Grey Eyes, Grey Skies and Color My Life Red

In the past few weeks, I've failed to mention that I bought grey contacts. They. Are. Magnificent. Of course, I say that because I notice eyes immediately in regards to people. However, it seems that few reciprocate. I'm sure you're aware of when a person looks, actually looks, into you eyes. It's not creepy [most of the time], it's likely in search of something. But I've noticed how very few people take eyes seriously.

It may have something to do with being an optician, maybe it's always been a fascination of mine. In any case, people notice something different when I wear colored contacts, but they can't typically place what it is. Happily, my eyes seem to suck fewer souls when grey. Whatever that means. [:

During winter, there is rarely a blue sky. Here at least. I hate it. I love grey, more than any other color. I love concrete. I love a concrete jungle. I love a grey sky over a concrete jungle. BUT! Grey is usually associated with cold. As it has been here.

Hopefully my eyes aren't cold.

Walk through this winter, no scrapes or scabs.

Walk through this winter, on to next spring.

Cheers. [:

November, Ice and Nail Polish

Huzzah, it's November.

Not much is new, except for my neglected blog.... ]: Tears, I know.

In any case, 13 weeks until my birthday, which equates to 13 weeks until I'm legally FREE!!! No, not that kind silly. :D

Life with my guy is great. I'm glad I have him, and hopefully I mean as much to him as he does to me. No fake.

I went running this morning for the first time in weeks. Happily, my cough has cleared out to merely an uncomfortable scratch, occasionally. This being, the run was fantastic. All 22:45 minutes of it. [: P.S. It's way cold! I hate the cold, and always have. Especially the way it knifes the back of your esophagus when you try to do anything requiring oxygen. Haha.

I painted my nails again, happily. There seems to be few things as relaxing and enjoyable as nail painting. Well, aside from the vexation of accidentally smudging them. And when you run out of your favorite color. And the smell. And killing all your braincells. And when it chips off. And when it doesn't look right. And when you're in a rush so you have to slap it on regardless of what it looks like. Well. It's mostly enjoyable....?

While I make no promises [in this regard], I'll attempt to frequent my blog-writing-pad more often.

P.S. I finished my college application, and await notice.

Cheers. [:

Cali, Colds and Carob

Well.... At least I have a great excuse for my absence this time.... I was in LA! :D I have to admit though, I didn't have as great of a time as I should have, simply because I felt my guy should have been there too. However, I can't help it if my brother was completely out of his mind to not invite him. Lame sauce.

Anywho, yes, it's true, I saw the ocean whilst there, and it was absolutely fantastic. I. Love. LA. Not that I saw all of it. I was limited to where I could go, because a. I'm female [which equals no wandering alone], b. I'm an attractive female [which equals no wandering alone], c. my resident brother was way too stressed to shower, let alone play tour-guide, d. my family wasn't apt to traveling to the concrete jungle for the most part [which is totally ok, we all had a nice time with what we did do], and e. we were are strapped for time with helping my uber stressed twin to prepare his decorations and jazz. It was crazy! It wasn't entirely worth it to miss some formal events occuring at home but because it was my brother, and my favorite brother at that, I went, looked pretty, and supported him. Well, not that I looked entirely pretty as I cried all my perfect makeup off as I gave my brother away for the second time....

However, I happened to have a cold the entire time I was there. You know, the whole 'hack up your lung and then spit it out before curling up and dying' kind of cold. I still have a little of the sinus crud, so that made it a bit less enjoyable as well. I don't know.... It wasn't that it wasn't enjoyable, it was more like I was in a personal hell which inhibited me from having the time of my life. You know, the whole 'let's have an episode in the middle of the month when I'm supposed to be having a great time' kind of episode. Sort of like a 'I wish the world would just crash, burn, go to hell, and leave me alone' thing. Sort of like 'I wish my guy were here and my brother weren't aloof enough to note that aside from my dad [my mom stayed home because she'd just had emergency surgery that split open and removed half of her], I should have had my guy there.... Next time.... Anywho, pictures should be on my facebook soon, but maybe I'll tease you with something.... :D

Lately, I've been all hyped about sugar, because it's entirely wonderful. But, really it's not. It's not even half wonderful! Except for the immediate ecstacy it produces. However, I've noticed that I'm an absolute sugar addict.... No kidding either. Once I start, it's like I have no desire to quit, until I get so disgustingly sick enough to say "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" As a result, through the years I've quit sugar, and promptly failed to keep that resolution due to the temptress unregulated by the FDA.... However, I've discovered Carob, a chocolate substitute. That, and super dark chocolate [which I adore, because it's more chocolate than sugar/cream/pollutants]. This way, I still get oodles of chocolate, with not as much sugar. Brilliant, isn't it? I know. :D I'm jazzed. I suppose I'll be out to get ready. For what, I'm not sure yet.... Maybe... an adventure? We'll see. Cheers! :D

The Demise of Cross Country, One Cough and A Few Bland Essays

There's nothing more enjoyable to me than running.

