Day Two: Mission Relaxation

I recently went to a lovely Christmas lunch with my coworkers from my assistantship.  While at lunch, they encouraged me to take the five weeks off school to relax and enjoy myself.  I mentioned to them that relaxation was not something I do well.  Anyone who knows me knows that this is the case. I promised them I would "work on relaxing" over break, and they marveled at the idea of someone needing to work harder on relaxing.  Kind of oxy-moronish.  Anywho, that's what I am doing.  Yesterday, I finished Christmas cards, wrapped gifts, and did laundry.  Today will include more cleaning and reading.  My goal is to have everything so together by next week that I have no choice other than to relax. We'll see if that happens.

Any suggestions for good books or ways to lazily occupy time are requested.

Here's to relaxation.

Half Crazy #2

A couple of weekends ago, my family got in our big Suburban and drove to Memphis to run 13.1 miles. For fun. No, I am not kidding. We actually enjoy it. Here are a couple of shots of us running like crazy people.

Here we are running down Beale street. Mom and Pete would yell M-I-Z and we'd respond with Z-O-U.

This is actually before the race. You can tell because we look refreshed and not exhausted.

The race itself was amazing. All the profits go to St. Jude Children's Hospital. If you don't know about St. Jude, or if you are looking for a great charity this holiday, I would encourage you to check it out at http://stjude.org. Amazing things are being done there.

I promised after my first half that I would post my ipod playlist. So...three months later, here it is. It is way longer than the time it actually takes to run a half marathon, so I sometimes skip songs or start it a little earlier than the race itself.

Womanizer, Britney Spears

Kill the Lights, Britney Spears

Shut Up and Let me Go, The Ting Tings

Let's Get it Started, Black Eyed Peas

Hey Mama, Black Eyed Peas

Hands Up, BEP

Pump It, BEP (By now you know that not much inspires me to run hard as much as the Black Eyed Peas)

I Gotta Feeling, BEP

Radar, Britney Spears

Boom Boom Pow, BEP

Circus, Britney

If U Seek Amy, Britney

Mmmm Papi, Britney

Feel Good Inc, Gorillaz

Around the World Mix, Daft Punk

Smack My B*** Up, Prodigy

Shake, Ying Yang Twins

Gotta Get Thru This, Daniel Bettingfield

Breathe, Prodigy

American Boy

Live Out Loud, Group 1 Crew

Firestarter, Prodigy

Disturbia, Rhiana

Cupid Shuffle, Cupid

Barracuda, Heart

Just Dance, Lady Gaga

Spotlight (Moto Blanco Radio Remix), Jennifer Hudson

Boogie Shoes, KC & the Sunshine Band

See You Again, Miley Cirus

She Wolf, Shakira

Stronger, Kanye West

Killer Queen, Queen

Spiderwebs, No Doubt

Bye Bye Bye, *NSYNC

It's Gonna Be Me, *NSYNC

Girlfriend, *NSYNC

When I grow Up, Pussycat Dolls

Wait A Minute, Pussycat Dolls

Don't Stop Me Now, Queen

Give It To Me, Nelly Furtado

Harder, Faster, Stronger, Daft Punk

Somebody to Love, Queen

Take My Hand, Shawn McDonald

Don't Stop til You Get Enough, Michael Jackson

Holiday, Madonna

I hope some of these suggestions help. Yes, I have too much Britney. But it works.

Here's to a great run! Can't wait for the next one

FREE and Loving It!

Today is the first day of the first week of my five week break. I can't even tell you what this feels like. I woke up about an hour and a half later than usual today. I casually made in into my internship, spent five hours there, and casually left. The rest of today's to-do list includes:
Christmas cookies
Christmas party
and giving blood.

That's it! I might wrap a few presents. Heck, I might rap out of Christmas joy (though no one I know wants to hear that).

I am going to make it my goal to write much more often now that I am totally and completely free. I will try to update on our second half marathon, pictures included. But for now I am busy. Strike that, I'm not. And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Here's to relaxation!