Weekly Adventure Destination #2: Mt. Bonnel & Mayfield Park

I spent a recent weekend hanging out with my 8 year old niece and her menagerie while my brother and sister-in-law were out of town. Why they trust me with a child, I don't know, but I did manage to feed and water her for 48 hours without too much trouble. After a gnarly cold snap, we had a weekend of gorgeous weather - sunny skies, highs in the low 70s.  We packed a picnic lunch and headed out to a couple parks in Austin, Mt. Bonnell, Mayfield Park, Scenic Drive and Lake Austin. Mt. Bonnell & Scenic Drive I've been to many times as it is part of my favorite long run loop in Austin. I had never been to Mayfield Park (hence, it counts as my weekly adventure), which is very close by and guarded by a flock of feisty peacocks.

Tinkerbelle and Sydney. The other "kids" I took care of

Mt. Bonnell

Mayfield Park

Mayfield Park

Mayfield Park

Peacocks at Mayfield Park

Show off

Rear view

Front View

Lake Austin

view from Scenic Drive

Resting up after a big day

Perfect weekend, with a cherry on top

Monday Monday$: Big Fat Pile of Debt

I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person. Feel free correct me if I am wrong. Though I was an English major, I have a well rounded education and seemed to excel in math up through high school. I know that negative numbers are "bad" and less than positive numbers. Heck, I think I learned that back in grade school. So how the h-e-l-l did I start 2010 with $-49,567.28? Yes, you read that correctly. I had $49,567.28 in the red as of January 2010, when I started actually paying attention to my own personal finances. I owed almost $50K to a variety of banks and financial organizations that willingly and happily loaned me money throughout my adult life, so long as I agreed to pay them back and then some with interest. This included a loan for my "house" (an Airstream trailer), student loans, a car loan and two credit cards. 

I thought I was living within my means. I had two credit cards with a combined available credit over of $20,000, so long as I didn't exceed my available credit and made my payments on time means I was doing pretty good! The interest rates were the lowest available and I always tried to pay extra when I could. My car loan was reasonable, I bought a cute brand new Honda Fit at the end of 2007, making sure the monthly payments were well below what I could afford so I'd never have any problems making them. The Airstream loan was reasonable too, I thought. I gave up my apartment and moved into it full time, the combined payments for the loan and the rent at the property where I parked it added up to slightly less than my rent at the old apartment. No problem there. Then there are the student loans. Everyone has student loans. How else do you go to school, especially a private one? Answer: Sallie Mae. We're pretty close now, she's been in my life for over 10 years and only made me start paying her back 6 months after I graduated from college. Not only that, but she only makes me pay $132.05 per month until the loans are paid off. This is less than I spend on groceries and so generous!  

As I read and learned more about personal finance last year, being the nerd that I am, I created a few spreadsheets to calculate how much I would actually pay on the loans versus the original amounts I borrowed. Please note, I did very simple math and multiplied my monthly payment times the number of months in the terms of the loan. I realize there are probably more complicated exact calculations involving interest and integers and cosines or something, but remember I am an English Lit chick just starting to figure out this personal finance thing. This is what I discovered:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????!!!! I was going to end up paying OVER $14K MORE than I originally borrowed????!!!! I could buy another new car for that! I could take an extended trip to Europe or Asia or anywhere I wanted for that!!! I started sweating, cursing and threw a little fit by myself when I first saw those numbers. I know how to multiply, divide and add things up. How did I not calculate the ACTUAL amount I would be paying instead of just worrying about the original loan amount and the monthly payments? And to think, this doesn't even include my credit cards, which I am not going to get into today. My blood pressure still rises when I look at that chart. Ugh, ugh, UGH! What the hell was I going to do?

To be continued next week...

Fundraising Part 3: I Lied.

This is the reason I started posting my previous fund raising ventures on my blog. I am at it again. I just can't quit, except this time I'm donating a lot more of my own money. This is my latest venture, you can visit the website here: http://sctx.llsevent.org/KateP

Fundraising Part 2: Team in Training / Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

A re-post of my second fund raising venture in 2010

_________________________

On August 29, 2009, Dr. Louis Portera, a close friend's father, passed away unexpectedly from complications of leukemia. There was nothing I could do to alleviate the family's grief and sadness from this devastating loss. But there is something I can do to help others diagnosed with this disease.

