Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day
Today I'm a little down. I'll try to cheer myself up though. Yesterday I
chose not to go to class. I payed my tuition, we stopped at Best Buy, I
got coffee (89 cal), and we went home. We got home and instead of
going to the gym, we decided to run outside. Apparently I am too much
of a wimp for that. My chest hurt, my stomach hurt, and my ears hurt
within half a mile. I was told to accredit it to the cold weather but either
way I was pissed. It was sweet of Jordan to try and make me feel better about it.
We made dinner and watched We Own The Night. The movie was ok, kind of
slow. I did nothing productive and went to bed at around 9:30. It seemed
like a huge waste of time. I woke up feeling crappy. I ate more than I
should have so when I woke up my tummy was hungry again. I ate a
breakfast sausage and had a little coffee. My day is thrown off. I feel bad
for skipping class, for not working out much, for overeating (I forgot that I
ate 4 M&M's and while it doesn't sound like much they are very sweet
when you aren't eating any candy), for not getting gas (I'm almost on
empty now which messes up my commuting time), and for not feeling
rested even though I took the night off. Now I get up and feel hungry, I've
got a headache and it's Valentine's Day and I know it's dumb but I wish
Jordan and I could do something together. Wow that was the longest whine I've ever
let out. I feel like moping this morning though. I'll try to pull myself out of
it.
chose not to go to class. I payed my tuition, we stopped at Best Buy, I
got coffee (89 cal), and we went home. We got home and instead of
going to the gym, we decided to run outside. Apparently I am too much
of a wimp for that. My chest hurt, my stomach hurt, and my ears hurt
within half a mile. I was told to accredit it to the cold weather but either
way I was pissed. It was sweet of Jordan to try and make me feel better about it.
We made dinner and watched We Own The Night. The movie was ok, kind of
slow. I did nothing productive and went to bed at around 9:30. It seemed
like a huge waste of time. I woke up feeling crappy. I ate more than I
should have so when I woke up my tummy was hungry again. I ate a
breakfast sausage and had a little coffee. My day is thrown off. I feel bad
for skipping class, for not working out much, for overeating (I forgot that I
ate 4 M&M's and while it doesn't sound like much they are very sweet
when you aren't eating any candy), for not getting gas (I'm almost on
empty now which messes up my commuting time), and for not feeling
rested even though I took the night off. Now I get up and feel hungry, I've
got a headache and it's Valentine's Day and I know it's dumb but I wish
Jordan and I could do something together. Wow that was the longest whine I've ever
let out. I feel like moping this morning though. I'll try to pull myself out of
it.
February 13th
I just read this article on a couple that paid off their mortgage in three
years and now I'm looking for a part time job. I have an obsessive
personality and after reading that I feel sooo useless. This guy worked 4!
jobs, 90-100!hrs a week. Granted, with classes right now I couldn't do
much more than something part time on the weekends, but when I'm
back to online classes (which are much easier) I'll have plenty of free
time. Sometimes I wonder if I have some kind of disorder. My energy
levels/moods/motivations change rather drastically. My dad is actually
bipolar, and I was diagnosed when I was younger, but I don't really think I
am. I'll chalk it up to a personality quirk rather than a problem. I will say I
like my ups much better than my downs. Luckily I've learned how to deal
with my downs and they basically consist of me throwing a tantrum
(crying, maybe eating something bad), and taking an "I'm down, leave me
alone I want to feel bad for myself" nap". I normally gain perspective
when I wake up. Though it is good to be aware of my moods because
when I am in a really high energy one I need to try to calm myself down
so I don't make any drastic decisions or become upset when my energy
balances out.
How we paid off our house in three years
Perry Goertzen as told to Duncan Hood
Have you ever wondered what you could accomplish if you saved 80% of your pay? Well I can tell you, because I did it.
