On Friday night at dinner when I ordered a martini I was asked for my ID. This is the highlight of my year so far.....apparently I don't look 40:) Yippeee...
I have to say the waiter looked 12....so I guess I'm old after all
We drove up from Chicago on Friday night and went straight out for dinner at the Chop House with the APAC crew. Had a great time - good restaurant, good company. We got to meet Matt and Jackie's dogs Jabba and Chewy...so, so cute.
Saturday Carrieanne, Rachel and I went to Williamsburg to shop (big outlet mall) and met Penny there. We had a great time...and we all spent ooodles of cash. We all went back to Cedar Rapids and went out to dinner at Biaggi's.
Sunday, we had a little blip when Penny got very very sick....so sick we spent a lot of the day in the emergency room. We thought it was food poisoning, turned out it was a stomach flu. Luckily John (Alex's Dad) kept Alex an extra day, Penny slept it off at Paul and BJ's and all is well. Was a scare though. thank goodness that airmiles allowed me to stay behind an extra evening.
My trip back on monday morning was awful. Got delayed in Cedar Rapids, lost my connection in Chicago but did get home eventually. Thank goodness for PSPs and burnt movies. Love it.
OK, off to bed as have early appointment with the trainer. After a week of doing nothing, he will kick my ass!
On Wednesday I had a kick off meeting for my team for the new year. Our president and EVP talked for a while and we ended with a few cocktails, then a leaving do straight afterwards, then the best Indian food I've had since being in NYC. Awesome.
Bad side was a tad of a hangover...I really didn't drink too much, I think it was the combination of vodka/cranberry, followed by gin and tonic, followed by a couple of swigs of champagne, followed by a glass of white wine. Believe me, the next morning, felt like crap.
That then meant my diet went to pot. 2 donuts later (someone left a whole box on my desk!!) I felt much better.
I got good feedback on the meeting - people liked the giveaway prizes, hearing from our senior managers etc etc. They also liked the cocktails. That's good. I really find it hard to remember to reward people - it's not like I get that much. Hey ho...you learn every day.
OK, off to work...
I was doing really well keeping up with almost daily posts....clearly this last week flew by and I can't remember most of it. I'll do a precis of what's happened.
The gym - I know I know, I go on about this all the time. Well I'm on a new schedule now which is giving me more time to relax during the week. I went to a vinyasa yoga class last Sunday and it was awesome. I could keep up, I was exhausted (that's the point, right?) and I felt really good at the end. I'm definitely running with the mantra "you never feel bad when you leave a gym". It's sooooo true. My trainer is upping the anti, and you can definitely see results now. Still no reduction in dress side....but shape is changing - definitely!
Eating - well, it's not too bad. I'm making a point of cooking on weekends and freezing soups and meals so it's easy to eat during the week and it's not all TV dinners. I'm really enjoying that. I also like not eating out as much.
Hair - had my hair cut and coloured last week. Hmmmmm - much happier with the colour but realized that I had got used to long hair. Had a whopping 4 inches cut off and it's now shoulder length again. Don't like it. While it looks fabulous for the 10 nano seconds after I've finished drying it....it looks crap the rest of the time. I'm blessed with hair that grows quickly so in about 3 months it'll be back to where it was.
Work - still crazy. Still procrastinating over my review and whether I should go to battle over the score. Not sure. Part of me says yes....the other part says let it go. We'll see. I did graduate from the class I was doing (remember the training back in October? there was a 12 week online followup thingy). that's good - I'm glad I got that finished. I went out to dinner last night with some who's leaving the company - and he took my card, asked me what I wanted to do (get things done, not manage people and make crap loads of money doing it) so you never know I may get an offer from left field....:) There's lot of people leaving right now - my first boss at my current firm is leaving also - I'm so sad about that. I can honestly say all the people I've worked for in this company (there are 3) I would work for again....and it's not often you say that.
Gossip - heard that my boss in my last company got promoted to VP. Can you believe that crap? What a moron.....he's the epitome of what I don't want to be in a boss. Thankfully Trev has lots of contacts so I always get to hear the gossip!
Travel - off to Iowa this weekend so really looking forward to seeing old friends and visiting old haunts. Am meeting up with Penny on Saturday at the outlet mall and lots of beer and food in the evenings. I keep trying to forget that it's the coldest week of the year there and focusing on the fun stuff. Really looking forward to all the shopping. I need a new coat - the one I bought which is long is too long - either that or I'm a short arse. I thought I did really well but there are things about this coat that drive me nuts. It's long, but the buttons end at your waste. When it's cold and you're walking, you have to hold the flipping thing closed. I need a new one.
Ok, gotta get some work done...
