the same day as the last time i blogged, i applied for a job. did a phone interview a few days later, a real interview a week after that, got a job offer the next day, put in my 2 weeks’ notice, found a place to live, and moved to central jersey. yeah. see? i’ve been busy.

been here for a little over a month now. the job is decent (basically i run the amazon.com operations of a sports collectibles/memorabilia company), but it’s not somewhere i want to stay forever. know what i mean? like it’s good. but i can’t see myself here for years and years and years.

…which is good, because it looks like i’m going to FSU in the fall!

still waiting to be absolutely sure, but i got my financial aid package about 2 weeks ago, and it should be enough. still waiting for them to decide if i’m a florida resident or not (technically, i still have a florida license and tags and all that, so i actually am – but i haven’t even been in florida for over 7 months… but they don’t know that). if they decide i’m a resident, i can definitely afford full-time tuition with the amount of money they offered. if not, i’d probably have to take less credits to start, but it could still work. just have to wait and see. also got into western carolina and college of st elizabeth, but ended up withdrawing my acceptance at WCU (not enough financial aid), and i haven’t heard about money from CSE yet.

haven’t told my boss about this yet. i’ll worry about that when it all becomes more definite. and much closer to the fall. i know in reality it’s not that big of a deal, but i kind of feel like they took a chance hiring me (i’m the only person they’ve ever hired that wasn’t an intern there first). but you know, i haven’t exactly been paid yet (allegedly that’s happening sometime next week), so i don’t owe him anything… yet. and yeah, i’ve worked 5 full weeks without being paid. that’s pretty lame. just waiting for my landlord to come bother me about the rent. she’ll get it when i get paid. sorry. the housing situation is pretty good (renting a room in a 5br house), but my landlord is kind of passive-aggressive and anal-retentive and antisocial. there, i said it. she likes to write notes on the white board in the kitchen telling people to do things that she could have done in the time it takes to write the note. and that drives me crazy.

it hasn’t been all work work work since i moved here though. you see, 2 weekends ago, i did this little thing i like to call the NYC HALF-MARATHON. seriously, best race of my life. both in terms of running and just enjoying it. SO much fun.

i mean, how often do you get to actually run down the streets of times square? how about never. didn’t stop smiling the whole race. it was sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. oh, and a new PR. 2:36:34… almost 14 minutes faster than my last half. my goal was 2:36 and well, that was pretty close. winning! (ps i ran 13.4 miles… i need to learn to run in a straight line)

started out in brooklyn. stayed overnight with a friend in park slope. got up a little after 5, grabbed some dunkin on the way to the subway, and hopped on the train. it was half runners, half people who hadn’t been to bed yet. interesting combo. switched trains at 86th, ended up in central park. guess what, it was cold out. like 30. and windy. since we had to check our bags by 6:45 and the race ended up starting around 7:45, that meant an hour of standing around freeeeeezing. just wanted to start already and get warmed up.

so eventually, we did. the first 7ish miles were in central park and they were kind of monotonous. probably because i knew what was coming next… and i was half awake at this point. first 2 or so miles i was frozen, hands were about to fall off (seriously considered picking up gloves off the ground and wearing them), nose wouldn’t stop running (actually, it ended up not stopping EVER), but after a while i got warmed up. headed out of the park eventually, around the 10k mark.

…and headed downtown! this part was so crazy. INSANE amount of crowd support. and a lot of tourists who were like, umm, what? it’s funny to run down the middle of a street you’ve only been down the sidewalks of. anyway, apparently i took a walk break right in front of the paparazzi. guess i didn’t see this one. haha.

it happens.

eventually, we turned and headed down the west side highway. at this point, my body started to yell at me. apparently this part of the race was on concrete (and the rest was on asphalt), which made it a lot harder. around mile 11 i was ready to drop, but i found the friend i had been staying with (she was cheering with the american cancer society group) and that helped a little. just running out of energy at this point. somewhere in mile 12, a group of random people (i think they were french) were handing out little cups of jellybeans. i told them i loved them. hahaha. omg, that is exactly what i needed. crossed the finish line and felt AWESOME.

