(Over)indulgences and (Over)whelmed

To start this off on a tangent, my title reminded me of the movie "10 Things I Hate About You," where the main female character says, "I know you can be underwhelmed, and you can be overwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" Okay, that's my tangent for the day.

It’s been a while since my last post (for some reason, that sounded like some part of a Catholic confession, though I’ve never done one). Since my “interesting” weekend, I have to admit that I have been both busy and quasi-relaxed (for a couple days).

Last week was Thanksgiving break, the one time of year where gluttony is promoted. Let’s just say that my pants fit a little tighter on Monday morning. Hopefully that is remedied by fewer indulgences in the coming weeks, seeing as I fly to Korea in just 22 days. So I’m going to try to limit my intake of sweets. My brother has the right idea – he allows himself no more than one sweet a day and makes sure he has the right balance of proteins and produce. I never thought I’d say my brother was more committed to healthy eating than I am, but there you go. He was also pretty mad when I joked that he was 10 pounds away from looking like a guy with the build of a “stereotypical gay guy.” Sorry, Cody, but your body fat percentage is really low.

Speaking of my brother, I had a good heart to heart with him on Wednesday(?) night, power walking for two hours with four layers of warmth covering each of us. He wants to be an orthopedic doctor, and it actually sounds like he is looking into it pretty well for only being a sophomore in high school. I am still worried that he has no idea what the concept of money is, either with his money or my parents, but oh well.

I went home on Tuesday evening, greeted by my dog, Snickers, who proceeded to go absolutely crazy when I stepped in the door. His tail wagged so hard that his butt lifted off the floor a little, and my face was covered in wet doggie kisses. He proceeded to be my shadow and nuzzling couch potato for the remainder of my visit. I miss my family when I’m not home, but I really miss that dog.

On Black Friday, we opted for a 9 a.m. drive into town rather than a 3 a.m. drive. That was a lot nicer. We made our rounds, and I came out with the rest of my Christmas shopping done (I am given a “budget” and I have to shop for myself since neither my grandparents or parents know exactly what I want), and my mom got her new 16-place setting white china to replace the china she’d had since my parents’ wedding.

As we have for the last three years, we took a family picture during Thanksgiving break. I’m not very fond of the pictures for this year, but the rest of the family is, so I’ll deal. Family pictures are always an ordeal. They’re stressful and full of bickering; it’s amazing how we all manage to have quasi-natural smiles on our faces during the pictures (but that’s shown to be a fallacy when you look at the outtake pictures).

Now it’s back to the grindstone, with only two weeks before finals. Looking at my to-do list of what needs to be accomplished each day for the next two weeks is daunting. I think I may be making more trips to Caribou Coffee to make myself study and/or complete projects. It’s hard for me to focus while in my apartment – too many potential distractions. Unfortunately, Facebook is still there in Caribou on my laptop. I may have to forego my caffeine limiting to stay up and working.

The ride home and the breakdown

On to part two of the story (from two weekends ago)…

The next morning (last Monday), I woke up early and made my way out to SLU Law campus. To beat the rush hour traffic, I left 20 minutes earlier than I thought I need to in order to get to the law school on time. Little did I know that St. Louis drivers drive much slower and more congested when it rains (probably how Iowans drive when it slightly-to-moderately snows). Thus, I was five minutes late to the law school. They wouldn’t let me sit in on the first class because of it, so I went to their law library and answered a few e-mails in the hour-and-a-half wait until the health law class I was going to sit in on.

When the time came for me to go to the next class, the admissions counselor said that the room she thought the class met in was occupied with another class and that they had no idea where the actual class would be. Instead, I sat in on a Contracts class with a professor who used the word “um” a lot. I never realized quite how much those verbal fillers annoy and detract until specifically that class. They weren’t able to get me into any other health law class, which made me very disappointed since that was the main purpose of my trip. A 1L class is pretty much the same all around the country, but the specialty courses are what set apart certain programs. I left SLU a little less than happy, but I still feel like the overall school is a good fit.

