has been quite the 4 years indeed!!  I'll sum it up:
1) Moved back to Denver (but you already knew that). 
2) Bought a house in Highlands Ranch - not the Palamino Park condo but a better, bigger house where we can have a thousand cats.
3) Sadly both Stinker and Boo have moved on to Kitty Heaven.  Stinker died of stomach cancer after a long battle in Summer 2011 and Boo died suddenly in May 2013 of a mass around her heart.  Very sad, very terrible and I miss them so much.  So, so much. 
4) 2 month's later we got two new additions to our cat household, a calico named Skitter and a black kitten named Arya (Underfoot).  In keeping with our TV/movie them, Skitter comes from Falling Skies and Arya comes from Game of Thrones.  We love them and they are two crazy girls!  And now the boyz don't beat each other up nearly as bad - the beatings are once again disbursed. 
5) I AM A CPA!!!  After a long, LOOOONG journey that was one of the most difficult things in my life and I almost quit several times.  I'm happy to say I passed and never did give up (though close) and I have my CPA and it's come in handy.  I'm proud of what I have done and never ever want to do anything like that again.  :-)
6) I have a job at Water For People and it has been a very love-hate relationship though mostly love and without two particular bullies would be a love-love relationship.  That's okay, the bullies have encouraged me to be a better person and I'm the only winner from that.  I read in a recent auto-obituary (from Jane Catherine Lotter in Seattle, odd enough) "And may you always remember that obstacles in the path are not obstacles, they ARE the path."
7) Dane and I are still married - celebrated #5 this year!  Wait.  #6!!  We've been together a total of 12 years, unbelieveable.  I really do love him more now than I ever have before. 
8) Been working out and trying to stay in shape - certainly much harder in my 30's than it ever was in my 20's. 
9) The parents live in Missouri now. 
10) Still haven't really talked to my sister (been about 6 years) and more recently Peck (only a few months) and I'm okay with that.  They will both always have a place in my heart, just not a place in my life.  And that's okay. 

So that's a small wrap up of the last 4 years.  I suppose I could go into detail about vacations to Seattle or camping trips to Walden or the purchase of the Jeep or Raptor or any number of tidbits but I'll leave it at 10 items and catch up as I continue to journal. 

Why now, after 4 years?  Because The Bullies have made my life crazy town, I've been trying to better myself.  I've had two mentoring breakfasts with Mark Duey, my mentor from WFP, and he's lent me a book called Perfect People Skills and some of the advice in the first chapter (Grounding & Centering) is to #1 - be still for at least 20 min a day, and #2 - keep a journal.  So while I have consistently kept a journal in fits and starts, I really need to consistently keep a journal.  Here we are.  I really do enjoy reading through my prior posts and know I will (already do) regret not having documented the last 4 years of my life.  I believe I have grown the most in all my life in these last 4 years and I'm sad I can't look back on the details of that.  Enough lament - all I can do is move forward and blog. 

Scandinavia Cruise 2009 Blog Link

Here you go: the link to our Scandinavia Cruise Blog

http://scandinaviacruise2009.blogspot.com/

Chaos

It has been absolute chaos. These past few weeks have been crazy. My parent's visit went well, I was very happy to see them and of course to see Dane. We got a lot of work done and some relaxing. Someday I'll post pics of my graduation.

I found out I failed the Audit exam by one lousy point. I don't even know how that happened. I felt I did really good on it. Shows what I know. I haven't got my diagnostic yet, so I'll know more after I receive that to see where I went sideways.

Then, after my parents left, Dane and I found out that the lending on our Palomino Park condo did not go through because it was a non-FHA approved condo. They could have gotten spot approval, but since Dane went from a W2 employee to 1099 and didn't have 2 years of 1099 history, they wouldn't approve us. So our loan officer suggested we look for a house, an automatic FHA approval, as an alternative. We found several houses that we liked and Dane went to visit them and even put an offer down on one, against our loan officer's suggestion. We should find out today or tomorrow if the loan goes through.

