I’ll take impossibly hard Canadian provinces for $500, Alex.

If you even halfway know me, you’re aware that I have long been aspiring to be a Jeopardy champion. As soon as they opened up online testing registration a few weeks ago, I signed up. And I took the online test last night.

What a buzz kill. That test was ridiculous. I didn’t imagine it would be a walk in the park by any means, but what I experienced was more akin to a gang beating in the park. I’m pretty sure I only knew about 20% of the answers. 15 seconds to read and type a response before the next one appears on the screen. It’s rapid fire. You hesitate, you lose.

I’ll be notified of my score regardless of if I pass or not. I’m not hopeful. My only consolation is that I will never have to appear as socially awkward as the contestants that actually make it onto the show. At least not televised.

But registration is still open and you can take the test tonight or tomorrow...visit here.

Let’s now talk about how this weather is quick becoming a pain in my side.

Hmm. That’s pretty much all I got on that front.

Let’s talk about how obsessed I am with the Glee cast cover of “Bills, Bills, Bills.” Seriously. I have it on repeat.

And finally, let's talk about how excited I am for my Program Evaluation class tonight. Totally stoked. There are only 4,572 things I'd rather be doing. Approximately.

Snowpocalypse

I would have updated sooner, but I just now dug myself out of an avalanche of snow. Gross. Absolutely disgusting. I'm pretty sure that age and a distaste for snow are proportionately related. Which basically means I have a lot of potential wintery hate inside me.

But today the sun is shining, or at least the leftover snow is so blinding that I am tricked into believing it is sunny, so I am not complaining.

Hmm. So let's talk about the fact that I can't stand up without exhibiting signs of pain all over my face. Somewhere between a cheery mid-morning team WOD with some fellow BAMFs on Friday and "Nate" yesterday, I have lost the ability to walk. The nail in the coffin might have been capping it all off with taping RPM yesterday afternoon. BUT...it is recorded, and I am mailing it off tomorrow. V for Victory.

I have to say, I am loving the Hero WOD that CrossFit Springfield has added to the Saturday schedule. These are special WODs, hard and heavy, and they were written to pay tribute to a specific fallen soldier. Before we start, our coaches brief us with a snapshot into the life of the hero we are honoring. It's inspiring to say the least, and knowing a little more about why we are doing it makes it a necessity to put literally everything into that workout. Yesterday's was "Nate."

"Nate"

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

2 muscle ups

4 handstand push ups

8 KB swings 70/55

CFS, if you're reading, come to a Hero WOD.

Nathan

Yesterday my friend Nathan passed away. After a year and a half of fighting leukemia and then subsequent complications and side effects, his body finally had enough. He was going to turn 26 years old tomorrow.

This isn't going to be a terribly emotional post. For one, I am not naturally that way. And for two, Nathan wouldn't have wanted it that way either, which is the most important reason.

We had an interesting friendship. We lived in the same dorm in college. We took existential philosophy together. We skipped an entire week of our sophomore year along with another friend to embark on a road trip to New Mexico. We pierced our eyebrows at the same time. It is those things that I will most remember.

I told him I was going to drag him to CrossFit when he was better, because anyone that could kick cancer in the face was a prime candidate to fight through a WOD.

If you would send thoughts and prayers to his wife and my good friend, Renee, it would be awesome.

Cherish life, peeps. And I'll see you later, Nathan.

You win some, you lose some.

I believe this is Kristin A's phrase. If I kept a tally this week, I think I've lost more than I've won. This is why I don't keep count.

Exhibit A: CrossFit. I owned some double unders on Tuesday. Wednesday, I failed at Fran.* Thursday, I push jerked 115lb for a 3 rep max. I'm scared to go today.

But things have been frustrating so far. I was set to tape my assessment video for RPM, one of the classes I teach at Ozark Fitness. My plan was to tape my 10:15 class this morning. Well...that was thwarted as cooperation between myself and the DVD recorder blew up in a huge fail of a project.

Am I surprised? Hell to the no. It's just frustrating is all. But it is what it is.

I think I am mostly saddest about the celebration I was going to throw myself after I dropped the vid in the mail. It was going to either involve Lululemon or moon pies. Or both. Yowza.

*If a 2:30 add-on to a previous PR doesn't qualify as a Fran fail, I don't know what does.

Eat or get eaten.

This weekend while friends were doing things such as getting Level 1 CrossFit Certified or training for BODYATTACK, I took on a much more daunting challenge. One that involved a true battle of perseverance and grit. Blood, sweat, and tears. A mental challenge of epic proportions. The 50 McNugget Challenge.

I'm pretty sure it started off as a joke a long time ago, but after trading jabs back and forth, my competition and I decided to throw it down this past Saturday night.

Ground Rules:

1. Both participants purchase 50 McNuggets.

2. Winner is the eater who puts them away the fastest.

3. Loser reimburses winner for their McNuggets.

4. Once a winner has been determined, if the loser still has remaining nuggets and voluntarily quits before finishing, there is a $30 penalty.

Are you thoroughly disgusted yet?

I'll spare the details, but I did walk away victorious. 32:15. Rx, if you will. It was a hard battle, and I am not proud of what I did to my body, but it was well worth the victory. And my competition? He did put up a good fight.

In other news, Lo Bosworth was in STL last night for a book signing. Where was I? Oh yes. In Springfield with my face in a textbook. This grad school thing is starting to get boring. I do realize that my last post was chock-full of PMA, but today I'm just crabby. The amount of reading I've been assigned is so huge that 3 hours of careful concentration barely makes a dent. Screw that. I'd rather be watching reruns of The Hills.

What can I talk about that is positive? I am going to take the online Jeopardy quiz on February 8th. This is positive, but also anxiety-invoking. If I don't move onto the next round, my lifelong dream of becoming a Jeopardy champion will be thwarted, and I'll have to find a new dream. Golly. That is depressing.

Wait. My Lulu shipment is being delivered today. Positivity abounds.