OK I had one appointment on Sat and one appointment on Sun. Not so bad. No appts tmrw but I do start my second day of hopefully constructive work at the technology company started by the Cornell graduate.

It's a very depressing work situation. Run-down apt building! I hope it doesn't become full-time. I know I can do better! LOL

I have two tax appts on Tuesday (one at 8:30am, one at 5:3opm just in case I need to work on Tuesday). One tax appt on Sat.

I need to get more busy! It's the home stretch - last 4 weeks before tax season ends!

I am meeting my bro for burger dinner at Van Diemens ($24 for two burgers with fries, two beers and one fried OREOS). Not bad!

Then going to Sushi dinner for 2 at Fusha West in Upper West Side with Chiemi on Tuesday.

My first dining out meetup at Breeze with three other people! That should be fun.

NY Philharmonic concert on Thursday - guest conductor over Henze and Schubert. With dinner at Il Violino beforehand.

No plans on Friday night.

Saturday night I am going to Nets basketball game ($20 tickets) with Chiemi in Prudential Center in Newark, NJ

Sunday I am going to movie and dinner meetup with Alfredo, his last as a meetup organizer. The movie is Hunger Games .. Should be good.

So I have an action-packed week ahead of me.

Let's see if I have time for Brandon this week. LOL

Whoops been a while since my last post. Brandon R went to Snowbird UT to go skiing with a bunch of buddies. I thought Colorado is the choice destination for skiiers.

Oh well what do I know?

Anyways he checked into a lot of Salt Lake City venues today so I thought he was heading home but no airport check-ins. Who knows when he'll be home. I think I'll get my period tmw! just in time for his return home! LOL

I made $500 today, possibly $575 tomorrow. Not so bad! I need to work on three returns and an expense receipt project. OOOH what fun!

I need to get more new clients - not sure how I'll get them though.

OK I got back from Ido Sushi in West Village. I had sushi dinner for two with appetizer and a glass of wine (Sapporo beer for my bro). Not so bad! Very full.

I went to Pure Food and Wine last Friday with Chiemi and was not full and not satisfied with my raw vegan meal. Won't go there and prolly won't go to Candle either! Staying away from vegan places.

I will go to Tu Casa on Steinway and 30th Avenue tmw night with meetup group. It's only 2 blocks away from me, I have to try it out. Then Thai food in Queens Blvd on Thursday night. No plans this weekend except finish John's expense project and Little Feet's tax returns. Maybe catch Real Madrid-Real Betis match Sat at 4PM. Pug meetup at 11AM on Sunday in Animal Haven. Will do 7:45AM mass.

Anyways will try to post every week. Sorry for the long delay since my last post. Been working at taxes a lot!

See you later alligator!

2011 in Review; 2012 Ahead

Happy New Year!

2011 was a tough year. I lost my job at Morgane Le Faye in January. Made abt 8 months worth of income during tax season 2011 and had around 100 clients. Then started at Chapman Consulting end of May only to lose that job in October. At least I have unemployment for 46 weeks, not bad!

Then I had my second root canal, first root canal in 2011 (first one I had back in 2007). That cost $600 even with dental insurance. Then I got a second root canal in 2011 in December this time costing $1100. In addition to 6 cavities for $175. Not a good dental year.

Then I ended a 15 month relationship that wasn't going anywhere with a guy I was only lukewarm in a state several states away! Yup Davey was totally pointless and akin to being single. What a waste of time and effort!

Then Brandon who finally got the guts to meet me, but that went nowhere either. I do like checking his twitter updates, always a hoot to see him checking into everything. He stopped announcing his whereabouts in recent days, but it's still superfluous!

So decided not to go out with anyone ever again and being single with a dog. Yup that's my takeaway from 2011.

I will try to get to 150-160 clients this year and make enough for 10 months. that along with my unemployment income will set me up until Sept 2013.. And I will try to get to 200 clients for 2013 and be able to survive for the whole 12 months. That's my game plan. No vacations but no 8:30-5:30pm full-time job.

So will move to a new office 419 Lafayette, 2nd Floor February 15 to May 18. Will get new business cards soon.

Bought balcony tickets for Hansel and Gretel Tues Jan 3 at 7:30PM and having dinner at Luce at 5:45PM.

