Summer is drawing to a close...or is closed

So here I am, just another day at work. My vacation was last week and I think I need a vacation from my vacation. How cliche. But what is bugging me today is the fact that all the grammar and high schoolers are returning to their brick buildings of higher learning and for the first year ever, I am without the smell and feel of new school supplies or new clothes.I mean, I bought a bra on sale from Aerie last night and some new Nike running shorts, but those don't really count. Gone are the days of searching for those just barely allowed khaki pants for Holy Cross that didn't look hideous. Or finding a sweater that allowed you to wear a polo instead of a button down every day of the school year. Or skirts that were short, but just to your fingertips so when you were pulled into the principal's office you could yank them down and get away with it. No more jiggling locks on the yellow and green lockers or the smell of somewhat new text books that gave me a strong impression of Lysol and mold. No more after school rush to change into running clothes or get down to practice. And then sit and complain about running.

This is the big girl world. You go to work. Try not to be too exhausted or get too awful of a headache and then go for a run, go to sleep, sometimes to laundry. Lather, rinse, repeat.

So, instead of continuing to reminisce, I feel like I should talk about my vacation.
Spent it in Otis.
But I went to Agawam to horseback ride. Then to Greenfield to finally see Bandit. He was as cantankerous as ever. He gave me a moment of ears forward, "hey, I think I remember you!" Then I touched his ear and he was angry/goofball Bandit again. Paul actually came with me and took pictures. He really liked this GIANT mare across from Bandit and then made friends with a gargantuan paint. The paint tried to bite his ankle under the fence. He was a feisty one. But seeing Bandit was fantastic. He had his own little paddock and he looked healthy.m They had him barefoot too, which was interesting. Gave him a hug and e-mailed the instructor again. I might try to get up there for a lesson at some point.

And the horseback ride in Agawam that Paul's mom bought was I think two Fridays ago. I rode this children's show pony named Spike. He was so tiny, but he definitely had spunk. I cantered him around the sides of the cornfields and Holly, the owner, let me jump him over some cross-rails when we got back to the stable. The first one, he did exactly what Bandit used to do. Ran up to it easily enough, then spooked and tried to stop in front, popped it, and then tried to run away. I stayed on, but was definitely rusty. Lost a stirrup. Grr. So I turned him around and went over a little cross rail line. No problems this time. We cantered to the second one actually. He was a little pistol though. Holly was like, "He would love you for a summer!" Yeahhh...not sure about that. He was ADORABLE. But I went through the whole "Who's the Boss" thing with Bandit and him spooking to get out of work. Not sure I want to do that again right away. Although who am I kidding?!? I loved every second of it. And I wasn't scared. The barn was absolutely beautiful. It was called Equine Boulevard and the owner knows Sarah from Frazier. Small world. If anything, the whole Friday horse experience cemented that I need to get back into it ASAP. I wish I had more money saved up or more time to work at a stable and pay for a few lessons.

Oh well...

In lake news, I got to do a little skiing and wakesurfing. The Mark Twain is in instead of the Malibu because it can fit in the low water. I just can't believe it's Labor Day this weekend. Next weekend is going to seem so quiet and dull. BUT...I'm considering doing the Rochester half marathon. I just wish I had someone to run it with me!! Any takers?!?!

I went for a 9 mile twilight run in Otis Sunday night and the weather was perfect for it. Made me think that I could still handle the half. We'll see. I need to do some thinking. The entry fee is 65.00. I'd hate to spend that if I'm really not ready for it.

PICTURES!!!!!!!

 Still argues with me hahaha

 Reunited!!!

 Paul's favorite mare

 Barefooting!

 Wakeboarding casualty

 Jack learned to barefoot

A Running post...what do ya know?

So this summer has been a little hairy with running. I'll be the first to admit how much I DESPISE the heat and humidity. So, unless I'm in Otis, I've been on the treadmill 3-4 days a week and then outside on dirt roads the rest. So half and half. But I've been running pretty much every day.

