Bedtime discuss: I don't really feel that way until about 12:30/1. It used to be earlier but with the insomnia I have it's later.

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VENT: I ate a quesadilla earlier today and I've felt like crap ever since. I feel like the cheese was bad or something because of the pukey feeling I have

CELEBRATE: It's the weekend so I don't have to do anything. Hopefully the house is quiet tonight but I have a feeling it won't be. Last Friday we ended up having a party, and one of my housemates already told me of her plans to make margaritas tonight so...

Vent: This thing going on at my work has me SO exhausted and frustrated and upset. I just want to be done with it.

Celebrate: For the first time in, like, a MONTH, I don't have to stay after work tomorrow. I can finally go home when I'm done teaching, which is exactly what I need right now.

Stress Relief: Usually I do my nails, but I did that earlier tonight and now they're smudged and chipped, so there goes my stress relief.

Bedtime: Depends on the night. If it's a night before my internship, being awake at 11 is past my bedtime. If I don't have to go to my internship, I don't have class until 11 or 12 in the afternoon, so I can be up as late as 1 AM.

CELEBRATE: Went to my first 18th ever tonight. It was super awesome And could cruise and get pizza with my friends after

VENT: You know that quesadilla I spoke about before? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning form it...I've been in bed all weekend, except when I'm in the bathroom .

CELEBRATE: I'm starting to feel a little better

Vent: Ugh I hate being a procrastinator, and I hate that I'm not a "list" person. I try to be a list person, but I just follow through day in and day out with it. Organization is not my strong suit, but I'm better than I used to be. So that is a good thing.

Celebrate: I went to a tap audition today. Long story about the history with the people running the show, but I faced my negative self talk and insecurities and went. I did really good in the first number, really sucked the 2nd number, and the 3rd number was okay. I really want to be selected for the hardest number, but I don't think I was good enough, yet I'm actually okay with that and I'll just work hard in the pieces I get selected for and not compare myself to others. It's okay if other people are better than me, and that has taken awhile for me to get to that point.

GO PATRIOTS!

We are headed to a Super Bowl party in an hour. My cake turned out well, my cookies are better than average, and my stinkin' lemon bars didn't turn out AGAIN. 2nd recipe and they came out really weird. They don't taste bad, but they aren't something I can bring. Oh well.

Vent: My TV reception is terrible right now, and I wanna see the Super Bowl!

Celebrate: Carrots and broccoli roasted with lemon, garlic, and olive oil, plus Trader Joe's coconut curry chicken sticks and mandarin oranges for dinner. OM NOM NOM.

Vent-I'm sleepy. I got a decent amount of sleep, but I just can't seem to wake up.

Celebrate-I made it to work on time.

VENT: Shin splints came back yesterday. I guess the shin sleeves I bought aren't doing enough. I'll need to go back to wrapping with an elastic bandage. Common sense says I need to just give the running a rest for a while. I'm not quite there yet, but I am seriously thinking about cutting my workouts shorter. I wanted to register for a 5K on March 11th, but I think I need to wait until closer to the date to see how I'm feeling.

CELEBRATE #1: GIANTS WON!!

CELEBRATE #2: I have a kitchen stocked with tons of healthy, tasty food right now. I love that feeling.

CELEBRATE #3: I bought a trackball mouse and brought it into work today. It seems to be helping my shoulder pain.

NEW DISCUSS: Favorite Super Bowl ads? I'm actually not usually a fan of a lot of the ads, but I did like the one with Matthew Broderick that was a spoof on Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Thank you YouTube Repeat!

www.youtuberepeat.com . . . (Not really explicit...it is a Super Bowl Ad....ahem....we'll leave it at that....)

VENT: None right now.

CELEBRATE: I finally feel normal after being sick Friday afternoon through yesterday.

CELEBRATE: For my breakfast/lunch I made eggs and toast and it was absolutely delicious!! My eggs were cooked perfectly if I do say so myself

DISCUSS: What's your favorite way to have eggs? I'm not picky and it depends on my mood, but I usually go for fried.

VENT: Bosses cut me to 50% employment

CELEBRATE: Mr. smileywoman survived his quadruple bypass surgery.

DISCUSS: How do you deal with being over-tired?

Hope everyone is doing well.

So I'm thinking that I'm going to be up all night again. My sleep schedule is so messed up. I slept three hours last night and was awake for 3 hours then I crashed for 4 extra hours. It's already 2AM and I'm not tired.

I hate insomnia!

^ I hear ya! I can usually go to sleep, but often cannot stay asleep. And now I'm up much earlier than I wanted to be. Too much on my mind.

Smiley, hugs!!

Renae, lists save my life!! I couldn't function without them!

