Liquid Sunshine

So you'll never guess what happened... The bipolar weather is back, yet again. After almost a week of partly cloudy and temperatures climbing up to fifty-five degrees, it was beautiful outside. Although the overcast clouds yesterday started to indicate the downpour we received today.

I could hear the rain drops by the time I went to bed last night. I actually am in love with falling asleep to the sound of a drizzle outside my window. Waking up seven hours later, the chilliness was what hit me first. The coldness made me want to climb even deeper into the warmth of my heavy down comforters. Then the smell started to creep up my nose. The wet pavement and running gutters wafted through my bedroom. I quickly shut my cracked window and got out of bed.

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Heading outside to get in the car, the reflection of the gray sky was mirrored off of the blacktop driveway, and a mist slowly fell from the air, not even enough to call it a drizzle. I ran back inside to grab a raincoat. I love this kind of weather. I like how it makes the day at school so cozy, and somehow you feel the warmth radiating off of other people more just because of the cold outside. I like looking out the classroom window and noticing how smoky the sky looks. I like how everyone shows up to school in sweatshirts and scarfs. I don't see the rain as such a bad thing on a day like this.

The rain soon turned into sleet as the day began to get colder. By this evening the precipitation could easily be classified as snow. By the end of the day a thin layer of sugar veiled the ripening grass, it should probably be melted away by tomorrow or the next day. It feels as though every time the grass begins to fade to green, and the trees begin to foliate, and the flower begin to bloom, it must snow.

The rain made me want to curl up with a hot coa-coa and read a good book or watch an old movie. The coziness of the rain is completely evident to everyone as well. The weather tends to put people on the same page like that. It's even been thought and proven that a rainy day can change your mood. This is mostly thought to have to do with how much sunlight your body is exposed to, so on a dark rainy day, for example, the amount of sun your body is receiving will obviously be significantly less than a hot sunny day. Rainy days can also effect your internal clock.

I'm not necessarily even complaining about the rain. I definitely enjoy a lazy and snug day under the clouds every once an a while. I'm just glad that the forecast foresees the sun coming back by Wednesday ;-). Until than I'm more than content grabbing some cuddly blankets and some 90s movies to wait out the rain.

Family Frenetics

This week is spring break for my cousins on the east coast. They came out to ski and see my family for vacation. My Dad's sister and her two daughters are really close with us, I think it's probably because out of all of our cousins we're closest in age to them. We also travel a lot together.

Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but having people in town on top of the heaps of third quarter school work and start of lacrosse season can get stressful. My time management definitely started to rip at the seams, and my sleep schedule has completely deteriorated (well what was left of it in the first place).

It's always a love hate, in this case the angel on my shoulder is reminding me how much I love spending time with my relatives, but the devil overing over my other shoulder is dragging me by my hair to my bed. By the end of their stay I am ashamed to say it's never too hard to say goodbye. I know everyone goes through this with their own family, one way or another. Whether it's staying up at all hours to fit your nearest and dearest into your schedule, or dealing with your in-laws, family can be a pain in the buttocks, but we love them for it ;-).

The past few days have consisted of many family dinners and pool competitions at the Kimche residence. The night they got in to town we ordered in Thai food. It's actually is nice to sit down and catch up with everyone at the dinner table. With everyone gathered around the dinner table at home, no one is hesitant in embarrassing, making fun of, or laughing at a single person sitting down. It's something I sort of love about my family. We give each other a hard time to remind each other how much we love them, in a sort of way. Family dinners are always the best.

Saturday was the one day where I actually got to spend the whole day with my cousins and aunt (mostly due to the fact that my school and sports have not paused). Park City, being the tourist town that it is, consists of many attractive tourist things to do, like walk up and down Main Street... and that's exactly what we did. Starting our day at around noon, we hit Main Street first thing.

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After Main Street we decided to go back home to grab swimsuits, and then went hot tubbing at our cousins hotel. Following the hot tub we went to see a movie. Nothing too crazy, but it was fun to spend time with my cousins.

I know that family time is important, even if it's short and sweet, because they're the ones that truly stick around through thick and thin, so a weekend with some of my extended family is always an enjoyable thing in the long run. Even if I'm not getting my sleep.

Morning My Sleep

I think we all know mornings can be rough. When it comes to waking up before dawn to go to school, it's not fun for anyone.