i hate how the clock above the finish line makes me look slow. please note that it took me 16 min to cross the starting line

went out for brunch afterwards (pancakes and bacon!), took a bathroom break in the ritz-carlton (and stole napkins to prove it), then headed back to brooklyn, packed my stuff up, and drove back to jersey. a little sore the next 2 days, but NOTHING compared to my first half. i could barely move after that one.

seriously, awesome race. highly recommend it to anyone. i’ll probably put my name in the lottery next year, even if i’m living in FL. still on a runners high from it, and its been almost 2 weeks.

next major race is brooklyn half on may 21. i’ve been slacking on my training (only ran once since the half), so i need to get back on that. feeling pretty good about it though. also doing a few 5k’s between now and then (april 23 and may 7), but not racing those all-out, just for fun.

more to come later. i’ve rambled enough for now.

things have been… umm, i don’t know.

work is… ugh ugh ugh. still at the same job, and SO over it. the holiday season didn’t help. it’s amazing how rude people can be. especially rich people. that’s what i get for working in rich people land. anyway. working on getting a new job, but it’s going slowly. you know, haven’t gotten rejections yet, but haven’t been contacted for any interviews either. frustrating. and i have zero patience. just want to put in my 2 weeks and be done with it. it’s not even close to worth the redonkulously low pay, the 40-mile-round-trip commute, and the early hours. i deserve a lot better.

school is… well, i’m on sabbatical this semester. does that even apply to students? or just teachers? anyway. fall semester went great (hectic and stressful and tiring, sure) – ended up with a 4.0. but as luck would have it, guess what? i can’t afford classes this semester. was registered for ONE class (chem) up until 2 weeks ago, and had to drop it before classes started so i could get my money back. so yeah. all of that sucks. looking into transferring to a ‘real’ school for the fall (already have applications in at a few places… and i’ve already been accepted at western carolina), but of course none of that is going to happen unless i get a full scholarship somewhere, basically. so i’m trying not to think about any of this until i hear about financial aid. which isn’t until late spring at the earliest.

other things that are annoying? still living at home. been here 5 months as of today. sure, i’m grateful for a place to live and appreciate the rent-free thing. but really, i don’t know. somehow living here brings me a sense of clarity that i don’t get anywhere else – and clarity about MY life is really not that enjoyable. in short, i’m miserable. my self-esteem is practically nonexistent right now (half of that is thanks to work situation), i have no real friends here, and i’m just waiting for a chance to escape.

ok, now that all of that reality stuff is out of the way, how about some good news?

running the nyc half marathon on march 20. been training for about 4 weeks now, haven’t managed to seriously injure myself yet, and i’m up to 5 miles for my long run. might not sound like a lot, but it’s a start. running a local 5k in 2 weeks, hopefully the weather will cooperate. tired of this snow stuff.

anyone have some extra karma? i could use some.

maybe my next post will be less complain-y.

you really haven’t missed much. i’ve been doing the whole student thing.

oh, except this.

haha i look like poop.

i guess i ran a half-marathon. and by ran, well you can look at the clock and say, there was obviously some walking too. yes. a lot. because my achilles was just barely healed. so judging by what my garmin told me, i probably walked 2/3 of the race. so really, a sub-3-hour time is pretty impressive when you know that.

judging by the amount of gatorade left and the scenery, this is probably somewhere around mile 5.

