Holiday Travels

Somewhere between the relief and ecstasy of being done with finals and excitement of finally going back home, I have managed to completely stress myself out about the actual traveling. Not quite at finals-level anxiety but close. The knot in my chest, resembling an asthma attack, is omnipresent. The endless list of things to do before leaving keeps adding to itself in my head and I can hardly manage to sit still for more than a few minutes. It takes me forever to finally calm my brain down to the point that sleep is possible. In fact, the past couple nights, I haven't been able to fall asleep without the help of medication.

Simply Sleep is awesome, by the way.

The conclusion to the insanity of the past few days? There's simply not enough time over the holiday break for me to give everyone that I want to see a proper visit. There are so many people that I haven't seen in a long time, especially my Momma. The guilt that I feel for not being able to dedicate a significant amount of time into visiting each person that I want to see, in addition to the stress of not having a detailed schedule for the coming week, is overwhelming.

An interesting quirk I've discovered about myself is that I try to make up for not having a schedule by being as prepared for what I know is coming as possible. Like the flights tomorrow, for example. I started packing on Friday, checked us in online as soon as the opportunity was available, paid the baggage fee for our one checked bag, printed boarding passes and checked luggage receipt, printed airport parking confirmations, started packing snacks and lunch, cleaned house, got my oil changed, charged the Kindle, cleaned out my car... Yeah. I've been busy.

Welcome to adulthood and the two-week vacation.

Now, I will have an opportunity to see everyone at the wedding in May. (Meaning I won't have to wait a year to see my family. What?? What is this nonsense???) That does make me feel a teensy bit better.

The obvious solution is I need to move back to California. The question is: when? I guess I should start looking for potential post doc positions.

In other news, we've been discussing what should go into the garden of our eventual house. So far on the list we have:

• Avocado tree
• Clementine tree
• Tomato plant
• Cilantro
• Basil
• Mint
• Jalapeno 
• Pecan tree
• Apple tree
• Bell peppers
• Cucumber
• Garlic
• Onion
• Parsley

I have no idea if all of those things can be grown together in a single climate. Or how much land our dream garden requires. But it would be nice!! Any other suggestions to add to the list?

Brownies are a girl's best friend.

I can't tell you how much I want to eat something deliciously sweet and fluffy.

Brownies. Pancakes. Cake. Pancake puppies from Denny's.

I have a really bad sweet tooth and it's sooooo hard to ignore. I'm doing my best to eat fruits instead. George just made some hot chocolate so that will have to do. Sigh.

We did make this super awesome recipe for dinner tonight. I love stuffed peppers. I have a recipe for it in my Betty Crocker cookbook, but this one was SO much better. The color in it was beautiful and actually, more tasty. (Tastier? meh.)

Walked around Wolf Pen Creek this morning again, though significantly shorter than last week due to my foot. But it still felt good. I'm not sure if I'm imagining the difference in how I look in the mirror. There's definitely a little less pudge! I love the balance ball we bought. It's so much fun to sit on and actually it feels better to sit on that than the couch. I hurt my tailbone when I was in 6th grade and ever since it has never been comfortable to sit for very long. But the balance ball is wonderful! Works out my back and it's fun to try to keep balance without slipping forward or backwards and off the ball.

I've been in denial about doing work today. This is not a good way to start off the new semester. Sigh. Tomorrow I actually have work to do. I'm also in denial about the pile of dishes that are sitting and waiting to be cleaned.

I finished two of the books that I got from Staci over Christmas, and there's many many many more to go. I'm not sure when I'll be able to read for pleasure again, but it is my goal to read the Barnes and Noble Classics. Still making my way through The Scarlet Letter, and next I should probably finish Alice in Wonderland. I keep starting them, putting them down and picking them up months later. I got a copy of The Arabian Nights after seeing a production in Berkeley. I think it'll be nice to have as a source for bedtime stories ^_^

I'm looking forward to looking through my ocean book for the first lab of the semester! The pictures are phenomenal and I really want my kids to be excited :)

Anyways. Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight than I did last night (aka this morning).