Hiatus apparently.

You know how they say that you really can't do it all? That something's gotta give? I suppose for me, it's my commitment to blogging that gets pushed aside. But here I am, sparing a few hurried minutes to update the masses. Or rather, the 2 peeps that read my ramblings.

I survived RPM training this past weekend. What an experience. My second Les Mills program...it still blows my mind if I stop and think about how drastically my life has changed in the past year. To summarize: I had an awesome time. I have lofty new goals to get where I want and need to be. The Race of Truth nearly killed me. Sitting on a bike all weekend makes for one very sore rear. And I owe my life to my 2:1:1 recovery drink.

It was nice to throw grad school to the wayside for the weekend, but now I'm back in it. Fully immersed. I managed to throw together my lit review before I left for the training. So now this week is devoted to my research paper for my public personnel management class. Let me tell you how excited I am about this paper.

That much. Zero.

Anyway, since I have the Heart of America competition in 5 days, I'll be hitting good ol' I-44 for the second weekend in a row. What does this mean? No sleep. Good golly, Miss Molly. I've already given up TV. That alone is killing me. I have a list a mile long of every episode I need to catch up on. It's awful. That is the only word for it. Awful.

If I live to see Thanksgiving, I will have this semester in the bag. For the love of turkey, please let me survive.

I love a bargain.

This past Sunday my mom brought over a magazine she bought solely because it advertised $70 worth of coupons. The magazine cost $3, so it's a deal pretty much any way you look at it. Anyway, I took some of the coupons and last night I went and took advantage of it all. I only bought the stuff I'd use anyway, else it kind of defeats the purpose of saving money. But GEEZ, I had so much fun. I saved $11, and I still have some more I didn't get to use. It was delightful. I love saving money, because then I don't feel [that] bad for dropping a small fortune on a Lululemon collection. Totally different post right there.

Yesterday I proctored an exam and as a result, I'm home with a stack of blue books to the ceiling and a much higher propensity to blog, cut coupons, and drink my weight in coffee. So, I'm still stressed in case you were wondering.

I went to CrossFit last night, and for some reason, it just wasn't my day. We had 30 minutes to reach a 5 rep max on both front squat and push press. I got 105 on front squat and 85 on push press, both of which I've gotten more on before. It's totally a mental game, and when you show up not ready to play, you're screwed. Afterward, we did a shorter thruster workout, a sort of "pick your poison."

100 thrusters 30lb

or

85 thrusters 45lb

or

70 thrusters 65lb

or

55 thrusters 75lb

or

40 thrusters 85lb

I chose 55 @ 75lb. 6:58. Not great, not awful. Again, it is what it is. Tomorrow is a new day.

Back to grading. See you in a year.

I'm not funny anymore.

I'm alive. I survived Halloween. Gross. The worst holiday ever. I don't know why I hate it so much. Maybe because it still scares the crap out of me, even at the ripe old age of 25. I'm shuddering. You can't see it, but I am.

I'm a blur. From school to the gym to home I go. I'm a car, fueled by delicious coffee. Maybe I am a hybrid. Probably not. I'm not trendy enough to pull that off. School is still burying me alive. However, the big Ozark Fitness launch is over. Thank the Lord. It was a huge success and a lot of fun, but good grief, I was wrecked. Especially after reading and writing papers like a madwoman last week. I actually pulled an all-nighter. Somehow those were a lot more doable in undergrad when I was 18. I have 2 more papers to write, two presentations to give, a stack of blue books to grade, and a myriad of side readings to do before I see Thanksgiving. Oh, and run a half marathon, get trained in RPM, and go compete for Team BAMF at the Heart of America CrossFit challenge. Ambitious, much?

I just realized I didn't eat one piece of Halloween candy this year. Seriously? Oh well. I had a giant bowl of Orange Leaf yesterday. One of my secret life goals is to see how much Orange Leaf I can fit in one bowl. And then eat it.

