Recovering Overachiever

Um...Yeah

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:32:00 +0000

Oh...Hey.

How's it going?

This is awkward. I know I've been absent for a while. Things have been crazy since starting the new job and, while I've been reading everyone's blog posts, I haven't had the opportunity to blog. And then I got out of the habit. Then I didn't know how to come back.

So now I'm not sure what the future of this space will be...

Last Day!

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Last day at the job! I'm excited, but I'm surprised that I'm a little sad.

Wanted: Short-Term Sugar Daddy

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:49:00 +0000

Apparently your last paycheck can’t be direct deposited, an arbitrary rule here, so I won’t be paid on Friday.

Shit.

I’m working to make sure that I’ll get paid on my last day at work (and not have the check mailed to me later), but things will certainly be tight until then. I still have to pay rent and some bills and there is just not enough money to go around. I wasn’t told about this rule until yesterday. We’re not a small, mom-and-pop shop. There’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to direct deposit my paycheck.

Ugh. Looks like this will be a low-key, housebound weekend. Bummer.

Who wants to be my sugar daddy for the weekend?

Awkward

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:18:00 +0000

The temp I'm supposed to be training...

Yeah, she's my mother's age.

How do you tell someone how to do a job they've probably been doing since you were born?

Awkward...

Furniture Fiasco, Courtesy of Craigslist

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:48:00 +0000

This weekend, Sports Fan and I bought furniture we found on craigslist.

Let’s back track for a second. We were in the market for a coffee table and an entertainment unit to house all of his silly video games as well as our DVD player. For months I earmarked catalogues: Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Ethan Allen, Ikea. Nothing. Sports Fan thought they were all too expensive.

But nice wood furniture is a little expensive, I tried to explain. No dice.

So I searched on craigslist without telling him. Trying to find something I liked that might be cheap enough for him to go for it. And finally I found something. The 2 pieces go very well with the rest of our décor and for a couple hundred dollars less than we would’ve paid for them new. Sports Fan agreed that they looked good and we made plans to drive out and pick them up.

We got lost on the way, but finally figured out where we were supposed to go. We loaded the coffee table and TV stand into the freight elevator, carried it out to the car, and realized that there was no way both were going to fit at once. Shit.

So Sports Fan is left behind to take apart the TV stand while I run back to DC to deposit the coffee table. After much trouble (and multiple guys walking by as I’m huffing and puffing trying to angle the damn thing out of my back seat), I unwedge it and almost fall on my ass in the process. Awesome.
Turn around, head back to pick up Sports Fan. The TV stand is completely taken apart, so it’s easy to load and unload from the car. We get the pieces upstairs and he gets to work putting it back together. (Hey, I offered to help, but I didn’t see how the pieces came apart!) Sports Fan has pretty much finished and he asks me to put the 2 doors back on while he eats lunch.

Cool, I can follow directions. Just fit the screws back into the holes they had left and voila…uh, wait. The doors totally don’t line up. Double shit. Were they lined up when we picked up the furniture? Neither of us can remember.

Sports Fan has to take them off and put the doors back on 2 more times before he’s satisfied with the result. I didn’t ask if this was better than buying the furniture new.

I Can Sleep Again!

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:58:00 +0000

I have rediscovered my ability to sleep.

I didn’t realize that it was missing. Sure, I hadn’t been sleeping well for, oh, I dunno, months. But I thought that was because Sports Fan snores and we have a crappy mattress.

Little did I know that quitting my job would help me regain my ability to sleep. Man, I would’ve done this MONTHS ago if I had known that!

Besides a 12-hour sleep session brought on by a migraine (HELLO? Brain? It’s time to relax, not suddenly decide to freak out and make me miserable and want to die. K. Thx.) I slept pleasantly and well all weekend long.

Inhale.

Exhale huge sigh of relief.

Memo to Celebrities

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:22:00 +0000

Um, ok, so you're divorcing/separating.

