I lived in my basement area with a husband and wife tent upstairs, for almost three weeks, before the holidays, and I don't remember having any issues!
Well my only issue was that I have included washer and dryer part of the rent area, and so I have to take my laundry out. The last time I did that was the year after college. Since then I have been living in apartments/my house where I either had washer and dryer of my own, or it was shared between a few of us on the floor. A Laundromat is about half an hour walk away from me, so right now, without a car, it is an issue! Hopefully soon, I shall either get a car, or the good whether comes around fast enabling me to easily walk there. But for now I have done my laundry at my parents, and both times my dad kindly gave me a ride.
Anyhow, I went back home last Sunday afternoon, and was ready to sleep late the next day. I am an unemployed student and still on break, lol. I stayed up reading and I think I fell asleep around 2 am. I woke up at 5 am from the pounding noise from upstairs! At first I thought maybe something was wrong. It felt as if they were running, maybe to get away or to get help! I waited to see if they call for me. They knew I was back home. But the commotion continued! I realized that nothing was wrong, and that seems to be the norm; they were just getting ready to go to work!
I am speculating that they were exercising when I woke up, but not with the machine, because it was not constant, maybe exercising with a videos. Anyhow, silence came back around 6:30. I tried to fall back to sleep, but no luck. The funny thing is that I never knew that the layer between the basement and upstairs was this thin! Seriously, I could hear all their movements. And they need an hour and half to get ready for work. It only takes me half an hour! lol.
Anyhow, the same thing happened Tuesday morning. I tried not to wake up completely, lol, so I could fall sleep again after 6:30, but by 6 o'clock, I was wide awake. Needless to say I was very annoyed! I consider myself a morning person, but I think I am a reasonable time morning person, lol, not before dawn morning person, lol.
Wednesday morning, again the same thing, so I decided to go with the flow, and when I woke up at 5 am, from the pounding noises from upstairs, I got up. I made myself coffee, and then decided to go for a walk!
I was not very comfortable to go out at 5:30, but decided to be brave lol. First I was concerned about black ice. I thought what if I fall down and hit my head, no one is going to find me on time, and I either bleed to death, or freeze!
There was a story in the news that just after the New Year, a man was found on a staircase, everyone tough he was drunk and was sleeping it off! But when he did not move for a day, police was called and they discovered that he was injured. They are speculating that the steps were slippery, he probably slipped, fell down, and hit his head! Anyhow I thought I might have the same fate!
And secondly even though I think my neighborhood is safe, one never knows how safe the neighborhood is when not many people are out and around.
But I ventured out, and to my surprise, I saw many runners, in 2s or 3s or just by themselves running. I think I saw someone every few minutes. I am very happy to be living in the neighborhood with so many health conscious people, however I am disappointed that I am not one of them, lol, well not yet, but I think there is still hope for me, lol.
I took my familiar route to the bus stop and once I got to the main street, walked until I had walked for about half an hour, and then returned. On the way back I saw more people walking their dogs. Got home little after 6:30, took a shower, went back to bed, and to my surprise I fell asleep right away.
I followed the same routine both Thursday and Friday, and was happy when the weekend came around. But apparently the tents work on Saturday as well, so I had to get up, and go for my morning walk. We had about an inch of snow on the ground. I picked another route, took a more leveled street, and walked more careful. This morning I was able to sleep! Thankfully, the upstairs people do not go to work on Sundays.
I have decided that I am not going to join a gym. The first thing I have to spend money on is getting a car. That is more important at this point. Going on these walks, I realized that I enjoy the fresh morning air a lot. Even though it has been very cold, but it has not been uncomfortable. The cold makes me walk faster, which is a good thing, and once back home, I have enjoyed the warmth even more.
I am back at my parents now. My dad left for a two week business trip. He is teaching a training course for two weeks down south. My mom asked me to come and stay with her. So I shall be here for the next three weeks, the last week I shall be by myself, when my mom joins my dad for a week vacation.
Hopefully when I return home in three weeks, no adjustment would be required, other than the two I have already made, lol, taking my laundry out, and waking up at 5 am!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
New Year's Resolution!
I don't remember exactly when I started making resolution, but it was a long long time ago, lol. I like to have a goal and work toward it all year, and by the end of the year, be proud of my accomplishments.
Couple of years after my divorce I made a resolution to start a family, never happened! I made the same resolution again the following year, and again for the third year! Needless to say it never happened! When by the end of the third year I failed once again, I quit making resolutions all together.
I went a few years without resolution, but I missed it, I missed having a goal and working toward it, so I returned.
