Gloriously Tolerable

Ah, funny quotes from The Onion. Life right now feels wonderful and stressful. Gloriously tolerable, indeed! There is so much to do this semester, and it feels like I go to school for most of the day, come home, eat supper, and then get right back into the books. I'm working very hard at being more disciplined, but it's tough. And then I worry about falling behind, which is really not the best use of my time.

But I'm getting better!! I've got my term very nicely organized, and I'm doing Ok at keeping on top of things. I'm a bit behind in my readings, but not much, and I plan to spend Saturday morning getting caught up. I've also been good about keeping up with my New Year's Resolutions. On the whole, I'm pretty proud of myself. :)

I had a thesis meeting today. I always dread them, I think because it's all so new to me. I go in there feeling very uncertain of whether or not I've actually accomplished anything that I was meant to have. You can all imagine just how well that works for me. *eye roll* Anyhoo. Today I went in there armed with some re-worked research questions and a new idea for my main objective. One of my research questions came out of our 598 class' study of an article on cheap red wine!! Know what's awesome? That's the research question my peeps were most impressed with! Go me! We spent about 45 minutes making revisions, Dr. B provided me the context for an epiphany (I finally have a way to deal with my lit review! It suddenly has a very concrete purpose!), and then it was time for me to go. As I packed up my stuff, Dr. B told me that I'm right on track, and that I deserved an 'atta-girl!' I earned an atta-girl!! Me! A blurb, a badge and an atta-girl. Life is gloriously tolerable.

There's this other new thing that I'm up to. It's new. And I wasn't going to share it, because I don't really trust myself to keep up with it. But I've done it four times now, and I've got a support network going, so maybe I'll tell y'all about it, and you can silently cheer for me. :) A while ago I was on the net, looking for some information about my health coverage through ASEBP. I'll confess, I was procrastinating. As I mosied through the website, I found a survey all about how healthy one's lifestyle is. Nothing says procrastination like a survey!

I started filling it out, and there was a box you could tick that said something like "if this survey suggests that you are at risk, would you be interested in having one of our Mayo Clinic counsellors contact you?" I clicked yes, a) because I didn't think I'd be eligible, and b) because it sounded research based, and I want to put good vibes out into the research world. You know - I'll do their survey, and then hopefully I'll get enough clinicians to do mine!! :D When I finished the survey, it blithely informed me that I was at risk for weight management and stress management. At risk enough to warrant being enrolled in their program for improving one's health. Crazy.

So Monday was my first "appointment." My counsellor phoned me at a pre-arranged time, and we went through the initial background information. Then I had to choose which program I wanted: weight or stress. I feel pretty confident about my ability to handle stress - I survived last semester! However, given that I'm still pretty...'curvy,' I'm less certain about my weight management skills. So I picked weight. She gave me some very good information about lifestyle diet changes (all well grounded in valid and reliable research!), and then we worked together to set some goals. My job is to drink at least one bottle of water a day, eat way more fruits and veggies, and to... um... well... *coughcoughrunthreetimesaweekcoughcough*

Are you done laughing yet? I know. I know! I am not a runner. But right now... well, it's what fits my schedule and my budget. I could go to the UofA gym after class, but that's at around 4, and that's when it's super busy. I don't like waiting half an hour to get 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. Plus (and I know this is dumb, but I'm allowed to have hang ups!) I feel intimidated by the gym bunnies. *blush* So running it is. And like I said, I've gone 4 times. Not in a row! It's not so bad. I go for 20-30 minutes, alternating 2 minutes of running with one minute of walking. The walking sometimes gets a little longer. ;) And it's Ok. Megs is my accountability partner. My counsellor asked me to schedule my runs in like appointments, so that I'm less likely to miss them. I tell Megan when I'm supposed to go, and then she 'encourages' me to go and do it!! And, of course, guilt trips me if I don't. *lol* Kidding, kidding.

Tomorrow Megan and I are having Christmas, and exchanging our gifts. Friday, Allan's coming over. I think we're going to Marble Slab for ice cream!! And then I'm planning on challenging him to a Scrabble game... *rubs hands evilly*... he's going down! And that's all you get to hear about that. Saturday night I'm hosting a breakfast-for-dinner party that's going to be wicked cool. And Sunday will be a day of church and rest. Oh life! So busy! So gloriously tolerable!

Ooh - I had a confrontation today! The guys who live downstairs really love their bass. And really, who doesn't love them some good bass? But bass that's very loud in my apartment makes me sad. And grouchy. So I got dressed (yes, I was in my PJs at 7. Don't ask). I trundled down the stairs, turned on my winningest smile, and knocked at the door. I think running earlier today may have peaked my endorphins a bit. I was, dare I say it, downright perky. A guy around my age answers the door...

"Hi! I'm Ela! I live upstairs! I'm a full-time grad student, and I'm trying to study! Your bass is really loud in my place! Could you just turn the bass down? The volume's fine, it's just the bass!" *big winning grin!*

The poor guy was blindsided. What are you going to say to the gloriously perky girl at your door, grinning like you're fabulous (or she's nuts), and burblingly requesting that you turn down, not the volume, but just the bass?

"I'm sorry, of course I'll turn it down" he said warily. I think he was worried I was going to burst into a cheer... (I'm sexy! I'm cute! I'm popular to boot! I'm bitchin'! Great hair! The boys all love to stare! I'm wanted! I'm hot! I'm everything you're not! Don't hate us 'cuz we're beautiful, 'cuz we don't like you either! We're cheerleaders!) or maybe blind him with Julia-Roberts-wattage smile.

"Thanks!" I chirped, reaching out my hand to shake his (why? Why did I do that? I don't know. It was the endorphins. I think I was drunk on them).

"Uh, I'm Jimmy..." he awkwardly said as we shook hands, me smiling all the while. "And uh, I'm really sorry about the bass...."

"No worries!" I grinned. "Have a great night!" And I smiled one last time, and headed back up the stairs. And it's been quiet all evening now....

Kill 'em with kindness, Uncle Dave. Kill 'em with kindness.

Love your gloriously tolerable Ela