5.22 - Farewell

Cardigan and Skirt: Express
Shirt: F21
Necklace: Sears
Shoes: Famous Footwear (Connie)

I worked.

I gave a speech at the end of the NA-YGN meeting. Too bad nobody taped it because I'd like to watch it again. I congratulated the organization for winning the regional chapter achievement award then I said farewell.  The claps at the end felt heartfelt and not the standard clapping that someone gave just because the speaker was done talking.  Then people came up to me after to talk about it.   Too bad I wasn't so stressed with work and everything and too bad I didn't get to practice my speech more or the delivery might not have sucked.

(Later in the evening I checked facebook to see this status update)

Before work I took a few pictures of the house to show how muh cleaning/organizing still had to be done.

After work we watched TV. Poly was too cute on Dave.   Dave went up to bed and I watched more TV but then Poly climbed up on me so I stayed up late even later.

Look at my calorie burn. I believe I mowed the lawn in the evening.

5.1

This is the outfit I wore on August 13, 2009 (I remembered the month and day but had to look up the year) and then on my birthday my brother gave me the necklace and told me it'd match this outfit.
Skirt & Shirt: Express
Shoes: Mudd (Kohl's)
Necklace: Gifted but the box it came in said JCPenney and I doubt my brother had a box from another place lying around.

Sometimes I wonder how I'm standing out there taking my picture because look at that one on the right. What was I even up to?
The first time I wore this shirt, I made it all the way until 6pm when someone was eating dinner at my house and noticed the XS sticker right on my chest.

I worked. The day flew by. I almost didn't eat lunch. I wasn't hungry. But I had a meeting starting at 1:30 and going to 3 so I knew I'd be hungry when it was done.  It lasted until roughly 4:00.   At a meeting in the morning I got questioned why I'm still in the group I'm in. They were shocked that I work so many hours and don't get any overtime. It kind of upsets me when I hear about so many other people get to charge overtime when they work it and almost every hour. I hate how it is so inconsistent at work.  I hate unfairness. I have been known to complain when things are unfair in my own favor. (I have also been known to rectify the situation when I'm getting the favorable outcome.  I just don't know how to rectify this so it makes it even harder.)

Shortly after 4;30  I left to go run at North Boundary Park. It was very hot out. That made the run so hard.   I ran 2 loops, Jen showed up, then we ran 1 more.  We stood there talking but I started to get lightheaded so I headed out.

I picked up Jersey Mike's on the way home.  The tuna hoagie was quite delicious.

We watched Gray's Anatomy, 2 episodes of Game of Thrones, and then Rachel Maddow. I was ready to fall asleep by 9pm.

I did get my pictures and the rights to the ones Paul took on Friday. I can't believe I didn't analyze them. I put them on picasa but didn't look further.     PS Where's my neck? It was so cold that I accidentally made my shoulders go up to my face. Oh well. I did that a lot all day so it wasn't like Paul could use other pictures where my form was better. Sigh.  Maybe some day I'll get other pictures taken and I'll have tips I remembered from past pictures.

4.16

Shoes: Kohl's

Skirt: Express

Shirt: NY&Co

I thought this outfit looked a lot nicer than it appears in these photos.

I was so exhausted so my alarm was only first set for 6.55 instead of my normal 6:17.

Well I ended up hitting snooze for an hour. Poly was cuddled up with me. I didn't want to leave her.  When I finally woke up, she was really putting on her cute face so I ended up wasting time petting her and letting her use my hand as a pillow instead of getting ready for work.  I got to work at 8:40.  That was the latest I've gotten there in a long long time.

I was so busy at work. I finally finished and emailed out an agenda at 11:15 for a 12:00 meeting. That might not seem bad but I want to have the agenda emailed out the day before.

I was so busy that the day flew by.  I really need to put in a good extra 10 or 12 hours just to read my emails from Thursday and Friday when I was out. I didn't even get that far today.

I ran with Jen after work.  We went to the track to take it easy.  We walked 1 lap without our Garmin's on. Then we did a ladder sort of.  We did 1 lap running 100, walking 100. Then we ran 200, walked 200. Then we ran 400, walked 400. (3 times), run 200, walk 200,   then 1 lap of run 100, walk 100.  I was in lane 4 the entire time and I didn't stop the timer while walking to the car which is why the total distance was 2.67.  We did that at a pace of 12:02.

After the run I came home and ate dinner. I watched politics on TV until bed time.  I did do foam roller, core exercises, and stretch at one point. Dave fell asleep early on the couch.

Poly was definitely on her best behavior and in loving mode when we got home.  Too bad I couldn't telecommute. I felt bad ditching her all day while I was at work.

