The Adventures of GeekGirl

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Relentless Forward Motion

by GeekGirl

Categories: C.R.E.A.M., Life, planet finance, Project GeekGirl

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Published on: July 11, 2012

“As long as you keep making RFM (Relentless Forward Motion), you will finish.” – Stacey Page

The past few years I’ve spent more days frustrated with my life than I have celebrating and enjoying my life. Everything has been a constant struggle. I feel like I take two steps forward, four or five back. Numerous years later, I am right back where I started from. Perhaps even worse because now I’m also broke.

As I work hard to get things on track it’s easy to get frustrated with the process. I want to have all the money now! I want to run fast now! I want to be a non-drinker/moderate drinker now! Now! Now! Now! I want it all now!

The problem with that thinking is that it took YEARS to get me here. Years of sickness, bills, student loans, gin and wine, sitting on my ass, and general debauchery to get here. It’s not all going to come undone over night. I’m not going to have this perfect life with a sweet 76 El Camino, hot bearded-boyfriend, and an alpaca farm out of nowhere. (Do not judge my dreams, people!)

So, as I sit here frustrated with myself because once again I’ve spent money on something stupid I have to look at the bigger picture. I’ve cut back on my drinking significantly (though not as much as I would like), I’ve been running and am seeing a tiny glimpse of my former runner girl self, and my finances are slowly but surely heading towards a better place.

I just need to be patient and continue moving forward.

Now, let’s cut all the bull shit and get to the important stuff:
Would you come visit me on my sweet alpaca farm and ride in my El Camino? I thing being a hippie, farmer would be great and think of the cute clothes. I look great in a cowboy hat and boots. (Designer, of course.)

Gotta Start Somewhere

by GeekGirl

Categories: C.R.E.A.M., Life, my myomectomy

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Comments: 2 Comments

Published on: November 27, 2011

Though I’ve been cleared to get my run/bike/swim/whatever the hell I want on, today marks the first day I actually went to the gym. I did try an ill-fated walk/run a week or so ago. I was out for about 15 minutes and it really did not feel so great. I decided that I would give myself a bit more time to heal and try to just go with what feels ok.

For some reason, this morning felt like the right day to head to the gym. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do or how I was going to feel.

I thought that the elliptical trainer would be the least stressful exercise that I could stand. The first few minutes were a bit rough and I was winded within 3 minutes. There was a slight ache around my surgery area (internally) and a bit of discomfort around my incision, but that slowly started to fade as I got further into my “workout”.

Overall, I wound up with 20 minutes on the elliptical at the lowest setting and then a 10 minute walk. Total of 30 minutes “cardio”.

This little workout has left me pretty tired. I’m relaxing for the rest of the day.

I’d be lying if I said I’m not disappointed or frustrated with how long it’s taking me to get back to running or just working out in general. On the other hand, I respect the fact that my body has been through a pretty serious surgery and I need to give it the time it needs to heal. I suppose I just need a little patience.

I don’t think I’ve been this out of shape in years. Not even after my embolism in ’08. I’m also at the heaviest I’ve ever been and it’s getting frustrating and making me feel a bit down. Especially not being able to wear pants. I’m sick of sweatpants and dresses. (I suppose I could go buy some cute dresses. Oh yeah. I owe the hospital shitloads of cash for my surgery.)

Well, I don’t want to get myself and everyone else down. I suppose I’ll just keep moving forward. What else can I do?

Where the Hell Have I Been???

by GeekGirl

Categories: C.R.E.A.M., running

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Comments: 2 Comments

Published on: April 30, 2011

I’ve been a very bad little blogger. What have I been busy doing? Celebrating my birthday, quitting and then returning to my job, seeing completely inappropriate men (appropriate for what, though), going to gay Easter pool parties, and just general debauchery. I like debauchery.

For the most part, things are good here. Perhaps a little too good. I’ve spent way too much money (OMFG you’ve got to see the vintage Dior purse I bought!!), not run enough, and had too much booze. So, May will be the month I work really hard to set all those things right. I know this will work because my gay is doing the same thing and he’s the main person that gets me in trouble. I might have to swear off the gays for a bit. I always wind up getting in trouble with them even if it’s just a boring ass trip to the mall.

My coach has sent over my training for the month and it’s…interesting. I’ll be tackling a lot workouts that I’ve never tried before which is exciting.

