Mischief Managed

The title of this post just seems oddly appropriate.

Let me just say... I feel a WHOOOOOLE heck of a lot better now than I did when I made that last post.
SO. MUCH. BETTER.
Accomplished. Content (and I don't think that's sugar talking, either - I had the feeling yesterday, too).

Long story short: I got our hotel room for Disneyland taken care of.

I was really starting to worry that nothing would be available because I listened to my husband and waited to book a room... And then I forgot about it, so it's not like I can blame it all on him.
It's within walking distance - about half a mile from the start line. And... Is really pretty. I looked at the pictures of the hotel. Our room has a king and a double. DH joked that we could sleep on one bed and crash on the other after running.

Yeah, I'd already thought about that, and thought that it sounded pretty reasonable.
After the Princess Half, we all went back to the hotel room and just... Crashed. I was out for at least an hour or two.
Runner problems, huh?

At that time, I also took care of theme park tickets. I still have to figure out dining plans, and where the post-race celebratory dinner will be - I'll talk that over with the hubs later. Vegetarian husband = some restrictions on where to go. Although some of the places look rather promising, and I think he'll like them :)

I know time's running out on raising money for the ATCP... But I'm feeling better about that, too. Not so much "I've given up", but more of realizing just how much I actually had control over with that whole deal.

Even with the Disneyland stress, it's been a good couple of days.

I was hoping to hit 100 miles this month - but 50+ is definitely where it's going to be.
I'm contemplating having a couple really strong weeks - there are only a couple weeks left in the month, anyway! We'll see how it goes.
I'm definitely thinking a run later tonight. But not too late - gotta get plenty of sleep. I've been up late reading the last couple days. My guilty pleasures :)
Courtney Milan just released The Heiress Effect. And shortly after, Reeni Austin released More Than a Maid.
I've been looking forward to both books, and I pretty much devoured The Heiress Effect. Loved it. I'm now about, I dunno, 30% through with Reeni's book... I'd say, so far so good. I've had a few issues with it, but nothing really major that wasn't later addressed in the book.

That said, I think I'll get back to reading now. And a run tonight sounds like a really good idea :)

The last first day of my program!

I'm gonna be completely honest, I hope wasn't my last first day of a semester in my education ever. I think I mentioned a while ago that I'm currently waiting on a decision from three doctoral programs... I'd forgotten what it was like to just... Wait. I've been checking on my applications for over a month now, and the status shown online still says the same thing:

Submitted.

It's a relief to see that word when you're concerned about whether or not a test or homework assignment got turned in, but not when you would like it to say "Under Review". I'm hoping to find out something (positive) soon.

Today (that is, Monday, not Tuesday, since it's after midnight) was my first day back at school this semester. And my last first day for my current school program!

The day as a whole started off pretty nicely. Got to my internship, did our morning meeting, ran my group... Then I started on paperwork and I thought I was going to die.

Ok, not that bad, but long story short? Cramps + IUD don't mix. I kinda felt like I was being crushed from the inside.

I should clarify, now that I have the IUD my menstrual cramps don't feel like the usual menstrual cramps. Hell, if I have them I don't notice them. All I notice is THE SQUEEZING FEELING. Yes, all bolded, larger font, and in caps is a start at being sufficient enough to describe it. Note that I said "a start".

I ended up heading home before lunch to hopefully find some food I could stomach so I could take 800 mg of ibuprofen (yes, you read that correctly: 800 mg), and get some sleep with the hope that I wouldn't oversleep my first class back. Or, you know, vomit.

I have to say, nothing makes me feel quite as... Pathetic. Yes, pathetic. Nothing makes me feel quite as pathetic as knowing that not only did I bail early because I had cramps, but that I had to take a doctor-approved dose of a pain reliever (a pain reliever that often isn't recommended for runners, unless I'm mistaken - I've heard both ways) so that I would quit feeling like my uterus was about to be sucked out of me. Which already sounds forceful and gross and agonizing and all that other (not-so-) fun crap.

