It is the end of September and its 90 degrees outside.

The title of this post says it all.

It's September. This week it has been 90 degrees. I am still sweating in my sleep. My air conditioning bill is still high. I still like Ohio better.

This post may be a little bit of a vent but I'm okay with that since I have been on the campus of Wake Forest University since 7AM this morning and its currently 6PM and I'm still here with no signs of leaving. If you are thinking, well stop blogging right now and get your work done and leave, I will say to you, thanks for that. However, that won't work. My work is done. My bags are packed. I'm still here.

Part of my role here at WFU is to run the Undergraduate Biomechanics Lab. Not a bad gig, I get to hang out with undergrads and try and show them I am still cool with hopes that maybe I'll get invited to a raging frat party where I can drink jungle juice* out of a big tub in the middle of the room and just be so college again. However, they are still undergrads. I am supposed to run them each through a workshop that teaches them how to FILM their senior final project. So they get a camera from me and then take it ELSEWHERE (emphasis on the ELSEWHERE) and do their filming and then return the camera to me a good 2 hours later. Group number one comes in today at 5PM when they checked out their camera. My plan is to give them the camera, then as they walk out of the Biomechanics Lab to go film ELSEWHERE, I will walk out of the Biomechanics Lab as well(since it is 5PM and I had been here since 7AM). But no, they open up the camera start setting up and oh yes, they are going to film in our lab. Where my office is. The same lab where next to the "sign up to check out a camera" sheet is a LARGE BOLD ALL CAPS PAPER SAYING PLEASE EMAIL ME BEFORE FILMING IN THE BIOMECHANICS LAB.

So, here I am. Sitting. "Monitoring". Waiting for them to leave. Hungry. I haven't run today. I ate 3 chocolate chip subway cookies. They keep asking me questions (another reason they are supposed to go ELSEWHERE, I am not supposed to do this FOR them). Needless to say, I am not happy. And I am sure they are just antsy to get out of here so they can go to the nearest pub, order a 2 dollar Natty Light and get a little Wednesday night buzz. Well, I am antsy to go back to my apartment, on the way stop and buy a bottle of 5 dollar Chardonnay, sit on my brown couch and soak in the expensive cold air my apartment has been blowing for the last FIVE months, and give myself a big Wednesday night buzz.

Direction Ignore-ers really get me riled up. While we are on it, this also goes for those driving and who ignore directions..."I know GoogleMaps says turn right here, but I think if I keep driving, it will be faster"....we all know that person, and before you know it, you are in the middle of Indiana going who knows where**

Vent over. But, I am still sitting here. "Monitoring". It's 6:02.




*Jungle Juice. also known as Hairy Buff, Liquid Cocaine, or an assortment of other interesting names. It contains I am pretty sure everclear and everclear soaked fruits. You let it sit for like 4 or 5 days and then drink it and you can't taste a thing. You also can't remember a thing after about half a glass. Oh college.

**All of Indiana is "who knows where"

Kiawah Island SC. Where you are a freak if you don't golf.

Do you like beaches? Do you like sunshine? Do you like palm trees? Do you like vacation? Then you will love Kiawah Island, South Carolina. With the country club feel, this Island has everything you could want from golfing to golfing...to golfing! Don't stop there, stop in the gift shop and buy yourself a Titleist with the Kiawah Island Logo on it and make sure you pick up your pink Ralph Lauren Polo to match your linen pants and boat shoes. Get further onto the island and you can lay by the pool, the beach, the gator infested lagoons and work on your sunburn next to the other 200 people from Ohio looking for a vacation in SC. At night, make your way into Charleston, SC. Don't forget the high heels and sundress though - and definitely don't go easy on the make up! You are sure to feel under-dressed even in your best BCBG dress (go big, don't go last season). Don't count calories, get the She-crab soup and indulge in the fried green tomatoes - If your wearing linen pants or a sundress you cant see mushroom tops anyways.

All sillyness aside, I am lucky enough to be a part of a family that has a little vacation home on this gorgeous island. I love Kiawah and Charleston SC and would recommend it as a destination for anyone looking for an awesome place in the south to visit. It is such a relaxing break and an amazing place despite all the yip-yippyness that can be associated with it. This weekend was our annual trip to Kiawah for Labor Day weekend. Me, my brothers, my parents, my grandparents, and all my aunts, uncles, and cousins (and cousins dogs..) all gather in a little 2 bedroom villa and eat tacos, drink wine, and play...golf. So it starts...

