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The 12 Days of Gazelle-mas: Day 7 (Three Things Thursday!)

Dec 29th, 2011
by gazelle.
2 comments

Oh, blog readers – I am sleepy! Not sure why. I have not done enough to actually make me tired. Maybe that’s the problem – too much lounging. Nope – that can’t be it. I wonder how long it would take for me to really start missing my job? I’d love to find out. Too bad about that pesky mortgage and the need to eat.

1. I had a grand ambition to put together a puzzle on my holiday. So far, I have most of the border together. I think I was too ambitious. I probably should’ve started with 200 pieces instead of 2000.

2. One of my 2011 goals (the “secret” goal) did not meet fruition this year, due to a confluence of events (job changes + pregnancy), and I am wondering if I can realistically make it happen in 2012. I’m thinking not, but that I could, at least, lay the ground work so that I’m ready to go in 2013. There are a few steps necessary to make the goal attemptable (not even attainable), and I need to define those steps with milestones and timelines, and then get started. I think it will make a huge difference to my overall health and mental well-being….of course, there are times that I really get excited about my current job and the opportunities there-in. It’s hard to figure out what I really, really want AND be realistic at the same time (I do so much enjoy money….)

3. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to feeling something move around inside of me. It still startles me. And delights me. And freaks me out just a little. Of course, I know that it will eventually stop – since Alvie will have to come out at some point. I am getting a wee bit excited when I think about meeting him. Of course that excitement is tempered by the terror I also feel at the thought of being responsible for a baby. (I couldn’t even get a onesie on the cat, how am I going to care for an infant?) (Of course it might actually be easier to dress an infant than a cat, and hopefully less dangerous for my face.)

 

On the 7th day of gazellemas, Amy gave to me:

Seven cycling miles,

Six yogis posing,

FIVE PAIRS OF SHOES!

four pancakes,

three lazy cats,

two empty boxes, and

A Pooh Bear outfit, adorable and twee!

Three (3!) Things Thursday

Dec 15th, 2011
by gazelle.
5 comments

1. Today is the last day of my 8-week Leadership Foundations course I’ve been doing through work. It has been a pretty fantastic experience, actually, and I’m pleased that I had the opportunity to attend these all-day Thursday courses. I am a little sad that starting next week, I’ll have to get up at the normal time on Thursdays again instead of sleeping an extra 30 minutes! Boo!  (I am excited, though, that I’ll be able to get actual work done on Thursdays and will no longer have to check in on Fridays to see what I’ve missed.)  Since it’s the last day, our entire cohort has been broken into groups & we each have to give a presentation to all of our managers this afternoon. In honor of that, I thought maybe I would dress a little more nicely today. (Also, I am wearing awesome shoes. Yay!)

 

2. I handed in the final assignment (really just a capstone checkpoint, as I won’t actually finish until mid-February) last night. That means nothing new due until next year! I plan on spending the next couple of days lolling about indolently (and exercising, and hanging out with friends) before spending the rest of my break deep reading and finding at least 10  more valid references. LEISURE TIME! (Relatively speaking, of course.)

3. Tonight, I am having Brussels sprouts for dinner. I am very excited about this. My question, however, is what do I serve with said Brussels sprouts. When planning this week’s menus, I was having a vegetable craving, so my menu looks like: (a) roasted carrots, (b) salad, (c) something with butternut squash, (d) Brussels sprouts…..and no main dishes. So far, we’ve been able to come up with stuff fairly well: (a) quinoa with carmelized onions & roasted tomatoes, (b) pizza, (c) pasta with sage & brown butter sauce….but I’m stuck on tonight.  Ideas?

 

Pictures 2 & 3 were located in a Flickr Search and have a Creative Commons license.

Three (3!) Things Thursday

Nov 3rd, 2011
by gazelle.
3 comments

1. The other day, I went down to the freezer to get a pizza for dinner (I am all about lazy cooking now that I’ve started my final project for my Master’s). I opened it up and something wasn’t right. I picked up a package of ground beef to move it, and my fingers squished right in. And blood spurted right out. The freezer was not on! We have no idea HOW it became unplugged, and how long it was in that state. Neither of us had accessed the freezer for a few days. All the stuff on top was thawed out and drippy (including my planned pizza). So much meat that had to be tossed. BUT – everything in the bottom half of the freezer was still frozen solid, including a couple chickens, a bunch of Colin, and all my raw milk. I was really sad, though.

 

2. For my final project, I had to turn in a work schedule. And, because I am insane, I already mostly had one. The next 7 weeks of my life are fully scheduled. I do have “leisure time” built in, but it is pretty ridiculous. My first real assignment is due tonight, and involves “picking a topic.” A few months ago, I knew exactly what my topic was – and that topic is still pretty interesting to me. However, with all the recent job changes, that topic is no longer relevant to my current career, and I am wondering if I should change the topic. Unfortunately, that’s where my wondering stops – it does not go on to wonder if I should change my topic to “very specific topic on which I could find several excellent references in just an hour of searching, but not something that’s been done to death.” Unfortunate, right?

