Boo Hiss

Work has been very "Boo Hiss" since I got back from vacation (aka yesterday and today). I came back right in the midst of a deadline crunch and not just any deadline crunch, but one that involves a brand new, HUGE client (and by huge I mean it has 26 trial balances, 26 different entities all rolled into one, not to mention 5 or 6 other related companies that are actually separate...and this is not all we do, this is just ONE client). So, yeah, it has sucked. But tomorrow is Friday and that rocks.

Vacation was fun, it was a decent mix of 'together with the family' and 'alone with the Husband' time, so that's good.

We came home on Monday night and my in-laws brought one of our dogs back home (they keep the 12 year old chihuahua, the big, young girls go to the kennel) and while they were there, we decided to let the guineas out of their coop for the first time! It took about 30 minutes for all of them to figure out how to get out (after I physically crawled inside the coop and brought one out to show the others that escape was possible). They had a lot of fun walking in grass for the first time ever and eating real bugs (instead of man-made food) and flying. Apparently the flying is made of awesome. They all celebrate everytime any one of them flies - it is very, very exciting. So Monday night we had to pick them all up and put them back in their coop. Then Tuesday evening we let them out for a couple more hours and had to pick them up and put them back in there again. Last night, however, they actually walked up the stairs into the coop on their own!! We did have to encourage them, but didn't have to touch them. So we're hoping that they'll catch on and just start putting themselves to bed at night and I'll just have to go down there and lock the door to their coop. That would be sweet.

Oh, that part of the exam that I took last week was fucking horrible. And that's putting it lightly. If I passed that, it will seriously be the biggest shock of my life. Ever. Dude, it was awful. And believe me, it is getting tougher and tougher to stay motivated to study for this damn thing. Ugh.

Pseudo-Friday

Today is my last work day for this week and that is made of awesome. Tomorrow I'm taking my 2nd part of the CPA exam and my level of freaking out in increasing by the hour, which is not cool. Ever since my last attempt at college (you know, the time when I actually graduated) I've been a horrible test-taker. I panic. I forget things that I really should know. I get nervous and start zoning out. Before I know it, minutes have passed by and I'm just staring at the test thinking about a zillion other things. It's a problem. I once got a 38% (did you even know that was possible??) on an accounting final because I completely lost my shit and was just putting down wrong answers and stupid things and I knew I was putting wrong answers but I just had to put something on the paper and get the fuck out of there. Fortunately for me, I had good enough grades in the class up to that point that I still managed to get a B, even with a 38% on a weighted final. But still.

So here's the problem - on the 1st part of the exam, I kept it together really well, I viewed it as a learning experience and I wasn't nervous about it at all (really, I wasn't). I was thinking clearly, I read the questions, took my time, it was all good. And what happened? I fucking failed it, that's what!! So now what? Now this time, it doesn't feel like a practice run - it feels very important and I don't think anyone is going to be understanding if I don't pass this one (least of all - me!) and I'm very, very, very nervous about it. And that scares me because I don't know how to control it (you'd think after 75 years in school I would have learned...but no) and if I go in there and wig-out and forget every single thing I've studied (things I don't feel like I really know in the first place) then I'm fucked. And not in a good way, my friends.

Yeah, so, that's where I am right now. Fun, huh?

Then, today I got a big tax return dumped on me and it has to be finished by the end of the day and the guy who owns the company has about eleventy billion kids and grandkids and all of their returns are supposed to be done (by yours truly) by the end of August. Oh, and did I mention that I'm going to be out tomorrow and then we're going on vacation and I won't be back until Wednesday?? No stress there, none at all. Way to make me panic right before the exam AND ruin my vacation. Thanks a lot. Frankly, I have a lot more things to say about work right now, but I've learned from the experience of other bloggers that isn't a good plan, so we'll just leave it at: Grrrrr....

Here's the plan: (I'm hoping a plan will help me chillax - HAHAHA I LOVE that word, it's so delightfully dumb!!)
Tonight:

• 4:00pm - leave work, promptly, assuming the aforementioned tax return is complete.
• 4:45pm - get home (barring natural disaster and assholes who can't drive)
• 4:45pm - 5:45pm - continue studying, hopefully finish up the last few chapters worth of multiple choice questions.
• 5:45-6:30pm - make and eat dinner, feed the guineas
• 6:30-8:00pm - go over some more multiple choice questions, look-up a couple formulas that I don't know, brush up on a few things that I didn't do well on the multiple choices for.
• 8:00pm - STOP STUDYING, give my poor brain a chance to chill before it is taxes beyond measure tomorrow. I might work on putting a top coat on the hallway that Husband primered last night, maybe just the woodwork or something, anything brainless that I don't have to think about. I also need to sew a button on a pair of his shorts and finish hemming some work pants for him, maybe I'll do that.
• 10:00pm - go to bed, so I have plenty of sleepy time before tomorrow.

