Category Archives: school

Time Manangement Skills

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Generally speaking, I’m a pretty good time manager. If you tell me to have something done by a certain date or time it will be done. At work, I’m an extremely efficient worker. This comes from years of being a project manager and knowing exactly what it takes to get projects done. I’m organized and able to think through what needs to be done efficiently.

But…(you knew there was a giant but coming, right?) in my personal life and with school work I suck at time management. This might just be due to the fact that I am extremely busy. I work full-time, run, am taking 3 summer classes, working 4 hours a week at the running store, etc. The list goes on and on.

I’m finding a lot of conflicts in my schedule lately. I know that I can get everything done, but I need to manage my time better and accept the fact that I’m too busy to do certain things. Besides all of the other things I have going on, I also have  a really hard time saying no. If a friend invites me somewhere, I will almost always say yes when looking at it I do not have the time. Losing four hours to “hanging out” is a luxury that I don’t have right now.

Would I like to have drinks with my friends and hang out? You better believe it. It sure as hell beats reading about Michelangelo or women’s suffrage on a Friday night, but I’m so close to finishing up this degree that I can taste it. If that means that sometimes I need to cancel on people (as I will be doing tonight) or saying no then so be it. I should be free in about 10 weeks.

I spent the morning getting some reading done. I’ll be able to get a  quick run in this evening and then settle in for a nice long night of homework.  I’ve got well over 100 pages to read, 2 movies to watch, 3 discussion questions, and a 3 page paper due on Monday. Mix in 3-4 runs, a weight session, working at the running store, and trying to get chores done this weekend and my weekend is full.  (I suppose I need to hang out with Gio at some point too. He’s sitting under my desk looking up at me through the glass. Way to make me feel guilty dog!)

Do you ever find yourself in full on work mode? No time to go out and enjoy things. Busy, busy, busy at all times? If so, how do you handle getting things done?

Fall?

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It seems just like that we’re headed into fall. Or something that appears to be fall. Our leaves don’t change colors or anything like that. We don’t have to put on cute sweaters, nor do we get to wear scarves. (Oh how I envy people that get to wear scarves!) I don’t care about football and I hate eating pumpkin. (I’m making a face right now.)

How do I even know that it’s fall?

All of a sudden I’m super busy. Work is busy, school has started, the latter part of this month and half of the next month are “monster training” months. I’ve also taken on a side project that is keeping me super busy and of course, I’m working hard on my other blog.

Fall means it’s time to get back to the grind.  So, grind I shall.

Here’s whats going on the next few weeks:

Running: We’re 9 weeks out from New York and for the first time, I feel like I *might* be able to run my super secret goal time. As the time gets nearer we’ll discuss that. Or not. Either way, I’ve got some big weeks of running coming up. This week is a rest week, but next week should take me well over 40 miles per week.

My biggest goal is to make it to the starting line healthy. This means I need to ice, foam roll, stretch, and strength train to stay healthy.   I’m doing my hip strengthening workouts every day and hopefully that will keep the issues at bay.

Along the same lines, my nutrition needs to get in line and I need to slow my roll on the drinking. Hopefully, these 2 changes are exactly what I need to take off the last 5 lbs that I want to get rid of. (I fully understand that this weight might be in my head.)

Freelancing: I’m working on a project and need to stick to all of my (self-imposed) deadlines. I’m excited to be working on this project and hope it will open other doors for me. Yay for trying new stuff.

Finances: I’ve been spending way too much on food, so I’m working on paying a bit more attention to this. (Hmm…maybe not drinking so much wine will effect my food budget?) I paid off my last hospital from the pulmonary embolism. Now I just owe another $800 from when I fell down last year. (I did not know there was going to be a charge for it. My insurance sucks ass.) Otherwise, I’m stashing money for my next move. I think my next move is to buy a home, but I’m still sorting that out.

School: I’m in my last 2 semesters! I’ve got 2 pretty easy classes and am starting to research going to grad school. I need to start looking at the GRE. Scary…

Home / Declutter: I’ve been working on decluttering my house. I’m so sick of looking at stuff. I don’t really own that much, but when one lives in one place for a while they accumulate stuff. That’s what I’ve done and it needs to go.

New Blog: I just want to build my readership and actually write a serious/decent article periodically. (Maybe I need to give myself some parameters on this. We’ll see.)

So, that’s going to be my fall. Busy, busy busy.

