Can you believe it?

I'm sitting here at the airport....and I LEFT MY FREAKING IPOD AT HOME.

What an indiot! You'd think as I was so attached that I could have remembered that.

Thank goodness I have a PSP to keep me company.

Busy busy week

It's been a busy week. I leave tonight for England - I get back on the 5th. I'm so excited - I'm getting to see everyone I want to - and some friends are traveling several hundred miles to see me. I'm really looking forward to it - even though I'll be working in London next Thursday. That's an excuse to follow up with lots of people there for work and socializing.

After my great day off (a 2 hour massage I can thoroughly recommend) we had our first condo management meeting on Tuesday night. The guy in #3 is President, Trev is Vice President (hahaha) and there were a couple of other jobs (Treasurer and something else). The meeting was hysterical - not only was the guy from the management company about 20 and looked liked something out of The Sopranos* but he was not particularly responsive to our concerns and questions. Like, why does our garage door stop working at least 3 times a week (it gets stuck). Why do we have children doing the cleaning in the building (do we agree to child labour?), why do we all have lots of things that the builder has not taken care of? etc etc etc. We all agreed that we needed a different management company and they're all meeting for bloody mary's on Sat morning to agree the way forward. I'm sad that I'll miss it but I'll be having fun of my own!!!!! I'm so happy we have a lawyer in our building because he doesn't put up with any crap.

So another example of why this dude is weird - so he's going through the budget (that he created over 18 months ago!!!!), and when we got to utilities costs (ie water, electric) he told us how we should conserve water as it'll affect the bill (duh). He then went on to painfully describe how when he showers (ewwww) he gets wet, turns off the water, soaps (double ewwwww) and then turns on the water again. I have to tell you 7 pairs of eyes all looked at each other with a "triple ewwwww" look. How yukky and gross. Who on earth thinks it's OK to lecture professional people on water consumption. Isn't that down to the condo assn itself? Weird.

Then the other shady thing this guy did was get the new President to stay behind, waited for everyone else to leave and then had him sign papers to sign the company on for a year. How nice of him. The good thing is that our lawyer knows the bylaws inside and out and that he couldn't do that. So, it's null and void. Perfect.

Anyhow, it's a mute point as we're kicking them to the curb and getting a reputable company in. Hopefully it'll all be done before I get back from my trip.

My gym attendance has been amazing. Sat Pilates, Sun Yoga, Mon Billy, Tues walking, Weds Billy. I feel that I've done enough up front to offset my lardy-ness that I will be indulging while in the UK. Everyone I know in the UK doesn't really work out a lot so if we walk 100 yards then we're doing well. While I have every intention of trying to run around the block or something I know in my heart that won't happen. I will take my yoga DVD so I can at least try.....

I'm very excited about my trip. I get to see all my friends and all my family, something that really doesn't happen every time I visit. while I'm happy seeing everyone I'm spending a day with my friend Lorraine who's driving down from Blackpool, I have dinner with Terry and Fran (used to work with Terry at BT in England years ago), and Deb (used to work for me when I first became a manager). It'll be soooooo much fun.

Unlike my trip to Scotland I will have access to the internet so will be providing updates.

*My latest hot TV program. I know I'm several years too late but now it's on A&E I'm an avid watcher. It's hilarious...esp as I live in New Jersey!

A great day off

With Trev gone (he went to Denver last night for work), I had a whole day to myself. My company gives a day off for Presidents Day so I have done close to nothing. I started my day by meeting Billing at 8am. I then went to the mall/Target to pick stuff up for my trip to England. That took a lot longer than I thought and I didn't get home til about 11.20. I had a massage with Wesley booked for noon so no sooner had I got home, then he arrived.

I had a fabulous massage at home for 2 whole hours. I have to say I'm fabulously relaxed right now. I must remember to warm up our living room before I do that again as I got cold. Still, it was worth it. I'm so glad I managed to find Wesley.

The worst thing was I didn't have time to eat. A few almonds got me through til about 2.30. I've made up for it since.

So, until now I've been procrastinating about working. I had my team create monthly reports and I know they put a fair bit of effort into them. It would be wrong of me to not create mine from their report. I have until 11am tomorrow. I better get it done tonight!

More flowers

After my Valentines Day flowers arrived almost 2 days late - oh bless FTD*

Check out the pics. How sweet are they - on the left we have white and red tulips, in the middle the Vera Wang pale pink roses (the ones that got lost) and on the end Lillies and red roses. Ignore the red vase....it's very very tacky.

I'm cynical enough to wonder what I have done to deserve this many flowers.....

That said, they are so lovely - it's a shame i'm leaving on Thursday as I'm sure they'll be still beautiful then.

*A historical story. One year when I worked in Cedar Rapids one of my clients was FTD. They are very very difficult as they clearly have more demand at Valentines, Christmas, Mother's Day etc - and every single year they don't set up enough demand. That was one of my worst experiences as they screamed and yelled at me. 2007 was no different - the day after Valentines, they closed all phone numbers and email addresses so you couldn't complain. What bad bad service.