What: I am attempting my very first, and possibly last, triathlon on Labor Day, September 6, 2010 to raise $2500 as a part of Team in Training for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). That's a 1500 meter (.93 mile) swim, 40 km (24.8 mile) bike ride and a 10 km (6.2 mile) run. Yes, all in one day, yes, one right after the other and yes, I am actually crazy. My goal is to have 100 people donate $25 each. That's not so hard, right?

Who: Team in Training raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) which is the "world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. LLS's mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families."

Why: I am raising money in memory Dr. Louis Portera, the father of Cameron (Portera) Cooper, one of my best friends who I grew up with in Dallas. The Portera family was a huge part of my life from the moment Cameron walked me through the lunch line on my first day in the 4th grade at Lakehill. Dr. Portera was an incredible, well-respected emergency room doctor at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, a warm and loving father of three, and a doting grandfather to his young grandchildren. He was 60 years young when he died. He was the kindest man I have ever met and his love for his family was apparent to anyone who spent more than a few moments around him. No family should go through an unexpected loss such as theirs, please help me raise a little money to find a cure for leukemia and to support those already diagnosed with this disease.

All I am asking is $25 from 100 people! Be one of them! If you are feeling extra generous, feel free to donate more ! Smaller amounts are welcome too! $5, $10, $12 - every little bit helps!

Thanks for being the most awesome, rocking, amazing group of family, friends, co-workers and other people who are once again, unfortunately in my email address book or on Facebook!

Fundraising Part 1: The Life Raft Group

Here is a re-post of my first fund raising venture in 2009.
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October 7, 2009

Show the love!

The Short Story: I want your money! (for a good cause!) 

The Long Story: I am running the Austin Marathon on February 14, 2010 and have challenged myself to raise $2620 for the Life Raft Group. That is $100 for every mile I run. Plus an extra $20 for that pesky last .2 mile.

The Life Raft Group is a "non-profit organization providing support, through information, education, and innovative research to patients with a rare cancer called GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor)" - the same kind of cancer my dad was diagnosed with in May 2000.

At the time of his diagnosis, my dad was told by his doctors to go home and enjoy what little time he had left. There was no treatment beyond aggressive surgery for this particular type of cancer, as radiation and chemotherapy were ineffective. He had surgery to remove a cantaloupe sized tumor from his stomach, along with 2/3 of his actual stomach, his gallbladder, his spleen, a section of his diaphragm and much of his liver, the cancer had metastasized and was spreading. There was nothing left to do. 

Those of you who know him won't be surprised by his response of "!@#$ that"!  He got on the internet, did hours of research and talked his way onto a clinical trial at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston for a brand spanking new cancer treatment, an oral drug called Gleevec.  Within a few months of taking Gleevec in the form of 4 daily pills, the remaining tumors not only stopped growing, they shrank in size. Gleevec saved his life. To this day he has been fortunate enough to have no tumor regrowth whatsoever. Though he still takes Gleevec daily, he is healthy and able to lead a normal life, as normal as any Poss can at least. In the almost 10 years since the clinical trial began, Gleevec was approved by the FDA to treat both GIST and a type of leukemia (CML).

Why should you donate to this rare form of cancer? According to the Life Raft Group website, "although many patients with GIST are being successfully treated with Gleevec, GIST patients continue to die either because they develop resistance to Gleevec or because of delays in diagnosis or obstacles to accessing therapy. GIST cancer research provides a perfect model for demonstrating how to cure other cancers. GIST, although quite deadly, is a relatively simple cancer and has an increasingly understood mechanism of cancer mutations."

In layman's terms, by understanding and finding a cure for one cancer, we are one step closer to finding a cure for all cancers. 

No one with cancer, not my dad, not your dad, no one should be told to go home and die, for there is nothing left to do. Help us find a cure and support those already diagnosed with this rare form of cancer.

Please take the time, and a little bit o' money, to donate to this organization. I (and my very talented friend James Hall) will be creating a special outfit for me to wear on race day that lists the names of everyone who donates (and who is willing). Be famous! Let me sweat, drool and possibly vomit on your name! Every little bit counts, $5, $10, $100 or more!  (Hello charity tax write off!!!)