I am flying out to Denver with the cats tomorrow. It was the best and only option left since the cats wouldn't fit in my car and I don't have anywhere to keep them from now till September. Why? - you ask? Because our landlord has to short sale his home to forgo foreclosure. We need to be out by July 31st. Not a big deal because we were planning on being packed by then anyway, but it put a couple wrenches in our moving plan, particularly the cats. Originally Dane was going to drive our stuff home after we returned from Europe with the cats. Since we have to leave in July, we were going to pay one of our friends to drive our stuff home (with the cats) in July. That didn't pan out so we had to opt for professional movers (my preference) and shipping the cats via airplane (nerve-wracking). It dawned on us to have the cats just fly out with me and turned out to be cheaper as well. I feel that will be less stressful on the cats all things considered. Now, instead of them living in an empty house for a month and then going on a 3 day car trip or having a stranger drive them on a 3 day car trip and then us not come home for a month (both VERY stressful options for my spoiled animals) they just have to deal with a 3 hour plane ride and then get to be with us for a couple days, with Dane for a couple weeks while our friend who is taking care of them meets-n-greets them before we leave for our trip.

In the meantime I'm trying to juggle packing up the house, sorting out items for the garage sale and studying for my last CPA exam. As an extra bonus, I get to deal with realtors calling me every day asking to show my house. They call at 8 am, 8 pm - they want to put the cats in the garage. It's a nightmare. At this point I've resigned to having to take 3 exams over again, so I'm trying not to stress myself out too much over the Regulation exam that I take on July 18th. It will be a good practice exam. I am getting stuff packed little by little each night. I've got the whole art room, foster kitty room, linen closet, medicine closet, and upstairs bathroom packed and sorted out. I still need to do the TV room, the office, the kitchen, the storage room, the guest room, the downstairs bathroom, the laundry room, the garage, and our bedroom. The garage sale is on July 11th so I have time. I've been calling on all my friends to help out. Jacob is taking me to the airport tomorrow and helping with the sale, Heather is taking a day off to help pack and sort for the sale, Nick is picking me up from the airport and helping with the sale and Mark and Angela are letting us stay at their place both before and after the Europe trip. I need all the help I can get if I'm going to make it through the next 3 weeks.

I'm looking forward to spending the weekend with Dane in Denver. It's going to be a turn and burn trip but we have dinner plans for our second anniversary (time flies!) and then who knows what we will do for the 4th of July. Sunday I'm going to Jamie's baby shower - FUN! It will be nice to be with Dane. And I'm happy he gets the cats. I love my cats but honestly, with everything I have going on right now, it will be nice to shove off that worry/duty.

I'm also trying to figure out this crazy matrix of clothing and packing. I'm getting rid of about 2/3 of my wardrobe because I no longer fit into the clothes (they are too big - a good "problem" to have) or if I did shrink enough to fit in them, they are no longer appropriate/my style. I even have some pre-surgery clothes that no matter how much weight I lose, they will never fit right again. So I'm unloading all that. Then I have to figure out what clothes I want to bring with me to Europe and of those clothes, which clothes I can wear to work in Seattle when I return. Then I need to figure out what clothes I'm not bringing to Europe but will need for work in Seattle. What's left can be packed and shipped home with the rest of our stuff. However, what I take with me for Europe must fit in two suitcases and what I keep in Seattle for the rest of my time here must fit in one suitcase (that's all that will fit in Iza). So once I get back from Europe, I'll have to pack all my stuff that I can't wear to work and then check two bags when I fly to Denver for Labor Day weekend. Leaving one bag of work clothes in Seattle. Crazy, huh. Good thing I love problem solving. This is almost like a word problem on some SAT thing: Crystal is leaving Seattle over three separate dates with three tons of clothes that must fit in a.....

Finally there's Europe. Wow. So much is happening all at once and so fast, I just can't believe it! Dane and I secured our shore excursions. I guess now is as good a time as any to release the Scandinavia Blog. I'll go make that now and post our trip details. Link to follow.

Almost Here!

So these past few months have flown by at warp speed but this week is taking FOREVER to go by! I can't wait for my folks and Dane to come to town! But, having said that, we have so much to do this weekend. Check it:

Thursday - visit Pike Market for fresh produce for the weekend, pick up D from the aero-puerto, watch Stardust.
Friday - clean garage, sort sale stuff from keep stuff, errands, Alki beach with friends for a beach sunset and beach bonfire smores.
Saturday - graduation and dinner at Pink Door.
Sunday - more packing and sorting, take D to the aero-puerto, watch Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Monday - rest, relax, whatever.
Tuesday - folks go home, back to work and studying.

It's going to be a fun weekend. I can't wait to have both my folks in town.

Things are still progressing forward with the house. The contract is with the lender and we are ironing out the final inspection details. The Bellevue house was served with a Notice of Default this morning. I guess our landlord hasn't made payments since January 09!! Scary. We took it as another sign that it is time to move on.