The traffic leaving downtown St. Louis was crazy. There was an accident that took up three out of four lanes during the lunch rush, leaving traffic at nearly a standstill for 20 minutes. All I wanted was an Imo’s pizza (a St. Louis-area specialty) on the way home, and it took forever to get to one because of the accident. I ordered a lunch special 9” mushroom and waited for the tasty goodness.

I was not disappointed. What really sets Imo’s apart are the simple sauce and Provel cheese (a hybrid of provolone and a velveeta-like cheese). It is the only pizza I have found to be just as good (and maybe even better) cold than warm. A good thing, since half of it would be eaten on the ride home.

Driving home was rainy (as the whole trip had been) but not so bad, until I hit Kansas City rush hour traffic. But even that wasn’t as bad as what was to come an hour later.

On I-235 North, all of a sudden, my car began to hum really loud, and the RPMs increased significantly. I slowed down by 15 mph to make sure I wasn’t hydroplaning or something due to all the rain. That didn’t help. Instead, the car started to sputter and stall. I pulled over at the DD exit and pulled onto the exit’s shoulder right as my ’07 Ford Focus gave out. All I could think was FML.

I called up my parents and then the auto club AAA thing. Then I called Ford 24-hour roadside assistance. Neither service knew where I was. It was cold, rainy and traffic-less on this exit in particular. I couldn’t understand how no one would believe that I was off exit DD from I-235 N. A family friend’s relatives lived near Kansas City, so they were out looking for me, too.

By this time, I was being searched for by the Missouri State Patrol, a tow truck service and a family friend. I even called 911 just to find my location, and they couldn’t even locate me on GPS because their system had been hit by lightning a month ago and was yet to be repaired. All I could think was, if 911 can’t find where I am, what if something gravely terrible had happened to me – would I just end up dead?

So I sat there, intercepting calls from my parents, the family friend, the state patrol, the tow truck, the towing service office, the auto club … and I had to turn off my hazard lights, (obviously my heat), headlights and everything but my car cell phone charger just to keep my phone working. I was so cold, since it ended up lightly snowing later that night. I had on open-toed stilettos, leaving my feet freezing. I had on a light fleece jacket, but quickly put on an emergency blanket that offered very little warmth and found a pair of gloves from last winter sitting in my car. I also had to use the restroom, but I was obviously miles from the nearest restroom and the rain was coming down really hard. I didn’t want to get wet and cold at the same time, so I took an empty coffee cup and did what no girl should ever have to do in a car … pee in a cup. So disgusting and demoralizing, even if no one’s watching.

Finally, three and a half hours after my car died, the family friend found me. The state patrolman followed suit about five minutes later. It took the tow truck another 30 or 40 minutes to finally arrive. Cold and tired, I sat in the family friend’s SUV as we followed the tow truck to a Kansas City dealership and turned in the keys. Since I was 75 miles outside Kansas City instead of the 20 miles the auto club and patrol thought I was, my tow service (which only was covered for the first 50 miles) cost me $160. We then drove another 20 minutes to the family friends’ house in Overland Park, KS, where I promptly thanked the family a million times and fell asleep.

The next morning, I found out that my car had some climate control thing break down. It thought I was under sea level, and it shut down my car system. I’d never heard of such a thing, but maybe it was due to the 15 hours of driving in the rain in the past 48 hours that made the sensor system malfunction. It, of course, had to be replaced, but the extended warranty only made me spend $60 instead of the actual $500 cost for repair. Fortunately, they had the part in stock, and I was on my way by noon.

On the way home, it continued to rain. I filled up my tank and got a coffee, then went through the McD’s drive-thru and ate an entire Big N’ Tasty meal in about five minutes. While going through the drive-thru, my still-hot 20-ounce coffee spilled in my lap. I wonder how I get this anti-luck. Driving, I held my breath as I passed mile marker 72, where I had broken down the night before. I made it this time! An hour later, I got really drowsy and pulled off to sleep for a half hour in a Dairy Queen parking lot.