That's a complete lie.

There are many things that are much more enjoyable.

However, none so dear.

Because of the massive amounts of time cross country was taking up, I felt obligated to drop it, merely to continue my life in a not-as-stressed fashion.

I cried for many hours over it.

I still run.

I wish I could run with the team.

One benefit, however, is that I now can do "fun-runs," or city sponsored 5ks without getting kicked off the team. I know, it's ridiculous, but whilst on the school team we weren't allowed to participate in any races that weren't school approved. Heaven forbid someone bring something illicit, to a group of aspiring athletes. Well.... On second thought, if an Olympic athlete does, who knows about a bunch of us....

Anywho, I've developed a cough in the last two weeks. Has it been that long since I've blogged? Holy smokes. Just about. In any case, it's driven me CRAZY! It didn't even have any substance until a few days ago, when my lungs finally relinquished their phlegmy prisoners. Quite disgusting. Now I not only have a raw pharynx, but I'm also lung-booger-coating it in addition. Attractive. I know.

In other news, I've needed to write a few essays for my English class. Ironically, they incorporated blogging. Not so ironically, they really suck. HELP! I KNOW I'M NOT A GOOD WRITER! HOW CAN I IMPROVE?!

Feel free to hit me up with any advice you want to throw at me. {: AND DON'T MAKE IT GENTLE! I want hard, sound, logical advice. :D Cheers!

Silverwood, 5ks and Chocolate Cake

Wow!

That's pretty much it.

Just kidding. {: You've missed me too much for me to only share that.

No really. I went to northern Idaho this weekend with my xc team. Holy cow! A bunch of running junkies crammed into a bus for 9 hours is NOT! the happiest ride I've ever taken! So much for doing my homework on the bus.... :D Anywho, the race we ran was in Silverwood theme park. We camped [quite literally] at the campgrounds across from the park, and the next morning ran behind the park in the weird terrain of it. No, we didn't get to run through the park proper. We just played in it after the race....

I have to admit. I'm almost proud of the time I ran this particular 5k in. It was a really great race course. I don't know if it was the course, or the fact that I kept my smiles and thumbs in, but I shaved 4 minutes off my 30:24 down to a 26:35. PSYCHE! Who knew I could ever run a 5k in such a time? My goal is to get it below 25, at least, if not lower. However, I'm still aware that it's ridiculously slow. BUT! I'm still excited. {: Hooray! Might I add that the number one of the varsisty girls ran it in 18:05. CRAZY! I watched her for the majority of the race, and she was about 12 yards in front of the second the entire time. She was amazing. P.S. I'm on JV. But not for long.

Happily, for dinner we were all supposed to dress funky. Of course I pulled out my green vinyl miniskirt, lumberjack t-shirt, boyscout shirt, red vinyl belt, red converse, fishnets, tube socks, and FANGS! You heard me. Unfortunately, I forgot my sill hat.... Sad day! It was a great night regardless. Perhaps I'll steal pictures from the facebook xc site. Haha.... I'm so resourceful....

Ironically, on the bus ride home today my good friend and I bought chocolate cake. How runner-ish of us. It was one instance where I would have gladly taken a glass of skim milk. Yes. You just heard me say that. Chocolate cake and PB&A zammiches are pretty much the only exception to my loathing of milk. :D Love me.... Anywho, I'd best go de-carb somehow other than running. Maybe I'll just amp on protein. HA! There's a novel idea. {: I've missed you guys.... Cheers!

Sleep, Homecoming and Birds

Seeing as school has started again [um yeah, pretty much a week ago....], I'm not surprised that my sleep has been reduced from the already too little before it started. Oh well. So if you catch me snoozing once I sit down, that's likely why.

While I thought that I stretched adequately post race on Friday, I've discovered [in the most uncomfortable manner] that I did not. Note to self: Stretch until you almost break, then stretch some more. You'll feel better. The next day.

Recently, I learned that our Homecoming dance is on the same weekend as one of our big races. Great. Two things I love. Formals and races. How am I to choose? Awkwardly, I decided to go to Homecoming. Because I had that lined up, I was sorely disappointed to be informed that it happens to also be the same weekend as my brother's wedding in LA. SAD DAY! I was so looking forward to Homecoming! Now I'm missing it twice; one for the race, the second for the wedding. I'm inclined to not go, simply so I can stay home and go to the dance. Seriously. They all got to experience their homecomings. And yet I won't. Sob story.

