Budgets and the Art of Storytelling

Greetings!  It's Friday, and I am soooooo glad that this work week is over.  To say I have survived it is an understatment. 

This week I sat down and did a budget.  I am a budgetphobe by nature, so this was no easy task.  In the past I shied away from putting the pen to the paper and giving an honest account of my spending because it always revealed on thing: I had too many bills and not enough money.  I was also a master of lying to myself about certain catagories.  Entertainment? I spend NOTHING!!!  Lies.  Eating out?  I only eat out once a month! Again, lies.  Currently, my financial situation has improved so I took another stab at making a budget, and I was pleased.  I was honest with myself, I included my happy hours, brunches, and open mic cost and I came out with a nice surplus!!!!!!!  At first I was thinking of all I could do with the extra until I remembered that I have been abased and I have been abound.....so I know how to live with very little.  As long as my bills are paid and my account is not overdrawn I am happy.  So, I am taking that extra and putting in my savings and watching it grow, grow, grow! 

In literary news, I have entered a storytelling contest at Busboys and Poets.  The prize is $100, but I don't care about that.  I just like talking and telling stories.  The topic is "Life's Tuition: Most Expensive Lesson."  I can spin a wheel and come up with some expensive lessons I have learned.  That is the story of my life, lol.  I will keep you all posted on what I come up with and how the contest goes.

Tonight I am looking forward to hanging with a new friend I met at a Meetup.  We are going to hang out in Silver Spring and it is going to be a blast.  I am happy I took the first step and attended the Red Hook (Spike Lee....check it out) meetup.  I got a chance to meet a lot of fun people that had the same goals and aspirations as myself.  It made me a believer out of "growing your circle." 

Have an amazing weekend!!!!!

Weekend

Finally I had a weekend to relax! Yesterday, I headed to Tappahanock to a cookout hosted by my Godmother's family. The rain caused everything to get off to a rocky start, but once it cleared up good times ensued. My parents even came so it was awesome to see them. It also gave me a chance to hear more stories about my dad and mom when they were in the Navy. All I will say is I'm a chip off of both blocks, lol.

This weekend was also a time for me to explore Arlington a little. If you are ever there, CakeLove is the TRUTH! Chunk and I shared a vanilla cupcake with chocolate gnoche and it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!

As stated before, my mom reads this blog and today she echoed a sentiment I have been hearing a lot of lately: I need to write a book! I am, I just don't know where to start and I don't know how to feel because I am still unsure of the premise. I am going to get an outline together and see what happens. Wish me luck!

Plenty

I'm FINALLY getting a moment to update! Things have been cruising along so far. This will be the first weekend I will get to fully enjoy. I'm so grateful for how far God has brought me. I did not see any of this last year. Getting out my dreams one day at a time,

School is keeping me busy. I am playing to win. Next semester is George Mason. I need a classroom setting. It's no shame in that. Online classes are not for everyone.

I returned to running this week. I did not run in July and it shows a little. Soi have stopped making excuses and I am slitting my runs. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will run a half mile in the morning and a half in the evening. That keeps the muffin top at bay. Tuesday and Thursday I will cross train. I'm thinking about crossfit. Well see about that.

Feeling so hopeful right now! I Just have to stay on track!

Busy

I am giving up on going to bed before 10.....tonight's culprit was my need to study for my economics class and finish my paper. I am too busy this weekend to do it, so I have been staying up late the last two nights to work on it.

This upcoming weekend is going to be straight hotness. My aunt is having a HUGE cookout on Saturday and then I'm going to the Black Girls Run Reunion on Sunday. I'm hoping to meet some new people and maybe even get some runs going in Springfield.

Lately my skin has been going nuts but I have found that dabs of my mud masque help shrink any breakouts. I am going to break down and buy a clarisonic. $150 is steep, but not bad because it delivers results.