I will also be attempting to grow this:

This is a huge step for me. I kill everything I touch. I’ll have to get pictures of some of my other disasters. I bought sunflowers, daisies, tomatoes, and strawberries. They were in the dollar bin at Target, so…who knows.

It’s time for me to go sell running shoes to the masses. Then, tomorrow morning I’ll be doing that Mud Run thing. Woot!!!! (This might be a disaster since I only ran once or twice this week. I’m confident I can finish 6.2 miles though. I just hope there’s no climbing. I can’t climb.)

Also, if you read me please say hi. I want to add everyone to my bloggy friends on the side there. (I’ll also be updating my blog. This gray is just depressing.)

Spending Freeeezzzeeeee….

by GeekGirl

Categories: C.R.E.A.M., planet finance, running

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Published on: March 24, 2011

As many of you may know I’m a bit of a financial nerd. I love playing with spreadsheets, planning out budgets, and saving for a rainy day. In general, it’s hard for me and my money to separate for anything but the essentials. Until now…

I’ve been on a buying blitz the past couple of months. It all started when my main gay and I decided that we’re going to get hot this year. (Yes. In our world “hot” is an actual decision.) He was appalled that I haven’t bought cute clothes for myself, carried a questionable purse, and wear NO makeup. He’s known me since I was 17. While I’ve never been a super makeup/clothing aficionado, I did always look pulled together and like I cared. Over the past few years not so much.

So what does this do? Prompt me to buy, buy, buy!

While most of what I buy is well within my budget I really, really need to reign it in. Also, my grocery bills are OUTRAGEOUS. I need to shop a bit smarter.

Now, you’re probably wondering what type of ridiculousness I’ve bought. Here’s a partial list:

Christi Harris Eyebrow Planing System – If this works, I’ll review it. My eyebrows are horrendous. I bought laser hair removal but decided to use that elsewhere.
Overpriced Designer Jeans
Tons of shirts/tanks/tops.
New limited edition Bobbi Brown makeup

And the list goes on. The cool thing is that people have noticed that I’m taking better care of my appearance. The bad thing? Ouch! My bank account hurts.

After pouring over Quickbooks, a spreadsheet, and my credit card statements it’s become apparent that I don’t need to buy anything but the necessities for a while. How long? I’m not sure. For the foreseeable future, I’m stopping shopping*. Otherwise, I am not going to be able to go on vacation.

You know what’s better than cute eyebrows? EUROPE, bitches! (Deets coming soon.)

With that, here’s to my spending freeze/actually paying attention to what I buy at the grocery store again!

Coming up: A 5k this weekend. I am in no way ready for this race. Oh well. Onward!

* Note – “Shopping” does not include paying for trips, etc. I mean no makeup, clothes, beauty products, clothes for Gio, etc. Yeah. Gio got a makeover, too.

TGIF

by GeekGirl

Categories: Life, planet finance, running, Travel

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Comments: 1 Comment

Published on: March 18, 2011

Ugh what a long week. They seem to get longer and longer as I get older. Bleh. I have a lot of stuff to do this weekend. Some of it fun and exciting. Most of it bothersome and boring. Here’s just a glimpse at my to-do list for this weekend:

4 runs in 3 days. This is because I keep “bottom-loading” my weeks. Don’t tell coach. Hopefully I’ll get everything right again after this weekend and will be back on schedule. Life has been really hectic lately.
Write 2 papers. They’re not due for a couple of weeks, but I need to do REALLY well on these papers since I’ve slacked off so much this semester. Senioritis? Maybe.
Deep clean my apartment. My apartment is gross. It’s starting to stress me out. I have a coupon for a cleaning lady, but I need to declutter before she can come in.
Do my taxes. ’nuff said.
Plan for all my trips this year. (I’ll do a separate post on this. There is exciting stuff afoot!)
Make a reasonable budget. I love budgeting. It’s my favorite pastime. In order to take all of my trips I’ve got to really reign in the spending and come up with reasonable amounts for the trips. Also, I’m finished paying off hospital bills. I need to allocate that money to other bills. (See: Student loans that I haven’t even looked at.)
Write my advisor so I can GRADUATE. I’ve been putting it off. I know I need one more class this summer, but I want to make sure that’s it.

This is just the list off the top of my head. I’m sure as I continue through the weekend I’ll find more things to do. I’ve kind of had my head stuck in the sand about a bunch of things. (Graduation…) I also work on Sunday at the running store. I’ll likely be doing that through the summer. My finances need the boost. Especially since I keep buying shit like I won the lottery.