Outside my window the cacophony of birds is unnerving. I suppose I'll be out to straighten my hair and go on a picknic with my other half. I love him.... {: Cheers!

School, Work and Races

Well, I suppose now that school is in session I have a legit excuse to not be blogging so much. It's not that I'm out doing blog worthy things, unless you love reading about the monotony of homework. Hey, if that's your fancy, more power to you. The world needs more geeks like you. [; No really. It's more that I'm out doing homework, and running, and working, and not having enough time to see my other half. It's tragic really. Before school started up again we were spending the majority of time together, quite happily. Now that I'm away most of the time, life is ridiculously lonely. That's not to say I don't have enough to do without him, but I'd prefer to be with him than what I'm currently doing. I.E. The next five months. This could be long.

Happily, I have the most amazing employers, who are completely willing to work with my insane schedule, comprised specifically of school and cross country. In reciprocating, I've opted to take a work release class to where I'm available at 1:00 p.m., instead of the typical 3:00 p.m. when school usually gets out. However, because of xc, I'm available only from 1-3, and 6-8. I know, it's odd. The best part about this situation is after xc is over, I'll be available from 1-8 consecutively if they want me. Hooray!

Yesterday was the first 5k I've done in my entire life. While the time wasn't magnificent, I was completely proud of myself for a. not stopping at any point, b. maintaining a steady+fast pace the entirety of it, and c. even passing a few chickas. Mostly, I'm amazed that it was so fun. However, my joy was soon broken when after I finished a number of people [coaches and members alike] commented how I wasn't taking it seriously enough, because I was smiling almost the entire time. I'm aware that I shouldn't take it so personally, but to be immediately cut after feeling so accomplished and moving my trash out for the last 3.1 miles was a bit more disheartening than I expected. Also, I knew my parents wouldn't be there, which was completely understandable, but once the race was over and I saw most of the other kids with their rents so proud of them my heart sank a little more. I suppose now I'm just whining. Initially I considered dropping the team. But I've trained so hard to just quit. I couldn't rationalize it. I still can't. But I don't particularly want to be part of a team that doesn't even smile. Input anyone?

I suppose now I'm out to shower for work. I just got back about ten minutes ago from another run. I now understand why people think distance runners are crazy. Because they are. Who runs a 5k and then less than 8 hours later go run another 45 minutes? Cheers.

The Usual, Cross Country and Work

As stated, my life hasn't changed much. Well.... Except for the amazing man I now have in it. In that regard, it has changed significantly, for the best. Love him.... {:

Yet the same jazz still happens to me. I.E. Late night trips to Hell*Mart with my mom. While on a quest for cotton squares [makeup removal, duh!], I was on the phone with my man. Probably not the best idea, seeing as I usually just get angry in Hell*Mart, and then end up taking it out on other people. Sad day. My frustrations were renewed when I finally found them. In the gardening section. Next to the mascara and garden hoses. Why didn't I look there first? I suppose the event that really confirmed my passionate loathing of Hell*Mart was when I asked the cashier to borrow [not steal mind you] a pen to write down my transaction. Unnaturally, her response was "I don't have any pens." I was appalled! Who doesn't have six thousand pens at their desk or checkstand?! Are they moronic or something?! Clearly.

Cross country started [officially] on the 14th. I.E. Five days ago. Happily, I've been running with the team, simply because we've been meeting at a crisp 7:30 am. While I absolutely hate running in the morning, I have to admit, there's nothing like an am endorphin shot to make my day. Well, along with my guy. But that's another matter entirely. Anywho, I've realized that while hills on a bike were somewhat difficult, hills on foot are straight from Hell. Not only are they longer and steeper, but the recovery is less appreciated, for some strange reason. I haven't quite figured that one out yet. However, we haven't done hills yet as a team, so we'll see how that goes tomorrow morning. Yesterday was a workout of 4x3, which meant today was a recovery run. I.E. Forty five minutes of pure bliss. Love it....

Anywho, work is going fabulously well. I absolutely love my job. Always have, and hopefully always will. I'll be very sad [and cry a little even now] just thinking of having to cut back for the next eleven weeks, because of my ridiculous cross country schedule. Hopefully, after the season, I'll be able to work back to my normal schedule.... I'll be the first to admit, I'm a workaholic. This is why I'm not married yet. I love my job too much.