2:50:07. i’ll take it. easy PR to beat next time, right?

i wasn't getting religious. this was literally the last 0.1 mile of the race. i was seriously rolling my eyes.

i decided near the end of the race that i wanted to shoot for under 2:50, but the ‘official’ time ended up being gun time, not chip time. and i was kind of disappointed. guess what.  it took me more than 7 seconds to cross the start line. i was near the back, so it was probably at least a minute or two. so there you go. mission accomplished.

i’m not exaggerating when i say this race was one of the most painful experiences in my life. first of all, i was seriously undertrained for it. started off great in my training – but then the achilles injury happened about 5 weeks before race day. longest training run to that point was 7 miles. and then i took 4 weeks completely off (no XT or anything) and got wayyy out of shape. managed to get in a few runs of a mile or two in the week before the race, but those only served to make me wonder if my achilles was healed, and to feel out of shape.

anyway, the first 5 or so miles of the race, i felt ok. the weather was sketchy that day (cool and a misty rain here and there, which is better than the steady rain i was expecting) so at least i wasn’t too hot. i felt slow and out of shape, but that was whatever. after 5 miles, the blisters started to set in – this is the less obvious problem with undertraining. ouch. once i got used to that, around mile 7, my achilles started hating me. and i figured, great, i’ve completely trashed it. around mile 10, it started to randomly feel better, and my hip flexor hurt like hell. mostly because i was doing a ton of walking at that point, and that tends to make it hurt. but by then, i really didn’t care, just wanted to finish the race. so i basically dragged myself around the streets of harrisburg. i was excited to see the ‘mile 11′ marker (might have even done a fist pump or something) because that represented a personal distance record, and the last 2 miles were just a mental battle because i was in so much pain.

anyway. managed to finish. my mom was standing right near the finish line (it was a small race) and i literally just fell into her arms and started bawling. neither of us are entirely sure why, but i’m pretty sure i was just completely drained emotionally and physically. i wasn’t upset or anything like that, just relieved to be done.

from there, we found bfast (i had pancakes, or waffles, i don’t remember, but they were good) and drove home. and as soon as i got home and tried to walk up the steps, my achilles decided it HATED me. so i figured that i completely destroyed it. turns out it was fine, but it was out of commission for the rest of the day. i was really sore the next two days (my back was the worst), but didn’t actually injure anything, so that’s good.

and i got a pretty medal. it’s now hanging right in front of my desk to remind me that i can do anything i put my mind to. and i already have plans for a bunch of half marathons next year. bring it onnnn.

oh, and when i say ‘desk’, i really mean…

yeah, that’s not a desk. but it’s what i have to work with.

but see? i was studying! school is going well. ended up with 4 classes – foundations of nutritional science, dietetic foundations, world literature 1, and abnormal psych. nutrition and dietetics are on tuesday nights, world lit on wednesdays, and psych is online, so it turns out i only have to commute 2 nights a week now. so i guess it’s a blessing in disguise that i got dropped from that chem class.

dietetics class is pretty good, basically it’s learning about our future career. which is kind of silly because i already have researched it enough that i know about it. but anyway. the prof is cool (she’s my advisor), but there are some annoying people in the class. you know the type. know-it-all’s, but community-college style. i just try to ignore them. and so does the prof.

nutrition class is… something. the prof is indian, so i can only half understand what she’s trying to say. but i don’t actually need to understand her, since she’s lecturing (by which i mean, reading) straight out of the book. so last week i finally realized that, since i take ridiculously good notes from the book, i should just bring those and add anything i might have missed, instead of trying to take notes from what she’s saying. yeah, works a lot better.

world lit is good, the prof is hilarious, i’m just not a big literature person. but i need that class for my ‘diversity’ elective, so i’ll roll with it. it’s not bad.

psych just started this week, but it’s completely self-paced, i just have to complete the 7 tests online by the end of the semester.

already made my schedule for next semester – registration is in about 2 weeks. looks like i’ll only have to be on campus on tuesdays and thursdays. and hopefully i’ll be living over there by then. just gotta save up some money. planning on taking english comp 2 (blah), chem (for real this time), food service management, and life cycle nutrition. might add another class in there if i think i can afford it, but we’ll see about that.