I wore my purple bandana last Friday to a team wod. I guess you could say I dressed up as Miranda Oldroyd for Halloween. It kind of helped. I finished the wod. And was subsequently sore to the touch for 3 days afterward. Recap: Sandy is heavy. 95lb is heavy. I suck at pistol squats.

I think there was a day I used to be funny. Unfortunately, that day is gone.

Live to Fight Another Day

It's been a rough week. I'm physically and mentally wrecked. And the scary part? I'm just getting started. I feel an avalanche of work coming down on me, and my knees are ready to buckle. So I'm giving myself a pep talk. It's sort of working. I've discovered that the major difference between Undergrad Amber and Grad Amber is a sense of self-discipline. Working ahead of time? Unheard of circa 2005. Circa 2010, I know better. Look Ma, I'm growing up.

This week has been crazy in terms of workouts. I taught my ATTACK class on Monday morning, then subbed on Monday night. Then took RPM on Tuesday morning, followed up with a heavy Crossfit metcon that evening. The past three days I've done one Crossfit WOD a day. I bought a purple bandana last weekend, in honor of Miranda Oldroyd. She's the bada$$ in the pic to the left. Unfortunately, the bandana didn't give me any superpowers. But it did make me work a little harder, if only because I didn't want to bring a bad name to the blessed bandana.

This weekend is going to be devoted to writing my second lit review. Of course, I need to finish the actual book on which I'm writing this review. I'm halfway through, and I really needed to cover some ground tonight. But my eyes. They just won't stay open. And I swear to all that is holy, my bed is CALLING me. I can really hear it.

This is going to be difficult.

Moving on. Fruity Cheerios are the best Cheerios. They taste like Fruit Loops, and they are supposedly healthier, although, I still wouldn't tout them as a "health food." But I tried them last weekend, and I'm a fan. They might even beat Team Cheerios. Do they even make Team Cheerios anymore? Geez, I loved those back in the day. And why the heck doesn't blogger recognize "Cheerios" as an actual word? Haven't those little o's been around long enough to warrant dictionary recognition? Where is the justice?

I'm out, peeps.

Hello October

Since I've last posted, we've gone straight through fall right to winter. Really. It was in the 30s this morning. THIRTIES. Oh well. I'm really not complaining. I love it. I'll take it as cold as it can get but without the frost on my car. I tend to draw the line at inconveniences to myself. But I do love a brisk morning.

Last week really was horrible. Thank goodness for my excellent time management skills, because without that claim to fame, I would have died. Literally died. From brain overload. But I'm happy to announce that I survived, and I also got the grade I wanted on my review and presentation. Whew. It's nice to feel like I'm doing something right.

And on the flip side, I can't dwell on that, because now here's a whole new week and I've got to start on that now. Remember that time management thing I was talking about? Yep. It's golden.

I'm about to jet off to campus. Back to the grind. Monday, please be kind.

This is the story of 8 strangers.

Not my most fabulous week. I've felt more than a little overwhelmed this week by all the tasks I have coming up. So much to read, so much to study. It never ends. And a Sunday where all I want to do is sleep is NOT conducive to me accomplishing any of those said tasks. I took about 3 naps today. Seriously. Three naps. Who does that? Probably someone whose brain has pretty much reached capacity I suppose. Or someone who had a little too much Patron last night.

I did enjoy the season finale of the Real World New Orleans. This is the first season I've ever watched, but man, I loved it. For some reason, I took a serious liking to those people. Well, save a few, but that's to be expected. Lucky for me, I can still follow all of them on Twitter.

Speaking of TV, all my fall shows are coming back this week. I took a few minutes out of my day last week to confirm the start dates and times of all of the winners I have decided to keep up on this season. Glee, The Office, Desperate Housewives. Anything else is icing on top of the cake.

And...I should probably go study. I need to get that printed on a t-shirt.

Squashes

Going into the 4th week and I think I finally see some routine in the chaos. I really can't believe I'm almost a quarter through the semester. Time flies when you're having fun. Read: Time flies when you have your face in a book for 23.56 hours of the day. I really am enjoying it though. And I'm finding that I'm becoming more interested in public administration/politics too. I realize that's backward. Aren't you supposed to pursue a career in something you already like? Well, probably. The point is, I was watching the Today Show this morning, and they were talking about Keynesian strategies and the state of the budget. And I didn't mute it. I find that the more I learn about something and understand it, the more vested I become.

