December’s 17

17 Things for the 17th day of December

1. I am officially on Christmas (a.k.a. Winter) Break! Two weeks of no work and naughty kids but instead tons of time for sleeping, working out, and doing things I haven’t had time to do.

2. Things I want to do over break: take several yoga classes, swim laps, bake, cook, sleep, and hopefully blog more.

3. Hip, hip horray! I have submitted all of my projects, assignments, and papers for my two classes! While they weren’t super intensive, it still took a fair amount of my time during the week and on the weekends.

4. For one of my assignments, Craig and I went on a hike. I had to identify trees, plants, animals, etc. Unfortunately there wasn’t too much to identify seeing that it is winter, but it was still fun.

5. I miss being in Raleigh. Everyone commented how happy I looked in the photos while I was there, and it is true. I was SO happy, and now I’m debating if it was worth the depression I am now experiencing. Blah!

6. I also miss running. . . . like real bad! I have not been running much at all (10 miles last week and so far 7 miles this week). I mostly haven’t been out because I get more frustrated after running in these winter conditions with the snow, ice, wind, and bitter air.

7. I have been doing a lot more yoga, stationary biking, weight lifting, and using the elliptical but they aren’t the same as running.

8. I made Wannabe Chicken and Rice Soup by Chelsea. Make it now!

9. I teach at a school on the army base here in Anchorage, and I recently heard a Christmas greeting on the radio from one of the moms who is serving overseas. It was surreal to head the names of her children, two of whom I have in class, and actually know who they are. Recently there was a large deployment and the kids (as you could imagine) are have a extremely hard time with it. I never thought I—as a teacher—would be affected by a deployment!

10. Craig has a MacBook that is 4.5 years old. As you can imagine, it was running incredibly slow these days, but he just bought and installed 2 GB of ram and bought the Snow Leopard operating system. So for $90 it is like we have a new computer.

11. Craig and I watched the movie Larry Crowne last weekend. It was okay. . . .nothing great but still cute.

(Source)

12. This weekend I’m hoping to watch a Christmas-themed movie. Any recommendations?

13. Mom, Dad, Michael, and Kristy. . . .your presents will be on their way today. . . .hopefully!

14. Coffee (decaf included) affects my appetite. It almost seems to suppress it. Does anyone else know what I am talking about?

15. Only a few more days of losing light, but unfortunately the increase in daylight isn’t really noticeable until March. . .sigh.

Today’s sunrise – 10:11 a.m.

Today’s sunset – 3:41 p.m.

Approximately 5.5 hours of daylight

16. I loved this write-up on 10 Myths about Introverts. It is SO SO SO true!

17. I know I’ve already said this, but I am so excited for break! I already have a to-do list about a mile long, but they are things I enjoy doing, so it isn’t something I am dreading.