Tag Archives: work

Laying Low (or This Will Be A Boring Post)

I wish I had something interesting to say today, but sadly, I don’t.

I’m getting better from being sick, but I’m still very congested. The one thing that is worrying me is that I’m having trouble catching my breath right now, and that will be bad if I’m still like that on Sunday when I have my next 5K.

I went to work yesterday, and even though I felt pretty sick, I got through the day. I only worked a 5 hour shift so it was manageable. And I was the only person working yesterday (besides my boss), so nobody was there to mind that I was coughing and blowing my nose every few minutes.

The job hunt for a new job is going well. I’ve now had 2 phone interviews and for both of those jobs, I made it to the next step. Both had a next step of a writing sample, and I completed both last night. Now I just have to wait and see.

While I’ve been sick, I’ve been checking in with my mom as well. I feel horrible complaining to her about me being sick because I know she’s going through something worse than me right now. Fortunately, my mom doesn’t seem to mind that I’m whining about a cold and a fever while she’s tired and achy from chemo.

I’ve also been off on food and workouts lately because of this cold. While I’m sure I could workout, the fact that I’m having trouble breathing while sitting down makes me think that hard cardio probably wouldn’t be the best choice for me right now. I’m hoping to get in a spin class before the 5K, but I’m not too sure that will happen.

Food is another weird situation. I’m barely eating right now (I’m not hungry and food tastes weird), but I’ve gained 6 pounds since Monday. I know that it must be water weight (or sick weight) but it bothers me. It seems like everyone else in the world loses weight while they are sick, I have to gain it. So I’m trying to avoid the scale until I feel 100% better.

That’s my update for now. Hopefully I’ll have something more interesting to share tomorrow!

Back Into The Groove (or Staying On The Right Path While At Work)

I’ve been back at my day job for a week now. And it feels like I never left (not necessarily in a good way). I’m back to being on the phone for 8 hours trying to sell memberships and tickets. So far, it hasn’t been the most productive time, but that’s typical for this part of the year (plus we don’t have any shows going on for another week and a half).

Yes, I’m missing my free time. I haven’t been going to spin class as often as I want because I have to work around my work schedule. I’m still trying to figure out a better way to go before work and have enough time to get ready. Right now I’m cutting it very close.

The one thing that is going my way right now is food. I’m doing so much better this time at work with my meal planning. I’m not sure why it’s gotten easier, but maybe I’ve finally gotten used to it.

I’m pretty boring when it comes to my breakfast. I’m either eating eggs and toast or peanut butter on toast. And for dinners I’m either getting a veggie sandwich from Subway or my latest dinner obsession is heating up some of the frozen pre-cooked chicken breast strips from Trader Joes and then putting that on top of either brown rice or veggies (I’m using the cooked frozen brown rice that cooks in 3 minutes and the Organic Foursome frozen veggies, both from Trader Joes). I’m not sure why I’m obsessed with this meal, but it’s healthy so I’m going to keep eating it.

Lunches have always been tough. Last week, there was a day that I forgot the lunch I made, so I had to go get something. It’s tough when you only have 30 minutes to eat, but I was able to go over to 7-11 down the street and pick up a yogurt and a banana. That held me until I had my dinner at 9pm. But most days I’m remembering my lunch. I typically bring either a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a pre-made salad from Trader Joes (can’t you tell what my favorite grocery store is?) and some fruit. While I’m getting pretty hungry toward the end of my work shift, I’m staying in my calorie range pretty much every day.

I’m hoping I finally turned a corner in my meal planning. The next step would be to stop relying on so many pre-made things and cooking more from scratch, but that’s going to be a slow process. I don’t want to be cooking at 9pm when I get home if I have to be at work the next day at 9am. So most of my cooking will have to be done on either one of my half shift days or on my one day off.

The End Again (or Back To The Real World)

My unemployment is ending again. I technically still have this weekend, but I’m working a show shift tonight and am going to a show for fun on Saturday. So it’s kind of going to feel like a work weekend.

Looking back on this time of unemployment, I’m proud that I got a lot more done than I did last time. I did focus on looking for new work, but there was nothing out there right for me right now. I also worked on seeing if I could be self-employed, and while I think it is possible, I think to be fully self-employed is at least a year or two away.

I also focused on seeing friends and doing fun things. I made it to a bunch of screenings that I wanted to go to.

The big thing that I didn’t get done was start improv class. I really wanted to do that during my time off, but it didn’t fit into my schedule. I was looking at doing one of the intensive classes (where you go through an entire level in 2 weeks instead of 8), but the intensive class was when I thought I might be going home for a visit (that trip ended up being moved to December).

