hanging with stephanie

We went to the Lucky Strike for bowling. I rolled the best game of my life, and got a 138! (Okay, I realize that this is pretty sad for an all time high.)
And I found out that you aren't supposed to wear your shoulder strap of your seatbelt under your arm. Apparently, this is enough to get you a ticket.

And Stephanie REALLY doesn't like her picture taken. But she is so cute. I just love to catch the reaction when she realizes that I'm taking one.

I've been looking forward to making this sand castle that I saw some people making before. You drizzle drops of very wet sand to make a bunch of spires, and it looks really melty and cool. While we were at the beach, I started to show Stephanie, and grabbed a handful of wet sand and started drizzling it and thousands of gross small crabby bugs started crawling out of it and swarming all over. I freaked out started screaming and ran into the ocean to wash it off my hands, and everyone on the beach, included Stephanie, was totally cracking up. I was too busy screaming my head off and trying to make sure they were all off me.... it was hilarious. (And freaky.)

not so baby steps

Day 1: 13,137
Day 2: 11,379
Day 3: 10,188
Day 4: 9,456
Day 5: 12,308

My daily average is: 11,293.

My supervisor's average is above 17,000. Last I checked, we were in 45/92-ish place. Some crazy team in Australia is averaging 20,000 per team member. They must have a lot less work to do, or their boss is paying them to walk all day. Our supervisor is encouraging us to take a few breaks each day to walk around the block... so I guess the competitive edge works in my favor.

I'll do better after my exam, I hope.

wii declare the economy stimulated

The economy, feeling out of character and tipsy from all the wholesale forclosuring going on, found it in her heart to give us tennis in our living room in order to somehow kick the strange feelings of vertigo. Wii stimulated her, and gave her a tickle in the back pocket, if you know what I mean. And she is stimulating us back (with the aforementioned tennis in our living room.)

stuff that is keeping me from posting

Diet: Counting every calorie and writing it down - three weeks in. This also means cooking. I have already seen some happy making numbers. Let's see it last, so I can have some food-as-a-reward and undo it. Catch-22. And why is it that as soon as you go on a diet, everyone in the world invites you over to dinner?

Exercise: Doing the Global Corporate Challenge. Officially starts tomorrow, but I have been walking to ease my way in. My goal is 10K+ steps per day on average. Basically, you take a virtual walking tour around the world, visiting different cultures by putting in your steps and following a trek. We start in Chile, so for the kick-off tomorrow, I am preparing a Chilean dish for a lunch. My whole department is on my team and we are competing against 15 other Farmers (and our parent co Zurich) Teams.

Study: Test is not next but the following week. Totally not ready. Also, reg'd for a vocational training course, required supplement to actuarial exam - which is the equiv to a college course in three weeks. That starts day after exam. This ride never ends. Sorry, I mean "learning adventure."

Reading: Okay, so I totally took a much needed break from my brain and read the book WICKED in two days. It was really dark, and exceptional. I feel really guilty, but deep inside, I'm smiling.

Summer planning: getting airfare, tickets, etc arranged for our action packed fun. So far, I have my Texas airfare for 4th of July w/ McKay, SeaWorld passes, an annual pass to Six Flags, and cheap seats to see WICKED again with Stephanie. More fun to come... fuh-shuh.

for everyone who helped with the roses

Thank you. Thank you so much.

I talked to mom today. She said she cannot stop going outside to look at her "rose stumps."

(She loves rose gardens, so we gave her one for Mother's Day.) The flowers were shipped in from Jackson & Perkins, and arrived just at the perfect time for planting. Eva and Roger worked in the soil conditioners and put the bareroots down on Saturday, when I am told they were met with actual squeals of delight. There are already some plans in the works for a pretty border, and perhaps some plaques. I don't have any pictures, yet. But, obviously, they're just stumps at this point. If you would like to see the varieties we got for her, you can follow the links below:

MISTER LINCOLN - HYBRID TEA ROSE
DREAM COME TRUE - GRANDIFLORA ROSE
GEMINI - HYBRID TEA ROSE
JOHN F. KENNEDY - HYBRID TEA ROSE

By July, she should already be seeing her first blooms, so everyone can go hang out and smell the roses with her pretty soon.

Don't forget that it's never too late to contribute toward this gift of fragrant evenings. There will be endless weedings to volunteer yourself toward. (I know, I really need to work on my sales pitch.)

happy mother's day

My mom just kills me with how amazing she can be. Look at her up there. You can tell by how young my dad looks that those five kids have them in way over their heads. We're talking old school. Before disposable diapers and wet wipes. And I think Mary looks like me, and Paula looks like Aubri. And Dale looks like Dallon (without the hair.)

loser

I somehow survived week 1 of the new "life system." I lost 3 pounds and didn't die of starvation. I rediscovered Chai Tea and remembered how much I love fruits and veggies.

I am the only member of my team at work that does not have exams this week (mine is in three weeks.) So, I am holding down the fort by myself and trying not to be too terrified that all the questions my boss should field and work my coworkers usually do is being passed to me. On Friday, I practically blacked out from the pressure. Luckily it was a half-study day.

Look at me. Blogging when I should be studying. Peace out.

day 2 of new diet

Too weak to type.

Rules: 1000 calories (net of exercise) per day and <30% in fat.

Things I have learned in two days:

- Artichoke is a thistle. (I think of the food pioneers who first thought, I'm going to eat THAT.)
- Do not order a salad at a restaurant. Get a burger. They have the same # of calories, and you won't mind working off the burger. (Better yet, get a grilled chicken sandwich.)
- You can make your own yogurt pretty easy. Also, homemade indian food is so much better than the buffet. But, although it is healthy, and has lentils and all, it is in no way low calorie. Rice. Need I say more? Wait, yes. Clarified Butter (ghee.)

Happy Scrapbooking Day Randomness

I am so self-absorbed that I keep a Blog, a Journal, a Scrapbook, a Mona's Greatest Recipes Book, and write letters telling people how wonderful I am. It is a terrible side-effect of paper addiction, but one I embrace with a Vulcan death grip.

So, gradually, they are merging a little. I want to print my blog archives into a book using BLURB. And gradually, my journal entries are getting pretty scrapbook-y. Today, I glued a newspaper clipping onto a journal block onto chalked and edged designer paper and fastened it to my journal using sticker letters/title. It's the end of the world and all the alternate universes are colliding into one!

I had a burning question about taxes today. Can strippers deduct breast augmentation on their taxes? It seems like they should be able to.

I'm still studying a little each day with little or no remarkable progress. I'm hoping that I'm like the baby who doesn't talk for a long time and then suddenly just starts talking in complete sentences... but, obviously without the drool, and with math, not language... since I already talk (about myself, see paragraph 1.) I found this great website on options, if you are interested in being very frustrated with figuring out market derivatives with me. Yay!