I'm glad you asked. I took advantage of a lovely little trail called "Grant's Trail." According to the Internet, Grant's Trail is 8 miles long. I only ran about 1.5 miles of it [but I looped, so I really ran the same 1.5 miles twice]. Emily has lived right by this trail for, what, a year? And I don't think she's ever used it! Granted she doesn't have a bike, but still. It's awesome! I would never be inside at a gym if I had this trail by me all year! [Ok, except for that snowy season that lasted 3-5 months. And when there's Zumba. And when the cute manager is working.] Anyway, it's awesome. It's paved, so rough on the shins, but where are you really going to find a non-paved running trail right by your apartment?
Since my iPod died about three minutes into my run, I got to just enjoy the sounds and sights of nature. There were a MILLION birds on the trail. Maybe it just seemed like there were so many because it's the most natural area of St. Louis I've seen yet. Besides the Botanical Gardens. Actually, a bird almost hit me while I was running at a snail's pace. [I think I am more affected by "The Birds" then I ever imagined was possible.] I almost had to duck as it flew at my head. Which reminds me of a story:
The summer between my junior and senior years of college I went on the most amazing class trip EVER. It was a National Parks conservation class trip where, for two weeks, we toured four National Parks in the southwest. A couple of my best friends were on the trip, as well as a few people I had never met before but who became lifelong friends after the trip. And then there were the weirdos. Our teacher was super awesome. Anyway, one day we're walking through Canyonlands on some trail and there's a low-hanging branch. As we all walk past it, we warn those behind us. I told my newish friend, Lisa, to duck. She hit the branch with her head anyway. When we asked her why she didn't duck like we told her, she said, "I was thinking about ducks." In the middle of the desert. On that same trail Lisa, Katie [yes, the same Katie I just spent Easter with] and I all had to pee. You know how you pee on miles-long trails in the desert, right? Pick a tree and squat [unless you're a boy, then just stand anywhere and pee]. So we all left the group [not very far off the trail] to find a place to squat. As we're doing this, a whole group of children come down the trail. We could see them from where we were...and hopefully they couldn't see us. Indecent exposure to minors, much?? Just kidding. It wasn't that severe. They probably weren't as young as I remember. But it could have been embarrassing. For everyone involved. But when you haven't showered for a week and you're wearing a baseball cap and carrying a million bottles of water in a backpack as you hike for miles every day, you begin to take on a different life view. Everyone is your friend out there [Seriously. In the NPs, everyone was so friendly. It was like the universe became very tiny and revolved around you and the people camping nearby. It also helps that there were almost no electronics anywhere.]
Wow, long tangent. Back to my trail running. As I ran the trail, I had to cross one busy street in the middle of my run. I waited for my "walking" sign on the way out but on the way back, I grew impatient and crossed when traffic was slow. I swear, while I was crossing there was a crazy beeping noise and I expected some bike cop to ride up to me and give me a ticket for crossing before the sign told me I could. I expected this for almost a mile. No bike cop ever came. Maybe they got a picture of me crossing and will mail me a ticket. Good luck finding me, suckas! There's no way they'll recognize me on my driver's license from a picture of me running....oh, wait. I look EXACTLY the same. When I got my driver's license, I was 16 and had just come from basketball practice. They made me take my glasses off and my hair was pulled back. That's exactly how I looked while running yesterday. Sweaty, ponytail, and contacts. SHOOT. AND I still get mistaken for a 16 year old. Good new is that I get a BRAND NEW ID in November! It will be the first time my license expires EVER and a chance for a NEW PICTURE. After SEVEN years of this horrible picture. I hide my ID behind my old college ID because it's better that way. I don't open up my wallet every day and start crying because of the hideous face staring back at me, unfocused [I'm sure my eyes aren't focused in that pic because they took my GLASSES so I couldn't see what I was looking at]. The day I originally went to get my license, I had just been involved in a million sports pictures (basketball, JV volleyball, Varsity volleyball and softball) so my hair was all did and I looked presentable. But I didn't have all my paperwork. So I had to come back later, on a day when I played basketball, and take that awful picture that has haunted me for seven years. It got worse when I turned 21 because then you get CARDED and pull out your ID more than you ever thought possible. And it looks AWFUL. And it's from Texas so everyone in Nebraska has to STARE at it for five minutes to find the birth date. And in Missouri, they have to stare, too, but they don't card as often.