While I didn’t do everything I wanted to do, I was so much more productive with my time this time. It’s a good step for me. I wanted to prove to myself that I could stay motivated even without a set schedule. And while there were some lazy days, a majority of them weren’t. This makes me think that being self-employed is really an option for my future.

I’m making the most of my last weekend of freedom. Besides working and going to the show this weekend, I’ve got a WIF mentor meeting today and a paintball adventure on Saturday (I’m scared how bruised I might be after that).

While I’m not excited to go back to work, I’m excited to start making some money again (I still haven’t gotten anything from the unemployment office). And I’m excited to keep pushing myself to find a new and better job.

End Of Another Week (or Almost Back To Work)

I have one week left of unemployment, although technically tonight I’m working a show shift. I’m really trying to maximize the free time I have left because I don’t know when it will be like this again (hopefully in March like this year).

Yesterday I got a bunch of other errands done that I had been putting off and I had a friend over for happy hour (there will be a recipe coming next week). And today I’m going back to “Let’s Make A Deal” and hopefully I’ll get called up to play this time! I’m going straight to work after the game show, but since it’s a show shift that’s not too bad (I’ll just have to change in my car).

This weekend I’m planning on going to another SAG-AFTRA Film Society screening. And next week I’ve got a few other screenings to go to as well as another Women in Film mentoring meeting. I’m also going to the Patti LuPone at my work on the 19th that I’ve been looking forward to since it was announced!

I’m hoping to get a hike in next week as well. My hip is still bugging me but I’ve only got 2 weeks before I have my next 5K (and that starts my 3 5Ks in 13 days). I know that I want to get stronger and faster before the race. I’d love to continue to bring down my 5K time! I have a goal time in mind, but I don’t have a time frame to get that done. I know that my speed isn’t always in my control so I don’t want to “fail”.

I’m so happy that my last week of unemployment has so much fun stuff in it. I’m sure after a week or two of work I’ll be complaining again about not having any free time. I do know that November shouldn’t be too horrible because I have so much stuff on the weekends already schedule that I will only be working one weekend in the entire month (I’ve already given my boss the heads up)!

I’m hoping to make the most of this last week of freedom. I saw some things on Pinterest about freezer crockpot meals and I’m thinking of taking a day next week to make those recipes. I just have to find a set that has recipes that sounds like things I would enjoy.

Next week, I promise to have my recipe from happy hour as well as my recap of my second attempt of being on “Let’s Make A Deal”!

Unemployment Honeymoon (or I Need To Be Doing Things!)

I’ve hit what I feel like is the end of an unemployment honeymoon. It may have something to do with all the issues with unemployment I’ve had this time. I did finally get my letter in the mail that they are processing my claim, and I don’t believe that for any reason it should be rejected.

For a while, it was nice to sleep in late (until 8am sometimes!) and not have to worry about rushing around. But now I’m at a point where I’m working on trying to find things to do. It’s not like I can just go out and work. I am still registered as a substitute teacher but the district I work for hasn’t needed me. And I can’t force auditions to come my way.

So I’ve been working on finding something to do everyday. Sometimes it’s easy like going to Disneyland, but some days it’s tough. Yesterday, I had nothing that had to be done. No errands, no friends to meet up with, nothing.\

I know that I spent way too much time online yesterday. Time flew by while I was reading various news sites and before I knew it, it was the afternoon. So I went for a walk just so I would get out of my house. I’m sure I could have just spent my day without ever stepping outside, but I don’t want to get into that habit. When I’m working, sometimes it’s ok to have a day like that. But when I don’t have something that is forcing me out of the house everyday, I feel like staying inside all day could become a very bad habit.

I know I probably sound really ungrateful right now. There are plenty of people out of work who can’t receive unemployment benefits. At least with that, I should be able to pay all of my bills on time even without getting a paycheck this month. Not everyone can say that.

I went through this same thing last time I was unemployed. The grass is greener on the other side, no matter what side you were on. If only I could find a day job where it feels more like I’m unemployed while still getting a regular paycheck. That would be the ultimate dream!

But for now, I’m trying to be happy that I get to have free time like this and relax for a bit. And maybe I should stagger my errands so I don’t do everything in one day and then don’t have anything I have to do the next day.

Unemployment Issues (or I Shouldn’t Stay Quiet)

My last day of work was on September 20th. I was done at 1pm and as soon as I got home, I got on my computer and filed for unemployment. It took about 15 minutes and I got a confirmation online that I had filed. I was supposed to get a paper confirmation of my unemployment status within 10 days.