Speaking of which, I should actually be out quite soon. Cheers! :D

Sun Valley Recap

Um whoa.... While it's great to be back to reality, I can't say that I don't miss my dear Sun Valley experience. It truly is the best week of the entire year. Try imagining a week straight of classical music, with great people, and tons of pictures. {: Yeah.... I thought so. It's absolutely fabulous.

We left last Sunday, and arrived after a brief 2 hour car trip down one of the prettiest drives in Idaho. Absolutely gorgeous....

From there on it was pretty much a party everyday. Late nights, early mornings, the usual. {: Three hours of piano classes a day. Three hours with marvelous pianists that know what they're doing. Getting to play around in one of the prettiest resort towns in the U.S. for the rest of the day. Taking pictures when bored. Twenty four hours of laughter with my best friend. Life is good. :D

Anywho, maybe if you're lucky I'll post some pics later. Seeing as I only have about 8000 of them. Or.... Just check my facebook.... :D Cheers!

Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Work and All That Jazz

Note: This contains disturbing material.

I'll be gone for the next week.

AHHHH!!!

So scary! I know!!!! :D

But I know you'll all miss me.

Millions of cool blog-worthy things have happened in the past few days, all of which I've been too busy doing to blog about. But no worries, I've definitely been thinking of you all.

Anywho, I'll be gone this week for nerdy classical music camp.

And I'll love every minute of it.

Work has been great, I absolutely adore my job. If I could, I would keep it forever.

But as we all know, I'll eventually have to get over it and move on.

Oh gads.

I'm in love with my job.

I fear that breakup....

My guess is it will be messy....?

In other news, I've found that I work best [occasionally] under pressure. More later. Gotta' go party for a week. Cheers! :D

Movies, Retainers and Zombies

There's something absolutely refreshing about movies. Especially when they're free. Or something like it. And when they have Hugh Jackman in them. -Sigh- Love his body.... He and Stallone [in the 70's and 80's and 90's of course....] have two of the nicest man bodies in the entire world....

This morning I went to my last orthodontics appointment for the next six months.... Sad day indeed! ]: I love my orthodontist visits! They were the highlight of every 5 weeks! It's ok though.... My personal tooth fairy has been slightly bitter, because I've had to rearrange my appointments due to work. Because of that, I had to sacrifice my throne to some sniveling little punk that doesn't appreciate her nearly as much as I do. Because of this, when my departure occurred, I didn't have the chance to express my love and admiration for her. So later she sent me a post card verbalizing her great displeasure of me not saying good-bye. I immediately resolved to write her a novelette to send to her. However.... Seeing as I haven't even touched my blog for the last week, and my journal less than that. Long story short[er], today when I saw her, she gave me a look that said "WHY DON'T YOU TALK TO ME ANYMORE CHICA?! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!!!" To which I quickly retorted "I meant to bring you the novel [I didn't get around to writing] but I forgot!" So now I really do have to get it on paper, and send it to her, manila envelope, first class mail, the works, ect. The point of the matter, is now I only have to wear my retainers at NIGHT! instead of all the time. And my retainer is really tight, because they tightened it....

Because I'm sick of not running with the team [most of the time....], I decided to take clothes to change into at the park, and just head over after work to run. Success. However, on the run, there happened to be this oober biker that happened to encounter times more than comfortable to me. The first time I noticed him was as he emerged from the riverbank on my left, as we were heading East. He wore a backpack with an unopened camping pad, and a hiking-style backpack. Plus his bike clicked. Anywho.... If we didn't pass him so many times and were passed by him so many times, I probably would have been more comfortable with that scenario.... The reason I say zombie is mostly because of the circumstances of our first meeting. Seriously, who climbs out from the bushes? An ambushers! Aside from that who? ZOMBIES! I really should stop thinking so much about them. That's all. Problem solved. Well.... Not really.... I still have nightmares, I'll admit. I'm pretty much still a four year year old in my mind and maturity in dealing with scary stuff.

Anywho.... I suppose I'd best be out to tend to my horribly neglected journal.... :D Cheers!

P.S. I hope you've missed me. {:

P.P.S. I didn't finish this post until the 22nd..... :D Love you!

Olive Oil Pt II, Pea Soup and Bug Spray

Phew! No worries guys! The olive oil was completely rancid. :D I'm not a horrible baker. However.... I still feel bad for subjecting my guests to that level of jazz.... YUCK! Of course I didn't notice this until I made a magnificent salad, complete with grapes, feta, mozzarella, and all that good stuff. When I noticed the salad tasted extremely bitter, I smelled the oil, and WHOA! It was BAD! Yeah.... Not so great. :D

While my favorite color is green, I have to admit, my current nail polish I swear is LIME! Green! My accomplice doesn't entirely agree with me. He's determined it's split pea soup green. I wouldn't be offended or anywhere near it, were he not so obviously wrong. Clearly, my nail polish is LIME! Green! It doesn't matter in the eternities however. But it's still not pea soup green.

