Week Two Update

Where does the time go? Three weeks holiday was over "justlikethat" and school has begun once again. I'm glad to have the routine back. I got a fair bit done while on holidays, but I did miss my routine of school, studies, classmates...so I am glad to be back.

School-wise I hit two goals - one at the end of last year and one starting this semester. One of our courses is keyboarding (essentially typing practice). The goal is 50 wpm as a minimum - after mistakes - to pass the class. Going into the program last year, I already did more than that, somewhere in the 60's. My instructor said I had to do the weekly timings and the official ones in December, but if I did well enough there, then I would be given a pass and not have to take it in the winter (current) semester.

Check! :) While practice is always beneficial (show me any professional who doesn't do it), it means one less class to take.

My second goal was to take an extra (practical) class this semester. In December we had to pick one of two streams (accounting or administration). I chose administration, but had wavered between them because I've wanted to learn the Simply Accounting program for a number of years. I feel it would be very beneficial to have. The accounting stream includes this particular program.

It costs nothing to ask most times, so I did. The class was over-enrolled to start, and there was some concern as to where they were going to put everyone, but it worked out and I'm now attending the Simply Accounting class 4 days a week.

So, check! :)

Next up is challenging one of my classes. It means reading 9 chapters in less than a week, along with all the other reading I need to do, but I'm confident I can do it. I only get one chance (and could lose $75), so need to make sure I go in prepared on Friday.

I've kept a spending log this week and (no surprise) it's heavy on the food related spends. I'm carrying over Carla's first week challenge of "making do" for as long as it takes me to eat my way through what I've got in my cupboards. However, that doesn't seem to apply to taking lunches or snacks to school. This is what it looks like:

Jan 7
Tea - $2.25
Muffin - $2.50
Salad - $5.25

Jan 8
Tea - $2.25

Jan 9
Shoppers - $15.80 (4L milk, bread, 6 US stamps, although I only needed one)
Lunch - $6.77

Jan 10
Advil - $6.29 (monster headache + college bookstore = over priced tablets)
Bookstore - $3.14

Jan 11
Granola/tea - $6.40
Tea - $2.25

Weekly total: $52.88

I have a g/c for Tim Horton's from a friend and have used that this week (Jan 8 & 10), and also took a sandwich for lunch on Jan 10, but otherwise that's still far too much money gone. I've been selling a few things online, though, and have made $30 this week, too, so that's something. I'm putting all extra cash and coins into my piggy bank/sealed jar and will open it at the end of the month to see how much I have. It's probably a fair bit. I'm also still waiting for the payment from Amazon for the book I sold last week.

So, along with challenging my class, I'm going to challenge myself to take lunch and a tea every day for at least the rest of the month. I have no excuse not to. Even if it's just a peanut butter sandwich, it's something and it's using up what I have. Once that's complete, I'm going to focus on better eating and getting back to the gym. I haven't been since December 10, when Joey passed, and I need to get back into that routine as well.

My new bed arrived last Sunday and I spent two hours putting it together. It's huge! I love it, but haven't been sleeping as soundly as I'd like. For the past couple of weeks I've been waking at 3 a.m., tossing and turning for an hour...two hours...three hours...it's exhausting! I feel like the week has dragged by and I'm feeling sluggish and overly sensitive. Hate that. I think only a small part of it is adjusting to the new mattress, so I can't quite figure out what my subconscious is up to these days and why it feels the need to get me up in the middle of the night. Bylaw is also part of the problem. I get up to use the washroom sometimes, but for a couple of weeks prior to Dinah's passing, I was also feeding her. Bylaw would finish off what she didn't eat, so he's used to getting a 'snack.' He fusses and pats at my face until I get up, so I'm not sure what to do about that. Cats...

Have a great weekend everyone!