general life update

lessee...i've started running regularly again. 2 weeks ago i started with the 5 mins x 2.5 mins program (run 5 mins, walk 2.5 mins, repeat 4 times). moved up last week to the 7x3 mins repeat thrice plan, today started the 8x2 mins plan. today was rough. not sure if it was because of the extra minute of running (doubt it) or the cold (it was 26 degrees this morning when i ran) or the extra weight from the extra layers of clothes i was wearing because of the cold. whatever. it was hard this morning. but as usual, i was very glad to have done it.

also this morning, i weighed myself. i decided that i'm only going to weigh myself once a week--the ups and downs of weighing myself every day were getting to me. 154 lbs. down from 155.5 lbs this time last week. any motion down is good, imho. it's especially good given that i got a valentine's package from my mom this past week that included a bag of dove chocolate miniatures, and i ate the whole bag in one day. that's 1700 calories! yikes!

i had a committee meeting last week, finally, to get started (shoulda gotten started back in october!) on my major area exams. they are the last exams that a ph.d. student here has to take before being "abd" (all but dissertation). they're due in early may, so i've got to get my act together. today, i met with j.t. (my advisor), and we discussed my reading list and topics in a little more detail. it went well, and he seemed pleased with the work i had done on the reading list and with contacting sharon (who i hope to pull in as the "expert" on memory).

so in the next several days, my task is to talk to lila about doing a developmental exam, and get a reading list together for j.t. re parsing and for sharon re memory. oy oy oy. gotta start reading articles!

ever since early august, when i visited sarah and her parents in seattle, and heard about her mom carol's fabulous experience on an ahs volunteer vacation, i've been meaning to sign up for one. today, i did! i signed up for one in california as the first choice and in montana as the second choice. they're both in july, the one in calif is 2 weeks at the end of july, and the one in montana is one week right after my birthday. i'm a touch nervous about going for 2 weeks, just because it's manual labor and hiking/backpacking, and i've never done that much hiking/backpacking/manual labor at a time. but i'm young and healthy, and i'm sure it'll be fine. the calif trip is in the king range national conservation area, on the northern coast. i drove through that area (not that particular park, though) on my trip this summer, and it was bee-you-ti-ful, so i'm looking forward to being there again. the work site is apparently only a 15 min drive to the beach! so, i've gotta be in bikini shape by july. okay, i've got a goal.

i'm playing the cello again, which feels great. the motivation for that was me signing up to be a musician for a student production of twelfth night. a graduate education student from leeds, england (nigel) and his friend (akiva) started up a new shakespeare company on campus, and twelfth night is the first production. there will be music onstage, in the form of a string quartet. the show goes up feb 22-24, in the rooftop lounges in one of the high rises. nigel is a trip. he's all about funny obscure britishisms like "faff" as in "to faff about" (meaning: to fuss/dither about) and "bolocksy dammit" (in response to nigel sitting on his glasses and breaking them).

oh, right. valentine's day. this is the first time in...lessee now...nine (9!!!) years that i've been alone on valentine's day. what a pisser. last year, it's true, john and i were having problems (canceling a wedding'll do that to a relationship), but we were still together. actually, last year i sort of made him take me out to dinner, and it wasn't that fabulous of an evening. he hadn't made plans, and one day i said--so are we doing anything for valentine's day? so he made reservations. i felt bad about it later. shouldn't've forced him. oh well.

and speaking of valentine's day: i so want a boyfriend! i want someone to snuggle with, someone to kiss, someone to cook dinner with, someone to love. and love me. [sigh].