If you would prefer to mail a check directly to Life Raft Group, please mail donations payable to the Life Raft Group to:
The Life Raft Group
40 Galesi Drive
Wayne, NJ 07470

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UPDATES

(10/7/09) NEW GOAL! Due to the overwhelming generosity of all the friends, family, co-workers and more who have donated thus far, my new goal is to raise $2620 in 24 HOURS!!! Help me hit that goal! 20 HOURS LEFT! Then we'll talk about raising more after that!!  THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

(10/7/09) Unbelievable!!! Your generosity is overwhelming, it seriously brings tears to my eyes, and those of you who know me know how hard that is to do! I have reached my goal of $2620 in LESS THAN 6 HOURS!!! That is incredible!!! Clearly this means I must raise the bar and increase my goal to, say, $5000? What do you think? KEEP SHOWING THE LOVE!!!

(10/26/09) The generousity continues! We hit $5000 in less than three weeks! Why not go for $6500? With just under 4 months remaining, this seems like an attainable goal.  Thank you again!


(2/4/10) The marathon is just days away! 10 to be exact, and just enough time to raise that last little bit of money to reach my goal of $6500! Thank you so much to those of you who have already donated, your generosity is greatly appreciated! Now I guess I actually have to run the marathon, yikes! 

(2/15/10) SUCCESS! I survived! It was long, hilly and much harder than I remember, but it was a gorgeous day to run! Many thanks to all the spectators, supports and cheerers out there, especially those friends and family members who came out. Thank you again to everyone who donated, y'all rock!

Money Monday$: What Will You Do For Money?

Driving through central Oklahoma

I didn't post last Money Monday$ because it was Valentine's Day, and pictures are way prettier and more fun than money, most of the time. This Monday I am posting super late because I spent the better part of today driving 600 miles to northern Oklahoma for work. As I mentioned in my last post, I wasn't exactly planning working on a film during this 100 Days Challenge, since I knew of nothing on the horizon and I am looking for alternative forms employment, or maybe even a "career." But this short job popped up and my savings account did a little happy dance when it starting thinking that it didn't have to support me all by itself for a little while.  So here I am in a delightful hotel overlooking a small town mall with a Dillard's AND a Sears and will be slaving away 12-14 hours a day for the next 25 days.

It could be worse; there is free internet, free breakfast and a little gym at the hotel! Not to mention I am working with one of my good friends and it is an interesting film project that will be cool to be a part of. I do have a special place in my heart for random small towns and cross country road trips so a month in Oklahoma is a little adventure for me. But the real reason I took this job is for the money, which is pretty much the reason I have spent most of my working years in film so far. It pays me, sometimes well, sometimes not at all, but either way I have managed to make a living doing it for six years. Even though I bitch and complain about film jobs more often than not, I just can't say no to a paying job. Crazy right? Who would turn down paying work? But I am walking a fine line between paying down my debts, saving up money for a career/life change and working positively towards that change while trying to put my health/happiness first, before jobs and before money. So why am I at a hotel in Nowhere, OK? Because I see it as an additional stepping stone to my next move. I can save more money and buy myself a little more time so I can do a thorough and conscious evaluation of my next move, without having too many money induced panic attacks in the process.

It is a compromise, as I would much rather be back in NB doing "nothing" but focusing on the 100 Days, but I don't live in a total fantasy land (yet) and do feel like I "need" to be working if the opportunity presents itself. Something about feeling productive, making a living, contributing to society, blah blah blah.  Hopefully someday sooner rather than later, I will be in a financial position where I don't have to make compromises and sacrifices for money. In the meantime, I will be working my 100 Days off as a temporary Okie.

What sacrifices and compromises have you made for money?

Never Say Never

There has been a slight change in my plans. I am going to Oklahoma on Monday for one month to work on some re-shoots for film. This wasn't exactly in my plans for the 100 Day Challenge, but after crunching some numbers I decided it might be in my best interest to actually make some money for a month while I continue to weigh my options for my next "career" step. It also helps that I'll be in OK with one of my very good and fun friends, who I spent the summer of 2009 with on working another film in that same state north of the Red River. 

I haven't said too much about it on here yet, but I think I am narrowing down what career direction I want to go in that does not involve film. I've been researching and doing info interviews and am excited about this possibly new direction. I don't want to go into it "publicly" yet, as I have a tendency to change my mind and plans every 5 minutes so until I have an actual, real plan, the details and subject will remain vague. I am pretty sure my inconsistencies and mind-changing ways are in the Poss genes as my dad's quote to me the other night when I told him I was taking the job in OK after swearing off film was something along the lines of "good God, you really are my daughter." Either that or they finally got the paternity tests back that confirm I am not the milk man's, though I'm still hoping I am Oprah's long lost daughter.