Bought family circle front seats for The Enchanted Island for Sat Jan 28 for 8PM and having dinner at Il Violino at 6PM.

Will get tickets with Emma for Tosca for Jan 21 at 8PM.

Public brunch at Jan 7 Sat at 11AM

Bann lunch at Jan 28 Sat at 12PM

I twisted my ankle slightly last week. Taking 10 days off from running. Will return to spin with Constance Marie Cohen at 9AM at 92nd and Broadway. Then will do some strength training upper for 45 minutes then going to Zabar's to get a pie tin so I can bake a blueberry pie. Also a pastry cutter, cheese grater, and muffin pan.

My 2012 goals:

fitness goals:

-lose 10 lbs from 105 to 95

-Get super cut with Barry's Bootcamp workouts and Whipped/Brazilian/30/60/90 classes

-yoga/Pilates each 3 times a week

work goals:

-grow from 100 to 150-160 individual clients; 6 businesses to 15 businesses

cooking goals:

-bake new pie/cake/cookies/muffins/bread each week

-cook one to two new dishes each week

No more full-time job

Lost my job today and I don't qualify for unemployment. Oh well. Life sucks!

I do qualify for COBRA, so that's not bad.

Now I get to meet Brandon whenever he so desires. I have not heard from him since Tuesday though. Maybe I lost him for good. I doubt it.

I am rooting for the Brewers and Rangers. Ultimately for the Rangers! Go Josh Hamilton!

I can survive on my own so long as I earn $500 a month until tax season where I'll earn more money. And Steve will have to pay me back the $1400 he owes.

Brandon tried to persuade me to leave work at 3pm to meet up for sex. I even asked my boss to leave but I forgot the post office is closed today. FAIL.

I thought I lost him. he may be traveling this week. he hasn't been in Toronto lately.

I'm bored. I may do flywheelsports. it's $30 per ride. I'll do the 7AM Monday class with John. He does the 7:30PM class ... not gonna take the same class, that would be hilarious.

OK I'm bored. heading to sleep. just wanted to put a quick Brandon update.

Lobster dinner

Just got back from dinner with Augusto at Nino's. Living Social coupon for a lobster dinner with bottle of white wine. Wine was good. Lobster was tasty.

Brandon hasn't contacted me since Wednesday. Maybe it's over. I'm bored. He's in Chappaqua visiting his parents. He visits them often.

I'm getting my hair highlighted tomorrow. then doing some work. I have an audit, 990-EZ that I'm dreading doing, and a personal tax return. Will make $1800 dollars more. Raking it in at this point.

Watching the Phillies lose to the Cardinals. If they don't make it to the next round I doubt I will watch any more baseball.

OK no Brandon update. He went to work today. So exciting. Still tweeting famous hot women on twitter with no responses. LOL, he's truly pathetic. But me checking his updates might make me even more pathetic.

Wednesday Update on Brandon

So Brandon does have all-access. He's at the Equinox in Boston. He went to Boston last night. I think he went to Boston for a haircut. Not confirmed yet, but it's seeming like it. He didn't check into any media company today. But maybe he'll stay there for the weekend and leave me the hell alone. he really annoyed me this past weekend insisting on meeting him when I was busy.

I did get my bloodwork done so I can get tested for hepatitis and HIV. Hoping Davey didn't give me any std. I did get checked for gonorrhea and chlamydia in February so he didn't give me those diseases.

I was so tired yesterday morning that I texted my boss to say I was sick and slept til 1PM. I was so tired. then I went to the doctor and got some coffee. yumm. now that the weather is getting cold and crisp I've been craving hot coffee.

went back to work today. kinda busy. Paddy is staring at me now. Not sure why.

as each day goes by and I learn more about Brandon, he gets more and more nutso. But he was funny in his tweet last night. He was saying if you put the kit kats on bagels then you're a full-blown fatty. that was hilarious. who puts kit kats on bagels? so funny. that def made me smile for the morning.

Wonder if Brandon lost his beard. I swear I can get him to date me. Something in me just says he will try. but then again I may be wrong. he is a bit nutso!

Wonder when he'll be back.

Paddy is staring at me again. Not sure what he wants.

Phillies losing to the Cardinals. They better make it to the World Series. they have Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halliday. they need to win a World Series ring.

Hoping the Phillies beat the Yankees in six games in the World Series.

