wooster weekends

This is a typical winter Sunday. I spend a lot of time inside, observing my cat.

I hang out in my flannel pj's until about 11:00, when I start thinking about working on I.S. 

The physical copy is in its final stages (!). Notice the orange pen scribbled all over. That's a sign of good progress.  I'm trying to get it finished so I can go on spring break with the track team and spend a week lounging on the beach without worrying about finishing my graduation requirements. Also, I'm really enjoying my new cookbook and Spotify subscription, because they're superb distractions.

After spending so much time working on writing, layout, and editing makes me realize how much work goes into a monthly magazine. With that perspective, I feel like I've had a pretty leisurely timeframe. Six months for one issue? No problem. 

Speaking of track, indoor season is in full swing. Three days a week, we run at breakneck speed around a 200-meter oval. We race on the weekends. I've done two 5k's so far, and they haven't been as dismally slow as I'd expected, given the kind of training I did over winter break. Turns out trail running, wine drinking, and doing a couple P-90x workouts doesn't translate to intense track running. Who knew? (I did.)

Counting down the months till graduation. We've only got three. In a way, that seems like forever, but I know it's going to fly past.

home

Sometimes, in the rush and tumble of the holiday season, it's easy to forget how much I love this little corner of Pennsylvania. 

Where else can I spin down the road to a read a book next to a rushing waterfall, or step out of the house and jog less than 400 meters to a 140-mile river trail?

How many other places are surrounded by acres and acres of silent forest waiting to be unicycled?

Where else would my cat be so happy hanging out next to a milk crate and a broken heater?

And how many other places are only a short hike away from the site of George Washington's most embarrassing battle?

But of course I can't forget to mention the most important blessing of home - the food (and the wonderful lady who prepares it).

Not created by my mother, there's also the Christmastime cookie fort... designed by Montana and baked gluten-free so I could nibble at the extra scraps.  

It's nice to be back.

settling

Not so much has been going on in the past couple weeks.

Well, that's a lie. There's been a lot: paper-writing, studying, trying to use up the milk in the fridge before I had to vacate the campus for winter break. One more time, I've lived through it all.

A couple days ago I packed up all my things from Wooster and headed out of Ohio for the holidays. In the process, I managed to forget all my notes and books I was planning to use for research. C'est la vie. At least my little friend had an exciting adventure.

He spent the rest of the car ride cowering underneath my feet. Poor guy. It's a good thing I'll be home for a month, because I don't think I'll be able to wrestle him into another box for quite a while.