On the plus side, I restarted a book I'd read (and loved) previously. Any romance novel fans, Jennifer Crusie fans, or... I don't know how to define what Bob Mayer writes, but Bob Mayer fans... If you haven't checked out Agnes and the Hitman, I HIGHLY recommend it. Especially if you've got a good sense of humor. Southern mob, a hot hitman, good food, a dog named Rhett (yes, Rhett, as in Gone With the Wind Rhett), and swingin' frying pans!

Then I got my nap, and all was well.

As far as classes go, I'm really looking forward to this semester. Not just because it's my last semester before I graduate with my M.S. (knock on wood! Comps are next month!), but because so far classes are looking good! Granted, I've only got two classes this semester, and I've only had one. But the benefit to being so far along in my program is that my internship class? There are only 8 of us, if you include our (pretty cool) instructor. My Human Growth class is on Tuesday evenings, so I have yet to experience it, but I hear it'll be pretty easy. Mostly writing. And I took a Human Growth course in undergrad, so here's hoping that helps.

It's interesting, though: There's no required book for this class. The Blackboard shell isn't even online, so I don't know who is in my class, although with some hunting I can figure out how large the class is... It looks like there are 24 people (including myself) in the class.

My internship may very well end up leading to a job. I'm unsure of how I feel about it. On the one hand, I spend 30+ hours a week there, and it would be lovely to be paid for it. On the other hand, I know good and well that not only am I waiting on doctoral decisions, but that if I get accepted I may not be able to work there. Or if I do, it will have to be part-time - which I suppose isn't horrible. Let's be honest, that's not bad at all.

Now on to running!

What, you didn't think I could make it a whole post without talking about this journey, did you? ;)

Ok, ok, I thought I could, but we're getting down to crunch time with the countdown, and I'm just excited to be going to Disney next month! Everything is just under 45 days away. About 44 days and 23.25 hours, actually - according to the runDisney website, of course!

I didn't get a run in tonight like I'd planned. Too easily distracted by the fact that I'm making our running tutus. And they. Will. Be. AMAZING! I'm going to post pictures and everything when I finish them, because the ideas I've got are so exciting!

Another reason I *may* have put off running, in addition to a lack of time and all that fun jazz when compared to everything else going on right now, is probably nerves surrounding my lovely running fuel. Since Friday's awful post-run episode of GI distress, I've gotten a couple other types of running fuel to try. I've long since established that Gatorade is not my friend. I'm adding GU to that list, although I don't know if that includes the GU Chomps, which I'd already purchased. I've bought Hammer Nutrition gels (one in Apple-Cinnamon flavor, one in Tropical), and some Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem Solids in Strawberry-Vanilla, which I don't have to worry about mixing into a drink.

And excitement of excitement, Jelly Belly makes sport jelly beans! Now THOSE I'm excited to try!

There are some other brands of fuel I was looking to try. I've heard from lots of people that Honey Stingers is good, and that Nuun has really been nice for people with sensitive stomachs.

Speaking of supplements, I picked up some Calcium Magnesium Zinc, which my dermatologist suggested when I talked with him about the half a few months ago. He didn't tell me that they'd be so large!

(That's what she said)

Although I don't know what I was expecting. But it certainly wasn't to take 3 a day.

Before I go, I think I've decided on a new name for this blog. I'm thinking it's going to go from "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" to "A Runner in the Making". But it's been over a year so naturally I've grown attached to the current title of this blog, even though I don't dance even half as much as I used to. Not even close. I'm lucky if I'm gettin' down in front of the bathroom mirror nowadays.

Well, I've rambled on quite enough for the night. It's bedtime. Toodles!

Out of Oz?

In the last, oh, week or so I finally got around to reading Out of Oz, the fourth (and final!) book in "the Wicked Years".
I'm only about a third of the way through with it, but I'm really enjoying it.

