I managed to keep October relatively low key. I stayed away from too much social
interaction and mostly enjoyed my own company for the month. Here are my reflections.
The Good
Weather – October’s weather
was a big improvement over September.
Although mostly on the cooler side (which is to be expected), the rain finally
cleared up somewhat. We had many
beautiful sunny days to enjoy outside.
Hike – The beautiful weather
allowed me to catch up on my hiking goals for the year. I went on three different solo hikes during the
month. The first one was to Shenandoah
National Park where I did the hike down to Hazel Falls and Caves. I think this is one of my favorite hikes
ever. It is about 5.4 miles roundtrip to
the falls. There is a 0.2 mile section
near the falls that is extremely steep.
It had stairs and rocks built into it, but it was still challenging to
go down the mountainside and then to come back up of course. When you get down to the Hazel Falls area though,
it is a perfect little haven from the outside world. The falls are gorgeous, and I enjoyed poking
into the two little caves I found too. Due
to time considerations, my other two hikes were closer to home and smaller
excursions. I went to Hemlock Overlook
Regional Park, where I did the Red Trail (about 2.5 miles). My final hike took me to Bull Run Regional
Park where I hiked the White Trail, and partially down the Bull Run Occoquan
Trail that I then had to backtrack, because I missed where they split off. In total, I hiked about 2.5 miles on that one
as well. I am now at 11 out of 12 hikes
for my annual goal.
Desire Map – If you remember
way back in February, I talked about starting the exercises in the book The
Desire Map. I got side-tracked and
stopped working on them, but I finally finished them this month. The Core Desired Feelings I chose for the
year are Connection, Genuineness, Awareness, Vibrancy, and Serenity. My goals for the remainder of 2018 have not
really changed from what I was working with before: 1) Pass AUD, 2) Find a new job, 3) Declutter
my house, and 4) Exercise particularly hiking.
I am not sure if my goals align with the Core Desired Feelings or not,
but it will have to do for the rest of this year. I am planning to reread the book in December
and to do the exercises again for 2019, hopefully in a more timely manner.
Entertainment – This was a
great month for entertainment in all categories. I really enjoyed myself. The best from the month included: Carnivalesque by Neil Jordan (book), The
Tudors Season 1 (TV show), Rudderless (movie), The Girl Who Smiled Beads by
Clemantine Wamariya (book), Antman and the Wasp (movie), The Anomaly by Michael
Rutger (book), Split (movie), and Style Your Mind (podcast).
Diet & Exercise – I lost 3
pounds during October. I have no idea
how I did it, because I really was not all that great with my diet and exercise
during the month. Maybe it was all the
hiking. I tried to maintain the diet plan
I have been working with the past few months, net below 1800 calories most days
and under 1200 once or twice a week. I only
hit my goal approximately 67% of the time though, so not a particularly strong
month. My consistency was OK with
exercise. I am still aiming for 4 active
days a week, but it was more at the 3 day mark for October. I have continued going with a friend to the
gym on Mondays or Tuesdays to do a weightlifting circuit. Thursdays I went to Ballet Burn almost every
week. I did my hikes 3 of the
weeks. I also have gotten some other
random walks in the neighborhood done. In
total I have lost about 10 pounds since the start of the year. Now the challenge is to maintain that 10
pound loss through the holiday festivities.
The Challenges
CPA Studying – I have started back up the studying, but I am
struggling with it. In some ways, it is
easier on this round. My study schedule for
AUD is not nearly as intensive as it was for FAR. I split the units up evenly and only need to
get through approximately 20 a week. I
am giving myself two complete days off, so that comes to roughly 4-5 units a
day and still some time to review at the end.
This is such an improvement over the 8+ units per day I was trying to
get through on the last go round. The
trouble comes from the actual content in this section. Auditing is not a subject where I have much
experience or interest. I did not
particularly like the subject during my first go round of college. (My professor told us that students take Cost
Accounting and Auditing at the same time, most like one or the other but not
both. I was squarely on the Cost Accounting
team.) I have never worked for an audit
team. Although I have had to deal with
auditors, it has been from the auditee side not the auditor side. I am familiar with some of the terminology,
but I really have no idea how to plan and complete an audit. I am finding myself not particularly
interested in the material either as I go through the sections. It is making it hard to just sit down and do
what I need to do some days. Anyway, I
guess I just keep pushing through it. My
exam is scheduled for Dec 7, and I would just like to pass and put the subject
behind me again.
Job Search – I did actually start on the job search process,
but I did not make nearly enough progress.
I have a mostly updated resume. I
did not update my LinkedIn page yet.
Most importantly, I did not actually start searching for jobs. I just kept running out of time, which is
ridiculous seeing as I am not working and studying does not take up my entire
day. So really, I just have been
avoiding it. I am finally starting to
feel a bit antsy though. I am tired of
having no income of my own. I am
uncomfortable watching the credit card debt climb higher and the savings
account go lower, even though we are nowhere near the danger zone. I also feel like I want to go out and just do
something with other people (not my husband).
So hopefully this antsy feeling will translate into more progress on the
job search front in November.
Media Addiction – One of the big time-suckers in my life is
media. This year, I worked to cut back on
the Netflix DVDs and streaming. However,
I replaced that with Youtube. Then, I
cut back on Youtube, but replaced that with podcasts. Now I need to cut back on the podcasts, and
not replace it with anything. I have two
problems. One I use media as an
avoidance tactic to procrastinate on things I do not want to do. The other is I get into these mental ruts
where I must start from the beginning.
So if I find a new podcast that is on episode 100, I do not want to
start at 100, I want to start at 1. Then
it feels like I have this huge To Do List that needs to be completed. Most of the podcasts I listen to are interviews
and isolated episodes, not serialized, so there is no real reason I need to go
back to the beginning. Anyway, I have
given myself a limit for November on how many podcasts, Youtube episodes,
movies, etc. that I can consume over given time periods. It makes me feel a little silly, but I need
to stop binging away hours of my day on nonsense and work on things that need
to be done, like finding a job.
The Future
CPA Studying – November will be another month of
studying. I stayed on schedule for
October, so I have roughly half of the study material to get through next
month. My exam is schedule for Dec 7th.
Job Search – I will get the resume completed. I will get the LinkedIn page updated. I will start applying to jobs by the end of
the month.
Hiking – I only need to get one more hike done to reach my goal
of twelve hikes for the year.
Originally, I had designated the November hike to be at Wintergreen
Resort. However, the annual trip has
been canceled, so I need a new plan. I
may try to make it out to Harper’s Ferry again.
I may just do another quick jaunt around one of the local regional parks
and call it a year. I will see how the
weather, study schedules, and social obligations shake out for the month.
Christmas Shopping – I am hoping to get more than half of my
Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving.
I hate holiday crowds. Living in the
DC metro area means the crowds are bad enough during normal months. It becomes absolutely insane during the
holidays. I make it a goal to get the
majority of my shopping done before Thanksgiving every year. I am excited that I can do my shopping during
the workday when crowds are the smallest this year, at least as long as I do
not start working again.
There you have it, my month in review. See you next month!