Enough about that.

The weather today is a huge downer. I was going to hit up the 8a CF WOD, but I had no desire to go out in the rain. Although, now it's kind of died down. What a lose-lose situation. Because now I have to go run.

Win-win situation: Me making friends with the squash man at the north side farmer's market. Every week, I go see him, because he gives the best deal in town on winter squash. He charges not by the pound, but by the whole squash. $2 apiece. Squash peeps, you know how awesome this is. Butternut, acorn, spaghetti. You name it. Last week I bought 5 squashes. (Squashes? Really, is that how you write it?) Then he went on to tell me that at the end of harvest season, he's going to unload all he has left on me if I want it. This probably means I'm going to turn my balcony into some sort of cave-like squash menagerie. Hell, I might do that even without the squash Christmas that's about to come to me.

With that, I'm out.

Bring it, Tuesday.

All The Small Things

Week 1...check. I've made it, peeps. I'm down one week of grad school. I'm also down one week of Paleo. I'm happy to announce that both are going just swell.

I think I'm really going to enjoy my classes. One is a stats class. The other is is a seminar in public admin. And then the third is an online human resources one. A good mix of practical coursework and then some classical studying. I know it's just week one, so I these outlooks are subject to change. Duh. But it is definitely nice to be back in the swing of a schedule.

And Paleo? I love it. I've always been a healthy, whole food eater. But since starting this challenge, my energy has been through the roof. I'm not hungry at all. And if I do get hungry, I can eat. There's no restrictions on quantity, which for a growing girl like myself, is AWESOME. I really think that if I could choose a career and know without a doubt that it would be a success, I'd be a natural foods chef and open a restaurant. But I'm a chicken. Still though, I encourage anyone else to go start one. I'll be your first patron.

What have I eaten this week? Lots of eggs, chicken, and fish. Broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, winter squash, carrots, apples, grapefruit, cherries, bananas, blueberries, raw nuts, and anything else that's of the earth. No dandelions though. Or rattlesnake, which are both on the list of "approved" foods. Not kidding.

Anyway, after today's wod, I went to the farmer's market with my ma, which has very quickly become my Saturday morning tradition now. I love the farmer's market. No. I absolutely ADORE the farmer's market. It is like a street fair and grocery store all rolled into one. Today, however, I hit the jackpot. As I was picking out cucumbers, the vendor told me I could have all of them for $1. ONE dollar. Then he threw in all his bell peppers for another dollar! I walked away with two bags full of vegetables for two freaking dollars.

Shut. Up.

At the next place, as I was paying for my spaghetti squash, a man walked up to me and offered me a free seedless watermelon. I will give you three guesses as to what my response was to that, which really is two guesses too many.

I friggin' cleaned house. Holla. And yes, this was a highlight of my day.

It is totally the small things in life. I love it. I love today.

I hate so much about the things you choose to be.

God bless Toby Flenderson.

I've felt incredibly lazy this week. That's probably because I've BEEN incredibly lazy this week. Knowing that my life is about to get 10 times busier starting next week allows me the freedom to take spontaneous naps and watch all the reality television I want. Long live Bravo.

On a less lazy note, I've been super happy with my workouts this week. The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS on Tuesday morning, so I got up and went for a run. Ever since my injury I haven't really been running regularly, mostly because it's sort of depressing to be so far away from where I was. But sitting around feeling sorry for myself isn't the way to get back to tip-top shape. It'll be hard, but I'm ready to put in the miles. That said, I did a pretty solid 9-miler and felt okay with it. That and a PR on Fight Gone Bad yesterday were probably the workout-related highlights of my week. Oh, and Fran. Can't forget about Fran.

