The Adventures of GeekGirl

July Challenges

June 30th, 2009 . Posted in Life, Project GeekGirl, planet finance, running | No Comments »

Since I did pretty well last month, I’m going to tryt his again. Here’s what I’m working on for July:

Follow my spending plan. I find “budget” to restrictive. I’m starting the month kind of in the hole, but I’ll be all right if I just chill and don’t buy more food. I have TONS of food. I need to eat it.
Travel Fund - $76
IRA - $100 This will be ramping up to about $240 per month next month.
Escrow Account - $25
Sallie Mae - $50 (This is an old student loan from years ago. It’s in deferment. I want to bang it out now.
Chase - $150 I have a balance of $400. No biggie. I just want to make sure I don’t sit on it.
10 No Spend Days - The 20 days last month was a bit to aggressive. This is something that is obtainable.
Watch my food intake. I’m doing ok, but I slip up here and there. I’m not dieting, I’m trying to make a dent in this eczema situation.
Run 4 days a week -This is easy.
Work on core and stretching.
Get on the bike at least once a week. (Blech!)
Take a weekly photo. - I have a new camera. I need to learn how to use it.
Continue decluttering.
No drinking unless out with friends. I do this every year at some point.

I think that’s it for now. I’ll report on these at the end of the month. (Considering doing it weekly so I don’t forget them. We’ll see.)

June Charity: Kiva.org

June 29th, 2009 . Posted in Charity | 2 Comments »

Since I’m still a bit low on funds, I decided to reinvest some of the money that I had been paid back by my first loan. I really like Kiva.org and thing it’s a great organization, so I also donated 5% to them. Total for this month was $13.64. (The new loan was $25.)

This is who I loaned it to this time:

I picked, Ronald because I wanted someone in Peru. I initially wanted to loan something to a woman, but upon reading that he is paying his way through school, I wanted to help him out. If you have a spare $25 sitting around, please see what you can do to help him reach his goal of buying more phones and equipment to sale.

My last Kiva loan went to Doreen in Ghana. She sales produce in a market and wanted to use the money to invest more into her business. Shes’s doing a great job and is managing to pay her loan back. Hooray for Doreen!

June Challenges Review

June 29th, 2009 . Posted in Life, Project GeekGirl | No Comments »

It’s almost the end of the month. Overall, I think I did ok with my goals. Let’s see what I was working on.

Follow my disgustingly tight budget. - We’re going to say this was successful. All bills were paid, etc. I went over in some places (groceries) but I matched all of my goals. Which for me works.

Add the following to my funds:
1. Travel Fund $76 - DONE!

2. Roth IRA - $100. Done.

3. Escrow - $25. Done.

4. Charity - Doing today. (I actually forgot about this!)
20 “No Spend” days - Big fat fail, but I did better.
Start “Desludging” - No. My diets getting better, but still sucking.
Read 1 book for pleasure - Yep. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is being finished up and I just started The Short Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao.
Cut back on TV - A little, but could be better.
Run at least 20 miles a week - I am just now able to run, so this one was moot.
Post more books on Half.com / other items on Craigslist. - I did post somemore books on Half.com. I also made more money than ever on there . In a 2 week period, I made $45.
Declutter for 15 minutes per week
Stay on top of my homework. - I’m right where I should be in terms of classwork.
Finish writing about my Peruvian adventures - Done. Done and Done.
Crank out 3 websites. -I only did 1, but that was all that was needed. My dad wants to wait a bit for the second one, and coach went with something else.

Overall, I did really well and took care of a lot of the things that I wanted done. I was able to get a better grip on my finances and stay on top of school work. I wish I could’ve run more, but I had to wait for my knee to feel better.

Up next: July Challenges!

