Happy New Year!

Hey runners! Remember when I said that things would settle down after school let out for the holidays? Yeah? Well smack me upside the head next time I mention things "settling down" during the holidays. I mean, really!

In an attempt to (again) catch this blog up with my life, I will post some of the stuff that's happened during the past couple weeks in bullet point format . . . because I'd kind of like to finish this before 2011 arrives! :)

• Finished Christmas shopping AND a huge assignment at school (designing a ridiculously detailed template for my future personal training clients), while still managing to fit two short runs in during the week
  
• Ran 30 miles the weekend before Christmas (PEAK WEEK!!) . . . it was one crazy-ass weekend. I somehow ran an effortless 10 miles in 1:29:38 (8:58 pace!) on Saturday a.m., went to school all day for my Sports Performance Clinic, went home, ate pasta, went to sleep, got up on Sunday and felt really sick (sinus crap), ran 20 miles anyway, checked my garmin like 40 times afterwards to make sure I had REALLY run 20 miles,* ate fast food (Sonic) for the first time in a year, felt REALLY sick (sinuses and tummy, both) and went to bed
  
• Studied for and aced another test at school despite the constantly-building sinus pressure in my head
• Survived my car making a WEIRD ASS sound** on the way to Target, checked and added oil to my car (that wasn't the problem; that was more a "just in case" kind of thing); renamed said car "The Little Suzuki That Could" with the hopes that I would make it to my older sister's house in Beaufort, SC without my life turning into one of those Fa-La-La-La-Lifetime movies I'd been watching recently
  
• "Baked"*** until the wee hours of the morning before heading to one last (entertaining) class and hitting the road for Beaufort
  
• Drove for 5 hours with my blood pressure through the roof as a result of my fear that my car would breakdown somewhere in rural Georgia with no cell reception
• Made it to SC without incident, ate some homemade gumbo and spent the next day-and-a-half wrapping presents, eating cookies and hanging out with the fam
  
• Had a wonderful Christmas**** in which I received many running-themed presents (will post photos soon!), new headphones and a telephoto lens for my "big girl" SLR camera
• Spent the next few days hanging out with the fam, attempting to get over my sinus infection that had morphed itself into bronchitis, and being lazy. I wasn't TOTALLY lazy, though . . . my younger sis, Mo, and I did rock the Dance Dance Revolution pretty hard! That game will get you sweating, let me tell ya! I also managed to work in a day of lifting, a metabolic conditioning workout and a bunch of walks around my sister's beautiful neighborhood . . . not much, but I'll take it considering I felt like absolute crap and was getting about 2 hours of sleep a night as a result of my inability to breathe and the fact that I was hacking up a lung every 4 seconds
  
• Researched rental cars and flights for like 45 hours straight in an attempt to figure out how the heck I'm going to get home to NYC in THREE WEEKS! Yes, you read that right . . . THREE WEEKS!
  
• Spent one extra day (Monday) at Mallory's house so that I could attempt to deflect some of my niece's CRAZY energy off of her. That child was WIRED!
• Drove back to Orlando, still slightly terrified that my car was going to break down. Made it without incident (whew!)
• Since I got back to Orlando on Tuesday night, I've spent my time polishing my resume, job-hunting, house-hunting in various parts of the country*****, researching a presentation I'll have to do in class in a week or so and prepping for Wilson's visit.

Have I mentioned that Wilson gets here tomorrow?****** 'CUZ HE DOES! That being said (and with everything going on at school right now--ugh, SO MUCH), I may or may not have much time to post over the next 10 days . . . or hell, over the next 3 weeks until I'm done with school. I will, at a minimum, let you all know how Goofy goes, though! Um . . . yeah, because that shizz is in just over a week. YIKES! Here's hoping the bronchitis is completely gone by that time!

Alright, I better get my booty to bed for now . . . I'd hate to be late picking my man up from the airport tomorrow a.m.! Happy New Year, y'all! Here's hoping 2010 brings us all lots of hugs, runs and happiness :)



*It seemed WAY too easy . . . that's never happened to me before on a 20-miler!

**Like gravel was jumping around under the hood, in case you're interested

***I don't have an oven in my hotel room; thus, I was stuck with "no bake" recipes only

****Minus a minor/major argument--ah, family!!

*****Yes, I realize this is a complete waste of time until I figure out where we're going to be . . . but I like it, so sue me!

******Actually today, seeing as how it is now past midnight. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! :)