Getting ready for 2006

So, our condo is up for sale....looks like we'll be able to break even at least which is nice (and that's even with a realtor fee). Funny this is we had to call the condo guy to ask a question regarding the siding.....and we told him we were putting the house on the market. No word of a lie, within an hour some lady from down the street was knocking on the door saying she may know someone who's interested........now, wouldn't that have been nice to know before signing with a realtor for 7% commission. Oh well, you do what you have to do. The only thing they've asked we fix is the wall in the kitchen that we never got around to painting after we remodeled.

Man, I was mad at the mortgage company today. Last night, going through the bills I noticed they'd charged us a late fee on a mortgage payment. Complete panic ensued and I checked on line and sure enough, our payment had been taken out of our account. Thought it would be OK, but would you believe it ...they'd raised our mortgage payment by $150 (due to escrow) that I don't remember seeing the notice....but anyhow. They said that even though you make a payment it's not applied to the account because it's not the fully amount. Now c'mon - that was a butt load of money they're making money out of......so, not only did we get hit for an $80 late fee...but they can't guarantee that won't affect our credit. Sucks. I was soooooo mad at them.....I slammed the phone down. Oops...

I have my health exam next Tues...now when I scheduled it I forgot I'd be in Vegas the weekend before. Oh well.......let's hope it's good news.

So my resolutions for 2006

- finally lose weight. I'm now fit, strong, lots of strength, not much wrong with me. I'm fed up of not liking myself and my clothes not fitting
- keep up the gym/pilates/yoga/weights when I move to New York (gonna be tough)
- not work so much
- find a brand new hobby/interest
- kickstart the end of my MBA - I've done all the hard work, I'm an idiot for letting it go this long
- not spend every evening in Bar 41 in New York (local pub, right next to work.,...and it's great)

So.....happy new year to one and all

Back to work already

We had a fabulous Christmas - the girls came down from Iowa and this year it was just us. We hung out, had a few cocktails, ate a fab-o dinner, watched Movies (British comedy series 1 'allo 'allo, Mr and Mrs Smith, Madagascar). Funny thing was I found out that when Rach said she'd take care of the turkey.....she meant "you do all the work and cook it, and I'll carve when necessary" yeah....whatever. I DON'T THINK SO. My view is if I've put in all the damn work to cook the meal.....I think I'll have the pleasure of serving it up. We had fun - although we didn't do a whole lot. Boxing day (day after Christmas to those who don't know) we went to some friends for lunch - Trev stayed home as he got stomach flu. When I got home his temperature was 101.5...ouch. Convinced him to take some Theraflu to bring his temp down - that worked somewhat although is back is hurting......I'm watching for all the meningitis symptoms right now. This morning it was down to 99.5 so I think we're OK.

So I've got over my shock at my NYC deal being dinged by 10k....on the variable. I'll be looking to take on the world so hopefully I'll make it up by then. Still i got an OK deal, I'm just p-o'd they made me think it was a done deal.

Not much else to report. Bradbury Dr is on the market, for Baxter Heights I'm contacting a realtor this week....so should be on the market in a couple of weeks.

From a friend - The Four

Thanks for this Penny....makes you think:)

Four jobs you've had in your life: Clerical Assistant/Secretary, Project Manager, IT Manager, Training Manager
Four movies you could watch over and over: Rocky Horror Picture Show, Thomas Crown Affair, James Bond, Carry On Movies (they're British comedy from the 50s-70s...blinking hilarious and full of double-entendres....so not PC!)
Four places you've lived: Chinnor, (Hertfordshire, England), Stowmarket and Ipswich (Suffolk, England), Cedar Rapids (Iowa, USA)........and of course St Louis (Missouri, USA)
Four TV shows you love to watch: Alias (although last 2 seasons have been less than perfect....I long for the complexity of seasons 1, 2 and 3), CSI (All), Law and Order (SVU, CI), Any British Drama (Monday nights 8pm Central on BBC America....)
Four place you've been on vacation: Brittany (France), Heron Island (Australia), Turks and Caicos Islands...and then loads of places in England
Four websites you visit daily: www.thesun.co.uk (British Gossip), www.reuters.com or www.reuters.co.uk (News), Blogger, Yahoo Mail.
Four of your favorite foods: Chinese Chicken Curry, Big English Roast Dinner, Galaxy Chocolate (cry...can't get it in the UK)...actually any kind of chocolate except Hershey, Sushi and Tempura
Four places you'd rather be: Laying on Heron Island's beach, getting a massage by my favorite therapist, chilling at home (I love being at home), In Bed

Back down to earth...