What’s your fall look like so far?

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Today’s Run: So boring I don’t even remember. Yes!

Great Week So Far!!!

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I’m having an awesome week. Lots of cool stuff going on here in GeekGirllandia. (I just make that up. I like it!) I’m feeling good for the most part and overall, I’m super happy. What have I been up to? Let’s see:

SpringAwakening

  • I went to see Spring Awakening last night at the Arsht Center in Miami. It. Was. Awesome. Seriously. I loved everything about it. Basically, it’s a musical about a group of kids in Germany coming of age in the late 1800′s. These kids are super repressed and confused. We get to watch the results. The musical score is basically rock music and there is a real band on the stage. I love the set and the way that most of the actors stayed on stage throughout the show. I also like all of the stomping. (You just have to see it!)  I give this musical 5 GeekGirl stars. Seriously! Go see it.
  • On Wednesday, I also finally won a gift card from Smarty Pig. I’ve been trying to for months. Usually they do a once a month give away for a $100 gift card. This one was for a $25 gift card. Not $100, but woohoo to winning something!
  • I’m trying to put together a small, cost-effective vacation. Due to time constraints and brokeitis, I’m a bit limited. I’ll be going to NY to run the marathon, but that doesn’t really count. I want a little get away in August. I’m working on that.
  • I got some new sports bras. Hopefully these work for me. It’s hard to find sports bras which is really weird since I wear a freaking A cup. It’s not like I need some crazy bra that holds down D cups or some shit. I just want simple compression bras and don’t want to pay $40 for that either. I finally found some Champion bras on sale that might do the trick. I’ll give you a report once I try them out.
  • I also received Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger. I’ve read over everything and so far so good. But, I gotta be honest with you. The training looks intense. But, I realized that I have 7 weeks to lay down a higher base. I’m already at 30 miles which Pfitz says is fine. I’m going to go up to 35 and hold it there. I’ll have a LOT more details on this.
  • Somehow I’ve gained a couple of pounds. I’m really not sure how that happened, but it has. (It is that time of the month, so…) This calls for me to react ridiculously. I will go back to counting calories on my iPhone. I’d really like to drop 10 lb for the NY Marathon.
  • School is done diddly doodly. I got a C in Spanish and a B in my Arthurian Literature class. Not as high as I wanted, but I’ll take it. It looks like I have about 6 or so classes left of school. Woohoo.
  • Lots of fun things coming up this weekend. I have a poker party to attend on Saturday. A visit with my mom and sis. (They both got new apartments!) Maybe a movie.

So, that’s what I’ve been up  to. What have you been up to?

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Workouts thus far:

Monday – 4.32 miles| 45:18 | 10:29 pace
Wednesday – 6.11 miles | 1:02 | 10:12

I meant  to run today, but due to being out late* last night I was too tired. Since I’m not in marathon training right now, I figured it was ok to sleep. I’ve got plenty of days coming that cannot be skipped. I’ll run the next 3 days, though.

Ok. I think that’s it. Off to relax a bit more.

* Note:  Late for me is midnight.

Friday Fun – Boston Marathon Elite Athlete Village Dance Off

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Sometimes, elite marathon runners appear to be superhuman. Further, it comes across as if they’re not fun. I think this is mostly due to the fact that we pretty much only see them with their game face on.  Well, here’s a video from 2009 with the winner of Boston, Merga. It’s believed that the guy in the hat is this years winner and course record smasher Robert Cheryiot. This is pretty fucking cool:

I would be dancing my ass off too, if I were a bad ass Kenyan marathoner. Hell! I’m going to dance like that after I finish New York this year. It might take me a day or 2, but there will be dancing.

******

Running has been going ok this week.  Nothing to write home about or anything, but I’m getting it done. I’ve been feeling a bit blah in my running, but I know that’s the norm.  Sometimes running is just there. That’s fine. I’m just getting it done.

I wish I could figure out what I’m doing for training. I think I’m going to buy Pete Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning. Jack Daniels seems to be a little too advanced for me though I think his basic marathoner program would work well for me. I’m just scared to make the wrong decision. Sigh…

*****

I’m having school drama. I took a test on Sunday and my professor claims she didn’t get it. Or something. I wrote to her to ask what happened and – 5 days later – she still hasn’t replied. I think I’m going to get an “F” in this one. This makes me a bit upset.