I returned to making New Year's Resolution and included a plan B, lol. I decided to have one major resolution as before, and then have two minor resolutions. I figured I could call it a success year if I was able to either reach my major goal or my two minor goals. And since then I have been following this plan. There has been some years that I managed to accomplish all three resolutions, including 2010.
My major resolution for 2010 was to put my career back on track. I wanted to either find a job that would be challenging, that would be at my level, not a few levels down, and that I would be able to learn and grow as I go, or go back to school, advance my education, and then hopefully be able to find a challenging job. So the first few months of last year I worked on finding another job, and when that did not pan out, I worked on getting into a good program, which I did, and that is why I am here, lol.
My two minor resolutions last year were, one to make it to gym at least 15 times per month, and two read one book a week, including the professional books I read for work. Well I sort of exceeded both my resolutions. I had a small calendar in my car, and every day after gym, I marked it. February and July I went to gym respectively 16 and 19 times, but the other six months that I still had gym membership, I went over 20 times each month. Hurry for me, lol. When I had to give up my gym membership at the end of August, I revised my resolution. I told myself that if for the next four months I did not gain any weight I would call it a success resolution. Well I went and lost over13 pounds in that four months. So YES, I would call that a success resolution.
I log the books I read into goodreads and for 2010 I was up to 55 books read. This number is excluding the professional books I read for work and later for school. I am connected to my friends on goodreads and I thought if I enter those books into the goodreads I would never hear the end of it, lol. So YES, I am calling my second minor resolution a success as well.
Now for this year, my major resolution was easy, I want to finish my program successfully, and hopefully before the year ends I want to either have a job, or have a job offer that I like very much to accept. And for my two minor resolutions, I decided one would be to train and participate in a race, and two to start dating!
While I was at my sisters she introduced me to a few running blogs. I am hooked on reading them regularly and have gotten inspired to run. Since I am still very much overweight, I thought I should lose more weight before attempting to start running. I have set a timeline for myself to lose about 10 pounds in the next five months, and sometimes at the end of May start training. I am thinking I could train the entire summer, and in the fall, depending on how fit I am, I would pick a 5K, or a 10K, or if I am very brave, a half marathon, to run.
For my other minor resolution I have been trying to have an open mind, and that was why I accept to go out on a date with my sister's former neighbor when he asked me New Year's Eve. My first thoughts when he asked was to say no, since I had met his soon to be ex. I just don't like to get involved with men that I have met their ex's at some point. I don't want/need the drama! But then even thought the year had not started and I could have said I start my resolution from tomorrow I decided against that, and I said yes. But I knew he was not for me!
The deal breaker for me of course is that he does not want any more kids. He has two preteen boys and he is worried about their future, their teen years, and their colleague tuition.
Anyhow, I said yes, but I think we might become good friends.
Couple of years after my divorce I made a resolution to start a family, never happened! I made the same resolution again the following year, and again for the third year! Needless to say it never happened! When by the end of the third year I failed once again, I quit making resolutions all together.
I went a few years without resolution, but I missed it, I missed having a goal and working toward it, so I returned.
I returned to making New Year's Resolution and included a plan B, lol. I decided to have one major resolution as before, and then have two minor resolutions. I figured I could call it a success year if I was able to either reach my major goal or my two minor goals. And since then I have been following this plan. There has been some years that I managed to accomplish all three resolutions, including 2010.
My major resolution for 2010 was to put my career back on track. I wanted to either find a job that would be challenging, that would be at my level, not a few levels down, and that I would be able to learn and grow as I go, or go back to school, advance my education, and then hopefully be able to find a challenging job. So the first few months of last year I worked on finding another job, and when that did not pan out, I worked on getting into a good program, which I did, and that is why I am here, lol.
My two minor resolutions last year were, one to make it to gym at least 15 times per month, and two read one book a week, including the professional books I read for work. Well I sort of exceeded both my resolutions. I had a small calendar in my car, and every day after gym, I marked it. February and July I went to gym respectively 16 and 19 times, but the other six months that I still had gym membership, I went over 20 times each month. Hurry for me, lol. When I had to give up my gym membership at the end of August, I revised my resolution. I told myself that if for the next four months I did not gain any weight I would call it a success resolution. Well I went and lost over13 pounds in that four months. So YES, I would call that a success resolution.
I log the books I read into goodreads and for 2010 I was up to 55 books read. This number is excluding the professional books I read for work and later for school. I am connected to my friends on goodreads and I thought if I enter those books into the goodreads I would never hear the end of it, lol. So YES, I am calling my second minor resolution a success as well.