The moral of this whole post, actually, is that if you workout: DON'T EVER STOP. I did a plyometric workout the other day, the day before my first outdoor run in 8 months, and I have hurt so badly ever since. Yesterday my upper body hurt so badly I couldn't take a full breath so I spent the day with the hyperventilating yawns. Today my legs hurt so bad that I want to cry every time I sit on a toilet...or move a leg. I'm supposed to go a party tonight...I don't know how I will survive. All I want to do is knock myself out with some kind of pain or sleeping drug and dream my painful soreness away. I can't remember hurting this bad ever before. Though, I'm sure it happened sometime in basketball conditioning or college track. Lesson learned: I will never let any significant time come between me and hard workouts. Not any more than a week. I don't even know if I'm sore from my run because it probably just added onto my previous soreness. I thought running would actually make me feel better...but it's worse. But I'm not going to stop. Since I hurt so bad anyway, even when I'm not moving, I might as well keep running and get my lungs in shape while my body screams at me.
April 29, 2011
April 28, 2011
Where in the world did Alicia spend Easter?
My Easter consisted of dyed eggs, crackers from 2007, an intoxicated bout of "hanger," a Chihuahua [which I always need the help of Dictionary.com to spell], the cutest Easter basket, Skip-Bo, and lamb.
Because I don't have any local family one of my best friends Katie invited me to spend Easter with her here in St. Louis, her husband, and her in-laws. I love all of those people, so I agreed. Then I remembered that I volunteer at the WRC on Sunday mornings so I'd have to go to that first, in case a bunch of people took off for Easter. Then I would wander my way north to her in-laws' house [which is right next to Katie's house].
Well, the WRC actually had a handful of volunteers so after taking care of all the box turtles and the adult geese, I felt that it would be okay if I took off. [I'd forgotten to wear deodorant anyway and the hot and humid turtle room had set off my BO - so it was for the best, even in a place that can smell of goose poo, which I probably had on my shoes.] So I got out of there around 11:30 or so, and I didn't think I'd get out before 2pm when I didn't realize volunteers would be aplenty. [Ok, not aplenty, but more than the previous week when I cleaned enclosures of and fed EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL except the baby squirrels, even the three geese with three geese's worth of poo.] I ran home to shower and get ready. Then I finished up an X-Files episode I'd started the night before. Then I took off for the Endorfs' house.
It was pouring rain, which meant nothing except that I had to maneuver my way around very slow St. Louisans to maintain the speed limit.
I got to their street and rang Katie and Paul's doorbell and knocked. When there was no answer I Katie and Paul weren't over there so none of us knew where they actually were. I'd texted and called Katie a few times to let her know I was on my way and such and hadn't received any responses. Right as I walked into Dave and Kathy's Katie called me and said that she and Paul and had been taking a nap and that they had hardly heard me knocking. While I was on the phone I took part in the most awkward hug known to mankind. Kathy, who is shorter than me, hugged me, but I went in on the side I was holdin gthe phone and my head went the wrong way so I had to kind of look up and it was awkward...but not awkward. It probably just looked crazy awkward.
So I stayed with Kathy and Dave, waiting for Katie and Paul to make their way over. I helped stir some chocolate pudding and then I helped Kathy dye some eggs she drew on. I was in the middle of the egg process when Katie and Paul finally showed up.
While we waited for the food to get done we played some Skip-Bo. I am not a competitive person (MOST of the time, unless it's something I think I'm good at) AND I was hungry...so I was a bit crabby. Paul and Dave are crazy competitive and loud and obnoxious in games and I just tuned them out...which meant I just zoned during the game unless it was my turn. I was trying to control my hanger, while battling tipsiness from a couple of beers. After one game of Skip-Bo, during which Kathy had prepped the lamb leg and put it in the oven, Katie and I ran over to her house so she could change her contacts and we could wolf down a snack.
