First World Problems

Okay, so not to be totally obnoxious or anything, but...

Who's got two thumbs and has a new iPhone?!?

This girl!!!!

Well fine then... party pooper.

Anyway, I got a new iPhone 5 last night, and I'm super jazzed because... well, I had the iPhone 2... and I've had it for about four+ years now... and it stopped working reliably several months ago...

So it's nice to have a phone that, you know, functions. And doesn't shut itself down randomly out of some sort of technological protest or something.

So that's the latest news in my life. Exciting stuff, eh?

Moving on!

I'm taking a break from schoolwork for a little bit, because my brain is about to protest in the same manner my old phone did. Just shut off and refuse to come back on for a few hours.

And that would be inconvenient, as I have a multitude of things to get done today.

So I'm taking a breather, drinking some tea, and, well, I guess complaining about First World Problems? God, I suck.

Sorry.

The weather has been crap lately, and while I usually don't get bummed out with Seattle's rain spells, this week it has been annoying me a bit. Mostly because I seem to keep finding the deepest puddles possible to accidentally step in, and I'm running out of clean socks because of it.

Plus, I haven't had a good hair day in what feels like forever.

Partially because of the stupid wind and rain (and hail, WTF has been up with the hail lately?!?) but also because I desperately need a hair cut.

But luckily I can control one of the above issues (and clearly that's not the weather, I've tried, my powers are not nearly strong enough yet), so I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow, and I'm probably a little TOO excited about it.

See, I have long hair.

And long hair tends to go from flowy and manageable to wild untamable mess remarkably fast.

And then it becomes difficult to brush. Or shampoo. Or just keep it contained in a somewhat presentable manner.

And my hair is wavy too, which adds a whole new level of pain-in-the-ass-ness.

Combined with the wind and rain and hail... and it's been a ponytail day for a couple of weeks straight.

All the blustery-ness of late winter/early spring has also left me pining for summer to come.

I love summer.

Summer is my lobster.

(please tell me you get the reference)

Summer means hiking and camping and bonfires and road trips and gardening and total blissed out relaxation. No school. No schedules. No restrictions.

Did I mention I love summer?

But summer does come with one issue.

One haunting, tormenting, uncomfortable issue.

Shorts weather...

All women have hangups over their body. Boobs too big, boobs too small, tummy too squishy, arms too wobbly, too big of a butt, not big enough of a butt. You name it, there are a million women worried about it.

For me, it's my legs. I've always been self-conscious about them. I have these spindly calves and itty-bitty ankles, so I feel like my legs look like upside-down triangles. And as with most women, I hate my thighs.

So shorts weather makes me... uncomfortable, to say the least.

But since I am of the mindset to understand the things I can change and accept the things I cannot, I get that I have my mother's legs (thanks, ma!), so the spindly calves and ankles thing? Not much I can do. Bone structure pretty much is what it is.

But!

I'm getting a treadmill today, and I'm going to do something about my muscle tone, so even though my legs aren't proportioned how I'd like, at least they can be more shapely, and then I will *hopefully* feel more confident when shorts weather rolls around.

Plus, that whole Couch-to-5k thing is hard to keep up on when the weather has been as crappy as it has been lately. Being able to run inside will greatly help that as well.

So bring it, summer! Muhahaha!

Anybody want a peanut?

I have a position paper and a PowerPoint presentation to prepare.

Instead, I choose to watch The Princess Bride.

Because it is my favorite movie, possibly of all time.

And because of that whole procrastination thing I've mentioned a time or two...

This time around, the paper and PPT shouldn't be too difficult. I know what topic I want to do it on, and seeing as how many of my business classes are related, I've basically covered this topic in one form or another previously, so I've got a bit of a head start.

Hellew!

That is... if I get around to, you know, actually starting the dang thing.

(Side note: despite the creepy, caterpillar mustache, I've always had a thing for Cary Elwes in this  movie...)

I've been keeping up (ish) with the Couch-to-5k training. Not as much as I should, but better than I gave myself credit for, so that's something. Once the torrential rain and hail and crazy wind gusts move along, I'm looking forward to being able to get outside more. I have a bit of cabin fever, and I'm looking forward to spring like you wouldn't believe. I have a garden to tend to, a yard that needs a mind boggling amount of work, and several hiking trails that are beckoning me.

But for now, my story of "twue wuv" is over, so I guess I should be responsible and get back to that whole responsible student thing.

No, no, as you wish!

Procrastination set in...

I'm supposed to be studying for an HR midterm. But my brain got fuzzy and I'm getting a headache, so I'm taking a breather.