*****

I’m still seeing the vegan, though I’m not sure I’m happy with him. He’s great and we have a good time together, but he believes in some things that I just can’t get behind. He’s into holistic/alternative medicine and I pretty much think that shit is bullshit. There are a few other things that bug me, but I’m not sure if I’m just being too fussy. We’ll see.

All righty! I’m off to do some reading. Later, bitches!

Weekend Roundup

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So, that super ambitious to-do list that I have? I bet you’re all wondering how much of it I accomplished. The sad, sad answer is not very much of it. However, I did get the most important things done. I got Gio over to the vet and got in my 10 miler. Woot!

Last week was rough for me running wise. I was having some crazy issues as well as my back hurting. I lost all confidence in my abilities. Fortunately, I stuck it out and did a lot of stretching and a little bit of resting. My back and pirformis feel much better now and I was able to salvage the week and finish it with a strong, comfortable 10 miler. Furthermore, I ran my highest weekly mileage in ages. Seriously! I don’t think I’ve seen this type of mileage since my PE.

I ran a total of 25.7 miles and my body feels good. I’m really proud of myself for working through the issues that I was having and not just folding and not running. That was my initial reaction, but I kept chugging along. I dropped the speedwork (again!) and walked up and down the bridges. By Friday, I was feeling really good.

This week is a rest week and I’m going to take it very seriously. I think I really need it. I’m going to skip the intervals and opt for an “easy” fartlek. I don’t want to push anything here. Sadly, I’ve done very little speedwork this time around but I’m ok with it. I’m supposed to run a 15k this weekend, but we don’t have any in the area. If I can find a 10k I’ll run it, but most likely I’ll just run easy that day. Since I’ve been toying with injury, I don’t want to push.

Other than that, school starts today. My Spanish teacher seems like she hates life. So much work. Of course my books aren’t here yet. My Arthurian Lit class already put me to sleep just reading the syllabus. Ha!

With that I’m out! Have an awesome week peeps!

Ohhhh….I also have a date tonight. All I have to say about that is “meh”.

Done!!!

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I just sent off my final paper, so school is officially done. Woohoo!!!

I had to force myself not to do any blogging. Sadly, when I have things to get done it’s one of my favorite time-wasters.  However, I forced myself to sit down and work through all of my projects. I got a “B+” on one and a “C” on the other. Whoops.  We’ll have to see what I got on the final I just turned in.

I guess I’ll give a quick rundown on what’s happening here in GeekGirllandia! I like bullets for right now. Here ya go:

  • I’ve been running and getting faster quickly. I still have a few issues with my right ankle (the one that I hurt while in NY), but I’m still icing it and doing some flexibilty work on it.
  • My finances are whack. I made a HUGE mistake trying to move my accounts over. I did it completely and totally ass backwards. Then found out that my new bank doesn’t import into Mint or Quicken. It sucks. I then decided to just go with my Schwab account. Life is slowly getting back to normal with that.
  • I had to pull my credit report because I was turned down for a new credit card. It said that I had “several delinquent accounts”. Uhm…no. I don’t. Not a single late payment or non payment on all 3 credit reports. FICO in the mid 700′s, so I don’t get it. Anyone have any insight here?
  • I’m realizing that in order to do the things I need to get done financially, 2010 is going to be LEAN. Really lean. Still figuring out how lean.
  • I got a bonus. I spent said bonus on an eye exam and a new purse.  Woohoo…Except not. I had carried the same purse for 2 years and hadn’t had my eyes checked in 3 years. I now need to buy glasses and contacts with my imaginery money.
  • My mom – wow. I don’t even know where to begin here. Her “fiance” got sick and went to the hospital. The loser is no longer going to be able to work most likely. She will be taking care of this asshole the rest of his life. He’s a lying piece of shit that is still married and my mom seems oblivious to this. Everything he has told her is a lie. Further, I think he knew he was sick and just looking for some gulliable person to take care of him. Enter….my mom. (Yes. I ran a background check on him including ALL of his aliases. That should say it all. Who the fuck has aliases? I sure as hell don’t.)
  • Gio is super healthy and happy. I’m sure you were all concerned. :-)
  • I have decided to quit the running store in January. My grades have suffered a lot and I’m tired. I’ll also only be taking 2 classes. Why? See: tired.

