Application for scholarship

Today I am applying for a scholarship through my work to assist in funding my education. If I am approved, I will get $7,500 per year that can go towards tuition and books ONLY. No other fees or travel or whatever.

I really hope I get it. It takes 4 to 6 weeks to hear back though. If I don't get funding I'm not sure what I would do. Would I go through with the schooling anyways? maybe. I just don't know. for now, I'm not going to worry about it.

Tomorrow I am paying the actual application fee for school and they also say it will be 4 to 6 weeks before I hear back but I suspect it will be faster than that since classes start in January.

Anyways, these are the things that are on my mind these days.

how plans change

I've been gearing up to start school a year from now right? Yeah, until yesterday!

I was calling to check in with my top pick of a school about when I can apply for next year and they told me that they've extended the deadline! That means I can apply in the next two weeks and potentially start school in January. It's a bit crazy and a major shift in my plans but...I'm going to go for it!

I am now madly updating my resume and writing my sample papers. it's a lot of work that I hope to finish over the weekend so I can apply ASAP!

can you feel the stress?

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday dear meeeeeee....happy birthday dear me!

All together now! (just kidding).

It's true though, it's my birthday today.

So, what do I get for my birthday? Oh right, a $75 fee to get my driver's license renewed. yuck.

Plus I'm sure other sorts of goodies that I don't know about and hopefully will be better than that.

Travel plans

As I've been hinting at lately...I am going on a trip!

You know that little side bar I have for a girls' weekend getaway? Well, it's now a girls' week getaway! After looking into various weekend options and the flights involved (we live in different provinces) we realized that it would simply be cheaper to go to an all-inclusive somewhere.

We had no real plans because we figured we would get to it. However, my boss recently told us that due to budget constraints we have to use up all our vacations this year. That means I have to use those 5 days NOW!

So, where I am going? Not totally sure but it looks like Cuba. It will actually be my third trip to Cuba but that's ok. My friend is a bit of a nervous Nellie when it comes to travel so it helps that I have been there before because it will keep her calm.

This is why I had to get my passport renewed. We are planning on going the end of November or early December and with my passport expiring in March, I had to get it renewed. So, voila!

A trip is in the works!

fees, fees, and more fees!

So, as part of my insane list of things to do, I went to the passport office today to get my passport renewed.

First, I had to go pay for new passport photos. Cost: $22. Gone are the days you could go to one of those cheap booths in the mall and get it done. Now you MUST go to a professional place who can officially stamp the back of the photos. sigh.

Next, I had to stand in line to get my passport renewed. Oops, I guess I only got to stand in line to get my documents confirmed.

Now, I get to wait to stand in line to get my passport renewed. The woman goes through my documents and after 15 minutes of fumbling with photos and scanners and signatures she does 2 things. First, she stamped "cancelled" all over my current passport and cut a chunk out of it. Made me sad but I guess it has to be done. Then, she charged me $96! Sadly, I had to pay an extra $10 to pick it up in person because of a trip I am going on and the time constraints (more on that tomorrow).

The most annoying thing about it is that my passport doesn't actually expire until March 2011 but because my trip is occurring within 6 months of the expiry date it's essentially expired. blah!

busy week!

Here I was, blissfully thinking that since my exam is over I can finally relax right?

Wrong! I am so booked up this week! Here are my non-work related items that are happening:

• need to get passport renewed (why? I'll tell you in another post)
• renew my driver's license (why do they make the expiry date the same as your birthday??)
• go to a university open house to see if I like their MBA program
• have my birthday (serious stuff)
• go to soccer practice
• redo my tortoises bedding
• go to Octoberfest night
• have a physical (puke)
• pick up package from fedex

I am swamped! But hey, at least most of these items are fun (mostly). Want to see what I am picking up from the postoffice? Here is my new snowboard jacket (similar):

My new snowboard pants:

Let's hope it all fits!

I did it!