The rest of the drive was just fine, save for being sick of driving and tired. I got home and realized I had forgotten that I had to do PR phone bank calling for two hours and rushed to that. Even more tired after getting home from that, I wrote a few more e-mails, did a little homework and went to bed. In one word, “interesting” is still not a completely accurate word for that weekend.

Toasted ravioli and crazy cat ladies

If any word were to describe my past weekend, “interesting” (note the quotes) would only say the very least. It started with a rush of homework completed on Saturday, followed by a birthday party for Diane with pizza and Watergate (pistachio) cake (which, might I add, was delightful). This is nothing atypical, so let’s move on to the “interesting” part.

I woke up early Sunday morning to head on the road for a six-and-a-half hour drive to St. Louis. In the rush to leave, I forgot to pick up a prescription refill and headed on the road on a very rainy and chilly November morning. With windshield wipers on full throttle nearly the entire drive south and one-lane traffic due to construction while trailing behind semi trucks, my drive was extended by an hour and a half. Fortunately, I had stocked up on extra-caffeinated dark roast coffee (which I hadn’t seen before but found in several of the gas stations) and PowerBars to keep me going from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The first 20-ounce coffee of the morning had the effect of a double espresso combined with a Red Bull (but tasted far better than that combination sounds). I was pumped on the road those first couple of hours, with my iPod blaring out tunes with fast, energized beats. I suppose later, I should have taken the skipping of Mozart’s funeral march as an omen of the rest of my weekend.

Google Maps has failed me twice in the past week. First, on Friday the 13th (yeah, that’s right), I went to take photos of co-workers volunteering for Meals on Wheels at a local nursing home. The mapping service sent me on a totally different path, and two gas stations were even unable to help me find my destination. The second was in St. Louis. Derrick’s parents graciously agreed to let me stay the night in their house prior to visiting SLU Law Monday morning. Their house is off of an exit that has several different variations, and I ended up taking the wrong exit. I made it after speaking with a gas station attendant who knew nothing and talking to Mrs. Langeneckert.

Upon reaching their house, Derrick’s parents and I sat down to chat and have a glass of wine. Clayton, the middle brother, also joined us. We went out to dinner (sans-Clayton) to get what Derrick always boasted about – toasted ravioli. I do admit, I am a fan, and the pasta and salad I had were also very good.

We returned home to lounge with the two family dogs, Blue and Teddy (also lovingly referred to as “Pooper”), and watched DVR’ed shows. The 20/20 show was actually really interesting, talking about relationship abuse and showing Rihanna’s new music video, “Russian Roulette” (she had been a victim of abuse by her boyfriend Chris Brown earlier this year). I must admit, I was disturbed. Example of lyrics: Know that I must must pass this test/So just pull the trigger. Good message to young girls, Rihanna, especially when also taking into consideration her wardrobe choices here and on the cover of her single.

Crazy cat ladies were also a topic on 20/20. One woman had 123 cats in her residence. 123. I cannot stress the shock of such a number. That is crazy. Another lady had upwards of 70 or 80 cats and spent $3,000 on cat food and kitty litter alone. A third woman, who was still fairly young, had 27 cats. She said she had not crossed the threshold from cat lady to crazy cat lady. Also, “don’t worry; I’m not on medication or anything … anymore.” Sweetie, I think the medication was good for you. Really.

I will continue with the second part of my “two-day” trip in my next post. I’ll let you rest your eyes and save them from the strain of over-reading.

Retraction and reactions

First, it has been brought to my attention that I apologize for things I shouldn't, including the length of my last post. In response, I will retract my apology. I needn't make apologies for things that I am going to do anyway. Yes, I realize that I just wrote needn't in a post, but there you have it.

