Name Changes suck-kah-kahhh

I did most of the necessary name changes the week we came back from our honeymoon. But, there's still a few stragglers that need to be updated (Goal #60: Change my name with several places I haven't changed with). One, was the bank account I opened when I first started working.  I decided to tackle that task on Wednesday. HOWEVER, Ma Dukes name is on the account - and they can't officially change my name until she signs some document saying she agrees to it. Say what? Um...it's a done deal. I'm married, my name changed, you have the legal documents, what the hell does Ma Duke have to do with it??  So now, I pretty much have zero access to that account until the paperwork goes through. Paperwork doesn't go through until Ma Dukes signs the document. Knowing Ma Dukes, that document is never getting signed. Awesome.

I also changed my name on my health insurance (BTW, WTG Talbots! You update my information with my dental insurance, but not my health insurance? You're stupid) and my online pharmacy! Yay for drugs!

AND - Operation, Date night with Hubby once a month (Goal #74) was on Sunday night.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate our birthdays. Let me tell you, White Chocolate Rasberry Cheesecake, the hubby and the Colts and Saints in the superbowl are pretty damn good birthday gifts. Happy Birthday to ME! Can't wait for the game next weekend!

Finances...BLECK!

Every year I've made the new years resolution to make a budget and keep to it. Every year, I fail miserably.  The way I manage to not over spend the money in my bank account is by constantly checking my online statement. Well, #53, Learn to balance a check book and keep it balanced is one way to help me stick to a budget.  With this week's paycheck, I decided it was time to get this under control. So, I tracked all my bills and such in my check book this morning.  Let's see how long I can keep at this. 

Also, on Tuesday night, Diana and I went to the mall, then met MaryBeth back at my house and we all chilled for a bit. It was really low-key, Doug was there, playing video games, but we ignored him, and he ignored us - so, I believe that constitutes as a girls night. So, we can give myself a Big Fat "In Progess" on item number 73, Have a Girls Night Once Every Other Month.  Next month, Board Game Night (#75)!

PS - I'm moving right along for Goal #3 - listening to Highway 61, Revisited right now! :-)

I get by with a little help from my friends....

Goal #3, Listen to 10 classic albums all the way through. When I'm in a funk, I like to listen to music. I'm in a funk (Re: my last post). So, I decided to start checking things off my day zero list. So, this brings me to goal number 3. I googled "Best Albums of All Time" and I came up with this top 500 list from Rolling Stones.  The list is pretty awesome, so this is the list I shall use.  I originally planned to listen to the top 10 albums listed however, that would mean 4 Beatles albums, and 2 Bob Dylan albums. As awesome as The Beatles and Bob Dylan are, I wanted more of a variety. So, I'm using the top 10 albums by different artists. The 10 albums I shall listen to are:

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
3. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan
4. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
5. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
6. London Calling, The Clash
7. The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley
8. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
9. Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground
10. Are You Experienced?, The Jimi Hendrix Experience

However, there are tons of albums on this list that I've always wanted to listen to - so, if I'm feeling super ambitious, I may keep going with more than 10 and listen to all 500.

Big shout out to Chris McCarthy for introducing me to GrooveShark.  I am currently checking Sgt. Pepper off the list!!

Sometimes you just have to learn to let go....

So, $10 needs to be transferred into my savings account for not completing a task (Goal #64).  I've come to the realization that Goal #71, Make plans with childhood best friend every second Tuesday of the month, just isn't going to happen.  I tried - but I tried as much as I could. 

Sometimes, you just need to realize that people don't care about you as much as you care about them and that it's time to let them go.  It's heartbreaking - I'm crushed right now.  I'll be crushed for a few days, but then I'm going to pick myself up, dust myself off and realize that the friends I have in my life right now are the ones that will be there for me when I need them.

We've been friends for 20 years. Whenever someone says "best friend" regardless of what points we've been at in our lives, she's always been the one I've pictured. The past 6 years I've tried to save our fragile friendship. I was an idiot for thinking that she really wanted to get our friendship back on track.  I'll still picture her as the best friend, since she was for a majority of my life. You never forget your first best friend, much like you'll never forget your first true love. But sometimes, you just need to let them go.

Did someone say book club?

Okay, confession time....I spend an unhealthy amount of time on The Nest...I swore I never would, but after "meeting" a ton of awesome ladies on The Knot while planning my wedding, I couldn't just say "Sionara" once the wedding was over....so, now - I spend a good chunk of my day laughing and bitching with girls across the country that are at the same stage of life I'm in....including the "I need to get back into reading" stage. So, TA-DA!  After a collective effort by Amelia and Sara, the Niners Book Club has been formed.  Thank you for helping me work towards checking #34, Organize OR participate in a Book Club, off my list, ladies!!