Also, today is my favorite little Italian greyhound’s birthday. Gio turns 12 today. I’m going to try to bake him some doggie cookies or something tonight. If they’re easy because I don’t bake. Here’s a pic of him this morning. It’s a bad pic because he’s eating peanut butter and wouldn’t stop moving. (I have to give him his medicine in peanut butter smeared on doggie jerkie. Seriously.)

(Yes. That is a scale. Yes. I do weigh myself everyday. No. I do not have an eating disorder. I just like having the info and think it’s cool that I go to bed weighing one weight and wake up weighing another.)

One more thing. Almond milk does go bad. Really bad. If you accidentally drink some of it, you’ll have stomach issues the next morning and miss your run. (I’m just glad I discovered this before I was out on the roads.)

What are you guys up to this weekend? Planning any exciting stuff? Hanging out at home?

My Life is A TV Drama

by GeekGirl

Categories: asshole free, C.R.E.A.M., Life, Project GeekGirl

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Published on: January 25, 2011

I’m in a bit of crisis here. Whatevs. It happens. Anyway, when I was walking to my car this evening I noticed the cops were waiting outside of “Creepy Guys” house. This is a guy that goes out at noon and lays in his driveway with what looks like undies on. I tried to get a picture once only to notice that he was staring right at me.

That’s not the point of this post.

Anyway, as I was driving home after staring at this spectacle, it dawned on me that my life is totally some bullshit TV drama. In no particular order, this is what the last few months have looked like for me:

My dog is dying. But, he’s taking his dear sweet time and costing me an arm and leg while doing it. (Sidenote: He’s completely off the chain. Stealing food. Digging in the trash. Humping legs. Go Gio…If I knew that my time was up, I would be doing the same thing.)
I’m broke. See above.
I had to have a lawyer send a cease and desist order to an ex. (Sidenote: I know you’re reading. Fuck you!!!)
I went to the hospital with panic attacks.
Friday and Sunday there was a peeping tom in my neighborhood. At my windows. I’ve since had to put foil over my kitchen window. The cops chased him and everything. They didn’t catch him.
Oddly, the description of said peeping tom fits my new neighbor that is 3 houses down. He is creepy and knocked on my neighbors door at 7 am. To walk her dog. Yeah. He tried to chat me up, but I pretty much picked up Gio and ran.I no longer walk that way.
I’ve been doing work on a side project. He was supposed to mail me a check and didn’t. (He paid the last time.) I’m also creeped out that he knows where I live, but I know his ex and have run with her.
The house around the corner from me was busted selling drugs. Also, someone is selling drugs in my old building.. (Which is across the street and 3 houses down.)
My mom is marrying someone that I call the Decepticon. (For serious, y’all.)
I drink way too much.
My creepy fucking neighbor is just being creepy. (AKA Fatkid.)
All of my other neighbors are at war with each other. My neighborhood is sooooo gay.
I’m trying to drink green smoothies and they totally make my stomach do horrible stuff and I don’t always have access to a bathroom. I make up excuses to leave my very, very small office.
Since I work one on one with my boss, we are both in the batshit crazy wormhole.
I’m taking 4 classes this semester. Yeah. Sit and simmer on that for a bit.
My kitchen is being overtaken by ants. (Totally makes me think of One Hundred Years of Solitude.)
I got a booty call from a guy that I met on NYE. At 5 am. He was semi-cute when I was drunk, but not cute enough for a 5 am booty call.
My other neighbor (whom I love) is going on awesome gay adventures and loves to tell me about them. The stories are tv show worthy!
My list for Things to Do 2011, includes “Be A Hottie Again”. There is then a breakdown of how to make that happen.
My weirdo, raw foodist ex keeps popping up. Dude is WEIRD.

Seriously…I would watch this show. It would be the best show on tv if it weren’t my fucking life. I wonder what it would be called. Any ideas?