Most people have trouble saving just 5% or 10% of what they make, but my wife Tiffany and I decided that it was worth living like paupers for a few years if it could give us a huge jump start on life. Saving as much as we did was challenging, but what we accomplished was amazing - I still can't believe it myself sometimes. When we started, we had a rusty old Toyota Tercel, no house, few possessions and a crushing debt of $37,000. A few years later, we had two almost-new cars and a beautiful new four-bedroom house on a 46-ft lot in Milton, Ont. Everything was completely paid off - we had zero debt. During this time, neither of us made much more than $60,000 a year at any one job, but by working several jobs and saving almost all of our income, our net worth increased from negative $37,000 to positive $420,000 in less than five years.
I was born in rural Manitoba in my grandparents' car on Mother's Day, and my family still jokes that I came into this world fast and I haven't slowed down since. But though I was always very energetic, it was channeled in the wrong direction during my teenage years: I was basically a juvenile delinquent. I quit high school at age 15, worked odd jobs, drank and partied. By my early 20s I hit rock bottom. I realized that I was going nowhere and that I had to make some serious changes to get back on track. So I gave up my old friends and my old lifestyle, and decided to move to Abbotsford, B.C., to start over.
It was there that I met my future wife, Tiffany. After a couple of years we got engaged and then we got married in 1995, when I was 27. During this time I changed dramatically. I started volunteering for an organization that worked with troubled teens, and I loved the work. Tiffany and my family kept challenging me to go back to school, and shortly before we got married, I applied to a private Christian university in Langley, B.C., called Trinity Western, and I was accepted as an adult student. Four years later, in 1998, I graduated with a B.A. in psychology.
I was proud of my degree, but a B.A. didn't open as many doors as I originally thought it would, so we decided that I should get a Master of Social Work degree. Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., offers one of the better programs in Canada, so we packed up our belongings and drove across the country. It was an absolutely crazy trip - we did it in only 49 hours with one four-hour stop at a little motel - and when we arrived we settled into a small apartment in Milton, midway between the university and a new teaching job we found for my wife. During the next two years of schooling, money was tight, and I had to borrow heavily for tuition and books. When I finally finished my master's degree in 2000, we had a total debt of $52,000 from my student loans.
This is when we made the decision that changed everything. With my new degree, I quickly found a job that paid well, but we decided that rather than rewarding ourselves for all those years of hard work, we would continue living like impoverished students for a few more years. In exchange, we figured we'd get a head start on the rest of our lives.
I got my first job as a crisis intervention worker before I even finished my degree. When I graduated, they gave me more hours, then offered me a second position doing the same thing at another location. I was just loving the work, and I took on a third job doing the same thing at the Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga. As crazy as it sounds, I then took on a fourth position, and I saw clients now and then through my own counseling business as well.
The next few years are a bit of a blur. I worked an average of 90 to 100 hours a week, or about 14 hours a day, seven days a week. It wasn't unusual to work 22 hours straight, go home, sleep for two or three hours, get up, shower, and work another 12-hour shift. I once worked 99 days in a row, took two days off, and then worked another 60 days. Meanwhile, Tiffany began supplementing her salary as a teacher by tutoring and giving piano lessons.
In some ways it wasn't much of a life. My wife thought I was pushing it too much, and our friends and family thought we had lost perspective. But my father had taught me a strong work ethic and I felt like I had wasted a lot of years in my youth. This was my chance to catch up. With six or seven jobs between the two of us, within a few months of graduating, our combined income was well in excess of six figures. But even with our sizable new income, we continued living in our $900-a-month apartment in Milton. Most of our furniture came out of the garbage, and we rarely bought new clothes. We didn't have cable and we didn't go out much. Eventually, we splurged and bought a set of rabbit ears for our old TV.
We were able to save over 80% of our after-tax income, which amounted to over $80,000 a year. In a lot of ways, saving 80% of your income is absurd, but you would be amazed at how quickly you can pay off huge loans if you do. I obtained some loan remission from the government, which knocked my $52,000 student debt down to $37,000, and we managed to pay that off in just four short months. Paying off such a staggering loan so quickly was an incredible feeling. We realized that we had become accustomed to saving most of our income, so we decided to accomplish a few more goals before we broke the habit. We began by saving up for a down payment on a house, and it took us less than a year to save up $82,000.