No matter what, I will continue the 100 day challenge, getting in my exercise and pages before or after the inevitable 12+ hour days that lie ahead for the next 30 days. There is a small fitness center at the hotel and I can always bring running shoes to walk or run outside. If I have to, I'll even do calisthenics in the production office in between phone calls and emails. I will bring many books and will have to make myself read, even if I am tired. There will be no Lunchboxes for me, a delightful local drink made of beer, orange juice and Amaretto that will inevitability lead me to dance with a toothless local until the wee hours of the morning while my books sit at the hotel, lonely and untouched.

During one of my info interviews this week with a self employed small business owner, I heard an appropriate quote. "It is not the original commitment you make, it is the re-commitment you make to it every single day." Damn, so appropriate. I committed to the 100 Day Challenge back in early January, when I didn't have another job on the horizon. I must now make a much more conscious re-commitment to it, every single day once I get to Oklahoma.  It will now be much more challenging to put myself and this challenge first while working a demanding job on another, and possibly my last, film.  I know I won't lose any friends or family if I miss a day or slack off here and there because I was at the office from 8A to 11P, but I will be sad/mad/disappointed in myself if I let that happen. This challenge is as much about the discipline to do something good for myself EVERY SINGLE DAY NO MATTER WHAT as it is about hitting the 100 minutes and 100 pages marks daily. Speaking of, there is a stationary bike and a book calling my name...

Favorite Person At The Gym: The Bouffant

According to the most respected source on the internet besides my mother, a bouffant "is a type of hairstyle characterized by hair piled high on the head and hanging down on the sides" but it says nothing about how to maintain this look while working out at the gym.

On the days that I make it to the gym around lunch time, I usually see a woman, the Bouffant, working out on an elliptical machine. What is the proper verb for working out on an elliptical machine anyways? You run on a treadmill, ride or bike on a stationary bike, do you ellipt on an elliptical? Or maybe you gallop?  Anyways, the Bouffant has the most perfect, blond helmet of hair held together by countless bobby pins and at least one bottle of hairspray. Not to mention that she is incredibly tiny and fit. She can't be more than five feet tall, 90 pounds and could be anywhere from 25 to 65 years old, depending on her tanning tenancies and taste for nicotine and booze.

As I run on the treadmill trying not to do a face plant, she elegantly gallops on the elliptical machine in front of me for at least an hour, never breaking a sweat nor moving a single hair out of place. Being a heavy sweater myself, I wondered how she does it? Does she drink liquid antiperspirant to block her sweat glands?  That is bound to give her some sort of cancerous growth someday. Her hair never moves nor does she even have a beat of sweat across her brow. Her hair is like it's own separate entity, a snap-on Lego hairstyle that stays in place as she moves her lower half around and around on the machine. Does she use multiple bottles of hairspray every day or piles of gel to keep it all in place? If I even look at someone else sweating, my straightened against its will hair will hear the humidity and immediately frizz up, creating a halo of curls that remind me of the days between Kindergarten and 9th grade when I rarely brushed my naturally wavy hair.

As I wipe another river of sweat off my brow, I wonder what the Bouffant does for a living and start to create my own version of what must be her reality. She is clearly an executive assistant to a very well off business man, possibly an oil tycoon. I bet she even does personal assistant work for the tycoon's family, calling the wife to remind her about the dinner with clients coming up that week, scheduling baby sitters for their 2.5 kids and making sure the dry cleaning gets picked up. She doesn't do it all herself, she arranges it and is paid very well her for years of service. She wears teal suits with skirts, not pants, and gets her acrylic nails done every week at the same time and place she's been going to for the past 5 or 35 years, depending on her age. She's been wearing the same style of makeup and hair for her entire life. She might have even got her start working with Mary Kay. Maybe she sold the oil tycoon's wife some lipstick and they became fast friends. When the executive assistant position opened up at her husband's office, the wife recommended the Bouffant for the job and the rest is history. Even though she is single, she's never crossed any lines with her married boss, no way, she's not that type. She takes her job as seriously as her hair and would never do anything to compromise either one. She works out on her lunch hour no matter what, and probably eats the same 300 calorie Lean Cuisine meal and drinks Crystal Light raspberry lemonade every day for lunch. She is meticulous and organized in her own life, no one with hair that perfect could be disorganized or sloppy when it comes to calorie counting. She drives a nice beige sedan with tan leather interior, possibly bought for her by her tycoon boss as a Christmas bonus for a job well done. She lives alone in a town home in a nice part of town. It's filled with dust-free fake flowers on side tables that are covered with wrinkle-free table clothes and doilies. The place is immaculate, even the flowery pillows on the couch somehow fluff themselves back into perfect place when she gets up to refill her Crystal Light. 