I did make several trips to campus too. I met with Dr. Patel on Tuesday about my GA duties. I'm going to be managing the database of MPA students and moving them from one program over to another. Microsoft Access and I are apparently going to become very good friends. I'll also be assisting with clerical stuff for the program and then doing some editing for the book Dr. Patel is co-authoring. All in all, not too bad. I'll be working 1-5 every afternoon. Class will be on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. I have an online class as well. Still teaching my Attack class on Monday at Ozark Fitness. Training for a marathon in October. And prepping for the Heart of America Crossfit competition in November.

And this is why I don't feel guilty for not being 110% productive this week.

Oh, and my Paleo challenge starts Sunday at 3:00. I'm positive I'll be posting my wonderful thoughts on that soon enough. I've been allowing myself whatever I want until then. Because it's gonna start to get ugly, folks. Real ugly.

So I guess for now it's back to my marathon of The Office. I'm cracking up at every episode. Like laugh out loud, crazy woman laughing. I really do think I'm hilarious.

Fran is not my friend.

After spending the majority of yesterday wondering if I really was too dumb to be a graduate student, I gave up hope of figuring out how to work my school email account on my own. So I drove my butt to campus today to get help from someone who knew what they were doing. Or really just someone smarter than me. It took 2 seconds. Seriously. Oh well. I also got a new student ID and picked up keys. That's really the only reason I feel official. KEYS. To a faculty suite in Strong Hall and to the GA office.

I hope I don't lose them.

Here is something strange. I don't remember the names of academic buildings on campus. It took me about 30 seconds before I could name Temple Hall. And I still don't remember the one by Siceluff. Not Cheek, but the other one. Really.

Something else. Bearmail doesn't exist. Neither do Zipcards. But never fear. We now have Bearpass Numbers and Bearpass Email and Bearpass Cards. Well, technically, Bearpass Cards are coming next fall...but still. It's so weird.

I'll now turn my thoughts to Crossfit, because that doesn't ever change. Today was a "choose your own adventure" day. Three benchmark "girl" wods were on the board: Helen, Grace, and Fran. I chose to take on Fran. 21-15-9 reps of 65lb thrusters and pull ups. So you do 21 thrusters, then 21 pull ups. Then 15 of each. Then 9. It's pretty much a death wish. I finished in 8:09, and I promptly collapsed on the floor. In my 2 years of Crossfit, I've never felt like I did today during that wod. I couldn't breathe and I swear my muscles were spasming out. I had a group of people around me yelling me through the last 18 reps. Not that I can really remember any of it. But it was a PR. Take that, Fran. You dirty, dirty hooker.

Also of note. Last week I gave my underwear drawer a makeover. I threw out every pair that I'd rather not be caught in in case of an emergency. Examples: car wreck, falling in my shower and having to have someone retrieve a pair for me, someone stealing my shorts while I'm taking a nap. The list goes on. I did go buy some new pairs to replace the old ones too. Just in case you were wondering.

Zing!

Fall-ish

I think I'll always be an academic at heart. Not for the obvious reasons, like how I'm brilliant or fantastically NYC Preppy or how I love to carry a stack of books around, but really just for the sense of starting over that it provides. Instead of a daily grind, I get to focus on a week. A semester. A year. It works out fabulously for my goal-oriented little self. Along with being an academic at heart, I'm also completely NOT enthralled with the monotonous. I am the most uncommitted person ever. Or, maybe I'm the most committed person ever, because I set goals, reach them entirely too fast, and then need something else. It may sound like a gift, but it's not. It makes for an anxious, antsy, seemingly flighty girl. I'm cursed.

If I could be completely honest, I'm scared to death about school. I'm scared that I'll hate it, and I'll have committed to another degree that I really could care less about. RIght now it seems like the right thing to do, and I know I'm so blessed to have gotten the GA position so that I can take some time to really figure out my life. But honestly--public administration?? Who DOES that? Policy analysis, personnel management. Good Lord.

Enough of the freakout. I'm still excited about a schedule. And school signifies fall for me. UGGs. Hoodies. Running without having a heat stroke.

I'd say sweatpants too, but I do enough of that already in the icebox that I call my apartment. I can't help that I like it like that.