OK, so I'm still mad about my overall rating...big time. However, being reasonable with myself I moved across the country, I had 6 months living out of suitcases, I had to figure out my job with little direction and then had to rally a team of 60. Not easy. I was also promoted to Director. All that stuff says to me that getting a 3 isn't too bad.
What I also learned now I've digested the comments is that I'm giving too much credit to my team and I need to be firmer. Clearly they don't understand that if I'm answering their questions in confidence this isn't me talking out of turn. flipping wallies....oh well, I guess we'll be doing more team building:)
Food diary - shot. Actually it's not too bad but I've not been taking note as I'm so mad about my review. Today I leave early to get my hair done which will make me feel better....I hope. By Monday I had better be over it.
To me, it tells me even more to finish my MBA and not work insane hours. It may be late, but they are my new years resolutions.
Ok, well it's been and gone. Hmmmmm - it was interesting. While I'm not surprised at my score, I am disappointed. Basically while I exceeded expectations in terms of getting things done and my enthusiasm, dedication etc the team "didn't move forward" enough. Flipping insane. So while I got lots of 2s (superior), I also got some 3s (good). My overall was a 3. Is it fair for my position? Probably - do I personally feel like it's a demotivator. Ab-so-freaking-lutely.
However, as always my boss has a unique way of making it sound better than it is. I still think I have a bunch of babies working for me. And I want to go back to program management - I just wish it paid better than it does.
Some stuff that came out of the feedback from the team was disturbing. Apparently they don't like me talking about salaries - I can HONESTLY say I have NEVER EVER discussed an individual's salary with anyone other than HR. They also think I talk badly of people - again I can say that unless I'm approached about someone's behaviour and I try and find out what's going on I don't believe I talk openly about people. In fact I make a point of not doing it. Amazing isn't it, the perception some people have.
I am still so bummed...........however, while I give myself a 3 this year as it was a grounding year there is no way it'll happen during 2007. What I think I took from it is that I didn't communicate upwards formally enough (apparently a chat isn't good enough) - which I know....but just didn't have the bandwidth.
What it also makes me realize is that I need to take time for me, and get my MBA finished. And I will.
OK, it's 19 minutes until my review. Why am I so nervous? I think I've done a good job, # of desktops grew over the year and I'm more certain in my role......
Wait here for the outcome! Let's hope I still have a job in an hour:)
Well...we've been procrastinating about getting blinds for the condo since we moved in last September. Finally went to the store....and spent a butt-load of money. However, they are pretty cool.
If that's all we've done today, then I guess that's good. We get measured on Wednesday, and fitted in 3 weeks. Oh yippee!
I think I got payback from eating Chinese on Friday night. Felt weird on Saturday, dizzy, funny tummy etc, but still managed to go to the gym etc. Food on Saturday wasn't too bad, however Sunday was not fun.
Sunday I had a massage planned at 3pm, so everything revolves around that (of course!). I thought I was doing OK, had breakfast (bacon sandwich...not soooo good) but then my stomach had a big "what the hell are you doing to me"......and needless to say after many trips to the bathroom I didn't eat too much. I still managed to go out and meet friends for dinner, but we didn't get the shopping done we wanted etc.
The plus side is a) I got my massage and b) I now have zero desire to eat anything bad. We'll see how it goes today.
Right now I'm at the gym, Trev's getting his butt kicked by my trainer. I'm off to go and do cardio before my meeting.
More later....
Friday
English muffin, egg, bacon, fruit
Granola bar
Spinich and cheese pastries, bread
Frozen yogurt
2 x cranberry vodka
Chinese for dinner (beef fried rice, chicken curry, steamed pork dumplings...yummy!)
Saturday
Weetabix (English cereal)
Almonds
Cod, potato, peas
2 x cadbury caramel bites
Pork stir fry
While I made it to the gym today (cardio, pilates), I've been feeling funny all day - weird tummy, feeling dizzy. Very strange. Figure it was the food last night. Certainly didn't drink enough to feel this bad. Weird. Tonight is better.
I'm still on a roll with the grocery delivery service. It's blinking awesome - although I thought I'd ordered some stuff and it didn't arrive. Hey ho - even though we had to run to the shop too we're still spending a lot less. I don't get pulled into buying weird stuff any more. Pretty cool.
It's a holiday weekend for both Trev and I which is cool. Tomorrow we get massages and are heading to a museum in the city. Monday no idea what we'll do except for the gym.
So it's early Friday morning. Trev got back from Denver about 1am as he had a late flight. I'm creeping around in the morning trying not to disturb him too much (well, until the hairdryer goes off anyway). I manage to leave, he's still comatose in bed so that's good. I get my headphones, select music, press the button for the elevator, get to the ground floor......and realize, stupid pillock that I am, that I've left my bag in the apartment.