I get so wrapped up in imagining the Bouffant's life, I don't even notice when she actually finishes her workout and leaves. I want to run out into the parking lot to find her and confirm she is getting into her beige sedan wearing a teal suit to head back to the tycoon's office, where she will microwave her frozen lunch before she goes back to work opening mail, scheduling meetings and making sure every last detail in his life, and then her's, is in place. 

A Love List

Rainbow over "Heart Mountain," south of Marathon, TX

 I had big plans to post an epic Valentine's flashback story today, but cannot seem to find my original "story" so it will have to wait until I go through a few more boxes. Instead, I am borrowing an idea from Kris Carr - the Love List. She occasionally posts lists of things, people, ideas - anything and everything that she loves, and I kind of love this idea. Love doesn't just have to be about people (though that is nice and all) but love can be a place, an experience, or an amazing trip. Since I've been recently day dreaming about taking another trip, here is a list in no particular order, of places I have traveled to and love.  Happy day o' love to all! 

FOREIGN LOVES

Ambergris Caye, Belize

Cadiz, Spain

Gumusluk, Turkey

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Meteora, Greece

 AMERICAN LOVE

Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii

TEXAS LOVE: WEST TEXAS 

Mountains in Mexico, view from Chinati Hot Springs pool

Chinati Hot Springs

Chinati Hot Springs, the best pool in Texas

Terlingua, TX

Terlingua, TX

 

Ranch south of Marathon, TX

This One Time At Tennis Camp

It was love-love at first sight. Four hilarious ladies, two young gentlemen coaches, and a weekend of amateur tennis (us) in between bouts professional comedy (us, again) made for an epic and unforgettable weekend, which counted as my latest weekly adventure. 

I am not a tennis player. Though I do own a racket, it has seen a tennis court approximately 7 times in the past 5 years. I am lucky if the racket makes contact with the tennis ball before my knees or face make contact with the tennis court. So when I found out a few friends had signed up for a weekend of tennis camp at Newk's Tennis Ranch in NB (total coincidence that I live here, BTW, and yes that is the Men At Work song playing on their website) I was sure I'd be the worst of 24 campers or however many normally show up. I wanted to skip the camp part and just show up for happy hour, as I prefer to do things I am good at that require little to no learning or practice. Tennis is not one of them. Turns out I didn't need to be afraid, as everyone else except my friends and I canceled due to the crazy inclement weather in Texas. The four of us essentially got much needed private lessons all weekend. The quote of the first night by one of the coaches after watching us attempt to play tennis in jeans and boots was "[you girls] are a unique box of chocolates." We took that as a compliment.

Thankfully, the snow melted and the weather cooperated after Friday. It was in the low 60s and sunny the entire time. The weekend entailed one hour of tennis on Friday night, six hours of tennis on Saturday and two and a half hours of tennis on Sunday. I thought I'd get sick of it but I loved every minute and not just because we had the coaches making up tennis drinking games for us by Saturday afternoon. I think the drinking drills actually improved our skills, as we apparently do much better when you add a serious reward or consequence, like Bud Light. We even came up with a very special game for the coaches, they had to play a game of tennis with their left hands while holding Miller High Life tall boys in their right hands. The loser of each point had to drink and the first to 10 won. They claimed this was first for them, but I didn't believe them.

I won. Not really, I did win being the only one not hungover on Sunday.

The coaches were awesome and a ton of fun, mainly because they laughed at us the entire time and were still able to instruct us between laughing fits. It wasn't me, my friends are hilarious and make me look like the quiet and shy one (see above photo). And we did all learn quite a bit about tennis, too. I now know what a "continental grip" is and can actually hit the ball over the next at least 50% of the time. Whether or not it lands inside the lines is another weekend of camp, at least. We had an official awards ceremony on Sunday. I won the "special award" for my fancy outfits (and footwork). Pretty proud of that one, it's now on my fridge.

Even though I am still not great, or even good for that matter, I loved learning a new sport that is active and social. I plan to keep playing whenever I can. Got a racket? Let's some play tennis, love! Lord knows I could use the practice.