When we got back all five of us played another round of Skip-Bo and Kathy busted out some cheese and crackers. While I was eating these crackers I thought they tasted funny...but I was so hungry that I just covered them up with cheese and kept eating, as did everyone else. After the game (I won) and most of the crackers were gone, Kathy asked about how they tasted, if we thought they tasted funny. We all agreed they did taste weird and Dave checked the box: the date said 2007. Yum. Then I found some leftover chips in my sweater pocked from when Katie and I stuffed our faces at her house.
While we were playing games and eating Dave had his "playlist" going on the stereo and I commented on its awesomeness probably a million times. It was that good. I was in love with almost EVERY song! My favorite that came on was Mambo #5! No one plays that song..EVER! It's my all time favorite one hit wonder. 7th grade, baby!!
After our dinner of lamb, potatoes and broccoli salad, we went for a walk in the beautiful park right across the street. We walked the dogs through puddles. The Chihuahua, Luna, would sprint ahead, with her tiny little legs straight out. It was hilarious to watch. At one point the dogs chased a poor squirrel up a tree, where it proceeded to jump to an adjacent tree and the fling itelf off the tree as far as it could, landing with a THUMP on the ground. It hauled its butt across the trail and climbed another unreachable tree. All the while everyone is laughing at the poor squirrel's expense. Jerks. [This is the family that kills squirrels in the hundreds every year because they chew up the outdoor furniture. Squirrel massacres.]
Then we opened our Easter baskets. I got an AWESOME bucket from Katie [a partial going-away gift] and a sweet scarf from Kathy [from Charming Charlie, the best accessory store on the planet]. Katie gave me this little bird necklace that I had been eyeing every time she made me walk through a department store.
Overall, wonderful experience. My last few Easters have been so pleasant. With family in Texas last year, with my best friend's family not far from our college my senior year...and beyond that I lost track. So many years, so many places. So many friends. This year I appreciate the fact that the Endorfs took me in and treated me just like family. It was perfect! [Except for one minor hangry episode.]
I'm not one of those people who has to go "home" to family for every holiday. I don't have to go to them for most holidays. I grew up spending holidays with my immediate family and my parents' best friend from college (who is also my Godfather) and his wife. They spent most holidays with us, from Thanksgiving to Christmas to Easter, and most birthdays. So I expected to be able to spend holidays with local friends...and I have found out that's not how it works in this real world. Many people travel back to their families or have their families visit them. My family and I can't always afford that. So I have spent the last couple of Christmases alone (with a friend either a bit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - so not 100% alone).
I could drone on and on about where I spent the holidays for the last 5-6 years, but that's not interesting. Let's just say they've been spent all over the country with a variety of college friends and family members. Easters, Thanksgivings, Christmases, and spring breaks. From California to Florida, Minnesota to Texas, and everywhere in between. I'm like a gypsy.
Because I don't have any local family one of my best friends Katie invited me to spend Easter with her here in St. Louis, her husband, and her in-laws. I love all of those people, so I agreed. Then I remembered that I volunteer at the WRC on Sunday mornings so I'd have to go to that first, in case a bunch of people took off for Easter. Then I would wander my way north to her in-laws' house [which is right next to Katie's house].
Well, the WRC actually had a handful of volunteers so after taking care of all the box turtles and the adult geese, I felt that it would be okay if I took off. [I'd forgotten to wear deodorant anyway and the hot and humid turtle room had set off my BO - so it was for the best, even in a place that can smell of goose poo, which I probably had on my shoes.] So I got out of there around 11:30 or so, and I didn't think I'd get out before 2pm when I didn't realize volunteers would be aplenty. [Ok, not aplenty, but more than the previous week when I cleaned enclosures of and fed EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL except the baby squirrels, even the three geese with three geese's worth of poo.] I ran home to shower and get ready. Then I finished up an X-Files episode I'd started the night before. Then I took off for the Endorfs' house.