I passed the GMAT! And by passed, I mean that I got the score I wanted! woohoo!

I end up getting the following scores:

1. essays: won't know for a month or so but I am confident that i did just fine
2. quantitative: 42 which is the 61st percentile. I wanted the 50th percentile so I am thrilled!
3. verbal: 38 which is the 83rd percentile. I wanted the 90th percentile but hey, as long as I got the math section I could care less what the verbal was
4. overall score: 660 which is the 82nd percentile which is well above what I needed.

I am so relived to have a life again! whew! We celebrated with a bottle of sparkling wine (aka cheap champagne).

This weekend we are off to a fancy hotel to celebrate the end of the exam, our anniversary and our birthdays (mine is next week so you better go get me presents!).

Yay! I am off to a great weekend now!

Today's the day

It's test day! I am so stressed!!!!

I took yesterday off work and today. Just time to relax. Not to study. I have avoided cramming for the test because at this point I don't think I can learn anything new. I just need to get into the right frame of mind.

The last week I have written 3 practice exams in preparation. The first exam did not go well. Did NOT go well.

The second and third exam gave me exactly the score I am looking for. Exactly the right score.

You may want to know what that score is. So, I'll tell you!

The GMAT is in 3 parts:

1. Essays. You write an essay on an issue and a second essay on an analysis of an argument. You have 1 hour to do this...30 minutes each. In this case you get an overall score out of 6.
2. Quantitative. Math. yuck. In this one you are given 75 minutes and 37 questions. In this section you get a score out of 51.
3. Verbal. This is reading comprehension, sentence correction, etc. You are again given 75 minutes but this time 41 questions.

What schools want to see:

1. Essays: 4. They don't care if you write great essays. They just want to know that you can write something cohesive.
2. Quantitative: at least the 50th percentile, which is 38
3. Verbal: at least the 50th percentile, which is 29
4. An overall score of at least the 50th percentile, which is 550

What I want is:

1. Essays: at least a 4.
2. Quantitative: I need a 38.
3. Verbal: Personally, I would love to get a 41 which is the 92 percentile.

Basically, my verbal is pretty awesome and my math is pretty crappy. I have nothing to worry about in regards to verbal but that is the section that brings my overall score up. I just need that damn 38 in the math!

In my practice tests I got exactly these score. perfect. Let's just hope I can do that again today and then I can forget about all this crap! ;)

Wish me luck!

New chequing account!

Yay! I have made the cut! ING has invited me to open up one of their new Thrive chequing accounts! No fees baby! Well, I suppose there are fees for things like NSF or other stuff but in general...no fees!

I plan to use it initially as my own chequing account and if that goes well then Boris and I may switch over and make it our joint account as well.

The most exciting part for me is that I have been keeping $2,000 in my chequing account with TD for about 6 years now. 6 years! And while I haven't had to pay any fees in that time I haven't exactly earned anything on that $2,000. Now I can!

Seriously, I am thrilled.

Are you going to get a Thrive account?

Birthday!

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday dear Boris.

Happy birthday to you!

Yep, it's Boris' birthday today.

I am making him my most spectacular dinner that I know how! Honey garlic ribs and cheesecake for dessert!

I made the cheesecake yesterday and the ribs will be made tonight.

In addition, he is going for a massage right after work. Fortunately for us, massages are covered by our benefits! yay. Otherwise I bought him 2 gifts. The first is a rain coat for his bike ride to work. The rainy season has begun and he doesn't own a suitable rain coat that is long enough to cover his bum! I also bought him a watch box. It's basically a jewelry box for watches only...and of course it is very manly. :D As always, I am paying for these gifts out of our gift fund. We have been putting $30 a paycheque to the account for a while now. I can pay for these gifts and have money left over that will be used at christmas time. Have I mentioned how fantastic a gift account can be????

So, that's my plan for the evening. I hope he likes his massage, dinner and gifts! Spoiled or what?

