Moving up??

So buying a house has prompted me to explore life transitions...

Starting when you're born, everyone is always talking about moving on... learning something new etc. etc. etc. (working with preschoolers, I may be skewed to pay attention to many of the early ones... anyway...) I have a distinct memory from when I was entering first grade... someone said, "Wow! Now you're really going to school, are you nervous?" (I say) "I hear there is homework ugh... no fun" (opinion influenced by elder sisters)

Just over 10 years later...I graduated from high school and everyone said (or at least said to me), "Wow.. you're entering the real world... are you nervous... you're headed for the 'big city' Good luck!" (or something along those lines). I am grateful for the well-wishes and, at the time, I was very excited to move on... but even then I was thinking... Madison... "big city"... ??? (not really.. I HAVE ventured outside of the great state of Wisconsin and we really don't have much to qualify as 'big city'...well, I suppose when you compare it to where I come from...) So I think to myself, 'Yep... I'm ready... and I've been ready for a while...'

So anyway, 2 major life transitions (though many more from a parent-perspective, I am sure) out of the way by 18. I go to college, I love it... I love Madison (for the not-so-big-city that it is). 6 short (loooooooong!) years later I graduate with a Master's degree. Everyone celebrates (though no one quite as much as me) and says, "Wow.. you're entering the real world... are you nervous... you're headed for 'real world of work' Good luck!" (all the while I'm thinking... uhh yeah, I've been ready for this for at LEAST the past 2 years!)

Again, I love the well-wishes and hope for the best. I have had most of my first full year of 'real world' work (and luckily I love the people I work with and more importantly the job I do). During this year I also got engaged to be married! I received even more congratulations (Yay... I'm even more excited for this transition than for the graduation one!) Another life transition in less than a year.

On top of the last one (granted one of the 'Big Three' as I have come to refer to them... Marriage, House, Kids), I am looking for the 2nd of the above... a HOUSE! As listed in a previous blog Animals of Many Kinds, I'm not entirely happy with my current living situation. We're looking to move up to no shared walls... of any kind.

Yet another life transition. Am I moving too fast? This is a big one... lots of $$ on the line... lots of stress for me and my fiance to handle. Should we think about having kids right away... get the third 'Big Three' out of the way???


NO!


We will be waiting... at least for a couple years! Get married (almost all plans are done really), find a house (where we will throw a big party to celebrate the former), then take a BREAK! And have kids somewhere in there... when we're comfortable...

I am still left to ponder (as I set up 'retirement accounts' etc.). Every time you enter one of my so named 'transitions' it seems like it's the end of something and the beginning of another. I have always looked to marriage, house, and kids (the 'Big Three') as the 'END' of the story...stability sets in...period.

But really... as I think... every 'transition' (including those 'Big Three') is just that... transitioning to the next level. There is no end. There is ALWAYS another step to look forward to, work for (a few I think of at this point of my life... having a baby... having another?... multiple child milestones... they start school... we sell/buy a new house... (beyond that let's not think about at the moment). The point is... I don't ever need to feel bored with my life... ever. There's always more to plan for... prepare for... help my family prepare for...

I can't wait!

The Bender Ball...

Oh yes, the one time I give in to a TV infomercial... I choose to buy the Bender Ball. $10 is a very inviting number to make yourself look good... so I go to order online assuming the S&H will be significant... it is... $20 is still an inviting number to make yourself look good. After viewing the website a few times over a period of months, I give in. I have a wedding coming up... a wedding on a beach... yes, I need it.

The ball comes. I didn't realize just how small the ball was on TV.


Gripe #1 - Ball could have been purchased at Wal-Mart for $2 as it is the same size as those cheap ones in the wire cages...

So, I get the ball and the training DVD. ... ... ... a month passes ... ... (please refer to my Laziness) ... the next time I really even think about the Bender Ball, I am looking at my credit card statement thinking, "Didn't I pay for that stupid thing last month??" I check... I did...

Gripe #2 - They automatically sign you up to receive the DVD video that you declined to buy when you checked out... it's a 'subscription' that I missed in the fine print.

So I call the Bender hotline (after doing 2 seconds on online searching, I see multiple postings of other people who are just as upset as I am... alas if I had only done that BEFORE!) I am unhappy to the lady, but I do realize... she just needs to make money and the only people she gets to talk to all day are people like me calling in to complain (most of whom aren't as nice as I am and take their frustrations out on her). I try to cancel the shipment... no go, it's already 'in shipping process'. I ask about canceling the 'subscription'... she says, "Don't worry the NEXT payment of $20 WILL BE your last payment, I am unsubscribing you from the program." I get a little testy with the lady...there's ANOTHER payment I have to make!?!? She explains that there is. I go on to ask about getting my money back (now up to $60 for this thing I haven't even used and looks like a piece of junk) She gives me a code to put on the package so that they will be able to process my return.

A week passes, the shipment comes... I don't open it and say 'return to sender' on the package (the h if I'm going to pay MORE on top of all this craziness) with the return ID she gave me. It's been a month... I have yet to see the $40 I am owed appear on my credit card statement.

After my post earlier this week, I get out the ball and try the DVD.

Gripe #3 - The lady who is supposed to be teaching me how to get toned abs... HAS FLABBY ABS!!! Yes, the lady looks more fit than I do.... BUT SHE'S THE ONE WHO'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE THE AWESOME ABS FROM USING HER OH-SO-WONDERFUL PRODUCT!!!!

(that's her in the middle, as I said... looks better than me, but she mushrooms over those pants from the side... grrrrr...)

It does seem like it's an ok work out, but I am probably deluding myself and trying to get some good out of my $60 at this point.... wish me luck on getting toned before my wedding!

se la vie

I AM LAZY

Not when it comes to getting my job done. I love my job. I also get done things that need to get done like grocery shopping (though my fiance and I hate it so much we go once a month). But, typically, once I get home from work. All productiveness falls way underneath the couch, where I can never get the motivation to find it. So.. I plop down and watch TV (usually House...even watching the news is too much work for me.) You might think, "Well, you must have a really stressful job, you need a break, I get it..." No, no, not so much. There are some stressors, but minor really. I feel like I have a good handle on things during my first year of full-time work.

So back to my laziness. My idea of a 'productive' day off would be one small project (such as organizing my closet (a 15 minute task). Get all the things that I've piled up on my shelves or on the floor when there's no more shelf space and organize them (I'm NOT a messy person, so don't imagine a disaster in my closet, just a few things that I don't fold because I know I'm going to wear them soon... why waste the energy?) Chores like laundry are a hassle, but I do them... typically my only productive thing of the day.

Now on to exercising, seeing my thoughts on getting things done you must realize that motivating myself to exercise is like, well, this:


So you would be surprised to learn that I DID run for a whole summer almost every day! But that summer has passed and the motivation for it gone. My new overall motivation is getting in shape for my destination wedding in June. Yeah, that's coming up, yeah, I'm STILL not in shape...

So here's to coming home from work tonight, changing into running clothes and GETTING IT DONE!