11 posts tagged “adam”
As a nice little treat after one of the weeks when I had been studying diligently, Adam bought me a "Marvelous Morning" Spa Package. I called up today and made arrangements to have it the day before the exam. I'm getting a manicure, a facial, and a swedish massage. Yeah!!!
This will be a nice way to de-stress the day before the test..... this, and a little Ethics reading - that's what's on the agenda for next Friday.
TEST IS NOW ONLY 10 DAYS AWAY!!!!
Adam found out last week that they would be giving him more responsibility on the trading desk!!! He will be trading bonds that have a longer maturity, which are more difficult to value and are risky. AND, they are hiring a junior trader that will be reporting to him. No salary bump or title change, but his firm only tends to do that once a year, so it isn't a big letdown. It will probably be pretty stressful from him in the beginning, and extra work doing his job and training someone, but down the road it should be easier for him to take vacation - THANK GOODNESS!
So, it looks like grad school isn't the route for him (or us) right now. He's still going to sit for the GMAT, since the score is good for 5 years. I'm a little bummed, because this means we won't be spending two years living in a new city, but I wasn't thinking Adam would opt for an MBA, so I can't say I'm too surprised.....
YEAH ADAM!!!
As I wrote about earlier this week, an Associate in my office resigned to pursue a Masters Degree in England. I was hoping that this news would be a nice jolt to get Adam motivated about his future. As I've written about previously, in response to a QOTD, I have felt like our life is in a bit of a holding period as Adam decides his next career move.
Adam and I are on two different planes in some cases... I am a "get up and go" person, while he needs more quiet, down time to be happy. At times we nicely balance each other, I motivate him to do stuff, and he helps me take a breather when I need it. Occasionally, the other person's internal settings drives each one of us bonkers. In a very similar way, we also have fundamentally different approaches to handling tasks. I am very much a "take the bull by its horns" kind of a gal, whereas Adam has more of a laid-back method. It must be a genetic thing, because his brother and wife have a very parallel situation.
So, Adam said he would seriously consider looking at the MBA option over the summer... well, tick tock, tick tock, it is the end of August and I haven't felt like he's made much progress... hasn't touched the MBA or GMAT book and barely been on the webpages of schools.... I've found it a little maddening and have brought it up on more than one occasion.... I went through the process of applying to Stern and know how much work is involved in writing the essays, getting recommendations, and taking the GMAT - which all need to be done by Xmas!
Finally, on Monday it came to a head - No need to rehash that fun evening. What we learned from that evening of is that I/we need to verbally spell out "This is Important to Me", no matter how obvious I seem to think that is... so, that's our new code. Curious to see if this woks on other things going forward.
"THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME"
An Associate that works in my department resigned this morning. He is leaving to pursue a Masters Degree in Economics at Oxford..... Could this be just the wake up call that Adam needs?
Every couple of weeks/months, one of us will say "I wish we could live abroad". We both lived/traveled abroad during junior year in college and would love the opportunity to do it again before we have kids and put down permanent roots. I think moving back to Germany after I graduated from college is one of the few life-decision-regrets that I have had. At this point in our life, neither one of us would be able to easily secure a position in Germany, so the topic is wishful thinking more than anything else. (My response is that we'll just have to have a second home in Germany/Switzerland when we retire!)
London, or anywhere else in England, is less far-fetched. Plenty of investment firms have London-centric Research Departments, so I would be able to find a position very similar to the one I currently have. Seeing as their is no such thing as a Bond Market in Europe, it would be a bit more difficult for Adam to transfer his bond-knowledge into an employable opportunity. BUT, there's no reason he couldn't get his MBA or something similar abroad.....
Definitely a topic worth additional consideration!!!!
This afternoon, Adam's grandmother passed away. Adam and his aunt arrived at the hospital during her final moments.... I know they are both very upset that they didn't get to spend some additional time with her before she passed away. Thank goodness, she wasn't in any pain and went peacefully.
I'm glad Adam decided to take the afternoon off from work to be with his family. Originally, I was going to be the one to ferry his aunt (who lives in Texas) from the Philly airport to the Lancaster hospital. After the long road taken to reconnect with his father a few years ago, I'm glad he can be there today to support him through this difficult time. And its especially nice that he (and I) had the opportunity to get to know his grandmother over the past few years.... She was quite a lady!
I consider us so fortunate to have been able to spend a weekend with them in Avalon during their annual Jersey-shore vacation last month. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos while we were down there, which is very unlike me! This photo (below) is actully from last year. (That's a chip in her hand, not a ciggie - I caught her during snack time, doesn't it look like a caught her smokin' a butt?).
Eleanor you will be missed!
As part of scanning fun, I have been scanning old photos of when we were younger. How could I post a photo of me from when I was young and not do the same for Adam. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know I did this -- that's his own fault I guess for not reading "our" blog.
So after months of being jealous that I play tennis once a week, Adam decided to sign up for a weekly tennis clinic. This is a great way to stay active, and I have found some great tennis-buddies from the clinic I attended in October. Not only do we play tennis once a week, but we also love to gab, and have occassionally gone out for dinner/drinks. It would be great for Adam to get his own non-finance friend network. And I get to enjoy some "me" time alone in the apartment while he is out.
I mistakenly put Ad in the Beginner class instead of the Advanced Beginner class. He spent last night, the first session, practicing how to drop a ball and then hit it over the net. Oops! Luckily, he can switch to the Advanced Beginner class next week, but its a shame that one week out of a four week program was wasted.
Adam is sick, again. I wish, just once, he would take a day off (especially when he has a fever) to recover. What a stubborn guy! I think he truely believes that the trading floor won't be able to function without him. Its a miracle I can get him to take vacations! It's odd that he gets sick more often than I do, when we both received flu shots. Maybe its because he works with a bunch of people that have little kids. Lots of germs being brought into the office I guess. So, this pretty much kills our weekend plans. I just hope he doesn't get me sick. We're going skiing next weeked with my dad & sister for a long weekend in Vermont - I will not be happy if I am fighting a cold then!!!
Poor Adam is miserably sick today with a fever and a cold... and they are too busy at work for him to stay home (at least that's what he says). I'm stuck in NYC/North Jersey all week and not at home to take care of him (or keep him from going in to the office).
Hopefully, he feels better soon, because we have a big weekend ahead of us!!
