New Year New Budget

I use an excel file with many sheets dedicated to different aspects of my budget. One sheet shows my monthly income and expenses as my budget. Another sheet contains a graph with my Net Worth. Another one is dedicated to mid and long-term unavoidable expenses which I need to forecast such as renovations around my house, a new car and etc.

I also keep a lot of my personal info on this excel file and that is why it has a strong password.

Now, it is that time of the year again when I start working on my next year's budget. I will up all the expenses since we are being hit by double digit inflation for the last year and the Government is ruthlessly upping the taxes because they manage the resources very poorly. Such idiots!

I am also expecting a salary increase but we shall see. Before I see it in my bank account, I am not counting on it. 

My mom is refusing to go abroad for a vacation. She says she is getting very tired and she cannot handle long flights anymore. Therefore, I am planning two vacations this year. One with her and one alone. I do not know where we shall go together just yet but, I would like to go to Scotland by myself.

Since I am not comfortable driving on the left side of the road, I will not rent a car. I want to stay in small towns; the kind you see in Midsomer Murders. 

Other than getting a couple of things fixed and buying two TV chairs, I am not planning any expenses at home because I do not spend much time there.

I started looking at my budget and I will tweak it here and there till the end of the year.

And The Change Starts This Week

Today, the Representatives of ACME Capital will come to meet the team and answer their questions.

I talked to the guy who will be sitting in at the new board of directors yesterday to give him clues about what the people may be expecting and what they are uncomfortable about. Gave him hints as to what he needs to mention. The sooner he thinks he can depend on me as a catalyst in this change process, the better it will be to work together.

He and I will have a meeting next week to go over my evaluation. He said since my competency level was beyond the expectation there is not much to work on there. However, you may remember that my EQ turned out to be lower than the normal distribution. So, he offered that if I would be willing to participate in coaching sessions, they will pay for them and I said why not?

Let's see if I can "improve" my EQ. Lol! I see nothing wrong with being very analytical just like Bones or Mr. Spock but, I do not have a problem receiving some coaching either. EQ is a personality trait not a competence item so, I am not sure if I can improve especially after 50. The reason why I accepted coaching was to make sure I was not rejecting what is considered a positive offer on their side.

So, today the team will hear about things from the reps of the Buyer organization.

I am sure they are as nervous as we are. God help us all for a smooth transition.

The Boss Said

This is the translation of my boss' announcement to the people who weren't at the office:

Dear Friends,

I would like to share with you that, yesterday I signed an agreement to transfer all my shares in the company to ACME Venture Capital.

Why? Because, the serious illness I had 3 years ago forced me to try to stay away from stressful situations. That is why Miss T'Pol has joined us, and has taken some of my responsibilities over and thus, I was able to cut my working hours as you may have noticed. In addition, switching off my phone and staying away from e-mail from time to time and taking long vacations were other precautions I have taken to keep away from stress and to avoid the recurrence of my illness.

I have taken this decision for two reasons. First, whatever I did, I could not learn to work without stress. I tried but I guess I cannot change that much. Second, I was anxious that my difficulties would slow down the progress of our company. I could not drive an organization which must move rapidly while working the way I was and that would be unfair to all of you.

As a result, I will be with you till the end of this year or till the end of January 2018. Our current operations and team will stay the same and even get larger.

On this strong foundation ACME will invest in "X", "Y" and "Z" to take our company to a new level.

I am sure there is no need to say that my door is open for all your questions.

I hope this will bring luck and prosperity to all of us.

Going Once, Going Twice... Gone! It's Official. We are SOLD!

It has been an interesting, exciting, somewhat stressful and busy process since September. Finally, our boss reached an agreement to sell the company to a venture capital company.

After the closing, he called me at night and told me that the agreement was finalized. I asked him if he was comfortable and satisfied with his decision and he said "yes" without hesitation. So, that is a great thing.