I arrived early Friday morning, after a 4 hour hung over drive due to my festivities of the BUCKEYES season opener the night before. When I got there, I was just in time. In time to say "hi" before everyone walked out the door for their noon tee time. When I say everyone, I mean it was me and grandma hanging out all afternoon. I played a little tennis, layed by Mable* (our pet Gator, naturally), and read a little bit of a book (like 2 pages). 5 o'clock rolls around and the clan returns, talking of birdies, bogies, drives, slicing, bunkers, long drives, OB's, pin placements, bugs, and how my brother is amazing. This goes on. And on. And on. And we eat tacos. And it goes on.

Yes, I know what your thinking...these are all ours. And this is only the front porch

I play tennis. When I was younger, golf was not much of the sport for me. Walking 4 miles trying to get a tiny ball into a 2 inch hole does not really appeal to me/sound enjoyable at all. It actually sounds miserable. Not to mention it should not be so %$!*ing hard to hit that stupid white thing. When I was young my father would drop me off at the tennis courts and play 18. No one asks about tennis though. So I started running. No one talks about that either. They think I'm crazy. They should talk. Golf is crazy. I need more attention. I needed to tackle this golf thing first hand. What is the hype all about. Now, I have played the occasional round before, but it usually ends with my swearing and getting so frustrated I quit before getting through 5 holes or seeking out the cart lady to get a beer. This time, I was for real.

Saturday morning I woke up early to run a 12-miler. It was humid and hot but running around all the massive houses in Kiawah is not a bad gig. A couple times I found myself hunched over in peoples front yards trying to drink out of their sprinklers and I spent about 2 miles searching for a porter potty but all-in-all as good as running 12 miles can be. I returned from that, played a little tennis with Dave, my younger super-star brother and did some of the tennis clinics that day. The tennis clinics alone are reason enough to make a trip to Kiawah Island. Tennis player or not, they definitely have down the hiring process of the teaching pros there. I find myself showering before tennis lessons and putting on make up to try and impress brothers Ryan and Brandon and find myself flirting so obviously with Matt. I am pretty sure I have a chance, and I'm sure given the chance that Jerry would support me letting them buy me a nice dinner. I know that he too thinks they are very attractive men. Whats not to love about tennis boys with sexy tans and toned legs?

One would think that 12 miles and 2 hours of tennis was more than enough for one day but the family was golfing. Of course. 2 PM tee time. In dire need to have attention and to get my parents to like me, I said to put me on the tee time. So, I played golf too. Apparently, I'm pretty good because I had the lowest score of the day. I beat everyone. Even superstar Erik who plays D1 varsity golf.

9 balls later, lots of bugbites, and a house with a dent in their roof, I ended the day with a 63. Erik shot a 74. On 18 holes. I only played 9. Apparently, not the same? That night, over beers, I was in on the dinner-convo. I talked about bunkers, OBs, bogies, double bogies, triple bogies, quadruple bogies (?) lost balls, and how stupid golf is. Truth: Secretly, I kind of enjoyed it and I have decided to start practicing this "sport" so I can get better. Everyone golfs. How awesome would it be if I too could be good at such a social sport as golf. I could win money. Maybe I could impress some of the younger tennis pros with my multi-talented skills. Or maybe Jerry will like me better and want to play with me on weekends. However, I am not sure how that works with golf being a "man's sport". Maybe I'll make golfing girl friends.

Saturday night I was in bed by 8:30. Rightfully so having the big day full of activities. Sunday morning I woke up to everyone getting ready to go golfing. Really? Again?! And I wasn't even invited. I guess only playing 9 holes and shooting 63 and losing 9 balls in the process isn't much of an investment for the family. It probably did not matter anyways because I woke up unable to move. I was sore everywhere. AND, the kicker, I had to leave Kiawah Island. That's right, Wake Forest has classes on Labor Day. Insert: ridiculous. I played some tennis, struggled on standing up, layed by a pool, struggled on getting up, ate some dinner, didn't struggle on stuffing my face and then my vacation was done. It was a wonderful weekend and so great to spend some time with my family - we will see if I can improve the golf game and become a true member of the family next Labor Day...maybe they will let me play more than once.




*We actually do not have a pet alligator named Mable. However, there is a gator named Mable that hangs out on our back patio. He is pretty much the reason my little cousin Dam-o is afraid to sleep at night. He also may hang out on out back porch because he likes to eat ice cubes that we throw at him. Illegal/Dangerous/CRIKEY!
Mable taking a nap/waiting to chomp my arm off. Please note that this picture is not zoomed in and this is from our back porch and that Mable is touchable with a fishing rod. Bud Light may have been involved during that evening.

