Oh hey, again. Two blog posts in like 2 weeks. Alert the media, folks. I may be back for real.

Then again, when has that ever been true? Aaaaanyway, it's been spring break. I had high hopes, like legit high hopes of researching the crap out of some term papers and even writing the suckers. Well, I did some minor research/reading, and I think I have a clearly defined paper focus, but that's about it. Although, I haven't given up on making more progress. SEVEN weeks left in the semester. Grad school, I have nothing to say to you. You've been real. You've been fun. You haven't been real fun. Gee, that was original.

I think I start failing at blogging regularly when I feel like I'm being forced to write. So, an experiment: short, sweet, raw. Unedited? Unlikely. But the first three.

Bye.

Shut up. I know what you are thinking. Well, I imagine you are wondering why I'm writing a blog in something that has been dead for nearly a year. Well, 9 months. Yes, I just counted on my fingers how long it had been. Nine months. You can grow a child in that amount of time. Gross. And no, that's not what I've been doing during my blog hiatus. Again. GROSS.

I'm set to graduate in May with my MPA. Master of Public Administration. What is that, you ask? Well, good question. I don't quite know either. Policy, finances, management, government good, efficiency good, blah blah blah. Maybe this is why job offers are not flying at me at 100mph. In the meantime, I've been trying to keep my head above water as I finish up my final 9 hours. And take comps. And job hunt. And keep my sanity. And eat paleo food. And crossfit and teach my group fitness classes and watch every aired episode of The Hills and try to touch base with society every once in a while. Whew I'm tired.

Really, it is tiring. Straight up tiring. I am doing quite well though, depending on who you ask. If you ask my GA peeps, I am still antisocial, yet unusually motivated this semester. If you ask my crossfit buddies, I am still antisocial, work out at weird times, and NOT DOING THE OPEN. That is a blog for another day. If you ask my fam, I am the same. But mostly, I am taking one day at a time and planning generally and hoping for the best. That is the only way to do it.

Sooo. Not to overwhelm with too much info at once. Things that bring me joy that I've discovered since last posting:

• PaleOMG -- www.paleomg.com
• Enjoy Life chocolate chips -- see above bullet
• Smash
• Homemade pesto
• Coconut butter

Let's just stop there because all of these things are food. Except Smash. Hmmm. Time to reevaluate life. That was a joke. I will not give up my food obsessions.

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.