Freedom and August Stuff

by GeekGirl

Categories: Life, New York Marathon, planet finance, Project GeekGirl, running

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Published on: August 3, 2010

I turned in my final paper Sunday evening. With that, I’m out of school for the next month. I also worked my last Saturday at the running store last week. I will have Saturday and Sunday off this week for the first time in around a year. Wow. All this extra time is mind-blowing for me. Of course I have a ton of stuff that I would like to get done over the next month. The number one thing is cleaning/organizing. I have so much clutter. Over the next month I’m going to get rid of as much as I can. I’m just sick of looking at it. Here are some of the things that I’d like to accomplish this month:

Clean out closets
Get a dresser/chest of drawers
Clean living room furniture (Might do this myself)
Get my bike fixed
List my books on Half.com
Clean out bathroom
Reorganize kitchen
Shred all extra papers and reorganize all my papers

I’ve got a lot to do, but I think it’ll make me feel a bit better to have a nice clean, organized home. I also have a few financial things that I’d like to take care of this month:

Get my finances back in order. – I stopped using my budget a couple of months ago and hadn’t updated my Networth since April. Bleh. So not like me.
Pay off Hospital Bill #1 – I think it’s only $200. I have to call and check
Consolidate a few of my accounts. They’re getting entirely out of hand.
10 No Spend Days – These are hard for me because I’m not organized and tend to go to the grocery store every day. I waste a lot of money doing this.
Workout a plan to start tackling my student loan debt and Hospital Bill #2
Shop for flights to New York for the marathon. I’ll be staying with my friend RTB so I just need to pay for the flight and make sure I have cash for miscellaneous fun stuff.
I also have a couple of super-secret income generating projects that I’ll be working on this month. More deets on those as soon as I figure them out.

Of course, the usual stuff is still in place. Hit all my runs. Stretch, ice, crosstrain. All that good stuff. I also want to relax and read at least 1 good book. I miss reading books for the heck of it.

What are you up to this month?

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Today’s Run: 5.5 miles | 57:34 | 10:28 pace
This run was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. When I stepped out this morning I thought it was semi-cooler. It might have been in my head, though. Once I made it to the beach, the wind picked up and it started pouring. That in turn made the temperature drop and I had a great run. It’s nice to see that I can run faster that I have been. As long as I stay consistent this summer I should be fine when I get to New York.

Did you run today? How was it?

Mini-Meltdown

by GeekGirl

Categories: New York Marathon, planet finance

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Comments: No Comments

Published on: July 27, 2010

I bank with Schwab. Though they have a branch or something downtown, I still have to mail in my deposits. In general, I have no problem with this, but lately it’s been causing me a bit of grief. The latest grief? I think my deposit got lost in the mail. Usually if I get my check in the mail on Saturday, it posts on Monday. Well, it’s Tuesday evening and it hasn’t posted. I called and they said they don’t have anything.

After the initial panic I rationally transferred over the necessary amount from my ING account. Hopefully, it will post tomorrow. Here’s the thing though. My boss is going out of town on Thursday. So, if I don’t tell him by tomorrow I might not be able to replace the check. So, do I suck it up and go ahead and have him put a stop-payment on it? I’m not hurting for cash or anything. But it might be 2-3 weeks before he’s back in town. Can I wait that long? Honestly? Yes.

Add to this the fact that I’m having anxiety about my “future”. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. Due to some issues I’m limited in things, but for the most part I have NO idea what I want to do. I just know what I don’t want to do. That’s remain in the tech industry. Though, in all honesty it hasn’t been bad to me. So…sigh. I have no idea.

I also want to move, but because I’m not sure what I want to do is it wise for me to buy here. And what happens if I lose my job or can’t find work? Then what? Will I be homeless? I don’t want to be a homeless lady.

And…now I can’t breathe again. . .

This is what’s coursing through my little head all day and night. I don’t know what to do. Right now, I’m drinking wine. Not sure how that will help, but I had to do something. (Though I think I’m just obsessing. It might be time for me to take a step back.)

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Today’s Run: 5 miles | 55:33 | 10:58 or so
Decent run. I meant to go about 5.3, but I got super hot at the end and walked the rest in. No biggie. I got the time I needed and I think walking that little bit was a great cool down. There was really no reason to push or anything. I just felt like I could go any further.

Off topic – Fort Lauderdale stinks. It was hot and still this morning. No airflow or anything and everything smelled like bumjuice. Yes. Bumjuice. You don’t even want to know what that smells like.

Banking Woes

by GeekGirl

Categories: C.R.E.A.M., planet finance, running

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Published on: July 21, 2010

I have about 1 to many checking accounts. For the most part I’ve been able to keep them in order and pay the proper things out of the right accounts. Until now.

