I haven't been very good with my budget so far. Day two and blown quite a bit of it. I actually had about $135 cash on me, so I'm just going with the amount I have, instead of sticking to the $100.

Day 1
Free Thing I Did Today:

• Listened to jazz outside at a free event
• Went to the pool at Luv's complex

Item(s) I passed up buying:

• A little, lightweight coin purse - basically exactly what I've been looking for for a few months now

Cash Spending

• $27.88 Cash - bathing suit that was desperately needed and had been discussed many times as being needed for Luv's place... I guess I could have brought one of the two outfits I have at home for his place but oh well. And flip flops were 2 for $5 so I tacked that on to this as well.

Eating out with friends spending

• ~$15 checking account - eat out, fast food, with friends
• Rent

Day 2
Free Things I Did/Acquired Today:

• Motorcycle ride with friends
• Changed the position of my motorcycle handlebars myself. This proceeded to break my speedometer and my bike's check engine light came on, so now I'm without a bike (it's at the shop).
• I acquired a free trickle charger from Tom. My bike comes with a built in plug for one and he had the charger but no longer had the bike with the plug anymore - worked out perfectly!

Item(s) I passed up buying:

• Clothes at Lucy were a temptation and I may go back in July;
• Future purchase I committed to is a group on for a painting class with my friend. I don't know how to handle this one, do I buy it now and save money, ask her to buy it for me and I give her cash to save money, or I just wait till July and pay full price.

Cash Spending

• $8 Cash - Kara's Cupcakes - overindulge, I only needed one of those 4 mini cupcakes. Felt quite guilty about this and this is why I say I've blown my cash budget.
• $6 Cash - lunch with friends - bummed I had to use my cash on this one, but we split the check.

Left over cash after Day 2: $96.81.

New handlebar position

After dropping my bike at the shop because the spedo stopped working and the engine light came on - I rode two up with Tom to the lunch destination and then he dropped me at home, sans bike.

$100 cash for anything I want for one month with the goal of having 15 days of no transactions posted to my bank account (this may be difficult because I have things automatically pulled like student loans)

Exceptions
-Staples: Eggs, milk, shampoo, toothpaste, etc
-Doctor Bills: acupuncture (I really need these), therapy, etc
-Nike Women Half Marathon registration (June 3rd!)
-Friends: Eating out with friends is allowed and does not go toward $100
-Vehicle: Gas, zipcar (if absolutely needed), taxi (if absolutely needed)

This means that (challenges?)
-Certain things will have to wait a month to buy (motorcycle helmet and boots).
-I may have a modified (slightly unhealthy) diet as I work my way through my pantry.
-It will be a little difficult because my very dear friend Katie is now in town and we love going out and doing things
-When I exchange the Loft shirt for a different color, I won't be able to buy anything else (unless I use my $100 all on that store!)
-Unless I go to target today to buy makeup, I can't buy makeup until mine is completely gone (it's getting low right now and is way past the 6 months)

I already purchased my produce box so I'm good there, and my pantry is pretty full (maybe not as full as last time, but could certainly last a month).

I'm still pondering this and will modify over the next few days, but this starts on Saturday and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

There are plenty of free things to do coming up and things I can do that are free:
-Ride my NEW motorcycle
-Jazz
-SFmoma
-Stern Grove Fest
-Dolores Park Movie night
-Exploratorium
-Running
-My gym (Body Pump!)
-Can use the chi running instruction class and golf instruction class I previously bought
-Use starbucks gift card from mom for a special treat

Of all those who are running. My foot still hurts. I am signed up for a 5k in 10 days. No way I could get close to my usual time. And my knees started aching today.

Life is still at top speed even though I took a few days off and did nothing. Over compensating much? =)

Enjoyed spending the whole weekend with Luv. Saturday and Sunday were filled with wonderful togetherness and it wasn't in a car either! I am so glad we stayed down at Pacific Grove, I was able to enjoy the time better and was well rested.

We didn't get around to doing most of things planned on Memorial day holiday (Monday), but we enjoyed staying indoors on the rainy day watching Arrested Development Season 4. A welcome change to the 16 miles of walking we did on Saturday and Sunday. My cats enjoyed our time with them too.

I'm excited about a number of things, including my new motorcycle, which I should be able to pick up soon, and my friend, Katie, moving to SF for three months! Maybe she can get a 10 class pass to the gym so she can join for body pump! Also, I didn't fall off the gluten band wagon this weekend, which I'm super proud of myself for. There were soooo many temptations - pancakes, donuts, brownies, oh my! I got my fix by going to Mariposa Gluten Free bakery on Monday and picked up a chocolate cake, then proceeded to eat half of it in two sittings.

I'm not excited about not seeing Luv till Friday, but there is so much going on in the evenings and it's a short week - Friday will be here before I know it!