Work is going well. Looking for a job is going well too, but it is a bit soon to really get any bites. I've sent a few resumes out, so far nothing. I hope to work with Robert Half in Denver, they already list an auditor position with an emphasis on nonprofit - that's exactly what I'm looking for. But I'm not going to stress about my job situation too much. I feel like the right job will come along in the right time and I'll know it when I see it. Dane is much more freaked out and trying to rain that stress down on me but I'm not having it. All this is happening in it's own time. Besides, it really is too early to be looking. And then when I should really heighten the search, I'll be in Europe for crying out loud! I'm thinking of asking a friend to watch the market for me and send my resume out. Or maybe I'll just have Robert Half do that while I'm out of town. We'll see. All in due time.

CPA stuff is going well. I should find out in the next few days what my score is for AUD. I'm almost done with my last set of classes for Regulation. I've been pretty bored - taxes can only be so exciting. I'm slightly behind on my studying but hope to catch up over the next few weeks. It's going to be tough trying to juggle getting the house ready for a garage sale, packing, studying, and preparing for a month in Europe all at once. I can do it though.

My diet has been on the fritz since April. BUT I haven't gained any weight either, so that's good. My body is not budging from its current weight but again, I haven't done much to deserve a loss. Summertime is always hard. Parties, beer, BBQ. I figure once I get to CO and the cold settles in, I'll be back in the gym and dieting hardcore again. It will be so nice having a gym less than a quarter mile from my front doorstep AND not having a ton of homework and studying to do. I can't imagine what I'll do with all my free time! Course, if I am an auditor, I'll be working 40 - 60 hours a week, so there goes any free time I might have banked on. I can only dream to be so lucky.

You should see our new house. It is so beautiful. Part of what makes it so beautiful is the furniture though, which doesn't stay with the house but hopefully we can find some nice equivilent furniture to fill the place up with. We are only supposed to have 2 cats though, so we are smuggling 2. Hopefully the HOA won't find out. That would be bad. We won't move out or get rid of any cats.

That's all for now. I'm sure I'll post soon with the results of my AUD exam and my parent's visit.

We Bought a House!!

Well a lot has happened since my last post.  So much it's almost overwhelming to think of everything.  Chronological order always works for me, so here goes:

CPA - I took the AUD exam and did very well.  I don't want to be too cocky or count my chickens before they hatch but I would be shocked if I didn't pass.  I know I did well because I got the extra hard testlet for the second and third multiple choice.  I even laughed out loud because the difference was so apparent.  I had to read the questions two to three times before I even understood the call of the question.  None the less I still good.  I should know the final results by June 20th or so.  

I got my results from FAR.  I passed!!!  Just barely, but I passed!  That was such a relief, I went into that test expecting to have to take it again.  I still gave it my best shot but after losing a week of studying and putting too much pressure on myself I didn't expect a passing score.  

Colorado - wait...Dane's job comes first...

Dane's job - As you know, Dane got laid off in April - same day I failed BEC.  And maybe I mentioned it, maybe I didn't, but we also qualified to purchase a house the same day.  Since Dane lost his job, we decided that it wasn't the right time to buy a house.  Which sucks cause the house we were looking at was beautiful.  Anyway, Dane put his resume out and got hits back from a Blackberry company in Toronto and Comcast in Denver, of all places.  After much discussion, we decided that Denver would be the best option for him so he accepted a 6 month contract position there.  We pulled some strings and I took a couple extra days off of work so I could make the drive down to Denver with him, since I was planning on being there for Memorial Weekend anyway.  Now I can move on to Colorado. :-) 

Colorado - I've been back to Colorado 3 or 4 times now but during this trip something in me snapped.  I can't pinpoint the exact moment but I can remember a few highlights where it became very clear to me that it was time to come home.  Maybe it was because it was the first time I had to drive back in to town, prolonging the excitement.  Maybe it's the fact that Dane isn't tethered to his job anymore.  I don't know what it was but sitting out on the patio enjoying beer with friends, I knew it.  Hanging at Dave & Busters, I knew it.  Dancing at LoDo's, I knew it.  Standing on the 16th Street Mall with some of my favorite people in the world, I knew it.  Driving to my favorite restaurant, I knew it.  If you would have asked me before Dane and I drove down there, I would have told you I had no intention of leaving Seattle.  In fact, Dane and I even discussed - AT LENGTH - the possibility of moving home and came to the conclusion that it wasn't the right time.  By the end of my CO trip, which was really great.  I had such a great time meeting up with everyone - I forgot how deep my roots run there, I was begging Dane to find a way to get us home.  