The plan for tomorrow:

• 6:00am- get up, let the dogs out, shower, etc...the usual
• 7:00am - leave the house, head to the testing place. It only takes a little over an hour to get there usually, but there is construction around UofL's campus, so I want to leave PLENTY of time.
• No later than 9:00am - get signed in at the testing site - chill the fuck out - DON'T FAIL

Time flies...

...when you're not paying attention!! Sorry I've let so much time go by between posts...when things are crazy at work (as they are now and will be until 10/15) I don't have much time to post.

I'll catch you up on what's new, then I gotta get back to work:

• I've done decent keeping at the working out, although I don't feel like I'm making any real progress yet. I've done pilates a few times and I incorporated a biceps/triceps workout that really made my arms sore the next day. The next thing we'll be purchasing is dumbells so I can keep up with the arm work.
• I got my grade on the 1st part of the CPA exam I took back on July 1st. I got a 73. You need a 75 to pass. So for 2 fucking points, I'll be paying another $200 and taking the damn thing again. Fun. While I'm glad I got a halfway respectable score, I'm still quite unhappy about it - just disappointed in myself I guess, and pissed at all that studying time that now feels wasted.
• I have my 2nd part of the exam this Thursday at 9am. It is taking everything I have at this point to stay committed to my study schedule and to keep putting all the effort I can into it, even though I really fear that, once again, my best won't be good enough. If I fail two sections in a row, I'll be devastated, which is making me a lot more nervous for this one than I was the first one.
• The new test taking schedule looks like this: Financial August 20, Auditing October 2, Business Environment & Concepts (the section I failed) October 19, and Regulations November 23. So I will have taken all 4 parts (and one part twice) by the end of the year.
• We're going on vacation this weekend with my family for my Dad's 70th birthday. We'll be gone Friday-Monday to Gatlinburg, TN, then we're taking Tuesday off work to spend with the dogs and whatnot. Then I'll starting studying again on Wednesday.

Ok, gotta get back to work.

Monday pilates

I did the Pilates thing again last night (on a thick, folded blanket and it felt much better - still I will be investing in a mat asap...I promise). I don't think I was 'holding my powerhouse' as effectively this time. My legs are a sore but my abs are not, so I think I was letting my legs do a lot of the work instead of controlling things wiht my powerhouse (can you tell house much I enjoy that term??) I mean, I can tell I did something, but they're not sore like they were. I went 2 more exercises into the routine this time, but probably was only able to do that because I wasn't doing it as well. I still got the pounding headache, but I took little rests and it wasn't nearly as bad this time. Hopefully I'll be able to get that under control. It mostly happens when I sit up from the moves done on my stomach. Of course, I've always (like, my entire life) gotten a pounding headache (even if only briefly) when I get up off the floor from laying on my stomach. The moves did seem harder this time, it was harder to stay flexed and keep my naval pulled in, probably because my abs are still tired from last time - but they have to suck it up!!

This morning, I browsed through today's programming on the fitness channel (not sure what it's really called) and recorded several shows that look interesting. A cardio show, one for biceps and triceps, and a belly dancing routine that sounds like fun. I'm going to try to work those in during the week as well. I'll just have to find one that is suited to my level and that I enjoy. I may not have found it yet, if not, I'll keep looking. So tonight I'll probably try to do one of those shows instead of the heavy bag, but we'll see - it will definately be one or other.

Oh, last night, I officially heard the guineas break out their adult voices for the first time!! We heard them the other night too, but didn't know what we were hearing, this time, there was no doubt. It was lightening and thundering outside, so of course we went out to watch and heard this racket. Turns out, they don't like storms particularly! The were down there screaming their heads off, in their full adult voices...no longer limited to just chirping and clucking like baby birds. It was crazy. I talked to them from the porch (it was pouring rain at that point) and it seemed to calm them down a little. Guess they're used to listening to my mouth by now.

This morning, on the way out of the driveway, I saw a mama and 2 baby deer and Sunday night we saw the mama and her triplets. So we've determined that we have one mother with 3 babies, one with 2 babies and one other one that has 1 baby and we also have 3 young bucks living near by that we spotted in the front yard one evening. Quite the deer population!

Here's what I've learned...

You can't start running with a weak powerhouse. Oh, and the woman on the Pilates video is a she-devil, in the most evil sense of the word.

Any attempts at running and/or fast walking, have been thwarted by back pain, brought on by weak abs, etc. So I thought to myself, "Self, let's do some pilates with our heavy bag routines and build up those core muscles (the "powerhouse"), THEN we'll worry about running." Besides, more muscle = more fat burning. Friday night we did some pilates. The bitch...er...lady on the DVD said that I should start with 5 or 6 (out of 18) of the exercises and then work up to doing the entire routine. So that's what I (attempted to do) did. Keep in mind - I have no mat and I'm working on a HARDwood floor. I had to skip one move because "roll like a ball" doesn't happen on a HARDwood floor with no mat. Not when my tailbone is involved. No way, no how.