You know what I love about DC? There is no shortage of ways to get around! Today, I had training in Arlington and I didn't want to pick up slugs, but I didn't want to sit in traffic...you guessed it! The Metro! I love it. I'll be happy when Miss Beasley starts back to school because I will be on the metro daily. I like when someone else does the driving. Most of all I like that I have options!

Finality

Today has been a busy day! I haven't mentioned it here, but when I came to DC, I left a lot of stuff in storage. Since I am now settled in Springfield it was time to get ALL of my things up here. Again, J stepped up and coordinated the move from my storage to my house. Him and our friend moved every thing in the truck in an hour and I got lots of thinking time driving back in the uhaul. Today J did a lot of things that let me know I have a winner on my hands. First, he had plans to go to a bachelor party tonight. The move ran long and he missed it, and didn't complain. I appreciate his selflessness because I have dated a few that would have chunked the deuces near party time. The second thing was he drove the goonies back while I drove the uhaul (I live for doing bad ass stuff like driving a 17ft truck). I have driven with my kids and I know they can be rowdy, but J took it in stride. The bottom line is I got to take a good look at what I have and I like it. I am going to remember this day when I want to start a war over a missed phone call or a late answered text. J showed up and was the man when I needed him and that is what matters.

It was weird looking at the empty storage space. It was my last tie home. It was my safety net. If I didn't like it here, no biggie...majority of my stuff was back home. Now, I'm all in. It felt final, but good.

After the move struggle it's time for Miss Page to relax and enjoy what's left of my Saturday.....

Upacking, Work, and Hitchikers

I am tiiiiiiiiirrrrrreeeeeddddd!!!!!  But it is for a good cause, J came over last night and we had good time.  I missed him to pieces while he was gone and it was so good to see his face.  We had a long conversation about his trip and I caught him up on all the things that have been going on with me.  What I did realize that night, was for all the hooping and hollering I do, I saw last night that J, is here for Miss Page.  Sometimes it is the smallest acts that let you know that someone is on your team.  I think last night , I unpacked one of my many bags......

My job is going well.  I have said many times that the hospital I work for now, reminds me of the old health system that I worked for. I like my co-workers, and what I like best is everyone's willingness to work together.  We had a staff meeting, and for once in my life it was not a complain fest.  We worked toward solutions to problems in our department, instead of just pointing fingers. 

I told my sister about my recent foray into slugging and she had this to say: "Girl, you are essentially picking up hitchikers!!!"  That sissy of mine!  I did have a good laugh about it, but I let her know I am still going to do it because I cannot do the traffic from Duke St onto 14th Street.  Since I have been picking up slugs, my commute anxiety and fustration have gone way down, and I am not racking up late pickup fees from the SACC.  It's working for me, so I am going to keep doing it. 

Breaks over, time to get back to work......

We Be Sluggin'!!

You all KNOW it killed me to make that my title. Today I engaged in a practice known in the DMV as "slugging." To explain, it's where you pick up people going in your direction so you can ride in the HOV-3. Now we all know I am the queen of riding dirty in the HOV so after two tickets, the second which almost ended in an arrest (long story), I was down to pick up some slugs. I did it today and I got from my house to DC in 20 minutes. Usually it takes an hour. I did the same when I got home and I got home dumb early. I like it, plus it's nice to have some company on my commute.

Something else I picked up was NPR. I used to think it had to be the most boring thing in the world, but I didn't give it a chance. There were some good topics discussed. This is important to me because, I live with a two and eight year old, so not a lot of news and current events are on my TV. It keeps me current, so NPR stays in rotation now.

Yesterday I played Wii Fit. As usual, I didn't think much of it because, hey it's a video game, it can't be that hard, right? Wrong. I woke up this morning and EVERYTHING hurt. The upside is I like when it hurts (Scorpio woman...tee hee) that lets me know it's real. This will certainly be apart of my training.

Nothing else to report....I'm headed to bed to do a little reading until my eyes close! Good night....