12.2

These red socks have got to be my favorite. I love the outfits I wear with them. I have other socks but they don't go up enough so then these remain my favorite.
Boots: Mudd from Famous Footwear
Socks: Target
Tights: Target
Skirt: Express
Sweater: VS
Necklace: Lia Sophia
Earrings: Target

The key part of the day was the menu planning and I already blogged about that.

I like cookbooks with pictures. If a recipe doesn't have a picture, I ignore it.

11.16

Shirt: Old Navy

Cardigan and Skirt: Express

Shoes: Nine West via Famous Footwear

Necklace: Lia Sophia

I couldn't belt my cardigan because I couldn't find my black belt. I feel like the bottom of cardigans shouldn't be the tightest part because that is the part that goes around your hips. Then right above that is always bunched up.  You can see it in the 2nd picture below.  If I try to button the cardigans, they are alright but then they are a few inches above my waist line and I don't like it.  I probably have 10 cardigans that I don't like. I keep them because I paid good money for them and now I don't like them.  I don't buy new because my closet and drawers are always full. 

I didn't touch up a single curl. These curled were created 10 hours earlier and slept on and I think they look great.

I didn't get to telecommute because of the NA-YGN meeting.   I wonder if I will ever get to work from home.

After work I had to zip down to Monroeville. I went to dinner with my family then to my allergy/asthma doctor.

I didn't get home until around 9.  I was gone a very long time and sad about it because Poly was just so cute and with leaving her soon I swear she knew it because she was cuddling extra.

11.8

Vest: The Limited
Shirt: NY&Co (altered by my mom)
Skirt: Express
Shoes: Mudd
Earrings: Target

Pattern day seemed like a great day to wear my new vest even though it's been sitting in my closet for a few weeks.  I just don't seem to know how to wear it. I guess I did OK picking this outfit but I don't know how else to style it.

I went to work and had a busy morning but it was OK because I was taking a half day vacation.  I made this long list of things to do at home during my vacation. So many things I wanted to get done.

I went to JoAnn fabrics on my way home to start off my productivity.  I needed to buy hemp or twine for the SU class that night. Then driving home I got so tired. I went and got Windex and finally cleaned the inside of my windshield. Cleaning it has been on my mental to do list for about 2 years.  Then I went upstairs to put on my running clothes. Poly was so cute I decided to rest with her. 50 minutes later I woke up from a nap.

I went and voted. I ran 1 loop at the park even though I wanted to run 6 total miles.

Then I went home. I felt guilty for my sucky run so I set out and ran more (after going on the computer and fully recovering from it seeming like I exercised at all).   I ran an additional 1.51 miles. I had to go past 1.5 to make it end in a round number.
I got home and finished getting ready for the Stampin' Up party.  Dave came home and apparently we were supposed to walk. There were issues with that. He went and voted and then we walked together. This really put me behind but I can't discourage him from working out.   All these walking miles don't count as exercise or for my mileage totals but I thin they should because you can walk while you run and they say it is the amount of steps you take and time on your feet so then if I'm walking and not counting it, I may be doing too much.  Also all the walks are kind of contributing to me not doing other things for my workout goals.  Why does my calf hurt so bad. It hurts when I land on my left leg when I'm running. It hurts when I have to push off of it when I'm walking up the stairs.

We ordered pizza and ate that. I was ready for everyone to show up.  We had a good time. We made some cards. Poly sat in my bag that had a cards worth of supplies. She also brought me ponytail holders hoping I'd play fetch with her. Then after everyone left, I needed a snack and I watched some TV.

10.20

I had to pack my clothes to get dressed at my mom's so I didn't want to wear something new and get there and have it not work. So I looked at my calendar site and scrolled until I found one I wanted to pack. This is what I picked.

Skirt and shirt: Express
Cardigan: NY&Co.
Belt: Kohl's
Shoes: Mudd

I woke up before my alarm but kept going back to sleep. I even hit snooze.   I got ready for work and would have left 15 minutes earlier but I kept talking to my mom (or she kept talking to me).

Auditing was even more tiring today.  I didn't even find any more findings.

I tried really hard to keep up with emails and have the emails from today be 0 in my inbox.  This lasted until 9:45. I made it longer than the day before.

My husband uses the "find friends" app

After work I was going to run but it got so cold I didn't have the proper attire packed with me. I want to know who made it 33 degrees!

I get this and a text "No one invited this animal up here"

So instead of running I picked up dinner at Adrian's. I got pizza for Dave and a hoagie.  If an unhealthy wasn't hoagie wasn't enough I also ate chips with dip, pumpkin roll, and pudding.

We watched The Office, How I Met your Mother, and The X Factor.