 

3. As you may remember, I totally agonized over what I was going to be for Halloween. I’m pregnant enough that none my original costume choices fit, but not so pregnant that I could be a “pregnant” anything & get away with it. The architect had a monk constume left over from years ago (actually, that’s what he was wearing the first Halloween we were dating, 9 years ago – we didn’t spend the holiday together, but I did stop by to see him on my way home from work before heading out to Scary-oke at the Whaler in Venice with my at-the-time roomie Dr. M.). So – I headed to a costume shop and picked up a nun costume. I did have to stuff my costume to make it funnier – but I think it worked:

(Photo credit: Sarah!)

 

Happy Thursday!

 

Gratitude Journal

November 3, 2011: I am grateful that I have a good job that is challenging & interesting, if not necessarily catering to my life interests. I have the opportunity for professional development (weekly leadership seminar today!), have a decent salary, good health insurance, and a bunch of people who are excited for my pregnancy and not at all worried about my maternity leave (in fact, they’ve told me to not even THINK about being available in May – i.e. budget season – and that they’d get through it without me, as long as I do all the prep work before I leave…)

November 2, 2011: I am grateful for the architect, who is simply wonderful. He picks up the household slack when I’m busy with schoolwork, brings me chicken fingers on his way home from work, and is simply the most wonderful husband I could ask for…

November 1, 2011:  I am grateful for my (so far, knock on wood) easy and wonderful pregnancy

 

Three (3!) Things Thursday

Oct 27th, 2011
by gazelle.
4 comments

1. Today I start a once/week 8-week leadership certification course. I was nominated to take the course by my mentor, and I’m hoping to learn a lot and become an even more awesome manager and a good leader. Also, I am excited because I get to wear jeans, there is free lunch, and free parking! WOO!

 

2. I am definitely feeling a return of energy this week. I ran Monday night and swam last night. I also got the bike trainer all set up so I could bike when I get home tonight. Of course, I was asleep shortly after 9 last night, but whatever….I’ve been active and feeling good!

This is a dramatic re-enactment of my swim

(I am neither that pregnant, nor am I likely to bust out a bikini any time soon.)

 

3. I am always always hungry. I haven’t been this hungry since my high mileage marathon weeks (in fact, between the sleepiness and the hunger, I feel exactly like I’m in the high mileage marathon training weeks, except without all the excess laundry). I carry emergency snacks in my purse, but I ran out Tuesday and forgot to replace them. So, last night when I drove the Ambitious One home after our swim date, I made her pay for the ride with a Luna Bar!  I am such a demanding bitch!  (I will eat ALL the food.)

 

I am internet-less today (except for breaks and the smartphone) – have a great Thursday!

Photo Essay Monday

Oct 24th, 2011
by gazelle.
2 comments

Not too much of a photo essay for this last weekend. Nothing I did was particularly photo-worthy.

Friday, I ended up at work for waaaaaaaaay too long (especially since it was my day off). The rest of the day was spent finalizing my final paper for my very last regular course for graduate school. All done! (And, I got an A in that class! Go, me!)

Saturday was kind of a lazy day. The kind of day I thought I deserved after finishing 19 courses in just over 2 years and getting to within 17 weeks of qualifying for my Master’s Degree. I mean, I took a cat to the vet (at 8 AM!) and had a movement therapy appointment (my SI area is killing me), and then I lazed the rest of the day.

The architect, however, did not have a lazy day. Instead, he finished tiling the shower area & grouted 80% of the same area (the other 20% needs to wait for a week, since that was the part he’d finished tiling that same day):

IMAG0634

This photo makes it look really orange, which is weird. BUT – it’s not. The tiles are white with black grout.

Sunday was a bit busier….eventually. I did some last minute Halloween shopping. Apparently the week before Halloween is not an ideal time to do that, as most of the stores had mostly switched over to Christmas decorations. I did get some good stuff, though. I am, however, still sans costume. The pregnancy costumes are all for people who are really pregnant. Painting my belly at this point would look stupid, and I’m not pregnant enough to pull of pregnant nun. I tried on some plus-sized stuff, but that was all too big, and the regular sized costumes don’t fit in the boobs and are super tight across the mid-section.  I think I’m pretty much decided to go as this:

three gold stars if you get the reference

I am super excited to get all my decorations up and have an awesomely spooktacular party this weekend, though!

Lazy Bones!

 

After getting through all that stuff (and picking up another pair of sweet maternity jeans), I decided I needed some healthy snacks. I have been loving bran muffins lately, and spending $2/muffin (they are humungous) from the hospital coffee shops at least once/week. I thought I could probably make my own for much less than that. And so I did. And, because the architect hates bran muffins, I made him some blueberry muffins.

IMAG0636

(There were a dozen of each – this photo was after I put most in the freezer for safe keeping.)

And now – back at work. I was looking forward to a week off school, but our syllabus for the Capstone project was released today, and I think that although school doesn’t technically start until next Monday, it would be in my best interest to only be on half-vacation this week. In addition, Thursday I start my weekly Leadership Foundation course (it runs through 12/15) that I was nominated to attend through work, so I’ll be in the office one less day, which means more work on the days that I am in……oh well – the price of success or something, right?

Happy week!

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