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 :)

Motivation = Down

I can't tell if I'm having a couple of down days or if this is really what Disneyland and Dumbo are going to turn into...
I bought our plane tickets for Dumbo on Friday. That's about the only thing that's gone right with this whole thing, and even then that's messed up.
We're flying into John Wayne, so not very far away... But we're flying out of San Diego - which is two hours from Disneyland... In good traffic. And no clue how we'll be getting there. We'll probably end up leaving at like 10 just to make sure we get to the airport with plenty of time. Of course, the return flights have a 60% and 50% rate of being on-time. I've never knowingly bought tickets that said anything less than, oh, 80%. Not if I could help it.
At least the plane tickets were fairly cheap in comparison to others I saw - the cheapest, actually.

And the hotels at Disneyland are sold out. Or rather, I found one that was available every day we needed it - EXCEPT the night before the half! ::facepalm::

So I'll be calling tomorrow to see what I can get figured out. The hubs says he'll do it, but the fact of the matter is... I'm our trip planner, usually. Comparing hotels, plane tickets, you name it.
I'm getting sick of being told to not worry about it. I've been hearing that for months, but now it really IS time to worry about it, when even nearby hotels seem to be sold out, AND I'm probably going to end up paying the $600 donation minimum just to run in the races!

It seems likes just when things start working out, they don't.

I tried for a month to get ahold of someone about holding a family walk/run to raise money for the charity... Would you believe I finally got ahold of someone at the beginning of this month? I had the possibilities all planned out, and then when I put my foot down because people got carried away with planning without consulting me, I got "Oh, well, we don't have enough time to do this, forget about it!" Well, we HAD enough time then. Now I've barely got a month before the fundraising deadline, and what's the use of me bringing up any other fundraising ideas when the three I've had have completely fallen through in some way or another?

I'm starting to wonder what the point in all of this really is. The fact of the matter is that this trip was supposed to be fun, but now it's just a pain in the neck.

Oh, and I double-booked us on pasta parties. RunDisney only sends out Disneyland Half Weekend RACE registration confirmations from one section, and the rest from another - at least, they did that for me, but not DH. So I thought we didn't have Pasta in the Park tickets.
Well, we do.
And now we have tickets for the free pasta dinner with the charity.
Same day. Same time.
Do you go to the party you paid an arm and a leg for, or the free party where you get to meet the people you've been raising attempting to raise money for?
Or do you find a way to go to both?

It's just one nightmare after another, and I can't help but ask myself why I'm going, other than what's been paid - and what's going to come out of my bank account when I don't reach the fundraising minimum. Ouch.

My annual appointment sounds more fun than this. Although I never saw the big deal about annuals, once you get past the first one.
But that's beside the point.

Well, it's now 12:01.
45 days until Disneyland.
Woo.
Goodnight.

Disney's Princess Half Marathon Weekend RECAP!!!

Oh, my goodness. I've been neglecting my blog. I was going to post about a week and a half ago, but I got caught up with comps and everything (and I'll hit that in a later post).

Long story short: Disney's Princess Half Marathon Weekend 2013 was THIS weekend. As in, we got back about 7.5 hours ago.

In the end I'd say it was pretty successful, but sometimes it's easy to forget that trips can be stressful. Granted, I was expecting a decent amount of stress - and I got very little sleep the whole time, too! But it was definitely enjoyable.
We stayed at Coronado Springs Resort, in Casitas 4. I'm so glad we stayed there, especially because that's where the Expo was. When we got back from the 5K Saturday morning, there was a line for the Expo that not only went out of the door (mind you, Coronado Springs has a very LARGE convention center. We're talking LAAAAAAARGE!) but it went down the side of the building, across the street by the parking lot, and down the front of the main building! It was absurd! But we were able to go on Friday. We picked up our race packets, did a little bit of wandering and shopping... I could've stayed at the Expo all weekend, just looking at everything, but I had places to get. We took some pictures with Disney princesses on the way out of the Expo (and basically every day, really), then did a quick jot around Animal Kingdom before ending up in Magic Kingdom for the rest of the night and a beautiful fireworks display.