Labour Certification

At long last! It's only taken about 7 years, but the approval came through this week. The hardest part of the Green Card process is now over. We file for the next stage next week.

The great thing about it is that we won't be tied to the companies we work for. That also means we won't be deported if we are laid off. A huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.

Something else to celebrate!

The Seal

So, for those of you who've done Pilates, there's a move called The Seal. I've done Pilates for years, but until today I haven't been able to do The Seal. It involves sitting on the floor, wrapping your arms through your legs and round the outside of your ankles. Once you're like that you rock backwards tapping your feet together 3 times while down and 3 while up. usually I have too much "collaterol" up front. today, i seem to have become more flexible enough to do it.

That's an achievement!

2 P's, an R and an S

I couldn't think of an inventive title today so that's what I came up with. Here goes:

First P. Promotion. Trev has been promoted to Director, IT at his company. He's very excited. His boss has also been promoted to VP, even so it's good to see a year after being hired his efforts are being recognized. Me? First question after giving congrats was to ask if a payrise was involved. HAH. He didn't know - how do you get promoted and not get a payrise....seems weird to me. Apparently they have reviews in February so I guess we find out then.

Second P. PBS. I love that channel. Right now I'm watching a legendary British comedy "Last of the Summer Wine". It's set in northern England is about 3 friends, all men at retirement age. It's the middle of Iowa so it's their exploits. Great supporting cast, and very very funny. Well, I think so.

The R. Roses. Trev ordered roses for me and had them delivered to work - so sad that they arrived 5pm tonight rather than yesterday but still they were cute. Should I read anything into it that they were pink and not red? they were Vera Wang...so got a sample of her perfume. I'll try it out tomorrow.

The S. Snow - too much of it, so much ice and they don't know how to clear the roads/paths in a timely way. It's awful. I clearly took for granted the magnificent way they take care of snow in Iowa. Roads are ploughed, paths cleared, melty stuff put down etc. Here I've had to walk through mounds of snow, get wet feet etc etc. I need to buy boots (oh yeah, can you believe I threw a pair away in St Louis coz I never wore them).

We're off out with the guys upstairs tomorrow, and going to a neighbours housewarming party on Saturday night. I've managed to touch base with Wesley, my masseuse and I have one booked for Monday (I have a day off).

While proud of doing pilates followed by meeting Billy - my butt hurts and the top of my thighs. Oh well, all to a good cause, right? I've been resting the past 2 nights, might go tomorrow but may hurt too much.

OK, I'm off to bed to celebrate Valentine's Day a night late:)

Good Luck Penny!

Ok my friend, you're off to Mayo for 3 weeks - you don't need luck. Keep positive, embrace the program and keep on fighting. I will be thinking of you - keep in touch if you can. Trev say hi too!
Love
Phil

Alone on Valentine's Day

So, it happened. I'm alone. On Valentines Day. For the first time in 12 years. I'm not really sure how I feel. Trev is stranded in Atlanta because of the weather - he tried his hardest to get home, but all flights were canceled. Our weather is horrible. What a bummer.

My gift is cute - I got a single rose and card. I then went to the store and bought Double Deckers, Flakes, Crunchies, Mars Bars and Cadbury's Creme Eggs. They're piled in the fridge for when he gets home. It's not much, but I hope he likes it.

I love Trevor very much, but over the past year we've not had enough time for ourselves. If we're not working, we're at the gym, or doing chores, or traveling to see the kids, or so tired we're watching TV. I'm hoping 2007 will be a better year than last. It's really not so much the traveling and distance as the hard work it is to get a life outside of work. I make sure I arrange events and even massages etc to be sure we're taking time for ourselves...it just doesn't seem to be good enough. It was fun when Rach visited last weekend - we visited a museum, went to a cool show - it was fun. We should do that when we're on our own rather than wait for guests. I'm making a conscious effort with all our neighbours to socialise - they're a great crew so it'll be fun getting to know them. Maybe I'm just 40 this year and getting a bit depressed - no idea why as I have no regrets, I'm the fittest I've ever been, i love my job, got a great husband, good friends, have enough money to almost do what i want.

I'm really looking forward to my holiday in England. Maybe that'll cheer me up.

Want to know the best news of the evening? Wesley (my massage therapist who left the gym) got hold of me. Yippee!! That has made my night.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm down...

Not really sure why - but I am. It's Valentine's day - I should be excited to spend the evening with Trev and get all snuggly etc etc. Trev is flying in this afternoon - except for the fact that we've had a kick ass snow storm and because of that his flight is already canceled. He's still hoping to be home by 9....but that doesn't really leave us a lot of time to catch up, have dinner, enjoy each other's company etc etc. That, and the fact he won't change his plans next week means I'm in a really pissy mood.

