Last First Day

Oh.My.Gosh.

Today is my last first day of college, ever. (As an undergraduate, at least.)

I'm freaking out a little.

I'm not ready to be in school mode again. My winter break has been entirely too relaxing.

I'm also not ready for my life as an undergrad Terrapin to be over. But I'll hold off on that freak-out until May because Lord knows that will be an emotional post. 

Wanna see a dorky picture from my first day as an undergrad Terp?

That's my first college roomie ever, as well as current roomie(!), on our first day of college at our Scholar's Program's orientation. Eep. 

And here was my first desk ever, in the dorm room Katlyn and I shared freshman year. 

I don't know...I'm feeling nostalgic. 

Now the desk I use most is a "teacher" desk filled with hard candies and papers to grade.

Happy First Day back to all my fellow future Terp Teachers! 

And Happy Tuesday to everyone else :)

Wish me lots of luck and energy...I'll be needing it this week.

The Nothingness of Winter Break

So, today is Friday. The fourth Friday of my fourth winter break as a college student. Also, the second to last Friday of my very last college winter break, ever.  It's also Friday the 13th, which means nothing in comparison to the threats of impending reality the end of break has brought upon me.  

Since the end of break is upon us --even more so for all of my non-UMD friends...C is already back at school :( :(  -- it has finally hit me that never again will I have a complete five week period of time in which I have little-to-no responsibilities and/or time to perpetually relax.  

Believe it or not, this the first of my winter breaks where I feel I have taken advantage of the freedom of nothingess. One of my winter breaks was spent working a 9-5 office job, one was spent juggling two babysitting jobs and endless "necessary" errands, and last year's was spent working slave hours substituting at a private school for less than minimum wage.  

This year I had every intention of getting a job, but eventually realized that working my weeks away maybe, possibly, wasn't worth the lack of rest prior to my last semester full-time student teaching.  Instead, I spent my days leisurely and almost without agenda.  

If you know me personally, my last statement has certainly shocked you.  I typically lead my days according to a schedule; squeezing in an early morning work out, running around between two or three jobs, and taking on neglected errands - all in a completely methodical, planned out manner.  

A typical day during this winter break, you ask?

- I wake up at my leisure (albeit still much earlier than most of my peers)

- Go to the gym for 1.5-2 hours

- Shower 

- Read 

- Make a Smoothie

... and that is where my schedule ends. Because after I consume my afternoon smoothie I become the most indecisive human in America and sit around trying to decide what to do next.  Usually nothing. 

I did have time to do some memorable things, however. Which were awesomely fun and only able to be done because of my laziness unemployment.
Evidence:

Last week I drove to Northern MD to celebrate my girlfriend Ashley's 22nd birthday.

And onn Wednesday I took a road trip to Atlantic City!  No, I do not gamble. Didn't even touch a machine. But I do enjoy a night dancing the night away with my best friends in an atmosphere that makes it socially acceptable, and expected, to wear as many sparkles as I can adorn.  

Celeb Status?! 

Don't let this one fool you.... he loves me. He's just bitter about losing all his money on the Roulette table ;)

Tonight I'm going out with the girls after a day of doing...well...nothing. And tomorrow I don't really have any plans either.  But I'm kind of okay with it.

Weekend Festivities

With the stress of finals week and final project due dates looming over our crammed college heads, I think College Park was in need of a well-deserved festive weekend.  And a festive weekend we had. 

It seemed like everyone and their mothers were out this weekend, dressed fabulously and acting recklessly, all in the name of the last weekend before finals. Glorious. Simply glorious. 

On Friday, Group Fitness had a gathering to celebrate a) Us, because we rock and b) Jason, because it was his birthday. Seriously, nothing is better than when a group of Aerobics Instructors and Personal Trainers get together for a dance party. Love, love, love them. 

Some of us being way too excited to be together

My TripleC Co-Instructor and me -- Just for you, Megan, thanks for reading ;)
OH and Hi Devin in the background!

On Saturday I attempted to do homework all day -- but instead I ended up dancing around in my apartment to Christmas Music, having a longer than expected work-out with Jillie, and playing dress-up in preparation for the evening's merrymaking.  Ohhhhh well. 

Saturday evening was another one of my friend's birthdays, and his roommates planned a Ugly Holiday Sweater Surprise Birthday Party. I love surprises. And I love Holiday Parties. It wouldn't be a traditional end-of-fall-semester weekend without one. And needless to say, we had a blast. Spiked Peppermint Hot Chocolate and Egg Nog were plentiful and spirits were high. We even Christmas Caroled all the way to the bars post-surprise.  Holiday cheer at its finest.  

Jillie spreading Holiday Cheer via fake snow. Priceless. (photo cred: lauren) 

Some of us and the Bday Boy! 

Awkward Family Photo? 