I never got anything. At first, I thought it was because we had a new mail person for a few days and they never brought anyone the correct mail. But I started to worry.

You can only talk to someone at the unemployment office on the phone between 8am and noon. You can also submit questions online. So I did the form online but I also called.

Everyone must have been calling because for 3 days, I could not get through on the phone! I still hadn’t gotten any other response from the unemployment office so yesterday I knew I needed to keep calling.

Somehow, I got through to somebody around 9am (I made about 100 calls prior to that yesterday with no luck). They looked up my confirmation number and said that I never filed for unemployment.

That’s just ridiculous! I know I filed and that I filled out all the paperwork. I re-filed on the phone yesterday and they let me know that they backdated my filing but I still would not get any paperwork for about 10 days.

So by the time I get my paperwork, I might be back at work. I will still get checks for the weeks that will have passed, but I might not have the money by the time that my rent is due. And I don’t have enough saved right now to pay rent without my unemployment money.

I guess I was thinking too lightly about unemployment. It was so easy last time and there was almost no delay in anything. I thought it would be like this again.

I also should not have just figured it was a mail issue behind me not getting my paperwork. I wish I had spoken up sooner so the delay wouldn’t have been as long.

But as people say, hindsight is 20/20. But I know for the future to take more responsibility for all of this and to speak up sooner if I think that something is wrong.

Working On Figuring It Out (or I Wish This Was Easier)

I was starting to get into a good flow with my food. I’ve been making much more stuff at home and remembering to take it with me to work for lunch. And this was great for a while.

Until I got to my two half days of work where there isn’t a lunch scheduled. Somehow, that got me all mixed up. I forgot to eat lunch those days and was so starving my dinnertime that I didn’t make the best choices for myself.

It’s tough on those days because I’m trying to get so much stuff done. On Fridays, I work from 9-1, so I have a good portion of my day free and like to try to get some errands done. This past Friday I left work in Santa Monica, drove to West LA to go to OSH, drove to the far side of Culver City to return some things I ordered online, then went home. By the time I got home, it was almost 4pm and I didn’t want to eat a super late lunch or a super early dinner.

And yes, I’m aware that the smart thing for me to do would be to go and get some lunch before running errands or bringing something with me that I can eat on the run. But I don’t think of doing that when I’m rushing out to work for my early shift that day (also, I don’t get home until after 9pm the night before so I’m rushing around from the time I get home the night before until I leave the next morning). I also don’t want to spend a lot of time eating lunch because I really want to maximize those hours I have (and I’m working on figuring out how to fit in a spin class too).

I had a similar problem on Sunday, which is my one day off. I got up at my usual 7am (it really is better if you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day) and was cleaning my house and running errands as soon as I woke up. And at 2pm, I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything yet and had to time out when to have lunch and dinner.

It’s tough to schedule out my meals when everything else isn’t crazy scheduled. I never know when I’m going to be doing my errands, and sometimes if I’m not hungry, I don’t want to force myself to eat.

I’m hoping that I start to figure out how to plan on my unscheduled days soon. Even though I’m eating great 4 days a week, those other 3 can really go wrong and screw up all my hard work!

Trying To Cook (or Eating Something Different From Day To Day)

I’ve really been trying to be better with my food. I feel so much better when my food is something nutritious (and not just something that stays under my calorie goal for the day).

On the mornings that I go to spin class, I have a specific breakfast plan. I have a chai tea protein shake that I get from the grocery store that I’ll drink before class. I usually drink half of the shake before class and the other half when I get home. This way, I’m not working out on an empty stomach or feeling too full in my workout (both make me feel very nauseous). I usually have a second breakfast closer to when I go to work at noon (since my lunch break isn’t until 4:30pm). It’s been working well for me.

On the non-spin class mornings, I have been in a bit of a breakfast rut. I like to eat eggs because they keep me full and are good for me, but most days I do scrambled eggs (2 egg whites and 2 whole eggs). But I’ve been working on being creative. The other day, I made this awesome breakfast.

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Toast with mashed avocado on it topped with a sunny side up egg (with a drippy yolk). It was so simple, yet so delicious! And it was very very filling!

I’m also getting better with bringing my lunch to work with me. I’ve discovered these really amazing containers that I love to use for my lunches.

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It’s a 3 compartment container, and it fits perfectly in my lunch bag. For this particular lunch I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, sliced strawberries, and a piece of flattened banana. I’ve also brought salads in this container with fruit or protein in the smaller compartments.