Hopefully by tonight I'll feel better. However...don't really see that happening.

On the Green Card front Trev has his application in with the labor certification people - so that should get approved in about 6 weeks. Once that's done it's just paperwork for both of us from here on out. So, by the end of 2007 we'll be free of staying with our employers and can do whatever we want. While I think he enjoys his job he's feeling the stress of traveling all the time. I have to say, while I like time on my own...I really feel that I'm managing too much stuff on my own. It would be nice to have time to call the builder and get our 25 things fixed (they're still not), or get another elevator key (we STILL don't have one), or get the place decorated etc etc etc. For my Green Card it's gone into a big black hole.

On the funny side - here's my subway story for today. So it's snowing here - big time. Most people look like Daleks (if you've seen Doctor Who you'll know what a Dalek is). So there was a woman this morning - about 5' 5", long blond hair, thin, UGG boots (beige), black tights, the shortest pale grey checked skirt you've ever seen, a black down jacket (short one) and a big bobble hat. Who the hell wears that kind of gear on the crappiest day of the year??????? The bobble hat and the skirt just didn't match. hahahahaha

You'll be proud of me. I managed to get my butt to the gym last night for a 7.45pm Pilates class, even though I didn't want to go. I even did 10mins of cardio before hand. Then this morning I got myself to the gym for a hour with Billy the Trainer. can you believe that - 2 hours 15mins of working out in a 12 hour period. Even I'm impressed!

What number are you?

You Are 1: The Reformer

You are 1: The Reformer You're a responsible person - with a clear sense of right and wrong. High standards are important to you, and you do everything to meet them. You are your own worst critic, feeling ashamed if you're not perfect. You have the highest integrity, and people expect you to be fair.

What Number Are You?

3 things...

It's amazing how I can wonder somedays what the hell i'm going to write, and then the next have loads of stuff to say. I remembered 3 things (but it could go on longer):

1) At the weekend when Rachel stayed we were in Manhattan on both Saturday and Sunday - what are the chances that you get the same cab driver to take us home from the train on both nights? I thought it was hilarious! The reason the guy recognized us is that he got our cross-street wrong the first night!! Hahahahahah

2) Anyone who's an 80's girl (or boy) will remember Blue Monday by New Order. I found today that the 12" version (and if you don't know what that is you're definitely too young!!) I can walk home to. That means the 7.5 mins it runs I can walk from the train station, all the way home, get the mail, wait for the elevator, get into the apartment and take my coat off. I'm impressed. A single track - and I can get my ass home.

3) I was very happy tonight at the gym when I was given secretly my massage therapists email and phone #. Hopefully he's still working here and not buggered off elsewhere. We'll see.... I'm not as depressed as I was.

My planning for my trip to England is going well - I actually have created a spreadsheet to make sure I know who I'm seeing when. Although I have to work on one of the days I'm there, it's no big deal because it means I can get my train ticket paid for:) I'm really looking forward to this trip.

I am really peed off at Trev. We have our condo meeting next week and he'll not be there. So, to pay him back I'm lobbying for him to become president of the association. I think that is fair payback - don't you?

Oh yeah, and at the gym tonight I was told I looked thinner - yeeeeehaaaaa - maybe one day I'll be thin.

What is it with husbands?

Man, you'd think I'd be used to this by now....but I'm not. It makes me madder each time it happens. Why do I have to do everything domestic?

Next week, Tuesday to be precise, we have our first condo board meeting. We have had a month's notice of this event and I sent the email to Trev to make sure he would arrange his schedule to be there.

I wouldn't mind if I was given the information, but this morning I asked (1 week before the event) "So, you're going to be at the condo meeting Tuesday, and remember I leave for England on Thursday so you'll probably be working from home next week, right?" I was expecting to hear "Of course I am sweetheart". Yeah well - that didn't go to plan. I heard "Well, the guys up there (where?) really want me to visit (why?) and I've been trying to put them off, and I'm not succeeding so far so I don't think I'll be there and anyway I must be back for when you leave for England so I have no choice. Ii've really been trying to not go, but you know how it is at the end of the quarter. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah"

Maybe it's because I'm coming up for both my 40th birthday and my 10th wedding anniversary - but I'm freaking fed up with this. I don't feel my husband has any skin in the game (ie our marriage) and it's just convenient for him. I don't like feeling like this but I will NOT give up what I've worked so hard for. Talk about feeling dejected just ready for Valentines Day. I really can't be bothered.

Testosterone

Most of my funny stories come from the subway - and tonight is no exception. My trip into the subway is down the escalator, turn right, down the stairs, turn left, turn right down the stairs, onto the train. Well in the middle of the "turn left" bit a guy comes flying down the stairs, hangs a left and charges straight into someone else. I mean, knocking the other guy over. Worse, he then just carries on down the stairs and leaves the other guy on the floor. Sometimes I don't like this city.