In June of 2002, we purchased our first home in a new subdivision in Milton for $302,000, and took on a five-year, 5.2% fixed-rate mortgage for $220,000. At first, we intended to pay it off in 10 or 15 years. But then I began to look at what would happen if I doubled up the payments and paid an extra 10% a year. It was incredibly motivating to see how much interest you could save. So we decided to double up every bi-weekly payment, from $670 to $1,340. We also made the annual 10% prepayment, which was about $22,000 a year.
At the end of the first year, we realized that we were saving much more than we needed, even with the doubled payments and annual prepayment, so I approached the bank and asked them if we could make an annual prepayment of 20% instead. It took a little bit of coaxing and a few Tim Hortons coffees, but banks can be more flexible than you might think: don't assume the terms of your mortgage can't be changed.
At that rate of payment, it sounds absolutely incredible, but we managed to pay off the whole thing in exactly 952 days. By paying off the mortgage in less than three years instead of 25, we saved a total of $153,000 in interest charges, which amounts to more than half the original cost of the house. Meanwhile, the house had already increased in value to about $420,000.
Now we own our house, our cars, and we have absolutely no debt. We feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of us. The best part of it is that we feel like we've been set free to do many things in life that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to do. Tiffany is pregnant now, and we're expecting our first baby in July. Because we have no debt and our expenses have been reduced by 80%, one of us can stay at home as long as we want after our baby is born. I'm only working about 55 hours a week now - which after my previous schedule, feels like part-time - and we're already saving aggressively for retirement. My dream would be to retire when my father did, at age 52, so that we'll still be young and healthy enough to travel the world.
Let me make it clear that I wouldn't recommend the number of hours that I worked for most people. But was it worth it for me? Absolutely. It's been challenging and tiring, but exciting and rewarding too. Right now, I wouldn't change anything for the world. We're only in our 30s, but in a lot of ways, we're set for life.
How to get a head start on life
If you want to jumpstart your finances, you don't have to be an extreme saver like the Goertzens, but you can apply some of the principles they used.
Start early
Each dollar that you save when you're in your 30s is worth more than $3 saved in your 50s, because of money's ability to multiply when invested wisely. So saving even small amounts when you're young can pay off big. If, for instance, you sock away a mere $20 a week in your RRSP starting at 21, and it grows by 6% a year, you will painlessly accumulate more than $160,000 by the time you're 60.
Set concrete goals
Setting concrete goals is the psychological key to effective saving, because if there's no reward at the end of the journey, you won't have the motivation to keep going. It's easy to cut costs when you know you're just three payments away from burning your mortgage; it's nearly impossible to do so if the only goal is to put more money in the bank.
Live on what you were making five years ago
Once you adapt to a more expensive lifestyle, there's no going back - but continuing to live the way you live right now is relatively easy. Vow not to increase your spending by more than inflation for the next five or 10 years. You won't have to give up a thing you enjoy now, but if you get regular pay increases and save the difference, you'll soon be putting away buckets of money.
Pay in cash when you can
Another wealth-building habit you could borrow from the Goertzens is to pay in cash when you can. If you want a new living room set, don't whip out the plastic. Start up a special savings fund instead. This gives you a concrete goal to save for, and you'll get your furniture cheaper in the long run.
The savings from paying cash are larger than most people realize. If you put a $5,000 living room set on a standard 19.75% Visa card and pay it off gradually over two years, you'll end up paying $1,000 more than you would if you paid in cash. So saving up the cash before buying is like getting an 18% discount.
Pay off your mortgage faster
Andy MacDonald, president of MortgageBroker Inc. in Mississauga, Ont., points out that if you pay an extra $1,000 towards a 5% fixed-rate $250,000 mortgage during each of the first five years, you'll save $10,000 in interest over the mortgage's 25-year life. Make the same extra payments during your mortgage's last five years, and you won't save much in interest at all.
