Caffeinerd

Wordless Wednesday: LXXVII

•December 2, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Family Christmas card: 2009

This year’s and last year’s photo by Adam

Lounging.

•December 1, 2009 • Leave a Comment

I’m finally watching The Holiday after a day that turned into something a bit more frustrating than expected.

Oh well. After a decent workout on the track (ran 1 mile in 8:35, interspersed the next two with some walking=3 miles total in 30 minutes plus a cool-down lap), a shower, and some pizza…I’m feelin’ a bit revitalized.

Plan for the rest of the night? Movie (maybe even another one after this?), online window shopping, working on an obnoxious assignment, laundry, dishes. And sleeping in is still on the table for tomorrow. Boo. Yeah.

On tonight’s window shopping radar:

1. Diaphanous Tunic 5. Pave Posts

2. Mersereau boot 6. Earth & Sea Posts

3. Hausteen boot 7. Wool Belted Military Coat

4. Plaza Cardigan 8. Nora jeweled flat

Posted in grad school, on the move, random-ish, the look

Typical Tuesday (+Perks).

•December 1, 2009 • 2 Comments

The day started with watching a very cute baby, Ms. Eleanor, and chatting with her mom—one of my former co-workers in the lab and a PhD student in the department. I’m really glad my schedule has allowed me to watch a cute 11-month old from time to time this semester…I miss my 4 favorite kids at home, and with only having adult clients this semester I would otherwise be cute-kid-moments starved.

The rest of my Tuesday is going to be a dud until well after dinnertime. Okay, excluding the delicious caramel brulee latte I’m sippin’ right now (Well played, Starbucks. Well played). After babysitting, I stayed up in the lab. There is very little work to do in the lab right now, which makes doing 10 hours a week pretty impossible. I get paid either way, but it would be nice to be, well, doing my job. Right now I’m sitting in class, bored. Then it’s time to lesson plan, change, and head over to the clinic for clients. I might go work out right after that so I can be home/in for the night around 7pm.

…So then I can FINALLY watch The Holiday. I’ve been saying it all week, but it’s time for it to finally become a reality. Last night I just finished my article critique draft, and I am DONE staring at a computer screen, at least for tonight. I may even sleep in tomorrow (I know, BOLD MOVE). I think I have a clear justification for relaxing a bit: MY BOYFRIEND IS IN FLORIDA. For a week. On “business” (okay, it is for business, but—judging from his last business trip—the evenings are closer to frat parties). I’m very jealous of the weather he’s experiencing right now. And just the traveling. I haven’t flown since July and have zero plans to do so anytime soon. Katherine and I have thrown around the idea of a vineyard-tour-California spring break as ours line up…something to consider!

Back to class. I suppose. The Christmas lights are definitely gettin’ plugged in tonight. I need some holiday cheer!

Posted in emotional blathering, grad school

New.

•November 30, 2009 • 4 Comments

Honestly, when I skim entries from last Spring and compare them to this semester…it feels like a whole new blog. And life.

Fall '09, I salute you! With a beer. Apparently on a Wednesday, at noon. Because that's how much you have rocked.

I barely mention school on here anymore. Why? Um, probably because I no longer spend my Sunday nights freaking out over my zillion clinic placements for the week (inevitably with a crying moment in there somewhere) coupled with horrible Aphasia assignments and Dysphagia labs. My Saturdays lesson planning, preparing materials, desperately wandering the Champaign Public Library’s children’s section are pretty much kaput. I don’t have Thursday meetings until 7pm, followed by 8AM Friday ones. Now I typically go to the clinic 2 days per week, as opposed to the Spring’s 4-5. I don’t spend 100 minutes in the car getting to/from a school placement every Monday; I don’t write 7 SOAP notes every single week. I don’t feel depressed.

So really it’s hard to complain about it much anymore. Yes, I have frustrating moments at the clinic (most of which wouldn’t be appropriate fodder for the blog). Yes, baffling moments with professors still occur. But…meh. Once you’ve lived through Spring 2009 in this program…things tend to roll off your back a bit easier.

That said, it’s finals time. School is back in the foreground for now, and mostly in the form of lots o’ papers. I got a decent start on them over break (well, finished one, but I think I’ll take a second look at it as it’s not due for 2+ weeks). Suddenly all I want to do is watch Christmas movies and, of course, it’s not quite the right time for it. When it comes down to, this semester has been going really well BUT the outcome is not at all set in stone. LOTS o’ points are still out there, undecided.

…But I’m definitely watching The Holiday today or tomorrow. DEAL WITH IT, ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS.

P.S. Someone is playing some sort of tribal/lute-involved music accross the hall. So I think I may have to choose a movie.

Posted in anxious girl, emotional blathering, grad school, self

Anthropologie Lust.

•November 30, 2009 • 2 Comments

I finally got my first anthropologie catalog a couple of weeks ago.

It has definitely joined JCrew on my list of “gorgeus but currently unattainable brands”. I am on a mission to visit both stores over winter break so that I know my size there—-JCrew especially has so many amazing online sales, but I never feel comfortable ordering anything as I haven’t purchased anything there since high school.

Oh, pretty dresses.

I’d also take some gold or grey tights. I’ll sleep in this or this. Stalk some sales. A retro cardigan, insane but beautiful ruffles, utter coziness (MORE COZY!)—-with this when it gets even chillier? Don’t mind if I do.

(Um, except I won’t. Christmas gifts for other people are definitely a priority right now…but it’s still fun to stare)

Posted in the look

A Few Moments.

•November 30, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Watching Adam play with/train the puppy he loves.

Grabbin’ a little together time while Arwen fetches.

Remembering 3 Thanksgivings and 2.25 years…so far!

Saying goodbye before hitting the road today…

…but knowing we have a sweet reunion weekend coming up.

12/18, you cannot arrive swiftly enough.

Posted in in love, nostalgia

Take THAT, Pumpkin Pie.

•November 29, 2009 • Leave a Comment

While my iPod finally syncs my 214-song Christmas playlist, I’ll pause and be grateful I made it back to the gym today.

Hello, delicious nemeses. You were worth it.

My only workouts over break were a 1.3 mile run with Adam + Arwen (that dog is fast; actually felt like quite the workout) and the hour-long hike with my dad. I also did some exercises on my dad’s (Chuck Norris-endorsed) Total Gym, but honestly that barely feels like it counts (the way I do it). Otherwise it was just FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD and BEER WINE BEER WINE. Accordingly, I was eager to get back to the gym when I got into Champaign today. I had thought it might be crowded with other Turkey-pumpkin-white zinfandel guilty students, but it was pretty empty for 9pm on a Sunday so I got to watch my hour-long episode of Brothers & Sisters without feeling guilty for hogging a treadmill. I started it off with a slow-ish 5K (3.1 miles in 31 minutes) and then walked the majority of the next half hour.

The stats

Duration: 1 hour 6 seconds

Distance: 5.25 miles

Pace: 11:25/mile

Calories burned: 646
I think I’ve been this weight for long enough now to know that I can easily maintain it with a few intense workouts a week. So now I have to decide if I want to actively set some sort of motivating weight loss goal and step it up a notch…or just go to the gym at least 3x a week and start working on toning (aka non-cardio) and not pick a number. We’ll see. Might wait on that decision until after finals.

Posted in on the move, self

Winter Song.

•November 29, 2009 • 2 Comments

This was by far my favorite new holiday song last year. Beautiful voices, lovely lyrics, haunting melody. And the music video is just plain adorable. Just in case you’re like me and in desperate need of a I-DON’T-WANT-TO-BE-BACK-AT-SCHOOL pick-me-up, feel free to enjoy!