Then I watched the Biggest Loser. I was about to go to bed but wanted to crop some pictures since the rest of the post was ready.  Well that took some time because the pictures weren't uploading automatically so Poly had time to chill out on my buddy chair (also known as a guest chair or the 2nd chair in my room that I have in a good spot for when Dave has to help me with my computer.)
_____
Here are some random things I want to know

1. Why does Forever 21 jam pack their racks like they do? Don't they realize it is harder to shop that way.
2. Why do plenty of stores have a petite section but none of them have a tall girl section?
3. Why do I remember random dates of some things but then can't remember why I walked down a certain aisle in the store?  (The other day I was talking to Dave about when we made chicken noodle soup last year and I said I was guessing it was October 24, 2010 and then I check my blog and I was right.)
4. What can I do to stop getting so tired every time I drive? 

9.27 - Long workday

I just bought the vest at the mall this weekend.  The button down shirt is the oldest and that is from 2008.  Each piece is from a different year (I think) and it all works so well together.

The back of the vest is solid gray. I seem to be wearing these purple shoes a lot. I think I wore them more in 2 weeks than I did in the past 5 months.

I woke up early and got to work early. I even curled my hair. It only takes 3 minutes but I tend to skip it to get other things done in the day.

I had numerous meetings. I was swamped. I had a meeting scheduled 11:30-5 but it was done slightly early. Then I was able to give training a little early and we hurried. I was done at 5:30 instead of 6.  Instead of doing the millions of things I had to do, I helped a coworker finish her RCA. Actually I could have run too. I was going to run then do my own work. That didn't happen. I didn't get my nice easy 4 mile run in. I got a rest day in instead. :( Julie did tell me to go run and not miss my workout but I felt bad. I thought I could run then go help her but I didn't have a change of clothes for a shower. Plus she thought she'd be leaving "early" so by 9 or 10pm and I thought I could use an exercise bike at home after.

I got tuna to go and velveeta shells and cheese and we had that for dinner.  Then later I learned my Olive Garden leftovers were still in the work fridge so I had that. (Dave was supposed to take them home the day before but he forgot.)

I left work at midnight.  I have never been at work so late. I have worked later but drove home, ate, and then worked.   This was my longest continuous working. I even worked through lunch.  At least I did have 5 minutes in the middle of the day that I talked to Jen.

I got my flu shot today too.

I was making a big deal that Julie worked 15 hours today but then realized I worked 16. Oh boy. She did work 17 yesterday though and then only slept 4 hours.  She looked really tired.  I encouraged her to stay at a hotel instead of trying to drive 50 minutes to go home. I really hope she did that. She doesn't have a change of clothes but I still think it's a smart move to stay at a hotel.

Why do I always put in extra time helping other people? I should have done my own work.  I still have things to do by EOB Wednesday!

My little Poly greeted me when I got home. She ran down the stairs. She's such a cute little girl.  Dave was asleep but I woke him up after I made noise trying to get ready for bed so then he said hi. He immediately went back to sleep.

The outfit was surprisingly comfortable for such a long day. It didn't annoy me much at all. But 11pm I was getting annoyed a little with the shirt bunching up under the vest but not too bad after such a long day.

8.30.11

Skirt and shirt: Express
Cardigan: NY&Co
Shoes: Connie from Famous Footwear
Belt: Kohl's
Necklace: Lia Sophia

It has been freezing at work so I decided to just wear a long sleeve sweater even though it is hot outside. If I wear short sleeves, I just end up putting on my desk sweater all day so then it hides half my outfit and looks like I wear the same clothes everyday. The only problem with this was that it was hot when walking between the buildings.

I slept in a bit today. I did not set 6 alarms but only 2 today. It allowed me to actually fall back to sleep and enjoy the sleep a little more.  I woke up and Poly was sleeping on Dave's pants. She was hugging the hanger too. I actually woke up to run downstairs to carry a hamper upstairs and then I still went back to sleep.  I woke up sore from Body Pump yesterday. I took a month off lifting and I can tell.

I worked just like always. I finally had lunch with Jen. We seem to only get to have lunch together once a week if that anymore. So we made the most of it and had lunch together for an hour.

I wore long sleeves to work since it has been freezing.  In the afternoon I had to wrap my spare sweater around my legs. Good thing I didn't need to wear that and I could use it as a blanket. One of these days I'll remember to take one of my extra fleece blankets to work. It's not even winter yet. I can't even imagine what it will be like when the heat doesn't work well in my corner.

Around 5pm we started talked about the temperature and I heard the lady who shares a cube wall with me tell the cleaning guy that she threatens to break people's fingers if they try to adjust the temperature on the thermostat. The thermostat is closest to her cube but it is for 5 or so rows so I don't see how she thinks she owns it. Also when all of us but her are cold, why does she get a say. She commented to the cleaning guy that we can just put on more layers. I think in the summer we shouldn't have to wear 3 layers and still end up cold. Ugh.

When I got home from work, Poly didn't even get up to greet me. She just stayed chilling on my suitcase that I still have yet to finish unpacking and putting everything away.