I'm sorry.

But listen, when you put out your (oh, so classy) press release, can you at least save us the sh*t about "we're better friends now than ever before," "they continue to remain close and talk all the time," etc.

I get it, you don't want to get all nasty in the press (yet). Seriously though, you wouldn't be divorcing if you were better friends now than ever before. Come on, she cheated, he's a drug addict, whatever. You don't have to spell it out, but just don't lie. No one believes that crap anyway.

Thanks.

Burying the Lead

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Holy hiatus, Batman. I was gone for a lot longer than I anticipated.

See, when I get stressed or feel overwhelmed, I shut down. You would think I could come to my own blog to sort my feelings out, but instead I just want to crawl under the covers. I don’t talk to anyone, not even Sports Fan.

That said, my self-imposed vacation has come to an end. I got a new job and gave my notice today (way to bury the lead there, RO).

I’m super excited about the new opportunity and think it will be a much more youthful, fun place to work. Yay for me!

No News, But Trip Planning

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:09:00 +0000

I'm guessing that no news is probably bad news about the j-o-b. *Sigh*

To help get myself through it, I've decided to plan a big trip for my birthday this year. The big 2-5. Oh yeah!

For my college graduation, my parents gave me money that I was supposed to use to travel. Well, I'm more of a saver than a spender (when it comes to large amounts of money), so that money remains unused and earning interest. I now have about $3,000 to spend on a big trip. Woo hoo!

I haven't quite decided where I want to go, but my top 2 contenders are Lisbon, Portugal or BuenosAires, Argentina. Anyone been to either and have some input?

Snotting and Wishing

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:07:00 +0000

I am still alive, though there were times when even that appeared bleak. Yes, I've been sick. Nose-running,-but-how-then-can-my-head-be-so-stuffy? sick.

And I've been waiting on j-o-b news. Can't talk now, fingers crossed so hard it's difficult to type. But news is expected (*promised*) this week.

Sweater Snag

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:26:00 +0000

I'm wearing a new sweater today. I'm not sure I like it. It was a gift from Sports Fan's mom for Christmas.

Anyway, my big beef with the sweater right now it is that it's not stretchy, and I can't roll up the sleeves at all. And I don't have fat arms...Ok, fine, I sorta do, but not fat forearms!

And for someone who goes from hot, to cold, to hot 7 or 8 times a minute, this is infuriating.

Lurkers Say Hello

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:55:00 +0000

Rumor has it that it's National Delurking Week. So please say hello!

Also, you still have time to ask those burning questions. I'll answer them sometime next week.

5 Questions? 10 Questions? 20 Questions?

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:44:00 +0000

I awoke around 3 am feeling as though I had swallowed glass and my throat had then turned that glass into sand (quite a feat, I know). My throat is raw, tender and dry. Maybe it has something to do with the 7 am starts these days (3 in a row!).

Anyway, since sickness makes me whiny and not witty, I'm opening up my comments (or email: recoveringoverachiever [at] yahoo [dot] com) to any questions you have. There have been some new readers sniffing around these parts and so I'm wondering what you'd like to know about me. So what do you want to know?

Wrong Side of the Bed

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:59:00 +0000

Yeah, so this morning? Sucked.

I knocked over an entire container of sugar in our kitchen. It looked like I had a major snowfall. Sugar was EVERYWHERE.

Oh, and did I mention that happened 5 minutes before I had to leave? And Sports Fan couldn’t clean it up because he was being a good person and took his friend to the airport at oh-so-early this morning. So there I am, dressed for work, hadn’t had coffee yet, on my hands and knees cleaning up sugar. Awesome.

Then, I grabbed my lightest weight jacket (because it’s going to be 70 degrees today. In DC. In January. Wrap your head around that one). I was about to leave when I realized it smelled. Like smoke. Again, awesome. So I febreezed it, discovered why it smelled like smoke (hung in the closet next to a jacket Sports Fan inherited from his chain-smoking uncle. SF was supposed to have it dry cleaned to get the smell out, but I guess that didn’t happen.)