Now for this year, my major resolution was easy, I want to finish my program successfully, and hopefully before the year ends I want to either have a job, or have a job offer that I like very much to accept. And for my two minor resolutions, I decided one would be to train and participate in a race, and two to start dating!
While I was at my sisters she introduced me to a few running blogs. I am hooked on reading them regularly and have gotten inspired to run. Since I am still very much overweight, I thought I should lose more weight before attempting to start running. I have set a timeline for myself to lose about 10 pounds in the next five months, and sometimes at the end of May start training. I am thinking I could train the entire summer, and in the fall, depending on how fit I am, I would pick a 5K, or a 10K, or if I am very brave, a half marathon, to run.
For my other minor resolution I have been trying to have an open mind, and that was why I accept to go out on a date with my sister's former neighbor when he asked me New Year's Eve. My first thoughts when he asked was to say no, since I had met his soon to be ex. I just don't like to get involved with men that I have met their ex's at some point. I don't want/need the drama! But then even thought the year had not started and I could have said I start my resolution from tomorrow I decided against that, and I said yes. But I knew he was not for me!
The deal breaker for me of course is that he does not want any more kids. He has two preteen boys and he is worried about their future, their teen years, and their colleague tuition.
Anyhow, I said yes, but I think we might become good friends.
I had a great holiday and I didn't even try to have a good time!
Seriously, the previous few years I went out of my way to make sure I had a great time during the holidays, but by the end I felt that it was just an OK holiday. On the other hand, this year I did not even try, and I ended up having a marvelous holiday!
Here are the differences between this year and the previous few years:
Here are the differences between this year and the previous few years:
- The previous years during the Thanksgiving weekend I would get all my Christmas decoration out, I have tones, lol! I have been buying Christmas ornaments and lights since my senior year in college. Anyhow I would decorate both inside and outside of my home, giving it a festive look and feel makeover, lol. However, this year my Christmas decorations still packed, was moved from the basement to the garage, where it probably is going to stay for another holiday.
- The previous years I would make cakes and cookies at least twice a week during the holidays, to take to work. I love the smell of baking. This year however, I did not have an oven, coworkers to bake for, or the time to bake. My only baking was one day at my sisters. And that one day was lots more enjoyable. Of course I should not be surprised that with all those baking, and eating loads of them, I would gain weight, and was miserable by the end of the holidays, not this year though, lol.
- The previous years I would make flavored tea or coffee every night. And drink my delicious tea or coffee with cookies of course. This year, I did not have any flavored tea or coffee, and had neither a car nor money, to go to the mall, for what I now consider expensive, but when I was employed considered reasonably priced, flavored tea or coffee! This year I just drink my regular tea/coffee with one or two Dove dark chocolate while either studying for my final or working on my paper.
- The previous years I would make a list of people I wanted to buy gifts for, and I would proceed to surf the web and go to the malls, hours at a time, to find the perfect gift. So not only I would spend ungodly amount of time on gifts, my budget for gifts would go out of the window almost every year, lol. This year, I spend only one day at the mall buying all the gifts I wanted, with the budget that I had set previously. At the end I felt that my family and friends LOVED my gift cards this year more than the thoughtful gifts I gave them the previous years. And of course nothing is more gratifying than the feeling that when you do something for your loved ones they truly enjoyed it.
- The previous years I would contact my former coworkers and classmates to try and organize a get together lunch. The number of emails going back and forth between us, and me trying to find a day that would work for everyone, and then the place that would be convenient for everyone to attend was maddening! Ehen we finally got together always someone said something or act a certain way that ended up pissing someone else! I always felt bad that I was the culprit for bringing them together. This year I send an email notifying everyone that I would not be able to join them and hoped that they would go ahead without me. There are five different groups, lol, three groups had the celebration lunch but two sit this year out! Even though I missed seeing my old friends, but I am OK with that for now, lol.
- My mom always insists that we girls either join them for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, when in town. And we obey of course, lol. This year it was decided that it would be Christmas Day. Both my older sisters are married with kids. My younger sister has been dating her guy for few years now. So the previous years, when we all got together, I always felt that I am the odd woman out! As a result I never enjoyed Christmas as much as I wanted to! This year, unfortunately my younger sister's partner flow to his parents for the holidays, alone, because his mom is having a major health issue. I have been praying for her. Anyhow, my younger sister, my oldest niece who is a junior in college and without me noticing is all grownup and sophisticated all of the sudden, and I were without partners. We hangout together the whole day. I did not feel out of the place at all and ended up having a great time. I just wished that my sister's boyfriend could have been with us.
