need to get at it

Between ACPA and Drew being in town the running has fallen away a lot more than I wanted it to. This week has also been moving at about 500 miles a minute. At least it seems that way. It's just been a lot.

I did the bump up to a 5 minute run for the first time earlier this week. It was surprisingly easy for the first five minutes. I am going a lot slower than I initially was, but it's progress still. I am hoping that once I've got the distance down I can increase my speed slowly but surely as it gets easier. That's the natural progression, right?

I also am thinking about switching to running on the track every now and then. Out on the course I won't have the clock in front of me or the track of the treadmill propelling my feet behind me. I should prepare for that. The Huff, the on campus gym, has an indoor track. Maybe it's time to start transitioning to that? Oh magical interwebs, do you have an answer for me?

And I need a nap. Anyone want to work another couple of hours for me?

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? 

Normally, I'm off at 12:30 (so, right now), but one of my coworkers had a baby last night. While that's excellent, I've picked up extra hours everyday to make up for her absence. This is good because I'll get more money, but more tiring for me too. Oh, tradeoffs.

Also, anyone want to hang out this weekend? I have no plans and would like some. Any takers?

exhausted much?

So, I slept for 18 hours yesterday. Um, what? 

Apparently, Vegas, all the excitement of ACPA, coming home to finish my Greenbelt class (not the project - that's just starting), knowing I have an exam to cram for on Monday, and everything else going on since the start of February sent my body into crash mode.

I don't think I've ever slept so long in my entire life. My mother would be ashamed. She used to tell us naps meant we were being lazy. I have worked hard to rewire that notion. Sometimes, they are just necessary and that's ok.

After my greenbelt (LEAN/Six Sigma) class in the morning and lunch/work time with my group to get the project rolling, I went home for what I intended to be a brief nap followed by time at the library to study for my Adult Learner test. That was about 2:30. I woke up at 8:30, looked at the clock and said, "Nope, no studying today." I used the restroom, crawled back into bed and went back to sleep. I woke up again around 1:30 for another bathroom break, then I went back to bed until about 7:30 this morning.

I was tired. 

And for the first time in weeks, I woke up totally rested rather than dragging as if I hadn't slept. 

It was glorious and necessary, that much is obvious. At least to me it was based on the fact that my body allowed me to sleep for that long. Even when I stayed up for 48 hours straight on one of the trips from England (stayed up all night to try and make me sleep on the plane - it didn't work), I didn't sleep more than 10 hours. Now, I'm at the library studying for my test tomorrow. I'm pretty nervous about it because I really do not know what to expect. That said, I'll probably be here for another six or seven hours to get that figured out. I got here at noon (when it opened) and expect to be here until 10 or 11. Maybe later. They close at 2 on regular (non-finals week) Sundays. 

I promise to make a post or two about the awesome that was ACPA. I just figured a bit of a study break  was necessary as well as a longer post since ACPA kind of threw all that off. 

It's good to be back, I think :). 

Presentation time!

Ahhhh! We definitely present in 30 minutes... I'm so excited and beyond nervous. It's going to be good, I have no doubt of that. Dr. Q. Would never let any of her students fall flat in their faces, and I've rehearsed several times, so I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

Eek! Short post today, but I'll do a couple of long posts when ACPA is over and I've got more time.

PS. It's AWESOME.

Viva Las Vegas

So excited! ACPA today. I have to get through a 9 hour workshop and flight first, but then it's Vegas time.

You should be jealous. I would be. Promise to keep everyone updated on the awesome

technology-ness

Me thinks that the blogger app leaves something to be desired. I seems to work fairly well when I use it via my iPhone, but I'm not totally sold on its functionality on the iPad. This is especially strange when I consider the fact that they're the same app. I mean, it's not like they have a different version for different devices in the case...

Also, I am not typing this from my iPad Mini keyboard case. I originally had a regular iPad but after having a Nook Color (that I loved), it felt big, bulky, and was just not the right size for me. The original was hard to put in a purse and just take off. It was BOMB, let's be totally honest about that, but not the right size.

After Christmas, Kirby and I decided to upgrade to minis instead. It really is an ideal size for me. I have fairly small hands, especially considering that I'm fairly tall at 5'6", so the mini just fits better. I adore it.

As I've often talked about, I'm heading to ACPA and Vegas on Sunday. I've been told not to lug around my lap top, but rather to use my iPad with a keyboard case instead. So, I bought one. I'm typing on it now, and as a perfectionist, I'm struggling and enjoying it. The keyboard is, understandably, small. I think it will totally work for me, but as of now, it will take some adjusting to.

I'll keep you posted of my long term thoughts. I am sure it has you gripping your seats and begging for more. Clearly :).

The best laid plans...

Campus closed today at 1:30. Both tonight and tomorrow's performances of The Vagina Monologues were moved to next week. My reaction to this news is utterly mixed.

Next week - Sunday evening to be exact - I leave to go to Las Vegas for ACPA. I am thrilled about this. I had a really good meeting with Dr. Q. today. She's such a badass. Really. I want to be her best friend, know her entire life story, and geek out over the awesome research she does. I mean this in the most positive, least creepy way possible.