It’s funny how the simplest thing can help me on my goal to bringing my lunch with me to work!

And speaking of simple things that help make big changes, I’ve been working on drinking more water at work as well. For some reason, I do fine at home, but not at work. And then it hit me. The straw in my cup at work is significantly bigger than the straw in my cup at home (I always try to drink water with a straw). Once I switched out my cup, my water intake at work got much better. It’s such a stupid little change, but whatever works! Right?

Shooting In Santa Monica (or A Little Too Close To Home)

On Friday, I ended up taking the day off of work. I was going to have to work on Sunday at a show, and I didn’t want to have to work 11 days in a row (I’m now only doing 8 days in a row).

I was planning on meeting my friend Emily for lunch, and as I was getting ready, my cell phone kept notifying me that I had text messages. I checked my phone thinking it might have been my boss asking me something related to work or Emily saying she would be running late. Instead, it was a bunch of text messages asking me if I was ok.

I first tried to remember what I put on the blog that day. Did I write something depressing? Finally, after I couldn’t figure it out, I responded that I was fine and was wondering why they were wondering.

Then I got a text message that made my heart drop.

A friend mentioned that there was a shooting at my work. My first thought was to check the news.

If you haven’t read about this yet, there was a shooting near Santa Monica College on Friday. The shooter ran onto the campus to hide and was inside the library.

I work at Santa Monica College, but not on that campus. I work on the performing arts campus at the theater that is on the campus (we are technically part of the college, yet I’m not an employee of the college).

I figured my co-workers were safe, but I texted my boss just to make sure. Everyone was fine, but there were a bunch of cops outside of my work that day.

I went to lunch with Emily, and as I was eating, I looked up at the tv at the restaurant. The news was filming right outside where I work. Since they couldn’t  film at a crime scene, the news decided to film at one of the other campuses. It was pretty surreal.

I was still getting text messages from friends who wanted to make sure I was ok and safe, so I put something out on twitter and FB that the shooting was not at my work and I wasn’t working that day. But I did get some funny text responses from some people. The funniest was from my audition buddy/evil twin, Shey.

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While I’m grateful to be safe and that none of my co-workers were hurt or in harm’s way, it still freaks me out a little that the shooting was so close to where I work. Some of my co-workers drive on the streets where the shooting was to get lunch on their lunch breaks. We are all so lucky.

My heart goes out to the people who were affected by the Santa Monica shooting. I ended up speaking to someone on Saturday who was in the library when the police shot the suspect, and her story was so upsetting.

I just hope that some sort of action will be taken soon so something else like this doesn’t happen again.

2 Steps Forward 1 Step Back (or Going With The Flow)

Again, I can never depend on life just going the way it should be.

I was starting to get used to my work schedule again, then I get sick. Everyone in my office was passing around this bug and I was the 5th person to get it. Fortunately, I have a very understanding boss who let me take a day off when I had a fever. Yesterday when I got up, my temperature was 102. It finally went below 100 at bedtime.

And I finally was getting into a nice groove with my workouts. I absolutely love spinning. I just did 5K #4 (and signed up for 5K #5 for later this month). And when I went to wash my sports bra this weekend after the 5K, it died a nice gruesome death in the washing machine. What happened was the metal fasteners from the back got trapped in the machine. It got totally shredded most likely during the spin cycle (enter spin cycle/SoulCycle spin class pun here). This was my only sports bra. It’s incredibly tough to find one that works for me and comes in my size.

After these two things happened pretty much back to back, I wanted to have a meltdown. I did have a minor freakout, but in the privacy of my house. And I had to fix both problems quickly.

Obviously, getting over a sickness is not something that you can completely control. But I’m drinking a ton of water to flush this out of my system, and I’m focusing on getting plenty of sleep. And while I was home being sick, I went online and found a sports bra that I liked online. It’s from Lane Bryant, and they fit their sports bras like their regular bras (which I wear), so I’m hoping it will fit me. I thought about waiting until I had time to go to the store to try it on, but if I do that, it will be far too easy to put off for forever. According to my online order, I should have my new sports bras (I ordered 2 so I wouldn’t have this problem again) by the end of this week/beginning of next week.

Even though it might not sound like it from this post, but I’m getting better at dealing with unexpected issues. In the past, I would have seen the ripped sports bra as an excuse to not keep working out or to bail on my next 5K. Now I just see it as a minor set back that was easily fixed by doing some quick shopping online. Even though this may sound like baby steps, they are at least baby steps going in the right direction.