well...it's done!

I just told my boss I'm leaving. THANK GOD it's over, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

This morning I literally stared a the email I had written asking her if I could meet with her sometime today. My palms were sweating and I had to force myself to press "send." Then came the hardest part...waiting for her reply. 10 minutes felt like 10 hours, no lie.

Finally she told me she had time before 10 or after 3 today and asked if I wanted to just meet right now, and I figured, why put it off all day?

Since we all have cubicles we went into one of the conference rooms and she asked me what was going on, and I told her "I'm leaving." She said "I knew it," which kind of took me by surprise but then she said 'I always assume that when someone says they need to meet with me privately."

Anyways, from there I just told her the situation and she was really nice about it. She said she was excited for me and that she thought I would be a good teacher. We talked for a little bit about teaching, going back to school etc... and she was fine with my last day being May 19th. I gave her the letter I had written and she told me how it will work with vacation days.

So really I didn't have anything to be anxious about because it really was fine! Now I have 2.5 weeks to get everything in order here and I'll be good to go.

it's the final countdown

Have you notice I am just a little obsessed with this whole quitting-my-job-conversation-with- my-boss thing?

Well in case you haven't, let me further illustrate my obsession...

I have my "official" resignation letter all printed out and signed. And hidden in my desk. Because we know the cleaning people might see it tonight and spill the beans before I can.

I have a draft of an email to my boss asking if I can meet with her at some point saved and ready to be sent as soon as I get in tomorrow. Because one sentence emails take so long to type.

Here is the problem. I have no idea what I am going to say once I get in the room with my boss. And I think blurting out "I QUIT" is considered unprofessional.

So yea, we shall see how it goes. I promise this is my last post about this...well except for when I tell you how it goes tomorrow! How could I leave you having after all this build up? It would be like blogging blue balls.

Any last words of advice?

2010 goals---April update

Seriously is April is almost over? What? Where does the time go? The time has come for another update on my goals for this year. To see the original post and my previous updates click here.

1) Lose 20 pounds by the end of the year.

I'm still doing Weight Watchers and as of my last weigh in I have lost about 10 pounds. I say about because I was up a bit last week! It's slow going but as long as the general trend is downward that is good with me. As far as exercising I have been slacking on that and need to pick it up again. It's just hard to be motivated at the end of the day.

2) Take more pictures.

Let's be honest, I suck at this. But I am going to have some free time this summer and want to use it to get my pictures more organized. I also have a lot of events in the next few months so maybe that will motivate me more to take pictures?

3) Get accepted to a Masters in Teaching program. CHECK!

As you know, I am starting at LU in June and will be very busy with grad school classes and also taking some undergrad requirements at a local community college. I'll be posting more about all that soon! Now that I definitely know where I am going/getting started I'll be modifying this for next month's update but I'm not exactly sure how I will phrase it yet!

I really want to thank all of you for the support you have given me about going back to school. Not to be sappy, but I honestly don't know what I would do without this blogging community! I may not have tons of readers but those of you who do read and comment truly feel like real friends. So there is my sap for the day. Puffy hearts to all of you.

holding pattern

holding pattern: a state of waiting or suspended activity or progress

Or my life this week.

Friday I am going to tell my boss about me leaving, but until then I have to pretend there is nothing going on...and I feel bad about it. Especially today when I had my monthly "one-on-one" meeting with her to discuss my future, performance and goals and I had to somewhat (well maybe even more than somewhat) lie. I really considered just coming clean and telling her today. Which would mean risking her (or more likely her boss) forcing me leave earlier then I want and me missing out on some extra money. Which would suck. I didn't do that.

Blah.

I'm anxious about this quiting thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm super excited to actually do it. It's the conversation that makes me anxious.

Some people at work do know and I was wondering if my boss had any ideas...but after our meeting today I really think I am going to be completely taking her by surprise. The goody-goody in me has issues with that.

On another note...I know this blog has been a little ehhh lately. Blame it on the holding pattern.

rainy monday fantasy

While getting ready for work this morning I had a very involved (non-sexual) fantasy...