To the Start of Year number 2.........and being 23/ancient

And this week marked the first week of my second year here at Wake Forest.

It has been fun(ish), not nearly as hard as I was anticipating, and quite the experience. I feel as if I learned more in one year here than I did in 4 in undergrad...maybe that is because I was more focused on school rather than parties, pizza, boys, beer etc....but that's besides the point. Or maybe that is the point?

This year is all research. All the time. No classes to take...only to teach. The freshman keep looking younger and younger and I keep feeling older and older. On Wednesday I found myself telling my class of Freshies that "I am pretty cool, I'm not that much older than you all...just 6 or 7 years" like I had somehting to prove. Pathetic. Last year I would have given anything to be sitting in their desk, hungover, just having woke up, and listening to some grad student teach this required stupid class. This year I look at them and think "You are too young to be drinking. I should call your parents. Have you even hit puberty yet? I didn't look that young then, right? Oh geeze, I hope my kids aren't as bad as I was. I should call my parents right now and apologize". I'm growing up. Oh my gosh.

I propose my Thesis at the end of September. I am not nervous. yet. I also don't have a powerpoint, a committee, or a start on what I am doing, so I guess it doesn't really seem real yet. I am sure it will soon when I realize I present in a couple weeks and have nothing done. Or maybe when I am standing in front of a full room with arm pits drenched and sweating bullets and mumbling though some stuff I don't fully understand and am hoping that no one listening to me does either. I have the "whatever, we are all going to graduate" mentality...which unfortunately, I am not thinking is going to write my thesis for me. Thesis shmesis. Whats the big deal anyways...yikes.

Lets see....what else is new. I vacuumed my apartment today. Big deal right? Well...(moms, stop reading now)...it had been oh...13 months since its last vacuuming. And that was from the tenants before me. Lets just say I clogged the vacuum with blonde hair. Sanitary. Amazing to see how much I have grown up. On a positive note, it looks like I moved into a new apartment. And I stopped sneezing.

The new first year graduate students arrived. Its funny to see where we all were last year...although sometimes I fail to believe that we were that "lost" looking or clueless about anything going on. They look young, and yet again...I feel older. We had a dinner for them last week to welcome them in and answer any questions they may have....and drink beers, get them loosened up. However, as evidence by the picture below, I think 8 beers were drank among 15 people...and I am not ashamed to say that I had more than 2. It was so funny to hear all their questions and see how nervous some of them were and to think that we were in that same position last year shitting our pants. And last year, there was even less beer.

Team Occident (the second years) and the newbies...the first years. Is it just me or do the second years just exude an aged look? Like we have a year of grad school under us? Like we have been sleeping much less than a normal person for a year?

Wake Forest doesn't have any PhD students in our program...so we are on top. I am sure that is helping to this oldness I am feeling. But I mean come on, I am recently 23..I am not that old. Jerry the boo is 24...hes dragging me down. Making me feel ancient. I think I saw a wrinkle on his forehead last week...and he doubled his gray hair count. I don't want to turn 24. Scary stuff.

So, I personally am hoping for this year to be better than last. I struggled year number 1 feeling "connected" (despite how much I hate the word "connected"..sounds like I am in 3rd grade and the girl who thinks they are a cheetah so has no friends...oh wait...) and felt like a lot of my classmates thought I was a little too blunt or intense or something....but hey, I am from the midwest, I like to be on time, I like to have a schedule, I don't like doing thing I don't want to do because everyone else is too "nice" to say no, I don't like bullshit, and I don't like taking an hour to do what I could do in 15 minutes. Eh...maybe I am a little blunt. But, I also think that this summer some of them have caught onto my ways and taken me for what I am and actually thought it was funny as opposed to intense. Listen here, I never mean to be offensive or anything, not to brag, I think I am hilarious. Jerry will not agree.

Other news. My summer sweet challenge was a huge bust. Charlotte Marathon is in December. I still love Ohio. I am done with HELPS forever (bittersweet...no more 5:30 AM wake ups...but also no more getting hit on by 75 year old men*). I moved offices..I now share with a character named Shub who thinks I'm "vrallly vwierd". Jerry still is so obsessed with me. I still want to move to Ohio. I finally found a church in WS that I really love. I have a bottle of wine chilling that is now ready. I need to blog more often.