Amazing what a night does - realized that $10k moving expenses is all fine and dandy...except when you then factor in realtor fees for selling a house. Ouch ouch ouch. OK, so bold that I am I've actually asked them to cover that in addition to the $10k. Let's see what happens...

The girls arrive tonight for Christmas - can't wait - we'll have a blast even though we can't go out all the time like we usually do. Oh well, we'll get used to it. Have to make jello shots tonight - oh what fun. They don't leave until 7 so that'll give me plenty of time to meet with my trainer and get home, eat and then wrap all the presents. I'm soooooo far behind this year it's insane. I don't even have a turkey bought yet....think I'll leave a shopping list for them tomorrow!! Hahahahaha

Trev and Rach are going to the RAMs game tomorrow - not sure what Carrieanne and I will do...we'll figure something out. I have 2 presents to get yet - and will actually have to step into a shop to buy them. Actually quite proud I've managed to do my shopping online so far.

OK, so now I'm looking sell a bunch of furniture, exercise bike, movies, bookshelves, additional refridgerator on ebay...gotta get rid of it all somehow as we'll be living in a closet in NYC. also gotta get the Lexus fixed (remember I dented it at Thanksgiving) before we can try and get out of our lease....yeah, what fun!

More later.......

At long flipping last......

Ok, so tonight around 5pm I finally get a call. It wasn't a bad first offer....but I managed to haggle slightly. Good salary, increased variable compensation (which I like coz I will always achieve it), an accelator bonus (meaning you can get over 100% of your variable) and $10k moving expenses. that, along with about 2 months of corporate housing.......FABULOUS. so, we're off to New York....how cool is that. Oh yeah.....and I'll prob manage 55 people not the original 25....hey ho - it can all be fun.

it does need final sign off from the SVP but it shouldn't be a problem ....easy in the end. Very cool.

Next step....agreeing a date. I've said I'll spend at least a week there in January checking things out - so probably a move date end Jan/early Feb.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeha! Visitors welcome anytime - although in the Big apple you'll be sleeping in a shoebox!

Byeeeee - off to celebrate!

My lmpatience is getting to me...

So, still no word on the job offer. Trev's resigned and going back to the UK for a different visa mid-Jan, we have a house on the market, another one shortly and it's all go. My team believes I'm going to leave.....BUT I DON'T HAVE AN OFFER YET....not even one to dislike. Sucks ass man....hopefully later today i'll have something to report.

I've just spent 2 days in advanced customer service training with my team. OMG....I'm so embarrassed and ashamed. I agree, one of the trainers was a tad agressive and that some of the tasks were a little demeaning and at times it felt like you were being treated like you were 5. But that is no excuse for the passive agression thing that was going on. It was terrible - I'm sure some of it was because of the reorganization and because I'm leaving - but that's no excuse. We just represented our company to an outside firm.....and it was plain embarrassing. they don't realize that it's review time right now.......and that's not a good place to be. Perhaps they're just too damn arrogant to realize that they might learn something...even if it's trivial. Oh well........hopefully (fingers and toes crossed at this point) it's not my job come the new year!

Slight update

OK, so I've still not heard but everyone and it's dog now knows that we're probably off to NYC. Here's to getting an offer on Monday.

Trevor has put in his resignation with Reuters - we're making a decision today whether he leaves at the end of December or the end of February. The reasons for the difference are to do with visas. The plan is for Trevor to have an E2 visa as a dependent to my work visa - there are 2 steps. First, you get the visa then you get the work permit (called an EAD). See if you can follow along as to the 2 choices we have...

1) Apply for the visa while in the USA (8-10 weeks), continue working during that time. Then, apply for the work permit (up to 90 days).
2) Quit, go back to the UK and get the E2 within a week. Fly back, apply for the EAD then return to the UK to work.

For each option there are pros and cons. Option 1 means we have another 2 months of income, Option 2 means the work permit arrives more quickly. We're torn. By the time we go to sleep tonight we'll have made the decision.

