So I'm going home (Canton) for 9 days starting next week. I'm excited because I love being home and eating good food and just hanging out with my parents. And of course I love seeing old friends too. Whenever I go home, the time always FLIES. super fast. I never get to see everyone I want or do everything I planned. Which really just means I was busy the whole time doing fun things which is great. But this leads me to my one gripe:
//begin rant// I live 5 hours away. I imagine that it's understandable that I'd like to spend a significant amount of time with my family when I do get the chance to see them. However, some of my friends think it is my responsibility to make sure that I travel to see them when I am in the area. Now, I am not a hot commodity when I go home. I really don't have that many friends. But I always find myself frustrated that I am the one that is supposed to travel to see friends when I'm home. I just drove 5 hours!!! How about YOU drive a little to visit? Friendships are 50/50 and it's not their problem that I moved far away- I get that. But don't be surprised if I don't work around your schedule to drive and see you during the couple hours you might be free.. because I'm probably sick of driving :-) //end rant//
In other news, I ate myself to death yesterday and am now 5 hours in on the "no carbs for erica for 5 days" plan. It's not as serious as it sounds. I don't care about carbs in fruit and whatnot. I'm just not eating bread, potatoes, rice, etc.
I was leaving the grocery store this morning and there was entire grocery cart of Kroger brand vitamin water with a big "FREE" sign on it?!?!! I just stared at it for awhile. I've never seen such a thing. I took some and was waiting to be approached by a camera crew and a police officer as I walked out but nothing happened. I realized later that the "best by:" date was today... but I mean it's 0 calorie, 0 sugar vitamin water... how bad could it possibly be after today? Answer: not bad at all. *score*
The only other things going on in my world are researching and coding. I abhor coding. I'd rather do just about anything. I'm sure it's mostly mental. But I really can't seem to get over it.
I also read a lot. The Happiness Project and Fifty Shades of Grey are the books of choice right now. But I can never really enjoy doing anything fun because I know I should be coding/researching/studying. That feeling never, ever goes away. Thank you, grad school.
That's all for now- I'll try to be in a better mood next time :-)
Friday, June 22, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Thoughts?
I rarely think in coherent sentences so I'm not going to make a special effort to write in them either.
Vegas
Vegas was of course, amazing. There is just so much to do and see there but never enough time. We went in the middle of the week so there wasn't a huge young crowd. We also stayed at Mandalay Bay though which isn't a "young people" hotel. We had plenty of fun regardless, though. We ziplined across old Las Vegas which was way cool. I'm terrified of flying but I was all about flying across the sky via wire above concrete?
When Toni and I got separated at LAX, she had left the club to find a different bathroom. When she came back, she fell at the entrance. Granted, she was wearing the biggest heels in the world. The bouncer told her she couldn't go back in because she was drunk. She asked him why he took his job so seriously and called him a douchebad. The lesson to learned here? You can't do that if you want back in the club. That was our last night at LAX.
(that would be telling them to kiss mine)
Weight loss
Since my biggest, I've lost about 17 lbs. Great. Awesome. Love it. I still want to lose about 8 more but I'm sick of trying. It's not that I'm in this terrible rut.. I'm still counting calories and working out twice a day. But I'm sick of counting calories. And you know what? I'm not completely dissatisfied with my body. I'd like to be a little smaller but I'm honestly not sure I'd be able to keep it off if I lost it anyway. What's not helpful is the fact that Virginia has the prettiest/thinnest girls of anywhere I've ever seen. Most people look like models around here and I'm not exaggerating. Unfortunately, I was born extremely short and with big bones so it takes a lot for me to even be chubby, let alone thin. Ironically, I have so many friends that are naturally thin without ever working out. Do you know how many hours of my life I could get back if I never had to work out?!?! Thousands! Not that there aren't other benefits. I'm stronger than most of my friends and it feels great to work out. But there will always be a twinge of bitterness.
Kids
Kids are funny. Or children rather. I believe kids are actually goats, yes? I've been babysitting twin 7 year olds this week. While playing in the pool they say things like "We're in the tunnel of doom (pool) and it's flooding! We've got to ride our monsters (noodles) to get away!!" I wish I was that age again. It seems fun. And they're completely oblivious to talking too much. Seriously, 7 year olds talk nonstop for hours. These twins are sweet and fun but even so, they reinforce my not wanting to have children :-)
Parents
They're the best. Seriously. They're my best friends and when I'm home I usually opt to hang out with them rather than go out with my high school friends. I just don't see them often so when I do, I just want to spend as much time as I can with them. They always crack me up and I can talk to them about anything. Though it seems I can talk to them about school less and less. The further you get into your "niche," the fewer people actually care about what you study. They do care- but broadly. Plus, I think they're sick of hearing about the stress of getting into PhD school already because it seems as if we just did this (we did) for my Master's. Heck, I'm sick of thinking about it and I haven't even started applying. But I digress. My mom and Rick are the most supportive parents I could ever ask for and I'm lucky to call them my friends.