I should probably have prefaced that with saying that I am a HUUUUUUGE weenie and that the third book (A Lion Among Men) creeped the bajeezus out of me with Mother Yackle...

I can't believe that I'm finally getting a chance to read it. I almost wasn't sure, just because of the creep factor of the third one. And it's been so long since I'd read any of the Wicked Years (probably because of the creep factor which, let's be honest, was present in the other books, too!).

Anyway, if you're looking for a good read... Start from the beginning. And I don't just mean the beginning of Out of Oz, I mean from the beginning of Wicked. It all does a great job of working together, and without the other books you'd likely be pretty confused just jumping into Out of Oz. Which might make you feel like you're in Oz... Or just a country way out of your comfort zone/knowledgeability.

If you have read it, how'd you like it?
If you have... You should ;) Enjoy!

Borders bookstores

It's a sad, sad moment in my life.

Borders bookstores are OFFICIALLY going out of business.
Not that this was news to anyone (except for me, apparently). I knew their stores has been closing. But two of the stores near me had just remodeled a bit, so it's not like I was expecting them to go anytime soon!

With that said, I have expanded my bookshelves a LOT in the past week. I do mean a LOT.
Anybody who knows me knows that at home one tall bookshelf was pushing my luck. At school the 3 shelves I was given above my desk were pushing their luck - and those were only the books I WANTED to take to school with me!
Now I've got 2 tall bookshelves, which will be full whenever I get another peg to put underneath one of the shelves since it broke while it was being moved into the apartment. I could really use a 3rd tall shelf.
DH and I are in the process of cleaning (which means I'm STILL cleaning what was moved in 3 weeks ago, because I really don't want to touch it - there's just so much stuff!) so the third shelf will have to wait.

It's kind of sad that Borders is closing. In the last 4 years or so I've finally gotten to the point that I LOVE Borders, and if I didn't need food then I could kill an entire day in the store!
And of course my nerdy random thought was "My kids will think I'm nuts when I talk about Michael Jackson and his music and dancing, Patrick Swayze and his movies and dancing (and why mom would've REALLY loved dancing with him), and Borders bookstores!
'Mom, what's a Borders?'
'It's a BOOKSTORE! How could you not know that??'
'Mom, you're ancient. Those don't exist. How was I to know? What's a book look like? We have these things called e-readers, Kindles, and Nooks now. And iPads. Who's Patrick Swayze?' 'Wait, you mean you've never seen Dirty Dancing? WHOSE CHILD ARE YOU???'"
Yup, I can see it now.

So in the last week I have been to 3 different Borders stores. And I've been to a Borders in general at least 10 times.
Thanks to the "Going Out of Business Sale" (AKA the "GOOB sale" or "GOOBS," as I like to say... seriously, Borders, "Liquidation" is shorter!) I have successfully begun working on one of those fabulously full bookshelves that my college professors always had!
Granted, some don't look as "professional," but I make sure to check out the references they list in the book. And I've been going for ones that i'd be likely to use as a therapist. Like on ADD, psychiatric drugs, divorce, prescription painkillers, eating disorders, dealing with the death of a loved one, and aging parents.
...
I don't the "The Psychology of Harry Potter" will get me anything at work except maybe some brownie points!

Hopefully the books will be super useful when it comes to writing papers.
There were so many more books I would've LOVED to look for, but unfortunately some people aren't very good at distinguishing between "self-help" books and "psychology" books.

I can guarantee i'll hit up Borders a few more times before it closes for good (sadness!!), but I think I'm pretty well set on things. At least for now. Until the DSM-V comes out. Which reminds me, I need to buy the DSM-IV-TR, since someone ripped me off... But that's another story.

(Random note on books: I'm looking for books on making bags. So instead of buying a bunch of new bags for school and work, I can just make them myself after I buy the fabric (and maybe figure out how to make handles...) Any suggestions?)