What do you think about co-habitation agreements?

My friend is planning on buying a house with her long-term boyfriend. They are not married and they don't plan to get married in the near future. She makes about $100,000 a year and he makes about $300,000 a year. Crazy amounts of money but true.

So, they are buying a house. In order to protect his substantial assets, he wants to sign a co-habitation agreement (aka: a pre-nup for unmarried people). She is totally fine with the idea behind a prenup and in order to demonstrate that she really isn't after his money (she really isn't). She is quite happy to sign one.

However, what she feels is fair and what he feels is fair are quite different things. She thinks that things should be proportional to income and he thinks they should be 50-50.

I tend to side with her on the issue and not just because we are friends.

Apparently it has gotten so heated that while reviewing the agreement, her lawyer (they each have their own lawyers) raised a good point. He said that based on a 50-50 arrangement she would have to work 1 day to pay her half of the utility bill but he would only have to work for 30 minutes to pay for his half. Is that fair? I don't think so. And neither does she. Basically, her lawyer said that the agreement is legally written and fine but that he advised her to seriously consider whether this is a relationship she wants to be a part of.

She is wondering if it is.

What do you think? Either for her situation specifically or for co-habitation agreements in general?

Why are people rewarded for bad behaviour?

Why is it that people get rewarded for doing bad things? I'm talking about family members here. It seems like a common occurrence in the personal finance world that one sibling is responsible and the other...not. Why is that? I think it's because parents seem to think that the least responsible child needs help and obviously they must need money. Seriously, that seems to be the line of thinking.

So, I thought I would share a bit about my family. This happened almost 6 years ago exactly. Here is my story...

6 years ago I broke up with my boyfriend and asked my parents if I could move back home temporarily (I was 22, out of university for 1 year and working full-time). They were ecstatic. They never liked my boyfriend and were thrilled to have me come home. In fact, they offered to come help me move right then and there. lol They were also hoping I would be a positive influence on my little sister Wendy as she was a little out of control in those days (she was a teenager in high school).

Not only was my younger sister Wendy there but my older brother James (he would have been 24 at the time). My brother James was/is a bit of a drifter. He didn't/doesn't work very often and when he does it's for short spurts until he gets laid off and then goes on employment insurance for a while before beginning the cycle again. Ultimately, he's a bit lazy and unmotivated in life. So, he was still at home.

Anyways, I move back home and things are good. After a few weeks my mom comes over to me and says, "it's fine for you not to pay rent yet but in a little while when you are back on your feet we'll have to talk about it again.". ok, no problem right? Except that my older brother had never moved out, never gone to school, never got a real job, never helped out, never did anything....never even paid rent! So, I told my mom, "no problem. That it completely fair. However, I will only pay rent if James pays rent and I'll pay the exact same amount he does". Fair is fair right?

Their response? Instead of making us both pay (which would have been the right thing to do) they didn't make either of us pay. And you know what...James is now 30 (almost 31) and still lives at home. He did end up going to school for 8 months but that's about it. Same cycle, same story, no responsibilities. Me, I moved out within 6 months. Not because I didn't like it there. It was awesome! No rent, no bills, I had lunch made for me, etc. Instead, I was terrified I would become apathetic as well!

Makes me insane! Don't my parents realize that they aren't helping him?

Do you have a similar story?

Why women make less

For years it has been a well known fact that women earn less than men. That's even when you take into account differences in age, education, occupational choices, time off for maternity leave, etc. And yes, we still make less. why?

I've always had a theory. I believe that when I woman takes 1 year off for maternity leave (often more than once) they are penalized for it. Is it fair? I think so.

I believe that women who choose to have children and take 1 year away from work are not entitled to return to work at a rate they would have earned had they never left. For example, imagine a woman was making $50,000 a year and then went on maternity leave for one year. During that one year, all of her coworkers received a merit increase of 4% for their performance. When she returns, I believe she should continue to get $50,000 and not the $50,000 plus 4%. Why should she? She wasn't there to improve her performance.

