A Decade

I was reminded a few weeks ago that this month is the 10th anniversary of one of the most life-changing events I've ever experienced. Now I am 26, so I hope to heavens that there are more life-changers ahead. But honestly, MSA will likely never fall from the top 5 or 6.

In a nutshell, the Missouri Scholars Academy is a 3-week program for students about to enter their junior year of high school. 330 gifted students. Eating, living, and experiencing together, all on the MU campus. And holy shiz, I've never met so many truly brilliant individuals in my life.

I thought I might die when it was over. Ahh, nostalgia. A DECADE.

Before I start crying MSA-shaped tears, I'll move onto other things in my life that make me weep for lesser reasons.

1. I'm surviving work. 60 hours down, 240 to go.
2. I'm surviving school. 2 weeks down, 6 to go.
3. ...

Well, that may be it. My good ol' friend Brian actually constructed me a pie chart of my activities. And I told him after seeing it graphically that I had no right to scratch and moan if sleeping took up so much of my pie. Granted, I have taken a hit in the sleep department, but still. I'm doing alright. This kid is alright.

What's up on the board for today? Funny you ask. There is a friendly intra-affiliate CrossFit competition this morning and I am signed up. My CF mojo has been missing for quite awhile, so this could be good. Or really really bad.

WOD 1: Thruster Ladder – Women starting at 65lbs; Men 105lbs

WOD 2: “The 100′s” – 100 Pull-Ups, 100 KB Swings (55/35lb), 100 Double Unders, 100 Overhead Squats (95/65lb)

The Top 5 Male and Female Athletes Will Advance to the Final Event

WOD 3: 20 calorie row, 30 burpees facing the plate, 40 DB ground to overhead anyway (45/35lb), 50 toes to bar, 100ft overhead walking lunge (45/25lb), 150ft Sprint.

See you on the flip side.

What's in a day?

Hello friends,

A few months ago, I wanted to construct a pie chart depicting the ways in which I spend my week. I figured a hefty portion would go to school and studying, another hefty portion would go to working out, blah blah blah. It got old real quick, mostly because it started involving estimating things and by golly, if I was going to put together a graphic, it was going to be accurate, dammit.

I think I could do this now that it's summertime and my days are quite scheduled, almost pristinely in fact. So to break it all down:

There are 168 hours in a week.

30 are spent working.

10 are spent running, riding, CrossFitting, Attacking, and RPMing.

56 are spent sleeping.

14 are spent driving.

6 are spent cooking.

8-10 are spent studying or sitting in class.

I don't care what the remainder is. I'm sure about 100 are spent on eating. The point is that it would make a lovely chart. And the sub-point is that I am busy, and I may have bitten off more than I can chew. And that means I must chew faster.

Wish me luck, comrades. The next 10 weeks will be awesomely gruesome.

Sincerely,

Your fast-chewing pal

Amber

Public Servanthood

Lately, I've been trying to decode the mystery of my draw to the "become-so-busy-you-want-to-kill-yourself" way of living. Unlike the average person, I believe myself to thrive in these types of situations, and with that comes the God-given rights to gripe and vent to whomever will listen. There are a multitude of problems that occur when a person does this to him or herself, but they really don't manifest until the last blasted bit of rope has been pulled apart and destruction is, therefore, inevitable. The real problem with these types of people is that they never learn how to do less. They just kid themselves into thinking that this will be the time they finally are able to flawlessly pull off an overloaded schedule. Which seamlessly brings me to June 2011.

I've dipped my toes into my summer internship (er, in-service training in public administration), and it actually looks to be pretty exciting. Officially, I'll be working in HR attempting to do some benchmarking studies to improve the current Greene County compensation scale. I preface that with "officially," because who the heck knows if that's really what I'll actually accomplish. So if you're driving around Government Plaza, wave in my general direction. I'll be putting in 32-ish hours a week, housed for now in the building where the County Commissioner lives and breathes.

So there is one snippet of my summer. Tune in next week for Part 2 of my series, "Dreaming Big While Not Actually Dreaming At All."

Aaaaand....scene.

Who could love someone named Beezus?

Jesus. That's who.

I am currently semi-obsessed with the movie, Ramona and Beezus. I was stoked about it the very idea of it when I first saw the previews, but I never made it to the theater. Life and other happenings got in the way. But my schedule has cleared out lately, and while I am still sort of busy, I also make room to rent stacks of DVDs and plant my brain-dead body on the couch. Ramona and Beezus, Waiting for Superman, The Social Network, The Kids are All Right, and Easy A all made the list, and I must say, I picked some winners. Hilarity, emotion, and some hella witty writing all make me so happy.

So yes, the semester is over. Year number one is in fact over. I escaped with straight A's, and I am happy as bird with a french fry. This time next year I will be embarking on a whole new chapter of my life. At this time, I don't know exactly what that means, but it is exciting. However, anyone that knows me at all knows that once I get something, I no longer want it. This is my biggest admitted flaw. I blame my perfectionist attitude. It's exhausting really. I need therapy. Or a life coach. Except I already have one of those. (Hi, life coach.)

That is all for now.

I write a better blog than a research proposal.

Last weekend I bought a road bike. She is a thing of beauty, no doubt about it. And she is built for speed. Well, as much speed as she will be getting from these legs. I love her. Although, I do sort of regret purchasing a new ride smack dab at the end of the semester. Last week was horrendous for me. I cried once. And ate countless calories of junk food. Because it is a suggested fact of life that M&Ms and egg rolls help those academic juices flow. I could write a thesis on that hypothesis.

I took my epidemiology final today. Two hours of using my brain to try to figure out if my professor was trying to trick me or not. I swear. If I were a professor, I would not be THAT kind of professor. It is mean and useless, and the people that would get an A are still going to get an A. It just takes longer. So now I have one left. A take-home final and then I will be finished. Until I start my internship and summer school. Grad school is no joke.

I saw on Bravo that they were hosting a Tweet battle to determine if Bethenny was taking on too much. I think sometimes I should ask myself that same question.

The other Tweet battle asked if the Brunettes or Blondes were in the right on Real Housewives of NYC. This is the census work of reality television here, people.

Anyway, I tweaked my back on Saturday trying to be a BAMF. Not so smart. The WOD was the Lumberjack 20. That is WOD-speak for heavy and horrible. I need to remember to keep things in perspective. Just because I CAN pick up a 185 bar 20 times and swing around a 55lb KB like a crazy person doesn't necessarily mean I should. Well, I still want to. It's the whole opportunity-cost benefit analysis thing that says I shouldn't. And the fact that I have been BATHING in Biofreeze the past few days.

Oh, and I am committing to the Omaha marathon in September. I am semi-excited about this, and I really don't want to flake out like I have the past 2 races I've registered for. Wait. 3 races. STL, KC, and Houston marathons. Whoops. Well, this will be my year, peeps. I will have some fun runner friends by my side, at least until they leave me in the dust.

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes. Hey o.