Practically speaking, MacDonald finds that one of the best ways to save money and pay off your mortgage faster is simply to make your payments weekly or bi-weekly instead of monthly. By doing so, you'll make the equivalent of about an extra month's payment every year, which would save you $30,000 off the total cost of the $250,000 mortgage above. You'll also pay off the mortgage three and a half years sooner.
years and now I'm looking for a part time job. I have an obsessive
personality and after reading that I feel sooo useless. This guy worked 4!
jobs, 90-100!hrs a week. Granted, with classes right now I couldn't do
much more than something part time on the weekends, but when I'm
back to online classes (which are much easier) I'll have plenty of free
time. Sometimes I wonder if I have some kind of disorder. My energy
levels/moods/motivations change rather drastically. My dad is actually
bipolar, and I was diagnosed when I was younger, but I don't really think I
am. I'll chalk it up to a personality quirk rather than a problem. I will say I
like my ups much better than my downs. Luckily I've learned how to deal
with my downs and they basically consist of me throwing a tantrum
(crying, maybe eating something bad), and taking an "I'm down, leave me
alone I want to feel bad for myself" nap". I normally gain perspective
when I wake up. Though it is good to be aware of my moods because
when I am in a really high energy one I need to try to calm myself down
so I don't make any drastic decisions or become upset when my energy
balances out.
How we paid off our house in three years
Perry Goertzen as told to Duncan Hood
Have you ever wondered what you could accomplish if you saved 80% of your pay? Well I can tell you, because I did it.
Most people have trouble saving just 5% or 10% of what they make, but my wife Tiffany and I decided that it was worth living like paupers for a few years if it could give us a huge jump start on life. Saving as much as we did was challenging, but what we accomplished was amazing - I still can't believe it myself sometimes. When we started, we had a rusty old Toyota Tercel, no house, few possessions and a crushing debt of $37,000. A few years later, we had two almost-new cars and a beautiful new four-bedroom house on a 46-ft lot in Milton, Ont. Everything was completely paid off - we had zero debt. During this time, neither of us made much more than $60,000 a year at any one job, but by working several jobs and saving almost all of our income, our net worth increased from negative $37,000 to positive $420,000 in less than five years.
I was born in rural Manitoba in my grandparents' car on Mother's Day, and my family still jokes that I came into this world fast and I haven't slowed down since. But though I was always very energetic, it was channeled in the wrong direction during my teenage years: I was basically a juvenile delinquent. I quit high school at age 15, worked odd jobs, drank and partied. By my early 20s I hit rock bottom. I realized that I was going nowhere and that I had to make some serious changes to get back on track. So I gave up my old friends and my old lifestyle, and decided to move to Abbotsford, B.C., to start over.
It was there that I met my future wife, Tiffany. After a couple of years we got engaged and then we got married in 1995, when I was 27. During this time I changed dramatically. I started volunteering for an organization that worked with troubled teens, and I loved the work. Tiffany and my family kept challenging me to go back to school, and shortly before we got married, I applied to a private Christian university in Langley, B.C., called Trinity Western, and I was accepted as an adult student. Four years later, in 1998, I graduated with a B.A. in psychology.
I was proud of my degree, but a B.A. didn't open as many doors as I originally thought it would, so we decided that I should get a Master of Social Work degree. Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., offers one of the better programs in Canada, so we packed up our belongings and drove across the country. It was an absolutely crazy trip - we did it in only 49 hours with one four-hour stop at a little motel - and when we arrived we settled into a small apartment in Milton, midway between the university and a new teaching job we found for my wife. During the next two years of schooling, money was tight, and I had to borrow heavily for tuition and books. When I finally finished my master's degree in 2000, we had a total debt of $52,000 from my student loans.
This is when we made the decision that changed everything. With my new degree, I quickly found a job that paid well, but we decided that rather than rewarding ourselves for all those years of hard work, we would continue living like impoverished students for a few more years. In exchange, we figured we'd get a head start on the rest of our lives.
I got my first job as a crisis intervention worker before I even finished my degree. When I graduated, they gave me more hours, then offered me a second position doing the same thing at another location. I was just loving the work, and I took on a third job doing the same thing at the Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga. As crazy as it sounds, I then took on a fourth position, and I saw clients now and then through my own counseling business as well.