In fact, I think she should be pretty darn happy to return to work at $50,000 a year. Depending on her line of work, she may have actually lost some of her skills during that year. I'm not saying this is true for everybody but I do think it affects some.

To be clear, I think this should hold true for anybody who takes a substantial amount of time off work. Not just maternity leaves.

I know this can be a bit of a controversial topic so...bring it on!

I am embarrassed...

I have a secret that I have to admit. An icky secret that isn't actually a very well kept secret.

Are you ready?

I have dandruff. It's embarrassing and horrible and annoying and expensive! It started in June or so and I have done everything I can think of to get rid of it. I am going broke spending money on hair products trying to get rid of it! ok, maybe not broke but it's waaaaaay more money than I ever spend on hair products but I am running out of ideas.

I actually have to avoid wearing dark clothing because it shows up. One woman at work actually brushed off my back and shoulders because she thought I was covered in pollen.

I think it has gone on long enough. I am caving and going to the doctor. Granted, I have to go for my yearly physical anyways so I may as well bring this up.

I hate this!

Anybody have tips for me?

Math sucks

That's it. It sucks. I don't get it. I never have. At this point, I'm not sure when I'll figure it out...if ever. All I know is I have to get good enough to pass this test in two weeks time.

2 weeks! yikes!

I guess I know what I'm doing for the long weekend.

what are your plans?

3 years already?

Today is our 3 year wedding anniversary. Crazy.

It was a great day. Looking back, there is very little I would have changed about our wedding day. There is one or two tiny tiny things but that's it.

Year 1 was a bit crazy because that's the year we decided to move out west. That made it a bit stressful. Year 2 was tough. We had moved to a new city and Boris was stuck in a job he hated. Then he fell and had a serious concussion that took months to heal. It was a hard year. Year 3 was much better! Boris got a job he loved but then he did get laid off. Then he got a new job that paid better but he doesn't like it as much. Still ok though I think. My job has taken off and I'm working towards going back to school.

Things have been busy. We've had more tough times than I thought we would but we went through it all together and I think that's what matters. Plus, our tough times never involved problems between us but more how we would deal with things that were happening to us.

Well, I look forward to year 4!

New laptop?

Holy poop do I love Apple! I do I do!

I love my ipod touch. I loved my ipod nano before that. I love my Mac desktop. I even love my previously owned 2004 ibook.

Now that I am planning on going back to school, although not for a year or so, I know that I will need a better laptop. My little ibook is brutally slow and doesn't handle graphics very well any more. Just try to watch a video clip and you may loose your mind! Plus the battery doesn't hold a charge beyond 40 minutes anymore.

So, I know that I will need a new computer but since there is no need at the moment, I've simply put that thought to the back of my brain and I'll worry about it later.

But then...my mom came to visit me this past weekend. I assumed she would be bringing me a gift because my birthday is at the end of the month. But she had no present! lol. Turns out, she offered as a combination birthday/christmas gift to buy me a laptop for school!

How sweet is that???

As much as I want a new laptop now, I am going to wait. I will wait at least until I am accepted into a program because I won't know what kind of computer I need until then. Most schools are flexible but I have seen one or two where they don't allow apple computers.

Plus, if I do get a macbook then it only makes sense to wait until the summer to get a computer because Apple always has student discounts and then tend to throw in a free ipod. :D

I am so excited!

Friday!

I've decided to sum up my week for you with 2 positives and the 1 thing I could have done better. My friend's family does this with her kids.

1. I had a great meeting this week where I stood up for what I believed in (tactfully of course) and I was able to keep control of my project because of it.

2. I've really improved my math this week by studying really hard!

The one thing I wish I could have done better: Slept more. I had so much studying and cleaning and Boris was sick so I ended up having 3 really late nights and now I am beat!