On the other hand, it's got a bit warmer - at 32 degrees it's much warmer than it has been, although I'm told it's supposed to snow a lot.

I'm wondering what to do for Valentine's day....we've agreed on no gifts, but I should find some chocolate at the very least and a card. That's my job for tomorrow.

What kind of English speaking country are you? (this was spooky!)

You Belong in the UK

Blimey! A little proper, a little saucy. You're so witty and charming... No one notices your curry breath

What English Speaking Country Are You?

Good evening

Rachel has been working in Boston so she flew down to NY for the weekend before heading back to Chicago tonight. Last night we went out to dinner at a French restaurant (Gavroche) which was excellent - certainly, I'd go back. Funny thing was the best thing was the side dish of green beans....they were so good we ordered extra.

After that we had tickets for a late night show for John Oliver. He's a British comedian who features on The Daily Show on Comedy Central pretty regularly. It was excellent. So, so funny - and only $20 tickets. Now, that made the evening!

Today we're off back into town to see our friends Bruce and Heather for brunch. Gotta love being close to the city.

Oh no...

I found out this morning while at the gym that my favourite massage therapist left.....this is BAD NEWS. I now have to find a way to find this guy. This now sums up my weekend:)

A busy busy week

Can you believe it's Friday tomorrow - it's been crazy busy this week. I feel like I haven't had time to breathe.

It started by blowing off Sunday with a hangover. Work has been crazy all week - I just haven't had time in the evenings. Monday I had a work Sales do - launch of the new year. Tuesday I had to turn up as a senior manager to a cocktail evening for a training class. Wednesday I met a guy for dinner who I hired who was in town from St Louis. Tonight, I had a client function for one of my teams.

I am EXHAUSTED.

Weird stuff i've observed this week

- why women in the bathroom don't check that everything has flushed. Weird - and eeeek all at the same time
- still weirded out by people running for a train that runs every 6 minutes
- that I'm not getting enough time to watch Tivo
- that whoever cleans my desk at work chucks stuff away that I want to keep, manages to unplug my phone, make my monitor not work and my keyboard unresponsive.....right when I need it all
- why can't I run down stairs and run for a train
- that I can still get my butt whoopped in the gym....and I always feel good when I leave
- that I'm lonely when I'm on my own at home - but at the same time have good friends
- I'm looking forward to my visit to England in a couple of weeks
- That at heart, I'm really a project manager and don't like managing 60 people
- That I get on great with my neighbours

I think that's enough for a week, don't you?

Don't like the cold...

OK, so picture this. Winter coat to the floor, big heavy scarf, headphones, woolley hat, sneakers, woolley gloves - all you can see are my eyes. It was 8 degrees fahreinheit when I left for work. The 8 block walk felt like miles. Sooooooooo cold.

Very different to both Iowa and Missouri - you have to walk. I love my car.

Damn, I wish spring would hurry up.

Red wine...

For the first time ever this weekend I cooked with Red wine. We had half a bottle left over from Saturday night so on Sunday when I was cooking beef stew I chucked the wine in. I am a convert - it was fabulous. I'm not a lover of red wine at all so was really worried it would taste like crap - but it was awesome. Yum - something new to do.

It's flipping cold right now (hence the beef stew) - it's going to be a high of 20 today - that's well below freezing level. No amount of scarves and coats make up for it at all. So, so cold.

I'm getting excited about my trip to England in a couple of weeks. My friend Lorraine is coming down from Blackpool and we get to spend the weekend together - that will be fun. I get to see everyone else too and do a lot of shopping. Tim is taking a week off so I'll have a riot. It never ceases to amaze me how all my old friends seem to drop everything to find time to meet up and hang out. It means a lot.

I think I will need to work for one of the days while I'm there - my boss has hired another senior manager in London - someone I worked with in my past job. Not a favourite of mine, so we'll see how it goes. Luckily we're continents apart so hopefully it won't affect me too much. I couldn't trust him, and that's important to me. My boss has done this knowing his reputation so we'll see how it goes.

It's Tuesday, Trev got up at 4am today which is why it's 5am and I'm writing this. How fabulous.

Our neighbours

Last night we finally got to have a few cocktails and dinner with all our neighbours. We met at ours before heading out to a place call The Sushi Lounge. They did brilliant martinis and food was fabulous too. We have great neighbours.

Mike and Shannon live in #1, Nick and Jackie in #2, Mike in #3, we're in #4 and Josh and Rich in #5. We managed to meet up with everyone although only some of us could do dinner too. We ended up falling into a cab having left a bar - went back to #5. Got to meet the dog (Moses)...who is gorgeous. The guys upstairs have completely remodeled their apartment - the kitchen is a different way around, the floors are different, the closets have been redone etc etc etc. It looked amazing.