- My older sister throws a New Year's Eve party. The tradition started when I was still in middle school. During the Thanksgiving weekend my parents were in a very serious accident. They spend over three weeks in the hospital. When it got close to the Christmas they were allowed to come home with all the hospital equipments they needed, including a hospital bed for each, and of course a fulltime visiting nurse. Just couple of days before Christmas we kids decided to have a tree, buy gifts, and have a great Christmas. Then my older sister decided to have a New Year's Day party and invited all our family, friends, and neighbors to come and visit our parents. The following year the party became a New Year's Eve party and she has been having it ever since. The only change was when she bought her house, the party was moved to her house. Anyhow, every year I need to get a nice dress for this party. Again the previous years I would spend ungodly amount of time and money on a dress for this party and at the end I would be so dissatisfied with myself and feel so very unattractive. This year I borrowed a dress from my younger sister when I was at her place. My younger sister is taller and bigger boned then me. But even though she is very fit and I am not, I was able to fit into one of her shorter dresses. Since it was short for her she had gotten it in a larger size and it became perfect for me. I still have a long way to get to my comfortable weight but the 10+ pounds that I have lost has made me feel more attractive. Needless to say I ended up enjoying the New Year's Eve party enormously. I was even asked on a date and I accepted, lol.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Proceed further? That is the question!
I am a serious student, I am dedicated, study hard, and want to truly learn. I think when you put lots of effort into whatever you do, people around you go out of their way to encourage you, and people in position of authority try to show you the right way and guide you, so you get to your goal successfully. I have been getting encouragement, to continue my studies, from not only my family and friends, and of course my professors, but also from total strangers, who saw my excitement and dedication within the first few minutes of our meeting.
One Friday night as I was about to leave the library, I decided to check out the text I was reading, so that I could continue reading it overnight. I don't like to check out books from the library if I am not going to read it cover to cover! Reading a chapter here, another one there, and taking notes, doesn't take that long, and I rather read and take notes in the library, let the book stay in the library, so when another student like me just wants to read a few chapters, don't get disappointed that the book is not available.
Anyhow, that Friday night, just before the closing time, as I walked toward the circulation desk to check out the book, I saw a line in front of the librarian! I was so not ready to wait in line, that late in the evening, but I wanted to read that book, so I stood!
The student librarian, looked like he was a freshman, who just started, and was probably over his head trying to deal with all of us in a short period of time before closing. I was thinking to myself why a more capable fulltime librarian is not there to help this poor guy who obviously was not very comfortable behind that desk.
Suddenly the women in front of me turned to me and said, "I had been librarian for over 15 years, without the capability of computers of today, and I never allowed anyone wait in line, I was efficient and speedy!" I decided to be polite and show that I was interested in conversing with her, but in reality I just wanted to get home and continue studying/taking note from the book I was reading! So I asked her if she was a librarian here or in another school. She told me that she worked in another school, first as a librarian, and then when her marriage dissolved, she decided to go back to school, got her master's and then a Ph.D., and was hired as a professor at once.
Suddenly not only I was interested in her story, in a split second, I also became an admirer! She continued that, she had two teenage girls at that time and she felt that she needed to excel in her career. I can't image how she did it, going through a divorce, taking care of two teenage girls, holding a fulltime job, and then if her life was not full enough, starting graduate studies. I told her that I was very impressed, and continued that, after my divorce I was such a mess, I couldn't even do my job as efficiently as I had done before, and here she was not only she took care of her kids and did her job well probably, she also went to school.
She asked me about my story and I told her that I was back at school after almost 20 years for a master's degree. She told me now that I was there, why stop at masters; why not go for a Ph.D. She said that she can see my dedication, being there on a Friday night, and added that these days it is essential to have a Ph.D. if you want to go further in your career.
I told her that I thought I was too old to continue! She asked me how old was I? When I told her, she said she was about 6 years my senior when she started her master's degree and continued that she had a great lengthy second career as a professor, and now she is into her third career, a researcher in Women's studies, and that is why she was at the library.
So, yes, the thought of continuing to a Ph.D. program has been in back of my mind! I so would have gone after it if I was a bit younger, or if I didn't want to have kids. Both my older sisters had their youngest kids when they were 41, so that is the absolute latest for me to consider getting pregnant and have a kid too. I have a window of three years maximum to have a kid, preferably two, lol, and that is a tight window, lol. My plan, all along, had been to finish school, at the latest, at the end of 2011, and right away start concentrating on starting a family. But I can't help it not wanting to continue, now that I know I can be a success at school , plus I know where I like to advance in my career, I think requires having a Ph.D!
