Rewind: March 2023
And just like that, the first quarter of 2023 is behind us. March gave me some ups and downs (as always) but it also gave me a lot of perspective when thinking about things. I’m all the more grateful for the wonderful things that have come my way. Before we know it, we’ll be halfway through the year and I do not want to just blink and miss it.
Loving
Ever since I started looking at both my expenses and my hours tracking, I know I spend more money (and some time) on connecting with friends and it’s nice to look back on this over this past month. I was able to do spontaneous and planned meet-ups with friends coming in and out of the country but also was pretty reasonable with the spends (i.e. I don’t drink as much when I go out) even if I am hitting my ceiling on the budget.
Budgeting is tough but I’m glad that I have the flexibility to not be so stringent. Taylor talked Pamy and Ed through their financials given the baby is coming soon and it made me re-think my spending categories even more so (hello, discretionary craziness!) And yes, there’s a lot of taxes for being a girl in the world, but I can do better and I’m loving having this balance between socialising and gifting and just being better at saving.
Working On
Well, the bad news is that my cholesterol is back in full-force. Like really bad, and to think I’ve been eating vegetables for majority of the week. Sure, I’m pretty bad about exercise these days, and yes, I do eat some chicken rice whenever I get the chance, but I thought it was getting better. Well, when I stopped taking medication (as advised by my doctor), it looks like it was a lot of the medication doing the heavy lifting.
And so this month, I got back into my lovely Simvastatin and had to be a bit more serious about my diet again. I don’t know if I can go cold turkey and just quit all chicken rice and hawker forever but I guess I have to up my oat intake again and just be more well behaved on the over-all. I also just hope the medication works its magic because clearly this is a familial thing.
Feeling
It’s been a while since I had to travel for work and this time around, I’m bringing the new team mates around the region. We start off with Vietnam this month and do Indonesia and Malaysia next month and to be honest, as fun as it is to re-connect with team mates in the region, I am freaking anxious about work travel. I do not miss having to be in the airport so early because not everywhere is Changi (I am spoiled). I don’t miss traffic and preparing slides.
But I am looking forward to seeing old faces (and lots of new ones) so I’m trying to find all the silver linings I can get. Plus, it will be nice seeing the region through the lens of V and G who have only been in the team for less than 6 months. Even if my anxiety is at its highest its been in a while (my psychogenic dyspnea is pretty out of control), I’m going to try and focus on the good. Does anyone have tips on how to not be too anxious about the travel? I’m all ears.