Favorite Person At The Gym: The Snorkeler

I am supposed to swim at least two times a week, according to my triathlon training schedule. I am lucky if I get in one session in the pool a week. Making the trek to the indoor pool at the gym in Austin is not always the top of my priority list since all the other swimmers in town also think they are too good to swim outdoors when it is 30 degrees outside. These other swimmers include The Snorkeler.

Before she was The Snorkeler, the person I am referring to is a nice, older woman who asked to circle swim in my lane (Circle swim is where you go up on one side of the lane and come back on the other so you can fit more than two people in a lane.) Circle swimming works well when everyone is more or less at the same pace, so no one has to constantly pass each other or wait for the slowest swimmer (me) to finish.

Because I am apparently judgmental, I assume she will be slow based on her apparent age and fitness level and therefore right up my alley (or lane), so I said yes. Little do I know that she had a snorkel and mask in her bag that transformed her into a swimming super villain, known as The Snorkeler, who will chase me down no matter how fast or slow I dog paddle up and down the lane. If I wait for her to go ahead of me and start immediately after her, by the time I reach the end of the lane she is somehow behind me again, slapping the water at my feet never looking up to see that someone might be in her way, or maybe she just didn't care. I would tell her to go ahead, except the mask allowed her to never lift her head, nor stop because she could actually now breath underwater. Unlike the rest of us who have to turn our heads to the side every stroke or so to gulp in enough air to keep going another few yards.

Frankly, I think using the snorkel while swimming laps is cheating. It's like having a motor on your bicycle or those fancy shoes with wheels embedded in the heels that are so popular with the tweens.  Don't get me wrong, I love to snorkel and have my very own mask, breathing apparatus and flippers that I use in the ocean and rivers so see all the pretty fish and cool marine life. They are for leisurely activities, not workouts at the gym. The Snorkeler didn't have flippers on, but I didn't check the size of her feet to see if they counted (mine are totally flippers, by the way). The snorkel meant she never had to break that nice forward momentum to turn her head and was taking in more oxygen than those of us who had to hold our breath while our faces were in the water. Cheater. Next time I see her in the pool, I'm totally going to do a cannon ball and splash all of her stuff, then promptly get out and sit in the sauna until she is done.

When Hell, or New Braunfels, Freezes Over

This place is not hell, nor even close, but it does get as hot as Hades in the summer and the average temperature in February is a pleasant 67 degrees. I woke up at sunrise on Friday to complete my 100 minutes in the form of an 8 mile run before some friends came into town for tennis camp (which was my weekly adventure last week, post to follow). I was surprised to see clear, blue skies with snow on the ground outside. Not just a little dusting of snow, but a serious white blanket covering my car, driveway and the roads. I guess I wasn't that surprised since many experienced meteorologists and the handy weather app on my iPhone warned me of this event. Since I already have balance issues and tripping concerns while running, I decided running 8 miles on the snow and ice was out of the question. A long walk, bundled up with many layers, to take photographs of the snow coating this little town as the sun rose was a much better option! This makes me want to get up and see the sunrise more often, though I could do without the 20 degrees and snow.

My street, from the front yard. Yes, that is my white picket fence.

There is no stopping the trains through NB

Henne Hardware, downtown

Brauntex Theater, downtown

Snow covered street

Downtown on the square, sunrise reflecting on the buildings

Downtown on the rotary circle

Gazebo in the middle of the rotary

Sunrise and snow

Prince Solms Inn

Snow and steam along the Comal River

San Antonio Street bridge across the Comal River

Sunrise on the Comal

 

Fountain statue, downtown next to the gazebo

Gazebo close up

Snow on a prickly pear cactus

My current residence

Side view of porch at my house

A post with a tour inside my current residence is soon to come! (Just as soon as I clean it up a little)

Monday Monday$: Volume 2

So Much Room for Activities!*



I need to find a way to finance my activities. I've got plenty of room for them, as my preferred activities all happen in the great outdoors. I have known this for a while, but was reminded of it this weekend after having a blast at tennis camp here in NB, which was not free unfortunately. I've fallen in love with triathlons in the past year, a pricey hobby with the fancy bikes, heart rate monitors, wet suits and entry fees. This is why I still ride my cheap mountain bike, use my fingers to calculate my pulse, wear the "free" wetsuit I got from my first training group and am only doing a couple races this next season.  If I could afford it, I'd go on a scuba diving trip once ever three months instead of once in my lifetime, which is all I've done so far. I want to take up rock climbing, but this involves a whole different set of expensive equipment, not to mention the skill set and muscles I must acquire in order to pull myself up many feet in the air with the tips of my fingers in tiny crevices.