For now, Trev's out networking his ass off for his next assignment. It's scary and exciting all at the same time. Let's hope we get a house sold shortly so we don't run out of money.

More later...

I'm getting really fed up...

Still no news....i have informed my team that I'm considering a job in NYC so I feel better. Trevor is informing his team that his tenure in his current roles ends at the end of the year - he then gets 2 months consultancy in the same place. He will then end up in England for a couple of months working waiting for his work visa - that'll be tough. That's OK though...we'll survive.

If I don't hear soon i will go mad.....

it's party day today - we started at 10.30 with so much food and cocktails it's insane. It's great to see everyone in a great mood.

Hopefully I'll have something to post later.

Check the statements that apply to you:

Check the statements that apply to you:
(_) I've Never Been Drunk
(X) I've Never Smoked Pot
(_) I've Never Kissed A Member Of The Opposite Sex
(X) I've Never Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex
(_) I've Never Crashed A Friend's Car
(X) I've Never Been To Japan
(_) I've Never Been In A Taxi
(_) I've Never Been In Love
(_) I've Never Had Sex In Public
(_) I've Never Been Dumped
(X) I've Never Done Cocaine
(X) I've Never Shoplifted
(X) I've Never Been Fired
(X) I've Never Been In A Fist Fight
(X) I've Never Had Group Intercourse
(_) I've Never Had Sex In My Parent's House
(X) I've Never Been Tied Up
(X) I've Never Been Caught Masturbating
(_) I've Never Regretted Having Sex With Someone
(_) I've Never Been Arrested
(_) I've Never Made Out With A Stranger
(X) I've Never Stolen Something From My Job
(X) I've Never Celebrated New Years In Time Square
(_) I've Never Gone On A Blind Date
(_) I've Never Lied To A Friend
(_) I've Never Had A Crush On A Teacher
(X) I've Never Celebrated Mardi-Gras In New Orleans
(_) I've Never Been To Europe
(_) I've Never Skipped School
(_) I've Never Slept With A Co-Worker
(X) I've Never Cut Myself On Purpose
(X) I've Never Had Sex At The Office
(_) I've Never Been Married
(_) I've Never Been Divorced
(_) I've Never Had Sex With More Than One Person Within The Same Week
(X) I've Never Posed Nude.
(X) I've Never Gotten Someone Drunk Just To Have Sex With Them
(X) I've Never Killed Anyone
(X) I've Never Received Scars From My Partner
(X) I've Never Thrown Up In A Bar
(X) I've Never Purposely Set A Part Of Myself On Fire
(_) I've Never Eaten Sushi
(X) I've Never Been Snowboarding
(X) I've Never Had Sex At A Friend's House While They Were Throwing A Party

Well...

OK, so on the job front, no news. Still waiting - was expecting an offer yesterday but it hasn't materialized. keep telling myself to be patient. it's driving me insane.............

On a completely unrelated topic I have to impart the love of micro-dish cloths. My friend Penny brought them down to St Louis when she visited a month or so back saying her mum swears by them. Yeah yeah thought I....but I have to say - they're blinking marvelous. I love my orange dishcloth - it better not get lost. Get the picture - it's fabulous!

We're off to Vegas for new year so getting quite excited about that. Not sure I have money to gamble - but you never know, I pay be able to pay off our debt. for sure I'll be leaving a lot of credit cards at home.

More later....

Sculpting.....oh my

OK so I said that I was going to a sculpting class as well as my usual gym stuff. i thought i did OK although wasn't too impressed with the first 10 mins of aerobic stuff - not coz i was out of breath, more that I can't co-ordinate for crap. Jumping up and down with a step and moving around is just too much to cope with. That over, we started on the sculpting....basically it's lots of weights (not too heavy) but loads and loads of repetition. the back of my arms are still hurting - and it's Tuesday. Needless to say when i met my trainer last night I thought my time was up. will take a day off today and see if i can stop it hurting. It can only be good though - right?

On the job, nothing as of yet. Hope to hear something today. Getting quite excited right now so will be very disappointed if I don't get the offer I'm after.

Got my tree up, my cards posted, gifts ordered. Very happy. This weekend's job will be to wrap everything and get it under the tree. My spicy candle going, log fire and we'll be all set.