Now the other thing to realize here is that you need a key for the elevator to go back up - and we still only have a single key between us, so it was sitting on the kitchen counter.
So, after all that creeping around, I had to run up 3 flights of stairs and bang on the door for him to let me in.
I feel very silly. Oh well, one cuppa later and I'm awake:)
OK, so I got 8 reviews done and signed off, and the 6 for tomorrow written, printed and filed ready. So, I left again at 4.30pm. Admittedly tonight I had a pilates class to get to but still, it was nice to leave knowing I was up to date.
Today was the day I had to deliver a "5" review. We have a scale of 1 to 5....5 being the worst. What unnerves me is that this person thinks I'm an inspiration and likes working for me. I find it bizarre. I remember getting a "4" at my last company and I thought it was the end of the world. Actually, the previous year at the same company I got a "3" and thought the same.
Now I'm nearing the end it's nice to take stock on the team. I have a good team. While I have a few that I've had to give feedback to (I have 2 insane ones that are still arguing but that's OK - I didn't think it was a bad %).
Here are the food diaries for the last 2 days:
Weds
English muffin, butter, jam, load of fruit
Turkey meatloaf, double cauliflower
Granola Bar
2 handfuls of almonds
Fishsticks, peas, potato, fried egg
Ice cream
Thurs
No breakfast (didn't get time) - had granola bar at 10.30
Asian chicken salad
Load of walnuts
Granola bar
2 pieces of shortbread
Stewed fruit and ice cream
(note: did cardio and burnt 208 calories before pilates....that takes care of the shortbread!)
Why I should think I'm sneaking out when I'm in at 7am I have no idea....but it felt good. It was still daylight. And while I still have work to this evening, it's administrative in nature and I don't have think too much.
I thought the reviews I had today would be more difficult than other days, but to be honest they all went like a charm. I can see the end in sight now, and I'm really looking forward to setting up plans for the next year.
Next up will be my own review... I haven't really had a lot of time to think about that. I hope she thinks I'm a star....but I doubt that. We'll see.
Ok............................if the title doesn't give it away - I'M DONE! Yippee
All reviews are written. That is soooooooo cool - taking today at home to finish has been great for my sanity. Even though it didn't feel like that.
I still have to get them all in the system and then all the stuff printed but compared to the creativity of writing constructive criticism it's all easy peasy from now on.
I think I've been comfort eating all day but now I have cooked and made some low calorie meals I feel much better. I like feeling stuffed with food when it's all good for me.
At least I'll be able to talk about something other than reviews now.
| You Are 76% Happy |
 You are a very happy person. Generally, you feel content and that all is right with the world. Occasionally, you have a down day - but you have the ability to pick yourself right back up. |
We can come up with all the diet plans in the world, and convince ourselves that it'll work - when in actual fact you have to eat less calories than you burn. So I can up my burning potential with the gym - but I still have to stop eating meaningless crap. I know this theory works because when I was sick back in 1999 and had zero appetite and lost 40lb in a month it worked like a charm.
Try this link http://calorielab.com/index.html - it's awesome. Gives you calorie contents for any food you can imagine - it even lists McDonalds (not that I ever eat it...). So I'm going back to basics.
Eat 1200 calories a day. If I'm at the gym then it can be 1500 calories (as I can burn 500 doing cardio). Let's see how this works.
Being at home today and still procrastinating about doing these reviews (I'm still no further) I'm eating crap. It will stop at lunch time as I will cook proper food. I promise.
OK, I admit it - 54 reviews in 2 weeks is RIDICULOUS. It's unattainable. I'm trying to meet my boss' deadline only to find my peers in London haven't been working to the same deadline. The company deadline is the end of the month so I've been busting my ass for no good reason. I'm annoyed to say the least. On the positive side, at least it'll be done for all but 3 on Tuesday. I'm happy about that. I'm enjoying (for the most part) giving the reviews - it's just all the writing it, reading the wider feedbacks (where other people in the company comment on performance) and consolidating and then printing off loads of statistics. Doing this for 7 people a day is draining.
Today I'm taking a sanity day. I've canceled all but one appointment today to give me more time to get my s*** together. I'm at home working.
Except...