*My last day of HELPS....."Kenz, I am sad to see you go. I don't mean to be a dirty old man..but I have always thought you were very attractive"......glad to know I still look stunning after waking up at 5am and that I can attract men the age of my grandpa.

Come visit Winston Salem, where the only class is at Wake Forest University

Did you know that Winston Salem NC is the homegrounds of R.J.Reynolds Tobacco Company and in the 1940s 60% of the people living in Winston worked there. Talk about some good genes. Also, if you get up early enough on a humid morning you can smell the tobacco in the air. What a way to start off the day!

Winston Salem is also the home of one of the most beautiful skylines in the Piedmont area, beating out Yadkinville, High Point, and Ashboro. What is that beautiful building so strategically erected in the middle of the city you ask? You have never seen anything like this puppy, the Wachovia building. This incredible means of architecture stands 34 inches stories tall, and while you may not think it is SFW (safe for work), from the inside, this thing is a powerhouse.

The breath-taking skyline of Winston Salem, NC

Winston Salem is also the home of Krispy Kreme donuts. Their most recent addition has been the cheerwine donut. Complete with cheer wine flavored filling with a little fizzy punch, this delicacy packs a mean 430 calories. Luckily, after you have your morning indulgence of the KK donut, you can pack off the pounds that evenig at johnny and junes, Winston Salems local country bar. where locals ride the mechanical bull, drink bud diesels, and definetly definetly dont “wrap it up”…or brush their teeth.

Oh, you are in need for some adventure? Don’t worry the “mountains” are not far. Go visit Pilot Mountain, the “mountain” that looks like a nipple. In an hour you can reach the summit, needing no more than a water bottle and a camera to capture the view of the Triad below. Don’t know what the Triad is? Don’t worry, neither does anyone else living here. But its always “raining in the Triad area”.

Sports Fan? Winston-Salem is the home of the Dash. Very own Single A Baseball team. Tickets are cheep and the beer is not. The stadium is protested and took years to finish, however, once your in, you can pop a squat on the grass outfield. Don’t forget your white shorts. You can also check out the Wake Forest Demon Deacons basketball squad. Don’t worry, the 8-24 season of 2011 was simply a “rebuilding” year, and next year the hope is to beat our the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team for closest to a .500 season.

Book your tickets now into the Piedmont Airport, where living is a vacation.

Because I sweat in my sleep

After spending 9 days back in God's country/Ohio, I was reminded of a number of reasons I enjoy Ohio more than North Carolina. When I woke up my first morning in Ohio, and went out for a run...it was nice. I felt great. I ran far, I felt fresh. What was different? Oh...its because I am not pouring salty water into my eyes, making my shirt and shorts heavy. I sweat in NC as soon as I wake up, I sweat all night, I sweat in the shower, I sweat eating, I don't even know what it is that I do when I run. So, reason number two that NC is inferior to Ohio.....Humidity.

I can deal with the heat, I really can, but when I go for a run at 5:30 (!!!!!) in the morning I like being able to breath thank you very much. And I don't like starting the day of dripping in sweat so much that even after I shower, I am still sweating. When I move back to Ohio, I swear I will never complain about it being hot or humid again. Ever.

Not to mention, the humidity makes my apartment torturous (any, apparently, a wonderful climate for ferocious cockroaches) and has made my electric bill even more terrifying. This month it went up 400% from last month. And May was up from what April was. I would pay this happily if it actually kept me cool, but I have it set at 73 and still sweat through the night in fear of what my bill would look like if I had it set at the wonderfully cool 66 (in my opinion, optimal sleeping temperature).

What's worse...this will likely stick around til October. In Ohio, we would have 6 inches of snow by then. And I will run in 6 inches of snow. I won't run 6 degrees above 90. Which, lucky me, is the projected high for every day in the next 10-days.*

Why is Ohio better than NC? Snow.


*I love weather.com's 10-day forecast and check it daily and have found that the weather can have a dramatic effect on the mood of my day....

Reason Number One

This morning I woke up at 6 AM to a little friend greeting me in my apartment. While I say friend, I mean nothing of the sort. This little guy after making me shriek, jump around my apartment, and look for the nearest shoe that I don't mind "ruining", inspired me to begin posting about reasons I can't wait to move back to Ohio/reasons I can't wait to leave North Carolina.