One Friday night as I was about to leave the library, I decided to check out the text I was reading, so that I could continue reading it overnight. I don't like to check out books from the library if I am not going to read it cover to cover! Reading a chapter here, another one there, and taking notes, doesn't take that long, and I rather read and take notes in the library, let the book stay in the library, so when another student like me just wants to read a few chapters, don't get disappointed that the book is not available.
Anyhow, that Friday night, just before the closing time, as I walked toward the circulation desk to check out the book, I saw a line in front of the librarian! I was so not ready to wait in line, that late in the evening, but I wanted to read that book, so I stood!
The student librarian, looked like he was a freshman, who just started, and was probably over his head trying to deal with all of us in a short period of time before closing. I was thinking to myself why a more capable fulltime librarian is not there to help this poor guy who obviously was not very comfortable behind that desk.
Suddenly the women in front of me turned to me and said, "I had been librarian for over 15 years, without the capability of computers of today, and I never allowed anyone wait in line, I was efficient and speedy!" I decided to be polite and show that I was interested in conversing with her, but in reality I just wanted to get home and continue studying/taking note from the book I was reading! So I asked her if she was a librarian here or in another school. She told me that she worked in another school, first as a librarian, and then when her marriage dissolved, she decided to go back to school, got her master's and then a Ph.D., and was hired as a professor at once.
Suddenly not only I was interested in her story, in a split second, I also became an admirer! She continued that, she had two teenage girls at that time and she felt that she needed to excel in her career. I can't image how she did it, going through a divorce, taking care of two teenage girls, holding a fulltime job, and then if her life was not full enough, starting graduate studies. I told her that I was very impressed, and continued that, after my divorce I was such a mess, I couldn't even do my job as efficiently as I had done before, and here she was not only she took care of her kids and did her job well probably, she also went to school.
She asked me about my story and I told her that I was back at school after almost 20 years for a master's degree. She told me now that I was there, why stop at masters; why not go for a Ph.D. She said that she can see my dedication, being there on a Friday night, and added that these days it is essential to have a Ph.D. if you want to go further in your career.
I told her that I thought I was too old to continue! She asked me how old was I? When I told her, she said she was about 6 years my senior when she started her master's degree and continued that she had a great lengthy second career as a professor, and now she is into her third career, a researcher in Women's studies, and that is why she was at the library.
So, yes, the thought of continuing to a Ph.D. program has been in back of my mind! I so would have gone after it if I was a bit younger, or if I didn't want to have kids. Both my older sisters had their youngest kids when they were 41, so that is the absolute latest for me to consider getting pregnant and have a kid too. I have a window of three years maximum to have a kid, preferably two, lol, and that is a tight window, lol. My plan, all along, had been to finish school, at the latest, at the end of 2011, and right away start concentrating on starting a family. But I can't help it not wanting to continue, now that I know I can be a success at school , plus I know where I like to advance in my career, I think requires having a Ph.D!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
I got another A-!
My other professor just sends us an email that the grades have been posted on the class webpage and I could not breathe to go there and find out my grade! Of course the grades were posted with our student identification number. Gone are the days that the grades were posted on the professors' door with our social security numbers. Of course I was grateful that I could check my grade from here and I didn't have to beg my dad to go see my grade and call me. Anyhow, I jumped to fetch my purse and got my id out, and off I went in search of my grade. I am so memorizing my student id number, lol.
Of course I did not expect to get an A-, I thought more like B+. I did lousy on my midterm, and even thought I studied very hard for the final and I thought I had done well, I could not be sure. But I GOT AN A-, lol.
I can't begin to say how ecstatic I am at the moment. I did well this semester. I wish that I had not dropped the other class and had gotten another A- in that too. But hopefully I can do better next semester and pass all three of my classes with grades A as base! lol.
Baking cookies right now, the smell has saturated the apartment, and waiting for my sister to get home.
Happy times.
Of course I did not expect to get an A-, I thought more like B+. I did lousy on my midterm, and even thought I studied very hard for the final and I thought I had done well, I could not be sure. But I GOT AN A-, lol.
I can't begin to say how ecstatic I am at the moment. I did well this semester. I wish that I had not dropped the other class and had gotten another A- in that too. But hopefully I can do better next semester and pass all three of my classes with grades A as base! lol.
Baking cookies right now, the smell has saturated the apartment, and waiting for my sister to get home.
Happy times.
One successfully done, one to go ...
