Thursday, May 30, 2013

Virtual Happy Hour 2

If we were to meet over beers, I'd probably want to know what was going on with you first and then decide whether I wanted to disclose all my complete randoms floating around in my life/head :)

If I decided to disclose I'd probably tell you some of the following, although in no particular order:

1) I have no idea where this term went. Next week is the final lecture and then the week after that is actual finals week. Seriously, the entire last nine weeks.....it flew by. Ironically, this is the first term in a while that I've been in a pretty good mood with my classes the entire term. As much as I'm nervous about lacking the financial benefits of teaching over the summer, I'm also really looking forward to having a break from my in-person classes. We're also transitioning to a new version of our online system, so I'll need to get up to speed ASAP. This also means that I have two more weeks in my other lil part-time gig....and four weeks until I'll no longer be receiving a paycheck that will cover bills....

2) Which would probably lead me to a discussion about the fact that my old veterans job that I had is rehiring, aka my replacement is leaving the position. I've told my old boss that I will be applying but I've also been putting in calls to my current boss, a couple of my friends, an old distant coworker, and one of the vets to see if it's a good idea for me to reapply. Everyone is telling me that the position would benefit from my return, but wondering if I'd actually like it. A few things have changed, but much of the chaos would be the same and so I have mixed thoughts about trying for the position again.... But of course I WILL apply. Wouldn't it be ironic if I go back to the exact.same.job?

3) I applied for four more jobs last weekend. One of which I was really intrigued by (workplace wellness...I would LOVE to get into this field!). I also was able to see in the online systems that I haven't been disqualified from all of the jobs I've applied for, so there's at least 10 that I appear to (maybe) still be in the running for. I also haven't heard from the last interview I had last week....I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign at this point.

4) I started trying to transition to just Insanity since M and C are doing it while M is gone...but I'm so stubborn that this notion of trying to maintain 60 miles of running each month is really hard for me to shake. SO I put in a 11 miler this weekend and I ran over 24 miles in the last week, which is a lot for me. I also did 3 insanity work-outs. I've been making sure I eat a nutrient-rich diet and I'm eating protein and/or snacks almost every 3-4 hours.....but still when I stepped on the scale tonight at Granny's I was SHOCKED to see that I've dropped 12 pounds in the two weeks since M left. I'm not eating quite as much as I was when he lived here, but still a 12 pound weight loss in 1-2 weeks seems like a lot. My weight tonight was the lowest number I've seen since I was 12-13 years of age (I'm even slightly lower than I was this last fall), and while it's still a healthy BMI, it's incredibly low for me. (Plus let's get real.....the BMI charts say I could lose another 17 pounds and still be considered healthy...I would hate to see me minus 17 more pounds.....). Needless to say, I'm hoping tonight was a weird fluke and I'll be trying to eat even more, especially if I try to continue mileage AND insanity.

5) I'd probably also end up talking to you about the current interim housemate, L....and I hate to admit it, but she's the first person I've had as a housemate that I'm not so sure that I actually like her. I don't mind co-existing with her, but after two weeks, I'm not really looking forward to her being here for the next two months until she can get into the apartment she put a deposit down on. Two more months of a dog (who has to stay in her room or else he has "accidents" in the house) and her smoking (even though its outside) will be tolerable for the rent money but definitely not an ideal situation, especially since summer is usually the height of my joy ;) The next interim housemate until M returns will not be allowed to smoke nor have a pet....I've learned not to grant exceptions. Which at this point in time, M is planning on moving back in for a bit when he gets back.

6) I'm seriously loving technology. M and I have been able to keep in touch via messaging almost every day since he left (which is great since we're both uber verbal processors!) and last weekend we were able to video chat also. I'm also stoked cause my gal Katie just finally got to Italy with her hub that is stationed over there..and we've already been able to be in touch via text also. Technology is just amazing these days!