Why this is not the biggest, best, or true number one reason I can't wait to leave....it will be the first I share since it was this little guy who inspired my posting.

Reason number One I cant wait to leave North Carolina (drumroll please)..........

Cockroaches.

Ew.

I tried google-imagining a picture of this disgusting creation and found that even searching for one and then seeing images of them pop up on my screen gave me the shivers and made me uncomfortable touching the key board like one was going to magically pop out of the screen and touch my fingers. So, I decided against it.

There are no cockroaches in Ohio. Somehow, in North Carolina, these things can find a way to get into my securely fastened second story apartment and cock around in MY living room and then get on the bottom of MY tennis shoe. There are no cockroaches in Ohio. Only little rolly-pollys and lady bugs. I can do those.

For your enjoyment, let me try and relive...eh, retype the war that happen in my apartment this morning. Woman vs. Roach.

6 AM. My alarm goes out and walk out into my living room. There we have this little guy. I get a little closer thinking "maybe its just a leaf" - right. This 2 inch beast has antennas that are sticking 2 inches out of its head. Just sitting there. "Maybe its dead", I think. If it was dead, I had already tried to think of ways to push it out my front door without touching it to myself or any personal belongings. I get closer and stomp a little bit about 2 feet away from it. Not dead. Nope. Not dead at all. And quite speedy. I shriek and jump around while it scurries under to television stand. I come back to sanity and I am standing on my couch.

Some may let it stay there, under that TV stand.

Not me. While I'm gone for the day, that thing could multiply. It could get my bathroom. It could get in my clothes and then I wear it tomorrow. It could get in my bed and kill me tonight. NOT staying there. I go and grab a tennis shoe I don't wear anymore. This is war, roach.

Standing as far away as possible from my TV stand while still being able to push it with my foot to move it a bit, I go for the kill. Pushing with my foot, my arm cocked with tennis shoe in hand. The more I think about this, the more I am pretty sure I was a little over-dramatic....but my heart was seriously racing 150 bpm. That is sinus tachycardia, people. The TV stand moves, roach runs out, arm cocks, slams the floor, scream, and bam. Dead roach and awoken neighbors.

Victory is mine. But, now I must get the dead roach out. I gather probably close to 20 paper towels to pick up the beast put it in a plastic grocery bag and carry it, arms fully extended, using only my pointer fingers, past my own trashcan, and go straight to the apartment complex dumpster. I don't know how bugs work...even if that thing is dead, I am not taking the risk of it still being able to have baby roaches or all its friends coming to rescue him from my trash so they can give him an "honorable death".

Morning activities go on...but my eyes are peeled for more intruders. All I could think about was...I have never done that before. We don't have these bugs at home. Man, North Carolina Sucks. Ohio rocks.

Cockroaches. Reason number one I can't wait to move back to Ohio.

Summer Not So Sweet Challenge

Today is the first day of summer, and staying consistent with past summers, I will be giving up sweets.

I started giving up sweets the summer after my Freshman year of college, and after gaining the despised "freshman 15" and then followed up the summer after my "Sophomore 16". This year, I am not doing it to lose weight, I don't feel that I need to. However, I am doing because it makes my runs go well and it makes me feel better about myself. But, lets be honest, being female...I don't think I would be too upset if I lost 5 pounds doing this nonsense.

Yes, it is hard. I am a chocoholic (diagnosed and treated). However, after making it through about 2 weeks..in which I have withdrawal symptoms (screaming, crying, bitching, chronic PMSing, etc)...I am able to enjoy a day without needing a Wendy's frosty or a pack of peanut M&M's.

Today at 12:30 stated day 1. I had a Subway cookie with lunch as my last goodbye and was sure to savor it. These, along with Frosty's are two desserts that I miss the most.

This challenge does not come without caveats. I allow myself to eat sweets when I am out of the state of North Carolina. Allowing me to do dive into Mommy's baking and wedding cakes as well as Buckeye Sundaes from Mr. Freeze. To keep your taste buds happy....buckeye sundaes consist of ice cream, peanut butter filled buckeye candy, peanut butter sauce, chocolate fudge sauce, and whipped cream piled high in a large styrofoam cup. I love Ohio.

Wish me luck. Tonight we are having a "The Bachelorette" party with my classmates to watch girls flaunt there stuff for numerous men. There will be snacks there. I can feel the tears coming already. I may be moodier than the Weatherman*.



*For The Bachelorette watchers, this will make sense. For non Bachelorette watchers....just imagine Ross from Friends.