Packing Progress (6.2)

We were actually making pretty good packing progress. These were taken June 2 and the movers weren't coming until June 6. But all those boxes in the middle of the walkway and living room were empty or full of packing paper and they kept getting in the way.

Tank: Loft, Shorts: AE, Hoodie: F21 (got a hole after a year)

9.28

For days I'd been saying I'd reward myself with donuts in the morning if I woke up at a normal time but then I didn't feel like 1 day was worth the reward and I felt lazy.  Well I finally went on the 28th but didn't go until closer to 11AM. They were out of the kinds I wanted. I got a dozen anyway since some that they had are kinds I like. The guy threw in an extra donut for me.  I ate one donut and was already full. Those donuts are so big. Every few hours I'd eat another one.  I kept wanting just a few bites and not the entire donut. I must be getting old.

I watched TV a lot but also did things on my computer.

Poly watched TV with me.  She especially likes to cuddle with me at night.

8.27

Shirt: Gap
Pants: Indi
Necklace: Lia Sophia
Shoes: Famous Footwear

The shirt is a little bit weird but it worked out great because it was so loose around the gut that you couldn't see a belt buckle lump.

In bed, Poly was sleeping at my feet. I debated staying in bed so she wouldn't annoy me but I actually got up.  Then when I got up, all Poly did was annoy me. She kept pawing at me and meowing at me.  I even fed her early. She just would not let up.  I played with her too.

When I went to eat lunch, I ate on the couch and Poly went up on the other couch cushion and she was a perfect angel.  Is she trying to get me to watch more TV?

I got up to try to be productive and Poly got up to be annoying again.  I was about to get up from my computer to do other things on my to-do list and Poly got on my lap.  I didn't want her to annoy me so I just let her nap on me for a few hours.

I added some layers to my hair but since the longest length is still the same it is hard to tell. I need to get a real hair cut.

I watched more TV in the evening and ended up staying up late (3am)

My camera remote won't work at all. My cheap camera remote that doesn't also focus is missing but at least when I find that one, it will work. 

8.15

Since I have been spending so much time reading and learning, I needed to clean desperately.  I woke up and started doing that with breaks of sitting at my computer to check my email.  I did wake up to 25 emails and most were from actual people.  I finally carried some stuff down to our storage room.  I carried the recycling to the car. (Maybe one of these days we'll recycle it.)  I carried our Goodwill donations to the car too. I might have made 6 trips downstairs.

We got our grill back.  They opened our balcony days ago but we were waiting for the contractors to get it back to us.   Now we just have to buy propane and we can cook on the grill.  Well it's scary high out there (to me anyway).  So maybe I'll make Dave cook until I can somehow get more used to it out there.  Dave even said it was slightly scary for him because he's too tall for the railing.  I told him now he has me even more scared.

I did laundry and used my drying rack outside on the balcony.  I believe this is the first time I will have clothes dried outside in all my life. I had to put one shirt under another shirt because it kept blowing off the rack.

I talked to my mom on the phone for an hour.

I made grilled turkey and cheese for lunch and then the same thing for dinner. I made Dave grilled ham and cheese.  He tells me it is supposed to be grilled cheese with a touch of ham not grilled ham and cheese. I said to me there should be a substantial amount of ham.  What is your opinion on this?  I made mine about an inch thing with meat but knew Dave wouldn't like that so his was less than half that. He still said it was too much.  Too bad I didn't have a picture of his to compare to mine. I almost called my  grilled turkey and cheese a turkey melt but I think they have more things on them which I didn't have.

I cleaned off the counter height counter and most of the normal counter today.  It was the first time the junk has been off of there since we moved in.  Now I want it to stay neat.  I doubt that will happen.  As soon as Dave came home, he opened a package and had the box, fan, packing material, and receipt already all sprawled out over it.   I also swept and mopped the kitchen floor and vacuumed the rest of the apartment.  It is nice to see stuff clean but boy do I wish it would just magically get clean.

Our hallway is finally clean going into the office. Stuff accumulated there that needed to go down into storage.

After dinner, I went for a run. I almost forgot too! I finished a few minutes after 8 and it was still light enough for my liking.

I showed Dave stuff I did with all my photoshopping skills on the running pictures. Then he got distracted and said he knew how to fix something.  Over an hour later he was still sitting at my computer doing stuff in Photoshop. I also showed him how to remove the signs on the edge of the trail.  He was impressed.

Here's an example of a before and after that I showed him. I'm impressed by it. I'm no professional so my standards are lower. It doesn't take that long to edit the photos but my problem is that I go in and edit all 150 instead of picking the best 5.  What do you think of the photos above?  Can you pick out everything I removed?