I got an email from my professor with comments on my final paper and my grade for the course. I GOT AN A-. Even thought I am very happy and excited, but I cannot shake the feeling of wanting an A! I really worked hard and did well, or so I thought, but maybe not perfect. Beside the two papers, we had 10 quizzes, each with 10 points; I accumulated 91 out of 100. We had homework almost every week, 2 to 3 challenging questions per homework, accumulated to 75 questions. I got 69 of them correct. And on the two papers I got a "great job" comment. So yes, I was hoping for an A. I suppose the people who got an A got perfect scores on their quizzes and homework. Oh well!
A few weeks ago when I was trying to decide if I wanted to take a third course next semester, I came across a new special topic class. It is being taught by the same professor that I dropped his class this semester. I went to talk to him to find out more about the course. After he explained in details what he was going to cover, he summarized that it was the continuation of the course I dropped but was sitting in. Suddenly I got very mad and was about to kick myself for another round, when he told me that even thought the prerequisite was the course I dropped but he would sign for me to be admitted to the next semester's class. He told me that he was very impressed by my dedication and I would have gotten an A in his class if I hadn't dropped it. So yes, I ended up kicking myself for a bit, but then I reasoned that I was at school for the learning, I learned the martial of one class for free, and now I could take another class for credit! Of course I would be at school a bit longer, but my goal is learning. You see, when I dropped that class, I continued to attend it with the professor's permission of course. The first couple of weeks I didn't do the homework, but then I decided to keep up. So I first turned in the couple of homework that I missed turning in on time, and after that I turned my homework on time. The professor was great and he did take time to grade my homework and write comments. Anyhow, the grade was based on the homework only. They were challenging and I spend a good 2 or 3 hours per question, in excess of 20 hours per homework. But I kept up, learned a lot, allowed myself to be able to take the next semester's course, and now I even feel real good that I could have gotten an A in it. But the little fact that it was not for credit is still bothersome to me, lol.
So next semester I shall be taking three classes. I have figured I can handle it, and since there is no prospect of employment, I have not heard from any of my friends and former colleagues who told me that they shall get back to be with good news and soon, so I figured I might as well not waste my time.
I have been at my sister's for five days now and all five days I have gone to gym. I weight myself today and I am down one pound since Saturday. If this gym's scale is as accurate as my old gym's scale I have lost over 10 pounds since September. As soon as I get to my parents I shall weight myself; I know the difference between that scale and my old gym's scale for accurate comparison. Anyhow, I have gone to gym everyday and have done cardio for 2 and half hours; 45 minutes on stationary bike, followed by another 45minutes on elliptical, and finally one hour on the treadmill. I did not push myself to go hard and at high level; I started at the lower levels than I was used to and I am building my stamina back. Even thought I have felt tired afterword, I am not in pain, and the reward is that I lost one pound; considering that I had eaten out every single day, I am very satisfied with this lost pound.
We went out to dinner Friday night, with my sister's boyfriend, and hopefully to be my brother-in-law soon. I had stake and cream brulee, amazing. Saturday we went to one of my sister's good friend for dinner. I didn't know her and if she had not emailed me earlier to invite me personally when she found out that I was going to be at my sister's, I would have not gone. But I am glad I went, she and her husband are great people. I had a great time and eat lots of delicious food. Sunday was Christmas shopping at the mall and we had pizza. I am proud to report that I did all my Christmas shopping in one day, lol, considering that I had to buy gifts for 20+ people.
Every year I put a lot of effort into Christmas gifts, but this year I didn't have that much time, so I decided either I was not going to give gifts to anyone, or just give gift cards. When my place got rented, and one month ahead of time, I decided to consider that I was still paying the mortgage and spend the rent, well maybe a good portion of it, on gifts. However, I decided to go with gift cards, for one there was no time to pick gifts for 20+ people and for another when I see something for someone and feel that it could be perfect for them, my budget for the gift for them goes out of the window; I couldn't do that this year. So I decided on the value of the gift cards for grownups, and then doubled it for the kids. Got gift cards from Apple store for my two brothers-in-law, one soon to be brother-in-law hopefully, three adopted brothers-in-law, lol (my best friends' husbands are truly like brothers-in-law) and their kids, except for my oldest niece who is no longer a kid! For my oldest niece, my sisters, and my two best friends who live here, I got gift cards from their favorite stores. For my best friend who lives oversee, I got a gift card from her local Amazon. I could have gotten her a gift card from her favorite store too, and I knew she might be here in the summer, but I wanted her to be able to spend it as soon as she wants. Thus I was only left to get gifts for my parents, which was fun to just concentrate on them.