On Friday we got up and went to the Expo. Let me just say that it was SO COOL! One thing that could keep me going back and doing Disney races, other than the fact that I'd be going to Disney(!!!!), is the fact that the Expo was just amazing! There was such a variety. And the volunteers at the Expo AND during all of the race events were just so wonderful.
After the Expo we went to Animal Kingdom and did an awesome safari through their Wildlife Reserve. We got to see cheetahs, lions... Even a white rhino - an endangered species! There were also giraffes, elephants, crocodiles... Heck, there were even flamingos!
Then we went to Epcot for the Pasta in the Park Party, and then their IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth light show.The Pasta party was beautiful, to say the least. The chandeliers, the lights... And the DJ they had was amazing. I'd be surprised if they didn't have him for every resort possible at WDW. He was even up super early (but not bright!) for the 5K the next morning.

On Saturday... Well, there was the 5K. We were in Corral C... Oh, and we had a special guest in our corral! You'll see a picture momentarily.
I'm proud to say I finished in under 40:00. Give or take I'd say it was about 39 minutes. I'd been thinking my ideal time goal was under 40 minutes, and my ideal was between 42:00 and 45:00.
By the way, one of the race photographers... Got a not-so-attractive picture of me. I accidentally cut in front of a guy who was about to have his picture taken. So the picture basically has me making an "OH, CRAP! SORRY! Eeeeeeeee...." face.

After the race we crashed. I still can't believe that I napped for a couple hours after a 5K, of all things. Granted, I didn't sleep much... But still!
Then we went to Hollywood Studios, saw a shortened version of Beauty and the Beast, in which Gaston dowa NOT die, as far as we are aware. and then back to Epcot.

Word to the wide: Don't ever walking too damn much the night before a big race. I should've ditched the group and gone back to the resort for rest, as I had to be on a bus by no later than 4 the next morning... But I didn't. Can you say foolish?

(Why, yes, Santa was at our race AND in our corral! LOL. I was so surprised when he turned around and I saw short, dark brown hair. He was good enough that even in his short red running shorts, well, he just did it so WELL!)

Now on Sunday, our wonderfully amazing day... I'm genuinely amazed I was able to eat a banana for breakfast. And almost as surprised that it didn't come right back up.
I didn't take very many pictures, just because it wasn't that easy to access my phone.
The most disappointing part of the race is that my legs hurt so badly between the 5K and the BEYOND excess of walking, that I was only able to run a few miles. I had to walk about 10 miles of it. I was truly hoping that I could've run at least half of it... Well, now I know what to train for when it comes of Dumbo in Disneyland in August/September.
I hate to say it, but I was just so ANGRY about not being able to run more of it. It feels like I'll be doing some easy shin splint exercises for a bit...

I'm so surprised that I didn't start crying around mile 10. I'd already seen the volunteers there on that side, since we were heading back on the other side of the divided highway... They were holding up signs saying things like "You deserve a pedicure after this" and "Mind over muslce".
It was such a good feeling, knowing that random strangers (or at least random and strangers for some of us) were just so willing to support us all.

BTW.  I think the winner this year finished in about 1:17:00. Ir was insane!

(yes, my poor running buddy was asleep at the Race Retreat)

We wandered the Magic Kingdom after napping for a few hours.
Apparently they requested help from someone from housekeeping services. I was so tired that I had a pillow over my face, AND I didn't hear her come in. Wow.

After my nap, we went to Cinderella's Royal Table for lunch. Can you say "Yum"?

Anyway, I think that's about it. OH! And I bought A STICK! That is, they at least help with tired, sore muscles. So far so good, although if your muscles are really tight then you will DEFINITELY feel it!

And now I leave you all with some memes to describe this weekend in my life:

This next one is important because I'm self-conscious about being slower than most of the runners:

To be honest, I never thought I would ever work to becoming a runner. Or that I would enjoy it! I'm working to not hold myself back with limitations I impose on myself.

This is how I was feeling after the run:

Because let's face it, I finished, AND within the time limits!

And with one last parting shot!

I was feeling the "Why am I doing this" in the middle of the run, around 6 miles or so. And again around mile 11 or so.

But I've been thinking... Disney races are something I would LOVE to continue doing. I have high hopes!

Anyway, I'm trying not to doze off over here at my desk. Out I go. Goodnight! ♥

Sometimes the hardest part is just getting out the door

I feel good right now.
I feel kinda tired, a bit pumped, definitely in need of a shower... But I feel pretty damn good.