When it is rainy on Mondays everything should shut down. No work. No traffic. No bad drivers who can't handle rain. Just relaxation.

I could sleep in as long as I want to and would wake up and magically find warm breakfast from Chick-fil-A waiting for me in the kitchen. The morning would be spent catching up on my dvr and blog reading (I'm very behind I know, sorry!) Then I would whip up some different homemade soups, eat some and freeze the rest. Take a nap. Watch a movie. Read a book.

Sigh.

That would be nice.

fortunately/unfortunately

Fortunately it's Friday! And I am leaving work at 1:00 today!
Unfortunately Friday is also my Weight Watchers weigh in day and this morning I was up 1.8 pounds...grrr.

Fortunately I am giving my notice at work in just one week...next Friday.
Unfortunately the thought of having the "I'm quitting" conversation with my boss really scares me!

Fortunately I'm still loving the look of my new bangs.
Unfortunately I haven't quite mastered styling them (and flattening the cowlicks that always stopped me from having bangs) so sometimes they look a bit wonky (today for example.) And they could already use a trim.

Fortunately Hanna and I are going to be spending the weekend at my friend, B's house. Her bf is going to be away and K needs to study so it will be a fun girls weekend!
Unfortunately wait...there is nothing unfortunate about that!

happy earth day!

In honor of the Earth I wanted to share with you one of my favorite eco-friendly products...reusable bags from Mixed Bag Designs

My sister knows the owner of this company which is how I found out about them and now I am obsessed. Not only are they super cute, they are also durable and very roomy. I have the grocery store bags and they hold so much food! Plus every time I use them I get tons of compliments in the checkout line.

They are also pretty cheap...the grocery store bags are around $12.00 and they also have lots of other sizes and styles.

By the way...I didn't get paid or anything to do this! I just love these bags!

{all photos from Mixed Bag Designs}

weight watchers gourmet pizza

Have I mentioned how much I love Weight Watchers online? Seriously, I love it. Since starting WW in February I have tried out so many amazing recipes. Like this EASY and DELICIOUS one for example.

Gourmet Pizza

POINTS® Value:5

Servings: 6

(this is the WW picture but mine looked pretty similar)

What you will need:

2 large onions, vidalia , thinly sliced
12 oz pizza dough (I just used the Pillsbury dough)
10 medium sun-dried tomatoes, without oil (I used probably about 15 of the halved ones)
3 oz hard cheese, Gorgonzola (I used one small package of the crumbled kind)
10 pieces spinach, washed and dried (I just chopped up a couple handfuls of baby spinach)
black pepper

How to make it:
Coat a large nonstick pan with cooking spray. Warm pan over medium heat. Add onions and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions brown and become very fragrant.
Meanwhile, prepare pizza crust for baking according to package directions. Mince tomatoes. Tear spinach into pieces (or chop if you are me.) Preheat oven to 425°F.
Spread caramelized onions on pizza crust and bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and add tomatoes, spinach and cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, about 3 more minutes. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Enjoy!

me by threes

I saw this fun meme on a couple different blogs and thought I would play along, feel free to join in!

Three Names I Go By:
1) Courtney (now you know my real name! excited?)
2) Court

3) Cee (in blogland)

Three Jobs I Have Had:
1) Babysitter/Nanny
2) Production Intern at the show "Sesame Street" (fun but made me never want to work in TV again)

3) Client Manager (my current job title)

Three Places I Have Lived:
1) Kentucky
2) Hawaii
3) Massachusetts

Three Favorite Drinks:
1) Water (I probably drink a couple gallons each day...no lie)
2) Pinot Grigio
3) Margaritas

Three TV Shows I Watch:
1) Glee
2) 16 and Pregnant
3) Real Housewives (and many, many more)

Three Places I Have Been:
1) Mexico
2) Belize
3) Honduras

Three Places I Would Like to Visit:
1) Europe (I want to see it all!)
2) Alaska
3) Australia

Three People Who Text Me Regularly:
1) No one (I'm really not much of a text-er)
2) Mom
3) K

Three Favorite Old TV Shows:
1) Are You Afraid of the Dark?
2) Full House
3) Muppet Babies

Three Favorite Dishes:
1) French Fries
2) Enchiladas (especially pork enchiladas from my fav Mexican restaurant)
3) Crab legs

Three Makeup Products I Can’t Live Without:
1) Black eyeliner
2) Lip gloss
3) Bare minerals: "Mineral Veil"

Three Things I’m Looking Forward To:
1) Quiting my job and starting school!
2) More time during the day this summer to read by the pool (I'll be reading books for all my classes I'm sure)
3) Sex and the City 2!