Monday night my sister was going to dinner with four of her former classmates and their families, so I tagged along, and last night we went to her neighbor's apartment to celebrate the longest night of the year. It is a Persian celebration. I am familiar with this celebration since one of my college roommates was Persian and she had told me about it. So more eating was done and this morning I am still one pound lighter than the day I got here.
The plan for today is to bake cookies to take with us tomorrow to our parents. I have done the shopping and going to start soon, but shall wait to make couple of batches with my sister tonight. And tomorrow I shall use my last gym pass and then in the early afternoon we are headed to our parents for Christmas.
I have been thinking that since I am not that poor anymore, lol, maybe I could either join my old gym, or join my school gym, which is as good, but cheaper, or go the cheapest way and take up running. All I know is that I have been enjoying working out, and I want to lose weight without developing lose skin, so I have to exercise. I shall think about it some more and make my final decision by the new year, lol.
Right now, I feel so happy and excited. I wish that I knew how I have done on my other class, and if that grade is good also, I would be on the top of the world! I feel that I am finally guiding my future to where I would have wanted to go, happy and successful. There have been lots of uncertainly in the past few months, but I am so glad I took a chance, and when given the opportunity, I used it well. I am hoping that next year at this time, I would be even happier, thinner, and more satisfied with my decisions and where I am.
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
A few weeks ago when I was trying to decide if I wanted to take a third course next semester, I came across a new special topic class. It is being taught by the same professor that I dropped his class this semester. I went to talk to him to find out more about the course. After he explained in details what he was going to cover, he summarized that it was the continuation of the course I dropped but was sitting in. Suddenly I got very mad and was about to kick myself for another round, when he told me that even thought the prerequisite was the course I dropped but he would sign for me to be admitted to the next semester's class. He told me that he was very impressed by my dedication and I would have gotten an A in his class if I hadn't dropped it. So yes, I ended up kicking myself for a bit, but then I reasoned that I was at school for the learning, I learned the martial of one class for free, and now I could take another class for credit! Of course I would be at school a bit longer, but my goal is learning. You see, when I dropped that class, I continued to attend it with the professor's permission of course. The first couple of weeks I didn't do the homework, but then I decided to keep up. So I first turned in the couple of homework that I missed turning in on time, and after that I turned my homework on time. The professor was great and he did take time to grade my homework and write comments. Anyhow, the grade was based on the homework only. They were challenging and I spend a good 2 or 3 hours per question, in excess of 20 hours per homework. But I kept up, learned a lot, allowed myself to be able to take the next semester's course, and now I even feel real good that I could have gotten an A in it. But the little fact that it was not for credit is still bothersome to me, lol.
So next semester I shall be taking three classes. I have figured I can handle it, and since there is no prospect of employment, I have not heard from any of my friends and former colleagues who told me that they shall get back to be with good news and soon, so I figured I might as well not waste my time.
I have been at my sister's for five days now and all five days I have gone to gym. I weight myself today and I am down one pound since Saturday. If this gym's scale is as accurate as my old gym's scale I have lost over 10 pounds since September. As soon as I get to my parents I shall weight myself; I know the difference between that scale and my old gym's scale for accurate comparison. Anyhow, I have gone to gym everyday and have done cardio for 2 and half hours; 45 minutes on stationary bike, followed by another 45minutes on elliptical, and finally one hour on the treadmill. I did not push myself to go hard and at high level; I started at the lower levels than I was used to and I am building my stamina back. Even thought I have felt tired afterword, I am not in pain, and the reward is that I lost one pound; considering that I had eaten out every single day, I am very satisfied with this lost pound.
We went out to dinner Friday night, with my sister's boyfriend, and hopefully to be my brother-in-law soon. I had stake and cream brulee, amazing. Saturday we went to one of my sister's good friend for dinner. I didn't know her and if she had not emailed me earlier to invite me personally when she found out that I was going to be at my sister's, I would have not gone. But I am glad I went, she and her husband are great people. I had a great time and eat lots of delicious food. Sunday was Christmas shopping at the mall and we had pizza. I am proud to report that I did all my Christmas shopping in one day, lol, considering that I had to buy gifts for 20+ people.
