end of summer quasi-rambly update.
I'm updating because I don't like that depressing post that's been at the top for months. Not that anyone ever reads this thing anymore but me since LJ is a ghost town nowadays. Plus I feel like updating anyway, partially because I'm in a sharing mood and partially because I am procrastinating.
So as the last post indicated, we're now in the midst of renovating our house. I'm grateful for this because all of Memaw's stuff is gone (at least from the non-basement portions) and it's starting to feel like our house. It's gone through drastic changes over the past month and once we start finishing it up, it will be completely different. I'm starting to feel comfortable calling it our house and not Memaw's house. It's still somewhat weird to wrap my head around the fact that she's gone, so I don't think about it much.
The kitchen has been gutted, the carpet has been pulled up, and the guest bathroom has been gutted. We got funding from my dad via a generous loan, which is making all of this possible. Soon to come is an IKEA kitchen, granite countertops, refinished hardwood floors, nice bathrooms, recessed lighting, and crown molding. My anticipation is that it is going to be amazing. We're hoping that everything will be done before Thanksgiving, so if Andrea and I aren't traveling then we can actually host some family events.
Also four years ago this past Tuesday was the anniversary of the very first day I met Andrea in California. It's funny how much life can change in such a relatively short timespan. Four years ago I was a fresh college grad looking to party, and now I'm happily married and renovating a house. Being a grownup is weird, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love the hell out of my wife.
I'm still doing CrossFit and still loving it. It's been a bit harder to go recently due to the renovation schedule, but I'm making it work. I like that I'm in the best shape of my life at an age when many people start to let themselves go in an endless downward spiral of relative physical inactivity, due to the rigors of work and family life. Just a year ago I was in that same position myself, so I'm grateful I found out about this. It's so much of a habit to go now, that even on rest days I don't know what to do with myself. But on some days the community is the only thing that keeps me going, because some workouts are just so soul-crushingly brutal that you need a day to mentally recuperate. It's days like that where it really drives the point home that CF isn't for everyone. But I'm drinking the Kool-aid hardcore, and given the results I've seen since I've started, I don't see that as a bad thing.
Work's been a little rough lately, as my bad procrastinatory habits are sometimes getting the best of me. I have a new school that I'm assigned to so it was a bit like starting a new job. I was definitely spoiled by having a small elementary school, but now I have two middle schools and it is a good deal more work. Mentally I think I outgrew my job long ago; it's no longer a challenge. Some days are better than others, and there have been a few times recently where I've come up with something new and totally streamlined some process that would otherwise take a lot of time. Given the nature of what I do, those days are few and far in between, since a lot of the possibility of innovation has been taken out of my group's hands and centralized. I wouldn't mind working at network services but the environment there seems stifling and much more political. I don't really care to deal with that at this point; I just want to do my work and go home.
But anyway. I have no idea where I want to go or what I want to do next. I signed up to take the GMAT at the beginning of the year but ended up canceling it because I couldn't make myself study, and on grad school applications I really had no answer on the applications where they asked what your career goals are.
All I know is that I need that piece of paper so I can climb the ladder somewhere, doing something, so I can make more money and retire wealthy to some fancy beach house somewhere. I think that's a bit too nebulous of a goal to commit to a couple more years of school; an MBA is worthless if you don't do anything with it. Andrea's dad always says that your 20s is about figuring out what you want to do, so hopefully I will figure it out one day. But for now, I'm trying to stay satisfied with carving out my own little piece of Americana with my wife, house with fenced in back yard, and dog. I think living in the present will make me happier, and being satisfied with the things I have. Bigger and better things can wait.
On paper I am doing well. So once again I come back to the question I am constantly asking: striking the balance between ambition and being happy with what you have; having endless amounts of money but spending all your time at work; having less money but tons of free time to do whatever you want. I suppose there's a happy medium, and I think in the end that's what I really want.
I'm sure it's hardly a unique proposition.
So as the last post indicated, we're now in the midst of renovating our house. I'm grateful for this because all of Memaw's stuff is gone (at least from the non-basement portions) and it's starting to feel like our house. It's gone through drastic changes over the past month and once we start finishing it up, it will be completely different. I'm starting to feel comfortable calling it our house and not Memaw's house. It's still somewhat weird to wrap my head around the fact that she's gone, so I don't think about it much.
The kitchen has been gutted, the carpet has been pulled up, and the guest bathroom has been gutted. We got funding from my dad via a generous loan, which is making all of this possible. Soon to come is an IKEA kitchen, granite countertops, refinished hardwood floors, nice bathrooms, recessed lighting, and crown molding. My anticipation is that it is going to be amazing. We're hoping that everything will be done before Thanksgiving, so if Andrea and I aren't traveling then we can actually host some family events.
Also four years ago this past Tuesday was the anniversary of the very first day I met Andrea in California. It's funny how much life can change in such a relatively short timespan. Four years ago I was a fresh college grad looking to party, and now I'm happily married and renovating a house. Being a grownup is weird, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love the hell out of my wife.
I'm still doing CrossFit and still loving it. It's been a bit harder to go recently due to the renovation schedule, but I'm making it work. I like that I'm in the best shape of my life at an age when many people start to let themselves go in an endless downward spiral of relative physical inactivity, due to the rigors of work and family life. Just a year ago I was in that same position myself, so I'm grateful I found out about this. It's so much of a habit to go now, that even on rest days I don't know what to do with myself. But on some days the community is the only thing that keeps me going, because some workouts are just so soul-crushingly brutal that you need a day to mentally recuperate. It's days like that where it really drives the point home that CF isn't for everyone. But I'm drinking the Kool-aid hardcore, and given the results I've seen since I've started, I don't see that as a bad thing.
Work's been a little rough lately, as my bad procrastinatory habits are sometimes getting the best of me. I have a new school that I'm assigned to so it was a bit like starting a new job. I was definitely spoiled by having a small elementary school, but now I have two middle schools and it is a good deal more work. Mentally I think I outgrew my job long ago; it's no longer a challenge. Some days are better than others, and there have been a few times recently where I've come up with something new and totally streamlined some process that would otherwise take a lot of time. Given the nature of what I do, those days are few and far in between, since a lot of the possibility of innovation has been taken out of my group's hands and centralized. I wouldn't mind working at network services but the environment there seems stifling and much more political. I don't really care to deal with that at this point; I just want to do my work and go home.
But anyway. I have no idea where I want to go or what I want to do next. I signed up to take the GMAT at the beginning of the year but ended up canceling it because I couldn't make myself study, and on grad school applications I really had no answer on the applications where they asked what your career goals are.
All I know is that I need that piece of paper so I can climb the ladder somewhere, doing something, so I can make more money and retire wealthy to some fancy beach house somewhere. I think that's a bit too nebulous of a goal to commit to a couple more years of school; an MBA is worthless if you don't do anything with it. Andrea's dad always says that your 20s is about figuring out what you want to do, so hopefully I will figure it out one day. But for now, I'm trying to stay satisfied with carving out my own little piece of Americana with my wife, house with fenced in back yard, and dog. I think living in the present will make me happier, and being satisfied with the things I have. Bigger and better things can wait.
On paper I am doing well. So once again I come back to the question I am constantly asking: striking the balance between ambition and being happy with what you have; having endless amounts of money but spending all your time at work; having less money but tons of free time to do whatever you want. I suppose there's a happy medium, and I think in the end that's what I really want.
I'm sure it's hardly a unique proposition.