winter snowy ice glory

I watched some Olympics to get over my withdrawal from their winter snowy ice glory. Women's figure skating and men's short track.

The Queen of figure skating 김연아! 

Yes, a couple years ago I randomly taught myself to read Hangul b/c I was bored with not being able to read in Kdramas. And I forever love Apolo Ohno, but I now have deep respect for Viktor Ahn. And JR Celski could be in high school - such a baby face.

Dentist tomorrow morning. Commence mad brushing.

phd drama (round 2)

About to get on that highway. Must remember to go to Old Navy and see if their jeans fit me. I don't remember if their clothes are well-made or not, but $14 jeans are worth checking out.

Friday and I got an email from one of the PhD programs I got into, from the close one, asking if I want to start next fall or if I want to not do it anymore. Going to do some thinking before I respond, but I've been thinking a whole year now, so I won't come to an easy decision. I wanted a job for so long, and now I have one, but am I just going to work in administration for ever? I think that wouldn't be fun. At first I thought, wow four whole years. That's a while. But in the scale of your life, 4 years isn't a while. If you take care of yourself and barring any accidents, life is long. 4 years to get a PhD and more opportunities is a good sacrifice to make. To have the lifestyle I want and be able to travel for work and think for a living. I've already come so far compared to the opportunities I would have had a 100 years ago, but I can go further. Should I go further as a girl with 2 masters degrees, or as a girl with 2 masters degrees and a PhD? Aye, there's the rub.

Also, I can only afford this apartment for one more year. There's no way I can take another rent increase. I'm barely earning more than I spend on bills as it is. This next year of $53 increase is going to hurt. So money plays into the decision. Also peer pressure. The friends closest to me are the ones really going for it in terms of their education. They're always learning, always moving forward, and I am definitely not doing any learning or moving forward. I just come home and am tired, so I watch the Olympics while I eat dinner. Or Kdramas. Not that I wouldn't watch Kdramas, even if I was in school. It's been established that I'm addicted to them. I can do away with all American TV (even Psych), if I can keep watching K dramas. Also, I am tired of my one co-worker treating me like I'm dumb. "Do I know what an asymptote is?" Duh! Of course I know! Every kid in high school knows! And then he proceeds to explain to me what it is, even though I was a freaking math major at Hopkins! I try really hard not to dislike people, because once I dislike them I get only negative feelings, and if it's a person I have to work with, I really would rather only feel positive. But he is coming close. Oh, I can feel it. The only thing saving the issue is we don't usually have direct contact, other than a weekly meeting. Still, even if I had a PhD, he'd probably assume I don't know what a limit is. Smh. If I do go to school, I have to do it soon. I can feel myself getting rusty.

post-exercise burn (+peppermint tea)

The week 4 video of winter shape-up surely was a workout. The video is crazy good.

But the girl who made the workout video is kind of awesome. Usually I get tired of the leader's voice, which makes me only do the workout a few times. But I like her.  Favorite quotes:
Last one. Best one.
Burpees!
This is real life.
I just can't get over how fantastic it is that she's likeable, even while she forces you to sweat. I like the workouts because the exercises change so fast that I don't have time to get bored.

Tomorrow is a rest day, and after that only two more days of winter shape up left. I really needed it to stay active. The hold the cold has on me has been strong in 2014.

Prayers to my coworkers and their families. Prayers to my family.

water colors

In April, my friend with a baby is going to come and stay with me. Also, the week before that one of my GA cousins is coming. And I just signed the lease for another year in the apartment. I guess I have to actually decorate. Yes, I would like it if I came home to a comfy cozy apt all decked out in a girly fashion, like the apartments of half of all K-drama heroines. I think my first step is rugs and curtains. And a TV stand. I find that rugs really bring together a room. And then I need to start the water color paintings. I like landscapes and I can draw, so this apt is going to get decorated.

Looked at the vacation photos my dad took. Oahu was so beautiful. I look at those photos and I can remember how it felt to be there. And then I look outside... I will love summer this year. I always do, but I need to love it even more. I need to spend every moment I can outside. Other moral from vacation photos- I seriously need to only by v-necked shirts. Like seriously; the chest area just makes me look chesty, and not even in a flattering way. And I only worse that green tank top because it's so damn comfortable. Sigh.

I heard the complaints that military people had about living in Hawaii, but I think I would still do it. Yeah, I'd miss the seasons and I'd hate the traffic, but I'd live there for 3 years. Keep your house/apt bug free, be willing to budget, have your own assigned parking spot, and forget about shoveling snow. I'd turn so brown just sitting on the beach, away from all the crowds. Funny how my idea of relaxation always comes down to away from all the people sooner or later. Please, God, don't make me live in a city.

snow day 2014 :-)

Code red at work, which just means it snowed, so don't go in to work. Unfortunately, I had to telework. Are those extra hours? I hope it snows a buttload tonight so that I don't have to go to work tomorrow.  Upside, no commuting, I got to have the Olympics on in the background, I did my workout in the middle of the day, I drank like 7 cups of tea and I think I'm going to make some more, there's nothing like tramping through a foot of snow in waterproof boots, my neighbor helped me shovel out my car, and of course hearing everyone's snow day stories.

and i'll love you (platonic) forever

Saving on commuting time means I get to watch dramas. I'm on a total rom com kick, so I already squee'd over the latest two episodes of "My Love From Another Star." And after my tea, I'm going to watch episode 4 of "I Need Romance 3." I never bothered to watch 1 or 2, but Sung Joon is in the third one, and there's something about him that does it for me. I'm basically in love with his voice and his acting. I know it's not his looks b/c he looks like a very tall 17 year old. I'm a sucker for a good male voice, not the high ones. Take Jang Geun-seok for instance, he is (or was) pretty like a girl, but his voice is delicious. It goes the opposite way too, like Kang Ji-hwan who looks attractive, but his voice is just so darn high that I can't get behind him.

This also goes for real life. I come from a family of skinny people. I think all my cousins, which is like 30 people, are skinny except for 2 (to my male cousins, skinny/muscular in some cases). My parents are skinny. I am for some reason, the only one of my 3 siblings that has to struggle with eating and exercising in order to stay thin. I flirted with chubby, but now I'm a size 6, so smaller than the average woman around these here parts. Anyway, all I'm saying is I'm preconditioned to love skinny  people. I do not go for husky guys. And if you're a husky guy with a high voice, oh it'll never happen. I mean, I can't force myself to be attracted to you. This is my trouble, I need to meet some guy that I'm actually attracted to. No, friends from high school, don't make me online date.