We're both nursing headaches this morning, but we had a riot. We will enjoy living here.

My first pair of fat pants

Exciting....for the first time since I've been on this keep fit craze (2 years) I can say I have a pair of pants that are too big for me to wear again. About flipping time.

Even though I have a cold it makes me want to go to the pilates class today - maybe it's FINALLY paying off!

Now I'm not too excited as I realize I have a long way to go - at least another 50lbs, but it's a start. It means I should be able to find a way to keep this up when I'm in England....at least I hope so.

Gloves

Ok, so on my mammouth shopping trip last weekend I bought a fancy schmancy pair of Eddie Bauer gloves that I was in love with. Can you believe before I got my ass in the apartment I lost them?

I had them in the airport....must have left them in the taxi - but I called and theyr'e not there.

I can't find them on eddiebauer.com, eddiebaueroutlet or ebay. I am bummed.........

Funny on the subway

OK, this made me laugh out loud - let's see if I can make it sound good.

I was at the 42nd St subway making my way home walking down the stairs to catch the train. There was a lady walking down the stairs in front of me going a bit slower than the usual commuter. From behind a lady comes running down the stairs going "excuse me, excuse me, I need to catch a train"

I have to tell you my only comment was "you don't say...!"

Sorry, but I found this hysterical and ended up laughing out loud. Not sure it'll translate to the written word:)

Hypochondria?

So since spending Sunday in the emergency room when Penny got flu (and needed IV fluids) I've been wondering if I was going to get it. I worried on the plane, at work on Tuesday and through the week. Yesterday I just got to the point where I thought I was safe and I felt crap in the gym. Then I started sneezing and now I have a full blown cold.

Now, it is the first time that I'm happy to JUST have a cold. LOL

One thing I forgot to mention....

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

Weekend in Iowa

We had a fantastic weekend in Iowa. It's been almost a year since we visited and we packed a lot in. The pics are 1) The APAC crew (Darren, Betty, Matt, Jackie, Kathleen), 2) Friends and family (BJ, Paul, Penny, Carrieanne, Rachel). The final pic is the family pic - turned out pretty alright (thanks Penny!!).

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!

Owwweeeeee

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...

A whole week went by...

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...

Still mad but getting over it

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.

My review (part 2)

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.

My review (part 1)

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:)

My Q4 bonus been and gone!

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!

A quick way to diet:(

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....

Food diary

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.

Will make you chuckle

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:)

I snuck out again..........

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!)

I snuck out at 4.30:)

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.

I'm done I'm done I'm done

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.

How happy are you?

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.

How Happy Are You?

Back to calories

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.

A day to get sane

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!

Ewwwweeee!

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

Today's food diary

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

Friday's food diary

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.

Food diary for today

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?

Bad, bad, bad food day

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.

8 down, 46 to go

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!

Heroes

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.

Getting thin (updated)

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.........

More questions...

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

Happy New Year!

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?

Christmas has been and gone

It's over - quick as a flash. We had a vacation, Peter visited, we hung out, ate, drunk, visited and now it's New Year's Eve - already! See the pics...it sums up our week.

The first pic is my favourite Christmas tree decoration - a bulb lights it up and my camera captured it beautifully. Next to that is Rudolf - he takes up a chair all on his own.

Next, is our one and only pic of the 3 of us together - note we never actually got dressed on Christmas day. Peter cooked everything - it was a lovely treat.

We had many visits to Manhattan, this next pic is of Peter in Times Square.

The last two pics are of Chris Botti. We went to a concert of his on the 29th at the Blue Note Jazz Club. While we weren't allowed flash photography (hence the darkness) my camera didn't do too bad a job of taking pics - these are the best.

We also went to see a play on Broadway last night - The Scene. It had Patricia Heaton (the mum in Everybody Loves Raymond) and Tony Shaloub (best known as Monk) in it - was very very good. I love going to the theatre - I just wish Trev like musicals because then I think we'd go every week. Even Trev enjoyed this play so I'm looking for others. I'm hoping we'll get to go and see Butley with Nathan Lane, but I may not be able to get tickets as it's finished on January 14th.

I got new glasses today - we have flexible spending plans here (tax free money for heath stuff) and we hadn't used up our plans for the year. Like usual, I had to wait until the last day of the year before deciding to spend the money. I got 2 pairs and Trev got 1 (he got his first back in October). I'll take pics in the next couple of days so you can see mine - one pretty conservative - the other quite wacky for me! They're purple:)

I've decided two things for 2007
1) I will finish my MBA
2) As I'm turning 40, I'm going to get a body of which I'm proud

The first one is a case of applying myself and getting it done. The second means not only will I continue to work as hard at the gym as I have, but I'll not eat chocolate and fatty food. I'm serious - I've talked about it enough - time for action.