oh, and i have a job now. working at sports authority (again). good to know that i can still get the same job i had 4 years ago. bahahah. but it gets better. i’ll be cashiering until the end of the month, even though there aren’t a lot of hours to go around. then a position is opening up in receiving. full-time. weeeeeeee. only problem is that i have to figure out how to change my current sleep schedule (something like 2-11am) to one that involves me getting up around 5, because i’ll be working 6am-3pm. at least i have a few weeks to figure that out.

now i’ll leave you with this lovely picture of me from wednesday. running in the rain is sooo attractive. oh, and by the way, i’m officially running the MCM 10k (transferred my registration from the marathon… i’ll do it next year, i swear!) on halloween, so i’ve been making a half-assed attempt at getting back in running shape. so far so good. still slow, though.

ok byeeeeeee.

i promise to do a better job blogging now. i don’t have an excuse now that i’m not working 8942394783204832 hours a week.

so.

i said bye to florida (it wasn't really that difficult).

and i drove a lot.

and now i am home. and i wouldn't suggest trying to take a pic while merging onto the blue route. bahahah!

anyway, finally getting settled in at home. i’ve been here since early evening on tuesday. i’ve had one night of classes so far, and i think it’s going to be a good semester! i did have a little issue on thursday night – went in to switch a class to the online section and oh, no, the lady says i can’t do that, because all of my courses have been dropped. ummm what? yeah, apparently when i added a class the day before, she was just kidding when she said i didn’t need to pay anything right then. because when you drop below 50% paid (and i did) the computer system nicely drops all your classes for you. so that was um, awesome. managed to get all my classes back except chem – in the hour and a half it took me to drive to school (let’s not talk about the shore traffic), not only were my classes dropped, but someone picked up my spot in chem, and there were no open sections left. awesome.

in retrospect, maybe it’s a good thing. i can still sell back those books (about $100 back in my pocket), and i can take that class next semester and still graduate on time. and now i only have to commute to school 2 nights a week (tue & wed) instead of 4. and the plan is to live much much closer next semester, so even if i have class every night, it’s a completely different story. so now i’m taking 4 classes, one of which is online in nov & dec. i think i can handle that.

you’d think with nearly a month of silence i’d have lots to say today, but i don’t. i’ve been sleeping too much (apparently it is possible) and being lazy and quite frankly, i’m uninspired.

last weekend i headed up north to see some of my favorite people in the world!

hopped on a super-early flight (6:15am? why do i do this to myself?)…

sunrise over whorelando

…and got to philly before 9am. since the friends who were picking me up weren’t there yet, i made myself comfortable in the middle of the airport (when did they get rocking chairs? are they trying to be like charlotte?) and mooched off the free wi-fi. eventually got the call that they were there, threw my stuff in the car, and we were off to south philly to pick up lauren (if you’ve been following along, she’s the one that got married just after new years – one of my floormates from freshman year)!

since i had already been up for 6 hours at this point (and everyone else was ready for their first meal of the day), we hit up green eggs, which was just around the corner from lauren’s apartment. omg, amazeballs. philly peeps, if you haven’t been there, you gotta. i had the quinoa porridge, and i’m pretty sure i said out loud that i wanted to bathe in it. it was that good. although, in retrospect, i don’t think bathing in it would have worked very well.

maia (another floormate from freshman year – and one of my roommates junior/senior year) ordered the lox & bagel. which is weird, because she used to be a vegetarian (for ethical reasons, but she likes meat), but now she is totally not (judging by the fact that she also had fish that night and bacon the next morning, ha!). amanda (freshman/junior/senior roomie) got some type of omelet, and lauren had one of the specials that wasn’t on the menu (and i have no idea what it was, but apparently it was very good).

once we were in proper food comas, we headed back to amanda’s car, and set off for binghamton! you know, it seems like it should be a lot further, but it’s only 3 hours from philly. easy drive up the schuylkill (did i really just use those words together), northeast extension, and 81. pretty boring drive, but scenic. was glad when we got there, though.

checked into our hotel, primped a little, and headed over to, well, the reason we were there in the first place.

photo obviously borrowed, because my camera was hating life that day.

