New Snack In The Stash

Do you remember the summer goal I started this month? Well anytime I finish a fun I feel like I'm close to starving. You should see me when I enter my house. I'm grabbing for anything that I can get my hands on, several things at once ... digging in the cereal box, unwrapping slices of cheese, reaching for this morning's left over turkey bacon, you name it. It's really a sight to see and I often end up eating crap that makes me feel like my run was sabotaged by the goulash of processed carbs and high fructose corn syrup that I devoured in 15 seconds flat. All of this brings me to my new love, Larabars.

A Larabar is my saving grace after a run. It's the "original" fruit and nut food bar and what you see is what you get! Check the ingredients list to the left (dates, almonds, pecans, ginger, cinnamon & cloves). That's it! I've tried several flavors and they are all delicious. Have you ever looked at the ingredients list on some of the other fruit or energy bars? Good golly miss molly ... the list is the length of my arm. Although a bit pricey, I'm pretty pleased. Around my way they are priced anywhere from $1.19 - $1.69 each. Regardless, I'm happy to include them in my go to stash for snacks.

The Rubber Meets The Road

Sorry for the dark week but somebody has been really busy! Remember that proposal I mentioned a few weeks ago? Well it was accepted so I've been a little buried preparing for that and doing everything else that needs to get done - not to mention wrapping up a course that I must complete by 7/31.

Ideally I would like to stay at the corporate gig until 1/31/10 but that possibility is more bleak now than it was a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, I guess it just depends on whose lens you're looking through, but it is getting more and more difficult to balance the two. The demands at both places are increasing - the corp gig wants more of my time and the dream career is picking up steam as well - case in point, the accepted proposal mentioned earlier. Because of the pull in two directions, I'm barely making it and feeling like I'm not doing an excellent job in either area. I'm over worked, extremely tired and not getting much sleep. I know, cry me a river right. But hey, it's the truth.

The liberation fund is not quite where I want it to be, thanks in large to several financial interruptions that have blind-sided me. I take the good with the bad, that's life. The good - I have not touched (i.e. make any withdrawals) the liberation fund or the e-fund. The bad - I have not been able to stack my chips in the lib fund the way I want to. The savings momentum decreased significantly when the plumbing and car repairs decided to lay claims to my money.

So where does that leave me? Hmm. That's the million dollar question. I'm reassessing a few things, trying to determine a more realistic time for the great exodus. Assuming no more interruptions and short of money falling out of the sky, I probably won't have my lib fund stocked to a level that provides me the most comfort. However, I will not sacrifice the greater good for a few grand ... I'll take the leap first. After all, from where I sit, the worst that could happen is that I return to corporate.

Summer Goal - Update 1

The summer goal ticker has been updated to show my progress through yesterday. I didn't make as much progress as I wanted to because my car was out of commission for several days and the weather has been hellish hot - meaning I couldn't go to the gym AND I was not about to run outside in all of that hotness. On the one hand I'm pleased with the results thus far but, on the other hand, 87 miles remaining seems like an awful lot for a chic who doesn't like to run much. As of today, I have exactly 7 weeks and three days left, let's see if I make it.

Another Fabulous Interruption

I interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to bring you this message .....

WHAT IN THE (BEEP) IS GOING ON?! I'M SO (BEEP) FRUSTRATED WITH ALL OF THESE (BEEP BEEP) FINANCIAL INTERRUPTIONS. ONE (BEEP) THING AFTER ANOTHER. ******SCREAMING INSIDE*****

What's the deal you ask? Well, my car's thermometer went all the way to high on Friday. Yes, Friday before the 4th of July holiday, leaving me stranded for the weekend nonetheless. I called Honda and was told that Tuesday would be the earliest that they could get me in due to the holiday. Okay, no big deal, I have some items in The Playbook that I need to work on anyway. No biggie, I'll just take this lemon and make some lemonade.

Fast forward 5 days later to today at approximately 11:30 am EST, I get a call from Honda and am told that my head gasket is blown. After 45 seconds of silence, I asked this question in a very soft, firm and deliberate voice "what does that mean?" The service guy replies "thedhlas eioghe ghlsgehs jetighwl atighaldt llkthaydat cozithlzight and that will be $1,278, added to the other stuff that you wanted us to take care of, your total cost is $1,752." Huh!

Okay, now that I've gotten that off of my chest, I feel so much better. Thank you for letting me vent . Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated;-).

beep translation: What in the heck is going on? I'm so daggum frustrated with all of these cotton pickin financial interruptions. One freakin' thing after another. I used the "beeps" because I thought they repped (i.e. represented) more for my true feelings;-).

The Playbook

I've had a desire to change careers for several years however, it's only been the last 2 that I've actually had a plan in place - I call it The Playbook. The Playbook is a written plan to help ensure that I'm doing the proper due diligence and mitigating the risks that are scariest to me. Since developing the playbook, there have been several interruptions such as $8K in plumbing repairs! Have I gotten frustrated, absolutely! Have I wanted to just throw in the towel and stick with my corporate gig, oh yes ma'am. BUT, something inside of me just won't let me give up, even when I want to. Secondly, as long as I continue to see progress in The Playbook, I find the encouragement needed to get over those frustrating moments.

A glance at the top three plays, each of which could easily have their own separate post:

1. Liberation fund - the lib fund is not the e-fund, it is a separate savings earmarked for the transition. The goal is to have 6 months of living expenses.
2. Start today - I reduced my schedule at the corporate gig to part-time, which gave me more time to work on the desired career. ***There will be a separate post dedicated to this play.
3. Health insurance - After researching the insurance options for the self-employed, I realized that it made sense for me to give up the PPO and get a HDHP so that I could begin building up an HSA. The HSA comes with me when I leave the corp gig. Based on the top 3 insurance plans that I'm looking at, I should have enough money in my HSA to cover several years of deductibles if I continue with high deductible plans ... which are generally less expensive.

Is there a goal that you're working towards? What's in your playbook?

Things Are Moving Along

Hey ladies and gents, I had a meeting with a potential client two weeks ago. I'm now into the final phase, they've asked me to submit a written proposal. Unfortunately I can't go into many details but I promise I'll tell you all about it when I'm able to do so. Just know that I'm working toward my desired goal ... a career change.

I read this quote yesterday and I've been sharing it with anyone who would listen. Here goes, hopefully you find it as inspiring as I do:

Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it, I say! Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.

~Pope Paul VI

Caveat - in the spirit of the quote, I don't think Pope Paul VI is suggesting that one embarks on a life of reckless abandonment and careless decision making. Quite the contrary. I believe he was encouraging us to live life on purpose. No longer passively living and merely existing. It's been said that most people's favorite day is "someday" and "one day," neither of which are real days of the week. How about changing someday to today and one day to Thursday ...

Okay, off to writing my proposal now! You guys are so supportive so I'm thanking you in advance for your encouragement.

Summer Goal

I officially have a new short-term goal to accomplish. If you haven't noticed, there's a new ticker on my blog, 100 miles by August 31. For the record, I'm no runner so I'm not sure how realistic or unrealistic achieving this goal will be for me. Since the GA heat is out of control, I'm giving myself some grace to complete the miles on the treadmill or outside. I really want to push myself to complete this goal and since weight loss is not an end result that motivates me, I need something else. Something tangible, something desirable. Hmm. Any suggestions? Should I treat myself to a day at the spa? What about a mini shopping spree? Dang it, is this the best that I can do?! Help .....