Paul went with me for a few runs in June. I really thought he was getting into the sport again. He pulled his Vibrams on and met me at the corner of the dirt roads, right above the beach. We took off at a casual jaunt. Then we hit the hill on Curtiss Hall. Oh my God. I always forget about this hill. I tried to keep talking and felt like I had a thick wad of cotton in my mouth. We stretched at the corner of Westerly, our turn to head home. Paul did not seem as thrilled about this run as he had when we first started out. I think he made it to the end of Brookman with me before telling me to just go as Moreau Hill loomed ahead of us. That was the last run he went on with me. Now he rides the Solo Wheel, occasionally. I guess that's what all the cool kids do now. Guess I'm not cool for resorting to my own two feet and dirty running shoes. But whatever. My runs are alone now. And I have to say, there's something that goes on during those runs that I wouldn't trade in or change. I see these houses and roads every summer, nearly every day, and they never get boring. I look at them and wonder what their families are like. How do they spend their summer days on the lake? How long have they been there? I know it's weird, but it makes the time pass. Then there are the days when I go way too fast because I see or hear something moving in the woods and my brain immediately reverts to - MOUNTAIN LION! BEAR! GO HOME! Yeah. Not cool. I know I could never out run either. And honestly, I have no tactic if I come across one.

Recently, Land's End has installed (I think that's the proper word here) plastic, yellow speed bumps. These things must be only about 4 inches high and they're two separate little strips that barely reach across the entire road. The first morning I saw them I was like, WHAT?!?!?! And proceeded to jump over them and make a big deal about it. Hey, I run this road every day. Gotta spice it up a little bit. I'm pretty sure these speed bumps are useless other than to be a great tripping device when I'm extremely tired. So, to you Land's End, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. I can just imagine the homeowners sitting, eating their lovely muffins and drinking their strong coffee, and laughing at the dirty, sweaty runner girl that's trying to "hurdle" these mini speed bumps. Oh well. I guess everyone could use a laugh now or then. I say all this now, but lately, I've been so tired that no hurdling has occurred. I've either stepped over or around them while secretly hoping a huge truck comes blasting through and crushes them to bits or twists and warps them onto the side of the road. They. Are. Pointless.
I'm waiting to see them in my neighborhood next.

In other news, I went for a jetski ride once the weather cleared last weekend. (Can we just discuss how MISERABLE sitting in the house for three days straight trying to watch the Olympics on a poor satellite signal was? Stupid Rain. And our phone got struck by lightning). I drove around the whole lake pretty relaxed and just looked around. I stopped by Overflow and it just made me think of how times and places seem changed. I miss where I was last summer, what I was doing. There are certain things I don't want back. (Marist, thanks for the four years, I DO NOT want to re-live you. Hands are clean. Champagna preseasons were probably the bane of my existence).  But last year had this quality to it. The people I saw every day and what I did...it all just felt so much more lively. Now I drive around and see all these For Sale signs and the Marina's garage doors were closed tight. Everything seemed shrunken and tiny. And then when I run, everything seems too big. I can't find a medium.

So, before I'm done, I also want to complain about the Olympics. They didn't show ANY of the Equestrian. And the Cross-Country jumping is pretty exciting. At least 8 horses went down over these jumps and the queen's GRANDDAUGHTER was one of the riders. The ENTIRE royal family was in attendance and NBC felt the need to show fencing and Men's INDOOR VOLLEYBALL. What is this world coming to?! If they cut the Track coverage, I will seriously feel the need to write a scathing letter. Maybe J.K. Rowling can lend me a Howler that will explode and hiss at them if they don't open it. So much for more equal coverage NBC. I'm sick of seeing just swimming, gymnastics, volleyball. Either spread it out better between your channels, or cut down on some of the time on certain events. I did not need to see an entire volleyball game. Whatever. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one upset about this. Most people don't think horseback riding is a sport. (But ping pong and Badminton are?!) I'm sorry but you have to be pretty strong to get a 1,200 pounds or more animal to listen to you and jump over 4+ foot high obstacles.

Rant done.

Got a weekend of speed bump hopping ahead of me.