7) I feel like there have been a ton of lil highlights I've been loving lately. I'm so glad that in the last month, my mood and outlook has done a 180. It was so needed! So some other things I'm loving: I thought I killed my artichoke plant but there's an artichoke growing, Mom & Dad are headed up tomorrow for another yard work weekend, Anna is back to being 100% healed, one of my students brought me two amazing smelling pink roses cut from her garden, and another student asked me to write her a letter of recommendation. And honestly, I realized that even though I started to truly hit rock bottom, somewhere deep in me I still had a glimmer of optimism and faith/hope. In my interviews this came out when I was questioned about why I want the jobs I apply for. I kept responding with things like "passion" and "because I believe in truly making a difference" and "because the most rewarding thing for me in a job is seeing CHANGE actually occur." And while these are probably usual interview catch phrases.....the thing is that ....I truly actually believe them. So the best part of these interviews (maybe) has been realizing that well, my soul is still alive after all.

And with that I'm pretty sure, we'd have finished our drinks. ;) What's been going on in your worlds?


What I'm Eating: Rest of May

Again joining Heather over at Townsend House for her What I'm Eating Series.

Toasted Almond Butter & Banana Sandwich
w/ Mixed Greens, Strawberries, Sliced Nuts, & Mandarin Orange Salad

Tuna Salad Melt w/ Avocado on a Hoagie Roll

Baked Sweet Potato w side of Steamed Broccoli & Cauliflower

My stand-by Baked Cajun flavored Salmon w Roasted Baby Carrots & Cherry Tomatoes
w/ Blueberry/Spinach Smoothie (w flax seed, almond butter, vitamins, protein powder, coconut milk)

The usual go-to cans of V-8 and bags of almonds & cranberries while teaching.
I'm back to an every afternoon or evening protein smoothie. 
Mixed dried fruit has become my go-to evening movie snack food.
Tonight I gorged on beef jerky (can I call myself a vegetarian in recovery?!)
And I'm still using the breakfast burrito & homemade huevos rancheros as my go-to quick meal.
The daily Chobani yogurt taken with my D vitamins and a cup of dark roast coffee w creamer has become my regular breakfast, and really seems to have done the trick of helping ease stomach issues. 
I also was able to bring home the left-over fruit & veggie platter from last week's work event, so those in conjunction with my quick grab handfuls of almonds became my weekend snack foods.

Today I did my big 6 week Costco run: more food for the animals and more food for this human. Organic black beans, PNW sustainably farmed eggs, peach salsa, hummus, refried beans, yogurts, salmon, tortillas, organic bread, dark roast coffee, cranberries, frozen fruit for smoothies, beer, V8, and coconut oil. And tonight I did my weekly grocery store run: cauliflower, bananas, coconut milk, kale, avocados, cantaloupe, peaches, red wine, sweet potatoes, and two big sweet onions......

...cause on the docket for this weekend is to make some of these awesome looking blooming onions!

No Buy 2013: More New Twists

Ha--in looking at combos this week, I'm noticing a distinct lack of color. Oh well!

Saturday:
Brought out the old black button-up again since I'm trying to get it into rotation more. And you can't see it in this picture but I also did the double necklace thing here. I paired a simple strand of pearls with a silver Oregon sunstone pendant. Threw on my leopard print flats and my easy go-to gray cardigan.

Monday:
Pairing the shirt with a blazer look again and I really liked this combo actually. 

Tuesday: Work
Work Bermuda shorts. I don't know why these are always hard for me to put an outfit together with, but they are so they rarely get used. On this day the sun came out just long enough that I could put the shorts to use and still come up with a professional enough seeming combo here.

Wednesday: Errands
Seriously threw this together this morning...and I loved it.

Wednesday: Work
Decided to transition the top into a evening work look and what better way to do that than to add my "uniform" of a skirt & cardigan :)

I'm really enjoying that I'm still coming up with new combos..and some of this stuff I'm really loving!