The usual stuff but with some SC memories.
Yes, I'm supposed to be sleeping. I don't work on Wednesdays anymore but my boss asked me if I could please come in because Alisia is out all week. It'll be challenging because I'm no longer used to getting up multiple times in a row. If I make it through this week I will have gotten up at 6:30 four days in a row. Quite a feat.
Yesterday I mailed in my visa application. Now I just have to cross my dedos that I got everything is right and they approve me. I'm actually not too worried about that though. Once I get approved then they call me to set up an appointment for me to come in and get my passport stamped and fingerprinted. That means a trip to CHICAGO. I just hope my appointment is sometime on Friday/Monday so that we have an excuse to stay the weekend. Now the last thing I need to do is get my plane tickets. My Dad wants me to see some guy at AAA about it. Hopefully I'll get to that next week sometime.
The Superbowl party at Compuware was fun. There was lots of free food, especially desserts. Mmmm. Tom Arnold hosted and we saw a couple local celebs. The commute wasn't bad, only took us about an hour both ways. As a result, we got downtown early and were able to walk around the Winterblast a bit. It was really nice. The whole downtown looked good and there were people all over the streets (NOT homeless people). It was like a normal, nice city. We were all pleasantly surprised. I even saw some people taking pictures of buildings and stuff (like they were TOURISTS). It was weird. I wanted to get a picture of THAT, but I was never quite fast enough.
I finished book number four of my time off school, a book called 'Three Junes.' It was a good story, very well written. It told the story of a Scottish family from three different narrators. I guess... I don't know, it's difficult to explain. That's part of what made it interesting. Anyway, my next book, which I will begin reading this afternoon, is 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote. My Mom and I saw the movie 'Capote' this weekend and we really liked it. The movie was basically about Capote's writing of the book, so naturally I decided to read it. My first venture into the non-fiction genre.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about South Carolina. Of course I dearly miss the few good friends I made (even if I'm a loser and don't contact them nearly as often as I should), however, I also really miss running there. No, I do not mean that I'm sad to no longer be on the team, what I actually miss is the days after I quit. I officially quit the team and turned in my gear in the middle of January (I made the decision over winter break). Naturally, after quitting, I went through a month or so of "I hate running" syndrome in which I was almost certain I would never run on my own again. Finally, in March, I admitted to myself that I actually like to run (for the first time in my life) and thus began the time that I miss so much...
I LOVE running in strange, new places (i.e. on vacation). It sounds dumb, but I always feel like I'm exploring or something. This is part of what was so great about SC. I found so many interesting places (a large mental institute, an abandoned warehouse, and lots of cute stores and houses). My favorite run was along the Cayce Riverwalk. It's a mile long path (the wide and paved type) that runs through the trees along the banks of a large river. It's a couple miles from campus, so there are usually not too many people on it (generally just older people). It was perfect for the HOT, sunny days of which occurred about 80% of the time. Not only was it really pretty, but there was a drinking fountain/bathroom area at each end of the path, so when I got to either side I would basically bathe myself in the water fountain to cool off. I swear all the old people thought I was crazy. I remember one day it rained, like actual rain, and it was awesome. It's difficult to explain the significance running in SC had to me beyond that... I just remember having fun and really enjoying running. It was something, apparently, that I had never really known.
Ahhh. How I wish I could run on the riverwalk today. Instead, though, I get to run in 30 degree weather or on the indoor track, both with equally mundane surroundings if you ask me. If/when I return to Columbia, I will be sure to run there again. Reminiscent runs are my second favorite type of run (next to exploration runs, of course).
That reminds me, I'm extremely thankful for my very good sense of direction. It allows the freedom to explore, to run in any direction and make as many random turns as I want. Although I am forever struggling to get myself to run at home, running on vacation isn't a problem for me because it's so much fun. That's why I need more vacations. I'm excited for some good exploration runs in Chile. Hopefully it's like SC and I won't get sick of my routes.
I guess that's it. Finally. I started writing this yesterday (Weds) but I got really distracted and forgot to finish it. So now it's done. Good thing.