Some updates:
- My friend Diane got in touch - finally. I'm so glad she emailed and that we're exchanging again. I've missed her. Hopefully we'll get to visit sometime soon.
- I've booked some trips to Cedar Rapids, Chicago and England for January and February
- Work is crazy; I'm still doing the reviews but should be done in the next day or so
- We still have a long list of stuff for the builder to fix; hoping we're meeting them this coming week to get resolution finally

OK, I'm off out to the bar round the corner to bring in the new year!

Happy New Year everyone - love you!

Back to work and wired...

OK, so I'm back to work and getting all my stuff together for the reviews for my team (all 54 of them!!). One of my team leads asked if I wanted a coffee - I said yes, and gave them my usual Starbucks order (decaf, skinny, triple shot, grande latte please). Well....I order an extra shot because with decaf it makes it taste like real coffee. So what does he do? He gets me a triple shot fully leaded.

To say I'm jittery and wired doesn't even come close...........

OK, back to my reviews....:)

Happy Christmas!

We're back! We made it. Had a fabulous holiday - check out these pics....sorry they're so small....but you get the idea!

It was very relaxing - no email, no phones, no TV....just us. The island was pretty small - there were 37 rooms on the island and about half were full. If you wanted a big party then this was not the place to be. If you want to recharge your batteries and do nothing other than eat, sit, sleep, swim then this was it.

The bar was amazing - different concoctions of rum punch every day using local fruit. The bananas were just so sweet and bananary...I don't know how else to describe it.

Now we're back - I'm being treated this year - peter is cooking the whole dinner. Duck, sprouts w/bacon, walnuts and cream, asparagus, roast potatoes, yorkshires, cauliflower, carrots etc followed by pie and custard. Yum. All I had to do was make the yorkshire pudding batter....so i did pretty well I think.


We went into Manhattan yesterday - we met up with our friends Heather and Bruce and tried out the english chip shop in Greenwich Village. Not bad at all....not brilliant, but pretty good given that's our only option. We went to the grocery shop too and spent $100 on chocolate, sausages and marmalade. Well, it's Christmas, right?

Penny, I hope you're having a good day...sorry it's been a tough time for you this year. I'm thinking of you.

Mum, Dad, Tim - you sound like you had a ball with Jamie Oliver's roast beef that Tim cooked. Can't wait to taste in when i visit in February.

Diane - so glad you emailed me - finally. Stay in touch!

Love you to all - have a fabulous holiday and will write more later.

Off to sunny climes

Well we're here. We made it. Tomorrow morning we leave for The Grenadines for a week's R&R. No internet, no TV, no phone. Yippee! It'll be nice to take stock of the year and get back on track. I think Trev and I need that - with all the traveling and upheaval i feel like we've lost our equilibrium.

Had another achievement tonight at the gym. For the first time ever ever ever I did 30 minutes hard cardio on the wave machine (think skiing). Not only did I do 30 minutes (10 at level 11 and 20 at level 20) I managed to burn 480 calories in one shot. i thought I was going to explode:) Anyhow, that was before i was supposed to meet Billy who didn't turn up hence the longer than usual cardio session. Anyhow, we tried to track him down at the front desk, and found out he had stuff to do at school (he's a teacher). Anyway a masseuse was standing by.....so instead of lifting weights what a way to start my vaca....I got a massage!!!!!!!

Anyhow - I may post tomorrow if I get stuck at the airport. Love and cuddles!

Waste of a weekend

Well...so much for plans. Trev's project that was rolling out this weekend where he'd only have to spend a couple of hours working was complete rubbish. He has spent almost the whole weekend tied to conference calls. What was worse is that each time it ended it would be "just another call at and then we'll be done 10 mins after that. so being the good wifey that I am I waited and waited and waited and waited and waited. it's now 7.19pm - and he's STILL on the call.

I could have shopped.....an IKEA trip, the outlet mall etc etc.

I did a bit of work on the reviews etc, but quite frankly it's the weekend. I did go to the gym yestrday but Billy canceled our appointment for today so I've really don't nothing (other than cook and tidy up after him).

I couldn't even get my holiday clothes out as they were in the same room as his office is. Oh well, we've all been there so I understand - I just was so excited to get plans.

We have tickets to go and see the play The Scene. It's a comedy. It has Tony Shaloub (Monk) so it should be pretty cool. doing that when Peter's here at Christmas.

OK, I'm off to watch more telly.

Plans for the weekend

So this weekend Trev and I are checking out some British stuff in NYC. We're going to try "A Salt and Battery" - a British chippy (fish and chip shop to the uninitiated!) and then we're going to "Myers of Keswick" which is a grocery shop. they sell bacon and cumberland sausages. We are drooling. I can taste all the food even before I get there. It better flipping live up to standards.

Trev also has a big migration project this weekend so he's working for most of it - well today at least. i'm tidying up, getting Christmas cards created, printed and written (late with the UK stuff that's for sure). I'll also get some work done - i still have all those reviews to do so I may as well take the time today. It's freezing cold outside so don't really want to go out on my own.

