VACATION!

Yes, Folks, it is finally here. Vacation. My professor canceled class for tomorrow, which means the moment I make it out of my Western Civ class at 3:15 I will be DONE!

This really couldn't be coming at a better time. I felt it necessary to pull an all-nighter last night. Those of you who know me also know that I love sleep. I think sleep is essential to optimal health and to feeling good, so I make a conscious effort to get at least 7 or 8 hours a night. I am not a fan of sleeping through the day, so usually this means I am headed to bed around 11 or so. Last night, however, I found myself too nervous for the midterm I had this morning! I took the extremely difficult quiz he gave us last Thursday to be a sign that this would be a big one. I found myself recopying notes by hand (this always helps me remember them) and giving myself pep talks around three in the morning. By the time I had given myself carpal tunnel from all the writing, I was too nervous to sleep!

Luckily I was able to recharge at six with homemade granola and some spinach! By the time I got to school I felt a bit more confident. The exam didn't disappoint. It was probably the hardest exam I have taken in all my years as a student, and also the exam I spent the most time studying for. It was a lot of multiple choice, which normally might be good, but this guy is tricky! He did warn us in class of his love for 'trick questions', but still...rude.

I got out of the exam early, knowing I had done my best. At this point, despite the lack of sleep, I was high on granola, spinach, and post-exam bliss. I headed over to the gym and was pleasantly surprised to find it COMPLETELY empty! It must have been a pre-vacation fluke, but either way it was nice treat to have all the equipment to myself for the first half hour!

Since I now have all this extra time to kill before my last class, I thought I would share this link my friend Steve sent me. I think this is something everyone should read, because I feel like a lot of people like to overlook the fact that animals have feelings too. It's not a terribly long article so I really think everyone should read this (A Note to My Mom: it is not about being in a slaughterhouse and there are no gruesome pictures, so you should read this too).

Empathy in Chickens!

Isn't it incredible the things living creatures are capable of?

Another fun note, as some of you may have seen, Mike Tyson has a new segment on Animal Planet! I had no idea until I saw the commercial, and I spent about ten minutes speculating with my boyfriend as to why Mike Tyson would be on Animal Planet surrounded by pigeons...

Turns out Mike Tyson (yes, THE Mike Tyson) is a vegan! No kidding, I honestly had no idea. He is a huge supporter of animal rights and has even admitted that the first fight he ever got into was over the defense of an animal! How cool is that? Maybe I should actually check out some Animal Planet next week when I'm enjoying my vacation...

Speaking of enjoying vacation... my sister leaves for France tomorrow! I'm super bummed I can't make it home in time... she has some plans to visit me here in Boston when she gets back, so I am definitely holding out for that. She is going to have SO many fun stories to tell and I already can't wait to hear them (even though they haven't happened yet).

Hourly countdown continues until my return home. We are now at 47 hours and counting! Cat-urday can't come soon enough!

So much excitement!

I remain in good spirits today, despite the red alert from my school about a MEASLES outbreak! Apparently a professor was diagnosed with measles, so those of us who can't verify immunity are not allowed to participate in public activities (like the gym, going to clubs, etc.). Lucky for me, I am immune. Thank goodness.

I almost wish I wasn't allowed to go to the gym, though. Apparently I'm a spaz and can't handle any kind of thigh-weights. Tried some a few days ago and have been very sore. Yesterday I thought I would suck it up and work through it. Bad idea, because this morning when I went to put pants on I fell over and ended up crawling back over to my bed like a wounded animal. I wasn't aware that I had that much muscle that could hurt THAT much. Needless to say, I skipped that particular set of weights during this morning's workout.

I have a picture of last night's dinner for y'all. I had a date with myself and made an amazing but simple brown rice pilaf. It was just some short grained brown rice sauteed with some toasted pine nuts and maple-caramelized onions. This was topped, of course, with some shoyu (soy sauce). The picture doesn't really do it justice, but trust me when I say it was fantastical.

This morning I woke up a little bit early since I went to bed a lot a bit early last night. Since I was up with some extra time I decided to make some home-made granola out of toasted rolled oats, some sea salt, and some maple syrup. It smelled SO good while it was in the oven, and I didn't take a picture since it was enthusiastically consumed within three minutes. I am a pig. Though it was delicious, I'm not sure if I would start my day like that often. It was very sweet/salty and almost overwhelming for a morning treat. Definitely kept me full for a long time though.

Cut to lunch. My second class of the day was canceled and I ended up home earlier than usual. This was a bit of a mixed bag, as it allowed me to eat what I pleased but also meant my quiet 'me time' I get at school was nixed for the day. I was feeling like maybe I could go for some alkalizing vegetables to counterbalance the granola episode of this morning so I made some miso with mushrooms, broccoli, onion, carrot, green beans, and the ever present daikon. Delicious. I paired this with some spinach sauteed in balsamic vinegar (my mom always served spinach in vinegar when I was a kid and whenever I eat it I get a pleasant throwback to family dinners in the kitchen).

Don't tell anyone, but I may have eaten some of my leftover pilaf from last night as well... it was just SO good! Generally the whole meal filled me up completely and I felt much more balanced after that. On the other hand, since I just recently finished eating it and it is past five o'clock I have a feeling that was more of a supper than anything else.

I talked to my mom last night for a bit on the phone, and I was just getting so super excited for my birthday. I can't believe how close it is! I think I'm mostly just excited to be home. I still get to talk to and see my family when I'm not living at home, but the hardest is leaving my dog. She's the sweetest thing and obviously can't understand what 'going to college' means, so whenever I go home she follows me around for days until she's fairly certain I'm not leaving again. I always do, and that is part of what makes it so hard. I'm also bummed that my sister won't be home for my birthday. Did I mention she is going to France that week? How cool is that? She's going to take a lot of pictures because if she doesn't she knows I will kill her. Ha-ha. But really.

Did I mention the fun thing that happened to me on the subway this morning? A lovely older gentleman selling Boston Globes gave me one for free on the condition that I kept showing the world "my beautiful smile". How cute is that? I think I was just working off of my granola-high so the smiling may not have been intentional. It was also a bit funny because, as I looked at the front of the paper, I noticed that my very own school had made the front page for the whole measles debacle.

Am currently multitasking. I'm both studying for a midterm I have on Tuesday and am also browsing recipes to try when I go home to visit. Just found one for a vegan coconut-lime pie with a raw almond-date crust. Yum!