Skip to main content

Wins this Month

There have been a lot of frustrating things that have happened this month, so let's just focus on the positive.

  • Career:
    • I've been offered a project coordination role with UW-Madison. Finally, someone who actually sees my potential in project management
    • Regardless of if I take the position, I was able to negotiate my first salary and successfully. It was really hairy there for a moment, but they came back and offered me $5,000 over their original offer, which I was not expecting. The fact that they were offering me a starting at $55K in the first place really threw me off, but compromising with me at $60K knocked me on the floor. Seriously. I've never negotiated before, so this was a double win. AND the salary range started at $42,000, according to what Briony saw online. Holy crap.
    • I made another great connection in the experience design industry - my coworker's brother
  • Retirement:
    • I saw my last pay stub today and didn't even realize that apparently I have added almost $4,000 to my WRS fund since I started this job. That's $4,000 in 7.5 months! I've only had that measly $2,000 in it from when I worked at UWM, and I've been worried that I'd never get enough to meet that $5,000 minimum to collect my money from it. But heyo! I'm set now!
  • Health:
    • I met my (very high) deductible for the year, so I can get cheap or free doctor's appointments for the next 2 months
    • I got a cortisone shot, which seems to have helped quit a bit in my left shoulder. I'm hoping it will do the trick so I don't need to pursue more serious avenues
    • Generally, I've been getting better in both shoulders, thought still not perfect. Compared to where I was at, though, I'm leaps and bounds better
    • Pole:
      • I went to my first pole class since I injured myself almost 3 months ago. It's the first upper body exercise I've done since then. I was really afraid of how awful I'd become, but surprisingly, I was okay! 
      • In some ways, I had lost a LOOOT of strength. I couldn't sit up from a layback anymore for some reason, for example. I was so high off the ground, I legitimately started panicking because I didn't know how I was going to get down. I ended up in a brass monkey, which I didn't even realize I could do, so that was a win. But my shoulder mounts have suffered the worst, which is extra sad because they were my favorite. :(
      • In other ways, I seemed to have gotten better...? I got into my true grip Ayesha and was able to hold it there for... forever, probably. I went into a pencil and just stayed there. I ended up coming down simply because I was bored. I seriously couldn't believe it! I guess adding extra reps to my PT really made a difference! I was also able to get the furthest I've ever gotten in my sideways deadlift handspring. I was actually able to turn and start lifting. Wow wow wow!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rocket scripts and ballet sets

 On my way home from painting scenery for the Orlando Opera showing of Macbeth and sets for the Orlando ballet performance of Romeo and Juliet with Amanda. I meant Amanda painting haunted houses with Mikayla, and then the three of us went kayaking, along with her friend Matt and the guy she was dating at the time.  Having the opportunity to paint sets and shows has been such a soul opener and a game changer. I'm doing things I really enjoy doing and have been wanting to do for years, if not a decade at this point. With people I really enjoy and who make me feel happy. It feels low stress but high reward. I hope the doors continue to open and I'm able to keep doing this.  Separately, at work today I wrote a new script for the silly little new rocket launch videos in the courtyard by the gift shop, and my boss approved it on the first draft. She said it was really good. This felt like a win even though it was so small (it was only one page) because I struggled with it. It's...
Post a Comment
Read more

Walking around NASA

It was a slow start to a Monday, a slow start to the week. Productive, but chugga chugga... I don't feel like I did anything.  Except maybe cook. Last night I used up the rest of the pureed pumpkin I had and made a ground Italian sausage vodka sauce with browned sage and gnocchi. It was really tasty and filled me up for literally the entire day. It's the only thing I ate, save for some strawberries, grapes, and cantaloupe (half of which I cup up last night and the other half I cut up tonight) during lunch, solely because I was craving sweets, and some cheese and crackers right before lyra class because I felt like I should put something more in my body. The pumpkin vodka dish was probably 1,000+ calories just on it's own, so I should probably watch it tomorrow, but it's got a really strong balance of 1/3 protein (Italian sausage), 1/3 fiber (pumpkin), and 1/3 carbs (gnocchi). That's probably why I'm still so full, and it's after midnight.  After lyra class, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

First January in Orlando

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on here. For some reason, Blogger (a totally dead platform at this point) gives me “Let’s Go Ride a Bike” vibes - in a good way. Which, by the way, I just Googled and they haven’t touched their blog since 2015. What a shame. I really miss the days of blogs.  Most of my writing has been done in a physical notebook, which in many ways I prefer; but in others, it doesn’t quite quench the thirst. One of the things I love about digital journaling is being able to add images and photos (like the one below). While physical journaling feels more intimate and perhaps, authentic in some ways, digital journaling feels more like a creating a story. Two different methods for two different outcomes.  So why the photo of a plant? Well, first, this is a Monstera plant. I’ve loved it’s lines and the holes in its leaves for years, but I never learned its name because it’s not a native plant to Wisconsin. They are to Florida, however, and are super easy to fin...
Post a Comment
Read more