The other night, while perusing Twitter during my study lapses, I came across people reacting to Taylor Swift at the CMAs. So, curiosity for drama versus studying dipsogens left me searching Google Images for what she looked like. The reaction: skeleton. I really hope Hollywood hasn't convinced another girl to waste away for the sake of what people think of her. Taylor, if I've learned anything about body image in the last year, it's that the worth of a woman is not measured in pounds.

Another reaction: the near-death experience of a Drake first-year student. The freshman was hospitalized with a BAC of .500. According to the wise Wikipedia, anything above a .4 brings a significant possibility of death. The kid was taking beer can shots and drinking cups of everclear. So smart. I wonder if his GPA will match his BAC this semester.

This week has been a whirlwind. I finished up my interviews for my honors thesis, which I found out I will be presenting on Dead Day before finals at 9 a.m. Those last two weeks are going to force me into a desire to do nothing for a while. That actually may work in my favor, since I will be going home to celebrate Christmas early then to Korea for 3 weeks of no particular responsibilities. My test on Thursday, I studied for a grand total of two hours, which should have been more like 6+ hours, but I feel that I still did well on the test. I know I at least nailed the biggest chunk of the test - the essays.

Last night, I went to see Rent at the Civic Center with Erin, Randi, Caitlyn and Keri. It was so good to see all the girls, but especially Keri, since I hadn't seen her in a year. I hate losing touch with good friends, so I'm glad we got back in touch. The performance itself was great, even despite the nosebleed seats. I love Rent, most likely my favorite musical. I basically know every word to every song. Even two of the original cast members were in this production, which was even better. Music nerd, I know, but that is just who I am. Haha. No apologies.

For dinner, we were going to try the new sushi bar near campus called 21. However, the main chef had been in an accident, so the waiter told us they had no salads or soups and some rolls. He also knew nothing about what was in any roll other than the ones that listed the ingredients on the menu. We decided that the go-to Chinese restaurant near campus was a much wiser and consistent choice. Well, that and the fact that they actually had food. Not planning on returning to that sushi place.

On another note, every time I turn on my shuffle, I always hear at some point either Mozart's Wedding Procession or Funeral March. What kind of omen is that? I'm not sure, and I'm not really sure I want to know.

Typical and atypical

Again, an apology for the uber-long post. My week thus far has been an equal mix of typical and atypical. Let’s start with the typical:

Danielle is an overachiever: Usually a given and should become a definition entry in either Webster or Urban Dictionary. Example: In my honors thesis research, I got scared that I would not have enough participants and thought I only had 17 sign-up spots for 20 needed interviews. Thus, I added six or seven more spots to bring the total to over 20.

Lo and behold, I already had 20 interviews set up, and the additional spots brought me to 28 interviews, with all spots filled up and all of them likely to show up (if they sign up and don’t show, they lose two points from their score instead of gaining them). So, that’s an additional 4 hours of recording, 4+ hours of transcribing for me to do. While I appreciate the extra data, which will strengthen my conclusion, it’s adding more time commitment to my already stacked schedule. Conclusion: Without even trying, I must be innately an overachiever.

Danielle stresses: This is about as elemental to me as the inhalation of oxygen. Example: Presentations this week and increasing speed on other endeavors has my cortisol on hyperdrive. My feedback system must not be very well adapted to my environment. Thus, my behavioral endocrinology term paper will be on the effects of stress on immunosuppression, seen in research on healing of open wounds on nurse and med students during exam times.

Danielle eats sugar: My sweet tooth is basically the name of my right bicuspid and all additional molars. In essence, I eat way too many sweets. The combination of Halloween, candy corn and chocolate, among other things with sweet carbohydrates, has been terrible for me lately. Worse yet, I have no time to visit the gym, so I eat without burning – a deadly wardrobe combination. Today has proven to be no exception: it is departmental food day at work, which inevitably means mass consumption of all things sugary, glazed and terrible for you.