It was pouring rain, which meant nothing except that I had to maneuver my way around very slow St. Louisans to maintain the speed limit.
I got to their street and rang Katie and Paul's doorbell and knocked. When there was no answer I Katie and Paul weren't over there so none of us knew where they actually were. I'd texted and called Katie a few times to let her know I was on my way and such and hadn't received any responses. Right as I walked into Dave and Kathy's Katie called me and said that she and Paul and had been taking a nap and that they had hardly heard me knocking. While I was on the phone I took part in the most awkward hug known to mankind. Kathy, who is shorter than me, hugged me, but I went in on the side I was holdin gthe phone and my head went the wrong way so I had to kind of look up and it was awkward...but not awkward. It probably just looked crazy awkward.
So I stayed with Kathy and Dave, waiting for Katie and Paul to make their way over. I helped stir some chocolate pudding and then I helped Kathy dye some eggs she drew on. I was in the middle of the egg process when Katie and Paul finally showed up.
While we waited for the food to get done we played some Skip-Bo. I am not a competitive person (MOST of the time, unless it's something I think I'm good at) AND I was hungry...so I was a bit crabby. Paul and Dave are crazy competitive and loud and obnoxious in games and I just tuned them out...which meant I just zoned during the game unless it was my turn. I was trying to control my hanger, while battling tipsiness from a couple of beers. After one game of Skip-Bo, during which Kathy had prepped the lamb leg and put it in the oven, Katie and I ran over to her house so she could change her contacts and we could wolf down a snack.
When we got back all five of us played another round of Skip-Bo and Kathy busted out some cheese and crackers. While I was eating these crackers I thought they tasted funny...but I was so hungry that I just covered them up with cheese and kept eating, as did everyone else. After the game (I won) and most of the crackers were gone, Kathy asked about how they tasted, if we thought they tasted funny. We all agreed they did taste weird and Dave checked the box: the date said 2007. Yum. Then I found some leftover chips in my sweater pocked from when Katie and I stuffed our faces at her house.
While we were playing games and eating Dave had his "playlist" going on the stereo and I commented on its awesomeness probably a million times. It was that good. I was in love with almost EVERY song! My favorite that came on was Mambo #5! No one plays that song..EVER! It's my all time favorite one hit wonder. 7th grade, baby!!
After our dinner of lamb, potatoes and broccoli salad, we went for a walk in the beautiful park right across the street. We walked the dogs through puddles. The Chihuahua, Luna, would sprint ahead, with her tiny little legs straight out. It was hilarious to watch. At one point the dogs chased a poor squirrel up a tree, where it proceeded to jump to an adjacent tree and the fling itelf off the tree as far as it could, landing with a THUMP on the ground. It hauled its butt across the trail and climbed another unreachable tree. All the while everyone is laughing at the poor squirrel's expense. Jerks. [This is the family that kills squirrels in the hundreds every year because they chew up the outdoor furniture. Squirrel massacres.]
Then we opened our Easter baskets. I got an AWESOME bucket from Katie [a partial going-away gift] and a sweet scarf from Kathy [from Charming Charlie, the best accessory store on the planet]. Katie gave me this little bird necklace that I had been eyeing every time she made me walk through a department store.
Overall, wonderful experience. My last few Easters have been so pleasant. With family in Texas last year, with my best friend's family not far from our college my senior year...and beyond that I lost track. So many years, so many places. So many friends. This year I appreciate the fact that the Endorfs took me in and treated me just like family. It was perfect! [Except for one minor hangry episode.]
I'm not one of those people who has to go "home" to family for every holiday. I don't have to go to them for most holidays. I grew up spending holidays with my immediate family and my parents' best friend from college (who is also my Godfather) and his wife. They spent most holidays with us, from Thanksgiving to Christmas to Easter, and most birthdays. So I expected to be able to spend holidays with local friends...and I have found out that's not how it works in this real world. Many people travel back to their families or have their families visit them. My family and I can't always afford that. So I have spent the last couple of Christmases alone (with a friend either a bit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - so not 100% alone).