The Decision - But really I was the one attached to Seattle, what with my beloved job at Treehouse.  I decided that I would use TH and how they handle my CPA certification as a gauge to see if it was time to move on or stay put.  I had several conversations with Jim, really good conversations, but frank.  Basically I've worked myself out of a job at TH.  I've taken 2 full time positions and a company with a near adverse audit opinion into a fully functioning, smoothly operating accounting department that really only needs 1.75 staff members with half the qualifications that I have.  It would be a disservice for me and for TH if I stayed there.  #1 - I wouldn't be challenging myself, and #2 - TH would be overpaying for a position that could be staffed by an employee with less qualifications.  Once that became clear I realized that Colorado aside, it was time to move on from Treehouse.  At first that was  a hard pill to swallow - that TH wouldn't pay me what I wanted, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I am the reason why they are in the position they are in.  They don't need to pay someone like me a high salary anymore.  I cleaned up all the mess and got things in order.  Now it's time for me to fly away and find another damsel in distress.  So I started looking at housing in Highlands Ranch and then in Palomino Park last week and decided that it might be fun to see if we could qualify for a loan again, considering the changes to our stitch, and to see if we liked the PP townhome.   I figured between the signs in CO and TH that things were shaping up like I should move home.  I asked God to be the decision maker and if we were approved for the loan, then I would take that as his final sign that I should move home.  

The House - well we got the loan.  Actually Dane did, I will still sign on the loan, but it was all his qualifications that got us the house.  So the final sign was there.  Unfortunately by the time we got the sign, we were too late to put an offer in on the 3 car garage, 3 bedroom townhome we wanted, but its mirror image was still for sale, with a better kitchen.  We put an offer on the house yesterday and found out today, after much haggling, that our offer (several times countered) was accepted.  VERY EXCITING!!  Of course we still have to go through all the red tape, but barring unforeseen and extenuating circumstances, we are home owners!!  And Palomino Park is just beautiful.  I'm so excited to live there.  Fitness center, pool, 1 mile walking track around a pond and park, gated community in a PERFECT location!  I've lusted after PP for a long time now and I just can't believe that my wonderful husband got me a nest there!!  It hasn't really set in yet.  I spent all day today shopping on Pottery Barn and dreaming up decoration schemes.  

The Reality - so now comes the hard part - the logistics of moving, finding a job and juggling all that with studying for my final CPA exam.  Plus living apart from Dane, it's tough.  We plan on getting rid of a lot of our belongings, only taking the few things that we need/have spent money on.  At this point we still plan on going to Europe and I plan on working at TH till at the very least August 31st.  Probably closer to the end of September before I actually leave.  Crazy stuff!  I can't believe I'm actually going home!  I'm so excited!!

More to come as I have time to blog.  I always say I'm going to post more often and never do.  I'll try but with the CPA and the move and my folks coming to town I'm not sure I'll get much done.  

Yay us!!

Confirmed Fail

The test results are in! I have officially failed my first CPA exam, the BEC section. I knew this was coming, knew I'd fail. What I was not prepared for was to fail by only 2 points. I thought for sure I would get a 40, maybe 50. I was not prepared to get a 73, needing just a 75 to pass.

I still needed this lesson though. I've learned so much about myself, my life, my role in this life, in the past month that it was another [good] lesson to see the 73. That is not a discouraging number at all - especially when I was expecting much less. To know that I just need to apply myself a little more during the next test and I will pass is great news. I was expecting to have to do all sorts of odd study tricks and invest in different learning materials.

Dare I say this score is close enough to passing that had I not turned into a balling mess during the exam, I bet I would have passed. Lesson learned. Had I kept my head on straight, I probably would have been able to muscle a few of the tricky questions rather than be immature and get all fussy and frustrated that I didn't "get it" right off the bat.

Indeed I have learned a lot already from this half finished journey. I should know my FAR score by the 19th. Considering that I thought I bombed BEC and got a 73, I actually have high hopes that I passed FAR. I felt that I did much better on FAR. We'll see.