kristin and joe’s wedding! kristin was my other roommate junior/senior year (4 of us lived in a 2br apt), and we actually shared rooms (and managed not to kill each other) for 2 years. basically the 2 of them met on facebook – sounds weird, but totally true. they went to the same high school, but joe was a year ahead of her, and i guess they never really knew each other – but he found her on facebook during our junior year and they started talking. and well, a little less than 6 years later, they’re married! both of them were SO happy, and it made me happy to see kristin happy again (her mom passed away last fall), so it was a really amazing ceremony, and the reception was a lot of fun.

wish i had been less tired though – when you get up at 3:30am, a 5pm wedding is fine, but you start crashing around the middle of the reception. but i rallied, and managed to make it through the whole reception (i guess the booze helped, too). really enjoyed myself – wasn’t always the case with lauren’s wedding in january, but to be completely honest – i was in a bad place at that point (had just, for all intensive purposes, had my heart broken).

anyway, it was a great wedding and a fun night, and i am so happy to see one of my best friends as happy as she is. after the reception, the rest of us all decided that kristin had truly gotten everything she always wanted – to live at home in binghamton, the guy, the job (she’s a PT), and an awesome house (more on that later). at first, i told them i was jealous of that. but now i realize that i’m jealous that she’s always known what she wants. i’ve barely figured out the career part. still trying to figure out the rest, and you can’t get what you want until you know what you want. deep, i know.

i love both of them, and wish them the best in everything. they’re the kind of people who love each other so much that they make you want to be in love. so corny, but true. and i am so happy that they found each other.

the next morning, we headed to bfast at a diner downtown (i use that term loosely, because downtown binghamton isn’t exactly midtown manhattan, if you know what i mean). then we headed over to kristin and joe’s new house, to help them unload gifts and such, and socialize a bit. the house is so cute, lots of little nooks and crannies, and they know exactly what they want to do with each room. it made me want a house. which isn’t going to happen for a looooong time, if ever.

we had to get on the road again, so we said our goodbyes, and headed back to PA. this leg of the trip was pretty boring. hadn’t slept great the night before, so i just wanted to be home. luckily i got dropped off first, at my mom’s house! even though i had just been home about 2 1/2 weeks before, it was good to be home again. relaxed for a little while, then, well, i had a 7-miler on the training schedule. so i did it.

looking back, probably wasn’t one of my greatest decisions. you see, pennsylvania is hilly. florida is not. regardless, i did the 7 miles (pretty slowly) and felt fine. until 4 days later, when i got on the treadmill for an easy 3-miler that turned into an extremely painful 2-miler and a messed-up achilles. basically felt like a big cramp in it, and it hurt even to walk (excruciating if i tried to stand on my toes). well, that was wednesday, and as of today, i think i’m back to about 75%. might try a short run tomorrow, we’ll see, but i missed the moss park forest run 10k that i was supposed to run today, so i’m a little bummed about that.

anyway, after my run on saturday, i begged my mom to make something with protein in it (she had walked behind me for the second half of my run – she walked around 3 miles! so proud of her), so she made me a 4-egg omelet, and told me there was no way i was going to be able to finish it. oh yeah? i demolished it AND a bagel. she clearly has not met me after a long run.

got to bed as early as i could that night, another early wake-up in the morning (flight was only 6:45am this time, but still). left the house at 4am, and guess what? we definitely got pulled over by a cop a mile from our house. they were clearly giving someone a sobriety test in the middle of the main road, and they were blocking half the road, so we turned at the street before to go around it. well apparently we didn’t use a turn signal and we were speeding (who isn’t at that hour?) so they decided we were drunk. not so much. i think they were really disappointed to see a 60 year old and her daughter. hah. so they let us go, and we headed to the airport, where i got there in plenty of time, relaxed in a rocking chair with the wi-fi again, caught my flight back to florida, and went straight to work (ew).

by the way, i was able to nap a little on both flights, which never happens, but was obviously amazing, because i would have been exhausted if i hadn’t.