To top it all off, remember how my mom asked me if I was pregnant? Well, I had a very realistic dream that I was actually pregnant and was hiding it from everyone.

Unnerving, to say the least.

Bummed We're Staying Put

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:52:00 +0000

So remember that opportunity to move abroad I told you about?

I promised myself/Sports Fan that I wouldn’t bring it up for awhile. I decided I would give him a few days into the new year before I mentioned it again.

I said something about it last night and he replied, Oh, you still want to do that?

!!!!

Yes! It would be an amazing opportunity and good for his career. We’re young enough that we’re not too tied down yet and come on. Living abroad!

He said that, because the company isn’t as cash-rich as it had been in the past, we might not get all of our expenses paid for to get us there (shipping our stuff, deposit on an apartment, etc.)

Sure, that would be an expense, but if he/we really want to do this, it’s not a huge sacrifice for us to save the money to pay for that ourselves. My guess is it would be about $2,000, but we’d have roughly 6 months lead time before we went. I think (between the 2 of us) we could save that.

So now I feel a little frustrated. While it is a great opportunity and all, I also saw it as the chance to get out of a bad situation myself. I’m probably counting my chickens before they are hatched with this, but I saw it as an exciting experience I wouldn’t do on my own.

He said he would talk to his boss, so it’s still a possibility. But now I’m all bummed out that he doesn’t seem as excited anymore.

Movie and Foods

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:59:00 +0000

I watched Once this week. I know, I’m Sally-come-lately to the party, but the movie is so good! The music is incredible and while the relationship is very touching, there is also a good use of humor.

For those that don’t know, Once is a movie about a Dublin-based musician trying to make it. He meets a woman from some Eastern European country (it’s said in the movie, but I don’t remember) and they end up developing a friendship and creating music together.

Rent it now. It’s totally worth it!

Also, this week, I made another batch of the Chorizo Cheese Dip from Joy of Cooking. Yum! It’s really easy to make and it’s so delicious. Though I tried to double the batch and successfully doubled everything EXCEPT the flour, used to thicken the dip. Whoops. The flavor was still there, so it all got eaten, but it would’ve been much better if it had a more queso dip consistency. Mmm, cheesy.

This weekend (besides relaxing) my goal is to return 2 DVDs that I got for Christmas (which I already own) and the mandoline Sports Fan’s mom bought for us. Definitely a good present, but my parents had already bought me one with more blades and options.

I also have some leftover chorizo in the fridge now so I think I will make another batch of the sausage and tomato risotto that I love. I’m not sure how much Sports Fan likes it, but he eats it without complaining. I love it because it’s spicy and hearty, a very good winter meal.

Housekeeping

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:06:00 +0000

Hey everyone!

I'm updating my links in the near future. Let me know if you would like me to link to you by either commenting on this post or sending me an email to recoveringoverachiever [at] yahoo [dot] com. I'm happy to link to whomever would like some linky love!

Cheers!

Human Tetris!

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:38:00 +0000

People have too much time on their hands. But sometimes the results are really cool!

Check out HUMAN TETRIS!

2008: The Beginning

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:12:00 +0000

This is probably going to be really cheese-tastic. You’ve been warned.

I thought it would be nice to put together a little post about where I am in my life now and list some things I want to do this year. Something for me to look back on at the end of 2008.

My relationship with Sports Fan seems to get better and truer every day. Living together has been great, sure we bicker occasionally, but mostly it’s cuddling and TV and eating and sexing. We still get along so well and he gets cuter each day (I think it’s the few gray hairs he’s starting to get, it’s really sexy!). As I’ve said before, I love climbing into bed with him each day.

And we’ve talked about getting engaged in the “it will happen eventually” sort of way. He’s essentially said that he’ll start saving for a ring around our 2-year anniversary (in August 2008). Until then, I’m perfectly happy with how things are now.