We watched Big Brother.  Then I went back to my computer to work on all the little things on my to-do list. I really don't know what people do that don't use a computer all the time. I feel like there isn't much else to do around the house.

I accidentally stayed up past 3am and still only got 72% of my to-do list done.  There were more things I could have done but the time wasn't worth it at that late in the day.  I wanted it to be my top completion and it's tied with 7th. Maybe someday I'll post my To-do list completion percent graph.

7.29

Tank: Loft, Shorts: American Eagle, Jeans: Express, Jacket: NY&Co

I set my alarm for 8:30. I hit snooze until 9:30.  At one point Dave woke me up saying if we went to the movies before noon it was cheaper. I told him I was going to run but I'd put it off until evening.

When I finally woke up, I started setting up a virtual machine of linux on my computer and then installed SQL.  Then we used the computer more and before we knew it, it was too close to noon so we never went to the movies.  I not only didn't run then I didn't go to the movies.

We finally hung up the big pictures!

We started organizing the closet. Or at least I did. I found Dave's middle school yearbook so he spent time going through that.   We watched a bunch of TV.

We went to Pasta Pomodora for dinner. The place is so close to our apartment and we hadn't gone yet.  It was so small inside. The table next to us was less than a foot away from us.  The people there were so weird. I think they were mother and son but the sone was in his 20s.  They were all impatient that they wanted their check so they could leave. The lady got out her ipad and played Plants versus Zombies.  The check got to the table and they ignored it for many minutes.  I couldn't believe it after the fuss they were making to get it.

We got home and watched AGT.  I think we watched 4 episodes.  It was fun to relax especially during the last episode when Poly decided to hang out on my lap versus in a canvas bag.  All that wasn't good for my productivity on my to-do list. At least I was able to blog while watching AGT to get some of it taken care of.

7.20

I started yet another day at my computer.  I was going to go for a run but my allergies were so bad that I wasn't having a fun time breathing. I was also sneezing and kept rubbing my eyes.

I hung up 2 pictures. I decided not to hang back up all my other pictures. I was short on room but I also thought that I should have new pictures on my walls. I compared it to my cube wall and every time I moved cube walls I put up newer pictures.

I met someone to sell our living room tables.  I had them on Craigslist before we moved but in a couple days nobody was interested in them all so we moved them. The guy took 20 minutes to analyze them. Then he called his wife. She said she trusted his judgement.  After all that I didn't want to deal with that again so I took his lower offer.

Then I went to google to eat lunch with Dave. It was pretty nice. We grabbed pizza first and ate that while in the Chinese food line. Other people did the same thing. The food was good but man was my mouth on fire. Dave was even coughing because it was hot for him.  He said it's not usually that spicy.  We needed something to remove the fire from our mouths so we got more food. We got fries and a hot dog. We split the hot dog.  Then I got a peanut butter and jam brownie bar. It had raspberry jam and was pretty good.  Next we went to some smoothie place and got smoothies.

It was practically 2 when I got home and I figured that was bad news bears for completing everything on my to-do list so I sat at my computer and picked the important one... applying for more jobs.

I did a little more organizing in the bedroom and living room but I also made a mess too.

I had leftovers for dinner but know Dave hates the smell of reheated pasta sauce so I ate before he got home. Then I ate some leftover tuna salad. Then I ate some pretzel crisps with pub cheese. I ate for a solid 2 hours.  No wonder my shorts got tighter.

We carried a few boxes down to storage. There is still a stack of more right in our entry way. We need to carry those down plus a mirror, big picture, and table top.

Dave stayed up late on his computer so I stayed up even though I wanted to go to be. I also stayed up but I decided to work on things on my to-do list. I helped greatly increase my % complete by deciding to be productive at the end of the day.  I updated my calendar site so now everyone can see that I just rotate the same 5 things.

Tank: F21, Shorts: American Eagle Outfitters
I actually wore my gladiator sandals when I was out in public but once we got home I changed into more practical shoes for unpacking.

7.16

These are my favorite shorts. This is one of my favorite tank tops. I work out in in too. I have a closet full of clothes and I wear the same 5 things.

Tank: F21 (4.80 if I remember correctly)
Shorts: American Eagle Outfitters (I picked these up because the shorts were buy one for 10 so either these ones cost 10 or they cost 25 if you average the 2. Either way they were 100% worth it.)
Shoes: Kohl's (form 2010. Think around $30)
Jacket: NY&Co (before May 2008)
Sunglasses: Found between my baking sheets in my kitchen

If I have to say so myself, I'd say I did a pretty good job balancing my camera on a pole and getting these pictures at the wrong part of the day.
****
Dave woke me up again when he was getting ready for work.  He blasts Howard so he can hear it wherever but that means I hear it.  He will talk to me too.  But I actually fell back to sleep after all the noise stopped.  My alarm went off at 8:30 and I hit snooze. I stayed in bed in a daze until about 9.  I was thinking about going for a run right away but didn't. I ended up checking my email. By that point it was 9:30 and I figured I better get a move on it to do my errands.

