the wamp stuff

I really shouldn't be this tired, since I technically got up at ten a.m.; but, I slept really poorly last night, no doubt dreaming about the end of the world (actually, I seem to sleep quite well when dreaming about the end of the world - it's when I dream about real life, like the possibility of having to go back to work, that my dreams feel like nightmares). So, while I should probably pack or do any number of other things on my to-do list, I'm going to go to bed after this instead.

When I did wake up, I took care of a few tings around the house before going to the gym for my last training session with Alyssa before I go home for the holidays. We measured everything to compare it to the baseline we took when I started with her -- and considering that I've only been at this for about five and a half weeks (which includes Thanksgiving), my progress has been pretty good even if only me and my pants can tell the difference right now. The goal is to maintain my losses despite the temptations of Iowan cuisine over the next three weeks, and then hit it brutally hard when I get back in January. After measuring, we worked out for the rest of the hour, hugged it out at the end despite the fact that I do not like being touched when I am sweating, and then I showered and had my usual delicious salad in their cafe before running a few errands.

When I got home, I called my grandmother to wish her a happy eightieth birthday, took care of some more logistics -- arranging a ride to the airport on Wednesday, putting a hold on my mail, etc. Chandlord came over around 6:15pm, and we hung out for a bit until it was time for the most ill-conceived adventure we've had since the "Singalong Sound of Music" -- rather than going to Chaat Paradise tonight, we met up with John and Jess at the Olive Garden.

We certainly didn't drink as much as the time that Chandlord, Adit, Timmy and I went to the Olive Garden (although that's not a surprise, since that night was a drunken disaster of epic proportions) -- in fact, the only alcohol we had was the free sample the waiter offered us before we ordered. But apparently just the fumes of an ounce of moscato was enough to send Jess into what seemed to be alcohol-induced hilarity, and so dinner proceeded to be a ridiculous time. We enjoyed our unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks, John ordered the Tour of Italy, and we were generally the most raucous people in what is really an extremely large Olive Garden. It's not a trip that I intend to repeat regularly, mostly because my body cannot handle that much fun, but it was certainly a fun and memorable way to bid farewell to that group (which is now going to be tagged "blood of lincoln" in the relevant post tags, for reasons that really don't matter and don't make sense).

After we all parted ways, I came home, wrote a post on zee romance blog, and now need to go to bed. Tomorrow is the day when I will do all of the million things I intended to do before leaving to go back to ye olde Iowa, culminating in my last blogging class tomorrow night, and then a ride to the airport at around five a.m. on Wednesday (ugh). Goodnight!