I will miss him dearly as I practically consider him my brother but, I have positive feelings nonetheless. I would like to see this company grow. There is so much potential but, there are also too many risks for just one private owner.

Today, he will make the announcement to the staff and next week the new team will come here to answer all the questions our staff might have. After the Q&A Session we shall go some place to "celebrate" this.

I am glad that the uncertainty is over. The change that is awaiting us is not worrying me. I know I can handle change one way or the other.

From now on, I will be the catalyst between the staff and the new management. I will be answering the staff's questions, helping them get over their anxieties and showing them that business will be as usual. I will also hold the hands of the newcomers and make their integration a smooth one. If I keep a positive attitude about this change and act accordingly, I think it will be so much easier for the others too. If the new CEO or any other management member says or does something which would normally make me mad, I should keep calm and make sure they understand that I am here to help and support them. Being the oldest person on board with 30 years of experience under my belt, I think I should become the trusted advisor of everyone.

As I am typing this, my boss sent me the memo he drafted to share with the rest of the staff who will not be here to listen to the announcement. He asked my feedback. It was beautifully written. Open and honest. I should translate it and share it here.

I wish and hope that this will mark the beginning of a new and exciting new journey.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite American Holiday and I love a good Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings.

Many years ago, my sister and I went to have a two-week vacation in the US. We were visiting two of my friends whom I consider family.

The first friend we visited made a Thanksgiving menu since, she knew how much I liked it. There were plenty of leftovers after the first night. While we stayed there, we ate up the rest of the TG dinner mostly at nights when we were home.

After that first week, we moved to my other friend's home. Guess what she made for dinner?

You should have seen my sister's face. My friend's husband was going to have a surgery the next day and we were there to get the kids ready for school, drop them at school to be picked up by their grandpa every day. So, there were again plenty of leftovers for mostly us to eat for dinner. My sister is not so thrilled about turkey but, at least she likes the stuffing.

I am making a turkey dinner for the New Year this year and today my sister called me to tell that she wants plenty of stuffing if she has to endure eating turkey. Lol! I will also make her favorite cinnamon rolls to ease her suffering:)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

As we approach the final hurdles...

I think the sale of the company will be finalized this coming Friday.

I have learnt who the new CEO will be. He is someone I know for having done some business. For now, I think, I can have a good working relationship with him. He has never held the title before so, he will be very stressed I am sure. Unless he acts like a jerk because of the new position, we shall be fine. If he is smart, he should behave. If not, I will give him a piece of my mind being some years his senior.

As things need to be finalized, each day there is something that needs to be urgently taken care of. Today is another of those busy days.

Please wish us luck to get through this big change unscathed.

Procrastination

I have an 18 page Contract that I must read very carefully and mark inappropriate paragraphs and ask for revisions.

It is soooo boring and full of BS that I have aready typed up 2 pages of revision requests and I am on page 10. Oh boy!

I had been postponing this work but, today, it has to be finished. I am glad I am not a lawyer. I cannot imagine doing this every day for a living.

I procrastinate a lot when I have something I do not like to do. However, the logical course of action would be getting it done a.s.a.p to get it out of the way right? For instance my grandma on my mom's side absolutely hated housework. Each day, she would get up at 6 to attack all sha had to do and ususally by 9 a.m. she would have cleared off all that she had to do that day. She would then pick-up a book or a piece of sewing or knitting and relax except for meal times.

Are you a procrastinator= Or are you like my grandma?

Diet, Frugality and Stuff in General

I haven't been cooking or doing any grocery shopping for the last two months at all. I had purchased a meal plan that delivers all your meals at a certain calorie, in a box every day. It was nice at the beginning but then after a while one gets tired of eating somebody else's choices. So, after this detox that I am on till tomorrow night, I shall be preparing my meals to take to work.