Every year I put a lot of effort into Christmas gifts, but this year I didn't have that much time, so I decided either I was not going to give gifts to anyone, or just give gift cards. When my place got rented, and one month ahead of time, I decided to consider that I was still paying the mortgage and spend the rent, well maybe a good portion of it, on gifts. However, I decided to go with gift cards, for one there was no time to pick gifts for 20+ people and for another when I see something for someone and feel that it could be perfect for them, my budget for the gift for them goes out of the window; I couldn't do that this year. So I decided on the value of the gift cards for grownups, and then doubled it for the kids. Got gift cards from Apple store for my two brothers-in-law, one soon to be brother-in-law hopefully, three adopted brothers-in-law, lol (my best friends' husbands are truly like brothers-in-law) and their kids, except for my oldest niece who is no longer a kid! For my oldest niece, my sisters, and my two best friends who live here, I got gift cards from their favorite stores. For my best friend who lives oversee, I got a gift card from her local Amazon. I could have gotten her a gift card from her favorite store too, and I knew she might be here in the summer, but I wanted her to be able to spend it as soon as she wants. Thus I was only left to get gifts for my parents, which was fun to just concentrate on them.
Monday night my sister was going to dinner with four of her former classmates and their families, so I tagged along, and last night we went to her neighbor's apartment to celebrate the longest night of the year. It is a Persian celebration. I am familiar with this celebration since one of my college roommates was Persian and she had told me about it. So more eating was done and this morning I am still one pound lighter than the day I got here.
The plan for today is to bake cookies to take with us tomorrow to our parents. I have done the shopping and going to start soon, but shall wait to make couple of batches with my sister tonight. And tomorrow I shall use my last gym pass and then in the early afternoon we are headed to our parents for Christmas.
I have been thinking that since I am not that poor anymore, lol, maybe I could either join my old gym, or join my school gym, which is as good, but cheaper, or go the cheapest way and take up running. All I know is that I have been enjoying working out, and I want to lose weight without developing lose skin, so I have to exercise. I shall think about it some more and make my final decision by the new year, lol.
Right now, I feel so happy and excited. I wish that I knew how I have done on my other class, and if that grade is good also, I would be on the top of the world! I feel that I am finally guiding my future to where I would have wanted to go, happy and successful. There have been lots of uncertainly in the past few months, but I am so glad I took a chance, and when given the opportunity, I used it well. I am hoping that next year at this time, I would be even happier, thinner, and more satisfied with my decisions and where I am.
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Done with my first semester ...
I had my only final yesterday. I think I did OK, but then I could be wrong! I wish I was given the right answers, so I would know for sure, right now, if I had done OK or not. My niece tells me that some of her professors post the answers of an exam right away on their class website, and she always knows right after the exam how she has done. Unfortunately, my professor is not of this school of thought!
Anyhow, I also handed in my second and final paper for my other class on Monday. I think I did OK on that too. I put a lot of time and effort into it, and I learned a lot. That is all I can expect of myself.
So now I am going to my younger sister until Christmas. She lives a few hours drive away from us, in the neighboring state, and she asked me to go stay with her and then drive back with her on Thursday. I jumped at her offer because for one, her condo has cable, lol, so I can watch movies during the day that she goes to work. Of course she also has internet. Plus there is a gym in her building and she said she can get me passes. I have seen her gym, it is pretty good. And lastly, I would be in approximately of an oven so I can bake cookies. In my tiny basement area I don't have an oven, and I love baking Christmas cookies so here is my chance.
I am at my parents right now to do laundry and then I shall take the train in the early afternoon to get to my sister's by the time she gets off work. We are going out to dinner. I can't wait. I have been such a student, lol, for 3 and half months that going out to dinner is such a huge deal to me right now.
So now that I shall be connected to internet all day, I hope to be able to post more and read much more. Have a great weekend.
Anyhow, I also handed in my second and final paper for my other class on Monday. I think I did OK on that too. I put a lot of time and effort into it, and I learned a lot. That is all I can expect of myself.
So now I am going to my younger sister until Christmas. She lives a few hours drive away from us, in the neighboring state, and she asked me to go stay with her and then drive back with her on Thursday. I jumped at her offer because for one, her condo has cable, lol, so I can watch movies during the day that she goes to work. Of course she also has internet. Plus there is a gym in her building and she said she can get me passes. I have seen her gym, it is pretty good. And lastly, I would be in approximately of an oven so I can bake cookies. In my tiny basement area I don't have an oven, and I love baking Christmas cookies so here is my chance.
I am at my parents right now to do laundry and then I shall take the train in the early afternoon to get to my sister's by the time she gets off work. We are going out to dinner. I can't wait. I have been such a student, lol, for 3 and half months that going out to dinner is such a huge deal to me right now.
So now that I shall be connected to internet all day, I hope to be able to post more and read much more. Have a great weekend.
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