The other thing that'll keep me from work is that I've finally joined the ranks of the IPOD owners. I have a cute little black Nano. So while I've already got the music downloaded etc etc....i still have to set up playlists. One for fast walking to work, one for the train when i've had a couple of gin and tonics (ie mellow), one for partying, one for 80s music, one for Christmas music etc etc etc. Oh what fun.

Ok, that said, I'm off to IPOD!

A near miss

So, read this on yahoo....and bear in mind that this is where Trev and Rachel work on the 21st floor. Eeeek
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061209/ap_on_re_us/chicago_shooting

BTW - my guilt is over. I had my butt whooped last night by Billy, followed by me doing 20mins cardio with a kick-ass pilates class (love the Saturday teacher!!). Tomorrow I'm seeing Billy again.....so the guilt is gone!

It's blinking cold... and feeling guilty.....and I miss Judy

Trev's been in chicago this week and I've been hearing about how cold it is there. Here's we've been doing great with 45 degrees and sunny. This morning, I put my "middle" coat on, headphones and started walking to the train. I can honestly say I thought my butt was going to drop off. It must have dropped 30 degrees.

Getting home tonight will be fun...I may have to drop into the store and buy a hat. either that or take cabs everywhere! OK, so winter has arrived. Yippee! NOT

I can't believe I"m even writing this. Those of you who know me know that I'd always rather socialize than get my ass to the gym. It's taken a lot to get in the groove in the past two years and I think I must be finally getting there. Tuesday, Billy called and canceled my hour's training that evening. Now, any good fit person would have said "no matter, I'll go and work out alone!!". Me? Nah..........talk about giving myself the guilt trip all flipping week. If you remember I had Tuesday on vacation as I had a doc's appointment about my cough (still there...nothing to report). It was also the morning after the night before (Christmas party). So I was planning on Billy kicking the crap out of me and getting me back on the straight and narrow. Yeah...well. I had every intention of goingto the gym....except I couldn't get my ass out of the apartment and to the gym. I stayed home. I watched TV. I ate. A lot. Talk about being lardy.

Usually I would have got over that really really easily. But I haven't. I've been feeling guilty all week. I think it's because I DID manage to get my butt to the gym yesterday, and I while I managed the ski machine for 10 mins (rather than 20) and get to the pilates class...the new teacher sucks. Judy was my favourite pilates teacher. She was awesome - it was a Power Pilates class, she kicked your ass, and you really felt that you'd had a good workout and felt energised. Not this new teacher. You lay around waiting for her to stop talking, watching the clock. Not a good sign. I'll give her a couple more weeks, then I'll be changing classes. the nice thing is that the teacher on a Saturday isn't too bad - still not Judy...but still OK.

Needless to say I'm getting over it - tonight I"m meeting Billy....and by the end of that time, I'll be wondering why I even had this guilt thing going on.

Mind you....I still can't believe I even wrote all that!

Holiday party been and gone

It's strange having a holiday party on a Monday night, but we did. It was at the Copacabana in NYC - the company took the place over. It was the biggest employee holiday party I've ever been to. It was a great do - good food, loads of people, full wet bar and loads of dancing. I didn't win an IPOD, but had a good time anyway. It started with us trying to hail a cab from Times Square....ended up with a school bus stopping by and for $60 took 15 of us to the place. Pretty flipping funny - I'd never before been in a school bus so it was a first. $4 each was very cool. So, to some pics....

The first pic is of Jennifer, the manager in my group and me.

This next one is of Quack with me. Quack and I used to work together in St Louis. He's now someone who trains my group on the company's products.
This picture (from L-R) is Bill, Jessica, me and Gina. We're all part of Training - 2 in my group, 2 in the other group.
This last pic is of my boss, Debbie. Figured you might want to know what my boss looks like. She organized the event and did an awesome job.
We had fun - I was home and asleep just after midnight....I am definitely too old to hit the bar after the party as many of my colleagues did. The beauty of being 30 mins from home is that I could walk to the train and then catch a cab at the other end. Beautiful.

Our Tree

Here's a pic of our tree this year - if you look closely at the top left, you'll see the Empire State Building in the background.

My friend Diane - where is she?

I'm hoping Diane will read this....she moved to Florida from St Louis in the summer....and for the past 6 weeks I've been trying to email her and I'm getting the emails returned. Her cell phone isn't working either. She's not been on IM or anything. Diane...i don't want to lose touch - if you read this...send me your address and new email.