On to the atypical:

Danielle is tired: Sleep deprivation is usually a state that I am well-accustomed to. It’s just like the stress listed above – the same analogy applies. However, I have been getting tired this past three days or so to the point where I have to go to sleep by 10 or 10:30 at the latest and am still tired when my alarm clock wakes me. Not sure why. Maybe it’s my body finally telling me enough is enough.

I just feel like a lame two-year-old who has an early bedtime, when most college students are up well beyond 11 p.m. every night. What college student goes to sleep at 10 p.m.? (Well, maybe the kind who gets up at 5 a.m. three or four days a week.) Nevertheless, I take back my discontent of napping in preschool – give me a naptime mat followed by milk time any day.

Danielle has plans to be less of an overachiever: Okay, this is usually something I always say I will do, then never end up doing it. I’ll decrease some of my commitments, but inevitably find something else that takes their place. I think I’ve done this all my life; I must just love being busy. I can’t sleep in past 10 almost ever, and I can’t sit while someone else is doing something and I’m not. (Example: Derrick cooking for me. Yeah, it’s hard just sitting there watching and talking. I usually have to have a task to keep me occupied.)

Anyway, I actually plan on taking on less things this next semester, discontinuing my participation in some things and lowering my class load and difficulty on two of my four courses. For the first time in my life, I think I may “coast” through two classes. Hopefully. That’s the operative word here.

Danielle has been referencing herself in the third person all throughout this post: Yes, I am aware that this is very weird, especially while thinking about it as I write the end of this post. It’s like that girl in middle school I knew named “Jazzi,” who always referenced herself in third person, no matter what. Maybe I will refrain from this in future posts. I’m weird enough as it is.

Disney princesses and Daylight Savings Time

Well, after a weekend of Halloween festivities, I am back in the swing of things. First, a recap of the weekend. On Friday evening, I went to a friend’s house, where there was a small gathering of people and not too rowdy (which is fine by me). I even met up with my friend Laura (dressed as Lara Croft), who I hadn’t seen in a while. Erin went as a witch, and I went as a showgirl/cabaret girl, complete with sequin bowtie/vest bodysuit, fishnet tights, black stilettos, white gloves, a cane, and a doll-sized top hat. Yes, I even wore a BumpIt thing to make my hair more outrageous and Amy Winehouse-esque.

Saturday night was the TKE Halloween party, nostalgically called “Washing Machine” (I have climbed into their dryer before just for giggles). Erin went as Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus, and it was pretty awesome, complete with glow-in-the-dark planets and stars and a messy bun I helped pin up. I went as a “generic Disney Princess,” with a light turquoise dress, a tiara, jewels, white bow high heels, white gloves and a glow-in-the-dark star wand. This party was really fun as well, including some of my friends, who went as the characters from Clue, Confucius, the Parker Brothers Monopoly monocle guy and “Derrick when he comes out of the closet” (such a funny costume, Dave).

So, back to real life. One thing I don’t amalgamate to well is the “fall back” part of Daylight Savings Time. It was nice that I drove to work this morning at 6:45 in less than complete darkness, but that 5 a.m. alarm felt a lot like 4 a.m. instead. A few extra snooze buttons later, I got ready for work and for my presentation I have in my PR Publicity class today. Big, important presentation that I have worked my butt off for; unfortunately, I still have two more of those to do this semester in PR alone. Dressing up does help your attitude and confidence, though, no matter what people may tell you. I’d actually feel more comfortable talking to a group in heels and a suit than sneakers and sweats. I suppose it’s like Halloween: if I could dress up every day, I totally would.

On a positive note, I found out late last night that my thesis research has been approved, so I will be beginning interviews this Thursday and posting the sign-up this afternoon. This is a great relief, as now I will be able to hopefully complete my research, thesis and presentation by December. I just hope that at least 15 Intro to Psych students (my research participants) sign up for it to get extra credit points.

I also registered for next semester classes this morning and got into all of them without any snags, which is another great relief. I’m hoping for a great next semester, and with all of these other things out of the way in a couple months, I’ll be ready for it.