Quintile one is done!

For this Weekend’s Coffee Share, I am going to change it up. Instead of sharing a coffee or latte of the week, I’ll be featuring a cocktail of the week. Last Sunday I had brunch with friends and decided to get a cocktail. This cocktail is called Strawberry Fields and it has prosecco, tequila, lime, strawberry vanilla peppercorn, and a microflower.

Strawberry Fields cocktail from Granville Cafe

Isn’t the flower cute? It’s surprisingly fragrant.

I looked up strawberry vanilla peppercorn. I was expecting strawberry flavored peppercorn but it turns out to be a syrup.

This is my second alcoholic drink of the year. Funny thing is that I do have a small collection of alcohol in my house, but I rarely touch it. I have…

• Limoncello – It was a souvenir from Italy.
• Japanese Whiskey – About four years ago, my friend gifted me and H whiskey. We didn’t drink it because I was pregnant at the time. We had plans to drink the whiskey after I stopped breastfeeding. We didn’t think about it for a looong time until one night we decided to finally try it. We opened the box to find the whiskey bottle completely empty. It turned out BIL #1 drank it all. He said, “my bad.” We tried looking for a new bottle of that whiskey everywhere. In LA we have quite a bit of Japanese markets but this whiskey was not found on any of their shelves. The only place one could find this whiskey was online but it comes from Japan. We decided to not buy it because it was not something we were willing to spend unless were in Japan. In the end, we forgot about it. Plot twist: BIL #1 bought a replacement whiskey. It was nice of him. I’m sure just like us he kept looking around.
• Ouzo – Ouzo is an anise-flavored Greek liquor. I got this from the grocery store. I only got it because I was learning how to cure fish and the recipe called for ouzo. There were no miniature bottles of ouzo at the grocery store, so I’m stuck with a full-size. Maybe I can attempt a warm cocktail with ouzo?
• Cabernet Sauvignon – I got this wine last year at a friend’s wedding. His wedding took place at a winery. I didn’t drink at the wedding because I had to drive home and it was a long drive back so I bought a bottle to drink later.
• Prosecco – received that as a gift. Obviously never opened. Maybe I can make some Strawberry Fields minus the tequila and the microflower.
• Irish Cream liquor – Left by BIL #1. Would I attempt a coffee-based cocktail? Ehhh…

Since I don’t drink at home, I should just bring it to an event. The day after my friend’s wedding, it was my other friend’s son’s birthday party. Her neighbor brought wine from her place. I thought, “darn it, I should have brought the wine I bought last night from the wedding. And that Prosecco that’s been in our cabinet for long. I should have brought that too.” Oh well…Note to self: Bring my little bar over.

Anyway back to what I intend to write about — quintiles. Instead of dividing my year into quarters, I have decided to divide my year into five parts. I heard about this idea from the podcast, Best Laid Plans. Some people divide their year by the four seasons because it is probably the natural thing to do. The author, Sarah Hart-Unger, brought up a point that quintil flowed naturally for parents with school-aged children. Even though my kid isn’t school-age where she has a spring break, I work at a university. I do sense the ebb and flow of busy-ness throughout the year. Here is how I am doing quintiles for this year:

Quintile 1 (January 1st – March 24th) –– I think it gets busy at the beginning of Quintile 1 because shortly after the new year, the students return to school. The pace drops when we approach spring break. Aside from work, I use this quintile to plan for the year.

Quintile 2 (March 25th – June 17th) — It starts when spring break begins at the university. Work-wise we prep for summer programs which keeps us very busy during that time. Outside of work, it’s prepping for summer vacation.

Quintile 3 (June 18th – August 3rd) – It’s a very short quintile. I set this quintile to be my last day of work before my big trip. Quintile 3 is pretty laid-back because summer programs are already in gear by that point. There aren’t a lot of students on campus and a lot of staff are on vacation which is also why it’s not so busy. But it is the shortest quintile. At the university, I work with medical school students but also undergraduate students. The academic year in medical school starts in August while the academic year for undergraduates starts at the end of September which leads me to my next quintile…

Quintile 4 (August 4th – mid-to-late October) – August through October is a very busy time. In August I am doing a lot of prepwork for the undergraduate programs when they begin in late-September. It gets busy into mid-to-late October because the undergrads are settling in their new classes (or droppng out of classes).

Quintile 5 (mid-to-late October to December 31st) – As far as busy-ness goes for Quintile 5, I would describe it as a bell-shaped curve. As the undergrads are all settled with their classes and go into mid-terms, the pace is quiet. It picks up in mid-to-late November because students were selected for programs that begin in the next term. After finals is when the busy-ness dies down and we end the year with winter break.

Here are my Quintile 1 reflections and accomplishments.

• I traveled quite a bit. We went to Montreal for President’s Day weekend. We went to the Bay Area to celebrate my cousin’s baby shower. We also did traveling within Southern California.
• Increased my pre-tax retirement contributions. I actually never get to max my pre-tax retirement account. I think when I no longer need all of the annual dependent care spending deduction, it will be the year(s) I get to max my pre-tax retirement account.
• Maxed my Roth IRA for the year.
• Paid off my car.
• Exercising more.
• Continuing to get the care that I need for my TMJ and back.
• When the hygienist found a cracked molar. Yes, I am claiming it as an accomplishment because ever since they took care of it, I’ve been in less pain. I’ve been moving better and sleeping better at night. I am happy to have stayed on top of my dentist appointments.
• Booking my solo trip for the summer.
• Finished my tax return.

Goals for Quintile 2:

• Update my resume – it’s for my application for the professional development program at work.
• Maintain my Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) number at 100 points. I want to see if I can maintain it for a month.
• Participate in a Lingoda language sprint. I want to be comfortable speaking French when I get to Morocco and France.