I take AUD this weekend and feel like I'm in a good spot. I have done well on the homework and do well in the real world so now it's time to put my money where my mouth is. Actually, out of all the exams, I knew that I would struggle with AUD the least. Not saying that I will ace it, just saying that it comes more naturally to me.

I take REG on July 18th. I originally scheduled it for July 3rd and literally woke up in the middle of the night with a sudden realization that I absolutely HAD to change the date. I had to push it back and give myself more study time. So I bought 2 weeks and I think those 2 weeks will come in handy. I'm a little worried about REG as it covers taxes and I suck at taxes but I plan to take it slow, study hard, and give myself room to learn. That's all I can do.

Stay tuned.

Cell Phones in Bathrooms

I started this post on April 21st with every intention of finishing it within a week or so but, as weeks often do, time slipped away from me. Inspired by Sarah's recent post, I felt compelled to finish my thoughts on the subject.

I don't have a shy bladder. I have no problem using public restrooms and have never been afraid of germs or conversations in bathrooms or any other frequent nuance that others may experience. But I do have adversion to people who talk on their cell phones in the bathroom. For some reason that just bugs the heck out of me. It's one thing to have to use a public restroom where others are privvy to your body functions, it's quite another to have some unknown person, male or female - you never know, on the other end of a cell line listening in on the goings on in a public bathroom. Not only is it disgusting it's just plain rude and screams trashy.

Certainly there is an empty hallway, an outside location, your office, your car - someplace you can go to carry on your conversation without disrupting the privacy of others on a restroom break. Now, I'm all about efficiency and carrying on two tasks at once is awfully appealing, especially in the hustle and bustle of today's world. However, there is a fine line between efficiency and laziness.

Have some couth. Hang up the cell phone before you enter the restroom. Don't pick up the phone if you are in there doing your thing and wait till you have washed your hands and exited before dialing.

Dane's Hair

Here is a picture of me and Dane taken about two years ago. His hair was long and he had about 50 extra pounds on him.






Now here's a pic of Dane taken recently after getting his hair cut and losing over 55 pounds!

This blog is to take note and give credit to the man for all his efforts to lose the weight and update his look to his current tastes and his place in life. He's done such a great job, I'm so proud of him. Right away I could tell a difference in his attitude and self esteem. He has always been a good looking man but now you can really see it shine. Albeit he's more "mainstream" now but I think it was about time to do that. He'd had long hair pretty much his entire adolescent and adult life up till now. It's been such a difference. Many people almost didn't recognize him.

We've been getting along better recently and I think that has to do with quite a few variables, his weight loss and haircut to name a few. I think we've both matured and become more comfortable in our marriage and what that means for our relationship and our roles within the relationship. I can honestly say, from personal experience and from my recent dealings with Dane, that when your partner feels good about themselves, it shows in their attitude all across the board. Not just in day-to-day circumstances or the bedroom but in general and far reaching.

I feel Dane needed this confidence boost, especially as he embarks on finding a new job. While long hair might not be a big deal in Seattle, he is expanding to a much broader geographic location with his job search and talented as he may be he can't afford to be judged by his appearance.

I think his new hair makes him look younger yet more mature and definitely manlier. Instead of looking like the softy pony-tail guy, he looks like he could hold his own. I always knew he could despite his appearence.

I loved his long hair - hell - it was one of the reasons I was attracted to him. But that was almost 10 years ago and we are different people now. I'm glad to be witness to Dane's transformation to a beautiful butterfly. :-)

Fail

This wont be a long post but enough to say that I know without a doubt that I failed my first exam. I thought I was prepared but ended up leaving the exam in tears.

Update: I started writing this post several days ago. And while I still feel like I failed the exam, I was told by several of my classmates and teacher tonight that I should not completely give up hope. They maintained that the tests are weighted or "normalized" and that I could very well pass. I still feel like an epic failure though. I'm quite sure I failed.

I say this because over 1/3 of the questions I felt like I didn't even know what they were asking let alone how to answer them. Of the questions I thought I knew how to calculate I would go through the motions and arrive at an answer that wasn't even listed. I studied the material extra hard and gave little thought or attention to comprehension or how to pass the questions on this exam. Sounds silly but hear me out. I felt like I had a good handle on comprehension and the trickery that the CPA exam pulls. I'm a critical thinker so I felt I didn't need to focus on that as much as the material. Boy was I wrong! It does NO good to know the material if you can't even decifer what is being asked!

