May is an interesting month.
It is still dominated by work because of all the reporting and audit
requirements. It is also a month of
celebration because my birthday, my husband’s birthday, and our anniversary are
all in it. You will notice below that I
have my normal three categories plus one extra item. The standalone item cannot yet be categorized
as good or bad, maybe it is a little of both.
Without further ado, here are my reflections for the month.
OMG – I Just Jumped
Off a Cliff
I put in my resignation at work this week. I have no job lined up, and I am not entirely
sure what my next step is. I just know I
needed to make a change. I also know I
would never do it if I stayed in my current job. My stress levels are through the roof. It is taking a toll on my health, my
marriage, my ability to make any progress on my goals, and my general
well-being. So I just did it, hoping to
give myself a bit of room to breathe and figure out what to do. I am so excited and terrified at the same
time. I am still working out my notice
period for most of June, and there is the potential for some part-time transition
work after that. I am on my way out the
door though after several years of complaining.
The Good
Birthday – May 3 was a good
day this year. I was able to take the
day off work. My husband and I went to
Harpers Ferry National Park. We did a bit of hiking,
ate lunch, and bought some treats at the old fashion candy store. Then, I had the afternoon and evening to
myself to just read and relax. We waited
until Friday the 4th to go for my dinner at Cantina D’Italia.
Philly Trip – I went up to
Philly for a visit with my cousin. She
and I went to see Jewels performed by the Pennsylvania Ballet Company. Afterward we had dinner at Alice Cucina
Romana, which had fantastic pizza and gelato.
Saturday we went to one of her friend’s houses for a picnic. It was a little weird at first since I knew no one,
but once I relaxed I had a good time.
Hiking – May was a good month
for hiking. I got hikes 4 and 5 done for
the year. The first one was the
aforementioned birthday hike to Harpers Ferry.
We did the Visitor Center Trail down to Lower Town. There was one really steep section next to a
nice waterfall series, but the rest was pretty much flat. From Lower Town, we hiked up to Jefferson’s
Rock, then went across the trellis bridge, and then returned to the Visitor
Center the way we came. In all, it was
about 5.7 miles. The second hike was
back to Manassas Battlefield Park on Memorial Day. I did the Second Manassas Trail this time,
which was 7.2 miles of relatively flat albeit muddy terrain. I enjoyed myself both times and feel great
that I am getting so much hiking in this year.
Hawaiian Luau – One of our
friends threw a Luau for her husband for his birthday. I am normally not a big party person, but I had
an especially good time at this one. It
started a bit slow, and I was a little overwhelmed by the number of people
milling around. At 9:00, she had some
dancers come to perform Tahitian and Hawaiian dancing for us, which was very
cool. When they left, half the crowd
dissipated pretty quickly too. I started
dancing with some other people, and all of a sudden I was having a great
time. I ended up staying until about
11:00 which is way later than I intended.
Avengers: Infinity
War – I finally saw the new Avenger’s movie in the theater this past
weekend. It was fantastic. All the characters from all the movies were in this one (with a few minor exceptions like Antman and Hawkeye). It has the usual Marvel downfall of way too
much going on in the 2.5 hours that it runs.
However, it also has a lot of fun action and good humor throughout. The plot on this one is phenomenal and the
stakes are high. It basically ends with
the worst outcome possible. I cannot
wait for the next one next year to find out how they manage to move on from
here. In the meantime, I need to rewatch
some of the older ones to make sure I understand all the nuances referenced in
this movie.
The Challenges
Diet – I changed up my game plan for diet in May. I noticed that I was recording well over 2000
calories a day, except for my under 1200 days.
So I said, forget the rules, I can have whatever I want as long as I am
under 2000 a day. I did try to maintain
the low calorie 1200 goal on Tuesdays and Saturdays still. I have had mixed results this month. I was under my calorie goal (2000 or 1200)
about 60% of the month. I am going to
keep the same goal for June and see if I can increase my percentage. May is bit hard because of all the
celebratory days in it. Weight-wise
though I am a teensy bit down for the month though, so I guess from that
standpoint I did a good job.
Work – Obviously work has not improved given that I just
quit my job. May was another month of
requests. The auditors were very active,
the tax department was trying to reconcile their stuff, and management was
trying to make sure everything was as it should be. While I understand the importance of all of
this, I was resentful of every question, every request that was sent my
way. I also felt like I spent all my days
in fear of the next shoe dropping. I know
it is just a matter of time before we buy a new company or set up a customer to
do deals in another currency or have a customer request to extend 120
leases. Every morning, I wake up and say
I do not want to go to work today. I
still go 99% of the time of course because that is what a responsible adult
does. I know it is time to go though, so
as scary as it is I am taking the leap.
The Future
CPA Studying – I have done some, but not nearly enough on
the CPA studying front. I will keep
limping through sections as best I can until I am done working full time. One of my goals for my summer off though is
to study every day and get FAR done by end of summer. I should have a much clearer head to tackle
it when I am not dealing with all the work drama.
Hiking – Obviously I will keep working on my hiking goal for
the year. I want to take another trip
out to Harpers Ferry because I loved it.
Eventually I want to tackle the Maryland Heights Trail which is labeled
difficult. I do not think I am quite
ready to do it now, but future goals. I
also want to get back to Shenandoah National Park. There are so many trails there; I have barely
scratched the surface on the few trips I have taken so far. Maybe with my summer off, I can work out a
few trips further from home too.
PA Trip – My friend’s annual picnic is at the end of June
this year. My last day of work is the
Thursday prior to it. I have two nights
scheduled in a hotel, per normal for picnic weekend. I am considering extending my stay a bit
since I will not have to return to work. I will need to find someone to let me stay
with them though because it does not seem prudent to put a week of hotel nights
on my credit card when I will be without income for an indefinite period of
time. Regardless of whether I go for the
weekend or the whole week, I always look forward to picnic weekend. I am so lucky to have such great friends who
have stayed in touch all these years after college.
Festival Season – June is a big festival season here in
Northern Virginia. There are three that
I try to hit every year: Herndon
Festival, Celebrate Fairfax, and Taste of Reston. Of course weather, my hubby’s mood, and money
will play some part in my participation of these events, but I really hope
everything works out for these this year.
I absolutely love festivals and fairs.
While they do not have quite the same homey feel that Pennsylvania Fairs
give, Northern Virginia ones promise good food, fun music, and lots of vendors to
peruse.
Blog – No promises, but I might change up the blog again
once I stop working. A big part of
changing the format to the monthly reflections had to do with no time and too
much stress given my work and study schedule.
No work will definitely change that dynamic. I am considering doing a bit of chronicling about
how my adventure quitting work and jumping into the unknown goes. What do you think?
There you have it, my month in review. See you next month!
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