Happy Monday Everyone!

(all pictures via Google Images)

yawn

You would think after not being at work for 5 days I would feel refreshed...but I am tired like woah. And so not looking forward to going to work tomorrow. On the plus side, only a couple more weeks to the big quit-ification (yep, I made that up.) What have I been up to these past few days (besides not blogging)? Mainly trying to get organized. It's like going to grad school is a baby and I am nesting. I spent the better part of Friday and Saturday organizing our second bedroom/office and cleaning out K's closet. Next weekend it's on to our bedroom and my closet.

Anyways...this is really a post about nothing. Hope you all had a nice weekend!

i had to restrain myself from frolicking

Today I had my first meeting with my grad school advisor (I'm faked sick to get out of work, and I think I am going to do it again tomorrow...sense the commitment?) We mapped out my entire next year and a half, then I registered for classes! Last night I did a lot of financial aid stuff and got my new school email all set up. This is finally happening and I couldn't be happier! It was a beautiful day to be walking around a college campus and I couldn't stop smiling.

beyond creepy

This girl is a freak show.

How does she (or anyone else) think this looks good?

{photo found here}

i got a new look!

One of my very best friends from middle school just become an apprentice hair stylist (her mom owns a salon and used to do my hair.) I've been looking for someone new and volunteered to let her practice on me. We had a ton of fun and she did an amazing job (for free too)! Believe it or not I was her first ever highlights. When it came to the cut I told her she could basically do whatever she wanted so she cut most of it then her mom did the texture.

What do you think?...it's my new back to school, get out of corporate America look.

(plus it gave me a chance to go crazy on Photo Booth...so sorry for the ANTM moment)

"trying" conversations

Question for you all...because I find this EXTREMELY strange and I'm wondering if I am way off base.

Why is it acceptable to talk about "trying" to get pregnant whenever you want?

Now I don't mind talking about it with close friends or family. Or even blogging about it. But at work? What? Huh?

This morning my boss (and another supervisor and our admin) were having a LOUD conversation about my boss starting to "try" in two months and how long her and her husband "tried" with their first child. Right in the middle of the office.

It's not appropriate to talk about your sex life at work when you are not "trying," so why does a baby make that suddenly ok? I'm pretty sure if I was telling people how long my boyfriend and I have been "not trying," I would be visited by HR before the conversation was over.

I'm a pretty open person and I love hearing about babies and children. But hearing these conversations (or people who I am not friends with having them with me) bothers the hell out of me! And at work it's just kind of gross!

Does anyone else feel this way? Am I just being prude?

quitter

I'm not a quitter.



In fact, I don't think I have ever quit anything in my life. All of the jobs and internships I have had sort of just came to an end either due to me leaving (to go back to college or go to college) or it was something that only had a set time frame. I never quit any clubs or extracurricular activities either, whenever I would stop, it would always be natural and on good terms. I never even dropped a class in college.


But I will be quitting my job, at the company I have worked with since I graduated college almost three years ago, in a matter of weeks. It's so strange to think about. I'm super excited and happy (which is kind of weird...yay! I'm happy I will have no money coming in!) but I have no idea how to tell my boss.

I have kept my plans very secret so I think this will come as a big surprise to her. While I don't know the exact date I will need to tell her pretty soon to allow two weeks. School starts in June but I am taking some time off before I start to get things in order and also because I will be going out of town for a couple graduations.

I'm going to draft a letter but I don't know if I should just email her the letter or ask to meet with her and give it to her? I don't want to be rude but I also don't want to get into tons of conversations with people about why I am leaving...I'm sure many people I work with will be critical and dealing with it is annoying. Or maybe I am completely wrong.

