11/6

Wednesday was a great day. In no particular order of significance:

• I bought some really cool things online. More importantly, I bought everything at 20% off of wholesale prices.

Smartwool NTS Midweight Tights

Smartwool ski socks (with skulls!)

Moving Comfort Cameo Racerback Bra (x2)

• I finished all of my Christmas shopping for my immediate family (no pictures or descriptions, just in case my mom becomes internet savvy enough to find — or refind — my blog).
• I only had to work at Fleet Feet until 3pm, thanks to the new scheduling system for part-time employees.
• I ate Thai food and watched The Office with Jeff and Lucas.
• I found out that I am a finalist for Teach for America. I will have an interview in early December. I am so very excited about this opportunity! I am keeping my fingers crossed.

On Thursday, I Officially Registered for the Boston Marathon. I have heard that there are fewer than 1000 spots left — so registration most likely will close before Thanksgiving. It’s hard to imagine that the race will fill that quickly. I registered in the nick of time last year, but I didn’t sign up until the last week in January.

I need to get my ass (and legs) back in gear now. I ran a little over 6 miles today. It felt a little difficult at the time, especially due to the wind, but I feel great now.

Oh and I have a bike — or, more correctly, the major parts of a bike. Jeff is going to put it together for me! More on this later.

11/2 (2)

Instead of grading, I have been watching YouTube videos. It is a productive night.

Oh hello celebrity boyfriend:

And a different kind of slow-dancing:

11/2

It’s funny how I can go from feeling financially destitute to fabulously wealthy (well, at least according to a grad student’s perspective) over the course of one morning. A glitch in the computer systems at the UofC meant that my monthly paycheck was not deposited to my bank account directly. That meant that I got to race down to the college to pick it up, hoping the entire way that today was not the day that my credit card bill, my rent check, etc were cashed.

(This might be the plot for the most boring suspense movie ever. The highlights would be me driving 55 down LSD or skipping up the steps in Harper.)

Anyway, now that I have deposited my paycheck — and the $11 that I won in a New Balance sales contest! — I feel like Scrooge McDuck. PBRs for everyone!

This is a picture of what my kitchen now looks like. On a side note, I don't think I realized until I was in college that a person (or a duck, for that matter) couldn't swan dive into a pool of coins without serious injury. "Oh....Florida."

Clearly I need to get a real job.

On Halloween, I went to go watch Jeff race cyclocross in Washington Park in Milwaukee. It was freezing outside. I am glad that my homemade cowgirl costume included tights and boots.

Jeff, looking quite dapper (and vaguely Amish) in his costume

His third hat is attached with a shoelace

I could see him coming from across the course

While I was watching the race, I ran into Michelle, a girl I knew in middle and high school. We swam together on the Express swim team, and we reconnected recently on Facebook. But I had no idea that she was going to be there that day! Her boyfriend also races in the Men’s 4s. Anyway, while the bikes were going by, we talked about running. Michelle and I are both going to be doing the Boston Marathon in 2010. It is nice to know someone else who is running it — and roughly at the same pace.

This was another spectator with whom I interacted

Jeff and I stuck around the park for a bit, to watch some of the other races and to consume some hot dogs and hot apple cider. Then, once we were back in Chicago, we both took a two-hour nap. I really had no excuse.

That night, we drove down to Hyde Park to go to a Halloween party thrown by Kathryn and Chris.

The beautiful party hosts

Two very different costumes (Steve, Lyubomir)

Kathryn and me, a few drinks into the evening

After a few hours, Jeff and I left to go to Melissa’s birthday party in Wicker Park. I had 4-5 drinks by then, which is an amount typical for my consumption over the course of an entire month. Woo. The following is Jeff’s summary of the second party: we arrived; I handed over a bottle of red wine; I took a cupcake in exchange; we left. In my defense, we stayed later than all of the other UofCers. Party people!

Speaking of fun times, I need to get back to grading first year papers on The Odyssey and Gilgamesh.

11/1

Happy November! I had a great weekend, which included a cross race in Wisconsin, a couple of Halloween parties, a viewing of Paranormal Activity, and lots of sleep. First things first, however: on Friday, I got a new haircut!

This is the best picture that I have of my hair, so far

I go see Steph (ineedsteph at gmail dot com), who works out of her apartment in Wicker Park. She is absolutely amazing. I recommend her highly.

10/29

There have been so many meetings, classes, and appointments in the last week.

What I would rather be doing...