Cranky Sunday

June 28th, 2009 . Posted in Life | No Comments »

After a completely exhausting day at the running store yesterday I was looking forward to a nice relaxing day today. I wanted to do some homework, do some laundry, tidy up a bit. Nothing to strenuous. I knew I was off to a bad start when I couldn’t fall asleep until around 1ish, and then only slept until 4. I finally fell back asleep for a bit, but then Gio woke me up at 6 wanting to go potty. With that, I was up for the day and already on the surly side.

I did some much needed studying (I meant to do a lot more studying during the week, but life got in the way) and was just about ready to start taking my 2 hour Spanish test. Then…my neighbors alarm started going off. He wasn’t home. It went off for an hour until I couldn’t take it anymore and called my landlord. My neighbor said it was ok for us to go in and unplug his alarm. When I finally sat down to take my Spanish test, it was a disaster. My head just wasn’t in it. Not sure how that went.

From there, I did some tidying up but the damage was done. I was in a full on bad mood. I managed to get some groceries and buy a book (despite not budgeting for it - Whoops!). I also downloaded some music that doesn’t work in iTunes. It’s from one of those discount places. I’m trying to get my money back, but it’s doubtful. I’ve downloaded from this company before, and it’s been fine. I think something happened with the iTunes update. Either way, I’m about to do a charge back. It’s not my problem. I wrestled with that for a good portion of the afternoon. Then, I got sick from some food I got at Whole Foods. Not their fault. I think it was due to the mac and cheese. I haven’t had cheese or anything in weeks. I forgot. Right when I was ready to start my laundry, my neighbor starts his. So, I never got to do my laundry today. (I was waiting for it to cool off a bit.) I wanted to go try out my new camera, and it rained all afternoon/evening. Sigh…

Now, I’m must hanging out. Still grouchy. It might be time for me to go to bed. Maybe I can get caught up on my sleep. Gonna get in a decent run tomorrow. (I was going to run this evening, but decided against it due to my tummy.)

R.I.P. The King of Pop

June 25th, 2009 . Posted in Life | No Comments »

michael_jackson_lyrics_billie_jean

Incredibly sad news. I honestly feel that my childhood just died.

I hope that despite the shitstorm mediafest that is about to go down, people can still recognize the enormous talent that has been lost. Michael Jackson changed the face of pop music. He pretty much made MTV. He was the soundtrack to my youth.

I truly hope he finds peace.

Peru 2009 - Machu Picchu

June 25th, 2009 . Posted in OMG I Went to Peru!, Travel | No Comments »

All right. Let’s wrap this baby up. I don’t want to drag it out any longer. It’s time for the entire reason for the trip - Machu Picchu. The Lost City of the Incas.

The night before leaving for Machu Picchu, we stayed in Ollyantantambo. Unfortunately, I feel while going UP the stairs and really injured my knee. Honestly, if we were in the US, I would have gone to the doctor. It was that bad. However, I did not spill my Inca Cola and that’s all that really matters at this point. I love Inca Cola.

We woke up that morning around 4am to get ready to take the bus to the train station. We arrived in Machu Picchu City around 7ish and then took the final bus up the mountain to Machu Picchu.

Once we got inside, some of the group split off to go climb Winnu Picchu for a better view of the city. Due to my leg injury, I couldn’t climb up there. It’s very strenuous and there was no railing. I barely made it around Machu Picchu.

Anyway, here’s the good stuff:

From Peru - 2009

I learned a lot about Machu Picchu. My guide, Ozzie was great and had an answer to every question that I had. While everyone else was climbing Wanni Picchu, I got to walk around with Ozzie and ask a million and one questions.

I now understand why the Peruvian people find it insulting that people think aliens built this. We were shown where the rocks came from and shown up close the preciseness of the rocks. I think it’s elitist to think that these people could not have come up with measurements and stuff to build things. It’s absurd.

I was completely ovevrwhelmed with the beauty of Machu Picchu, but what struck me the most was the spiritualness of it. They say that Peru is a magical place and I definitely felt it. This trip seriously changed my life. Period. (More on that in future posts.)

