Randoms and Such

I know, I know.  Where have I been?  Studying my arse off, taking a big exam, getting ready (who the hell am I kidding here?) for school.  It's no excuse, but I do recognize that I've been seriously slacking on my blogging duties.  

I've been studying all summer for my personal trainer cert.  Going over anatomy, kinesiology, exercise physiology and program progression.  I was doing super awesome with studying and staying on top of it all and then a bunch of family stuff happened that pulled me away from being so diligent, and then my sister was in town which was a pleasant and welcomed distraction.  So I book my test for August 20, and come the second week of August I was starting to freak out about taking the exam because the studying I was getting time for was not up to my usual standard.  If I failed the test, sure I could take it again, but I'd have to pay $200 to retake it.  That's a lot of money for an exam.  ANYWAYS, I review and review, wasn't feeling super confident about the exam, and the morning of the test I was so damn nervous I thought I was going to puke.  The entire drive to the testing center I spent talking to myself, out loud, and telling myself very firmly that I was going to dominate the test, that I was going to pass, and that opportunities would open up for me because I would have my cert finally.  

I got three hours to complete 150 questions, and I told myself that even if I had to sit there and go through all the answers 100 times over, I was going to sit there for at least an hour and a half.  I know I have the tendency to speed read the question, the speed read through the answers, and then usually I pick the wrong answer because I didn't read the question thoroughly enough.  So I strategized by reading each question twice, and slowly, before even looking at the answers.  It took me just under 2 hours to complete, and the whole thing must have worked out because I passed!  Insert victory dance here.  

Since I'm done studying for my personal trainer cert, we now have our dining room table back.  Juan is very happy.  Until I start writing papers for grad school and then the dining room table will disappear again under mountains of papers, text books, notebooks etc.  Juan will not be happy.  

Even though I had my first day of school yesterday, and I've purchased my text books today and will go out and get school supplies later today, I'm still in complete denial that the school semester has started up again.  Even in more denial that come May of next year I will be graduating with my masters and no.more.school.ever!  "Never say never" blah blah blah, but really, I am very excited about the prospect of not having to sit in a traditional classroom ever again.  

Yesterday when I was scrambling last minute to get my backpack together for school, I couldn't find Blue (who has zipper disease and I wish I had sent him to JanSport Camp over the summer while he was on vacation because now school has started and there's no going to school without him).  I know we had stashed Blue somewhere where the cats couldn't sit on him and cover him in fur, but I just couldn't remember where.  I almost had to miss my first day of school because I couldn't find him. First days of school without Blue just don't happen.  They just don't.  

I recently re-watched HP 7.2 (that's Harry Potter 7 part 2 for all you non-Harry obsessors) and the part with the dragon escaping Gringotts always makes me so sad.  Poor dragon.  And whenever I watch HP 7.2 I'm reminded that the saga is over and that also makes me sad.  I grew up with Harry.  We were 11 at the same time and now, no more adventures for me to escape to.  And the, "Not my daughter you bitch!" part, to this day, makes me squeal with glee.  

Apples with peanutbutter is the best snack ever.  I sometimes have 2 apples a day.  My sister also reintroduced avocado into my life.  I now have that pretty regularly too and it is delicious.  Delicious I tell you.  

We're building a house.  Yay!  It's a nightmare.  For those of you who have never purchased a home before, it's a bloody freaking nightmare.  Looking at houses, walking through them, going to the design center to pick out all your preferences etc, all that is the fun stuff, and it lasts for about 5nanoseconds.  All the other stuff, the loan stuff, the paperwork, the applications, the meetings, the projection of what our first born child will look like and their estimated IQ, all that crap is just ridiculous.  It'll be worth it all in the end, of course, but for now when someone calls us and says, "Jump!" we just say, "How high?!"

In case you were wondering, always ice using a barrier between yourself and the ice.  If you don't, and then fall asleep with the ice on, you could give yourself frost bite.  Trust me, I know.  My skin is currently peeling off in the place where the frost bite is healing.  It's like a burn, but in a way a little bit more gross.  

Review: Avocado and Oatmeal Clay Mask

When my sister was here we decided to give ourselves a mini spa day - you know, nails, facials, etc.  This turned into painting our nails on one night, and doing at home facials shortly before she left.  I've only had one facial before, and it was miserable.  The woman was trying to scrub and peel my whole damn face off and she kept peeling my eyelids open because her hands were so heavy and rough.  I've never gotten one since because it was miserable.  

So when Aud said she wanted to do facials again, I was skeptical, I almost ignored the request.  Then she proposed doing at home facials and I was more receptive to this idea.  So we went to Walgreens and picked this up: 

And it turned us into this:

I must say it worked pretty awesome.  Our faces were nice and clean and smooth, my skin, which is usually really oily, was well balanced for the rest of the day.  Taking it off was also really easy, just warm water.  It left our faces feeling nice and refreshed.  