I've spent the past week in a funk. A depressed funk. I was actually crying during the exam and barely got out of the testing center before having a complete meltdown in the bathroom and again in my car. I managed to drive to Mark and Angela's and took a 20 minute pout nap before rallying to go out for the evening. Then I didn't do a lick of studying on Sunday and have spent the past week briefly going over the FAR material but not really caring because I've resigned to not passing the BEC or FAR exam (I take the FAR exam this Saturday).

What would be hysterical is if I passed BEC and failed FAR because I lapsed on my studies from being hurt over life. I would definitely deserve that! I will go to this exam on Saturday with the intention of playing to win but with the reality check of knowing that I will probably be going to this Super Bowl again.

I've Googled some great resources and feel like I have a new understanding of the exam and study techniques I can employee to pass the final two: AUD and REG. The clock resets this Saturday and there's still hope for these exams. Then, in Fall, I can take the BEC and FAR exams one at a time and pass.

Having said all this, Dane was able to put things in perspective for me. He has been laid off from his job (the same day as my failed exam actually - guess Dane wanted to out-do me, hee hee) so we have much bigger fish to fry. He's got a few things lined up so it should work out but it definitely put a damper on our spirits and put the brakes on moving forward with any big plans like purchasing a house, even though interest rates are AWESOME right now. It's okay - we need to pay off more bills anyway before we can do anything like that.

Work is going well, the weight loss has stalled out a bit (see above depression) but I'm getting back on track. I'm excited to go to Colorado in May and see all my CO buddies and as an added bonus I get to see Peck and Amy - whoot whoot!!!

That's all for now, folks!

Random Memory: First Time Applying Make-up

In an effort to spice up my blog, I thought I might put random thoughts and memories up and chat about them.

The other morning I was putting my make-up on in a rush. I had just applied my eyeliner and was getting ready for the mascara when my blond eyelashes, sticking out from my lined eyes, reminded me of the first time I ever applied make-up.

It was a warmer day, I might have been 12 or 13, and my mom ran inside to some place, could have been a bank, the grocery store, tanning -I don't remember but I recall staying in the car while she completed her errand. I played with the music (my favorites were the Oldsmobile cassette tape that came with the car and had Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time or Conway Twitty's greatest hits - hey, it's what was available), toyed with the car's controls and when that got boring I decided to rummage through my mom's purse (apparently whatever errand occupied her time only required her wallet). I found my mom's make-up: a bulky black eye pencil, a brown eyebrow liner, hot pink blush, blue eyeshadow, and some mauve lipstick. I decided to take a stab at becoming beautiful. Having never applied eyeliner the lines I made on my eyes were thick, squiggly, and incomplete. The blue eyeshadow was applied much too dark. The pink blush served more as paint for my cheeks than a gentle rouge and the lipstick collected more on my teeth than on my lips. I looked hot. By the time my mom got back to the car she was shocked but so amused (although not wanting to laugh in my face) that she concealed her laughter and said something very simple like "What's that all for?" I told her I was bored and she dropped it. She could have launched into a bit about how I was too young for make-up (though nowadays girls are wearing make-up by 8!) or how I shouldn't mess with her stuff. Instead she just put the car in reverse and carried about her day. I paraded around in the make-up like I was Cindy Crawford and eventually started asking for my own. Course all I could afford on my lawn-mowing and weed-pulling allowance was Wet-n-Wild, but it did the trick.

I looked down at the collection of make-up I had before me now, in present day, and smiled at the memory of it all. The cheap Wet-n-Wild and the crazed glitter and Ben-Nye products have been stored and shelved in favor of soft shades of Clinique liners and mascaras, Bare Minerals foundation and Chanel quads and lip gloss. Funny how just 10 years ago the purpose of make-up for me was to be as bold and dark as possible and now I purchase make-up based on how "natural" it will look.

It's funny how we grow and mature. It seems like such a rollar coaster in so many ways and aspects. I remember hating "crotch rockets" as a teenager only to own one at 19! I remember turning my nose at expensive and/or designer products in favor of a sale priced item. I recall the days when I loved wearing some flimsly, scantily clad outfit and now I find myself gravitating to more coverage and classic, almost retro styles.

Makes me wonder what I'll be like 10 years from now. Will I grow even frumpier? Will I wear no make-up like I did during my TSA stint? Will I be a total fashionista? Will I be a borderline cougar and wear outfits that would have made my 21 year self blush? I dunno. I can't wait to see though.