HR is... well, it's alright I guess. Not as dry as I'd expected, though I have a few insufferable brown-nosers in my class that make it slightly painful to deal with. It's a requirement for my degree, so I've just got to muddle through a few more weeks. Then it's on to a few quarters of electives and I'll finally have my Bachelor's! It's taken a bit longer than planned but, hey, at least it's happening.

SO I started the Couch-to-5k training this week!

I know! And my ass muscles are sore to prove it...

Hopefully I actually stick with it, because I think it'll pay off if I do. Bring it on, shorts weather!!!

It's a beautiful, sunny day in the Seattle area today, and I'm a little bitter that I'm stuck inside studying. But my goal is to have my midterm done by tonight and have all weekend to play. Hopefully the weather gets the memo and sticks around a few more days. I'm a little twitchy and could use a good hike. I feel Mt. Pilchuck beckoning me back, but it's way too snowy up there still and I don't want to be another search-and-rescue statistic for that mountain. I think I'll hold off on that one until further into spring. And Age, you're coming with me!

I also have plans to hike the peninsula this summer. I figure since my state has a rainforest, I should at least go and walk through it, eh? I have a lot of hiking plans for this summer. We'll see how many of them come to fruition.

As you can probably tell, I'm getting antsy for spring and summer to come. I want to get outside, work in the yard, play, hike, all that good stuff. Contrary to many people's assumptions of me, I'm not as big of a prissy chick as I appear to be. I love being outdoors.

And yes, you can actually enjoy outside even when you hate insects.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

Amen to that

Glad we cleared that up. Back to studying...

Couch to 5k

So I have this friend, Age. She's been my best friend since I was four (minus a brief spell where she chose to be friends with my arch-nemesis Amanda Dilling and the two would gang up on me and steal my shoes whenever I'd come over to play).

Inoright?!? Total douche move.

But we were, like, 11 or so? And all girls are douches at that age.

(Hence why I fear for when my daughter gets older...)

But I digress...

So this friend is kind of the ultimate badass. She's in denial about it, but it's totally true.

She has this platinum-blonde pixie cut (a look I could NEVER pull off), oodles of tattoos, an amazing personality, and drinks fancy-schmancy beer that no one has ever heard of but you feel cooler just because she's heard of it.

She's one of those people.

You know, people who are cool without obviously trying to be so.

People I simultaneously hate and want to be.

So anyway, this friend is also a huge health and fitness fanatic. I mean, it's literally her job, so it's probably good she subscribes to her own advice.

Her. The fitness queen.

She is the only person I know who has rock-hard abs. And I'm pretty sure her leg muscles could cripple me. She is in amazing shape, and she makes it look like it's nothing. (And she isn't one of those scary, overly-muscly, 'roided-out-looking chicks, either. She could break you in half and still look girlie doing it.)

She's also the classic over-acheiver, but again, without really trying.

Like, she works full time, is getting her Master's Degree, and oh yeah, I just totally went for a 30 km bike ride this morning before work, no biggie!

No, really, she does stuff like that. I swear she gets more done before I even get out of bed, than I even do in a day. It's ridiculous. I generally feel like a loser compared to her. Anyone should.

So this friend's one apparent weakness (and I mean, apparent only to her) is running. I guess she feels like it isn't her forte or something, which I don't understand, but whatevs.

So like anything else in her life, she sees a challenge, she overcomes it.

Well, not really overcomes it, more like kicks its sorry ass from here to next Tuesday.

So she is doing this Couch-to-5k training thing. And she wants me to do it with her. And I would love to, because mama needs to get in better shape. I don't really need to lose weight, per se, but I could certainly stand to tone up a bit, especially after three kids. I'd love to be a bad-ass before I turn 30.

But here's the thing.

I am the world's biggest procrastinator. Like, if it were an Olympic sport, I'd be the undefeated, world-record-holding, most medaled champion ever.

Me. The little turtle that could.

So clearly I'm having some troubles getting started. Right now I'm sick, so running isn't going to happen quite yet. Heck, walking is somewhat of a struggle right now. But once I'm better, I'd like to think that I'd start with the training. Because, really, it isn't even that hard of training, and I know that I am in better shape than I give myself credit for (not as good as my friend, but who is?!?).

But let's be realistic. I'm a slacker.

Well, maybe not a slacker, because I have three kids, am a full-time student, and still manage to run a tight ship and keep things somewhat orderly. But in my off time? Total slacker! (remember the Teen Mom 2 marathon...)

So I'll do my best, Age, but you'll need to kick my ass a little lot. Because only one of us can be the self-motivated awesome sauce. Me? I fill the role of the jaunty sidekick.