I will use the lists my old dietician gave me. Although, I was able to lose a bit of weight due to the meal plan, it is not as much as I had expected. I will go back to what worked for me. It is much cheaper to follow her list and yet it is healthy and nutritious.

On Monday, I will weigh myself and then, I will weigh myself only every two weeks and keep a chart.

I will also see how much money this saves me. The meal plan was not inexpensive at all.

I want to have turkey and eggs for protein this week. I will see what I would like for a vegetable dish.

Tomorrow, I will do some cooking to last me till Wednesday night and then I will cook on Wednesday for the rest of the week. I must be very careful about my portion sizes.

After I wrote the above, I went to check my pantry and sadly noticed some items way beyond their "Use By" date. Mostly they are legumes so, I will boil them and put them outside for birds. I hate wasting food and it looks like having two residences is a problem. I noticed some condiments are also past their "Use By" dates. I do not know how Americans keep up with this stuff. They usually have giant pantries and and using everything up before anything goes bad must be difficult.

I then went grocery shopping and got these:

Cauliflower
Turkey Leg
Cheese (2 kinds)
American Bell Peppers
Kohlrabi
Onions
Ginger
Avocado
6 Tangerines to snack on
Probiotic Yogurt to snack on
Organic Eggs (dozen)
Hummus w/dried tomatoes
Lemons
Lemon and Ginger Tea (20-count pack)
Pumpkin Seeds to snack on
Smoked Salmon (BOGOF) Enough for 4-6 salads
Listerine Mouthwash (BOGOF)
Toothpaste (BOGOF)

All cost about USD 45 in case you are wondering.

If you have noticed that is a very low carb list. Except for breakfast, I am giving up bread. For some breakfasts, I am planning to eat eggs and cheese to avoid bread further.

Got 2 Days Off

I got two days off to pull myself together. All day yesterday, I stayed in bed and slept. Did not eat a thing until dinner time.

Now, I am on a liquid detox program for three days full of super foods. So, hopefully by Monday, I will feel energized and healthy and out of this mood.

The detox is 1200 calories per day. 5 bottles of vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free, lactose free shakes and soups.

I will also start my exercise routine again. It is cold outside and I am still coughing so, I will Walk Away the Pounds by doing the Leslie Sansone videos. They are truly excellent.

I am Tired

I am very very tired of everything. I just need a giant "Me Time" away from home, from phones, from Internet, from anything and everything I know.

Have you ever felt this way?

Of course, there is no way I can get away from it all just like that.

What to do? What to do?

Life Style Inflation

A friend of mine just got a raise recently. Apparently some people at her job left for a competing company and in order to prevent her from leaving too, her bosses upped her salary. Talk about manageral skills. Whatever... She had been waiting for a raise for a long time so, she was very excited.

On Sunday, over coffee, she told me how she was planning to put her money to "good use". She is planning to go to the hair salon every two weeks instead of once a month now because she is "oh so tired about not being able to look her best. It would be great if she could go on a weekly basis". She also has been dreaming about adding new pieces to her wardrobe. (Before the sale season? No way in my book!)

I asked her if she did not have the raise, would she be looking for a better paying job. She said no. She feels comfortable where she is and she thinks the people who left are in for a rude awakening once they settle in their new firm.

I asked her what her future plans are with the extra money. She laughed and said "What? spend it of course!" I told her wouldn't it be better if she used at least part of it to increase her savings. After all, if the recent changes weren't made, she would be getting her old salary anyway. Then she told me she did not have a savings account.

Wait a minute!

This woman is 42 years old and she has no savings in her name whatsoever. Every month, she is taking some money off her salary and giving the rest to her husband which is a constant cause of friction between them. She has no idea if he is spending all their money, investing or saving or whatever. Totally clueless! I hope their marriage last till death do them part. Oh boy!

It is not my business to teach or preach people about how to use their money and this friend is especially a person I would not try convincing on anything. I just made a casual comment that I like to have a savings account and ended the subject there.

