April is my least favorite month of the year. Every year it is dominated by work
requirements. I have to do my best to
not allow any kind of social or other obligation to get in the way, because I
am guaranteed to work late most days and at least 2 of the weekends. Even when I am not at work, I am usually so
drained I do not want to do anything. So
April is all work and no fun, and usually a high stress period for me. Here are my reflections for the month.
The Good
Hiking – I lucked out this
year and we had a nice weekend day when I was not required to work. My husband and I went on a hike
together. We started at Bull Run on the
Bluebell Trail. We diverted onto the
Bull Run Occoquan Trail. When we hit the
2.5 mile mark, we turned around. We
finished the Bluebell Trail, picking it up where we left off and continuing the
loop back to the car. It ended up being
just over 5 miles, and my hips hurt horribly by the end. However, the bluebells and other early spring
flowers were in full bloom, so it was a gorgeous walk. This makes hike number 3 in my goal of 12 for
year.
Diet – Diet is something I struggle with during year-end. We tend to have lots of candy floating around
the office during fiscal close. I also
am prone to stress eating, and this is the most stressful time of year for
me. I am happy to report, that while I
definitely indulged, I restrained myself much more than normal. I maintained less soda intake (1-3 per
week). I kept low calorie Tuesday and
Saturday intact, keeping under 1200 calories every single time. My weight fluctuation during the month stayed
within a 1-2 pound range, and I am ending the month basically where I started.
Entertainment – I had a pretty good entertainment month this
month. I discovered Podcasts as a way to
make the commute home more enjoyable. I
have listed to Podcasts on long trips before, but this is the first month I have
tried them during my afternoon commute.
I have been listening to Someone Knows Something and Serial Killers. For TV, I have been rewatching Friends (up to
season 3 now) and watching Season 2 of The Expanse (which is even better than
Season 1). I saw Ready Player One in the
theater which was great, not as good as the book, but it definitely captured
the spirit of the story and was so much fun to watch. I also enjoyed Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which was just an
easy, funny way to unwind after work one weekend.
The Challenges
Work – As I indicated above, this month was pretty much
dominated by work. It still is not over,
although the massive amount of work part is pretty much done. Now, I have three excruciating weeks of
reviews and audits, praying they do not find anything horrible that needs to be
adjusted in the ledger. This year was
probably not the worst, but it definitely was not the best. There were some high volume issues that put
us off to a rocky start. I made myself
stay 1-2 hours late almost every night right from the beginning, to stay on top
of it all. This actually did pay off
because Business Day 11 (journal entry close) was not as bad it has been in the past. Now I am exhausted though, and only starting
to recover from all the extra hours worked.
I am very anxious about this close, because I already know of one issue
under review with management and the auditors that is directly a result of work
done by my team. There is not much I can
do at this point either, except wait to see what the verdict is.
Exercise – Because of all extra work hours, exercise pretty
much went out the door. I managed Ballet
Burn the first week and the last week of the month. Pilates I only did the last week of the
month. The few weeks off was enough to
make going back extra hard. This past
week I have been so sore between hiking, Pilates, and Ballet Burn. It is so hard to get back into exercise when
you get out of the habit even for a short amount of time.
Allergies –Pollen season in VA is crazy. The pollen down here is so thick that my blue
car looks green every morning. Growing
up, I never had much problem with seasonal allergies. Now I have them in spring and fall. I have itchy eyes, itchy nose, sneezing, and
nose bleeds. The itch is finally
starting to die down, although I think this is due to Flonase and not less
pollen yet. Additionally, the pollen
irritates my skin. I have minor rosacea
which flares up in the early spring/summer months.
The Future
CPA Studying – Now that year-end has died down, it is time
to start studying for the next section of the CPA exam. I went through all the introductory materials
for FAR tonight. Wednesday I start the
study schedule I planned out. I need to
work hard to reign in the social events for the next few months, which always
seem to increase as the weather gets warmer.
Although I have not registered for it yet, my plan is to take FAR in
September.
Hiking – Last month, I indicated I was hoping to do Harper’s
Ferry National Park next. This did not
happen obviously, but that is still on my list of ones I want to do this
year. I also want to go back to Manassas
National Battlefield Park to do the First Manassas Trail again, this time
keeping in the Stone Bridge Loop section I cut the first time. I am hoping to do a hike on my birthday, although
I have to wait to see if anything comes up between now and then at work. My boss is fine with the day off during this
part of close, as long as nothing critical has come up. May might be a good month to get in two hikes
and catch myself up on the 12 hike per year plan.
Celebration Month – May is always a big month for my husband
and I to celebrate. My birthday is the 3rd. His birthday is the 30th. Our anniversary is the 18th. We have plenty of opportunities to eat good
food and be nice to each other for the evening.
I have been pushing to go to my favorite Italian restaurant, Cantina D’Italia,
for dinner for my birthday. For our
anniversary, we usually try to do something a little fancier than our normal
meals out, although I am not sure what we are doing yet. His plan for his birthday is a boys only
poker night, which is fine with me. I
assume my stepson and I will get him cake sometime during the end of the month
anyway.
There you have it, my month in review. See you next month!