Eggs - I like all types of eggs, fried, poached, boiled, scrambled, omelettes, quiches. My go-to is scrambled, just cause it's easy.

Feel better, all you sickies! And for those on the mend (including Mr Smiley and KOS) continue to get well!

kk~

VENT: I am having a very difficult time not losing my patience with my sister right now. I don't know if I'm justified in feeling the way I do or not. I suspect that, from an objective point of view, I'm not being as understanding as I probably should be, and that's just making me feel worse. Harumph.

CELEBRATE: I'm learning Italian! I just started a couple of days ago with Rosetta Stone, so my vocab is pretty much limited to, "The boy eats a sandwich," but still. Il bambino mangia del panino!

EGG DISCUSS: I usually eat my eggs scrambled, and I eat Egg Beaters if they're available. I like hard boiled eggs in salads sometimes, but any type of egg other than scrambled tends to make me not feel so well, so I figure it's better to be safe than sorry.

Checking in. We decided recently to disconnect the internet at home, because we both felt we were wasting too much time on it. He has access at work and I have my little ipod that picks up wireless elsewhere, so it's not like we're totally isolated. I just won't be on as much anymore.

VENT: Work's no fun this week. The doctor's mom died Monday afternoon and he's one of those workaholic types and has insisted on being in the office yesterday and this morning. But he's finally realized that he needs a break so he's gone home for the day. Which means it'll be a quiet one this afternoon; we'll still see those patients who get other treatments or have rehab or massage.

VENT 2: My car is giving me anxiety again. And again, my husband insists it's worth it to keep fixing it.

VENT: I found four stains on the cardigan I decided to wear today. Four! But, stubborn as I am, I attacked them all with a Tide pen instead of just wearing something else. So now my cardigan smells funny because the Tide pen smells funny.

VENT/CELEBRATE: I have my annual review today. So this is a vent because this is my first review with my new boss, and I'm a little nervous about how it's going to go, because she's WAY more on top of things than my old boss. I guess "vent" probably isn't really the right word. I'm just slightly anxious. But it's also a celebrate because (1) I will probably be getting a raise, and (2) because she IS more on top of things, my yearly "I definitely have room on my plate to take on more challenges and responsibilities" comment may actually lead to a productive conversation for once.

NEW DISCUSS: Do you like to personalize your work area? To what extent? My cube at work used to be pretty bare, but over the years I've collected an assortment of papers that I've tacked to the wall, along with a few stuffed animals, a Harry Potter action figure, a bunch of photographs, a bunch of art postcards, and various other miscellaneous things (a wooden shoe, a miniature double-decker bus, etc). Some people here really go all out. They bring in plants, plaster every inch of their cubes with photos, hang small posters, calendars, you name it. Others have just about nothing personal; for them it's just a work space.

Vent-None really.

Celebrate-I'm not letting myself get stressed for taking off work for 2 days. For those who don't read my diary, I had to go to the ER Tuesday night for severe dehydration & stress. The NP told me to stay home for a few days, so I did. Normally, I'd be freaking out that they're going to fire me for doing the reasonable thing and taking care of my health. My boss and I talked a bit before my friend picked me up, so everything's cool. They give me the time off for a reason, after all.

Egg discuss-Scrambled usually, but a good fried egg is a thing of beauty.

Work area discuss-Not really. They keep telling us we're going to move, so I don't want to clutter up too much and have a move a bunch of stuff.

So we got our energy and gas bills through... £17 overbudget! I cannot afford that. When I moved in, I was told that bills averaged £30 per month, not £34 for just those two things!!! Grrrrrr, We did try to keep telling my flatmate that it was too expensive. But that's ridiculous!

New flatmate seems to like heat, but not as much. Interesting.

In regards to Jonelle's dress down celebrate... I find this very interesting! I would be venting if I had been given permission to dress down. I hate wearing the same thing in my down time as in work. My "uniform" in the off license was jeans and a hoodie, and when I wasn't working, I'd struggle to figure out what to wear that wouldn't feel like I was about to go into work! It sucked.

My bedtime varies. Past my bedtime depends on if I'm working the next day or what plans I have. Never earlier than 12am though. Earlier is an early night.

I love a poached egg, but it depends on my mood too. I just absolutely hate if the yolk is cooked at all! It needs to still be bright yellow & runny. I boil eggs to bring on picnics, and I don't cook them for long enough because they'll continue to cook when I take them out of the pan so the yolk is still runny a few hours later. Otherwise I won't eat them.

Work area discuss: Well, if I worked somewhere that I was sat still for a long period of time, I'm not sure I would personalise it. I think it might be too distracting. Home's home, and work's work.