Remembering Him with Pride, Respect and Love

79 years ago today, the founder of modern Turkey, a true leader, a revolutionary, a great military mind Mustafa Kemal Ataturk passed away. 

Uh Oh! Half a day at the Hospital

This morning I had a 9:30 appointment with the cardiologist and a 10:30 with the eye doctor. I figured, I would be out of there by 11:00 a.m. So wrong!

First I saw the cardiologist and told her about my high blood pressure and the stress in my life lately. She asked for a blood test, gave me an ambulator to take my BP every half hour during the day and every hour at night. I had en eco-cardiogram and an ultrasound.

I told the eye doctor that lately I was "feeling" my left eye and sometimes there is a bit of  a cloudiness and a small pain which did not last very long at all. She tested my eye blood pressure and administered some more tests. She prescribed a blood pressure drop for my left eye.

It was past noon when I was finally out of the hospital. Yikes!

Getting old!

Just rested

Over the weekend I did nothing but just rest.I could not believe the amount of sleep I got. I slept and slept. It did me good though. I feel a whole lot better. I think rest was the main cure to my head cold.

I hope this will be a good week. I am going to Ankara on Wednesday both for work and to see mom and the rest of my family. My sister and BIL will be coming for the weekend. My uncle is going to be there as well. This will probably be our last get together before the New Year's Eve.

Last year everyone was at home alone. This year I hope the family will be together.

Stress and weekend plans

I am not feeling stress at the moment at all but, all that has been happening around me must be getting to me somehow.

I am a high blood pressure patient. Despite the fact that I have been taking my prescribed medicine diligently, I started experiencing elevated levels of HBP.

I made an appointment with my doctor next week.

I keep saying I am not feeling stress but when I sit down and think about it; loss of our beloved colleague, the due diligence and the closing of the quarter are all causes of stress.

Today I am at my primary residence and the cleaning lady has come. I rested all day long sleeping most of the time. I am not feeling the tension today and my head cold is getting better.

I need to go buy myself some good pillows. I must give away three old ones and get new ones. Two for myself for both homes and one for my guest bed. Checked all the pillows at home and did some research online and pretty much determined what I would like to get but I must see them in person. Since I am very allergic, my pillows must be washable in hot water. Mom uses the guest bed the most and she prefers cotton pillows. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to drag myself out of the bed and have a somewhat normal day.

I have decided to grab a large trash bag and fill it with random stuff in drawers and medicine cabinet. I know I have some creams and what not that definitely need to be thrown away. I was matching some minimalists the other night and although I cannot become a minimalist, I can throw out what I do not need and minimize clutter.

That is all that I have planned for the weekend. If I can manage more that will be icing on the cake.

The Assesment is OVER! YAY!

Yesterday, I walked in the assesment center at 9:20 precisely 10 minutes before my appointment. I was greeted by some nice young ladies who brought me cofee, water and made me comfortable.

First I was given a case study where I had to come up with a day's schedue as a pretend CEO. I had to delegate tasks, postpone tasks and take care of some personally. That was an easy exercise for me.

Next, I was given another case that I needed to study to deliver a Go-to-Market Strategy for a pretend firm as a pretend consultant. That was somewhat more difficult.

After that, I had a role-playing session with a person where I was the boss and she was a difficult employee.

After all these, we had lunch and then the lady in charge gave me THE FEEDBACK. She congratulated me for my competence level. She told me, that was beyond any expectation. I guess the average must be so poor that I, quiet a normal being is treated as such. I am 50 and I have been in the workforce for 29 years. I am supposed to be competent at what I do. It is not an extraordinary thing.

She also told me I had such an analytical mind that I lack EQ. My EQ is supposedly below the average. She told me that I neither read my own feelings nor others' feelings. And I am like what's got feelings to do with all this? Lol! Come to think of it, yeah I do act out of logic.

So, apparently, I have to work on my EQ.

Thank God this is over!