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.

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 :-)