Amelia compiled book suggestions from everyone.  The list will be on going but currently the list is:

1. Wicked by Gregory MaGuire (Jill)
2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Jill)
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Jill)
4. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Jill)
5. Half Broken Horses by Jeanette Walls (Steeser)
6. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (MB & tgoff)
7. The Host by Stephanie Meyer (MB & Michi)
8. A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin (MB)
9. Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett (MB)
10. Under The Dome - Stephen King (MB)
11. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - David Wroblewski (MB)
12. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Nat)
13. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Nat)
14. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Nat & sarges05girl)
15. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (Shmoo_Lou & Rach)
16. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larrson (Shmoo_Lou)
17. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (tgoff)
18. What Comes After Crazy by Sandi Kahn Shelton (tgoff)
19. Julia’s Chocolates by Cathy Lamb (tgoff)
20. Why Girls Are Weird by Pamela Ribon (tgoff)
21. March by Geraldine Brooks (wamozart)
22. Gertain Girls by Jennifer Weiner (firefly)
23. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby (firefly)
24. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan (firefly)
25. The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (firefly & melpfaff)
26. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (shakken)
27. Impossible Motherhood by Irene Vilar (shakken)
28. Notes Left Behind by Brooke Desserich (sarges05girl)
29. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay (Laurie)
 
Amelia then had a random number picked from random.org.  And here is our first book - What Comes After Crazy by Sandy Kahn Shelton.  I've already reserved my copy at the library. I'll be picking that up tomorrow.
 
Now, where to find time to read What Comes After Crazy, Wicked, and the Eleanor Roosevelt autobiography that I've already started reading....

Uno, dos, tres, quatro!

Check number 91, Attend a Zumba class off the to-do list! I attended a Zumba class tonight with my favorite, bride-to-be.  It was crazy fun...but an insane workout.  I LOVED doing the merengue - it reminded me of our wedding when we tried to keep up with our friends who were dancing to it. The salsa was a good time as well. 

Before the Zumba class, we attended a weight lifting class too. Now, I can't move so much.

I would love to continue with Zumba, however, the membership is $60 a month.  I can't really pull that money together right now. So, for now - it will be an occasional fun workout. I'm pretty sure Comcast OnDemand has a few videos - maybe I'll do some of those in the comfort of my own home instead of looking like a tool in front of a bunch of people.

I'm nobody, Who are you?

I don't love poetry. But, being an English major in college, I had to learn to like it. Some poetry, I'd go so far as to say I appreciate.  That is what made me decide to add goal #88, Create a book of 25 favorite poems to my list.  I want to learn to appreciate all poetry, as well as collect the few poems that I've always enjoyed.

The first poem I ever liked was Emily Dickinson's I'm Nobody, Who Are You? I was in 7th grade when I heard it and for some reason I feel in love with it.  Since then, I've been intrigued by Emily Dickinson and I've done quite a lot of research on her.  She was an odd person, that's for sure.  So, poem 1/25 is Emily Dickinson's I'm Nobody, Who Are You?

I ’m nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there ’s a pair of us—don’t tell!

They ’d banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!

Out with the old, In with the new!

The lia sophia work space has officially been cleaned!!!  I wish I could say the same about the rest of the office...but that's not really possible.  So, Goal #56, Clean lia sophia work station and keep it organized is done! Granted, keeping it organized will be a constant effort - but the main goal was too clean it...and here it is:

I was inspired at the starte of the new year with the Motto, "Out with the old, In with the new." So, cleaning has been my main focus since the ball dropped.  Needless to say, when I woke up at noontime on New Years Day I went to town on goal #66, Purge and Donate old clothes from closets twice a year has officially begun.   The closet started out looking like this:

And is now looking like this:

There's still a lot of work to do with it.  Since we inherited the family mess along with the house, there's still some things that belong to Big M (my dad) that I need to go through.  He has a box of all the letters people wrote him when he was stationed in Germany...I'd like to make him a scrapbook or something with those (Oh! Brilliant idea!! Add that to the list of 101 things to do after this list is done!!!).  I'd also like to purge all the clothes I have in my bureaus that I never wear...so, this is definitely an on going work in progress...but! I'm happy to say it's underway!

Operation lose 30 elbees by June 1, 2010

Last night, before bed...I hopped on the scaled and saw the most horrifying thing ever...170.4 pounds.  I never thought I would EVER reach this weight, nor did I ever think I would publicly admit to being this weight, but I need to hold myself accountable.  Granted, I told myself that you should never weigh yourself at night because your stomach is full, etc. But, I needed to get a smack of reality.

So, today is my first day back to work after taking a long weekend for New Years. Today is my first day back to reality.  Today is my first day back to changing my eating habits and making myself a healthier me.

Today officially starts goal numero 26 - lose 30 pounds by June 1, 2010. I'd like to eventually lose more weight than 30...I'd like to reach 125-130. But, I'm not going to get a head of myself.  I'll make another goal once I accomplish losing 30 pounds.

How am I going to get this done?
I am going to:

1. cut down to eating out a maximum of once a week.
2. drink 2L of water a day (#28)
3. go to the gym a minimum of once a week...after I get use to that routine, I will up it to 2 days (#25)
4. Sign back up for WW.
5. Follow MB's 200 in 2010 blog and make at least 30 recipes from her blog (#50)

I lost 20 pounds in 3 months the first time I joined weight watchers. I had a lot less to lose then...so, 30 pounds in 6 months should be a sinch.  Here's hoping!