so, about work.

apparently the ONE person i told that i was leaving told EVERYONE. but she twisted it to make it sound like i was a total asshole – basically that i wasn’t going to tell anyone until the last day, and that i was basically going to screw them over. ugh, that’s not it at all. the only reason i’m staying around until the end (ok, other than the paycheck) is to NOT be that person. so now i have to tell my boss, even though he already knows, just for formality’s sake. this is why you shouldn’t tell ANYTHING to interns, especially ones that come in hungover every day.

i did talk to our business manager though (yes, the crazy – we were the only ones working that day, everyone else was in tampa) and she completely understands where i’m coming from. and that i had no intention of being a giant jerk, that i was honestly just waiting to talk to our team president (because he was the one that hired me full-time), but he hasn’t been around in forever.

luckily i had the day off yesterday, so i get a 3-day weekend to deal with everything. talked to my landlord yesterday, apparently i was supposed to give 60 days notice (maybe i should have paid attention when i signed my lease?) and i’d have to pay 2 months rent plus fees for breaking my lease, so we decided it would be just as well to keep paying my rent like i’m still living here through the end of my lease (oct 31). but i’ll be turning in my keys at the end of this month. yeah, it kind of sucks to be paying rent for 2 months for a place you’re not living in, but it is what it is. i won’t be paying rent at my mom’s, so i guess it’s a fair trade. and i did consider subletting, but it’s in my lease that i can’t do that, so whatever.

time to go get some packing/cleaning done. yeah, i know i don’t move for another 3 weeks, but i have exactly one day off between now and then (the 21st), so might as well get as much as i can done now while i still have time.

truth is, i haven’t been especially busy lately. just lazy. at least i’ve been taking pics with the intention of uploading them, right?

currently battling a lil summer cold. i always forget how much i hate them until i get one. no big deal, just a sore throat and tired action. but still, wah. i hate being sick. so i’ve been doing a lot of this today:

water is always better with lemon slices. and even more better when consumed from a phillies cup.

5 weeks left in the sunshine state. still haven’t put in notice at work, mostly because i don’t care, and i don’t think anyone else does either.

went for a very interesting run on friday. you see, we were supposed to get a decent amount of rain from tropical storm bonnie. it was pretty pathetic. but anyway. i was going to get my run in, so i headed over to the fitness center in my complex, which of course was locked. i was kind of pissed, since it’s supposed to be unlocked from 7am-9pm, and it was definitely only like 3pm, but whatever. i was ready to run, so i decided to run outside. it was only raining a little, no big deal, and i was only doing a 2-mile loop – so if it got really bad, i’d never be more than a mile from my apt.

what really happened was, it started pouring after about a mile, and i took a break at about 1.5 miles just to get out of the rain. there’s a public beach right where i cross the main street for my last 1/2 mile on my regular 2-mile loop, and i’ll usually stop there and refill my water or go to the bathroom if i need to, since there’s a little building with bathrooms and water fountains and stuff. well this time i just went there to hide from the rain for a second and regroup for that last 1/2 mile.  meanwhile, there were surfers going out to the ocean, in the pouring rain. after the rain let up a little, i went over to take a look at the ocean, and uh yeah, it was pissed. like old man and the sea type stuff. anyway, decided to just finish up the run even though it was still raining pretty hard, and actually wound up having a decent run – about a minute faster per mile than i’ve been running lately (which is usually in 85/sunny/humid).

yeah, i looked awesome.

but this is how i really felt.

i know, i’m ridiculous.

no joke, as soon as i get back to my apt, throw my wet clothes in the dryer, and put on my robe, the sun comes out. and it hasn’t rained since. you have got to be kidding. but hey, at least it made for a good story.

oh, and then when i went to retrieve my clothes from the dryer, guess who locked herself out of the apt? i knew it would happen eventually. i take my keys off the keychain when i run, usually remember to put them back on, but i threw them on the floor and took the keychain and no keys with me. oops. at least it happened during business hours, so all i had to do was walk across the complex and get the spares from the office.

currently on day 4 of a 4-day weekend from work (for no reason other than a bunch of interns were going home for a long weekend so i could get away with it) so i’ve actually been cooking real food. i know, weird.

turkey chili. nom.

study snacks with a side of chem.

totally necessary sammies and blue corn chips after a long/frustrating morning of dress shopping.

saturday night dinner preparations.