I could love my job more, but I’m taking steps to make it better. Same goes for the money situation. I could have more, but I’m taking steps to maximize what I have. And I’m out of debt (except for my mortgage, which I don’t like to think about), so that’s a good step for ’08. I have a great apartment and fabulous friends. Things with my family are good. I still am not close with my sisters, but I’m not sure we ever will be and I think I’m ok with that.

I’ve signed up for cooking classes this year, which should teach me some things and allow me to meet some new people (both goals for 2008). I don’t ever plan on getting an advanced degree (hello? What’s the point when I want to eat bon bons all day?) but I do enjoy learning. And I love cooking, so hopefully my classes will make me a better cook.

I want to take some big trips in ’08. I know there will be another trip to Reno, but I’m still trying to convince Sports Fan that it should be a big Western Road Trip, complete with camping and hiking. We’ll see how that goes. I’d also love to get back to Europe this year. My graduation gift money towards a trip (given by my parents in December 2004) is still earning interest. I have about $3,000 so that’s not the issue. I’m running into more trouble taking time off and coordinating a good time to go with other obligations. I also don’t know exactly where I want to go. The list is so huge! How can I pick?

Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:10:00 +0000

Yes, I'm here at work, so I thought I would wish all of you a safe and happy new year!

Here's to better times and great friends in 2008!

Mom's Question

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:25:00 +0000

Hey, you know what's not funny?

When your mom calls to see how you're feeling and, when you tell her you're still feeling sick, she asks if it's worse in the morning.

No mom, I'm not pregnant. Thanks for asking.

And besides, if I thought I was, I probably wouldn't go around telling everyone about how I feel sick.

Feeling Yuck

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:00:00 +0000

I have a mild stomach bug that makes me feel nauseous after I eat. (And no, I am *thankfully* not pregnant.) It's been going on for a few days now and it's getting really old. About the only thing I can tolerate eating is bread. Blah.

The great holiday spending debacle has concluded and I am due to pay my second ginormous credit card bill in less than 2 weeks. Does someone want to magically give me a couple hundred dollars, no strings attached? No? Thought not.

All I want to do is plan a nice vacation to some place warm, but everything seems to be so expensive. I really need to curb my spending and start sticking to my budget, but how boring is that?

Here's to more money and better times in 2008!

I Heart You, Jeepers

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:02:00 +0000

I jumped on the bed, giddy with excitement. Sports Fan laughed at me.

RO: Come on, it’s SO COOL!

SF: Look at how excited you are. You’re such a dork.

RO: I’m not a dork because it’s so cool! We need to name it.

SF: Somehow I knew you were going to say that. What’s its name?

RO: Jeepers.

He laughs.

SF: He’s very intelligent.

RO: I KNOW, right? He knows exactly what to do.

I got a Roomba for Christmas and it is the GREATEST! THING! EVER! Now, I am not a vacuum-er. Not by any stretch. I hate doing it and the crappy vacuum we have doesn’t even do anything.

But Jeepers(!) picked up a lot of dust on just his first try. And he sensed where the walls were and didn’t even knock over the trashcan in the bedroom!

Jeepers, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship/obsession.

Slow Passing of Time

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:21:00 +0000

Work is painfully slow. Can I dip out early? Will anyone notice?

RW Returns!

noreply@blogger.com (recovering overachiever) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:36:00 +0000

Yay Restaurant Week!

I've already made my reservations for RW (which is Jan. 14-20). Hooray! I'm going to Corduroy and Vidalia, both restaurants I have not tried before. Anyone out there have any recommendations on what's good at either place?

The 2 places I've liked best are DC Coast and TenPenh (both do full menus). I do think it's really important to have a full menu (I hate only getting 2 or 3 choices per course). I've heard Vidalia does a full menu. I'm not sure about Corduroy.

Better make your reservations soon. Places are filling up!