Anyway, I did 5 or 6 of her moves...after a while, when the blood was gone from my brain and my tailbone was screaming in pain and the dog was licking my face while I attempted unnatural acts on the living room floor (with my pelvis in "neutral position" and my spine in alignment)...I lost count. I actually didn't stop because of my muscles, I stopped because after one move that was done on my stomach, when I sat up to do the next move, my head started pounding in a way that I was certain...certain...would be the end of me and I had to stop. All the while, that smiling, blonde harbinger of death was on my television screen bending and flexing and stretching and smiling. God, I hate that woman.

In the end, I thought, Well, maybe pilates isn't for me. I guess I can't do enough of that to help because of the inexplicable pounding in my head. But...turns out I was wrong. Turns out it really is the quality of your movements and not the quantity. And I guess I really was holding everything in and flexing and whatever I was supposed to be doing because my powerhouse killed all day Saturday. It hurt yesterday too but not nearly as bad and today I can only tell anything happened when I suck it all in and flex those muscles. So I guess I was doing something right. The only thing I'm wondering now is if I should have done it again yesterday, since the pain was fading or if I should have waited until today when the pain is almost all gone. I'm definately doing more tonight - it was awesome! And to finally do something so quick and simple that left me with such soreness that it MUST have done something - that's awesome too. Now I just need a mat, before my tailbone stages a revolt.

In other news, I'm still studying, my next part of the exam is next Thursday (August 20th) and Husband worked until midnight Friday night, then went in at 8:30am Saturday and got home about 6pm, so I got caught up on my studying and I put a coat of primer on the hallway. We finished the woodwork yesterday and put a topcoat on the walls, so just one more coat on the walls and that'll be another area of the house painted...sweet.

Update

Sorry for the lapse in posts, I'm not losing my enthusiasm, just my free time (at work). Things are beginning to pick up and that'll probably continue all the way through the 10/15 deadline (I hope). Still, even with work to do, sometimes it hard to find the motivation to actually do it - I'm working on that. Honest, I am.

So here's what happened to my weekend (aka Why I didn't work out like I was supposed to). Friday night, Husband got home and asked if I'd like to go visit his parents and play some pinochle. So that's what we did. Until like 11pm, then we came home and passed out in bed. Saturday morning, He went to get his hair cut and pick up his dad's truck so we could buy some lumber (why we didn't take said truck home with us the night before, I'll never know). I studied the entire time he was gone (except for when I went down and fed the guineas). I thought I got caught up, but when I looked at my study schedule on the calendar last night, I discovered that I'm still one chapter behind. Crap.

Anyway, when he got back, we went and bought some lumber so he could build himself a workbench in the garage. He started on that and I started cleaning the house. (We returned the truck at some point, but I can't remember when) I started in the "east wing" and vacuumed the hallway and both spare bedrooms (even got up next to the base boards with the attachment!) and cleaned that bathroom (that no one had used in months). Then I vacuumed the steps to the basement and the rug by the front door. After that, I moved on to the "west wing" and cleaned the half bath and the master bath, our bedroom (dust was 10 inches deep), changed the bed, all that good stuff. All the while I was creating a waste-deep pile in the laundry room!! I dusted the living room and we went to the grocery about 10pm Saturday.

Sunday, we started again, this time Husband worked on cleaning up the garage (after I helped him cut the plywood for the top of the workbench) and I finished up with running the dishwasher (3 times!!) and doing laundry (the pile is now about knee deep) and swept and mopped the living room/kitchen/hallway. We went and got something for lunch, then we rested a while, I did more laundry, emptied the dishwasher, refilled it, hand washed some leftover cookie sheets and whatnot, and eventually it was time to fix dinner. Oh, I colored in my new coloring book for a while too. Anyway, after dinner, we started on the lawn. I mowed for about an hour and Husband mowed for about 2 hours, I fed the guineas (a constant chore...they are little feathered piglets!!) and it was pretty much time to go to bed.

I'm finding that Husband was right, it is very difficult to fit working out into my schedule right now. I'm still motivated though, and still trying to figure out how to work it in so it can happen regularly. So, in case anyone can make any suggestions how to do this, here is tonight's timeline:

4:45pm - get home from work, let the dogs out, change my clothes
5:00pm - study
5:45pm - Husband gets home, fix dinner
6:30pm - hopefully be finished eating by then (we're just heating up leftovers), hang up the stuff in the dryer, put another load in the washer, start mowing grass
9:00pm - should be finished mowing by then (hopefully!), take a shower cause I'll be gross
9:30pm - out of the shower, study for another hour
10:30pm - go to bed

Keep in mind that the 2 hours of study time I have alotted will barely keep me caught up and will not allow for getting ahead and I'm already a chapter behind. (Yes, that is depressing, thank you for noticing). Of course, there are not the 2 1/2 hours of yard work every night, but it amazes me how the almost 6 hours between getting home and going to bed just disappear. Any suggestions for better time management??