The next few years are a bit of a blur. I worked an average of 90 to 100 hours a week, or about 14 hours a day, seven days a week. It wasn't unusual to work 22 hours straight, go home, sleep for two or three hours, get up, shower, and work another 12-hour shift. I once worked 99 days in a row, took two days off, and then worked another 60 days. Meanwhile, Tiffany began supplementing her salary as a teacher by tutoring and giving piano lessons.
In some ways it wasn't much of a life. My wife thought I was pushing it too much, and our friends and family thought we had lost perspective. But my father had taught me a strong work ethic and I felt like I had wasted a lot of years in my youth. This was my chance to catch up. With six or seven jobs between the two of us, within a few months of graduating, our combined income was well in excess of six figures. But even with our sizable new income, we continued living in our $900-a-month apartment in Milton. Most of our furniture came out of the garbage, and we rarely bought new clothes. We didn't have cable and we didn't go out much. Eventually, we splurged and bought a set of rabbit ears for our old TV.
We were able to save over 80% of our after-tax income, which amounted to over $80,000 a year. In a lot of ways, saving 80% of your income is absurd, but you would be amazed at how quickly you can pay off huge loans if you do. I obtained some loan remission from the government, which knocked my $52,000 student debt down to $37,000, and we managed to pay that off in just four short months. Paying off such a staggering loan so quickly was an incredible feeling. We realized that we had become accustomed to saving most of our income, so we decided to accomplish a few more goals before we broke the habit. We began by saving up for a down payment on a house, and it took us less than a year to save up $82,000.
In June of 2002, we purchased our first home in a new subdivision in Milton for $302,000, and took on a five-year, 5.2% fixed-rate mortgage for $220,000. At first, we intended to pay it off in 10 or 15 years. But then I began to look at what would happen if I doubled up the payments and paid an extra 10% a year. It was incredibly motivating to see how much interest you could save. So we decided to double up every bi-weekly payment, from $670 to $1,340. We also made the annual 10% prepayment, which was about $22,000 a year.
At the end of the first year, we realized that we were saving much more than we needed, even with the doubled payments and annual prepayment, so I approached the bank and asked them if we could make an annual prepayment of 20% instead. It took a little bit of coaxing and a few Tim Hortons coffees, but banks can be more flexible than you might think: don't assume the terms of your mortgage can't be changed.
At that rate of payment, it sounds absolutely incredible, but we managed to pay off the whole thing in exactly 952 days. By paying off the mortgage in less than three years instead of 25, we saved a total of $153,000 in interest charges, which amounts to more than half the original cost of the house. Meanwhile, the house had already increased in value to about $420,000.
Now we own our house, our cars, and we have absolutely no debt. We feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of us. The best part of it is that we feel like we've been set free to do many things in life that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to do. Tiffany is pregnant now, and we're expecting our first baby in July. Because we have no debt and our expenses have been reduced by 80%, one of us can stay at home as long as we want after our baby is born. I'm only working about 55 hours a week now - which after my previous schedule, feels like part-time - and we're already saving aggressively for retirement. My dream would be to retire when my father did, at age 52, so that we'll still be young and healthy enough to travel the world.
Let me make it clear that I wouldn't recommend the number of hours that I worked for most people. But was it worth it for me? Absolutely. It's been challenging and tiring, but exciting and rewarding too. Right now, I wouldn't change anything for the world. We're only in our 30s, but in a lot of ways, we're set for life.
How to get a head start on life
If you want to jumpstart your finances, you don't have to be an extreme saver like the Goertzens, but you can apply some of the principles they used.
Start early
Each dollar that you save when you're in your 30s is worth more than $3 saved in your 50s, because of money's ability to multiply when invested wisely. So saving even small amounts when you're young can pay off big. If, for instance, you sock away a mere $20 a week in your RRSP starting at 21, and it grows by 6% a year, you will painlessly accumulate more than $160,000 by the time you're 60.
