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Three (3!) Things Thursday

Feb 2nd, 2012
by gazelle.
2 comments

1. Today I have the day off work so that I can finish writing my Capstone. Which means that in approximately 10 minutes, I need to log into work remotely and do some work stuff. I hired a new person this week, and she starts next week, and I couldn’t be happier unless she’d been able to start a couple of months ago. I swear if I had a time machine, I would only use it for good!

 

 

2. Seriously – did you catch that first sentence up there? Today I am going to finish writing my Capstone. I have two weeks left of school after today, but that will be reserved for revisions and formatting. All the major writing will be done by 6 pm today! DONE!

 

 

3. I had a great swim again last night with the Amphibious Ambitious One. The pool we’ve been at the last couple of weeks has been so delightfully empty! I hadn’t been feeling my best before getting there, and wasn’t sure how well I’d do, but she talked me into at least giving it a try for 15 minutes. I swam for 30 minutes w/o a break and felt amazing! I definitely need to add more swimming into my week – no idea why it’s such a pain in my ass to do this. Seriously – the pool is a 10  minute walk from my office, is always empty-ish, and I have a 10-punch card. Why can’t I do this 3 days/week?  I feel so amazing after. Maybe once school is done & don’t feel I have to rush home to write every night?

photo credit – the Ambitious One

Working on my weekend

Jan 6th, 2012
by gazelle.
5 comments

Today is my day off (I have every Friday off; it’s my favorite part about my job). However, after taking all of last week off PLUS having Monday as a holiday, today is more of a working day off. I am still at home, but did an hour or so of work this morning & will do another hour of work this afternoon.

It was, fortunately, broken up by PANCAKES! with my neighbor Alisha. (YAY! Pancakes!)

I know that I left you all hanging in regards to my glucose tolerance test yesterday, but no need to wait with bated breath anymore! I passed! WOO! No gestational diabetes for me! (Also, everything else looks good. Everything is just exactly as it should be! YAY Alvie!)

However, now that I am firmly in the very beginning of my third trimester, I’ve noticed a few…odd…things.

I have an overwhelming urge to organize things. Like the office. And the kitchen. And the pantry. THINGS NEED TO BE ORGANIZED! Unfortunately, I am currently operating under a restriction of how much activity I can currently do and how much I am allowed to lift. I tend to err on the side of too much, and am trying to NOT get too ambitious and completely destroy my pelvic joint (which I have apparently unwittingly damaged).

So – I am making lists, instead, and resisting giving them to the architect.

I have a list for all the stuff we need to own by March 1.

I have a list for all the stuff that needs to be packed in my hospital bag (also by March 1)

I have a list of all the things that need to be done around the house (again – March 1!), including the pantry, kitchen, office, goodwill trips, etc.

I am starting a list of all the foodstuffs I want in the freezer by April 1 so that I don’t have to worry about dinner prep for a month (any suggestions of good, healthy food that freezes well WELCOME).

I also have work related lists.

Fortunately, I will not have to worry about school! YAY! 6 weeks left of grad school! In fact, I just filled out my application for an advanced degree. My commencement ceremony will be ~August 11 (not set in stone! Don’t book your tickets just yet!) of 2012, and I’m thinking of having a little celebratory reception at my home the next day, so that I can eat graduation cake, and drink graduation punch, and walk around in my robe feeling masterful. You are all invited.  It will be beautiful, so we’ll have it on the deck, and then maybe a fire in the firepit that evening.

 

Yeah – a lot of crazy here….

Three (3!) Things Thursday

Dec 8th, 2011
by gazelle.
3 comments

1. I am one week away from finishing the first half of my Capstone course. This does not necessarily mean I am one week away from being halfway done with my project….just that the time is ticking down. Overall, though, I feel that it’s in good shape, and since we have two weeks off for the holidays, I am planning on doing a LOT of reading and revising. Overall, though, I am 8 (official) weeks away from finishing my Master’s. EEP!

