Have you Met Miss Jones?

Some days I feel like my life is going no where; that I have no motivation or goals. It is at this point that I usually look up my friend Bridget Jones. Now some of you might know Bridget Jones and some of you may not. I was first introduced to Miss Jones during the summer between my eighth grade and freshman year. It was a big deal. I was moving on into High School. Into the unknown... (or really just moving out of the mid-high commons since I went to a combination mid/high school.)

At first look Bridget Jones was a weird anomaly to me. I could not understand why any of this was amusing and why people would like this movie let alone go out and read the book. (This was before I had read or seen Pride and Prejudice.) It was not until I went looking for books to read on vacation a few years later that I picked up the book (and it's sequel) that I began to understand the appeal of Miss Jones. 

Bridget Jones is every girl. She screws up.. constantly. She has crazy parents and even crazier friends. She whines like a normal person, acts like a normal person, and eats like a normal person. In so many books and movies the female heroine's always seem somewhat artificial. They have aspects of a normal person but you put everything together and it just doesn't feel quite right. And yet despite all of these factors in Bridget's life she still ends up with the guy and is her own women in the process. 

This aspect of Bridget Jones appeals to me. Even though it is just a book (or movie) it gives me hope that even the normal people (or slightly dysfunctional people) have a hope at a happy ending and dreams come true. (I mean have you seen Mark Darcy? Who wouldn't want him?)

Apparently I'm Dopey

It's official I am Dopey. 

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a very athletic person. I did sports growing up. I played in a soccer league and mostly swam my summers away. In high school I quit swimming and was a theater kid. That pretty much ended any group sports activities that I participated in. 

Fast-forward to Spring of 2012. I got accepted to the Disney College Program and then for some silly reason decided to register for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler. For a girl who could barely run a mile this was a big deal. I started training and trained all summer... 

It was a long summer. I started off not being able to run 3 miles without getting winded to being able to run 10 miles without killing myself. After this race I ran a couple of times, nothing serious, but mostly my running just stopped. I got busy with work and holiday's here at Disney. I realize that these are just excuses but they still stopped me from continuing on with my running goals which I had been so good about up until that point. 

March 22, 2013 - Disney announces it's lineup for their Walt Disney Marathon Weekend. They had the usual races (1/2 marathon, full marathon, and Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge). However, this year they added a couple more races. They added a 10K and... the Dopey Challenge.

The Dopey Challenge spans all of Marathon Weekend. It starts of on Thursday with a 5K, then continues to Friday with the inaugural 10K, Saturday is the 1/2 Marathon, and then on Sunday the Marathon. Combined all of these races together and you get the Dopey Challenge. 

48.6 miles over a span of 4 days..... and I registered. Now do you understand why I am dopey? I haven't been seriously running since December and I am now registered to run a full marathon plus a lot more. It's a really good thing I have 9 months to train for this or it would be potentially problematic. I am also not the only dopey one out there. I have a few friends who have registered right along with me. 

I'm hoping to write about my experience of changing my life around for running and how it effects the rest of my life. I also will need to take a serious look at my nutrition so that I am fulling my body properly from all the running that I will be doing. Wish me luck.

Anyone have advice for this "dopey" undertaking? 

P.S. At the end of this endeavor I get 6 medals!

How Not to Make Tea or How I Burned My Foot

Burns are never a good thing. I mean never. As a partially functioning adult I would expect me to be smarter than it would seem I am. Just the other day I was making my morning tea with my electric kettle when the lid (whether not fully attached or freak accident) decided to pop open and spill on the counter. This would not be a problem if my foot had not been next to the counter when the water flowed off of the counter right towards my innocent foot. The foot in question is my left foot and was slightly injured in this party foul.

First aid training then jumped in, as soon as I was done freaking out. Cold water.. stat! After sticking my foot in the tub under the cooler water for about 5 min. I decided I should text my mom and ask her advice on what I should do next because I honestly had no idea. The only part of first aid training that seemed to stick with me was needing to slightly lower the temperature of the area but not so cold to cause hypothermia. Needless to say my mom probably no longer puts me into the category of partially functioning adult but she did help me in my time of need... from clear across the country. 

