I needed a quick little distraction because my work day was just so freaking boring. So I cruised on over to Eric's website and was quite amused by his 2/27 post on inventions. In fact, I had to stifle my laughter and go to the bathroom after reading the line about his father claiming to have coined the term "whiz" when referring to urination. Too funny. :)

I was still bored after I'd read nearly all of his recent posts, so I decided to cruise some of his links and I found Sara's page. I really enjoy her writing style and was delightfully distracted by a "Where I've Been in the US" map and I decided to make my own:

create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

There may be other states in there that I went to when I was too young to remember...

well. back to work. sigh.

Expect an added boost to your physical energy today, dear Cancer. It's an excellent day to clean out closets, storage rooms, and the like. Furthermore, some exercise such as biking or walking will be most enjoyable for you. It may also prove to be well worth your while to sit down and take a look at your goals. Are you where you want to be at this stage of your life, or are there changes that need to be made? Exercise both you brain and body.

So that was my horoscope for the day. And how weird is it that I was planning on cleaning out my closet tonight? I'm going to the gym after work and then home to clean out the closet. I'm hoping to find a few items that will be worth trying to sell on ebay. I've had some sucess in the past selling clothes on ebay. After I lost weight, I sold a bunch of my "fat" clothes... Jeans from Lane Bryant were quick sellers. I can think of a few things right now that I know I'll want to sell... hopefully I'll find some "surprises" too.

It's Wednesday and that's hump day and I can't wait for the weekend. I wish today was Thursday, at least.

More good news.

So rock. Today at work they told us that we were getting bonuses. Rock! My bonus is enough to pay for new tires for my car (totally went at lunch to Sam's and ordered them) which I totally needed. The one tire in the front got ruined after we hit a pot hole on the way to Sushi House last Wednesday night and the rim bent. Dodi took the wheel into her shop to see if the guys could bang out the rim for me (she rules) and she couldn't believe that I was driving around on that tire. It was trash. It was pretty much bald anyways - as is the other front tire - so I knew that I was going to have to replace them before my inspection by the end of April. And since I just replaced one of my rear wheels in November or December... can't remember when... I figured I'd replace the other rear wheel so I'd have all new tires on my car. So rock that the bonus will cover that. I can't wait to get the tires replaced and my new rims (Alex bought me two rims that we found cheap off of ebay to make up for bending the rim the other night) on the car. I'll be so glad to not have scraped up rims anymore... and even more glad to not have the full sized spare on... I walked outside yesterday and looked at my car and almost screamed when I saw it because I forgot that I had the spare on:

My slightly ghetto beetle.

So rock. The bonus will also cover the body work to fix the scrape on the passenger side. Which rules. I totally shot an email to Dodi as soon as I knew to see when I might be able to bring the car in. I'm so glad that the car will be all nice just in time for spring. I was dreading having to go through the spring/summer with the scraped up pass side and scraped up rims when I really want my car to look nice. I love it so very, very much. And I'm going to have so much fun detailing it and driving it around all nice and shiny and perfect! Yay!!

2004. Year of New Me.

Here were my New Year's Resolutions:
1. Lose Weight.
2. Get on top of shit at work and stop being lazy.
3. Do something (other than whine) about tremendous debt.
4. Get serious about shaping up for NYSP.
5. Stop being lazy with chores at apartment.

Here's my progress thus far:

1. I've lost 11.8 lbs in 6 weeks. I'm loving the Weight Watchers program and am still able to go out and enjoy myself on the weekends. I'm on the verge of needing new jeans because my "skinny jeans" are getting baggy. I'm five pounds away from the top of my range for the NYSP and 13 pounds away from my personal goal. I'm thinking that I may actually re-evaluate my personal goal because I think I could be sucessful at losing more weight than that and maintaining that weight loss.

2. My desk is worlds away from what it was two months ago. I'm still not completely on top of everything, but who is? I'm able to address pretty much everything on my diary on a daily basis and my mail gets worked within 3-5 days of receipt, if not sooner. I'm doing much better than I was before. I still have completely unproductive days every once in a while, but for the most part I'm rocking at work compared to how I was before.

3. I finally did something about my debt. For the last 4 years or more I've been worried about the incredible debt I was accumulating. But I did nothing about it. I continued to spend on my credit cards and my debt kept amassing. It got to a point where I was paying so much in minimum payments on these cards that I was barely making it paycheck to paycheck. Finally, I decided enough was enough. I approached my dad to see if he'd be a co-applicant on a personal loan to consolidate my debt. I used a loan calculator online to figure out how much a monthly payment would be on this very large loan that I would need with a five year term. It turned out that the monthly payments were about $100 less than what I paid in minimum payments on my credit cards. It was rediculous for me to not go for the loan. Making just the minimum payments, I wouldn't have the credit cards paid off for at least 25 years or so. But making the slightly smaller monthly payments on a loan would mean that it would all be paid off in five years. So this past weekend, my dad and I went to our credit union to see about getting a loan. Unfortunately, I was denied. For a personal loan, the applicant has to qualify on their own, even if there is a cosigner. And because of my massive debt, there was no way I could qualify. The loan officer suggested that I borrow the money from an individual and my dad immediately said that he could loan me the money. I had no idea that he was in a position to loan me that kind of money, but he apparently was. And he was willing. So Sunday I discussed with both parents what the payment plan was and they gave me a check. So now I have to deposit it and pay off all my credit cards and cancel them. I can't wait! I'm going to the bank tomorrow during my lunch and then making the payments as soon as the check clears. And as I pay each card off, I'm cancelling it. It's gonna feel so great! And it's going to be an instant boost to my credit rating. I obtained a copy of my credit report and it revealed that the only negative thing on there was that I had such an extreme amount of debt. I had no dings for late payments or anything like that. So rock! I'm so excited that I'm going to have my debt paid off in five years! By then my car will be paid off too! Yay!! Thanks Pa and Wham!!

4. I've maintained my goal of getting to the gym at least every Monday and Wednesday for cardio and weight training and I've also been getting to the gym on Thursdays and Saturdays (and Fridays when Alex is working). So I'm doing very well with my training for the NYSP. I can consistently do an 11 minute mile, and I need to work my way down to just under a ten minute mile to qualify. My arm strength is coming along, though I could be working harder at that. But overall I'm doing very well with this goal. Also, I'm really enjoying my time at the gym. :)

5. While my bedroom is still a train wreck of a mess, the rest of the apartment is relatively clean. I need to get on a regular schedule with the cleaning of the floors, and the litter box totally needs to be cleaned tonight (suck), but the past couple of weeks there hasn't been a huge pile of dishes in the sink and it's not 'cause I'm not cooking. So I'm getting much better at keeping up with the dishes. Now I need to get back to weekly cleanings of the floor and the bathroom and I totally need to get off my ass and clean my room.

So, altogether, I'm doing great! I get inspired by my sucesses and they push me to achieve more. I'm hoping to be my most perfect self by my birthday this year (25! Oh God, I'm getting old!) and it looks like I'm on a good track. :)