Bradbury Dr house is about to go on the market again - not sure if we'll be able to sell this time of year, but let's hope so. We'll need the dosh if we end up going to NYC.

More later....

Still no news...

Getting fed up of not hearing about my job...still nothing to report. I'm still waiting for an offer.

I'm having a mental moment about money. The house in Iowa still isn't rented - and the agent hasn't contacted me in 2 months. We're going to put it on the market.... That's $1700/month that we have to pay on the mortgage. My dental bills have been huge.... Rachel keeps giving me medical bills from the whole of 2005. First a $300 bill from her dentist and then an $850 bill yesterday for the surgery she had in February. DOES SHE THINK WE'VE A MONEY TREE ON THE DECK? flipping heck...I really can't believe it's the first time the doctor actually sent her an invoice. I dunno what we're gonna do other than ramp up excessive credit card bills...it's got outta hand since the tenants in Iowa left. When we move, if Trev loses his job I don't know what we'll do. Oh well, I'm not maxed out yet so i guess it's OK. As long as we can sell one of our houses we'll be OK. I just hate all this debt. Still.....it wasn't sooooo bad it stopped up picking up Chinese last night.

Don't think I mentioned this Chinese.....it's fabulous. It's a restaurant more like one we'd find in England - so it has Chicken and sweetcorn soup, prawn toast etc.... we're addicted. Will miss that.

At the gym had an amazing week - finished another workout plan with my trainer....I can actually see visible results on my thighs...and I don't htink it's imaginiation the cellulite is disappearing. I'm liking that BIG TIME - my genes mean I have tons and tons and tons. Next week I kick it up with adding a scupting class so we'll see how that goes. My shoulder is twinging a bit so need to watch out - but other than that doing great.

My physical is on Jan 3rd...so we'll see if all this working out has made a difference.....

Anyway, i'm on a day off so need to get the house cleaned, gifts bought, cards sent and tree up. Bye for now...

Philippa needs....

From my friend.....In this one, using your favorite search engine, type in your first name and the word 'needs' in quotes (ie: "Philippa needs") and list the top 10 results. I chose my full name as I thought it'd be more fun....

Philippa needs to work on her comprehension skills
Philippa needs to wake up and see the whole picture
Philippa needs input from everyone involved
'Philippa needs £1500 to completely pay for her new souped up chair
Philippa needs £35 from everyone for the catalogue and web site
Philippa needs input from…
Philippa needs help with investing her inheritance wisely
Philippa needs to produce an excuse to her schoolmates about her change of clothes
Philippa needs assistance

…that’s all there was:) I guess I'm just special..... If this came true I'd make 1535 pounds.......

Not much to report on...

No more news on NYC.....I just wish it'd sort itself out. My team have wind of it, every time I walk out of my office it goes quiet and they look at me funny. Hopefully it'll sort itself out soon... secretly I think I'm quite excited about the move....

Wow! I just looked out of my office window and there's a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Can you believe I've been that focused so early in the morning and not even noticed it had started snowing. Man....I have to get a life. I was very organized this morning and remembered to bring the brush in from the car so that I can sweep off al lthe snow when I leave tonight.

Update on my dental work.....yeah! It seems to have finally been fixed. I've had an "OK" from the dentist and now I'm completely done and signed off....and just have to get used to having no tooth there. At least it doesn't hurt anymore - fabulous!

Later gater:)

The weeks are going by too quickly

Man, I just can't believe how quickly Christmas is coming up. I haven't actually ventured out to the shops to buy gifts yet - i've managed so far to do everything on line. I'm very excited that I've agreed with Mum and Dad we'll shop when we see each other next. I'd hate for us to spend all our money with the post office....we'll have much more fun together.

Didn't get my tree up or my UK cards written......will have to do that on Friday (have a day off). if I don't get stuff mailed it'll be too late soon. Also need to get a box sent to Chris (Carrieanne's boyfriend..he's a Marine currently serving in Iraq). Going to be a busy week me thinks!