Giants-Sea Hawks game at 1PM on Sunday. Going to watch that game for sure! Jets-Patriots game at 4:15pm on Sunday, the Jets are going to be 2-3 and not make the playoffs this year. Now rooting for the Giants now!

Paddy finally stopped staring at me.

Job woes

Just got some bad news at the office, still on probation. Now I have to get my journal entries approved by my boss. Hope this passes and I get a raise in December. Hoping for the best!

So Brandon has been updating his foursquare to show he's in NYC, working and checking into several restaurants/bars. So wondering why he told me he was out of town. Strange. Not sure if I'll be meeting him next week.

Anyways not that interested to care that much. He is 26 years old by the way.

Tomorrow I have Swan Lake NYC Ballet and then I'll go to my parents on Sunday to visit my dad who had neck surgery. Hoping he's okay and makes a full recovery.

Monday I have a court date with the city due to a traffic ticket I got in March. Hope the cop doesn't show up and they dismiss my case.

Tuesday night I have a Yankees game, Snoopy doll day. Wednesday I have a dentist appointment. That's it for this coming week.

I made $439 in two projects yesterday and I might be paid $2400 next week.

OK, trying to concentrate more at work and do a better job.

Week of July 25

My boss was away from July 18 to July 25. He was back today! And now I'm busy again! LOL It was nice having a vacation from him as he puts it! LOL

I went into work today at 5:30AM. Took the 5:05AM Q101 bus to work. Then I washed my hair and got a yogurt parfait and venti mocha frappaccino (got my 15 stars and free drink from Starbucks). Then it was 6:25AM when I got to work. And I finished up all my work yesterday so I had nothing to do but clean up my desk and label my file folders! Boy I had a lot of down time before my boss got in at 9:20AM!

But then it got busy. I left promptly at 5:30PM and left my iPhone at work so I had to go back and the N/Q trains to Astoria were delayed so I didn't get home til 6:30PM.

Now I'm struggling to stay away til at least 9:30PM so I don't get up at 3:30AM. Went to bed at 8:30PM yesterday.

Can't find my Blockbuster DVD. Will reorder it from them. I keep reporting stuff missing. I wonder when they'll discontinue my service.

Today is a chill week. Tomorrow I wanna go to Knitting Doctor and get some help casting on. Also wanna go to mass tmrw morn to make up for missing Sunday mass. Thursday I wanna hit a yoga class in the morning and then get dinner at Sprig with Josh. Dentist at 6:30PM on Friday then going to get some pho from Pho Bang in Flushing afterwards. Sat 12PM I have a photo shoot planned with Paddy at Central Park. that should be fun. Sun I will go to church in the morning and then I have a Knitting 2 class at Lion Brand Studio.

Next Monday will go to my friend's sample sale at Decode 1.8. $35 dresses. Tuesday I have a Mets-Marlins game. No plans to go with anyone as of yet. Then tentative dinner plans with Chiemi later that week at Bento Burger in the East Village so I can give her the Yankees ticket. My bro installed new bookcases and I moved the contents along with the Yankees tickets elsewhere so I have to look for them. Not good.

I will try to add some more photos to my web blogging so it gets more interesting.

I also didn't post last week, will try and remember to post an entry at least once a week.

I will try to cook baked sausage and pork ziti this Friday.

News about my raise!

I got an 8K raise. 19% raise. You do the math! Now I have to wait to December to get another review.

I have so much work to do. I might leave for work at 5AM tomorrow.

Taking a pilates class Saturday morning, then hitting IKEA to look at bookcases. I want to get one with a drawer. Dentist appt to fix 2 cavities on my left side of the mouth. Still have two cavities on the right side of my mouth that will be another visit. Sunday brunch at Goat Town with three other brunch'ers, then Mets-Phillies game! Maybe try to get a manicure after the game.

Need to get some pancetta and some other ingredients to make baked sausage ziti! I need to test my oven to see if it works. I wanna bake a maple pecan tart for the office as an appreciatory gift for my new found raise!

My raise!? in only 6 weeks working!

I'm going to try and post something each week. I am going to bake ziti sometime this week after I get pancetta from Zabar's. This is to test my oven to see if I can bake a maple pecan tart.