Trev works at home and left for Colorado yesterday. Now he did admit to not doing dishes (ie put them in the EMPTY dishwasher - don't understand why the hell not). But there's stuff everywhere. so, it's now 9.15am. I wrote one review and then I've done the following:
- written a shopping list
- gone thru fridge and chucked out of date stuff
- gone thru cupboard and done the same
- put all "stuff" in a single pile to go through later
- take down Christmas decs
- set up some movies to burn on the PC ready for UK trip
- wiped and sanitized all worktops
- made jello (sugar free)
- cooked some fruit that needed eating
- done the rubbish and got it ready to take to basement
All before 9am. Am I insane? I think so. I need to get focused and I'm struggling.
At the gym last night I had a epiphany. I'm addicted. If I don't go, I get ansy. I still hate every minute I'm there, and I need to have a trainer and classes to actually go. Even so, who knew? This is weird weird weird. I've never experienced it before. Even though I complained about last Saturday and the 2.5 hour session of cardio, training, pilates....I'm going to do it all again this next Saturday. Only difference is I'm giving myself a half hour in the middle to rest and do nothing. That should work. I've decided it's worth having a trainer - it'll be interesting to see if those guys in England will notice a difference to last year. I will be BUMMED if they can't. This week I think I'm resting today, although may go to a pilates class they have, tomorrow will rest, Thursday is cardio and pilates, Friday rest, Saturday my marathon!
Food diary already today (embarrassing but true)
2 chocolate hobnobs
4 twizzlers (left over from theatre on Sunday, have chucked the rest)
OK I'm off to write 20 reviews and get sane. I'm rewarding myself with a trip to IKEA if I get done before 5. Yeeeeha!
Ok, so eating in the cafeteria today (I'm not getting out as I'm doing reviews - not that I usually get out, but I pretend I do!!) and I'm tucking into my 1/4 chicken with asparagus and half way through THERE'S A HAIR ON THE CHICKEN! Not a pastry brush hair, or a chicken hair a black long curly human hair.
Ewwwwwwe!
I complained and got $10 - but really, talk about losing your appetite. I'm now eating soup as I think that's safer. Oh yuk!
Food diary for Sunday - bad bad bad bad bad bad bad. Not even mentioning it here.
For today so far
Muffin, butter, fruit, granola bar
Crappy chicken with hair, few asparagus, soup, roll
Frozen yogurt
Hmm...not sure it's that good. I got through 10 mins cardio, an hour with Billy and a hard, hard pilates class.
Breakfast - bacon sandwich, half a grapefruit, 6 cookies
Lunch - chicken pot pie (2min microwave type), ice cream
Snack - handful of nuts
Dinner - shepherds pie, green beans, stewed fruit and ice cream
Now I'm hungry again. I think I worked off all the bad stuff this morning. However.........still not as good as I would have liked.
Better luck tomorrow
Phew! Doing those reviews is hard. Still trying not to eat too much - failed i think
Breakfast - Kelloggs K and full cream milk (I just can't stand skimmed)
Snack - granola bar (90 calorie variety)
Lunch - Potato and corn soup, 1 bread roll (sounds good but it was thick and creamy and yummy)
Snack - granola bar
Bar 41 - met some friends, 2 gin and tonics
Dinner - out with Trev and Mary Ann. Chinese. One plate only, but enough said.
Snack - laying in bed, watching telly, 1/2 mars bar (Milky Way to you yanks!)
Bad bad bad day....but could have been worse.
This morning I"m off to the gym - 30mins cardio, an hour with Billy and then an hour of pilates. However will have a bacon butty before I go (that's a sandwich with bacon and ketchup....yummy)
Have to work this weekend to catch up on reviews...but hey ho, it could be worse.
Well...it wasn't perfect but it was much better than yesterday.
Breakfast: Small bagel, low fat cream cheese, sugar free jam
Snack: Fruit (water melon, bit of pineapple, cantelope)
Lunch: Sushi Salmon and cucumber roll, tuna and cucumber roll. Also bag of chips. 2 rasberry squares
Before gym: handful of almonds
Dinner: half tin of spagetti hoops, 2 slices of bread, 1 gharidelli square, freshly squeeze juice
I also did 15 mins on the ski machine and a 1 hour pilates class. I figure that wipes out all the chocolate:)
That's it.....not so bad, eh?
OK, so I'm promising to keep up with my diary and it didn't go so well. It started last night when I didn't get to the gym as planned - loads of excuses, the last of which is i couldn't get the car out of the drive as some idiot over parked. I could have run to the gym to make the class, but oh, no I stayed home on my ass and worked til 10.30pm. idiot.
So today I decided that the food would be better. Not.
Breakfast - granola bar, fruit (pretty good as it was 90 calorie bar)
Snack - granola bar, then someone waved chocolate in front of me. 2 gharidelli chocs later I felt bad.