Set concrete goals
Setting concrete goals is the psychological key to effective saving, because if there's no reward at the end of the journey, you won't have the motivation to keep going. It's easy to cut costs when you know you're just three payments away from burning your mortgage; it's nearly impossible to do so if the only goal is to put more money in the bank.
Live on what you were making five years ago
Once you adapt to a more expensive lifestyle, there's no going back - but continuing to live the way you live right now is relatively easy. Vow not to increase your spending by more than inflation for the next five or 10 years. You won't have to give up a thing you enjoy now, but if you get regular pay increases and save the difference, you'll soon be putting away buckets of money.
Pay in cash when you can
Another wealth-building habit you could borrow from the Goertzens is to pay in cash when you can. If you want a new living room set, don't whip out the plastic. Start up a special savings fund instead. This gives you a concrete goal to save for, and you'll get your furniture cheaper in the long run.
The savings from paying cash are larger than most people realize. If you put a $5,000 living room set on a standard 19.75% Visa card and pay it off gradually over two years, you'll end up paying $1,000 more than you would if you paid in cash. So saving up the cash before buying is like getting an 18% discount.
Pay off your mortgage faster
Andy MacDonald, president of MortgageBroker Inc. in Mississauga, Ont., points out that if you pay an extra $1,000 towards a 5% fixed-rate $250,000 mortgage during each of the first five years, you'll save $10,000 in interest over the mortgage's 25-year life. Make the same extra payments during your mortgage's last five years, and you won't save much in interest at all.
Practically speaking, MacDonald finds that one of the best ways to save money and pay off your mortgage faster is simply to make your payments weekly or bi-weekly instead of monthly. By doing so, you'll make the equivalent of about an extra month's payment every year, which would save you $30,000 off the total cost of the $250,000 mortgage above. You'll also pay off the mortgage three and a half years sooner.
February 12th
Work is slow. It's difficult to distract myself from the fact that I've got little to do. It's strange to feel guilty for something that isn't really your fault. While others drown in work I leisurely surf the web... I guess my time will come.
February 11th
Sometimes it's hard to slow down and remember that little things can
make a big difference in the way you feel. I am all about effeciency and
though it is useful, it can also be a burden. I don't realize while I'm trying
to find ways to save time or money, to maximize EVERYTHING I DO, I'm
just wearing myself out. Yesterday I felt so much better after I got home
and just layed in my bed for 45 minutes. I think we are so used to having
to constantly be busy or productive that we forget how helpful it is to slow
down. Whenever I have free time my instinct is to fit as much as I can in. All about optimizing. I just need to remember to give myself a break sometimes. It's nice when you notice that small things make you happy.
I had a pretty quick commute home. I think that if I get to Bellevue before
a certain time (like 5 minutes earlier than usual) traffic isn't as bad. That
and I've made the generalization that on Monday's more people work
overtime and therefore traffic will always be a bit lighter at 3-3:30. I got
home at around 4:00 and put pj's on. I layed in bed for about half an hour
when I started to fall asleep... and someone with good intentions asked
me if they should set my alarm clock, which woke me up. I got up and
watched tv for about half an hour. It was nice to feel relaxed and sleepy, I
felt like a little kid home sick from school. Afterwards I took a shower and
ate dinner (broccili with a hard boiled egg and tomatoes, as long as I'm
full I'm happy). I stopped and got coffee before class. The class is difficult
for me because my attention span is not that great. Luckily most things
come somewhat naturally and need little study for me to figure out.
Those that require more attention (math, programming) are areas that I
struggle in. It is truly painful for me. I noticed on my way in that it was
super warm out. It was really nice and put me in a good mood to not be
shivering. I looked at the forecast and it says the weather should be in
the 50's for the next 10 days! I'm so excited.