Vegas
Vegas was of course, amazing. There is just so much to do and see there but never enough time. We went in the middle of the week so there wasn't a huge young crowd. We also stayed at Mandalay Bay though which isn't a "young people" hotel. We had plenty of fun regardless, though. We ziplined across old Las Vegas which was way cool. I'm terrified of flying but I was all about flying across the sky via wire above concrete?
When Toni and I got separated at LAX, she had left the club to find a different bathroom. When she came back, she fell at the entrance. Granted, she was wearing the biggest heels in the world. The bouncer told her she couldn't go back in because she was drunk. She asked him why he took his job so seriously and called him a douchebad. The lesson to learned here? You can't do that if you want back in the club. That was our last night at LAX.
Weight loss
Since my biggest, I've lost about 17 lbs. Great. Awesome. Love it. I still want to lose about 8 more but I'm sick of trying. It's not that I'm in this terrible rut.. I'm still counting calories and working out twice a day. But I'm sick of counting calories. And you know what? I'm not completely dissatisfied with my body. I'd like to be a little smaller but I'm honestly not sure I'd be able to keep it off if I lost it anyway. What's not helpful is the fact that Virginia has the prettiest/thinnest girls of anywhere I've ever seen. Most people look like models around here and I'm not exaggerating. Unfortunately, I was born extremely short and with big bones so it takes a lot for me to even be chubby, let alone thin. Ironically, I have so many friends that are naturally thin without ever working out. Do you know how many hours of my life I could get back if I never had to work out?!?! Thousands! Not that there aren't other benefits. I'm stronger than most of my friends and it feels great to work out. But there will always be a twinge of bitterness.
Kids
Kids are funny. Or children rather. I believe kids are actually goats, yes? I've been babysitting twin 7 year olds this week. While playing in the pool they say things like "We're in the tunnel of doom (pool) and it's flooding! We've got to ride our monsters (noodles) to get away!!" I wish I was that age again. It seems fun. And they're completely oblivious to talking too much. Seriously, 7 year olds talk nonstop for hours. These twins are sweet and fun but even so, they reinforce my not wanting to have children :-)
Parents
They're the best. Seriously. They're my best friends and when I'm home I usually opt to hang out with them rather than go out with my high school friends. I just don't see them often so when I do, I just want to spend as much time as I can with them. They always crack me up and I can talk to them about anything. Though it seems I can talk to them about school less and less. The further you get into your "niche," the fewer people actually care about what you study. They do care- but broadly. Plus, I think they're sick of hearing about the stress of getting into PhD school already because it seems as if we just did this (we did) for my Master's. Heck, I'm sick of thinking about it and I haven't even started applying. But I digress. My mom and Rick are the most supportive parents I could ever ask for and I'm lucky to call them my friends.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Now what?
I'm constantly having existential crises during school. Not a day goes by that I don't ask myself what the hell I'm doing here. Not in a bad way. It's more that I'm still shocked at the workload associated with this program. Apparently taking 12 hours and teaching 2 class sections is uncommon in grad programs. Well no shit because it's impossible. But alas, I made it. 5 out of 9 of made it through the first year. Cheers!
No but seriously, Cheers. I've had wine every night since freedom.
But now my problem is what the heck to do with my freedom. Every summer I keep track of how many books I read and I'm proud to say I've already completed the first: Hunger Games. I didn't want to read it. I put it off for a long time because it's technically "young adult." But I gave in and I'm so happy I did. I finished it in 3 days and I'm on to the next. I have quite a bit of research to do this summer so if I do what I'm supposed to do, my book list won't be as long as it usually is. But I rarely do what I'm supposed to do.
In unrelated news, I leave for Vegas in a week! It still seems so far away.. but that doesn't mean I haven't bought more dresses for the trip than we have says there. Vegas is the only place you can get away with wearing outrageous things. So I plan to take full advantage.