So Joel, the general manager at GMC Parking, who is the hiring manager and hired me told me at the start of the job that I will get a review in three months and six months. And the president told me over the phone that if I'm successful I will see a rapid rise in my salary. Joel told me before he went on vacation that when he gets back he'll ask Mr. Chapman about a raise and I don't have to wait three months. He didn't mention anything to me all day so I finally asked him at the end of the day. And he said he has to talk to the president and my boss. So I really hope I get a raise of 5-8K this time. I am not making that much money so I really need it. If I get two 2 8 K I will still not be making what I made in AIG. But the guy I replaced made 90K so I am hoping I get around 65K after a year or 18 months, that will be nice!

Blaise told me last week that I am doing well there and he foresees me doing a good job. That's a vote of confidence! So I am really hoping for a good raise this time around!

I hope it happens fast! the president is leaving for a vacation after Tuesday and my boss is away on Thursday and all of next week.

Away with the BAD!

So today was a difficult day. I cut out one of my good friends. She just wasn't supportive of my life decisions and she made me say negative things to her out of spite so it was just not healthy.

Anyways, moving on!

Davey's coming to NYC soon. That should be fun. I think I'll take him to the Thai place since that is going to expire soon. I hope he makes it for my birthday.

Everything's going well though, I'm getting a $250 check in the mail. And I have $150 in upcoming project.

I signed up for elance and bid on 4-5 more projects so I hope I get those.

Nothing else is new with me.

I'm meeting my friend Josh for dinner tonight at Bann. It's on me because he got dinner last time.

Update in March, BUSY tax season

Has it been almost two months since I posted an update? Bad me!

So tax season is getting busy. Have at least 5-7 returns left to prepare. Meeting 2 clients per day from tmrw (Thursday) to Saturday then one client on Sunday and one client on Tuesday.

But I am still going out. I am going to dinner and an opera featuring Natalie Dessay! Yup Lucia di Lammermoor. I thought it would be different actors but Dessay will be there! That's my favorite opera of all time, when she goes mad. That's the truth.. Then my grade school friends will be at the R Bar, not sure if I'll go down there after the opera ends at 11:40pm. We shall see!

I emailed Davey abt a 4-day trip to MD on March 17 to March 20. But maybe I'll get clients then and not be able to take the time off. We shall see!

Now been following the Knicks since last Wednesday when they got Carmelo Anthony and Billups. They won tonight, going 3-2 since the trade. I will try to get Knicks tickets in the coming weeks.

Update

OK, I was photo-blogging for three days straight and on a roll until I fell off the world for 13 days... minor blip, I'm back! Got some extra accounting and setup of LLC work so making quite a bit of money in December, which is good considering I lost my fourth iPhone. But the fifth iPhone will be my last iPhone cuz this AT&T sales rep told me about Mobile Me which is this software that can gps lost phones. It's 99 and I'm going to buy it as soon as my client pays me this week.

I've also decided to learn how to swim on my own. I have had enough lessons and know what I need to do, I just need to practice on my own. That'll save me a lot of money and I can pay off my Citibank cc, which I have been letting slide since November. I shd be back on track by Feb 2010. I'm also foregoing mani-pedis (bought my own nail polish and will do it myself) and stretch sessions. I might also only go to one Yankee game next year since I just calculated that I spent 500 on Yankees tickets, food, gear and the movie. I'm going to cut it down to half of that for the 2010 season, especially since they don't have Hideki Matsui and Chien-Ming Wang (sp?) They also traded for Nick Johnson whom I was not fond of and Javier Vasquez who gave up a grand slam in game 7 of the ALCS to Boston's Johnny Damon.

So yeah with all these new clients and saving money tactics, I shd save enough for a trip to Shanghai and HK and to be able to bring my mom with me. I'm thinking by Jul 2o11 I'll have enough saved and I'll visit my homeland for the first time.

OK, I will try photo-blogging tomorrow when I go into the city tmrw for my weekly therapy session.

Oh I haven't been running since I injured my right ankle in cardio class. It feels abt healed but I want to rest a few more days to be on the safe side. I think I'll return to the gym to run 2 miles on a treadmill on Sat, the day after Christmas.

Going to cook crab bisque on Christmas day. Invested at least 70 bucks on it so far, so it better turn out well.

Daily blogging

Tried to blog from the subway but forgot the email address to send blog updates. Will take a note of it for tomorrow. I'm going to try to blog as much as Danica and take more pics of my life. More TK.