I just got back from doing a run on the treadmill... The first structured run I've done since the day before Halloween. Which means that while I was definitely doing some moving around with Zumba Fitness Core on the Wii and some of the "Advanced Run" on Wii Fit Plus, I haven't really put myself out there.

I can't even pretend today's run was easy. The first fifteen minutes or so was gratifying. It really was. I ran for a total of about 25 minutes, walked more than I would consider ideal when I'm 75 days, 6 hours, and... 6-ish-minutes-by-the-time-this-is-posted away from running my first half marathon.
It was disappointing to only see about 2.5 miles shining up at me from the treadmill (or 2.81 miles, according to my watch... Yeah...) when I used to doing 4+, and have gotten up to 6+. But it makes me realize I've got to step it up.

I've got to put into it what I want to get out of it, and I refuse to be transported to that finish line on anything except for my own two legs.

But for real, I feel good right now. For the last month the hardest part for me has just been getting back into it. The day of that " Halloween Fun Run" in an October was a huge emotional blow (for a pretty big variety of reasons), and since then I've been working my butt off for my education.
But finally, FINALLY finals are next week. And I'm looking to do some self-care.

Which, let's face it: self-care is about more than taking care of your body. It's about taking care of your mind. Finding the necessary balance.
Dead Week was far more stressful than I would have liked for it to be. Getting in a huge paper, awaiting a presentation grade, giving a presentation, and just trying to get enough sleep.

And so we go back to focusing on balance (and maybe a hint of time management skills. Let's be honest, sometimes I just suck at that).

Alright, first step in the self-care bit?
I'm going to hop my happy hind-part into the shower.

Eloping sounds better every day. I blame the movies.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to get married.

But at the same time, I'm sick of wedding planning.
I'm sick of worrying about paying vendors, getting fitted, making sure everybody has their clothes, buying decorations, wondering when people are going to stick the damn RSVPs in the mail when I stuck a stamp on every single little envelope after paying $1.05 between RSVP stamps and invitation stamps, keeping track of dates like when we have to finalize the wedding cake, keeping track of the guys as far as them all getting fitted - heck, I can't even remember what guys are wearing are wearing what color vest and tie! I only remember the color of the vest and tie FH is wearing and what color our dads are wearing.

I'd much rather eat string cheese and yogurt, and dance the samba and the cha cha all day - which works, because I'm rather fond of all of those.

And I'm sick of the girls who can talk about NOTHING but planning their weddings and how much their love their fiancés and all that mess.
I just want to be like "HELLO, DO YOU HAVE A LIFE? WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE YOU GOT ENGAGED?????????"

Yes, planning a wedding is exciting, but that doesn't mean you should lose your brain and not be able to competently talk about nothing else.

Frankly, I'm beginning to think that weddings are overrated, and they cost way too much anyway. Especially if you're not getting married in a church.
And believe me, we're not getting married in a church.
Even as a little girl I never saw myself getting married in a church. I was more of the "outdoors-in-a-flower-garden, take-your-allergy-medicine, watch-out-for-the-bees!!" wedding vision.
If I traded that in for a church, then I had my heart set on stained glass windows.

Well, that didn't happen, but I'm rather pleased with how it did end up working out.

I'm so sick of things not going as planned.
I blame the movies.
Because you expect everything to be perfect. Right? Right.
But in all reality, it's not perfect.

Leading up to the day there's all this stress.
I've only taken off the wedding day for work, because financially it's the only thing that works for me, as I'll already be taking off two other days that month - one day for moving into our apartment and the very next day for graduation.
And that's going to take a big chunk out of my paycheck, which does not please me at ALL.

And when you tell people this, they look at you like "Have you lost your mind? You're going to be MARRIED, a NEWLYWED! Why are you going into work if you can take it off?"
Because let's face it, there are bills to be paid.

