I checked the weather - 55 and rainy. Oh lovely....
Sitting in the airport now...waiting to board. Will update if I can with pics etc.
It will be nice to have some time off. I wish Trev was with me....but he has to work:( I'll be back on the 2nd.
Will make you laugh! So, last night we're off to bed and I said "did you turn the airconditioning on?". Trev had turned it off earlier in the evening as it was too noisy and we didn't need it. We know at night the place gets really hot. Trev replies "yes, of course I have". (with the tone of "why are you treating me like an idiot. When I say i've done it, I have...".)
I kept waking up, full of hot flashes, it was sooo hot. Also it didn't sound right. About 3 am, I asked him again "did you turn the aircon on.." he again said yes. My female intuition got the better of me so I went and looked.....
He had only turned on the heating......
hahahahahahahahahaha
I've hired a new trainer to get me back on my fitness program. Below is the email he sent me today. Talk about larfing my ass off....how hysterical. He really thinks I can do that. hahahahahahahahahahaha
Hi Phil
For your work out regimen, here's what I'd like you to do until I return: (You can change the days around depending on your schedule) For each of the muscle groups, I'd like for you to choose two exercises from the LINK below and perform 3 sets of 12-15 reps for each. Try to do them in a circuit with minimal rest in order to keep your heart rate up!
For example (Pushing Muscles): Dumbbell Chest Press/Lateral Raises(Dumbbell)/Tricep Pushdowns/Leg Extensions - Perform single set of each exercise, one after the other. When you're done, rest 1 minute and then repeat 2 more times. Next, pick new exercises and run through those in the same fashion!
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Wed:
Pushing Muscles (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Quadriceps)
20 minute brisk walk on treadmill
Thurs:
Cardiovascular Training & Abs
40 minutes on Treadmill/Heart Rate = 150-160bpm
Stability Ball Crunches (Blue Ball) 4 sets/25 reps
Fri: Off
Sat:
Pulling Muscles (Back, Biceps, Hamstrings)
20 minute brisk ride on recumbent bike
Sun:
Cardiovascular Training & Abs
40 minutes on Cybex Arc Trainer/Heart Rate = 150-160bpm
Stability Ball Crunches (Blue Ball) 4 sets/25 reps
Mon:
Cardiovascular Training 45 minutes total
10 minutes warm-up recumbent bicycle
25 minutes on Cybex Arc Trainer/Heart Rate = 155-165bpm
10 minutes cool-down treadmill
Tues:
All Muscles (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Back, Biceps, Quadriceps, Hamstrings)
20 minute brisk ride on Arc Trainer
Wed: Off
Thurs:
Cardiovascular Training & Abs
40 minutes on Treadmill/Heart Rate = 150-160bpm
Stability Ball Crunches (Blue Ball) 4 sets/25 reps
Hopefully the above workouts will keep you busy while I'm gone.
So, while on my day at home catching up (which was very successful), I nipped out in the car for a couple of errands....but I did something I've never ever done before.
I ended up on a toll road, and when I came off it I had to pay the toll. It was 25c - and it was unmanned....and get this - I had absolutely no change in my purse. It had fallen out. So, there's a queue of cars, I found a dime in the car and chucked it in. While I'm looking for other money, some idiot (or 3) behind me start tooting and yelling at me to get moving. I was actually quite scared.
So, I drove off. Talk about a guilt trip....
Today was a weird day. When I arrived at work this morning, I was asked for my ID outside the building...never had that happen before. I shrugged it off and continued on my day. I had 3 new people start today so have been running around sorting them out. Just after lunch an email comes out stating there had been a security breach and that if we wanted to anyone in the company could work from home if they choose tomorrow. Nothing else, just that. Can you imagine the confusion and apprehension that caused?
What are you supposed to make of that? personally, I can think of nothing better of staying home catching up without 59 people asking me inane questions. That and...why put myself in a position where there's a possible security breach? Except...that my new hires elected to be at work, most of my team will be at client sites. Why do I feel guilty?
I'll be working like crazy tomorrow....so don't understand why I feel like this. I see no point in going in...so I'll be home. But I'm thinking of the guys...and the guilt is setting in.
PS - remember that post about the cleaning lady who didn't wash her hands after hitting the bathroom. I saw it again tonight. I think I need to make a complaint...what do you think.