So I tried asking Megan Jones to give me another swim lesson on Dec 6, but she was not free. She offered to set up a time with the other two swim instructors but that might be too much, they won't be able to track my progress. So I went back to Nadia Fischer, the swim instructor I originally hired and whom I still have three lessons. We met last Friday at 4:30pm. The water at the pool at 54th Street and 1st Avenue was warm, I loved it! I hope it's always that warm. We practiced the breaststroke. I have to go tomorrow and practice.

I ran 3 miles on a treadmill in Greenwich on Saturday. It was raining/snowing, so I took my workout indoors. Then I went to the Real Madrid Almeria match at Mr Dennehy's with the Real Madristas meetup. They won an exciting 4-2 game where Ronaldo scored and took off his shirt. He got a red card (well two yellow cards, one yellow card for taking off his shirt) but I think it may be worth it. He won't be in next week's game so I don't have to go the meetup next week.

I got some business. George Pan of ISecure Tax and Henry Tran of 1040Now are asking me for certification letter. They'll pay a total of $200 for abt 1 hr of work so I make $200/hr. If only I can keep getting that kind of business, I wouldn't need to look for a full-time job.

Tomorrow or later today (Monday late morning) I will run outside with my Garmin 405 for the first time. I will do the 4 mile reservoir run. It'll be my longest distance yet since I got the ankle injury. I think my ankle is 100% recovered.

Then picking up a $200 monthly check from good ol' reliable Adam.

Wednesday I have my therapist appt at 1:15pm then going to run 4 miles on a treadmill at the gym then a 3:30pm stretch with Katie. I'll hope to be blogging daily, maybe even multiple times with photos!! I can dream, right?

swim lessons and triathlon training

So I'm trying to learn how to swim again. I hired a new swim instructor and will pay her from $115-125 per lesson. Megan Jones is her name and she is the head swim coach for Terrier Tri. I will do once a week lessons for 5-6 months and if I can't be prepared for a sprint triathlon by May of next year, then I'll give up my dreams of completing a triathlon.

Not even sure if I want to do a triathlon. Even if I have mastered the freestyle stroke for the swim I have to practice my cycling. I can barely ride a bike straight. Might need lessons. I'll do that starting next April when the weather gets better.

I was also debating on whether to do a 12 week running program from Terrier Tri. It meets at 6am on Tuesdays and Fridays and at 8:30am on Sundays. I am not sure if I want to wake up at 4am in the morning to make the workouts. The bonus of doing this program is that they're going to Tampa, Florida Feb 27-28, 2010. I need a vacation and it'll be the first time I would travel for a race. It's definitely intriguing. I could also make some new friends.

I can use the program fee money to buy winter gear instead. I think I need to get Spandex running tights, a windbreaker and long-sleeved shirt. Maybe also a thermal shirt for when it gets real cold. North Face gloves and a hat too for the colder weather.

Ankle report: my left ankle finally feels better and it doesn't hurt to turn my ankle so I'm going to rest it this weekend and go back to running next Tuesday. I'll go to the gym and run 2 miles on a treadmill. Then I'll rest on Wednesday and then run 4 mile reservoir loop on Thursday in CP in the afternoon.

I'll do Adam's accounting work on Tuesday.

I'm going to the Yankees World Series 2009 movie on Monday November 23 at 7pm with Jackie.

Packing on...

I haven't been obsessively checking out Danica's blog. That's the beauty of not having a desk job. I can check my computer but not be a slave to it.

On another note, I have been telling friends that if the Dow goes below 6000 I'll move to London. I might have to start packing my bags. It's in the 6500 regions today.

Week Recap

So this week I've been pretty absent, but fear not, I am back!

Nothing much has gone on this week except I got my phone line installed yesterday so now I can put a LAN line in my ads.

Finished

I am at work 45 minutes and I think I finished my tasks for the day. I am waiting for a report to finish running so I can use the numbers on it. But other than that, I've finished my daily tasks. How pathetic is that?

I need to leave this job ASAP. Before I am totally rendered useless.

Extension

So my assignment has been extended to the end of February. Should I be happy or annoyed? I think it's the latter. I was so looking forward to collecting unemployment or moving to work with a friend who is starting his own hedge fund.

Now I have to wait another month. Great!