Happy Place

I had a break down.  I had to do it.  There are no other options.

The time change and dark roads filled with eighteen wheelers has forced me to put my bike on the trainer. 

My trainer is not an expensive one and super loud.  I tried training in my yoga dogo but the upstairs acoustics amplifies the spinning bike wheels. Da mister strongly encouraged me to go outside.  The dilemma will be when it really gets cold.  I will deal with it then.

People have told me that they hate trainers.  It is like running on a treadmill and going nowhere.  This morning as I sat on my trainer, I was reminded of the trainer miles I rode while training to ride across America.  I had to get miles on my legs and this was the only way. 

This is my happy place- on my bike.

Home Sick

It would be a lie if I said I love it in Carrizo.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband and I love being in the same town with him but I miss San Antonio.  I miss my friends and family, hot yoga, and commuting. 

There is an unsettled feeling that hangs over me and I wonder around the house looking for a comfortable place.  I have tried to keep my routine of walking Roxy, practicing yoga, and bike rides but the eighteen wheelers push me off the roads and yoga is boring when it is just me in downward facing dog, and my dog, Roxy, licking my face.

Da mister has been supportive and he lets me mope around the house.  He has let me make the house comfortable and gives me lots of space to nest.  Definitely, I am still struggling to adjust to the change of pace of a small town that is not my home town.  

My hope is that our new business becomes such a success that I am able to buy a small airplane or helicopter.  That won’t happen any time soon, but it is fun to wish.

For now, I will indulge in reading my friends blogs:  www.feenixgoeswalkabout2013.blogspot.com.  

Newlyweds

We wake up together, drive to work together and work side by side, AND we are still having a good time!  At times, it is not always perfect but most of the time it is. Da mister drives me crazy, but the good kind of crazy, if you know what I mean.  Maybe it is because we are five month old newlyweds, but either way, we fall asleep wrapped in each other’s arms and wake up that way.  Just the other week, we went out to dinner followed by dancing.  Da mister groped me and made me blush.  I loved every minute of it. After all, he is my husband.

We started, “quiet time”.  After too much time together, we just need time.  It is funny because we sit next to each other and not talk. Usually, it is me who talks first even after I started quiet time.  I had to put a line down the middle of the office so we could remember to stay on our side.  It is all in good fun because the line is always crossed.

This morning I did Barbie Boot camp, or my version of it.  I ran to Veterans park, along with three stray dogs, did 50 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, 50 mountain climbers, 50 burpies, and 100 lunges, then ran back home, another 1.25 miles. 

Riding my bike is another story… daylight is getting shorter and the eighteen wheelers are getting scary.  I am working on getting my routine down but I am still riding.  

More updates when da mister isn't working me to the bone... 

Blue

One word says it all- blue. 

 

 

We are in the blue house across from the meat market, on South 16^th street.  This house is my new home, in a town that is new to me. 

 

 You may recall an earlier post where I posted a picture of my desk.  Really, it was an ironing board made into a desk.  After waiting 6 weeks for delivery, a wishy-washy English speaking delivery company, a broken truck, and a small town mechanic; I finally have a proper desk to use at our home office.  It is a simple piece of furniture but it is a small touch that makes me feel more comfortable, at the blue house.

 

Roxy and I walk around the town but are often rushed back home, off the highway, to get away from the eighteen wheelers.  On a walk, I saw all these vultures.  I could not smell or see what they all gathered for, but this is the sight, when you drive through town.

Often, we are driving to CS and back to SA.  Back and forth, to Houston, and back again.  It is taking time, but slowly, the dust is settling. 

Hubby Cubby Buddy

Two weeks later, I can report that me and da mister have survived sharing an office.  I never thought I would be a couple that worked together, lunched together, and spent our evenings together.  We are both getting used to each other’s daily routines and office habits; mainly, he is getting used to me talking to myself and playing music too loud.

Carrizo Springs is about the size of the USAA home office and I enjoy walking around the town or riding my bike to run errands.   In our free time, we have been building the new office.  There is not much of a gym here, but carrying two-by-fours, from the truck to inside the office gets my heart pumping.

For today, this is a short post.  I am off to go run a business…

USAA

My fifteenth anniversary of working at USAA was on September 14^th and I reflect on my career and how it has grown over the years.

I stared work as a co-op and was ever thankful to my college friend, Korosh Shetabi, who passed my resume over to my hiring manager.  It was a nerve wreaking month before graduation, but I was offered a full time position working at the Bank Help Desk, a week before I walked the stage. It is not like there were floods of job offers, only one other. My life would have been different if I had moved to Houston, to work for a petroleum company, where I would have coded, developed applications, and maintained databases.

After taking a year off from the college world, I returned to the rigors of late night reading and cramming for exams to receive a Masters in Business Administration.  Back when USAA offered a four- day-a-week work week, I would find my way over to the E building classrooms.  The Incarnate Word College would bring their instructors over for class.  This was also the time that USAA paid tuition in full and had not yet caped the education expense at $5000 a year.  At the time, G and H building did not exist.  Today, those E classrooms do not even exist.

My co-workers have become my forever friends and confidants.  I have seen them date, get married and watched their children grow- in their bellies and in school.  Through the years I have meet fitness buffs, runners, and bike riders.  I was part of starting the Employee Cycling Team and enjoyed spending evenings and weekends riding with many cycling friends.  USAA has seen me through two marriages and one divorce, and I have seen USAA change three CEO's.  USAA will always be the place where I was when 9-11 occurred.  It is where I was when my father called to tell me my mother was taking her last breaths.

USAA allowed me the freedom to ride my bike to work and do yoga on my lunch break.  My managers have been flexible with my time, when mom was on hospice and when I used all my paid time off to roam across America, by bike.

USAA is the place where I worked for the past fifteen years, but it was also my home away from home. USAA is always the place where my co-workers are my lifelong friends and where I feel honor knowing that with each day I went to work, I was supporting our military.

It has been a privilege to work for a company that honors the military and supports their employees.  Only fond memories of USAA will echo, as a member and former employee of USAA.

New Job

These past few weeks have been difficult to post due to our pending custody case.  I do not want to blog about what could be used against me in court, nor do I want to let the ex-wife’s mama drama suck all my energy.  I am moving on to bigger and better opportunities in my life.

The biggest news these days is: I resigned from my employer of 15 years. USAA has been good to me and has taught me about honor and respecting our military.  Integrity has been instilled and a strong foundation of work ethic will follow me through my professional and personal life, for many years.

Me and da mister have started Premier Optical Group and are making lenses for eye glasses.  With my smarts and his good looks, we will be working together.  It is debatable if it is my smarts and good looks. For the next few weeks, we will be sharing an office and he will be showing me the ropes.  That is, if we do not get on each other’s nerves first. All I am saying is that we have perfected the eye roll.

Not only is my work going to be different, but our home base will change.  As the dust settles, we may find that home base changing.  We will still have our homes in Carrizo and Hollywood Park and go back and forth.

Some things will never change, like me riding my bike.  My next goal is to ride my bike from Carrizo to Eagle Pass, 44 miles away from the house, with a border patrol stop half way.