What do you think? Has anyone ever quit a "grown up" job? How did you do it?

it's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap

After 9 months of planning, applications, interviews, stress, emails, phone calls and waiting and waiting and waiting some more...I finally have made an official decision as to where I will be going to grad school.




drum roll, please...



School #3!!!! Now to be known as LU.

As many of you know, this was not my original first choice because it will take a bit longer to complete (I should graduate in January 2012), however the more I thought about it the better it just felt to me. The fact that I will be able to work at some kind of job plus how wonderful everyone I have interacted with there definitely were major factors in my decision.

You may be wondering what happened with School #1. First I was told I was on a wait list and if they were able to find enough internship placements they would put me into the class starting this summer (they only have one small "cohort" each year for this program.) Well, they ended up not being able to accept me for this year but did offer me a spot in the 2011-2012 cohort.

Since I had already pretty much decided on LU I told them "thanks, but no thanks" and let LU know right away I would be coming there!

So now I am jumping in, making more plans and seeing where I go from here. It's very scary to think of quiting my job, borrowing money, starting school again and finding a new job (or more likely a couple small jobs) but I am excited to be pursuing my dream. I know once I have a career that I actually want and enjoy all this will be worth it.

Easter weekend (in bullets because I am lazy)

OK the real reason for the bullets is because it's super busy at work today but I still wanted to be sure to post about my weekend.

• We left MD on Thursday as soon as K got home from class and got to my aunt's house in Pinehurst, NC at 3:00 am. It was a long drive but I was glad we got it done at night.
• Hanna was very good in the car both on they way there are on the way home. She used to barf on long car trips so I was worried, but there were no incidents.
• Friday night we had fondue which is always fun and yummy. This was actually K and my 3rd Easter in a row having fondue. The past two years we have spent it alone and always did fondue for something different and fun.
• Saturday we did some shopping/browsing downtown and went out to dinner at a really good restaurant.
• Easter was spent in the car. It took forever to get back home so when we finally did we just ordered pizza and got caught up on the dvr.
• I also spent the weekend trying to convince K we needed to move to the South. I love the friendly people, cheaper home prices, quiet and the warm weather. Not to mention sweet tea!
• Why is it after going away for the weekend I get totally behind in everything I need to do for the week? For example, I don't think I will cook dinner all week just because I didn't have the weekend to menu plan/grocery shop.
• As usual, I failed epically at taking random pictures to document the trip.

How was your weekend?

road trip! and muffins!

K and I (and Hanna) are leaving tonight to drive to North Carolina for the weekend. My parents, brother and sister (and Gryffin---their dog) are also going but they are leaving earlier today. We are all going to visit my aunt and my cousin and will probably eat too much, drink too much, enjoy the sunshine and relax. I'm especially looking forward to the fondue and martini night my aunt has planned.

I wanted to make something to bring with me so I decided on trying out two different kinds of muffins recipes and a cherry scone recipe I got off Weight Watchers. Last night I was literally baking from 6-10.

I'm looking forward to these...

Raspberry Muffins

3 POINTS each, makes 12 muffins.

You'll need: 1 1/2 cup(s) whole wheat self-rising flour OR If you cannot find whole wheat self-rising flour, mix together 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour with 2 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
4 Tbsp margarine, softened.
2 cups ready-to-eat crisp rice cereal, divided
1 1/2 cup(s) raspberries, divided
2/3 cup unpacked brown sugar, divided 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cups buttermilk

How to make them: Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a 12-hole muffin tin with cooking spray or use liners. Place flour in a large bowl and rub in margarine with your fingers. Stir in 1 1/3 cups of cereal, 1 cup of raspberries and 1/2 cup of sugar. Combine eggs and milk in a small bowl; stir into flour-fruit mixture. Pour mixture into prepared tin; sprinkle with remaining raspberries (I put one whole raspberry on top of each muffin), cereal and sugar. Bake 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before flipping onto wire rack to cool.

I hope you have a very nice Easter weekend!