2nd trimester- activities I can enjoy

Feel like blogging and since pregnancy is affecting all I do, here's something.

Instead of thinking what I cannot do during pregnancy, making a list of things I can do and enjoy during weekends and free evenings.

Dinner with friends- why not! Everyone's gotta eat, make it a get together.

Go for walks- walk the dog, walk with your partner, enjoy the weather and it makes you feel better later too

Catch up on movies- Yeah all moms advise that. 'You'll not get to go to movies later'. Watch new and old movies that make you feel good

Long Drives- Relax in the car, let someone else drive. Or if driving de-stresses you, put on your fav music and go for a ride

Relax in the pool- being in the water feels good during pregnancy. Helps the joints because it eases the load the extra weight puts on them. Can do with bath tub too...get a soothing candle/bath gel etc and pamper yourself

Pre-natal massages- yep!

Pre-natal Yoga- its not like regular yoga. The stretches are modified to make the preggers body feel good. It really works and it calms your mind too

PMP!

Got my Project Management Professional certificate (PMP) yesterday (2/21/2011). What a relief! Just so that I dont forget the pain and learnings, i will keep some notes here. 

1. Filling up the application- Very painful
• For every project you have done in the last 3-4 years, you need to provide the number of hours spent on some 25 activities. A prep excel sheet that my trainer shared helped me keep my sanity. Such a template will definitely help
2. Submitting the application form- Not painful
• PMI takes about 5 days or lesser to get back. Husband and I both passed this without any issue so we must have given the correct information in the form!
3. Payment
• Two options are available. You can either pay $129 for membership and then $405 for the test OR you can pay only for the test and pay $555. Obviously its better to get the 1 yr membership. You get some membership benefits for other exams as well
• When you pay the test fee, PMI might pick you for audit. They pick 10% applicants randomly for audit purpose. This is not the end of the world, but it does put you back a couple of weeks in your schedule and you will have to do some work. I know because hubby got audited
4. Audit- Painful
• PMI will send you the list of documents they need you to submit. It normally includes proof of certification; proof of degree and proof of project work.
• Proof of project work has to be signed by the contact person you mentioned while filling the form. You can choose someone else if that person isnt available, but why take a chance. Once PMI receives all this information, they might take 5 days. In our case, they took 3.
5. Scheduling- 
• As soon as the audit is done, test can be scheduled. Seat availability changes every day, may be multiple times a day. So keep checking till you find a suitable date and time. It can be rescheduled free of cost if you do it 48 hrs prior to the test
6. Actual test
• Reach like 15 mins prior to test so you know where the rest rooms are, keep your stuff in the locker etc. They dont allow any personal item inside including watches, wallet, food, pen...anything. Everything has to be kept in the locker. Only your id (license) is allowed
• You can take a break during the test but the time doesnt stop running out. You have to sign out and sign back in every time.
• Empty sheets and pencils are provided for notes during the exams. There were 8 pages. Quite enough really. But if you need more, you can turn in the used ones and ask them for another set of 8. Weird rule but thats how it is
• There is a 15 min tutorial before the test time starts. This tutorial talks about general guidelines on how to use a mouse, how to navigate across the screen. This time can be used for jotting down the processes and formulae on the empty sheets that are provided
• Once the test starts, there is a timer of 4 hrs on top right of the screen. And the number of question you are on, is on the top left. So you will see 14 of 200 etc.
• One weird thing happened, hubby got 300 questions instead of 200 in the same time. He was prepared well and thought PMP might have changed something, so he didnt ask and completed all the questions on time. But thinking back now, I dont know why that happened. I havent checked PMI's site for details, do they say it will be 200 questions always?
• Once you have click on 'end exam', it takes around 15 secs to compute the results. It will be either Pass or fail, no scoring.
7. You dont get added to the certification registry immediately. I think I read on the result screen that they will send me something in 6 weeks. I didnt read completely, was too excited to just pass!

Started running

Started running again. Not that I was ever a serious runner...but this time I want to make more progress. Started with Asha's fun run of 5k which I was able to complete with the group. So easy to run with the group, I wouldnt have done half of that if I were running alone.

Now I have been running on treadmill 2-3 times a week for 2 miles. Things I learned along the way-

1. There is a pain I get on the side of stomach after I run for a while. Apparently there is a technical term for it- called side stitch. Found a nice blog that talks about it but bottomline this is nothing to be afraid of, it just means I need to get fitter. Hopefully running continuously will take care of
2. Running out of breath- Again this is because I am unfit. An article that talks about it. Bottomline- need to work out more.

Change of address- where to update

We changed our address recently. Moving just 3 miles away can also be a lot of work and i realized soon- involves changing of address in around 100 places. Ok- not 100, but close. Here is a list that I created-

1. Banks- Make a list of all your banks with these accounts- savings, checkings, loans
2. Credit cards- Sometimes we have credit cards with no linked savings/checking accounts. These could be cards like Amex or cards from your favorite shopping place like Macys
3. Your Employer- inform your HR of the address change and ask which tools or forms need to be updated.
   
4. Immigration department (in my case- DHS and USCIS)- If you are in a country where you dont have a citizenship, the immigration department will need to be notified. Particularly for US, here is a link to fill the AR-11 form
5. License- In U.S., department of licensing has to be notified of a changed address within 10 days of moving. You can apply for a new license with your new address as well
6. Insurance- Multiple places to update. Here are a few that applied to us: Health Insurance; Auto Insurance
7. Vehicle registration
8. AAA- if you have AAA or something similar
9. Water/Electricity companies- Notify both these companies so the correct address is charged for services you use
10. Library- If you use public library, inform them about the change
11. Rewards cards- Some of your favorite stores have loyalty points through your cards, if you care about any of those-give them your new address
12. Internet and cable service- Most services support change of address but talk to some customer care representative 2-3 weeks before your move so you have enough time to schedule the move of equipment
    
13. Postal office- Last but not the least in my list, notify the postal office and set a mail forwarding. This way, if you have forgotten any place where you should have changed address, postal dept will forward the mails to your new address. Make sure to change address to all those places as and when you get forwarded mail since postal office forwards mail for 12 months
14. County government site- For us it's kingcounty.gov. Used to renew pet license yearly

Phew!