A Little Life Update

I know I haven't been posting too regularly but I am making an effort to stop sacrificing all of the things I love and enjoy doing in my free time starting in March.

It's been too long since I was at the gym, wrote a blog post, tried a new recipe, etc.

I knew I was signing on for long hours when I took the agency job in December, but I was naive to how long the hours would truly be.  At best, I get to the office at 8:30 a.m. and leave at 5:30 p.m. when my workday is technically over.  The catch, is that there is that things seem to have a nasty habit of popping up between 4:30 - 5:30 just as I'm thinking about winding down.  Or, I start logging my billable time at 4:20 but it takes me 20 - 30 minutes to complete because I make meticulous notes to help my Account Coordinate do the billing.  On top of that, we're supposed to be billable 7 hours a day, which doesn't sound too bad until you think about the time you spend in the bathroom, your lunch break, the miscellaneous time you have waiting for a meeting to start or recapping the topics that were discussed on a call with a client for your billing reports.  So sometimes I have to stay after 5:30 just to try to make my billable hours.

Since taking this job, my TMJ disorder has come roaring back to life and I am not getting the relief from my mouthguard the way I have in the past.  My suspicion is that after 4 years I have probably clenched so much that I need to replace it, and I have an appointment later this month to see my dentist and have new impressions taken.

Then there is the stress level.  I'm going to be seeing a new family medicine doctor next week and I want her to reevaluate my anxiety medication and see if maybe there is something that's a better fit for me.

So things are going to have to change moving forward.

A dear friend of mine (a PR professional who was working at an agency at the time) gave me some very real advice that I pass out as often as possible:

The first three months of a new job are terribly hard because you're just learning the system.  The second three months of a new job are horrible because you start to understand what you really got yourself into, but you're still figuring out your system to be successful.  At six months in, you've started to form your routine and you're beginning to feel like you're able to perform your required duties.

It's funny, in a meeting yesterday I had the mounting feeling of dread that I had so many responsibilities and so many deadlines over the next few days that I began to feel overwhelmed.  And then, an interesting thing happened, the thought occurred to me that I should put all of the pitching deadlines at the bottom of my daily task sheet at the beginning of each month so that I see them all and am reminded to chip away at them little by little.  Wow.  What do you know, I'm starting to come up with my own system for success and I've been there nearly 11 weeks.

Back in January, as I was lamenting the death of my personal life and the onslaught of stress and pressure, my dad told me that it takes roughly one year to become competent at a new job.  He promised me that by Thanksgiving I would feel 180 degrees different than I felt at that moment.

I know he's right, but sometimes I wish the timing of this opportunity had come six months earlier... but then again, I was able to accomplish SO MUCH for our wedding while I was working for my last company that maybe this is all for the best.  I will tell you this much, I LOVE my team and what I do.

I just need to remember that there are less than six months before our wedding, and I am still not in the physical shape I want to be in.  It's tough to leave Hunter alone for another hour and a half and get my workout in on weeknights, but hopefully Sam can help me pick up the slack there because I need to find a routine that gets me moving and commit to making healthy, vegetable laden dinners.

Papa Santi Turns 80

Yesterday my grandpa threw himself an 80th birthday part at my parent's house.  Sam, my sister and I flew in from our respective places of residence, Ali and her boyfriend came up from Santa Barbara and Mark, Lori and Brock came over from Hawaii.  It was quite an event.  Papa invited 60 people and we think we had about 55 attend.  

He hired a team to cook (in GIANT propane powered pots) lobster, veggies, potatoes, and garlic.  It was our own private lobsterfest.  They rolled parchment paper out on these long tables and then dumped the food out on the middle of the tables and everyone pretty much sat down and ate with their hands.  It was pretty fun- except of course that some of us don't eat lobster so much.  Which was a real treat for those of us who DO eat lobster.  :-)  Sam ate my tail and one of my claws while I stuck to the corn and shrimp.  He also was a HUGE help manning the bar with Carina.  They were fantastic!

I took a TON of photos with Papa's camera- hopefully they will turn out well.  Hopefully Nonna and Papa will remember to have a disk made for me when they have the photos printed.

It was good to see Ali and Brock- I loved catching up with them!  Mark and Lori were fun too, and I al so glad they all came over around 2:30 so that we could spend some time with just the family before the guests arrived.  We broke in the bar and had a couple beers to take the edge off while playing some friendly family ping-pong matches.  Ali's boyfriend, Peter, ripped his jeans open at the crotch which was HILARIOUS and he ended up borrowing a pair of Dad's shorts so that he was decent for the party.

Once the party was in full-swing there were SO many people I didn't have as much time to hang out with them.  C'est la vie.  I hope that we're going to be able to hang out with them soon.  I'm sure we'll see Peter and Ali since they only live 2 1/2 hours from us by car and should be able to come down and visit one weekend before Peter graduates in December. 