I could drone on and on about where I spent the holidays for the last 5-6 years, but that's not interesting. Let's just say they've been spent all over the country with a variety of college friends and family members. Easters, Thanksgivings, Christmases, and spring breaks. From California to Florida, Minnesota to Texas, and everywhere in between. I'm like a gypsy.
April 26, 2011
Alicia goes to the movies!
The world's oldest movie theater is located not too far from where I used to live [a.k.a. where I lived two weeks ago. Or one week ago?] and on week nights it plays movies [current movies, but only one per week] for $5! And it sells booze [as does EVERY entity in St. Louis]. Ok, it's not really the oldest but according to their website it's been around since 1922 [oh, and the world's biggest Amoco sign is at that intersection...so I was right about the world's something-est being around]. This is also the location that two of my friends and I went to wait in line to meet Tippi Hedron and see "The Birds" for the first time. [The free seating was already taken when we got there.]
Anyway, the point is I went to see a movie [Water for Elephants], the first movie I've been THIS excited to see in awhile and it was pretty darn good. Of course it wasn't as good as the book, BUT Christoph Waltz is a GREAT bad guy [he has perfected the really-pissed-and-evil-while-smiling look] and, because the character in the book was a redhead, I didn't imagine him nearly as attractive as Robert Pattinson [I didn't imagine him attractive at all, just not ugly], so that was a bonus in the casting. Oh, the elephant was really good, too.
The cherry on top for me was that the guy we paid at the ticket window was kind of cute. Now, that might not seem like a big deal, but in the seven, eight months I've lived in St. Louis, I have seen very few cute boys. VERY FEW. So when I find one that's even kinda cute I just want to stare at him for a few minutes [which I did last night while my friend was in the restroom].
Anyway, the point is I went to see a movie [Water for Elephants], the first movie I've been THIS excited to see in awhile and it was pretty darn good. Of course it wasn't as good as the book, BUT Christoph Waltz is a GREAT bad guy [he has perfected the really-pissed-and-evil-while-smiling look] and, because the character in the book was a redhead, I didn't imagine him nearly as attractive as Robert Pattinson [I didn't imagine him attractive at all, just not ugly], so that was a bonus in the casting. Oh, the elephant was really good, too.
The cherry on top for me was that the guy we paid at the ticket window was kind of cute. Now, that might not seem like a big deal, but in the seven, eight months I've lived in St. Louis, I have seen very few cute boys. VERY FEW. So when I find one that's even kinda cute I just want to stare at him for a few minutes [which I did last night while my friend was in the restroom].
April 25, 2011
Monday, funday?
I have so many things to look forward to today!
1. I woke up half an hour before my alarm so I get to leave work early today.
2. I didn't make it to the grocery store this weekend so I get to go to PANERA! for lunch.
3. I'm going to see "Water for Elephants" tonight, which I've been waiting for since I heard they were making this movie, and
4. I have a coupon for a free popcorn and soda, and
5. we're going to a local theater that sells tickets for only $5 on weekdays!
6. And finally, I have a Reese's egg sitting in my purse.
This is the best Monday EVER!
1. I woke up half an hour before my alarm so I get to leave work early today.
2. I didn't make it to the grocery store this weekend so I get to go to PANERA! for lunch.
3. I'm going to see "Water for Elephants" tonight, which I've been waiting for since I heard they were making this movie, and
4. I have a coupon for a free popcorn and soda, and
5. we're going to a local theater that sells tickets for only $5 on weekdays!
6. And finally, I have a Reese's egg sitting in my purse.
This is the best Monday EVER!
April 20, 2011
Eddie Bauer Man
Today I'm wearing my one and only Eddie Bauer shirt. While this shirt doesn't make me feel like the rugged mountain-climbing nature woman that I someday hope to be, it does make me think of this:
April 14, 2011
Moving again...