Meme

Penny did this meme before me....I combined both of hers into one. You can get to know more about me:)

1. Do you like someone? I like lots of people. I love Trevor.
2. The last song you listened to? Sting – Sacred Love
3. What time of day were you born? No idea
4. What’s your favorite number? 7
5. Where did you live in 1987? In Ipswich, England
6. Are you jealous of anyone? No
7. Is anyone jealous of you? No idea
8. Where were you when 9/11 happened? Working at APAC in Cedar Rapids. For the first part of the morning everyone was watching in conference rooms – then we all went home.
9. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? Nothing. Well, I curse a little bit – but really, it’s only a dollar. It also stops me eating something I shouldn’t anyway.
10. Do you consider yourself kind? Yes
11. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be? Lower back
12. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? Spanish
13. Would you move for the person you loved? Already have
14. Are you touchy feely? Over the past decade, more so
15. What’s your life motto? What goes around, comes around
16. Name three things that you have on you at all times? Driver’s licence, medical card, credit/debit cards
17. What’s your favourite town/city? Heron Island, Australia
18. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? Tip for the Fresh Direct guy
19. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? Thank you note (can’t remember what for though)
20. Can you change the oil on a car? I’m sure I can…although I have never actually done it. Isn't that what guys are for? LOL
21. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her? He gave my parents a carved candle stick – but that had to be 20 years ago.
22. How far back do you know about your ancestry? Couple of generations
23. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy? Christmas party last year for work. Black pants, sparkly black top.
24. Does anything hurt on your body right now? My throat – from my coughing
25. Have you been burned by love? Oh yeah
26. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? That eye cream is not getting rid of my dark circles
27. How much cash do you have on you? $50
28. What’s a word that rhymes with “DOOR?” more
29. Favorite planet? No blinking idea
30. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? Carrieanne
31. What is your favorite ring tone? Mission Impossible
32. What shirt are you wearing? White t-shirt, dark green sweater over the top
33. Do you “label” yourself? Not really, although I consider myself more "cuddly" than I'd like
34. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? Asics
35. Bright or Dark Room? Sunny and bright
36. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? Love her to death
37. What does your watch look like? Don’t have a watch. I have a phone and PC that can tell me the time
38. What were you doing at midnight last night? sleeping
39. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? 2pm OK? (I was confirming a massage appointment)
40. Where is your nearest 7-11? No flipping idea - although have a deli nearby
41. What’s a word that you say a lot? Fabulous
42. Who told you he/she loved you last? Trevor
43. Last furry thing you touched? My Rudolph cuddly toy that Mum and Dad bought me a couple of Christmases ago when they were visiting in St Louis.
44. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? Not too many. Just an Advil cold and flu as I’ve been feeling yukky today. It worked.
45. How many rolls of film do you need developed? None – that’s Soooooooooooooo 20th century!
46. Favorite age you have been so far? 35...although between then and now it's cool
47. Your worst enemy? Me
48. What is your current desktop picture? Work Logo (well, it is a work PC)
49. What was the last thing you said to someone? I love you
50. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? Money – then I can pay to learn to fly.

Thank goodness for Rubbermaid boxes

Remember a few weeks ago I said that our basement lockup had been flooded and everything was ruined? Well, we found out today that it's not as bad as we thought. Yes my old piano is damaged at the bottom, but only at one corner. My piano stool has had to go, but everything else is OK. Our Christmas Tree was fine and dandy, just the box damaged, and the decorations pretty cool too although some of the glass ones were damaged (sorry Penny, your gifts from a couple of years ago had to go). for the most part though we were OK. See separate post for pics.

We've taken apart the patio table which has given us a bit more room, and all the stuff in the plastic boxes is just fine - that is awesome. Never again will i store stuff in cardboard boxes. So, we've sorted it out a bit and we got the tree up. Yeeeeha!

Mum's doing OK too - she had knee surgery last week. Sounded quite perky when I called - I have to say I wish I recover from anaesthetic as well as she. While her knee is "OK" and it's been washed out she has arthritus and been told that a knee replacement is in order. The thing that sucks with the UK Health system is that she's got to lose about 50 lb before they'll consider her. Now, while the ladies in our family have always been cuddly, and technically we're all "obese" - I've seen much much bigger people in the world. Since Mum's had diabetes she's been very rigid in her diet and has steadily been losing. I think it sucks that the NHS are making her diet before they'll do the surgery. I'm really hoping this clean out will mean they can at least visit us here in the UK in 2007....if not, then I'll be over there.

We've had another set of neighbours move in - an all-male couple upstairs - can't remember their names but they seem very nice. We've done well so far, all people i nthe building are social and I think we'll all get along great. Only 2 more condos to go to get the full set. We'll see how that goes!!

Made me laugh

OK, so I have to post this...but you'll need some imagination.

Yesterday on the way to work I was in the subway (it was raining so couldn't walk)... there's usually homeless people around but they're asleep. I almost wet myself this was so funny.

So, sitting on one of the seats, skinny homeless guy wrapped up in his coats and stuff, bottle of something sitting next to him, almost asleep. He's sitting there with a drinking straw in either ear, they were still in the paper. Poor guy....but it was pretty hilarious.

Funny or what?