Last week, I realized that I hadn’t paid for the Jetta. So, I hopped onto the VW account and sent off a payment. No big deal. That was on Saturday. On Tuesday, I was updating all of my information in Quicken and realized that the money hadn’t been taken out of the account yet. I logged in and it showed that it had been paid, so I assumed that it just wasn’t showing yet on my banks account. Then I got a notice in the mail saying that my credit union account was overdrawn. This is the account that I don’t put too much money in for the most part. It’s for recreational stuff. I usually keep less than $200 in that account.

Well, I’m still getting notices and as of now I’m at -$284. I’m going in tomorrow to get the account squared away and also to close it. Since I won’t have my side job anymore this account is pointless and inconvenient. It also just begs for stuff like this to happen.

I should be freaking out, but I really do not care. It’ll all be taken care of tomorrow and life will go on.

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Today’s Run: 4.67 miles | 50:00 | 10:43
This was my first “Steady State” run. I decided to do most of my speedwork at the gym until it gets cooler. Otherwise all that is going to happen on these runs (at least until I’m way more fit) is that I’m going to blow the hell up on my runs. So, I did 20 minutes @ 11:00ish, 15 minutes @ 9:53, and then 15 minute cool down around 10:53 or so. I felt really good and there were no issues with my banged toe.

I’m hurting from hitting the door yesterday. My foot hurts and so does my hamstring and neck. Hopefully, it will feel fine shortly. Also, my left knee is bothering me, but what else is new. Since I fell on it last year in Peru it’s been a whiny bitch. I should NOT have done those squats last week.

Tomorrow: EZ 45 – 60 minute run. Will cut short if still achy or my knee is bothering me.

Putting It Out There

by GeekGirl

Categories: Life, planet finance, Project GeekGirl, this is what a feminist looks like

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Comments: 1 Comment

Published on: June 18, 2010

Every day I come home from work and rejoice if my neighbor is out. He never freaking leaves the house. If you recall, I live in a unique set up. It’s a 2 bedroom, but 1 bedroom has a private entrance. So that room is rented out to someone else and the door separating us is locked and my landlord has the key. It’s been this way for years. This was done as a temporary fix when my ex and I broke up and I was figuring out what I wanted to do.

I have no privacy. I can hear and smell everything he does and vice versa. Every burp, fart, piss, etc I hear. I honestly don’t think that’s the case for him (my neighbor) because my apartment is big. My bathroom is on the other side of the house and my bedroom is separated by his bathroom and closet. Plus, I’m hyper aware of this, so I make sure to be discreet.

I want to move. I’ve wanted to move for years. If you recall, in 2008 I tried desperately to buy a condo. Two contracts went out and both of them fell through. Last year, I just didn’t care and had lots of medical bills to pay. This year? I think I’m ready to move. I got a raise and can afford a bit of a nicer place. I love my neighborhood…hell. I love my apartment minus the fat guy living in my second bedroom. However, to get in a place this nice that is private it’s going to run me at least $1000 a month. When I told my dad about this he just sighed and said, “It’s time for you to buy a home.”

As he pointed out, in this area paying $1000 for a 1/1 is ridiculous. I can surely buy something for that or less. I just need a little bit of patience and a lot of luck. My credit is good. I have no credit card debt. My hospital bills will be paid by the end off summer. I’ve got a bit of change in my pocket. My student loans are high, but in good standing/not up for repayment yet. It might be time.

So…I want to be shopping for a place by September/October. If not a home of my own, a new rental. It’s time to go. I need a change and I’m tired of not having privacy. I want space. French doors. A washer/dryer of my own. I want to play my flute whenever the fuck I want. I want to play music during my early morning workouts and vacuum the floors at 8 am. Holy shit! I. Want. Freedom.

I’m stating it here. I want to move. Hopefully to a place of my own. This means the next few months need to be lean. I’d like to pay off the last of my hospital bill. I think I owe another $300. I have a doctor’s bill for about $900. I’d like to cut that in half. I’d also like to take another $2000 – 3000 with me when I’m ready to buy. That’s ambitious, but September/October I want to be shopping for a HOME.

It’s out there in the universe. Now it just needs to happen. (With my help, of course.)

Note: This works out well because I’m also watching what I eat and staying home for marathon training. The next few months might be intense, but I think they payoff on ALL fronts will be worth it. By the end of the year I’ll hopefully only have 2 classes left until my bachelor’s degree. I’ll have run New York and hopefully bought a freaking home. I’m so muthafucking ready for good stuff to happen. I feel like all I ever do is work and never see the benefits. Bring them on!

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