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"

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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!!!!

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Adam has finally reached the point where he is considering other employment options.  One option he has is to switch to the "Buy Side", meaning he would work for one of funds/trusts that buys the bonds he sells.  The other option, since Bond-Trader seems to be a dying breed, is to go back for his MBA.  While he doesn't need an MBA to do his current job (some of the older-timers only have a high school diploma), an MBA would be a good way to switch careers. 

There are quite a few options here in Philly, Wharton (UPenn), Temple, Drexel, St. Joe's, and Villanova, but outside of Wharton, the other programs are only so-so.  The biggest restriction we have for Adam selecting an MBA program is that I need to be able to keep my job - to support us.  I cleared it with my boss and as long as we end up somewhere that my company has an office - they'd be OK with me relocating.  This means that we could easily move to DC, Boston, or NYC (our preference is in that order), and even make other options feasible, since my firm has small branches along the East Coast... 

MBA Programs 2007 (Peterson's MBA Programs)

Peterson's

Stay tuned.....  Adam wouldn't be starting until next September, if he goest this route - so we have plenty of time to ponder, worry, scheme....  Another good reason that we didn't end up buying that damn townhouse!

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Not only do I no longer have to clean the bathrooms and kitchen floors myself, but having a cleaning lady come actual helps minimize the clutter in our apartment.  I'm a clean person, and can be organized when I want to, but I'm not very neat.  I have a tendency to let papers and other odds & ends pile up all over place.  I swear, my clothes have a mind of their own and don't appreciate getting put back in the closet or on a shelf after I have worn them.  They much prefer to be strewn around the whole apartment taunting Adam!  He's the complete opposite - Adam can keep the paper clutter to a minimum and is better about hanging his clothes up, but it would take him ages to notice that the bathroom is funky.  We pre-clean for the cleaning lady, so she doesn't need to work around our junk.  The bi-weekly cleaning lady visits help maintain marital bliss! 

We first decided to get a cleaning lady after I accepted the job in NYC.  I was only home 3 days a week, I had my hands full enough as it was without being responsible for the cleaning... since Adam was unlikely to pick up the slack to the level I would be happy with, we decided hiring someone was worth the expense, especially since I had gotten a pay bump.   We had grown quite accustom to not doing the cleaning ourselves, so we kept her on when I returned to a Philly job.  She's worth every penny!  Besides, the laundry, ironing, and odd projects around the house (like my sudden urge to clean out the fridge) still keep me plenty busy. 

Happy cleaner

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How can I expect friends & family to learn what we are up to by reading the blog if I never post anything???

The last few weeks have been a little hectic.  It was easier to post when I was glued to my desk and unhappy back at NYC-job (trying to keep myself out of trouble by not using company names).  I've been back at old-philly job for about a month now and am THRILLED to be "HOME".  I like my new office -- it is actually so cozy that my work friends refer to if as my Work Apartment.   I have a bunch of lamps (no overhead lights), which gives it a nice feel.  I also have my electric teapot, a fruitbowl, and a new plant - Jade. 

I really like the new Analyst that I am working with (I will call her DC from now on).  She is giving me plenty of room to do my own work and is not treating me like I work below her.  Its nice to come back and have that kind of respect.  We have an Associate on our team, SW, who is driving me bonkers, but I think his days at the firm are numbered....  So, we have been trying to get our coverage up & running and its kept me pretty busy.

When we get back from Japan, we will start house hunting.  I'm sure that will be very excited and we'll be much better at keeping everyone up to date. 

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I believe I am in my third week back at my old firm.  So far, I am thrilled with things.  My boss, DC, is treating me like a peer and not an underling, which had been one of my concerns, and everyone seems genuinely happy to see me back.  I am finally settled in my office and getting down to doing some real work. 