Celebrate: My son made the JV baseball team. He was hoping for Varsity and could have easily made it, but they kept some juniors and seniors that are not good but apparently didn't want to cut which is why his high school sucks in sports. Really the most important thing is that he wasn't cut for political reasons because there are a ton at this school and he didn't go there last year. He was relieved for sure and so were we!

Celebrate: I can take a nap today before my meeting with my partners. WHEEEEEE!

Celebrate: My husband resubscribed to HBO (which is packaged with Showtime.) I love Real Sports with Bryant Gumble and my hubby wanted to see the new series called Luck. WIN WIN for both of us.

Vent: I really really need to get back on track with my diet/exercise plan. I've decided to interview a hypnotist and see if that might help me get back on track. It's worth a shot.

Egg discuss: I love eggs. I eat them soft boiled more than anything, but poached, scrambled, fried...all good.



Celebrate:

Emma - Just wearing proper clothes is dressing up for me! My clothes at home are pajamas 95% of the time. Or yoga pants and a t-shirt. Today I'm wearing jeans, flats, a casual-ish top, and a cardigan, and I feel pretty darn dressy, by my own standards. But it's still more comfortable than dress pants and a blouse, which is what I'd normally be expected to wear.

Vent: I'm just realizing that I'm going to have a pretty much constant workload this semester. I used to have days here and there where I'd gotten everything done, but with two 3-days-a-week classes, one 2-day-a-week one, and two once-a-week-ers, I don't really get a day off anymore.

Celebrate: I got to watch a committee hearing at my internship yesterday and it was SO COOL.

Celebrate 2: I'm eating the best falafel ever for lunch.

Super Bowl Ads: I know there was one I thought was really funny, but now I can't remember it...darn.

Eggs: Scrambled!

Workspace: My jobs are teaching ballet and coaching forensics (acting, not dead people), so I don't really get a workspace, haha. I have a desk at my internship, but the other interns use it too, so I don't really get to personalize it much.

Just popped in to say that I continue to read what everyone's up to here, although I don't generally post. But I like to stay updated!

Vent: Midterms. Yuck.

Celebrate: Concerts next week! I love our February season. We have the best music and the coolest concepts. We're doing a set of concerts with a myth and mythology theme, including this wicked set titled "Medusa", "Perseus", and "Promethesus". Most interesting choral stuff ever.

Overtired discuss: I live on four or five hours a sleep a night during the semesters, and I manage on a combination of lots of vitamins (B complex especially), espresso, and pink Rockstar energy drinks, with the occasional nap and my best attempts at eating healthy.

Egg discuss: I like eggs a lot, but I usually just prepare them scrambled with a ton of bell peppers and tomato and green onion. Mmm.

Work area discuss: I don't have a cube anymore, but even when I did, I didn't really have anything up like my coworkers. I had a potted plant? I work in a bar now so nothing is mine, haha.

Back in Australia!! I had SO much fun on my trip, it was an amazing experience, but at the same time it's good to be home, where it's hot!! haha I'm still pretty tired from the 20 hour flight home, and I managed to get a sore throat in Amsterdam which I still have, so that part is a little miserable, but Tom is taking excellent care of me so yay!

Unfortunately I now have to head off to a conference in two days, which involves a 3 hour flight, sighhhhhh the timing sucks! However at the conference I'm going to be presented with a prize for $1500 (I won a prize from this Polymer company, they picked the two best polymer-based honours thesis in Australia, so pretty proud of myself for that one!) It'll also be fun to see everyone from the lab again, I missed them!

Work space discuss: I've decorated my desk space, if it's too clean and boring it makes me bored, so I've got photos and drawings and thing stuck up on my wall, so much cheerier!

I feel really achy and ill. Pants.

VENT:
I miss my friendship with someone. It's sad how things have fallen apart there...
I have a bit of dermatitis flaring up
I miss performing, I'd kill for the stage, and I haven't been a way for that long, last performance was Sept. I miss jazz performance especially so much, but I've moved beyond my studio's ideals really, not so much performance for comps but just for pure fun. My school doesn't offer open jazz, it's all to the comps like most places here. And besides, even if I went somewhere else just for fun, they would kill me.
I also miss travel, it'd be so nice when I finish school and have more freedom to do what I want in general.
CELEBRATE:
Well got a public speaking comp thing coming up *fingers cross*
And I'm applying for an international program, too bad the acceptance rate is 1% out of an already VERY qualified field of those invited to apply for the international program. But it's exciting, but I'm applying for the most popular in school holidays ones heh.
DISCUSS:
How do you guys get motivation?
I'm thinking of making a peppy music playlist and that to try and get me pumped when I'm in a down and lazy mood. Any ideas of what I can do?