Whoa

Has it really been a month since I blogged?! I was certainly a fool for thinking I'd have more time to blog now that I'm done with school. I guess since I'm studying for two classes at once it soaks up any spare time and thoughts I have. Plus a lot has been going on - seems like too much for one little blog so I decide to just ignore blogging. I don't like doing that.

Update on current events: still studying away. I've participated in another, what I like to call, "Bad Decision Sunday." I last wrote about BDS on my 2/23 blog. Basically I had another day on the couch eating bad foods on Sunday which really put my studies in a tailspin. To the point that last night I pretty much resigned to the realization that I piled it on too much too fast and will most likely not pass the CPA exams. But an opportunity has come up this and next week that may provide more study time than anticipated so I will see if I can get caught up again and regain some spirits and steam. In the meantime I must absolutely stay current on what each day's study plan is or this will never work.

Weight loss is going well. I am down almost a total of 25 pounds. By the end of this week I should hit my first 12 week goal (yay!!) and I will definitely be able to wear the outfit that I photographed and put on my work desk as a reminder to stay true to my goal. I'll photograph myself wearing the outfit and go shopping for my next outfit to be worn at the end of my 2nd 12 week goal, which will be the end of June and another 25 lb loss. I've dropped two sizes and feel great though I had to discontinue going to the gym - it was just too much with all the studying. Dane continues to go to the gym and has lost a total of 45 pounds if you will believe that! He looks great, is gaining muscle, and has done much to be proud of. We cheat at least once a week but have still managed to meet and maintain our goals.

Work is another story altogether. I may or may not have blogged about my assistant before but the truth is we've been having issues with her, let's call her Alice, since last April. The first four times I spoke with Alice were non-documented verbal warnings and by that I mean that I documented the conversations and filed them away in my own files hoping I wouldn't have to return to them. Well in October I had to give her the first written warning and put her on what is called a PIP. She, like she is want to do, picked up the pace for a few months - especially during her first 30 days "do or die" of the PIP but then, as usual, things started slipping again. So we revisited her PIP progress (or lack thereof) in January, wiped the slate clean and decided to start over again this time I would be sitting with her at her desk retraining her. That was going as good as can be expected except she had some personal issues keep her from work. Unfortunately those personal issues were just not acceptable reasons to miss work (excuses such as: "my dog ate chocolate and I'm afraid he'll get sick." "I'm moving out of my apartment and breaking up with my BF - can I take two days off?" She never moved out - BTW. "I stayed up all night talking to my BF and now I'm tired, I'm not coming in." Interestingly enough this was the day after St. Patty's Day.) And that was just all in the last 2 weeks!! So after all that nonsense my boss and the HR person (who have traditionally been the ones to talk me out of firing her in the past) finally said "enough is enough" and we terminated her employment. So now I'm left doing most of her work AND my own work, but it's only temporary for now. If I have it my way though, Alice's job will permenantly be split between me and the part-time accounting assistant, who we will call Cindy. Cindy is great and we are lucky she can boost her hours. I really do think we can make it work just fine. Case in point - we aren't even half way through the week and I've already accomplished everything Alice would normally have gotten done. And that speaks nothing to the other little stuff I've done and the pieces of my job I've accomplished as well. Not saying that I'm the cats pajamas (I am) but it sounds like Alice was really inefficient and spent most of the day on the internet, according to Cindy - who never wanted to "tattle" on Alice. I get that. But Cindy felt very discouraged and frustrated about the whole situation thinking Alice and I were buds. Apparently in my efforts to reach Alice and make the whole "boss re-training you" as smooth as possible, I made it seem like Alice got preferential treatment. I knew she was screwing around, but I didn't realize how much she was - like HOURS a day were wasted away! I don't know if I should be embarrassed or feel good knowing that we really did do EVERYTHING to give Alice every chance to change and shape up. Just goes to show that once you start taking advantage of a system or person, it is near impossible to recover - even if it is for your own good.

Finally there's been some interesting shifts in the story of Isis that I have yet to get to the bottom of but it's certainly been on my mind. I won't post too much, if anything at all, but I will definitely say I'm not very shocked and I feel closer to the truth now than I've ever felt before.

So lots of stuff going on. I imagine for the next several months there will be nothing but updates on the blog, maybe recaps of certain events coming up like my Colorado trip and my MBA graduation. Eventually I'll set up a blog for the Baltic Capitals trip. Once I return from Europe I can get this blog back on track once and for all!!