This weekend is Halloween! I am looking forward to a crossrace and a couple of parties — and some time off of work.

10/24

I went on a run this morning with Ali, who is training for a half-marathon this winter in Tucson. It was really nice to run with  someone else. (This reminds me that I should start going to the group runs at Fleet Feet again, maybe on Monday nights?) We ran to Leavitt/Milwaukee to climb up to the Bloomingdale Trail. What a great running path! What a great run! In total, we did a little under 6.5 miles.

I am meeting some friends for dinner and a movie tonight. Before that, I am going to bake an apple pie (to take to work for my coworkers) and do some reading on the couch. I also want to look through Kathryn’s wedding photos, because she gave me a credit to purchase some of the professional prints. There are a couple of them that I love.

A ridiculous photo of two of my favorite people (and an iPhone)

The bride and me

The bridal side of the bridal party

Dancing (and making out! ha!)

Speaking of which, Jeff comes back tomorrow! Selfishly, I am looking forward to the end of his vacation.

10/22

I finally made it back to Bally’s today, after an embarrassingly long absence. I hopped on the stationary bike — and not the recumbent! woo! — and forced myself to do intervals for an hour: 3 minutes easy, 3 minutes medium, 3 minutes difficult (standing up in the pedals), 3 minutes medium, 3 minutes easy, etc. The bike display tells me that I averaged 20 miles/hour and burned 800 calories. I believe the former statistic more than the latter one. Perhaps it is time to put my Polar heart rate monitor back into practice. If the weather cooperates, I will wear it tomorrow on my run outdoors.

My ponytail has gotten rather long again, so I made an appointment with Steph, my favorite hairdresser, for next week. I think that I am going to chop it again. Maybe into a slightly inverted bob?

I am thinking about asking for a softer version of Kelly Clarkson's hairstyle.

Of course, I need to be careful that the bob does not become too inverted. I don’t want to end up looking like a certain celebrity mother.

Is this hair horrible? Yes. Is Kate horrifying? Yes.

Now it is time to put the chocolate chip cookies in the oven. I am productive today, if only in working out and baking (two admittedly counterproductive activities).

10/20

This already feels like the longest day ever, and I still have another 160 minutes (or two sections) of writing seminars to teach.

I am going to go for a short run around the neighborhood later tonight (3.1 miles, according to mapmyrun). Then I am going to crash on the couch, in front of the television. And eat a microwaved Lean Cuisine. And sleep.

10/19

I’ve been having some vivid dreams lately. The most common dream is as follows: I am back in school. I realize suddenly that it is the end of the term, and I have neglected to attend (or even forgotten that I was signed up for) one class. This class is always one in which the material is cumulative: calculus, Spanish, etc. I know nothing about the subject, and I will not be able to graduate unless I pass the final exam.

(In some versions of this dream, I realize that I no longer take these types of classes anymore. Sometimes this realization makes everything worse, as the exam in question is  threatening my ability not only to earn a high school diploma but also to return to my present situation — where I graduated high school, finished undergrad, and then moved to Chicago for grad school etc.)

The stress of this dream is compounded by the fact that the school building, which is almost always a version of Central Middle School, is nearly  impossible to navigate. There are multiple floors with one-way corridors, curving stairs, and abrupt dead-ends.

I know that this type of dream is pretty common. I remember attending a dinner party in Hyde Park where everyone — all of the professors and grad students — confessed to experiencing it at some point or another. I also know that my father has had it. We talked about it on the phone the other day.

The weird similarity, though, between my father’s and my version of this dream: we are both trapped in the labyrinths of the exact same school building. Central Middle School used to be Waukesha High School — Central campus, where my father attended 9th and 10th grades.

Anyway. I got a dozen calla lilies in the mail today! Jeff arranged to have them sent before he left on his trip.

So beautiful!

I love them — and him — so much!

10/17

I ran four miles around the neighborhood today. It’s funny how four miles can sometimes seem like twenty. But, for the most part, the run went well. I ran in my Inspires with green Superfeet (which I am still on the fence about).

The weather was in the mid-40s but sunny. I felt a little bit warm in tights and a technical long sleeve.

Funny side comment: the search term that generates the most hits for my blog is some combination of “home squat rack.” I think I have only talked about squats once or twice. Regardless, I tried to replicate this result, and I went back over twenty pages without any mention of this address. (Of course, writing about HOME MADE ASSISTED SQUAT OPEN RACKS HOW TO GUIDE will probably just increase my readership.)