Me and my beautiful bestie Em


By now you may or may not have noticed that I am not wearing an "ugly sweater." Because who wants to wear something ugly for Christmas? Maybe it's just me, but when I think holidays, I think glitter and sparkles. To each his own ;) 

PS - I really just didn't have an "ugly sweater" in my possession this year. I have participated in the past. I am not that much of a diva.  I am broke, though. So I had to make due with what I had!

 I think I made it work...

I hope everyone else had a wonderfully jolly weekend.  

For those of you preparing for finals, I wish you luck and the strength to power through these last few days!

For those of you like me, who are handing in your final projects today, congratulations! Keep celebrating ;)

Sunday Delirium

My favorite day of the week has come upon us again. 

I had a well-deserved weekend of fun with friends, celebrating two birthdays and spreading lots of holiday cheer a la themed party.  ;o) 

Oh yeah and I also worked on my last two assignments of the semester! Ahh! I can't wait until tonight when I can finally say I completed all my work until January. 

For now, I shall take a homework break and sip on some green tea whilst trying to avoid the end-of-semester induced, yet holiday-influenced, delirium that hit me hard yesterday. Proof: 

I guess I was overdue for a break. 

...And now it's back to work.   

Happy Sunday, love bugs! 

Fear of the Assigned

What once was my best friend has transformed into my most feared enemy.

I have always been obsessed with list making and scheduling. Subsequently, I became obsessed with seeking out the perfect agenda year after year.

This year, I settled on the perfect little black (agenda) book in which I wrote ev.er.y.thing: 

assignment due dates, upcoming tests, scheduled work-outs, time frames for laundry days, birthdays, phone numbers, grocery lists... you get the point.

As of recently, however, I have been terrified to even open that little black book of mine. The once half-filled, neatly color coded pages are now cluttered sheets of ceaseless assignments and looming due dates in permanent black ink. 

I'm afraid that if I open my planner, a new assignment will surge off of the paper to be the final assault in my student teaching demise.  

I know I can't possibly be the only one living in fear of the assigned. Right?!

There are only two short weeks left of method assignment stress and project due dates before winter break.  With the grace of God and Caffeine on my side, I will persevere and make it out of these last two weeks alive.  

Who's with me? 

Another Boring Post

All creativity that once occupied my mind has been replaced with stress and academic exhaustion.  For this my first semester of senior year is to blame, with notable contributions from my natural habit to stretch myself too thin. 

So, I'm sorry I haven't had anything terribly clever or sentimental or even remotely important to say for the past, I don't know, three months?  

Thursday night at 7:00pm when my last fitness class ended, my weekend began.  Fridays are typically dedicated to working all day at the CYC when I don't have a) student teaching b) randomly scheduled classes or c) a road trip to NJ. 

With no reason to drive the 3.5 hours home (C's game was away in East Jabib this week), no classes, and a closed CYC, I had a Friday off.  Before you let yourself get too excited, however, let me remind you how incredibly busy I have been since the moment I moved back to College Park. Instead of "laying around eating and watching TV in my underwear" like my boyfriend so supportively suggested I do, I spent all day trying to be productive in the realm of academics. 

First of all, I woke up early (which was fine considering I went to bed before 11 the night before) to do the Body Pump challenge with some group-fit cronies. For those of you unfamiliar with the Les Mills Challenge - just know it's an hour of non-stop heavy weight lifting that leaves your pores dripping with sweat and accomplishment.  

After two hours of being at the gym it was time go home, make lunch, do a load of laundry and begin my endless amount of school work. I sat down at the edge of my bed to take my sneakers off one minute, and, much to my dismay, woke up 50 minutes later, drooling, confused, and still donning sneakers.    

Damn you, Body Pump and your unwillingness to cooperate with plans of academic productivity.  

Six hours, one grande skinny mocha, endless Facebook interruptions and a dinner medley of squash, zucchini and sweet potato later, I completed one long assignment.  

I decided that one assignment was enough for today, because hey, I still have Saturday and Sunday to procrastinate further, right? Right. 

So now I lay in bed enjoying the ambiance of burning cinnamon scented candles and the sweet sounds of Ray LaMontagne Pandora Radio. My homework may not yet be done, but my nails are freshly manicured for the second time in two days, my body is well-rested and I for once am in absolutely no rush.  

Recently my friends have been calling me "grandma" (hi Jess and Diana) and I guess tonight I can't really blame them. Maybe I'm the worst college student in the world tonight, but tomorrow I will be bright eyed for an early tailgate and I have one less assignment to worry about when I go out on Saturday night. And who knows, maybe my creativity will come back to me in sweet dreams tonight. Hallelujah. 

xx GrandMaggie 

Halloween hit a little bit too close to home this year. 

PS- I was supposed to share this wildly uneventful night with my dear friend Kelly - she apparently fell asleep in her towel after showering at 8:30. Needless to say, she never made it down, and I no longer feel like the lamest student in CP. Looks like we're tied, Kell ;) xoxo