Empties #9 and Rest Day

I gave myself a rest day today and promptly took a nap after work. It was glorious. Hah. Julie informed me that a storm went by during that time. What? That was news to me. I was totally oblivious. I went over to my parents' house when I woke up and hung out with her for a little bit. She had part of a sub to share anyway.

I have accumulated several empties these past few months. I was most proud of finishing a black Jordana pencil eyeliner. The Softsoap liquid soap smells like fruit punch. I also finished up some samples: Honey by Marc Jacobs and Taylor by Taylor Swift perfumes and an Urban Decay mascara. I don't think that the Listerine did anything to whiten my teeth, but at least it gives you fresh breath.

Good Performance Review and Day 17

I received an “exceeded expectations” rating from my supervisor on my annual performance review. She actually rated me higher than what I rated myself ("met expectations"), so that was an unexpected surprise. It's unclear what the budget situation is, but I hope there's room for raises. I already know what I'll buy for myself when that money comes in: some new Bluetooth headphones. I'm just not impressed with the two sets I've bought so far.

As for working out...Day 17, done! I definitely sweated my little heart out today...that's why they call it a Heat workout. I did everything except the incline walking after work, went home to feed RJ, went to spin class, and then did the incline walking. Getting out of bed tomorrow should be interesting.

Looks like Mom and Dad are having a fun on vacation. They better squeeze all the fun in before they have to come home on Saturday.

Chest Day and New Workout Gear

Traffic going to the gym was very very light (I guess the world is sleeping in), so I was able to zip there with time to do some grocery shopping before my 8:30 AM spin class. Afterwards, I went to Sports Authority, armed with a 20% coupon. I was thinking of getting a new swimsuit, but nothing was really fitting right, so I gave up and went to Marshalls and Target instead. I had much better luck at those places and ended up with some new workout clothes and sports bras. Target had 20% off Champion shirts, which was too good of a deal to pass up!

Then I went home, at lunch, hung out with RJ (although he was more interested in napping while laying belly up under the ceiling fan), and then eventually went to the gym for Day 16: Chest. It was actually not very crowded in the weights section, but I did have to ask some young men if they could move their gym bags so that I could use the machine. Hello, that's what the locker rooms are for...blah.

My cousin asked for some help on her resume so I tackled that after going to the gym. And I think the rest of the evening will be parked on the couch watching the other movie that I borrowed from the library: Gone Girl. Oh, and laundry. I need to do laundry.

I tacked on another picture of Dingo from yesterday's BBQ. He was totally soaking up all the attention. :)

CrossFit Class and BBQ

Julie and I were the only people in this morning's CrossFit class, but that worked out in my favor because there were some exercises that I needed to learn (power cleans, thrusters, etc.) and it was better to have that individual attention to make sure that I got the movement right and I wouldn't hurt myself.  I have a feeling that my shoulders are going to ache tomorrow, but talk about a confidence booster, knowing that I learned something new and got a serious workout in.

After getting cleaned up at my parents' house, we wandered over to my cousin's place. He was having a BBQ with friends and invited us. One of the friends brought her dog, Dingo. He's a very friendly pit bull mix. The lady is moving back to Australia, but she first has to find a new home for Dingo. We're all plotting on how to get him to stay with my parents or my cousin. It would have to be a collective effort. He's such a sweet dog.

Michelle made CT a flourless chocolate birthday cake, aww!

I borrowed Man of Steel from the library on Thursday. I started watching it before I left for the airport to pick up Julie yesterday and finished it tonight. Meh, it was alright. Not as good as some of the Marvel films. Henry Cavill is obviously very handsome, but it wasn't enough for me to love the movie. My favorite part was the end, hah.

Sisterly Duties

Julie decided to stay an extra day in Boston to make sure that stuff at the Patriots museum was running smoothly. I picked her up at Dulles and went back to my parents' house to catch up. CT showed up unexpectedly at 11 PM to get skewers for his BBQ tomorrow.

Meanwhile, RJ had a nice nap on the couch.

New-ish Pants!

I haven't been able to wear these red/coral pants in I don't know how long. 3-4 years maybe? Well, today they fit. And not like "rearrange my vital organs" fit, but legit fit. Very exciting! :)

I didn't feel like doing anything after work today, but I sucked it up and made it to spin class and of course, was thankful that I did afterwards.

Crappy Work from the Consultant and Back Day

Ok, back to the office grind. The good thing from today was that there was agreement on a date for an August meeting in ATL with CDC, so I was able to book my hotel room and flight for the trip. The annoying thing from today was reviewing the online course that the consultant company gave for us to review. A lot of the mistakes that I caught would have been avoided if they had just gone through the course before sending it to us. It just made their work sloppy, and when I gave my boss a progress report, I let her know that I was not pleased with this product, even though it was in draft form. We will probably not give them repeat business! One of the things that my boss asked them to do was to use "laboratory" instead of "lab" and I found many instances of "lab" in my review, so that's not cool.

I was definitely ready to go to the gym after work. The difference between the before and after pics is kinda funny. Polished and then...not so much, heh. I got through about half of Day 15's workout (back) before the crowd. I decided to leave the rest of the workout for tomorrow and left the gym to eat dinner and feed RJ, gas up my car and feed Harry. On the way home from my parents' house, I had the nagging feeling that I usually associate with unfinished business. I marched myself back to the gym and fortunately by now, the crowd had lessen. I had 3 exercises left so it didn't take me long to finish. And now I can go to bed with a sense of accomplishment. Yay!

4:00 PM

5:30 PM

8:45 PM