I learned you are not supposed to put any sort of ointment on the burn in case the skin is broken because it could then become infected. You also need to wrap it loosely in gauze in order to keep it clean but still able to breathe. This was the difficult part for me. I had no gauze sitting around. I then remembered that I had a first aid kit in my car. Putting on my work shoes since those were the only ones that did not touch the burn (lucky me) I made the journey to my car and much to my joy there were gauze pads there to greet me. Now you can't exactly wrap a burn with a pad but I made it work. Putting a gauze pad on the top of my foot and wrapping athletic tape around it to stay in place. 

Work that night was interesting since I had to wear pantyhose over my attempt at first aid. Needless to say there was an awkward moment when I asked my leader if I could take my pantyhose off after guests were gone. His answer was yes as long as it wasn't in front of him. I replied with obviously not. Oh so witty I know.

My burn is mostly healed. It is now just a red splotch on the top of my foot, looking slightly amusing against my oh so white skin. 

Let this be a lesson to me for thinking I am a partially functioning adult who knows how to handle situations without help from my mother. But on the good side I now know how to react and handle a situation involving a burn without going into a full on panic. I see that as a good thing. Just another step in my path to becoming domesticated.

Have a marvelous day!
-B

Friday Proud

Though I do not work the typical work week Friday always seems like the end of the week, even if I have to go to work the next day. Here is things I'm proud of this week.

1. I went grocery shopping
2. I didn't eat all of the cookie dough I made today
3. I tried 2 new restaurants this week that were not on Disney property (Chipotle and Chuy's) 
4. I cleaned the refrigerator of anything expired
5. I applied for 2 jobs

Celebrity Doppelgänger

Today I had an interesting experience. I walked into work, passing one of my managers. I said hello asked how he was doing and continued getting my fund ready for my shift and reading any announcements that I would need to know when I hear an exclamation of "Yes" quickly followed by a direct question to me, and everyone else in the room. "Did you ever watch E.R.?" I replied with a vague response of having seen a couple episodes, a similar answer was given throughout the room. "Do you remember Dr. Greene?" A simple question that I had no answer for. Who was this Dr. Greene and what was the importance of this question? My response was no. My manager then continued to tell me that it had been killing him for 2 1/2 weeks about who I reminded him of and he finally figured it out. Dr. Elizabeth Corday from E.R.
  

             

Me

Do you see similarities?

 

The revelation quickly came about that this is in fact the actress who plays River Song in Doctor Who. This was the best news I had heard all day. In fact maybe the best news I had heard in a couple of days. For if I could be half as cool as River Song when I'm a full fledged adult I will take it! 

Now I have a cool story and my manager will probably remember who I am. I think that is a step in the right direction.

Have you ever been told that you have a Celebrity Doppelgänger or look a like?

-B

Happy Pi(e) Day!

Today is a celebrate of pi(e) or 3.14. Please feel free to indulge in pi(e) as much as you want today. I already did... though I'm not sure how much of a pie a cherry pie from MacDonald's actually is. It was free so what can I say. 

A Sweet Potato Pie I once made. It tasted better than it looked. 

My favorite kind of pie is Banana Cream Pie. Though with living here in Florida I have become quite the fan of the classic Key Lime Pie.

What's your favorite kind of pie?

-B 

Change is in the Air

Hey there!

Change is in the air and I don't mean in the way of spring. Currently I am in the process of re-purposing this blog. It started out as a way for me to write about my travels through Italy.  Then when I moved to Cape Breton it was used to share those experiences. However, now that I have graduated college and am not going to be traveling as much I feel this blog has outgrown its purpose. I will still be updating you on where I am in the world and any travels that I have but it is not enough to sustain this blog.

I have been brainstorming about what to include in my writing here on my blog and how to get my content out to a wider audience. I believe I have come up with an idea that will appeal to my current readers and attract new ones. Standby in the next couple of days as I start to implement some new changes and some new blog topics.

What are some topics you would like to see me talk about?

-B