Oh yeah, and on the train on the way home tonight I witnessed my first full blown couple argument. We're talking raised voices....and what was even funnier is that she was complaining about how he couldn't resolve an argument without raising his voice and being the "bigger" person. I had my head buried in my suduko on my blackberry trying not to laugh my ass off. It was pretty funny though!
I think we've found the perfect mix of living here - NYC and Manhattan during the week, NJ and Hoboken during the evenings and weekends. I love it. Definitely in the groove. Trev's getting there too, although it's harder for him as he's not here all the time.
This weekend we've done more of the stuff we used to do in STL, so it definitely felt more like our ol' comfy routine. Friday we had a couple of beers, then went home and ordered Chinese food to be delivered. Saturday we both had a massage then went out to dinner, I also cooked the filling for Shepherds Pie. Sunday is chores, the gym, and good ol' fashioned British cooking! It's funny how the simple things make you feel more like home. I just love it.
Places we love to go:
- Bar 41. A place to meet my colleagues and friends for a quick beer after work. The subway is right across the street. As you can imagine, it's on 41st St right by work. We're well known in here, and drinks are always waiting for us. Monica is awesome (she's the bartender!). Food here is pretty good too.
- Green Rock. This is where I meet Trev when I get off the train on a Friday (if we're not in Manhattan). We always feel like we're 20 years older than everyone else, but the food is OK and the music is good.
- Josies. This is a good brunch place. Both in Manhattan, there's one on the upper west side, and one near where we used to live. Awesome!
- Blue Water Grill. Again in Manhattan, right at Union Square. It's primarily fish or sushi, but it's so easy going and the food is so good, we go back again.
- EM. Sushi place in Greenwich Village. Awesome.
- Gaslight. The newest addition to our list, we actually can walk to it in Hoboken. They have a good martini menu and the food is awesome. Mainly Italian, but American too. Really liked this
- Trader Joes. Not a restaurant, a grocery shop. We found them in St Louis, and have located one here. they have a lot of organic food. The hummus and tomato soup is out of this world...haven't found better yet
- IKEA. There are 2 within a 15-20 min drive...and one only has 3.5% sales tax. We've been there a lot as you can imagine!
On the house front, we'll be closing while I'm in Scotland, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem except I can get any time off to sort stuff out. I guess our weekends will be busy busy. Yeah!
So, tonight I met with my new personal trainer. Although having worked out a few times since being in NYC, it's nothing like the groove I got into in STL. I worked out myself on Sunday and was hurting for a few days...nothing major, but i felt I was getting back to where I was. Tonight, I met with Billy James*.
I was a little dubious as this guy is a triathlete (yeah, he thinks he'll have me running the NY marathon next year....whatever!). We got on OK on Monday and I managed to prove to him that I may not look fit, but I'm do pretty good. My scores were great, so I thought it should be OK. Didn't stop me worrying though.
I thought it was a good hour, for the most part I didn't think it was as hard as it was in STL....so far. Mind you, I think I'll still hurt a bit tomorrow. I was actually honest with him when he picked weights that were too light....it's kind of weird for me to be like that...was quite funny. What I'm hoping is that I may lose some pounds over this. I'm definitely focused....and definitely eating less bad stuff - that can only be good, right?
I'll let you know how much I hurt tomorrow....although I have committed to Power Pilates tomorrow night. Yippee:)
*is it me or does that sound like a porn name? know what I mean...one of those weird joky things that comes around once in a while.
This is a fabulous movie. We went to see it this past weekend and it's so flipping funny you must go and see it. I will buy it the day it's available on DVD.
http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/littlemisssunshine/
I thought this was going to be a 'chick flick' - and that I'd be yawning after 20 minutes. However, talk about being surprised.
Go and see if if you get time!
So, we joined the gym and tonight was my "personal profile assessment". Some good and some bad news.
Good stuff first:
- Blood pressure = normal
- Cardiovascular assessment = 99th percentile (can you believe that)...so proud of myself. Only 1% improvement here required to reach perfection!
- Flexibility = good
Bad stuff:
- I have 42% body fat....it's supposed to be 29%
My "body age" is 40...just a year over my age. I didn't think that was too bad.