Lunch - salad (all healthy), soup (not so good...cream of Turkey, no bread)
Snack - hmmmmm this is where it fell down. someone gave me a box of Rasberry truffles. I tried one it was lovely. Ate 4 during the afternoon.
Dinner - tried to make it better. 2 handfuls of almonds to keep me going (it's a new thing, they're full of protein and fibre...). Cooked a load of veg and put 1 slice of cheese on it. No meat or anything else. Pretty good. Yeah well, then I found the Haagen-Dazs Lite (remember that!!) Dulce de leche caramel. My latest favourite. I finished the flipping tub - prob about 3/4 cup, but even so. What a bad bad bad thing
So, no exercise since Friday (except walking to and from train station - 8 blocks each way, hardly a marathon) and all that bad bad bad bad food.
Guilt has hit me. I WILL go to the gym tomorrow, cardio for at least 30 mins. I will NOT eat chocolate all day and I will take fruit to work with me.
Those who follow this blog know that I have a lot of people working for me and that it's review time. I have 54 to do. As of this evening I have completed 8. Yeah - I have until the 16th to finish. Whooppee.
The reviews themselves are fine and dandy. It's the prep time. here's a breakdown
1) Get wider feedback from 6-10 people, it's online but I have had to nag (30mins) to get it done in time.
2) Prepare review (1 hour)
3) Print out statistics (1 hour to run reports, 15mins to print everything)
Now, multiply this...... you get the idea.
I've been here nearly 14 hours. I'm off home!
Ok, have to mention....new TV program to watch. Heroes - think it's on Monday's. It's pretty flipping cool. You should watch it.
Ok, so to try and finally, finally get thin I'm going to keep a food diary. Rather than write it privately i think I'm just going to post here...we'll see how it goes. Today is day 1.
I'm at home today - right now it's 10.45am...and I feel like it's getting out of control today already. so here goes.
It's a weird day today. Late on Friday we were given the day off in remembrance of Gerald Ford. I'm taking the opportunity of getting my reviews done. If I can get the week's worth done today it means I can then focus on next week's peeps in the evenings. It's gonna be tough, but i'll get there!
Food diary:
1 x instant oatmeal
1 x apple
1 x large handful of almonds
1 x glass juice
1 x coffee (not decaf, so I'm now wired!!)
Then it got bad....
Loads more nuts
1 chocolate square
Bacon sandwich (only 3 small slices....but anyhow! still bad)
More nuts
Dinner - turkey and veg (pretty good....)
1/2 cup icecream
I promise not to eat more.
Was made worse by my trainer canceling. I would have gone except that i was then running late for the class and i couldn't get the car out of the garage. Now I feel guilty. Hopefully not for too long.
Just one more mouthful of ice cream.........
1. FIRST NAME Philippa
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Can’t remember, probably a few weeks ago
4 DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes – when I have the right pen
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Don’t have any, would choose egg salad
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? No
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Yes
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Cornflakes (must be Kelloggs though)
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR? Mango
14. SHOE SIZE? 7.5W (American size)
15. RED OR PINK? Red
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Legs
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Gran
18 . DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Yes please
19.WHAT COLOUR PANTS and SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Dark grey pants, purple slippers
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO? I’m watching reruns of CSI on the DVR
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Royal blue
23. FAVOURITE SMELL? Fish and chips
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Mum and Dad
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes
27. FAVOURITE DRINK? Tanqueray and tonic (lots of lime)
28. FAVOURITE SPORT? Don't have one
29. EYE COLOUR? Blue
30. HAT SIZE? No blinking idea
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes
32. FAVOURITE FOOD? Thai
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Neither – give me a good drama any day
34. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Pale blue
36. HUGS OR KISSES? Both
37. FAVOURITE DESSERT? Chocolate cake (home made, my friend Deb’s mum’s recipe)
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? No idea
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Everyone
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The diary of Karl Pilkington
41 WHAT'S YOUR MOUSE PAD? Don’t have one – use a folder
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Nothing – just reruns from the DVR
43. FAVOURITE SOUNDS? Laughter
44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Neither
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Australia
46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? No idea
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Hemel Hempsted, England
So, for the first time Trev and I were on our own for new year celebrations. Rather than be a couple of saddos at home together, we bought tickets to Buskers, a bar around the corner. See pics - some better than others (I really do need to sort that double chin out!!).
You also get to check out my funky new glasses. I bought two pairs- these are the more radical ones, especially as they're purple - what do you think? Should I return them?
My new drink of choice - vodka and cranberry. Doesn't give you as much gut rot as gin and tonic.
We had a fun night.... although I have to say I felt one of the oldest there....was really hilarious seeing young peeps singing and dancing to songs that were hits before they were born. Does that mean I'm now an old fart?