Things to get caught up on:
Applying to jobs (at least one per day!) - need to ramp this up
Get my new bike home! Sell old bike!
Cleaning my kitchen - had a lovely meal yesterday of sea scallops and potatoes that I need to clean up
Make home made gluten free pizza!
Cleaning my apartment (changing the sheets)
Charge my motorcycle headsets and see about listening to music on long rides
Buy a new motorcycle helmet
Consider doing a $0 budget for June - May was a heavy spending month for me and I need to even it out.

I've been indulging in gluten and I wonder how much of my emotional state is bc of that. I also wonder if foot pain is felt only bc of the gluten I've had too.

Had to skip a few enjoyable classes but I'm getting back on track with my routine. I noticed I have a ton of food in my house again so I will try to avoid bringing more home for the next few weeks.

I've decided to buy a new motorcycle. I've been using mine so much that I feel it would be a good purchase. My bike, new, is hard to find since it was discontinued in 2009. The Harley shop said a new intro bike was coming out in August but had no further details. This peeks my interest.

I'm officially injured and recovering from a weird foot pain. Ice and rest. This will blow my half training for August. Oh well.

I'm feeling overwhelmed by all there is to do at work, with relationships, and decisions to make.

The offer came from the company in Indiana. It's higher than what I make now. That is tempting. But what is worth of living in SF and my current lifestyle?

Luv and I are working to recommit ourselves but concerned its square peg and round hole.

I have been working so hard at work that my evening social life is suffering. By Thursdays iOS class, I'm exhausted and just want an evening to sleep.

By the weekend, I'm tired and just want a good time without having to plan a lot.

The job in Indiana will give me an offer within the next 24 hours.

I'm prepared. I've figured out my salary requirement, talked to someone who lived in Indy and also CA, thought about alternatives (moving to East Bay/cheaper apartment in CA), and did some meditating.

May 6, 2013

Last night around 7pm I said goodbye to my sister, her husband and my friend EJ. I spent the night in the Hilton on an overly soft king bed. I normally find hotel bathtubs repulsive, but given that I had an interview in the morning and I ran a half and they had a soap bar with massage bumps on it, I decided to take a bath.

The next morning, I had my usual oatmeal before walking two buildings down to the OneAmerica building. The interview went well, I did something new and brought a portfolio with printouts of my work. I had practiced presenting it to my sister and bro-in-law the night before. I think it was well received in the interview. I met with two of the three people (on didn't show) and they said they could give me an offer as early as this week. I need to check out the apartments in the area and figure out my desired salary.

May 4, 2013

What a phenomenal day. Started out a windy 55 degrees with no rain in the forecast.

My friend, Ty and my sister were unable to be in my corral in the back because of the heightened security due to the Boston marathon bombing. This meant I had to catch up to them so I went out at a good 11 min/mile pace, then increased it to 10 min/mile. At mile 4 I got a text from my sister that she was waiting for me at the entrance of the Indianapolis motor speedway (mile 6). It was so great to see her. I ran up to her and hugged her and then said "I'm doing a 10min/mile pace, lets keep it up". It was probably faster than that during the run segments. During the entire race I did 5 mins running and one minute walking off and on which averaged 10min/mile. My sister and I didn't chat much because we were doing a race pace, but she did mention that the run/walk was a little difficult in terms of her breathing because she never got a rhythm down with her breathing.

Somehow my sister and I ended up passing Ty, the best we can guess was it was around mile 11. At this point I had stopped looking for his orange shoes because I was getting tired. My breathing became out of control and I had to pull back on the pace. My sister didn't mind because that meant she wasn't keeping up with my weaving and accelerating to get around people. It was the only way to break the monotony. The wind picked up a few times late in the race and if it was a headwind I simply said to myself, "the breeze feels good" (against the humidity) to keep my thoughts positive.

I finished with an awesome time of two hours and eleven minutes, which gives me a large challenge to break it in the future. My sister's personal best is two hours and eight minutes, which she accomplished on a hilly course just a month earlier.

Next week I start the Jeff Galloway speed training half marathon training. I will need to do hills if I intend to do the Nike women half, which runs across the Golden Gate Bridge. I also plan to do a flat course mid-training again.

My next race is the See Jane Run 5k in June where I will try to beat my 28 minute record.

My sister finished at the same time as me, and my friends time was two hours and thirty minutes. He had some stomach issues on the course and walked a large portion of it. My brother in law ran the 5k and had a personal best time as well! So happy he's gotten into running. Now if we could only convince my dad....

I had stomach issues after the race and ended up throwing away 1/3 of my lunch because I was feeling ill. Glad I brought some pepo with me, I certainly used it.

This was my sister's birthday and at dinner I had a mild meal of Mongolian beef (low salt) with brown rice and a gluten free beer. Then proceeded to eat a lot of gluten-filled cookies because that was her "cake".

Two days later and it's difficult to know how the gluten is affecting my sore calves, core and back - is it worse than if I had abstained? I had gluten after my last half too so it's hard to know. I also had neck tightness before the race (stress?) so that's not a good indicator either. I keep thinking about blueberry donuts and panera cinnamon bagels, so I may just have to splurge one of these mornings.

Lots of sleep and stretching is in my future