One of my favorite photos of the afternoon was the one of Sam, Carina and I in our bibs (provided by the lobster company) to try to keep our clothes clean.  They reminded me of the "I <3 Pasta" bibs Nonna used to have for us at the holidays.  

Along with the family, it was wonderful to see so many old friends.  I really enjoyed spending time with the Cantys, Geoghegans and Williams- Maria and Pat especially.  They are such amazing people and have always treated me like a part of their family.  Gosh they are just the best.  

Like Carina said last night after everyone had gone home and it was just us five, we are incredibly lucky to have been dealt the hand we were given.  We have a great family and great friends. 

Father's Day Plans

Sam and I are headed up to Northern California this weekend.  We were originally going to attend our 10-year high school reunion, which I am co-planning with another of my classmates, but Sam got tickets to see Dispatch with his parents and Sam's cousin planned herself a graduation party.

Now I'll be attending our reunion solo- oh goody.  I am so thankful that I have a couple of good friends who will be there because I am a little bit intimidated at the idea of going alone!

I probably shouldn't complain though, because Hunter will be here with our dog sitter, Linzy.  And I know that he'd prefer to be with us.

Along with our reunion, I am really excited to see my parents and spend some family time with them.  On Father's Day my parents and grandparents are coming into the city, Sam and I are staying in San Francisco at my grandparent's timeshare at the Donatello.  We're going to brunch to celebrate Father's Day.  I love my Daddy, he's definitely been very influential in making me the woman I am today and I am incredibly thankful.

Respect for Military Families

Mom and Dad arrive tomorrow for the next wedding (Wedding Season 2013 may be our busiest yet) of the year.  Their Goddaughter is getting married in San Juan Capistrano kind of at the last minute because her fiancee has been deployed to the coast of North Korea (I think) and he will be shipping out prior to their original wedding date.

This is actually the second couple I have personally known who've had to change their wedding plans based on a change in deployment plans.  It's just really tough to think that you'd plan so much for this day and spend all this money and then something so huge comes up that is completely out of your control and you just have to go with it.  No questions asked.  No temper tantrums.  You give everything up and just make it work.

Military families, especially wives and husbands, are so fascinating to me.  I mean seriously, we talk about how strong and resilient the men and women in the armed forces are but the real strength is the people who are left here.  The people who keep the homes and families running all on their own.  Man, I am so impressed.  

I complain about medical school and residency but I am so thankful Sam won't ever have to ship out at the last minute and be away for months at a time.  Yes, our long distance relationship in college was hard, but by the time we were 21 we agreed we didn't want to do anything like that again.  And Sam may go off for a month and do away rotations abroad at some point, but it will be planned and very premeditated- and I can always go visit him!

Playing For Keeps

Yesterday Sam and I spent most of the day cleaning the house: Spring Cleaning 2013 is completed.  I finished the vacuuming and cleaned the kitchen on Friday night, and when Sam got home he took care of the dusting while I organized the stuff on the table.  Unfortunately Sam and Hunter decided to take a nap right about the time I took on the bathroom, but that is pretty standard.  At least I didn't have a complete cleaning breakdown like I did a few months ago.  That was NOT pretty.

We celebrated with a trip down to San Diego and hit up the Stone Brewing Co for dinner since Sam was feeling up to the trip.  I tried to be as good as possible RE: the cleanse, but it was not easy!  Somehow I feel like the next couple of weeks are going to be tough... might be a good time to start surrounding myself with my health-conscious friends.

I spent today running errands- mailing the Fictitious Business Name documents to the Contra Costa Clerk, exchanging the propane for our BBQ, planning the first 7 days of meals for Making the Cut and grocery shopping to pick up all the ingredients.  It all starts tomorrow.  Oh boy.

The good news?  All the meals look really good.

The bad news?  It is going to be a lot of work.

So how am I spending my last night before the epic weight loss boot camp begins?  I am on the couch, blogging, updating my LinkedIn profile (I have neglected it horribly since starting my job), snuggling with Hunter and watching Playing For Keeps.

Gerrard Butler plays the main character, George, a former pro-soccer player who gets wrangled into coaching his son's team.  I can't lie, it's pretty cute.  I mean, there's a whole romantic storyline that's going on, but I just love how great George is as coach and mentor to the kids on the team.  And honestly, I can't help wondering what kind of coach Sam would be... will be.

Soccer is really not my sport.  So it's not likely that I can pick up the coaching slack there.  And frankly, I don't know how great I would be at baseball either.  But as I get older it really makes me appreciate how special it was to have my Dad so involved with all my little league stuff.  I mean he coached me from T-ball to 8th grade in softball and came to almost all my games when I played in high school.  Then, after softball was over, he did such a great job following water polo- even though it was a whole new thing for him.  I mean he didn't miss a single game my senior season, and his friends even came to watch me a couple of times too.  I really hope that I can give my kids that kind of support and those experiences some day.