Yeah, that's the part that movies don't tell you about.
Paying bills.
What if one or both of you sucks at dancing, or you can't agree on a first dance song, or one wants to choreograph and the other one doesn't?
What you do when you can't afford to take off work?
They ignore that the hotel rooms that give you the flower petals and the sparkling cider and the whole romance deal? Yeah, those are over $200 a night. Believe me, I checked.
They don't tell you what happens when you GET to the hotel (other than what people typically think of when they think of getting to the hotel after getting married... oh, don't make me say it! ... Ok, ok, having sex, you know that whole deal).
So you're not thinking about parking the car, or dragging your luggage inside. You expect that it'll all magically be set up!
But no. You have to carry in your luggage, unless you decided to have things already at the hotel (like your wedding dress bag, your clothing for the next day, some pajamas, toothbrush, toothpaste, maybe some sensible shoes!).
You have to park the car, unless you decide to pay $18 for valet parking.
Yes, $18. I looked this up.
And movies keep you thinking some mess about being carried over the threshold when, in all reality, you're both probably tired and chances are he has no desire to be picking you up in a dress that probably adds an extra 20 or 30 pounds of weight to you, if not more if you decided you wanted to go the route of hardcore princess-y ballgown with lots of fluff.
And from what I've heard, sex is kind of messy. As in, you have to put down a towel or you change the sheets right after or something. Ooooookkkkkkkkkkkk, yeah, you never hear about that in movies.

Let's face it, I can pretend all I want to that this doesn't bug me, but I'm a little upset at the prospect of not having a honeymoon. Movies lead you to believe that you get married and you leave for your honeymoon the very next day or a couple days after the wedding or something.
Well, there are a number of couples who are waiting to take their honeymoons - anywhere from a month later to having it as a trip for their first anniversary!
But if you didn't know that and you either weren't having a honeymoon or were having a delayed one, you end up thinking there's something wrong with you.

Because if we're being honest, sometimes people can't afford everything you hear about in the movies.
And movies glamorize weddings far too much.

Yes, weddings are exciting.
Yes, it's wonderful to be able to marry someone you care about so much.
Yes, it really shouldn't be this big of a deal.
But yes, it still bums you out.

People who talk about going to Mexico, the Bahamas, France, Italy, Spain, Hawaii (particularly if you live on the other end of the United States), Disney World...
Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Disney World, and probably always will be no matter how old I get...
But they don't preface this with "Not everybody can afford this, so you may not be able to try this at home."

And then when I mention this to FH, because he manages to get it out of me that I'm upset about a lac of honeymoon - because every newlywedded couple goes on a honeymoon, right? - he suggests taking out a loan for beforehand, paying it back ASAP once he works more hours during the summer, and us having a honeymoon.
Except I'm of the belief that if you have to take out a loan to a honeymoon or a wedding, well, you probably shouldn't be doing it to begin with.
End of discussion.
I can wait for years to go back to Disney World or Vegas if it means that we don't have to pay back a loan that was taken out specifically for that.
It's called a vacation for a reason. Meaning you should be able to take it without worrying every second about how you're going to pay it back. Maybe for a moment worry about work and making up hours or something, but not about how you're going to pay back the vacation you're on.

Maybe I'm just jaded. We've been engaged for 2 years and just over 4 months - and we're not getting married for another month yet.
I'm so sick of weddings that it's oozing out of my pores.
I thought it was exciting that Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married exactly one month before us.
Now I'm just ready for talk of weddings to be over, so i can get on with life.

With my husband and our dog, of course, provided that we take the dog with us, but nonetheless.

This whole wedding planning thing is just stupid now, and it just makes me want to go in the shower and cry.

Nobody ever tells you that wedding planning will be such a headache.

...
Ok, I think the stress of finals and term papers is getting to me.
Because once you get past being concerned about jobs and the apartment and bills... Let's face it, I'm not really all that concerned about the wedding.
I really do NOT want to even LOOK at my thesis for my seminar class. She bled all over EVERYBODY'S paper - in blue ink, no less! (Honestly, I just thought that was kind of weird. Yes, our school color is blue so in a sense we "bleed blue," but if you're bleeding on a paper then why not do it in red ink? Or at least something that stands out from black a little bit more than blue ink does!)
And my paper for Experimental Psychology... I'd be lying if I said I'd started on it.

Although in all reality, I just changed my topic last week. Originally I was going to do it on sensory deprivation and isolation tanks (which I think was somewhere along the lines of you lose one sense and the others become sharper), but when it came down to it that was just a topic that I picked because I really couldn't find anything else more interesting to talk about.
And it's kind of hard to get up the motivation to work on a paper when you don't give a damn about it.

So I changed my paper to being about the use of animals in research.
I have to write an outline, and then do the paper... My paper is due on Saturday.

::Insert little kid whine::
"I don't WANNA!"