From Machu Picchu, we went back to Cusco where we all drank our weight in alcohol and then caught flights back to Lima. I spent a full day traveling to get back home, but it was oh so worth it.

I love Peru and hope to go back some day. Nevermind the fact that I now want to move to South America. (More info later.)

F-R-E-E That Spells Free

June 24th, 2009 . Posted in Life, planet finance | No Comments »

I’m broke. Really, really broke. With the numerous birthdays, dinners, and just general life things going on I’m left with an average of $9 for my “Entertainment” budget each month. That covers the cost of Netflix. Woohoo. I’m living large here!

I realized that I needed to start looking for some ways to get out of the house and socialize without spending any money. Apparently, there are tons of interesting things to do in and around Fort Lauderdale for F-R-E-E. Yes. Free. Woohoo. That is in my budget. Here’s what I found so far:

1. Free Surfing Lessons - Apparently if you go to this surf shop every Saturday at 7 AM, you can grab a board and get a basic surf lesson. For free. Yes! That sounds like a great way to spend an easy Saturday morning.
2. The Poets Place - This is a spoken word event. It actually looks pretty interesting. The good thing is that even if it sucks, it was still free and I still managed to get out of the house for no money.
3. Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art - Every third Thursday of the month is free from 5-8. There are a couple of exhibits that I want to check out. If I go at any other time, it’s $10.
4. Third Annual Best of the Artists Series - This is at the Bonnet House which is right up the street from my house. I can walk or ride my bike there. It’s a rotating series of artist exhibits. Each one appears to be running for about a month. It’s something to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I know there are a lot more free things to do in and around Fort Lauderdale. This will get me out of the house, and hopefully help me save some money. And…look at all the culture I’ll be getting. It’s a win-win situation.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. That Twilight Guy

June 23rd, 2009 . Posted in Life | No Comments »

I refuse to know any of the characters in that Twilight series. Anyway, here’s Ms. Summer’s opening a nice big can of whoop ass on that odd looking Twilight kid.

Finally…

June 21st, 2009 . Posted in running | 2 Comments »

I’ve been struggling with my running the past couple of weeks. I decided to drink a lot of water and Gatorade yesterday and see how I would do. I’m thrilled to report that today’s run went much better. I’ve been struggling with the nagging feeling that I may never get into the type of shape that I was in prior to my embolysm. Anyone with any kind of sense knows that is ridiculous since it’s quite obvious that I had blood clots for quite some time. I just need to relax and let my body do it’s thing. I survived a deadly illness and need to give myself a break.

I’ve got 11 weeks before half marathon training starts. I need to have a base of about 35 mpw. I think that’s doable. For now, I want to watch my knee so I will be running every other day. I’ll throw in some yoga and cycling for now. If things go well, I’ll go back to my usual 5 days a week schedule and start building. The thing is, if I can’t build to 35, that’s ok. I can pick another plan. I’d like to blaze this half, but I don’t want to hurt myself. I’ve got many, many runs ahead of me.

Wow…I have grown a lot since my illness. It feels good.

Florida. Is. Hot.

June 18th, 2009 . Posted in running | No Comments »

While all of the people in the North East are whining about not getting a summer, South Florida finds summer in full effect. I set out on an easy 40 minute run this morning feeling ok. I had been up most of the night too hot to sleep. (This happens when it’s that time of the month.) I woke up sweaty. I knew that my run was in trouble within 5 minutes when my breathing was already labored. I decided to stop and walk up the bridge, but then decided that I need to just turn around and go back. I was at around 18 minutes into my run. I began to have a headache, feel nauseous, and just couldn’t really run. I ran/walked my way home and cooled off.

This happens every year until I get used to the heat. I do think I need to get out a bit earlier then 7ish, but otherwise I just have to acclimate and hydrate. I would love to be somewhere cool right now. (I fantasize about the coolness of the Andes.)

Note: I’m sweating right now. With my a/c on. I can’t get my apartment cool enough. So. Hot.