wow, so that exam took me a good hard 5 hours and 20 minutes, can you believe it? i know i did okay, but I'm not sure if its an 'A' or not. I'm not terribly resigned to getting an A but I studied long and hard and well, we'll see I guess. After the exam I drove to Columbia, MD to chill with Jenna for the afternoon but I was drained from the exam and not really in the mood for chilling. I felt bad for her because she wanted to see me but I couldn't really do much for her. I really needed to run to let off some steam, so I ran a 37-minute tempo, five miles on the track.
maybe you've noticed i've been running a ton but thats because **our group got picked in the Marine Corps Marathon lottery!** its on halloween this year, 20-some weeks away. once the long runs come it'll be great. my legs are STILL tired/achy as they have been for two years now, the whole "jacked up back/pelvis" thing going on. maybe I'll go to the chiropractor again over the summer. we'll see how training goes. i'm trying to be smart about it.
anyway, this weekend looks sweet - an orioles game (vs. angels) tomorrow and then shenandoah with jenna on saturday. my other final is on monday so i'll study some for that too, but for now I'm going to take a break from exams and classes and chill for the rest of the day. its times like these that i miss ohio, because there was usually someone to call up and grill out with or play frisbee golf or something - that's not so here, i don't have quite the same friend network built up. give me some time love and tenderness and i will though...and then it'll be time for me to move and get a job!
tomorrow's my first exam, oh which i'm studying for solely by going through old exams. the professor does not teach, but instead we have to learn from other grad students and old exams. yet this professor is also making more money than anyone in the department, chair included. for being a bad teacher.
its hard to study *all day* for this stuff so this week i've been studying from 9:30-3:30, then sitting in hte sun for an hour, eating, playing guitar, etc., then back to studying from 7-10. it makes for a long day but i just can't do this in one big, long chunk. its not as satisfying as writing music or editing something or working on a project when its easy to *make progress.*
i know thats kinda boring but that's seriously all i've been doing for like a week.
well i'm off to bike to the park and chill for a while. unfortunately a couple of roommates just came home and i can't rock my guitar anymore. ahhhhh.
i saw ray off from DC on saturday. he's been here since january on an internship with the EPA. ray was my closest roommate last year and it was so great to have him here. as jenna put it, 'he was our slice of ohio.' its funny, i talked to jesse yesterday in colorado and he said the same thing about stuart leaving. a little piece of home is comforting.
on the flip side though is life out here - i feel like an integral part of the church and in the lives of friends i'm making. jenna is too. we hung out at jim's for an end-of-the-year party for us churchies, and rocked some serious karaoke. highlights were jeff (from so. america) singing 'la bamba,' jenna doing 'material girl,' and jim rockin some 'suspicious minds.' unfortunately i did four songs and they were all caught on tape, lets hope that doesn't get out there. and who does karaoke without bohemian rhapsody? c'mon on.
today was absolutely gorgeous. church, potbelly's, frisbee in the sun. harry potter on tv. grocerying. i loved it.
and justin, i finally saw amelie on friday and it was great. was i the only one who noticed she always wears red, except for dark clothing when she thinks her future is bleak? even her house is red inside. i really liked it.
and how could i forget that i ran 6 miles with jenna on saturday? it was her longest run ever! we did it in about 60 mins, a nice slow morning run. endorphins.