Well, whadya know? I'm moving sooner than I thought. My "long-term" plan is to move in with my mom in Tejas as soon as my current temp gig is over so I can regroup my finances and find a legit job, maybe add another degree to the list. BUT it turns out that I will be moving before that, to another temporary location until I get to Texas: with my best friend!! My best friend has agreed to let me be a squatter in her spare room (and I get my own bathroom!!!) until I move to Texas. She's super busy so we might not get to see each other much before I leave, unless we live together. Plus, she won't mess with my STUFF and nag about the dishes (hopefully, haha). Either way, we're closer so we can communicate about things in a much better fashion. I'll just bitch slap her if she touches my stuff and she'll hold my face under water if I get too mouthy. That's what BFFs do. It's harder to do those things with a stranger you're living with.
As long as I've lived in STL (a little over seven months), I have yet to feel like I'm not a guest in my own house. And that's a really weird feeling when you don't really know the person you're living with, and everything in the house is hers, and she's all settled, and she feels she has the right to move your stuff around. SO, I figure, living as a guest with my best friend for three to four weeks has to be better than that, right?
Now if only her pool was already open....then this situation would hit an all-time high.
The crazy thing is, I have spent almost as much time at my BFF's apt (with or without her being there) as I've spent in my own house. I prefer to only be home for sleeping and getting ready for the day. All other times I would try to be with friends, at the gym, at the library, shopping, volunteering -- pretty much ANYWHERE else. Except that one time we had Netflix. Then I didn't mind sitting at home all day watching X-Files. And I have had a key to my BFF's apt since before I moved out here, so I can just pop in whenever. When I was unemployed for a couple weeks, I spent every day at her apt, using her computer, searching for jobs. I didn't feel like sitting next to some crazy at the library, using germ-infested computers that I had to sign into every hour. Call me picky, whatever.
As long as I've lived in STL (a little over seven months), I have yet to feel like I'm not a guest in my own house. And that's a really weird feeling when you don't really know the person you're living with, and everything in the house is hers, and she's all settled, and she feels she has the right to move your stuff around. SO, I figure, living as a guest with my best friend for three to four weeks has to be better than that, right?
Now if only her pool was already open....then this situation would hit an all-time high.
The crazy thing is, I have spent almost as much time at my BFF's apt (with or without her being there) as I've spent in my own house. I prefer to only be home for sleeping and getting ready for the day. All other times I would try to be with friends, at the gym, at the library, shopping, volunteering -- pretty much ANYWHERE else. Except that one time we had Netflix. Then I didn't mind sitting at home all day watching X-Files. And I have had a key to my BFF's apt since before I moved out here, so I can just pop in whenever. When I was unemployed for a couple weeks, I spent every day at her apt, using her computer, searching for jobs. I didn't feel like sitting next to some crazy at the library, using germ-infested computers that I had to sign into every hour. Call me picky, whatever.
What to do
For those of you who know me well, and even those of you who know me a little, you know that I have seriously varied interests. And I constantly go through phases of passionate interest for each thing. One summer I was addicted to everything Beatles. They're all I listened to, all I read about, all I Googled, all I TALKED about. While the Beatles are still my favorite band, my obsession has died down to a normal level of interest in the band. Recently I was gung-ho about writing a memoir based on the crazy things that have happened in my life in the past six months and the decisions that have been made because of said events. Now I just think that I will write a current blog about the things going on, rather than go full on into writing a book. One summer I taught myself crochet; this past year I was an embroiderer. I think that life is too short to do one thing and one thing only. Try everything! And do it passionately! In college and after I thought I would be a marketer, then a writer. Now I'm trying my hand in the animal kingdom, hopefully pursuing an additional bachelor's degree in Fisheries and Wildlife so I can pursue my lifelong dream of being a dolphin trainer - or at least working full time with animals. And I hope to combine my animal knowledge with my writing skills in the future, either in books or articles that are pertinent to what my career is.
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