So, I've enlisted a trainer. We meet Weds night for the first time. I have a feeling that my muscles are gonna hurt:)
Let's hope that we can get some weightloss going on here. Penny's got a scale going on her blog...not sure I'm that brave. Suffice to say...that if I was at her heavy weight, I'd be ecstatic!
The assessment itself was quite nervewracking...although I managed it without much effort at all. I even managed to do a minute's worth of crunches without stopping (I was wishing that i hadn't done the 300 i did yesterday, coz i did hurt a bit!). I even managed 25 press ups.
Obviously my time in St Louis wasn't to no avail and I am healthy. Good to know that. So, now I'm healthy i guess I have to do weight loss. Oh yeah!
I witnessed the grossest thing yesterday. So much so, I went and bought santinizer.
I was leaving work around 5.30pm, visited the restroom on the way out. The CLEANING lady came in, went to the toilet....and then left without washing her hands.
When I left there she was wiping down the tables and chairs in the conference room.
So, what do we think is really really clean here...........
That is just GROSS!
| You Are 52% Cynical |
 Yes, you are cynical, but more than anything, you're a realist. You see what's screwed up in the world, but you also take time to remember what's right. |
Never thought I'd say it in my life time, but on Sunday and again tonight I was in the gym. I have missed it - a lot. It's a good thing between work and home...it clears your mind. It makes me leave early from work and I can do something that doesn't involve anyone else.
My new schedule:
Sunday - work out (bike, elliptical, weights)
Monday - rest (coz I hurt like hell from Sunday...all in a good cause)
Tuesday - pilates (not bad, but don't like the instructor much)
Wednesday - same as Sunday
Thursday - yoqua (yoga in the pool...cool eh?)
Friday - same as Monday...socialise night at work
Saturday....haven't decided yet.
I've also decided that I need to enlist the assistance of a trainer again. Just got to find one as good as Jim was....his favourite line when i complained was "this is what you pay me for!!".
We're trying out a new gym - i quite like it, has a pool, classes when I want them etc so we'll probably sign up. the way it will work is that I'll walk back home, get straight in the car and drive the 8 blocks to the gym. If I do it another way, I'll never go....
Now, off to have a bath as my muscles haven't worked this hard since April!
Yep, another one....this is number 3, while we wait for the condo to finish. I just have to have a rant about the stupid landlord's realtor. Talk about ridiculous. For history, we've moved into this apartment that has to be in "showing" condition 24/7. this means no dirty laundry out, dishes away, clothes hung up, bathroom stuff tidy etc etc. that would be fine...and we were doing brilliantly until the realtor has a cow, the landlord calls with ridiculous demands. Apparently we cannot leave a nice tidy laptop on the table, our soap or hand towels showing in the bathroom or anything. Talk about insanity. Who really thinks it'd make that much different. Of the women who read this...ever tried to tell a guy he can't wipe his hands on the nice white hand towel that's not ours, and to reach in side a cupboard to use our towel? Yeah.....works doesn't it? NOT! Blinking ridiculous! If it wasn't for the fact I couldn't face moving to apartment #4 I would have told her to shove her lease. So, the fact that we ordered a telly and there is no stand and I can't use the table in the apartment I guess it's going to go on the floor (as I don't NEED a new TV stand). fine by me and i've warned the landlord....but I have $5 riding that the realtor will flip her lid when she sees it. Yeah............what flipping ever!
On the up side, we've been given a sort of tentative date of Aug 21st, which would be fine except I leave for Scotland on the 25th and really would like to be here to organize everything. Control freak I know....but stuff has to go where it is meant to go rathe rthan just anywhere. I love Trev very much, but believe me if he organizes we'll end up with weird furniture everywhere. So I'm hoping to move in after i get back from the Scotland trip. We'll see. We decided to take a trip this coming weekend to check it out....that way we'll know what to plan for. Our stuff has been in storage so long I think I've forgotten what it looks like. I miss my glasses, my saucepans especially, my TV, surround sound, my bed, the list goes on. Have to say though - i clearly don't need half the stuff we put in storage!