(this is not MY regalia)

 

2. Last night, it was discovered that there was only enough coffee left for one person to have coffee this morning. I am sitting here, typing out my three things, and drinking coffee.  How wonderful is the architect? (Answer: pretty damn wonderful.) Apparently a cranky pregnant wife is not something he wants to deal with…

 

3. The other night I was on the bike trainer, and due to the sheer uncomfortableness that is my growing belly, I can only stay on for about 15 minutes at a time. So I ride for 15 minutes, get off and do some upper body strength training, rinse, repeat. I had just gotten off the bike for my second set of weights and had picked up a 10 lb weight. I heard a weird noise from the kitchen, and as I looked over, I saw the xmas decoration box go flying in one direction, and before I knew what had happened, felt impact in my wrist, then the bike pedals started spinning, and then a blur ran up the stairs. It was our youngest, Lola. She’d been sitting on the box, something startled her, and she took off like a bat cat out of hell. She hit her head on my dumbbell, and since I was holding it very loosely, it spun around and hit me in the wrist (and I have the swelling & bruising to prove it), then ran into the bike on the trainer (specifically the pedals) before getting out of the obstacle course that is the living room and heading upstairs. If it hadn’t been so painful, it would’ve been hilarious. (We checked Lola out, too, and she seemed normal the same as usual.) Crazy cats!

She looks so calm in this photo

 

Happy almost weekend!

 

The first two photos were found on Flickr by searching for pics available under the 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

 

November 2011 Goals

Nov 1st, 2011
by gazelle.
16 comments

And, of course, the October recap….

October 2011 Goals

  1. Finish the bathroom by 10/29/11. We can do it!  All supplies are purchased! I can paint like a mad woman! And make sandwiches for the architect while he tiles. (I am not allowed to tile due to my propensity to say, “eh, fuck it! That’s good enough!”) I am excellent construction support staff. – FAIL! But we are so very close!  We should be done by Thanksgiving.
  2. Get the rain garden outlined, dug, and partially planted. – FAIL! I have decided to hold off on this project for now.
  3. Finish summer garden/start fall garden. – Partial SUCCESS! The summer garden is done, and the plans are complete for the next phase…just need to execute said plans.
  4. Remove all extraneous computer crap from the house. Like the printer that doesn’t work. And the CRT monitor that weighs 375 lbs. And the 50 (approximate count) PCs (both laptop & desktop) that are just sitting around doing nothing. NOTHING! Except gathering dust. – FAIL! But, there is progress in that we have now determined which things need to go. I just need to wait for an electronics recycling day to happen so I can be all environmentally responsible.
  5. Finish my very last class of my Master’s program with an “A” before starting the final project phase. – SUCCESS! Class is done, A was achieved, terminal project is now in progress
  6. Throw the ass-kicking-est 2nd Annual Halloween bash ever! YAY for Halloween!  We will have a howling good time! – SUCCESS! I think, anyways – I had a good time.

October Training Goals

I have them! My gym membership expires this month, and I will not be renewing it. So, I want to spend more time outdoors. Running, jumping, biking, hiking, etc. I have been slacking on yoga lately, too, and need to make that a regular practice again.

I have definitely been better about working out in October now that I’m not quite as tired.  Not at the level I’d like to be at, but better than September!  Go me!

November 2011 Goals

  1. Survive the first 4.5 weeks of my terminal project without going crazy.
  2. Make lefse! With her! We will have so much fun.
  3. For reals, get the garlic in the ground & build the cloche
  4. Visit the daycare that looked awesome on paper (or, the computer screen, rather) and beg them to take my as-yet-unborn child
  5. List one thing I am thankful for every day (thanks for the inspiration, Alisa!)

 

November 2011 Training Goals

Since I am pregnant, this is harder than usual, but my goal is to work out a minimum of 3 times/week; 30 minutes/time. I had a decent start last night with a trainer ride, although I wasn’t able to hit 30 minutes due to the extreme discomfort of my bike shorts which apparently are not baby bump accommodating. (Why do I never spell accommodating right on the first try? WHY?!?) Any suggestions for bike short comfort? I really don’t want to shell out bike short money for something that I’ll wear for a maximum of 5ish months (I’m pretty sure that biking will not be the first exercise I’ll get back to after giving birth…just a feeling I have). (Also, 5 months? Seriously? That’s it?  ACK!)

I already have a swim date for Wednesday evening, and yoga plans for Friday afternoon, and will try to run on Thursday and/or Sunday….I am hoping to convince the architect to start doing weekly long walks with me on a weekend day. I’m pretty sure I’ll be mostly walking my half marathon, and want to start getting some serious distance on my feet.

 

Gratitude Journal

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

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