Planet Earth

I might be jumping the gun on this, but I figured I made it 11 months and 16 days with this guy before spilling a whole Nalgene full of water all over it. Today, a tsunami hit Planet Earth. Time to retire my 2011 calendar.

Of all calendar years, 2011 has seen the most action, the most highs and lows, the most losses and successes. I'm thankful for all the life experience and thicker skin and strength and tenderness, but I'm pretty happy to chuck the day-by-day reminders of every twist and turn.

On another note, book review time!

I'm obsessed.

Then Again by Diane Keaton

There are some books you want to read slowly so they don't end, but you can't help yourself because they're so good! To me, this is one of those books. I limit myself to tiny morsels every night.

It's part- her mother's journal entries, part- her own writing. She's so unabashedly honest, and I admire her for that. She writes very candidly about how much she loved and still loves Woody Allen.

You're so beautiful!

I've pretty much decided to take the Diane Keaton approach to life until otherwise inclined. She's been a bachelorette her entire life and then adopted kids at age 50. She clearly loved immensely and has had an amazing, adventurous, fulfilled, love-filled life. She's so eccentric and esteemed for her eccentricities.

I hope she writes a sequel. And I'm definitely watching Something's Gotta Give tonight. 

Watch!

Super awesome video about exercises, obesity and health. Yes, we're all really busy. This makes the case for what 30 minutes can do for you.



Speaking of thirty minutes of exercise, I'm combatting Christmas party craziness and grumpy butt. Somehow, after months and months of marathon training, I hurt some muscle in my right buttock on the stationary bike. It's painful to put any pressure on it, sitting or standing. Quality of life diminishes real fast when you're main sitting mechanism is broken.

Another example of the luck that comes with being a Still.

Post-It Wisdom Wednesday

Soaking up every last ounce of First Marathon Merriment before Sophomore Marathon Mania sets in. I'm supposed to run 12 this weekend and 20 on Christmas Eve. Hello, winter training!

Friendmas!

This week is Christmas party mania, which makes working out that much more important but also that much harder to squeeze in. I flew to the gym immediately after work, plopped on a bike for 30 minutes, then ran for another 30 minutes. They were both exceptionally boring. End of story.

What wasn't boring was the rest of my night...

OJ filled her home with lots of Christmas cheer and then had a bunch of people over to celebrate Friendmas last night! I'm all about the cheese at OJ's events. Her taste in wine+her guests' taste in cheese always makes a happy home for the holidays.

Her home might be from a magazine. Everything is perfect!

I love this tree and this girl...and our sorority sister pose. Cha!

Ninja, who is most assuredly on the naughty list every year, walked away from the White Elephant with the best prize: a new wine decanter! I am now the proud owner of snap-on pants-hemmers. There is no justice!

Ninja and I also split 3 pieces of cake after taste-testing two different kinds of cookies. This is Polly and I really enjoying an amazing carrot cake. (Polly is the most adorable name, and it belongs to the most adorable girl.)

The dessert bar. If you live in Houston, kindly make your way to Dessert Gallery stat. Like, now. Tonight. Go. Wait, invite me over and pull a blanket over me when I'm passed out in a food coma on your couch at the end of the night.  

Lily was there in the background but she was too busy scavenging to take pictures with me.

I did not weigh myself this morning because I'm sure the holiday happiness bloat I'm experiencing would have made me at least 5 lbs heavier than I actually am.

In other news, I found out yesterday I got into grad school! In three little years I'll be Amy Still, Master of Educational Psychology! Night school, here I come!

Get up!

After spending the weekend channeling these two beloved characters...

...I figured it was time to get up out mah pit.

I had a 30 minute shred-sesh with Jillian Sunday afternoon, then went to the gym and rode a stationary bike for 40 minutes. Why does biking burn so few calories?! Some yahoo was watching Animal Planet so I spent those 40 minutes choking back tears for all the newborn baby turtles that got eaten by herons before reaching the ocean...the iguana seeking protection from an eagle that eventually tore him to shreds...and all the other deaths I witnessed.

Murderer!

Did you know it was a full moon this weekend? Didn't dawn on me until driving to work this morning. Suddenly it all, all, all makes sense. 

OJ met up with me after the gym for some good old fashioned dinner, wine and tough love. That girl gives it to me straight, and I love it. It hurts, no doubt. It's challenging, for sure. But it's real and it's usually accompanied by froyo, so that almost immediately makes it all better.

Anyways, great news came in the form of Ninja correspondence: She found me an entry to the Houston Marathon!

And just like that, I'm back, Jack!

Book Burning

My lease is up next month on my apartment.

A bit of background: the night my ex and I broke up, I moved out of my apartment (he lived in another city). I moved back home. I've had a subleaser until now, and he took the place as is, which required from me minimal trips back to the apartment to get the heck out of there.

This happened to be the biggest blessing of my life because I didn't eat for 3 weeks after that breakup. I still don't know how I went to work. I don't know how I survived, except that my mom brought home Dove bars one night and I slowly came back to life, one bar at a time.

But the lease is up, so it's time to clear the remaining stuff out. While I still hate being there, at least I don't dissolve into a million pieces anymore. Right?

Today I went to the apartment already emotional. I went alone. I went hungry.

Mistakes one, two and three.

I came across letters the ex had written me a year ago. Pictures. Suddenly, it felt like that breakup that was back in April had happened only yesterday.

With no time to spare, I used my available resources to get myself back together. That's how this happened.

Fireplaces ALWAYS come in handy!

It started with letters and pictures. Then an old newspaper. A couple of magazines. Before I knew it and before I wanted it to, the fire was dying. (Disclaimer: burning polaroids might be toxic.)

I needed more fuel! Around that time, this happened.

So long, Happiness Project. You are worth more to me in ashes than space on my bookshelves!

And it was a glorious five minutes. But a quick five minutes...

Great, cheesy movie...but the book did nothing for me.

Well I went scavenging for more books I felt were worth more in warmth and emotional healing to me than effort to pack up and move out, but unfortunately books were some of the first things to be salvaged from this place. The buck (flame) stopped here:

You just dont disrespect Jillian like that. Time to go home.

My plan for the day is to watch as many hours of Carrie Bradshaw as I can before I pass out in a 3 hour nap, wake up, do some Jillian, then go back to bed.

It's an emokid day. It just is.

Well.

I reckon I'm ready to come home now...

That's too far, Odessa. Have a little decency.