…and prior to eating every last bite. gnocchi with cheese, fried plantain, and yellow squash (cooked in italian dressing).

only thing left on the agenda for today (besides eating, of course) is my ‘long run’ for the week. planning on 5 miles. waiting until just before sunset though, because i don’t feel like hating life for the entire 5 miles. sunset is the least awful time of day to run here (since it doesn’t cool off at night and is the most humid in the early morning), so sunset it is. this will be my longest run since my 10k at the end of feb, so i’m not gonna lie, i’m a little anxious about it. hopefully it will be fine. not trying to break any world records, just want to pace myself well, i’ll be happy with anything under an hour.

officially registered for school. i’m officially official. oh, except that part where i need to put in notice at work. hah. i’m in no hurry, there’s still 6 weeks to go, and i don’t careeeeee.

yeah, things got REAL. i had to fork over an entire paycheck for tuition. dayummmm.

gah!

looks like i’ll be taking 4 classes this fall – chem, intro to nutrition, dietetic foundations, and foundations of nutritional science. i was supposed to meet with the program director on tuesday, but ended up having to settle for just a generic academic advisor, since the schuylkill expressway decided to hate me and be closed and make it take 2 1/2 hours to get somewhere that should have only taken an hour. that being said, i showed up for my noon appointment at 1:30, she was off teaching class, and i figured it would only make sense to actually register for my classes before heading back to florida the next day. soooo i did.

classes are all at night (mon-thurs), so now i just need to find a job. now accepting suggestions. i’d rather do something related to what i’m going to school for, even though i’m not necessarily qualified, but i haven’t found much. worst case scenario, i can just temp (did that in high school and it was fine), but i’d rather be doing something i enjoy, you know?

have i mentioned that i move in just over 6 weeks? holy crap.

i’m pretty sure the next few months are going to be a blur. between now and moving back home, it’s a lot of work, with another trip back up north for a friend’s wedding in the middle of all that. then there’s the whole driving back up i-95 with my entire life thing, and starting classes the next night. less than 2 weeks after that, i run a half marathon, then the next weekend mom and i road-trip it to tennessee for another wedding. probably a 25k race in jersey 2 weeks after that, followed by my bday and marathon 4 weeks after THAT. and once everything settles down, it will be november. craziness.

would you like some random pictures? yes, yes you would.

view out the back door at home. please note lovely brown grass.

wawa within walking distance of school is clutch, especially when it's 4pm, you just finished registering, and haven't eaten anything since 10am.

lunch is served.

i guess i got bored driving through philly.

...and then i got home and ate everything in the house.

back in the sunshine state, catered work dinner. ehhhhh.

evening snack, desktop dining at its finest.

all together now.

back to work. i didn’t think it was possible for my intern to be any grumpier than he was yesterday, but he is. even after getting to come in at noon today. dude, i don’t want to be here either, but you need to take a chill pill.

yeah, i know your first thought is, you went out too first in that first mile and crashed. because that’s exactly what it looks like. the real story is, there was only one water stop (at 1.5 miles). and since most races (except this one, apparently) around here tend to have way more water stops than necessary, i decided not to carry water (even though i drink a LOT of it when i run). um yeah, bad plan. i was dying. so there was a lot of walking happening, and i was way slower than i wanted to be. and grumpy.

i’m sure it also didn’t help that i was running (literally) on about 3 hours of sleep, woke up with a stomach that was also grumpy, and had to wait in line for a porta-potty and therefore didn’t get a good warmup or stretch in. ugh.

whatever. i still had some fun (i think) and i suppose i’m glad i did it.

so then i had a self-timer photoshoot with myself.