My Brief Break Comes to an End

Depressing...
Sooo...I went home Monday and ran around getting stuff done. I met Emily Tuesday morning at Blue Colony Diner. It was great to finally catch up on everything. We hadn't seen each other in nearly 6 years. She's living on her own now, has her own apartment and is taking classes as well as working as a nanny. So major props to her. I think we may try and catch up again over Christmas break. We're going to go to Triple Play and check out the SJS gym. She hasn't seen it yet! Mikey came in Tuesday night too. Mom and Dad picked him up around 2 at Bradley. Had some tallboy cans ready for him haha Tried to run and my leg HURT. Oh my God. It was my quad. There's knots all along it. I need to get it worked out completely and then slowly get back to running. I'm just so pissed about all this. Another indoor season down the tubes. Sucks.

Wednesday morning I got up and showered and then went out to my Aunt's PT place. She worked out some of the knots. They still hurt. Grrr. She had worked on them the night before too. Paul called me to tell me he had made it in alright, but he booked the wrong flight to get back to Pitt. He somehow booked a 6:20 a.m. flight for Saturday morning O_O He was NOT happy. Fran stopped by Wednesday night too. He showed me his new tat. Silly kid. It looked pretty legit though. We'll have to hang out more over Christmas. Thanksgiving break is such a tease because it's so short. Any visits are short and they're mainly to line up visits for later in the year. I talked to Paul, who made fun of me for sleeping with my 5 foot stuffed bear (HA!) and then passed out super early.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! Paul and his Dad drove down. Lisa outdid herself on the food. Her mashed potatoes are always my favorite. They're MORE than mashed potatoes. They're like a dish of heavenly awesomeness. Paul took Jack outside to show him this new RC helicopter thing. And then I went back up to the lake with him afterward so I could spend Friday with him. We tried watching Elf, but his DVD player wasn't exactly working. I fell asleep with my contacts in, despite him trying to wake me up so I'd go take them out. I didn't even eat turkey, so no idea WHY I was so tired.

Friday was a lazy morning. We went for brunch at the Farmington River Diner. That's our sort-of tradition. haha. We tried finding pumpkins that were being discarded so that we could use them as targets. His Dad said we could go up to High Rise and shoot at some old glass bottles and pumpkins. So fun. I just tried out a smaller one that was a step up from a bebe (sp?) gun. He let me try one of the more aggressive ones, but held my arms so I wouldn't totally hurt myself. haha. We had fun though. It was just for an hour. We made it back in time to get sunset pictures too. Paul fell in the mud trying to explore. The sunset was beautiful too. I got him to watch Hidalgo with me. hahaha. It was a fun night. We just joked around. It was very relaxed. There was nothing to worry about.

Until....4:30 a.m. wake up to drive to Bradley!!! I drove and got him there for 5:30-ish. I hate saying goodbye though. It was so early and dark. I made it home by 6:20. Could NOT fall asleep. I drove Jack to practice, read a magazine, wrote...yup....booooring.

Paul sent me home with his Christmas gift to me because he didn't want me to have to carry it on the plane. So it's in the living room, not to be opened until Christmas morning. I miss him. We were supposed to go tag our tree this weekend...probably not happening.

Can I fast forward through this week and just be at December 8th and on my way home???? Pleaseeee Ugh. And I thought that my classes on December 8th would go until 6...nope. Done by 9:30 a.m. I can get unpacked and situated for Pittsburgh. Another trip since I won't be seeing him for Christmas. :(

"Travel is in your future" Thanks you fortune cookie. haha

Pictures from the weekend

 Paul thought he was the Paparazzi haha

Sunset

 Potentially bad idea, but clearly SO excited

Some lake pics

The water was so calm. And it was wicked sunny. I had to switch around some camera settings. haha. I love how the tree over the lake came out with the sun through it.

Weekend Update (not SNL, sorry)

Sooooooo...I had a rough week. Going home was exactly what I needed. After the whole heart fiasco...I am fine. Wednesday on was a little better. I ran and then went home Thursday. So nice to be home. Got some errands done, some homework...Saturday was the Albany meet. Of course it was cloudy and windy. The start was on an uphill. Seriously? Freaked me out. We brought Jasper along. He made tons of new friends and then pooped on the sidewalks and tried to eat an adorable little black lab puppy. Crazy. Love him though. The race was, eh. I hated the start. Bottle necked straight through the mile mark. And I felt like I was running SO fast, but my time was off or something. Maybe the course was long. I don't know. It was weird. I guess Chuck said the Albany girls mentioned their times were much slower compared to earlier time trials on the same course. So something was off. After the meet, pumpkin coffee and Otis!!!! Super. The lake was HIGH and looked like the ocean. The trees weren't that colorful, which was sad. I did laundry ALL night and watched Bridesmaids with mom. Laughed our butts off.