On the NY job front....a little more progress. The guy who was to call me before I am to receive and offer finally left me a voice mail tonight. I called him back and we've agreed to talk tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll have something positive to report....I hope so - I'd like to get plans finalized. I never uncovered how my team found out the rumors I was going...given a handful of people were aware...it meant that I needed to tell my new boss that I'm in discussions regarding opportunities. That way, he hears it from me and not the grapevine. It's weird, coz I also heard on that good ol' grapevine that Trev has already accepted a job in NYC.....news to both him and I:) I still have idea on salary....hopefully it'll get us something more than a shoebox to live in.

Ok...off for more shopping online (I'm starting to wonder if I can do every piece of Christmas shopping without going inside a shop.....how cool would that be?????)

Byeeeeeeeee

We Made It!

So the last post had us holed up in Kansas coz of snow....well we made it back Tuesday night. Phew - don't ever ever ever want to experience that again. It was horrible. I've realized that I'm too old for roadtrips....and from now on will plan my life so I can book airmile tickets to wherever I'm going for the holidays. like that'll happen.....but I can wish! Poor Rachel...she got home only to have it snow more in Iowa!! At least that's not hit us yet - although at the time of writing it's 15 degree's fahrenheit outside.....flipping freezing!

Last week went by in a blur - 2 days late at work so it was bedlam for 2 days before I took Friday on scheduled holiday. yeah! Had a real lazy day....rather than clearing up the house from the roadtrip I got my hair done, met friends for lunch, got the car washed (did u see the pics.....) and then went ot the bar for a beer to send off a friend who's taken a 2 year stint in London with Reuters. Was a good day.

The night before wasn't so good - Trev and I had a huge row with us screaming at each other - this happens less than once a year and I guess this was the once for 2005. It all stems from the fact that he hates his job and my New York job offer isn't going as fast as he'd like....he's frustrated, having a mid-life crisis from turning 50 this year and wants to be settled. I know I should be OK with accepting a job out of state and have him follow me (he's told me a hundred times he's OK with it....I just don't "feel" that he is) but I'm not sure I am. What happens if I move us and I don't like the job, what happens if we don't like the NYC lifestyle (no money, commute, small apartment). We're worried about the green card (still don't have one after 9 years). Oh well.........It's OK now I guess....I just don't like him when he turns vicious and nasty and hateful. The thing is that he forgets what he's said and tells me I'm exaggerating......and I'm not. I'm not saying I'm perfect - but i could tell Thursday night from the moment he walked through the door we'd have a fight....it's almost like he presses all my buttons until I let rip. thank goodness I hadn't had 10 beers....then it would have been terrible. I guess that's what happens when you have 2 A-types living together. We get over it and move on....until the 2006 episode:)

On a lighter note....the weekend went by with lots of sleeping. Went to the gym...my trainer is insane - one day i'll start to lose weight to show off all these new muscles I have. My hips are definitely smaller...and I have thigh muscles! I'm also very strong in the upper body thanks to both the weight training, pilates and yoga. Still don't get the whole mind/body thing for yoga...and really really don't get the whole "breathe into the pain" thing when it's hurting like hell. It's always so quiet in yoga classes...and all I want to do is yell out or laugh when someone drops one (every single class someone lets one out!!). Hilarious.

On New York....I've had a verbal offer of a job but we'v enot talked relocation or salary. Went out to Borders last night and bought a book on moving to NYC and what to expect. One thing I'd really like to get the hang of before we start talking money is where to live. don't know about you but when I hear things like Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn I have negative thoughts.....probably all the movies I've watched. I had a friend tell me that her apartment in Manhattan (2 bed, 1 bath in mid town) is $4000 a month. I nearly fell on the floor.......... couldn't believe it. We don't pay that in all 3 house mortgages combined - and they're at the 15 year rate! I did find out though that 70% of all new yorkers rent - it's one of the few places in the world where renting is usual...as opposed to buying. Not sure we can afford to buy anything.

Think we've decided to sell both the Iowa and St Louis house if we get an offer I agree to which will give us some capital. Bad time of year here though to do that so we'll see if we can do that....

Started the Christmas shopping this weekend - sorted Peter out (easy peasy), most of Rachel (again easy peasy) and a little of Carrieanne's. Still have to shop for Trev and then some friends. it's all been online so far which is awesome - I love the internet....I'm an addict! Didn't get the tree up or the cards mailed though.....so need to do that tonight.

More later!