june 2016

Who can believe it's already June?! And, summer! I'm still trying to figure out how to apply my self-tanner evenly all over my body. I tried again over the weekend and it was less spotty but my right side was definitely more tan looking than my left...particularly with my legs. I do love the nearly instant color it provides...starts showing after a few hours and full application after twelve hours. But, how about my sheets? Those looked a little icky with self-tanner spots...guess it's time to start sleeping with the fan on again so I don't get so hot or taking my blue blanket off the bed - leaving just the sheet, down duvet, and furry throw. ;) I'm considering trying the spray tanner to see if that's easier to apply. Plus, I still need to recruit my mom to apply it to my back. 

This month is a great month because it's the month I was born! :) I'm excited, of course, even though it's kind of a "meh" birthday. I'm not 30 and I'm not 35...smack dab in the middle. But, I feel better going into the month of June than I did in May. I think I'm getting back into the swing of things and everything is just fitting. Yesterday was Memorial Day so I joined thousands of Crossfitters in doing the hero workout, "Murph." The Rx version consists of: 1 mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push ups, 300 air squats, and another 1 mile run. I did a way scaled down version mostly because of the pull-ups. Since I don't belong to a CF gym (box), I continue to utilize the gym in my apartment complex. I'm too tall to rack the bar at the highest position and wrap the band around that to do them because them my chin would hit the frame, I believe. So, we have a stretching cage thingy that I've seen a few people use for pull ups. But, with that, if I stepped in the band with my foot, I was standing on the base. No way to kip. So, I used the band around my knee. Also, very hard to kip. So, I counted attempts for about half my count. I'm still sore across my upper back. ;) My scaled Murph consisted of: Run 1/4 mile, 25 pull-ups, 50 push ups, 75 air squats, and another 1/4 mile run. I put the treadmill on 5.5mph which felt fast, but I knew the pull-ups would take up valuable time...and I still wasn't at 100% with the blade injury to my left middle and ring fingers so maintaining grip with band-aids was challenging and made linking pull-ups together even tougher. But, I kept going. By the second sprint my legs felt like jelly and i was dripping with sweat. Not my best Murph workout but having been away from a legit CF workout for more than a couple years, it felt great. It was a great way to honor not just Murph but all of our service men, women and canines who have left it all out on the battlefield in service for our country. We should always remember, thank and honor those who service in our military, but Monday was really about honoring the ones who didn't come home. I think it's really important to distinguish why we honor certain holidays the way we do.

Enough rhetoric. Here are my goals for the sixth month of 2016.

Fiscal
1. make $200.00 payment on snowball #1 (6/17).
2. make $149.00 minimum payment (6/3), additional $200.00 payment (6/17) on snowball #2.
3. bills: rent $843.00; w/s/t <$70.00 (barely); car insurance <$95.00; cell phone $60.00; electric <$65.00.
4. dentist appt. 6/21: i pay up front & then my insurance company reimburses me, less the out-of-network cost
5. exchange a top purchased in april for a short-sleeve version, use $25 virtual dollars and basically, just pay for tax..what a deal!
6. order my Jacob's birthday present (my nephew turns 2 in July!)

Physical
1. sleep = sunday - thursday: bedtime is 9pm to rise by 5am monday - friday to work out; weekends: rise between 6-7am
2. sweat = minimum 5,000 steps per day (fitbit); work out 4-7 days/week || 3 weeks until my birthday & I have a HOT dress I want to wear out to celebrate!
3. eat = clean! no caffeinated soda, limited caffeine-free soda intake; no skittles, doritos, crap from Jack's. ;) drink mostly water and add more milk!
4. oral = floss/brush/use act after every meal, even at work; coconut oil pull 3 nights/week; whiten teeth.

Fun!
1. read a book (one of these days I really will!)
2. finish father's day gift: finish painting sides, border detail 6/1-6/3; design & paint board designs 6/3-6/4, 6/10-11; detailing/touch ups 6/13-15; seal boards (poly & sand & poly) 6/16-17
3. celebrate my birthday!
4. celebrate father's day 6/19
5. see "finding dory," opening 6/17...i am so excited for its release! :)
6. avoid the bar until my birthday...if the chicken pickin' is a wash out, i may venture out 6/4 nope! i stayed in! :) i went out for a little while on saturday 6/11, mostly so i don't shock 'em with my sexiness on the 17th! ;)
7. letter writing: michigan, raleigh
8. certification window opens 6/1 for november exam on sunday, the deadline was 6/7 at 9am. so i frantically tried to get my application in on time, only to find the deadline is midnight. tsk! *it's the second time something like that has happened to me in the past week!*
9. sort/organize/purge! 6/25-26
10. sort/organize/purge/update files 6/25-26
11. try to schedule a massage for real! :) i have one scheduled for friday 6/17!!
12. go to church every Sunday in June (I am really loving RFA!) i missed 6/5 because my phone locked up and i didn't have my other alarm clock (only has one alarm) on. i wound up staying in bed all morning because i stayed up late watching a netflix movie (which i just remembered i need to return!).