I had leftover pulled pork from Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was yummy.  Dave had leftover pizza. Then we watched a new TV show and I fell asleep for a half hour sitting on the couch. Dave fell asleep too.

I almost went to sleep at 8 but instead decided I really needed to get my pictures from my Colorado trip onto my desktop. Currently they were on 2 different laptops. Having them in different places made it hard to blog about them.

7.28

 Shoes: JCP, Skirt: Express, Shirt: NY&Co, Necklace: Lia Sophia

When I planned this outfit I felt like it went more but the red in the shirt is barely noticeable.

At work I finally made it to yoga. I finally got to experience the new instructor. In my opinion, she was not good.

We finally got our yard surveyed. And what do you know the property line is where I thought and not where the neighbors kept thinking it was. They acted like they had 10 ft of our yard on the side.

Poly hung out with me. She was cute. I ended up staying up too late though.

DC Day 4 - May 10

Outfit 1: Business Attire.   Outfit 2: Casual.   1 shirt was the same
Shirt: Express (2009 - $10)
Skirt: Express
Blazer: Sears
Shoes: Famous Footwear
Necklace: Kohl's
Earrings: Target (Pearls)

Outfit 2:
Cardigan: Kohl's
Jeans: Express
Shoes: Online somewhere (Brooks)
Belt: Kohl's
Earrings: Kohl's

Our day started with a pre-job brief for Hill Day. Then venturing out to go meet with some aids. They had everyone in groups based on who their representatives were.  Groups mainly had a few different groups of people so then we got to go to see more people with larger groups.

I did not get pictures of all the offices we visited. Sometimes we were just too busy. I can understand why they say that lobbyists wear out their shoes. It was a lot of walking.  It didn't help that our middle of the day appointment was a far walk and then we had to head back. I eat slow so ended up having to throw part of my lunch away to get to our appointment on time.

My group met with all aids but some groups met with actual Congressman. A few groups even met with some Governors.

During all our walking, we made a pit stop to take some pictures in front of the Capitol. We were really in a hurry so it was all rather quick. I wish we had more time just to pose a little better.

We were done around 1:45 and then it was time to head back.

Once we got back, we changed and headed out for a walk to see some sights. I wish the water at the hotel didn't taste bad. I was thirsty and didn't drink it. I wanted to buy a bottled water but one wasn't convenient so I kept walking. It was 80 degrees and hot.  I was dying.

I took a picture of the lack of Reflecting Pool. It is not everyday that it is like this except the pool sure does make a lot prettier pictures. I did get pictures last year when I visited (1, 3, 4, 5, and postcards) so I wasn't taking a ton of pictures this time around.

 

The White House Garden

After we got back there were only a few minutes to get ready or to just get over to the Happy Hour for Westinghouse people.  I got there at 5:30.  It started at 5 and was ending at 7.   It was at a cigar bar. I cannot tell you how unhappy I was when I got there and it smelled of cigar smoke. I believe we were warned that we would be in a back room away from the smoke. We were wrong. Cigar smoke is worse than normal smoke. I left after 15 minutes. I had trouble breathing. My eyes were bothering me. I was mad about the clothes I was wearing and how they were going to stink.  (They did stink and stunk up my suitcase and now I can't use my purse until I wash it.) Nobody talked to me that was there anyway before I left. I only talked to the people that I walked in with.  I felt really bad leaving but I don't like all the smoke and I definitely don't want to be around it. I was complaining to the people I was sitting with. I sure hope they weren't offended. They did say they would have left too but didn't since they had dinner plans and thought they'd just stay there until it was time.

I left with Jenna and we decided to walk and go find a place to eat outside. We walked a few different places and looked at the menus and then chose to go to other places.  Our final destination was at a restaurant right next to the cigar bar.  I got lasagna and it was delicious.  

I told people to keep me informed on what they were doing in the evening and a few of them did but they told me the name of the place (slightly different versions of the name each time I was told) and I tried to look it up on google and couldn't figure out where it was.  I texted more people trying to find out the actual name or where and got nowhere. I was really tired anyway.  I decided to change in to my PJs and give up. I did want to go out though.  I was extremely tired so it was better that I did not since it was a long day of travels the next day and after only 3:39 of sleep the night before I needed my rest.  I ended up staying up until midnight though watching TV.   I kind of still want to know where it was that everyone went.

Throughout the entire day I took 26,416 steps and that was without an official workout.  No wonder my feet hurt. I had been taking a ton of steps all days too. (Some of those steps were when I was still awake after midnight the night before. Probably a miles worth.)  A normal day at work w/o exercise is normally around 3,000 steps. I love BodyMedia fit. I love all the stats.

When you travel for work, do you go out in the evening with other travelers?  How do you decide where to go? Are you the decider or are you the follower?