When I was getting dressed I heard one guy out on the scaffolding say to the other guy "Whoa I just got lightheaded there!" Then they went about doing what they were doing.  A few minutes later they were covering our windows with plastic to paint. I was surprised to hear the guy say he was lightheaded and then continue to work. I was also surprised to hear them talk in English.  Most days they are talking to each other only in Spanish.

First I went to Goodwill and dropped off a ton of stuff.  Then I headed to the post office to try to pick of a package.  The package was there when we were there last but we didn't have the pickup thing because our mail was on hold.  We had picked up the mail that was on hold.  But then we had also had a ton in our mailbox. In our mailbox it mentioned going to pickup something at the post office.  I figured that meant everything we had just picked up.   I was wrong. A few weeks later I got asked if I received a package. Luckily it was still at the post office.

In the Post Office parking lot, I looked up smog test on google maps and it said Pep Boys right near our house did them so I went there.  I got there and they do not do them. I looked up smog test again and this time called the place to be sure all was good.  I drove to Smog Me. That place was on the same road as the Post Office!  I drove all kids of extra. At least everything was only about 1.2 miles away.  Coming home I messed up too but I just missed taking a road that is more of a hypotenuse. At least now I'm all set for the DMV on Wednesday.

Poly was quite the annoying cat. She wanted attention but really she wanted attention from Dave and he's not around so she has to be annoying about it.

I did some emails and decided to quit slacking and just go for a run even though it was lunch and I hadn't eaten yet and it was sunny out.

I decided to drink some water before my run so I had about 1 oz. Then I had most of a small banana. Poly was trying to put on her cute face so I wouldn't leave her.  I couldn't capture the cutest parts on film because Poly had both of my hands.  She picked up my keys too. I was on to her though and took them back.  A little bit later she repositioned to be right on top of them. She was really trying to get me to stay. She was also purring up a storm.  I petted her for awhile but eventually did leave.

I ran 3.1 miles.  It wasn't so bad. It got easier.  My goal was 9:45 pace. I had a lot of bonus seconds. My first split was the slowest. That involved crossing the street and I didn't stop the timer properly.  I was going to run 3 but ended up turning around a little earlier than I planned because a truck was blocking the road. That meant I was getting back to the apartment prior to 3.0. Since I was running extra, I figured why not run a little more extra and run a 5k. My first split was 2:15 but my next 3 all were 2:11 (this is what pops up on the Garmin so the splits are always rounded down like a 2:11.9 will still show up as a 2:11 so I have to account for this when I make my bonus second goals and stuff).  Then my 5th split was 2:15 again. I wondered if I would have 3 at 2:11 again but I didn't. I had one at 2:09 then 2 at 2:11.  I still found that odd. Then the first split of my third mile was 2:15 again.  This seemed a bit odd. But instead of 2:11 or even 2:09 I had 2:04s and a 2:09.  (I guess I'll add a screen capture with the data to make it easier.)  I don't usually notice a theme to my splits but that doesn't necessarily mean I don't have one. I also don't usually beat my goal pace by a minute. 

I got back and Poly was waiting for me in the exact spot she was in when I left.

I showered and checked my email.  I decided to go buy sandals.  It's sandal weather all the time here and my only sandals have 5" heels. I have been wearing sneakers with shorts  or my boat shoes but the boat shoes look a little silly too.   I impulsively decided to go to Kohl's to look at some sandals.

There were lots of nice heels. I wanted some but I used self control. I found 1 pair of sandals that weren't thongs in flats. So basically I had no choices.  Well they had the 1 style in both tan and black. But you could see too much base that was brown with the black ones so I went with tan. 

I got home and Poly was again in the same spot she was in when I left.  I heated some Stouffer's macaroni and cheese for lunch.  Then I ate some pub cheese with pretzel chips.  That was some good cheese.  I watched Politics Nation and Anderson Making Medical Mystery and The Strangest Addictions Ever while eating.  I would swap back and forth and rewind so I wasn't actually watching commercials.

At 4:30, I decided I would go to Target instead of doing anything on my to-do list.  I bought a few things we needed but I also wanted pretzel chips. I forgot to add pretzel chips to the list so then I forgot to buy them. Target had a poor selection of plastic bins. I got 1 because they only had 1 in sort of the style I liked.