Ok now that's enough of that.
I think it's time for string cheese and yogurt.
And to actually make an attempt at my term papers. I mean, I DO graduate in... let's see, it's not quite midnight, so 11 days.

You know, instead it might actually be time for bed. I dunno.

Toodles.

Talk about stress...

Alright, now if we're going to talk about stress...
My last post, the first bridesmaid (the one I live with)... We'll call her A.

Ugh, I don't even know where to begin. It's all just this big headache, and with just over two weeks until the end of the semester (and I'm talking 2 weeks and a day until I move out, which is contingent upon my finals schedule) I have no idea if A's moving out now or if she's just moving some stuff and not going to be around the rest of the time.

We decided to have a roommate meeting because, quite frankly, 3 of us (me, R, and K - R & K share a room) were less than pleased about the turn of events of someone else's (M) stuff being moved into our place, us not being asked just told (and K only found out from me and R!), the possibility that all of us could've been in trouble for something we apparently had no say in - despite the fact that we live there and M doesn't.

So we decided on a meeting time, and after we decided on a time to meet we found out her mom was in the hospital.

Ok, so now I feel like a jerk. We're going to have this meeting with a girl who we're all kind of pissed off with to some extent, and her mom's in the ICU.

So we have the meeting, and then R and K get to say their piece, and A seems ok with it... But then I start talking (with something along the lines of "You realize you live with us, not her. Right?" because it's true and we were feeling disrespected! Who moves someone ELSE'S stuff into a room/suite they share with someone, and doesn't ask? Someone else's artwork was on our walls, and we weren't even ASKED! hello, it's 4 people in an apartment-style dorm with 2 bedrooms!) and as soon as i started going there she got huffy with me, and had the nerve to walk out on me, among other things.

And when K and I got back from dinner last night, we found a POST-IT NOTE, of all thing, A POST-IT on our bathroom door saying "I won't be here tonight."
Um, thanks?

It's like the episode of Sex and the City where Berger broke up with Carrie on a post-it note.
HELLO!!!!!!!!!!

So then she sends us all a text this morning saying she'd be by to pack of some of her stuff. Not much in the room changes when she does get here, but then she tells K (or maybe me, I don't remember) that she'll be back to get the rest of it later.
THE REST OF WHAT? Like everything, or just some things? Because she was only taking it some of it home over Easter break because of space in a family member's vehicle, so she'd be able to get the rest at graduation time.

SO now nobody know's what's going on.

K tried to speak to A this morning, ask her how her mom was...

K: Your mom's in the hospital?
A: I already told V and R, they know this!
K: ... Yeah, they told me...

It's kinda like "Gee, thanks, I've only lived with you for 2 years, thanks for not letting me know what the heck is going on or not thinking enough of me to tell me yourself!"

Some people just really need to grow up and get over it.
I'm tired.

And then this morning! Now with A, but with a classmate's presentation.

He presented on medical marijuana, and you can tell that he's all for it.
But in addition to talking about legalizing marijuana (mostly medical purposes), he brought up good points, talked about the pros and cons, did his best to answer questions efficiently, give examples, and he had a BUNCH of resources and even a table directly from one of his sources.
Well, the whole time this girl sitting across from me was rolling her eyes, sneering, and making rude comments to the girl next to her. AND when he was answering questions she got all huffy and in a hurry about the questions she had in a hurry to prove him wrong or make him look like an ass or an idiot or something. She got all huffy with "Well, you said this and the paper said this and I don't think that's right and...."
I just wanted to be like "LOOK NOW, DID YOU LISTEN TO HIS PRESENTATION???"
Quite frankly, I think she has her own unresolved issues.

I don't CARE what she thought of his presentation, because she clearly thought it was crap, but with everybody else's presentations he was at least decent enough to not roll his eyes at everybody - and that includes her presentation that even SHE didn't like!

And I told him after class that I appreciated him not looking down his nose on other people's presentations.

Frankly, I just wanted to reach across the table and slap this girl in the face. HARD. Instead I settled for a nice knuckle cracking - much louder than the ones I usually get out when my fingers are stiff.
She really needed to be smacked...

I hate stupid and rude people.
It's funny because she only treats him like that.

Yeah, he may not have the same viewpoints as everyone else, but that doesn't mean that his are any more incorrect than yours are correct.

My father always told me that opinions are like buttholes: everybody has one.