A few evenings ago, I went on a fantastic PM run, at about 11. Because of the lateness of the hour, my dad insisted that I tank up on bug spray. Might I add that it was vile. Absolutely horrendous! Blegh.... Try running five miles with your lungs clogged with DEET. Not only that, but he made sure I applied it to my face as well. TRY RUNNING FIVE MILES TRYING NOT TO BREATH THAT CRAP! I think it did more harm than help. Ironically, I also think I was bit whilst out. Happily, my running-mate and I squished rolley-pollies on my almost sidewalk afterward. Well.... I squished them.... He was too much of a girl to....

In any case, I suppose I'm out to finish watching Rocky IV, i.e. the best Rocky film ever. However, I'm slightly partial to numbers two and three as well.... Five is just lame, and I haven't seen six. But I heard that was lame too. I suppose I adore IV mostly because Sylvester Stallone has the most beautiful body of the V flicks.... What can I say. I adore his Rocky body. It's pretty much the ideal male body. Before this gets weirder, I'll say.... CHEERS! :D

Olive Oil, Long Days and Ap Test Scores

Ugh. This is completely sucky.

I hostess-ed a card party tonight, where I coerced all of my guests to play cards with me [because I get lonely sometimes] and eat brownies.

However, while making the brownies a disaster occurred, in the form of a baking substitution. Here's the scoop. I was out of baking chocolate, so I substituted the usual three tablespoons baking cocoa + two tablespoon oil for every ounce needed. However, we were also out of vegetable oil, and grapeseed oil. So I ended up using olive oil.

Bad idea.

Absolutely disgusting. And I actually fed them to my guests! I'm completely surprised they didn't get up and LEAVE!

This was last night of course.

Today was another not so happy day. I worked from 9:30-6:00. No problems there, had there been a more exciting schedule. No fake. I suppose it would have been nicer had I not also screwed up whilst closing.

To further the series of unfortunate events, my AP test scores came back, and once again, I'm only average. Quite literally. Of the three tests I took, I scored a scant 3 on each. That's absolutely pathetic. Why, when I work my trash off in two of those three classes, do I only score average? Hooray for episodes. Exactly what I needed at this time in my life, another episode set off by something so stupid as a test score. But it's not really that stupid. How am I supposed to be accepted into medical school if on my MCATs I score only average? Why would they want someone average in their school? Why would anyone want only an average surgeon or psychiatrist? It's junk like this that makes me want to say "Screw it, I'm going to be a cosmetologist." Who knows. I could likely get into that school. Psh. With my luck I'd suck at that as well. I'd probably use some product a person's allergic to and they'd go into anaphylactic shock and die. Great. Wouldn't that be ideal. Not to mention if I can't even do my own makeup why would anyone else want me to do theirs? Logical.

Great. Now I'm just being whiny. I can't help it. I feel insignifigant to what I think that I am. I feel sub-par to my platonic conception of myself. I don't measure up to the standards I've created in my head. However, my pride is restricting me from changing them, and not making them so high. Then I'd be a failure. However, I appear to be failing now, so what would be the difference? At least then my goals might be attainable. But they are now. However, they seem not to be. Whatev. Cheers.

The past 6 days?

Whoa! :D So much for the return of the prodigal blogger! No worries people, I'm back. I think.

Not much has happened lately, just running, working, and sometimes sleeping.

That's about it.

Catch you later. {:

Cheers.

AM Life, Humidity and PM Life

As if it's not bad enough having to be alive during the summer, let's just throw some AM running in there to make it a little more enjoyable for Mel. Yeah. So cute. HA! No really. AM running is one of the most disgusting activities in the entire world. Of course I say that because I'm bias, and hate mornings and all to do with them, but hey, that's how I roll.

The air today was so thick I felt like if I spit in it it would come back and hit me in the face. Or something like that. It was ridiculous. Because running through water is difficult, running through thick air is only slightly less arduous. Sheesh. Try sweating to stay cool with humidity like that.

Anywho, seeing as my posts continue to get shorter with time, I suppose I'll explain partially why. It's mostly because I usually can't remember what I'm supposed to be blogging about, because I forget my material quickly. Yes, I know, I'm a horrible person. Truly though, running 17+ hour days tends to catch up with you. I mean, me. Or something like that. In any case, I am to be gone, to maybe try sleeping. :D Cheers.