My summer schedule has been dull. Wake up, run, breakfast, clean, read, lunch, store, work out, shower, nap, tv/read and wine until bed. It's been ugly so I haven't been to the pool in days (Shame!) I actually don't like not being busy. I feel so lazy. I can't help but take these 1-2 hour naps. There is plenty to be doing. I need to study for the GRE, code ads for Matt's thesis, code articles for a paper, start writing a conference proposal/paper, start school applications, and I need to be getting a huge start on my thesis lit review. But... I guess I'm just basking in the freedom for now. I just can't let myself get too far away from work-mode.
Even that is annoying. Sometimes I hate that there is nothing more to my life than school. I literally have nothing else to talk about because for nine months, I can't afford to even think about anything other than school.
Let's see, there's got to be some other aspect of me. Ummm. Hm. I could go for some pizza? Well, there it is. My excruciatingly boring life. Don't get me wrong though. I wouldn't have it any other way :-)
No but seriously, Cheers. I've had wine every night since freedom.
But now my problem is what the heck to do with my freedom. Every summer I keep track of how many books I read and I'm proud to say I've already completed the first: Hunger Games. I didn't want to read it. I put it off for a long time because it's technically "young adult." But I gave in and I'm so happy I did. I finished it in 3 days and I'm on to the next. I have quite a bit of research to do this summer so if I do what I'm supposed to do, my book list won't be as long as it usually is. But I rarely do what I'm supposed to do.
In unrelated news, I leave for Vegas in a week! It still seems so far away.. but that doesn't mean I haven't bought more dresses for the trip than we have says there. Vegas is the only place you can get away with wearing outrageous things. So I plan to take full advantage.
My summer schedule has been dull. Wake up, run, breakfast, clean, read, lunch, store, work out, shower, nap, tv/read and wine until bed. It's been ugly so I haven't been to the pool in days (Shame!) I actually don't like not being busy. I feel so lazy. I can't help but take these 1-2 hour naps. There is plenty to be doing. I need to study for the GRE, code ads for Matt's thesis, code articles for a paper, start writing a conference proposal/paper, start school applications, and I need to be getting a huge start on my thesis lit review. But... I guess I'm just basking in the freedom for now. I just can't let myself get too far away from work-mode.
Even that is annoying. Sometimes I hate that there is nothing more to my life than school. I literally have nothing else to talk about because for nine months, I can't afford to even think about anything other than school.
Let's see, there's got to be some other aspect of me. Ummm. Hm. I could go for some pizza? Well, there it is. My excruciatingly boring life. Don't get me wrong though. I wouldn't have it any other way :-)
Monday, January 2, 2012
New Year!
I've never been one for New Years resolutions. But I would like to continue working on my time management skills. At the end of last semester they were fantastic because I had no choice. But I'd like to be like that at all times. The last two days have not been a strong start. I've taken a total of 4 naps and worked out once. I think I ate 6 different times yesterday. hmf. Perhaps I should make a resolution to blog more often?
My mom left for Vegas today and 'jealous' is not a strong enough word to describe my feelings. I mean, you can literally have alcohol with you everywhere in Vegas. Cars, streets, wherever. And it's significantly warmer there than Ohio. And somehow you can stay awake for 24 hours and not feel tired. Enough- It's making me mad just talking about it.
In other news, I've learned a couple interesting things about Afghanistan because my friend, Jay is over there right now. For instance, 10% of their traffic is donkeys. Can you imagine sitting there waiting for a bunch of donkeys to cross the street? For some reason this struck me as hilarious. It is also taboo to fart there. It's apparently such a terrible thing that people have committed suicide over it and ran away from their families. But the average human farts 14x a day (don't ask me how I know this). So they must live in a constant state of bloatedness. Sounds awful.
My mom left for Vegas today and 'jealous' is not a strong enough word to describe my feelings. I mean, you can literally have alcohol with you everywhere in Vegas. Cars, streets, wherever. And it's significantly warmer there than Ohio. And somehow you can stay awake for 24 hours and not feel tired. Enough- It's making me mad just talking about it.
In other news, I've learned a couple interesting things about Afghanistan because my friend, Jay is over there right now. For instance, 10% of their traffic is donkeys. Can you imagine sitting there waiting for a bunch of donkeys to cross the street? For some reason this struck me as hilarious. It is also taboo to fart there. It's apparently such a terrible thing that people have committed suicide over it and ran away from their families. But the average human farts 14x a day (don't ask me how I know this). So they must live in a constant state of bloatedness. Sounds awful.
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