(side note: this is the first time i’ve worn the race shirt IN the race. allegedly it’s bad luck. maybe i believe that now. either way, it’s the first singlet i’ve owned, and it was pretty clutch for a humid florida july morning.)

i am so ridiculous.

i look like such a diva in that one.

oh, and i told you i’d carbo-load last night.

see?

not pictured: food coma.

this time next week i’ll be at home in pennsylvania. words can’t explain how much i need that. i am beyond burnt out. and i just don’t want to be here anymore. 8 weeks from tomorrow, i’m outta here. but for now, 4 days at home should help.

one of the few things i’ll miss about living here is the local running scene. but you know what? there are runners and races up north too, and they don’t have to (mostly) all be smashed into the winter months. got an email newsletter today and realized that i have off tomorrow morning and was considering doing that race at some point, legs are feeling alright, so why the hell not?

not trying to set a PR, no sense in trying to top that crazy 5k in april while i’m marathon training. i’ve got a time goal in mind, but i’ll keep it exactly there for now, since i’m just going to run it for fun. weather looks like it’s going to suck, 50% chance of tstorms (yes, at 7:15am). regardless, i’ll have fun.

i’ll still have some mileage to make up from this week (haven’t run since tuesday), so i guess i’ll try to get that in either as a cool-down when i get home from the race tomorrow, or sunday morning before work (more likely).

yes, i have work sunday morning. probably our biggest game of the year is that night. have i mentioned i can’t wait to NOT work in baseball? normal-ish hours and my schedule not being set in stone a year in advance… that will be pretty nice.

time to carbo-load. or just eat a pile of gnocchi and call it carbo-loading. because really, who carbo-loads for a 5k? well i do, if it’s an excuse to eat a pile of pasta.

no. just busy. i swear. stupid work eats my life. reason number eighty billion i cannot wait to make this career change.

going back to school is this close to being official. still haven’t registered or paid money, so of course it’s not 100% yet, but let me tell you – it’s definitely happening. i’ll be heading home next saturday for a few days and registering for classes while i’m there. getting back to florida the next wednesday morning and oh you know, putting in my 6-week notice. how awesome is that? i’ve only told one person at work, because everyone else has big mouths.

still have yet to determine how many classes/credits i’ll take this semester, but i’ll probably be part-time to start (10 credits?). also need to figure out the work situation, i’ll need to be making money, but i can’t really start applying for stuff until i know my schedule.

seriously excited, though. ready to start the next chapter in my life (and put a toxic job and people behind me) and do what i really want to be doing, rather than what my resume and degree say i should be doing.

marathon training officially started last monday. crazy. basically i’m doing 19 weeks – the first 12 are training for the half-marathon, then i throw in some long runs, taper, and go run a marathon. oh and i’ll be doing a 10k in orlando in the beginning of august.

legs have been so far so good (knock on wood), my biggest problem has been the weather.

yeah, stupid digusting humid irritating florida summer weather, i’m talking to you. this photo shoot commenced after a 2-miler that should have been 3, which means i need to add a mile to tomorrow’s run. bah.

i’ve also been cooking random things. on the occasion that i’m home for dinner, that is.

meet eggplant fries. bootleg ones.

who needs eggs and bread crumbs when you have egg whites and bisquick?

not this girl.

so before they went in the oven, i had my doubts.

buuuuut they were actually edible.

& apparently pretty good, because i had the leftovers the next night.

i also ate fruit salad. 21 oz of it, to be exact. yes, i weighed it. it was a beast.

not to be outdone by tuesday night's pasta monster.

july is going to be a crazy busy month. including 11 home games, not one – but two – trips up north, a college roomie’s wedding, and a road trip to pensacola. it has to be better than june though, a month i spent wanting to constantly punch myself in the face.

now if you’ll excuse me, i’m going to go creep on the online registration server and make sure the sections i want are still available. such a creeeeeeper.