Eight to Five.
1. Code Enforcement Day! 6/1 (site inspections, new violation notices, etc.)
2. Nutrition Work Shop 6/2
3. Town Council 6/2 (this one is going to be a doozy! the planning dept has 5 agenda items, 4 are public hearings and the board has to adopt the budget, which is also a public hearing. we may be there all night!)
4. Update Zoning Map 6/3 (also on website)
5. Chicken Pickin' 6/4
6. County CTP Meeting 6/7
7. Regional Greenway Meeting 6/9
8. Code Enforcement Day! 6/10
9. UNRBA Meeting 6/15
10. OFF 6/17
11. PFC 6/22
12. RPO TAC/TCC Supplemental Meeting (for a delayed vote) 6/23
13. website subcommittee meeting 6/27

may 2016

let's just say that i have met the "mid-year slump" in almost every aspect of my life. on the outside, i need to get my hair done, i need to go to the dentist, and at the moment, i'm wearing a long dress because i need to shave my legs. on the inside, i need to quit spending money, quit wasting my time thinking about someone who has proven to be a reasonably sized jackass, quit thinking about what to write to my ex without calling him an arrogant asshole and just write it down and send it off, quit the one thing that i've been holding onto for the past few years, and just get my shit together. so, i've put a whole lot of pressure on may to be the month everything's going to fall into place. it's the last month i can call myself "32" and i really want to get back on track to being able to accomplish my goals for this year, and not slide off the wagon even further. the first step? i'm taking a purposeful month off from going to the pub on the weekends. i've started to drink my feelings and that only leaves me feeling more useless and like i don't matter. because i won't be out late on the weekends, that also means i'll be able to go to church - so i'm making a purposeful effort to go to church on sundays. i found a new church - went last week for the first time on purpose and was moved. so, i have to go back. :) with regard to spending, i'm making a conscious effort beginning with friday's paycheck to not spend for the heck of it. and looking at my budget for the next 2 weeks, there's not really an ounce of money that could be frivolously spent without repercussions anyways. those nice shorts i bought from white house | black market are killing me. but i don't regret them because they're my celebratory piece -- i fit comfortably in a size 4! my hard work is paying off and starting to show...i want to keep it up! with just a little more than a month to go for my birthday, i want to rock it at 33! :) and the good news, i've run the numbers and it is still possible that i will be debt free by the end of the year! whee!! :D
here's what's planned for may:

fiscal
1. make $200.00 payment for snowball #1 (5/20) $500.00 paid 5/20. looking to pay the remaining balance in full this month as well ($280.00) to be able to give my undivided attention to #2 for the next 6 months.
2. make $200.00 payment for snowball #2 (5/6) - i haven't missed a payment in over a year but the end of april/beginning of may left me in a pinch and thus, missed a payment. boo! paid minimum on 5/6. 
3. bills: rent/utilities (paid 5/3 -- did i mention my w/s/t bill was almost $70?! $70 for 1 person living alone. that is outrageous and just solidifies my desire to move when my lease is up in 5 months or so.); car insurance; cell phone; electric everything paid by 5/6
4. other bills: ue co-payment; ER payment payments mailed 5/6

physical
1. sleep = 9:00 pm bedtime sunday-thursday to rise at 4:30am monday-friday; 11:00pm bedtime friday-saturday to rise by 7:00am.
2. sweat = minimum 5,000 steps per day; work out 5-6 days/week
3. oral = floss/brush/act after every meal, including at work; coconut oil pull 3 nights/week; start using teeth whitening products
4. eat/drink = 31 days of minimal-no crap challenge! no soda, no doritos...acceptable snacks are gf cheddar popcorn and chocolate; acceptable beverages are water, milk and maybe virgil's (no hfcs).
5. change dentist appoint to june/july

fun
1. read a book (i promise it's going to happen this month!) it didn't happen this month.. :(
2. finish gallery wall in living room (antenna needs to be moved closer to the window again...wondering if i could just install a shelf so that i don't have to move everything again! and it looks FABULOUS!!
3. no nights at the bar this month!
4. write/send letter to michigan
5. applications
6. clean! kitchen, living room, bedroom 5/21-22, 5/28-30
7. iron/steam marathon: part 1 5/7, part 2 5/13, part 3 5/21
8. schedule a much needed massage!
9. celebrate! mother's day 5/8, paul's birthday 5/14
10. help the grandparents babysit while the parents are in dc 5/6-5/8
11. tv finales!
12. sort/organize/purge! from my file cabinets to my storage ottoman, underbed boxes, bins...
13. go to church every sunday in may

eight to five
1. public hearing for roads 5/4
2. town council 5/5 (i'm not going, i want to watch grey's!)
3. planning board 5/12
4. set meeting 5/16
5. unrba meeting 5/18
6. path forward 5/25
7. rpo tac/tcc 5/26