We're (almost) debt freeeeee!

Only the mortgage left. Yeay!! We have to save every penny to pay taxes next April, but after that we'll start working on paying off the mortgage. Whoo hoooo!!

Before

After

Woot!

Countdowns and other things

It is the time for countdowns. Two more weeks until my orange bumper. Five more weeks until fasting month. Six more weeks of the current job. Seven more weeks until we're debt free (ex. mortgage). Eight more weeks until S. Africa, which means eight more weeks of super early morning gym sessions. All I do now is counting down. Whoo hooo! Please time, spread your wings and fly!!!

Last night Nils told me the story of that old lady who kept her dead husband and sister in the house, clothing and talking to them for years until somebody told on her (I think that's how the story goes). Well, that story made me cry. Suddenly, I thought about how it would be if Nils is gone. There'll be no one around to give me a single syllable answer when I ask "How's the chicken?". Long after he's gone, I would probably still expect to hear all the things he usually say in retort to my comments. I would be miserable. Which is why I want to go first :) Yes, I am very selfish.

Not much else is going on with me these days. I'm going to be reaching out to people. Just for the hell of it. My world is only fun when there are people in it :D

Hello hello!

Wow, has it really been that long? Four months, since my last entry here. Nils asked me why I haven't written anything in a long time. The truth is, there is not much to write about. My life is the same old stuff. I do have a temporary gig for the time being. I'm trying to be a really good sponge and pick things up as fast as I can. Hopefully this experience will help me land something permanent. Well, I know that it will. Sometimes during the day, it makes me smile when I'm reminded that I am now in marketing. :) It's what I've always wanted to do. Once again, God has answered my prayer. I really am lucky. We'll see how much I like it, and more importantly, whether I will kick ass like I did with engineering. I'll let you know in a few years.

Nils is away in the UK this week. I'm home alone, reading, keeping up with my tv shows, and obsessing about (1) getting out of debt (2) locating the car I'm going to buy, and (3) getting my current car ready for sale. All exciting stuff! I do miss Nils, though. Now that I'm used to having him around everyday, it feels really quiet when he's not here. I can't be arguing by myself, now, can I? We have settled into a lifestyle. I was going to say routine, but it's not the routine that we've settled down into. I think it's the established boundaries, ways of (mis)communicating, and knowing where the tripwires are, that make it feel like we've gotten over the adjustment period. It's nice. It certainly wasn't true when we got married, but now, Nils really is my best friend. Heck, he's my only friend friend in New Jersey! I'm still not a fan of the 'burb, but I like the fact that it's cheap. And that, ladies and gentlemen, will allow Nils and I to be free soon. We've already paid off Petronas, and will be done with my MBA loan in a few months (insyaallah). I'm sick of staring at the sticky notes on my wall. I put one post-it note for each thousand that I owe for my MBA, and now that I'm working, they're coming off the wall fast and furious! After that, only the mortgage left, and we'll be home free. Yeay!!! Wish us luck! And wish me luck, hopefully my current work gets extended again!

Our soon-to-be-gone debt post-its!

Must read more

Nils and I went to visit his dad a couple of weeks ago. While the guys were busy in the kitchen, I looked for something to read. Suddenly, dad went "I'll give you Grey's Anatomy to read." I was hella surprised. One, I didn't know there was a book version of Grey's Anatomy, and two, dad would be the last person to be reading, much less owning one.

Dad disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a giant book. "Sorry, couldn't find Grey's, here's Grant's instead." Wha? What on earth is he talking about?? Then I looked at the ancient book - Grant's Atlas of the Anatomy.

After some period of confusion and subsequent googling, I figured out he was talking about Gray's Anatomy. The textbook on human anatomy. I didn't know such a book existed, or that it was where "Grey's Anatomy" got its title. And I still don't quite know why dad would give me a human anatomy textbook to read. I must've looked really bored.

:)

On getting laid off...

Now that I've experienced being laid off, I can say that it felt like someone threw me out of a boat, somewhat unexpectedly. It was only somewhat unexpected, because all the signs were there. Revenue was way down, merit increases and bonus put on hold, cost cutting left and right, all that good stuff. We were told that all the laying off was done, no one else need to worry. Alas, the email came one morning with the news that more will be laid off, and they will be notified in the next few days. I packed my stuff that very same day. That was how sure I was that it was coming.

The next day came the phone call, and so there I was, thrown off the boat. I suppose the first few moments after you're thrown into the water, you'd flutter and kick, trying to find which way is up. Vacillating between being professional about it and taking it personally, I cried on and off for about a day or two. No matter what people say - it's nothing personal, revenue much lower than expected, more people than work, new people always gets it first - I couldn't help taking it personally. Here is a group of people who showed me the door, and told me to go. "You are not one of us."

But of course, I believe that truth is usually overrated, and I can choose what I want to believe. So I chose to believe the "new people always gets it first" bit. It made me feel a lot better, and I started to enjoy my unemployment. I was thrown off the boat, had officially stopped fluttering and kicking, and have resorted to floating and swimming about, enjoying the view of the sky, basking in the sun, and looking at the birds. It was quite fun, actually. I even managed to cross a major item off of my bucket list - to backpack through western Europe. I spent three weeks madly researching the places I wanted to visit, and then afterward spent two weeks recuperating from the trip. It was just plain awesome.

I thought that I would quickly get bored of staying at home, but I didn't. I started to cook regularly, go grocery shopping, load/unload dishwasher, do laundry, play games, and sometimes I read. I was a woman of leisure, and I loved it. And then I found Dave Ramsey. I started listening to his radio show, watching his tv show on Hulu, and also read his books. I have heard of him before, and listened to him a couple of times, but previously found some of his advices too conservative. Maybe being laid off has awakened my conservative side. After listening to Dave for a few days, his ideas touched something in me. I have always been a budget nerd, but he got me fired up about getting rid of my student loan (our only debt other than the mortgage). Nils and I can get rid of it much quicker if I work, and that drove me to get serious about job hunting. I am done floating around, and am now trying to climb back onto a boat. This time I'm picking one that I like.

Last week I went for a job interview. I don't think I did too well, and have been glum ever since. It's a company I really want to work for, and to be so close to what I want and then blowing it really sucks. I forgot how much I hated interviewing. Trying to climb onto a new boat sucks ass. I know I'll slip a couple of times and fall back into the water, but eventually I'll get on one. I hope. I will, right? *sigh*