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Adam and I are reving up to become homeowners.  More than likely, we will be buying a condo or a townhouse.  We probably won't buy anything until after we both get our year end bonuses in February.  Saturday was perfect weather to walk around the city so we walked through Olde City and Washington Square before miandering home.  We would love to live in the Washington Square area, but it is difficult to gauge if we can afford the neighborhood.  We went to two open houses for lofts in Olde City and have determined that loft-living is not for us.  We just aren't a big fan of the open ceilings and the gap between the walls and the ceilings - why even have a door if you can hear everything from the other room over the top of the walls?  Just seems silly to us - you might as well just live in a studio if you are going to live in a loft. 

Visiting places really made us realize that we need to figure out just what our price range is before we do anything else.  At the second place we toured, we met a really nice real estate broker who was extremely personable and helpful.  We both got a good vibe from him (he wasn't too salesman-y) and think we might use him when we get serious about buying.  We need to get pre-approved for a mortgage before we do anything else.  Luckily, the fact that Adam works at a bank should be very beneficial, since they offer slightly discounted mortgages to employees. 

Adam has spent plenty of hours playing on relator webpages, so we are getting a sense of what is out there.  We are starting to narrow down our house criteria.  

Here is what we have determined so far:

2 Bedroom/1.5 Bath

At least 1,100 square feet (what we have now, nothing smaller)

30 min or less commute

We aren't willing to spend more on a mortgage than we are currently paying in rent

We really need a place that we can grow into.  We plan on having kids in 2 or 3 years and need to buy something that will accomdate our plans.  My current thinking is that we would get an au pair for the first year or so, because I would like to continue to work.  Maybe after baby #2 I would consider taking time off or working part-time, but I wouldn't want to quit working right away.  That would mean that we need a room (and ideally a bathroom) for the au pair.  Who knows if we can afford this - I realize I am in la-la-la land right now.  That's why getting pre-approved for a mortgage is the next step for us.

We stopped at Borders on our way home yesterday and bought a book for first time home buyers.  It has already been extremely helpful and today we started investigating our credit reports.  I have a clean bill of health, but we had a lot of trouble accessing Adam's records.  I'm sure everything will be fine, but Adam is a little concerned by the uncertainty.

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So, yesterday afternoon, I left NYC for the last time.  It was so nice to come back home, knowing I don't have to get up early, and work like a dog anymore with people I didn't enjoy being around

I am looking forward to enjoying about a week of fun and relaxation, and REST, until I get back in the groove at my new/old firm!

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I left work early yesterday (I lied and said it was my sister's bday and we were going out to dinner --  reality was that she was coming over to enjoy tasty German dinner at Papa's and I wanted to enjoy a meal with the family).  I thought I had gotten everything for my section of the industry report completed before I left, but it turns out I accidently did one thing wrong and something else incorrectly.  The two girls/ladies that I work with had to not only finish up what they were doing for their companies, but correct my errors, keeping them here very late.  They sent me a message on the blackberry last night, so I knew that I had screwed up, but not to what extent.

Once I spoke to my boss and learned the extent of what happened, I apologized and offered to buy them lunch as retribution for them having stayed until after 11pm (I left at 6:30pm, which is considered extremely early around here).  This morning, one of them is giving me the cold shoulder, which is disappointing since it is my last day. 

So, I plan on resigning today, actually, I was going to do it this morning.... now, I am going to wait until after lunch so I can treat them.  It really stinks that I am leaving on such a sour note though.  It is going to look like I was being a slacker yesterday because I was alredy halfway out the door when that really wasn't the case at all. I had been working these past two weeks as if I wasn't out the door and I was really working to keep up with my responsibilities as much as I wasn't thrilled with the workload... now it feels like that was all for nothing given my screw-up last night.  

I guess it shouldn't really matter since our paths are unlikely to cross again, but I was trying to leave on good terms and it doesn't look like that is going to be the case....  I left my last job on the best of terms and it was my intention to do the same here.  Ya never know when you may be working somewhere again -- sooner than you may think.  :-)

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Getting less than 6 hours of sleep most nights for the past two months is starting to really wear me down.  Last night I got home at 10:50pm and got up this morning at 5:10 to catch the early train in to work. 

I don't think I can take much more of this!!!

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