Sunday we went shopping. Finally got my Sperry boat shoes. Half price, man :) New pair of dark jeans, a scarf and some leggings. So just some basics really. I was trying to watch my spending because I have Christmas presents to buy and possibly a surprise plane trip to Pittsburgh to make. We shall see. I also found a dress for formal/lauren's wedding. It's an adrianna papell. They didn't have my size, but we finally found a store in Buffalo that had it and it's on its way. It was one of those numbers that didn't look like much on the hanger. One shoulder. I love that style. Ran 11 miles when we got home. I went to Holy Cross and then had to run back up the hill by Spartan's. Ugh. Stupid decision. That hill is death. It's probably only like 0.35 miles at MOST, but it's like straight up and curves. My butt hurts just thinking about it. No wait, my lungs are burning remembering it. Back to school and I hit traffic in Danbury. There was a white pick-up that was so charred from fire that it was mostly black. Spooky.

I HATE Mondays. It's official. Start off with an 8 a.m. and coffee dripping through my mug all over me. Then go to a presentation for my capping blog, which I'm proud of and WANT to show off. I flub the speech because I touched the keyboard and sent it to the next slide before I needed it. I was shaking. Not to mention, my nice black dress pants...bought them last year. Yeah, now they're too big. I didn't have a nice, professional dress belt so I had to make sure they stayed up while I spoke. Seriously. Nightmare. But, I have an interview lined up with HV Mag and I made it through my run and 5 o'clock class. Got two more capping posts written. So I managed to get work done. I just have a lot left for the weekend. It needs to slow down :/

I have one thing I'd like to accomplish before I leave though...I want to capture a Marist groundhog. I found out what they eat. Blueberries, apples, bananas. They're SO FLUFFY! I'm gonna die. hahahaha. Had to do it. Ok, I need to go to bed.

 LOVE this sunset picture

"I love car rides!" Jaspieeee <3 haha

Dream Analysis

I really started wondering the past few days about analyzing my dreams. I've had some doosies lately. But the one tat ALWAYS bugs me, is how my teeth fall out. Some girl in my class last night said that dreams where your teeth fall out signal an instability in your life. Well, that's spot on. I'm a senior in college. I'm unstable. I don't know where I'm going with my life.


Ok...so I looked stuff up and it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Internet dream dictionaries that are free probably aren't the best things to look into. But in further regards, what the hell was I thinking to have some of the dreams that I do? Like when I was 4 or 5,  had a dream that a giant, rainbow, tap dancing fish in a top hat ate my entire family. then we sat in a completely white room and had a chat. Explain that. I had a realistic dream of being chased up a tree in the jungle by a cheetah and I felt and watched it tear me apart and eat me. That one woke me ups creaming when I was 6. I've had dreams where I've gotten out of bed and ran to the bathroom in college to start brushing my teeth and get ready for class, only to see it is 2:15a.m. and my roommate has just gone to sleep. I was staying at Paul's and made him get up to knock on the bathroom door ebcause I thought someone was in there. No one was. So he grudgingly gets up, opens the door for me and goes back to bed. I looked inside and went back to bed, never using the bathroom. That was another weird one. And I didn't actually remember it the next day. He reminded me and then I remembered. I have colorful, wild dreams that rush and fly around. I was riding horses through a giant lollipop forest with the Harry Potter cast. I just don't even know where some of these things come from. Either I'm crazy or creative. I wish some of this creativity would bust out when I'm writing.

I'm tired, but can't sleep. I have a workout today. I want today and tomorrow to be over so I can go home Thursday and get a little change of scenery.

 I also miss this goofball.

 Scenery shots from Otis mid-June