I got home a little after 5 and realized it was close to dinner time but I was nowhere near hungry.    I put some stuff away and used my computer until Dave got home. Then we both went on using our computers.  Finally we ordered pizza for pickup and Dave went and got it.  He forgot his keys for the secret door to get back by Trader Joe's so he had to walk around.   We ate Pizza and watched Hell's Kitchen.  Then it was back to computer time. I did tape up a few boxes and make 3 trips down to storage.  We don't have enough wall space for all our pictures so we kept some packaged up and put them back in the picture boxes.  I really did a number on my wrist putting one of the boxes into storage. I even iced it after. I wedged my wrist between the fence that divides the units and the box.  I can't believe it hurt as bad as it did.  My ice pack seemed much colder than normal and then after I was down I saw how the ice cut the plastic down the center. Now my ice pack has to be kept in a ziplock.  This will never end well.  I tried finding the same one on Amazon but failed.  At least google helped.

I'm pretty sure Dave and I watched TV or maybe we planned on it but then he was trying to get the computer to work to record TV so I spent time on my computer or a mixture of both. All my days blend together now that I don't have a job.  I did want to cross a few more things off my to do list so I cleaned the salt water taffy out of my purse. It just came out with hot water. I was surprised at how easy it was. If I would have known that I would have done it sooner.

7.10

Hall progress

I started off the day only allowing myself to sit at my computer for 30 minutes doing emails to start the day. I set the timer on my phone.  This helped.  I was productive. I started documenting what time it was that I finished each line item on my to-do list.

I started doing things not on my to-do list and I thought that wasn't fair. I didn't get to cross things off.  I was also distracted finding things and then having to look at them. I did look at a ton of pictures though. What fun.  I found some old pictures of my elementary school being torn down.

While unpacking the kitchen I found some sunglasses. They aren't mine but they are very similar to ones I just purchased. They fit well too. Looks like I got some new glasses.  I do wonder how they got stuck between some baking sheets.

Dave and I went to Five Guys after he worked.  Their fries were actually perfectly cooked here. The one in Cranberry always had undercooked fries so I hated them. Dave got frozen yogurt after but I didn't want any.

 After that we drilled the holes in my bookshelf for the lamp cord and then mounted it.  Then we were off to the gym.  It was already after 8 by this point.  I started by running a mile on the treadmill and then did weights.  Dave started on the elliptical and then did weights.

After that Dave tried doing things to be productive and got annoyed with my typing so he scared me off. I ended up sitting on the floor in the hallway using my laptop because it won't get wireless from bed.  I'm too nice. I should have told him to shove it and learn to deal with typing. After all we will be sharing offices now.

I stayed up close to midnight and did some stuff with pictures.  I am so behind.  I never even typed my May 19 post or cropped those pictures. Besides that my oldest date not blogged is June 12.  I better hurry up. I'm so behind.

Outfit 1 for unpacking and outfit 2 for going out to dinner. I only swapped out the capris for jeans.
Tank: F21, Capris: Target, Jeans: Express

Lack of progress

Random Paper I found unpacking

6.3

We woke up at 4:30. We left at 5am. I set my alarm for 10 minutes earlier than last time but I hit snooze. We didn't end up leaving any sooner. We didn't have to wait in line to check a bag this time so we had more time to kill.

At the airport we ran into JD! We ended up being on the same flight.

We headed to our hotel then went to In n Out Burger. Then we thought we should look at apartments. Instead we napped for 3 hours. Then we drove around a little and went to dinner.  JD joined us then we all went and got frozen yogurt. It's odd that I've been trying to have dinner with him since April and lunch since May and we never could make it work then we end up doing it all the way out in California.

Dave and I went to Target. Then we went to a 2nd Target.

Then it was Hotel time to watch TV and use our laptops.

During the day I wanted pictures of Poly since we were apart from her. The picture above is the only one my family sent. 

(I don't have any pictures of me. And I was up so many hours too. I wore jeans that you will see later in the week but they were so uncomfortable on the plane. I also wore my pink tank top that I use to workout sometimes.)

6.2

Tank: Gap (from 2006)
Jeans: Express
Hoodie: F21
Shoes: Brooks

Shoes: Sperry (from somewhere online)
Shirt and Jeans: JCP

I went running with Adrienne in the morning.  We ran 6 miles then walked 2.  We ran at a leisurely 9:47 pace. It was nice. I've realized how easy it is to loose your endurance.  I need to keep up the mid to long runs so I don't lose it all again. I think it might be 90% gone.

I took Poly to my parents so they could watch her for a few days. It was just me and her.  She was pretty good until I got on the Turnpike. 

Dave and I did facetime so he could see Poly (and me).  After I left, Poly was resting on the kitchen chair.

While i was there, Poly looked out their sliding glass door.  Sometimes she half hid behind the curtains to look out the door.  Their door is taller than ours so she sees better while sitting.

Dave and I packed.  We missed Poly.  We should have gone to sleep early but I was up past midnight.