These are the things that fill me with joy and make me jump out of bed in the morning, excited for my day/week/month/year. When I don't have a fun athletic activity to look forward to and train for, I become lethargic, bored and usually end up eating more ice cream and frozen custard than I should and then wonder why the top button on my pants is putting up such a fight.

Half the reason I don't always do some of these activities is the money, or lack there of.  I have the usual bills to pay, debt to get rid of, groceries to buy and don't always end up with much left over to fund my "recreation and entertainment." There was a time when I financed much of my lifestyle with credit cards in between paying jobs, but that is for another post. These days I operate on a "cash only" basis, meaning if I don't have the cash on hand (or in my bank account), I don't buy it. WHAT?!!!! I know this sounds crazy, but sometimes I have to tell myself "no," which I have recently learned is not a four letter word.

The word "no" sucks. It means sometimes I don't get to do what I want in order to still do those things that I need, like make my car payments so the repo men don't show up at my house and take away my adorable little car. I've started this thing called "irregular income planning" which means I look ahead to see how much income I may or may not have coming in the next month and budget accordingly in the order of importance. 1. Food (groceries only, no going out). 2. Rent/Utilities (if applicable) 3. Transportation (car payment, gas/oil).  Once these are taken care of and I still have money left over, I move down the list to my cell phone, student loans, credit card, household repairs/expenses, restaurants/going out money and recreation/entertainment.

This means that some months I can play and other months I can't (or shouldn't) because I just don't have the money coming in to justify another $140 entry fee to a triathlon. Or this means that I don't go out to eat or drink to save up and spend that cash elsewhere doing something that I really love. This might be why you haven't seen me hitting up the latest restaurants and bars in a while. I'd rather eat oatmeal for dinner and be able to pay the entry fee for the half marathon in April. It's hard and takes "discipline,"  another new word in my vocabulary.

Some months I am really well-behaved and strictly stick to my budget. Other months I am not and I blow all of my "entertainment" money in one weekend, then dip into other budget categories to pay for another race which is a big no-no. Rather than kicking myself, I try to think about how well I am doing, especially considering my previous habit of not thinking about my expenses. I'd  throw everything on a credit card and assume I'd be able to pay it off on my next job. Right, which is why I am still paying for trips and things from 2007.

If I have a bad spending week, I try to squeeze in some cheap or free activities that still contribute to my health and happiness without breaking the bank. This might be a run around Lady Bird Lake with friends. I already own the running shoes and I don't have to pay anything to use the trail. Or maybe I start going to group tennis lessons once or twice a month. It won't break the bank to spend $12 for an hour of fun tennis practice instead of spending a lot more money for private lessons. I am trying to find a nice balance between allowing myself to still do the things I love that don't lead me to the bottom of a gallon of ice cream and keeping my recreation/entertainment expenses reasonable and under budget as I try to dig myself out of debt and survive unemployment. I am still learning from all my money mistakes, which sometimes seem constant, and try not to repeat them in hopes of creating a better future for myself and a fatter recreation/entertainment fund so I can buy a fancy new bike AND learn how to rock climb with the correct equipment.

Po$$

*P.S. Step Brothers is quite possibly one of my most favorite movies, only topped by Dumb and Dumber. Highly recommend multiple viewings of it, as I find it to get funnier each and every time.

FAQs

A blog? Ugh, why don't you just go write in your diary.
This was an actual response by a family friend when he heard of my lil' project. Ha! I have a stack of diaries that I've started over the years but quit writing in after a couple days. I am easily distracted. 1) I can type much faster than I can write and 2) blogging helps to keep me accountable for this 100 Day Challenge. It helps me process what I read, do and see in new and hopefully interesting ways knowing that one or two people might periodically check in on me. Plus, I think it is kind of fun!

OMG stop talking about yourself!
Hey, I am not an expert in many things but I am an expert on ME! Therefore the majority of the posts involve me, myself and I and what I did, do and think. Deal with it or go read about celebrity mishaps on TMZ or something. 

Who edits this crap?
No one, clearly. On rare occasions, I run something by a friend or two for feedback but usually it's just me. I'm trying to get better about writing "drafts" in advance, reviewing, editing, and editing some more before just publishing anything. But that's the beauty of a blog, apparently I can write whatever I want! Don't like it, don't read it.