So it was a thousand times better than the professional one I got, cost a fraction of the price, and was much more pleasant as I was able to talk to my sister, and occasionally giggle at the thought of someone seeing us at our computers chatting away with green faces.  

My grade: A+

Dog Park

We took Sappho to a "dog park" - and by dog park I mean a fenced in school campus at the butt crack of dawn - to meet some other dogs, make friends and run around.  

Off leash and meeting friends!

I'll admit, I was nervous.  Sappho doesn't get to play with other dogs, she's our only one and most other people's dogs are untrained, undisciplined little shits.  Sappho also doesn't know her own strength, and she plays a little rough.  And because of her breed (narrowly avoiding soap box and rant about how stupid I think it is to judge a dog by their breed before you ever get to know the dog) people get very nervous when she plays rough, and when people are nervous, dogs get nervous, and nervous dogs are unpredictable.  

She did SO well!  She was so happy to be able to run free with other dogs, she did great meeting everyone, she even did great when she got effing t-boned mid sprint by a giant golden retriever who came at her full sprint (I laughed so hard - they literally collided like you see in youtube videos and they both flipped and had to shake it off.  It was fabulous).  She played great with little dogs and the big dogs.  She even let a little pup lick her mouth and her face for the entire time we were there.  She did so well.  I'm so proud of her.  Definitely doing it again.  Good people, actually really well behaved dogs, and best of all, Sappho was passed the eff out for the rest of the day.  Excellent.  

Sappho learned this trick when she was my training buddy for my first 5k.  Water is heavy, and instead of carrying her water with me around the park, I taught her to drink from the fountain.  And yes, she needs to get up there because she's too short to just reach from the ground.  Everyone loved this trick, and pretty soon all the other dogs were doing it too.  Talk about a trend setter.  

Fashion Exploration

What does it mean to have a style?  Or fashion savvy?  I haven't the slightest idea.  My "style," if it can be called that, has been jeans and a t-shirt (which of course came after my Dickies and white tank top stage, which came after my goth phase, which came after my boy jeans and bandana belt stage).  When you're not "in the know" with fashion, or when you're your own worst and harshest critic, it's hard to branch out with new clothes because it's much more comfortable to stick with what you know.  That's why shopping with friends can be so helpful.  Yes, it takes twice as long, and sometimes you just want to be alone with the dressing room so that should shit go down (ie pants not zipping because they're cut for anorexic adolescents) you can have your own privacy to have your melt down.  But having that someone there, that safe person who can encourage you out of your comfort zone to try on new and different clothes, to pull you out of the dressing room and smack you around some when you have a melt down, and to also say, "You're getting that, you look amazing, decision made," when you're on the fence because it's not something you'd normally wear. 


My sister is really good at that for me.  She bought me my first pair of flares when they came back into fashion when I was like, 11.  She officially brought me out of overall shorts and overall pants and baggy clothes as a whole.  She also introduced me to toe socks (which I still rock on cold days when I don't want to wear closed toed shoes), she also introduced me to fishnets and got me my first pair of leather knee high leather romper stomper boots (both of which I still have because there is just so much sentimental value to them).  


When she was in town, we went shopping.  A couple of times actually.  First time around was a quick zoom through target where she bought me a "maxi dress" - you know, those long comfy dresses - as a birthday gift.  This was a trifecta on my not-so-sure meter.  1) it's a dress, and I don't wear dresses.  2) it's striped (or as my friend Jil would say, "those aren't stripes, those are Chevrons") 3) it's brightly colored (I like black, it's always flattering).  But she made me try it on, said I looked good in it and that she was buying it for me.  Decision made.


The second time we went shopping I mentioned how I really love the skinny jean and cute top look, but that I just don't think I can pull it off.  I have thick legs, and wide hips, and the idea of putting tight clothing around those wide areas just makes me shudder.  So next thing I know, my sister is pulling out dresses, skirts, skinny pants (and not just denim or black, but color block pants), slouchy tops, tops in YELLOW, asked me what my budget was, and then said that 1) I had to try on everything she picked out for me, and 2) she was going to spend my money well.  


After a few outfits that made me look like Pocahontas, a few that were just WAY too short (we're talking like, barely covered my booty short) and a black leather mini dress that I just about died over (but didn't get because it was really short), I walked away with skinny black pants, a slouchy purple and white horizontal stripped top (never in a million years would I have even picked it up off the shelf - horizontal stripes?  on this curvy figure, negative), a grey ruched tank, and a black slouch top that I bought I'm sure for my own comfort more than anything else.  Oh, and a black tank top which was most definitely purchased solely for my own comfort.  


I'm glad that my sister was there to help me branch out and try new things, because I love the clothes that I got (and she kept me within budget).  I guess the whole point to this blog is to remind everyone to take risks, to try new things, and when need be, bring a buddy who is strong enough to handle any potential melt downs, and break you out of your comfort zone.