Hmmm…I think that’s it for the time being. Oh…I hate the holidays. I forgot to include that. With that, I’m off to the gym to do a speed workout. Shame since it’s in the 60′s out. (Hitting the gym because I messed this up the last time I did it outside.)

I’m Already Behind

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I’ve been uber busy these days. 2 jobs, 3 classes, lots of running, and a bit of dating is wearing me out. I need to stay focused and get things done. I’ve already been sitting here trying to figure out what I need to do to balance out my life a bit.

I’m most likely going to suspend my online dating for a bit. I really just don’t have time and I’m feeling a bit meh on everything. That usually means that I’m burnt out. I think my Match.com account is done in October, so I won’t renew that. (Not like I got a SINGLE date from there. WTF?!?!) I’ll probably keep it up through the end of the month or so for the free account I have on another site. Then I’m done. It’ll let me rethink what I want. (Because I really don’t know what I want, but I do know that I don’t want a Ed Hardy wearing, misogynist asshole. Which is what I keep running into.)

Schools been a disaster. Primarily because I HAD NO INTERNET AND NO BOOK. Now that things are back to normal, I’m still not representing like I should be. This week, I’ll get more caught up and put in the work that I need to to get where I need to be. Ugh.

Running wise, I’m doing ok. I wish my long runs were up a bit more, but I think I’m fine to start half marathon training next week. My first long run is 8 miles. I’ve done 7 and will try to get 8 this week. I should be fine. Though I need to run this outside. I’m going to try to do most of my runs outside this week. Wish me luck.

So, in short, I need to get my little ass in gear. Here we go!

Schools Done

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I took my last final today at 9. I’m not sure how it went. I honestly could have studied a lot harder, but I’ve just been exhausted. I think my GPA is going to take a hit. That means my last 13 classes I have to truly bust my ass. Sigh…Or maybe I just won’t go to grad school. Whatever.

Yeah. I’m feeling a bit burned out, blah, bored, and confused. Maybe if I rest this week I’ll get some more direction.

Whirlwind Weekend

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I had a uber busy weekend. I got up Saturday and went for an easy 3 miler. No knee pain or anything and the run went well. I then did some homework, and then headed to work. Work was so busy that I should’ve been in tears. Fortunately, I don’t care enough. I seriously ran in circles for 6 hours. I was so tired that when I got home I just went to sleep.

Sunday, I got up around 6ish and did a shitload of homework. I then did some laundry and some housecleaning. Nothing major. From there, I headed to work. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I pull up and there are people waiting at the door for me to open the store. From there, it went down hill. I was overly busy and couldn’t get my inventory done. Bleh.

Afterwork, I headed home and got ready to head out for a second date with H., the guy I met on Monday. I headed down to South Beach where we had a couple of drinks and then went for a walk on the beach. The date went well, and that’s all I got on that one. My lips are sealed.

I had to get up this morning and head to Hollywood to take Gio to the vet. It was early and it sucked. I then had to drive back around 2 to pick him up. He’s fine. It seems like maybe he tweaked his hip or something. He got a shot of anti-inflammatories and I’m to keep an eye on him the next few days.  He must feel better since he started humping my leg.

I think that’s it. Ohhh….I did get attacked by another duck. I also showed up to work with my shirt on inside out. Yeah. I’ll have to tell about that later. For now, I just want to get some freaking sleep. I’ve got a long ass week ahead of me. Finals! Oh, no!

Grade Ammended

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The grade for my Spanish exam has been updated.  Originally, the grade was a 27%. Yeah. Seriously. It freaked me the hell out. I know I wasn’t as prepared for the class as I should be, but come one. To get a grade that low takes a LOT of work.  Fortunately, the grade came up around 50 points. Not the highest grade, but not a 27%. I’lll take it. Now, I’m just trying to finish up the semester and am not feeling as lost on the situation. I’m now back in B level work. Good thing.

I registered for my Fall classes this morning, too. Unfortunately, I registerd to late and was not able to get Spanish IV.  That’s semi-disastrous since I hate Spanish and will need to do some sort of review before the Spring semester. (If I can get in there then.) This fall, I’m only taking 3 classes. I really want to take 4, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I need to make really good grades and finish this baby up. (I’m on my last few semesters!) I’ll be taking CyberLaw, Legal Research, and The Gothic Literature Tradition. I’m thrilled not to be taking Economics for a semester. These are classes I will actually enjoy. I’m ready to wrap this school thing up. I’m over it. It’s not fun.