Tue Feb 12 PM Light Rain 49°/40° 70%
Wed Feb 13 AM Showers 49°/36° 30%
Thu Feb 14 Partly Cloudy 53°/40° 20%
Fri Feb 15 Few Showers 51°/42° 30%
Sat Feb 16 Partly Cloudy 52°/36° 20%
Sun Feb 17 Partly Cloudy 57°/40° 20%
Mon Feb 18 Few Showers 57°/43° 30%
Tue Feb 19 Showers 55°/42° 60%
Wed Feb 20 Scattered Showers 55°/43°
I have next Monday off for President's Day and then my midterm is
Wedenesday which is great because I know the class is almost over (8
classes left!). I don't have high hopes for a stellar grade, I'm just trying to
pass.
Day one was successfully carb free. I try to keep full on things that are
not so yummy so that I don't notice the fact that I really want something
better. When I got home from class Jordan asked me to go rent movies
with them so I did, but then I was almost force fed another dinner. With a
lot of struggle I managed to squirm out of it. I got home and was asleep
by 11. This morning I'm not feeling quite as refreshed. I am sleepy and
sort of grumpy. My stummy hurts. I packed another carb free lunch so
my mood will most likely not improve. I got in at 6 so I'm going to leave at
2:30 (which I will assume is ok unless I'm eventually told otherwise).
make a big difference in the way you feel. I am all about effeciency and
though it is useful, it can also be a burden. I don't realize while I'm trying
to find ways to save time or money, to maximize EVERYTHING I DO, I'm
just wearing myself out. Yesterday I felt so much better after I got home
and just layed in my bed for 45 minutes. I think we are so used to having
to constantly be busy or productive that we forget how helpful it is to slow
down. Whenever I have free time my instinct is to fit as much as I can in. All about optimizing. I just need to remember to give myself a break sometimes. It's nice when you notice that small things make you happy.
I had a pretty quick commute home. I think that if I get to Bellevue before
a certain time (like 5 minutes earlier than usual) traffic isn't as bad. That
and I've made the generalization that on Monday's more people work
overtime and therefore traffic will always be a bit lighter at 3-3:30. I got
home at around 4:00 and put pj's on. I layed in bed for about half an hour
when I started to fall asleep... and someone with good intentions asked
me if they should set my alarm clock, which woke me up. I got up and
watched tv for about half an hour. It was nice to feel relaxed and sleepy, I
felt like a little kid home sick from school. Afterwards I took a shower and
ate dinner (broccili with a hard boiled egg and tomatoes, as long as I'm
full I'm happy). I stopped and got coffee before class. The class is difficult
for me because my attention span is not that great. Luckily most things
come somewhat naturally and need little study for me to figure out.
Those that require more attention (math, programming) are areas that I
struggle in. It is truly painful for me. I noticed on my way in that it was
super warm out. It was really nice and put me in a good mood to not be
shivering. I looked at the forecast and it says the weather should be in
the 50's for the next 10 days! I'm so excited.
Tue Feb 12 PM Light Rain 49°/40° 70%
Wed Feb 13 AM Showers 49°/36° 30%
Thu Feb 14 Partly Cloudy 53°/40° 20%
Fri Feb 15 Few Showers 51°/42° 30%
Sat Feb 16 Partly Cloudy 52°/36° 20%
Sun Feb 17 Partly Cloudy 57°/40° 20%
Mon Feb 18 Few Showers 57°/43° 30%
Tue Feb 19 Showers 55°/42° 60%
Wed Feb 20 Scattered Showers 55°/43°
I have next Monday off for President's Day and then my midterm is
Wedenesday which is great because I know the class is almost over (8
classes left!). I don't have high hopes for a stellar grade, I'm just trying to
pass.
Day one was successfully carb free. I try to keep full on things that are
not so yummy so that I don't notice the fact that I really want something
better. When I got home from class Jordan asked me to go rent movies
with them so I did, but then I was almost force fed another dinner. With a
lot of struggle I managed to squirm out of it. I got home and was asleep
by 11. This morning I'm not feeling quite as refreshed. I am sleepy and
sort of grumpy. My stummy hurts. I packed another carb free lunch so
my mood will most likely not improve. I got in at 6 so I'm going to leave at
2:30 (which I will assume is ok unless I'm eventually told otherwise).
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