What's with your photos? They look funny and there aren't any people in them.
I don't want to carry a huge, fancy expensive camera with me wherever I go for one very important reason: I don't own one. I use the crappy camera on my iPhone 3G and "edit" the photos using the ShakeItPhoto app. With one tap, the app puts the cute frame around the photo and makes the colors richer like an old Polaroid. It takes less than 30 seconds and is the lazy woman's Photoshop, which I also know nothing about. I actually love photography, preferably shots of landscapes, scenery and nature as you may have already figured out. People just distract from the gorgeous view and cool shots. Get out of the way, I'm taking a picture!

What do you do?
Ah, the preferred question of "getting to know you" champions that can make or break a conversation! Currently, I "do" nothing assuming you are referring to my job, or am "between opportunities" as I prefer to call it. It's all about how you spin it! For most of the past six years, I've worked as a freelance assistant production coordinator (APOC for short) in the Texas film industry. It's a pretty hard gig with long hours and a crazy unpredictable schedule but I do get to work on cool projects with good friends. On rare occasions it has driven me to drink on the job, see photo below. Freelance also means I get laid off at the end of every TV show, movie or project I work on which can be anywhere from 2-6 times per year depending on the length of the projects. I've also worked at an advertising agency, briefly did credit repair at a mortgage company, inventoried old lady bras at a lingerie shop, guarded lives at a country club pool and was an ice cream scooper for a summer in Florida (which was awesome - spend the day on the beach, the night at work, hang out with friends and repeat). I am on the hunt for my next career move and hoping that this challenge will help inspire me.

No, I did not drink that whole pitcher in one sitting.

What do you LIKE to do? 
I love sports, but not the football, basketball, baseball variety. I don't mind watching a game or two, but sitting around a TV watching other people have fun bores me. I love sports and activities that I can learn, participate in and do moderately well, preferably outdoors and somewhere scenic. I played lots of sports in high school but ignored this love for the first half of my twenties for some dumb reason and have spent the past three years reigniting it. I love running most distances up to half marathons, triathlons, running, hiking, skiing (though I haven't actually done it in years), kayaking, swimming, and biking both on the road and on mountain trails, etc. When I am a millionaire I plan to travel to the world's best scuba diving spots, as it is a rather awesome but expensive hobby I have only been able to afford once. I also have a new found love for tennis after an epic weekend of tennis camp with some good friends. I will now be spending many hours perfecting my game so I can beat one particular friend who has a knack for kicking my ass in everything we do. Who knows, maybe I'll even like golf too! I also quite enjoy combing my love for athletic endeavors and crazy challenges with fund raising for good causes. I ran the Austin marathon in 2010 to raise money for The Life Raft Group and did my first triathlon with Team in Training that fall to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Both were awesome experiences and I plan to do more in the future, once my friends and family recover and forget how many times I've hit them up for money.

Survived the marathon, barely. Homemade sign by my dad - he's pretty good with markers.

Austin Triathlon with Team in Training

How did you come up with the 100 Day Challenge?
Don't say you can't learn anything from bad reality television. I was house sitting just after Christmas and spent a good, solid three days parked in front of the large flat screen television watching whatever I could find. (Reason #467 I do not have cable television. I am an addict.) This included four made for TV movies in a row on Lifetime, more than a few Real Housewives of New Atlanta County Hills, The Millionaire Matchmaker and countless other bad TV shows. One show was about an 18 year old girl who wanted to lose 100 pounds in 111 days before she went off to college. (She was very overweight and actually did have over 100 pounds to lose.) The TV show hired her a trainer, put her to work and chronicled her transformation and success, which was actually pretty impressive. This got me thinking about what I could do in a set period of time (not lose 100 pounds, fortunately I don't have that problem) especially since I was about to have quite a bit of free time on my hands with unemployment. I had a rather large stack of unread books and had not been regularly working out since I did my first triathlon back in September, hence the 100 Day Challenge was born.

Are you REALLY doing 100 minutes and 100 pages every single day?
YES! I really am. It is hard, especially on the days I actually have plans and other things going on. I try to get it done early or end up staying up late biking on my stationary bike in my living room and reading, getting in the minutes and pages when I can. In addition to the stationary bike, I also have a couple yoga and Pilates DVDs to do when the weather is terrible outside. I try to take a book with me wherever I go, so if I have any down time while waiting to meet someone I can knock out some pages. Some days it is harder to fit the minutes in especially when it is frigid outside, other days the reading is the hard part when all I want to do is go outside and play in the sunshine (like today).

Are you single?
Yes, please refer to this post for further explanation.