That said, because of the weather the show has been moved to the Tuesday and Wednesday of the week I'm going to be in Las Vegas. On a scale of important things in my life ACPA is significantly more important than performing in TVM. I would pick going and presenting over being in the show every time. This doesn't mean that I didn't put a lot of work and effort into memorizing, getting excited about the show, and planning a lot of things surrounding the show. It just means that I'm bummed. It would have been fun to put up on the stage for everyone to see.

Part of me thinks this is probably a really good thing though. I need to do some research for practicum with D. tomorrow. Now, I have some spare time to get on it. I'm not really in the mood to buckle down right this second though. Oh motivation, where have you gone? I think it's hiding. *sigh*

I am going to hit the researching at 4:30. I've got 45 minutes to find the illustrious motivation to work. That will work. Hopefully. :)

Is that really what I see?

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for the crazy busy ridiculous that has been my schedule.

Now, I may just feel that way because I stayed at my office until 11:30 last night to "finish" the prezi for ACPA. I'll be referencing Dr. Q and D. again in this post so if you're interested in understanding who I'm referencing and why it's a big deal for me, check out this post. So, I say "finish" with the quotes because Dr. Q. hasn't looked at it yet. She may totally hate it, which is def possible and kind of makes me want to throw up because I really want to wow her. D. offered to look at it before I email it over to Dr. Q. D. Is a bit of a prezi genius. If you don't know about prezi you should totally google it. If you don't have time for that, think way more awesome powerpoint. WAY MORE AWESOME.

I worked on it for a total of six hours yesterday on top of work and meetings and other commitments. I'm really proud of the work I put in. D. is a prezi whiz. I'm really thankful that she offered to look it over. I have to hope D. will like it, too. We've already covered that I think they're both awesome. 

Woosa. 

On another note that leads me to think there may be a light at the end of the tunnel, I started the laundry. I know that this may not seem like something worth celebrating, but I was in desperate need to get it done. With everything else going on in my life that has just been something I haven't had the time or the energy to deal with.  My mom is coming up this weekend to see The Vagina Monologues on Monday night. She hasn't done my laundry since I was 14. She offered to do it for me because of all the other stuff going on. I seriously almost had a mild freak out about it yesterday, but it's a-ok. It's started, I will keep it up, and it will be finished. Thank goodness. 

And now, I need to hit the books and run my monologue about 75 times. It's memorized, I just want to make it second nature. Soon it will be over, and just one more thing I've checked off the to-do list. That is something I find exceptionally gratifying. So, I'm keeping my eyes on the prize and trying to work through ... well, EVERYTHING. 

Geeking Out

If you haven't guessed it already, I'm currently in grad school. I'm getting a M.Ed. in Adult and Higher Education - I want to work at a university with students. So far I LOVE this program. We've got some real rock star professors who are really all that and a bag of chips. I also have really enjoyed my classes and the people in them for the most part. It's really exciting.

This semester I'm doing a practicum. I'm working in Residence Life on some assessment stuff. My practicum supervisor is someone I have been in class with before. I'll call her D. D is a doctoral student in program I'm in. I think she is kind of awesome. I want to be best friends with her and follow her around all the time. This is not meant to be creepy. I just think she's really cool. I like the way she thinks about things. She's funny, down to earth, and really easy to talk to. When I imagine my best version of myself there are parts of that picture that I've pictured because D has already begun to influence things I think about in a really good way. It makes me really happy that I have an excuse to hang around her when I'm working for her on practicum stuff.

Dr. Q. is one of the rock star professors in our program. She's dynamic, engaging, encouraging, and a top notch scholar. She really is headed towards being a super star in the field. I am working with Dr. Q. to present some of her research at a professional conference in Vegas in a few weeks. I don't know why Dr. Q. thought I would be a good person to offer the honor of presenting with her at a massive conference like ACPA to, but she did. I leapt at the chance to work with her. It's a big deal. I also would love to just absorb the awesome Dr. Q. has got going on, much like I would with D.

I am learning so much from both of them. Really and truly.

Dr. Q. is also the chair for D.'s dissertation committee. They work together fairly regularly. D has admitted to me that she is also kind of in awe of the awesome that is Dr. Q. This only further validates how amazing I think both of them are.

Today, D. and I were chatting after going over some stuff for my practicum assignments and we started talking about ACPA and Dr. Q. I confessed that I am so nervous around Dr. Q. because I want to make sure I do so much better than the minimum when presenting with Dr. Q at the conference. I don't want to do anything that could be even the tiniest blemish on her legit-ness (yes, that's totally a word). It's a big deal and I don't want to be disappointing, ya know? Then, D. told me that she and Dr. Q. have talked about me and how they're both impressed with the fact that I'm doing the work of a full time job on a 20 hour per week time frame with GA pay scale (insert dropped jaw and rapid hand movements while trying to refrain from jumping up and down). D. said, "Dr. Q. really likes you."

1. They talked about me! Two of my semi-idols from this program talked about me. 

2. I've impressed two people who I seriously look up to and want to impress so badly it kind of hurts. 

Hence, I am totally geeking out. Ah! 

Do y'all do this, too?