We've been in this apt 8 days now....and for 8 straight days I've not seen a TV show. I'm getting complete withdrawal symptoms. However....I have got into Arrested Development. Not sure if you get it in the Uk, or watch it here...but it is pretty funny. We're in the middle of season 2 on DVD now. Rollon the TV - I miss CSI, Law and Order, BBC channel, Project Runway (my latest reality show).
I am updating this diary more though, so that's good!
Now, this may seem strange, but we had our best worst night out this weekend! Right at the last minute our friend Melissa invited us to come and stay with her for the weekend. So, on Saturday, right after signing up at the gym we meandered our way up to Glastonbury, Connecticut. Had a great afternoon out. First we went via an antiques fair...although our opinion was it was more of a car boot sale (not sure what the US equivalent is..but you get the idea) and then we went shopping....one of my favourite stores is the Christmas Tree shop. It's like a thrift shop, very cheap and lots of stuf you never knew you wanted. Good example is that i bought some gift bags for 79c, along with a whole bunch of other stuff.
Melissa also has a new black labrador puppy called Lily - so we spent A LOT of time with her. I am so glad we weren't with Melissa when she collected her as I know we would have brought one home.
Later that evening we were all meeting up with Pauline and Gary for dinner. This is where the fun started:) We all had a couple of glasses of wine at Melissa's before heading to the restaurant. We got seated relatively quickly....and then it went downhill from then on. It took 20mins to get a "Hi" and drink and food order in, another 10 mins to get the bread etc. We didn't order appetizers, because we thought we wouldn't eat it. This was around 7.30pm - 7.45pm. We were STILL waiting at 9.30pm for dinner. Can you believe that? We had a blast though...the waitress offered us a drink on the house and the entertainment was this weird guy doing Mick Jagger impersonations. That was pretty funny. Then.....when dinner finally arrived - it was cold. Every stinking person's dinner had something stone cold on it. Hmmmm. So, at that point we were getting a bit fractious as we were hungry. I told them I wasn't hungry anymore. Anyhow - we got the whole meal for free....I should say so. As I say, it was the best worst night out, ever!
So, remember the whole palava over the kitchen countertop. Well it's installed - and it's not what i wanted. it's lighter....and I'm not sure I like it. What do you guys think? does it match? (I don't think it does). If you saw the top that we had in St Louis....I wanted it like that. Let me know whether I'm over-reacting. I think what bothers me most is the floor, the doors and the top don't compliment one another too well. hey ho, i guess it's too late now.
First an update. Remember that "spooky" post I told you about seeing a weird ass commercial on the train and I thought I might have imagined it? Well, I didn't. I'm not insane. It's on the train from Hoboken to 33rd St, between 14th and 23rd St stations. It's for a lexus car. I've seen it twice now....so I'll keep on looking to figure out how they do it. At least I know I didn't imagine it. LOL.
My sanity has returned at work - finally. I had a minor meltdown on Tuesday afternoon where I just couldn't think straight. It was my own fault...I started it all. I will try and explain. We'd had bad customer satisfaction results that got published showing a continuing trend of my department's satisfaction with clients - not a good thing given I've only been here a few months. the report was for Jan-Jun. So....I wanted to understand where the scores had come from and do some analysis. I have a website that I'm given access to in order to view specific client feedback - and when I downloaded it for my department there were 5 pieces of info. That's right - 5. Not 500 or 5000 - 5. And of that, 3 was for my sister department. So....my reputation, my team's reputation was based on these 5 entries.
So....since I found out that it wasn't fair representation I forwarded the detail to my project manager and my boss for information. Then I went quietly to a meeting. When I got back Debbie (my boss) was jumping up and down with a "you'll never believe what we need to do" - apparently she took that to her boss who asked her to rewrite the report with a more positive slant. I then took another survey that I do with my clients and put that in the positive. Anyway, it all turned out OK - but way too much work. So much so, I took a sanity day yesterday where I stayed home all day, worked 14 straight hours and got all the stuff I meant to do done.
It was fabulous. all i have to do now is get my project manager working....and not on dumb stuff. she's way too freaking emotional and keeps telling me she's overwhelmed with too much work. Well - know anyone who isn't? I haven't met anyone in years who doesn't have enough to do. what does she think I do? delegate everything and do nothing myself. Hmmmm - so I'm taking her out for a day to get her sane. that will help.
OK, I'm off home!
