polenta, sopes, tamales or day 191

it's almost 200 days? damn.

it's been a couple weeks of taking stock. not necessarily doing anything with said stock, but considering the stock none-the-less. are there hyphens in none-the-less? i dunno.

in this vein of taking stock (vain?), i'm realizing that although i do need to lose some weight and i do need to consider what i eat, nothing really changes when i write things down. i look back at the month and see that, for half the time, i stick to the program and the other half, not so much. i did also see that even when i go "off" what i should be doing, i don't usually do it in great excess. i'm not giving up on the idea of weight loss, but i know that i need to find a way that actually works for me. and well, yeah, i probably need to put a little more real effort into it to (rolls eyes). at the very least, i'm still taking water aerobics twice a week. yay!

continuing on in trying out fiscal responsibility, i made a full payment on my student loan, which i believe is the first time since, oh, maybe sometime in 2007. i plan to make full payments each month. this fulfills one for goal #24. i did have an overdraft this pay period, which really bummed me out. but, it was only one and i had 2 pay periods prior without. i will continue to try to avoid them.

i bought new boots, which was goal #48. i haven't received them yet, so hopefully they fit and are comfy, etc. i hope so, because they are super cool:

i added to my #33 goal of being proactive at work by completeing the last of my 3 online classes that i signed up for. it was on being an active listener and proactive manager. really lame, but it's done.

finally, my apartment is in an almost fresh slate state. goal #51 is to keep it tidy before it becomes a project. this is what i will aim to do. the bathroom especially.

for next time, for real this time, EXERBYCLE! also, hopefully, new winter coat and bathing suit.

allegheny, something that starts with m, and the other one or day 177

over the weekend, i went to visit emily in pittsburgh. my dad called me last night to ask me how the trip went and i told him that the rivers make it hard to get around. he asked me if i could name the rivers and my answer was, allegheny, the one that starts with m, and the other one. so, you see, perhaps i should make one of my goals to be better with geography.

my trip to pittsburgh *kinda* fulfills #90, which was to take a road trip to some place i have never been. i say *kinda* because the directive was to randomly pick somewhere on a map and go. so, it was pre-meditated, but, i had never been there before. i will still try to do the random one.

i wrote in a couple blogs back that i had gotten names of lawyers to try to start sorting scott stuff out, which i haven't delved into yet; however, i did tell my dad that i was planning to start. this conversation could've gone badly and had i planned it, it probably would've. but, i was able to sneak it into a conversation we were already having and he seemed receptive. not sure i'll get any help from them, but it's a step.

#42 was to create a budget and stick to it. for a month now, i've done just that. i've gone 2 pay periods with no overdraft fees (that's 2 for #78!) and am working on a third. by next pay period, i should be able to start getting stuff i want/need like a mattress and new bathing suit. at this point, i will change this to a completed goal.

#56 was to straighten/tidy apartment before it becomes a project. i'm slowly getting the project part done with, so that i can move onto the tidying part. my front bedroom got an overhaul on monday. i even got dizzy a new cat box. so, now, the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom are the 3 left to finish. with the librarian party coming up, it will get done!

sherman loves pandora and i'm sick or day 169

last week, i made a budget and damn if i haven't followed it. it's been a little tight this week, but ultimately, this will lead to...wait for it...not getting an overdraft fee! so, not to count my chickens before they hatch, it would seem that i will successfully make it through 2 pay periods with no fees. if my plan works, things should start looking up financially by the end of september and i can start doing things (also on the list) like replace my windshield and buy a new mattress. oh and maybe some new shoes and clothes, since i've been wearing the same everything for too long.

another future purchase will be a rowing machine. since i can't seem to find a class that i can take, i started pricing rowers to buy. i found a rower that i've used before for $350, which is pretty reasonable. i'm hoping to get that by late fall/early winter.

last week, i had set 3 goals for myself to accomplish and i managed 2 of them: i did paper one of the canvases i bought and hung it in my room. i still have the other one to do and think i might even get to that this week. i also cleaned the hell out of my living room. there was dusting and ceiling cobweb removal involved. it still needs a little more organizing, but i feel i did enough to list it as a finished goal. i did not exerbycle. this week for sure!

now, if you don't mind, i'm going to go home early and get back in bed.