Usually my weekday mornings are on a pretty tight routine, starting with the shrill of my alarm at 6:17. After allowing myself to hit the snooze precisely twice, I end up rolling out of bed at 6:37. Trudging to my closet, I try my hardest to avoid the mirror, because at this point it's never a pleasant sight. Picking out an outfit is always a process. After praying that I'm awake and aware enough to decently match my shirt to my pants and shoes, I make my way downstairs to grab a quick apple or banana to eat.

Post breakfast, I usually go back upstairs to finish getting ready. Double checking my outfit is a must, because there are always those days where I just wasn't conscious enough to dress myself properly before getting something in my stomach. After the occasional outfit change, I'll brush my teeth, wash my face, and throw on a little mascara. I truly believe that mascara is an art, and it probably takes me longer than it should to paint my eyelashes, but it is the way it is. The clock reading 7:00 am, I'll start to re-pack my back pack. Once I'm feeling confident I haven't forgotten anything, I do one last mirror check for good luck ;), and then meet my waiting mother downstairs to leave.

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I know for a fact that my morning routine is different than yours is, in one way or another. I also know that we probably share that same lagging tiredness when getting up for school. Everyone has their mornings. Sometimes if I shower in the morning that can help to wake me up for the rest of the day, but for the most part I don't usually shower right after I wake up because I hate having to walk to school with wet hair if my locks don't dry in time. If you share the same struggle (or like-wise) than a quick shot of orange juice can often seem to waken me up a little as well. One trick that I use is setting up my alarm across the room. By forcing myself to get up and walk over to hit the snooze button it gets me up right away and prevents the repetitive quantitive-snooze-hitting procrastination that tends to happen with the alarm an arms length away.

Morning grogginess should be shot down by it's source, which is lack of sleep in the first place. These days sometimes it's hard to give myself enough time to sleep, as previously discussed in my, Super Sleep Deprived post. I think that this is an aspect of time management that takes practice to perfect and time for someone to learn how to plan ahead in order to get everything on their to-do list checked off in time to get enough sleep at night. This being said, the more sleep you get and the more consistent you are with your sleep schedule the less you will be mourning (of your sleep) the next morning.

Second Quarter Finals

With two days left in quarter two, units and lessons are ending, and the final tests, quizzes, and assesments are resurfacing. I am not a great test taker, so when up to 50% of my ultimate grade in a class is relying on a final, it can build up some anxiety. I also know that I can't be the only one who does fine in class but struggles when given a sixty-question multiple choice test. I have a hard time believing that a Scantron score can give a full perspective assessment on how much I'm learning or how "smart" I am. I find it sad that a number, like a test score, is what's determining my learning levels, but until they find a better system I'll be up at all hours studying.

Scantron
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Just thinking about how many tests I have the next day gives me that tickle of uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. The stress from it all starts to affect other aspects of my life. I notice that I am more irritable with my friends and family when I am stressed out from school. I get tired more easily and often. I feel so overwhelmed by everything that sometimes I don't have any energy left in me to contain snapping at someone.

Everyone gets stressed out from school, a stress relief can be helpful. Sometimes going for a run with some good music can help me take my mind off of things for things for a little bit, sometimes all I need is a long hot shower. Deep breaths are also important ;). Although it is crucial to have a relief to all of this anxiety, you can't just ignore what you need to do because that will make it worse. You need to make sure you are studying and preparing for your classes because this will make you feel more confident going into your test, and in the process hopefully relieving some of your stress at the source.

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Good study habits are NEVER a bad thing. The number one thing on my list of bad habits probably has to be procrastination. Take it from someone who puts the "pro" in procrastination, don't do it. If you get what you need to get done before it has to be done it gives you so much more wiggle room for something to go wrong. Turning in your work earlier makes school amazingly easier, and not on time, early. Give yourself more than one night to study for your tests too. It's one way to eliminate majorities of your stress. No one likes a last minute time crunch. Another study deficiency to kick to the curb is your phone. I know it can be harder than it should be sometimes, but if you can keep it in a drawer while you study for half-an-hour or so while you study, you'd be surprised by how much more you retain from your studying just by being completely focussed and immersed in what you're learning. One other thing that can help you if you're going through the same end-of-the-quarter shenanigans that I am: sleep. A full eight hours is a must if you're looking to at least keep your eyes open during your tests. Yes, that is a very hypocritical thing to say on my part, but we all try, right? ;) Keep up good study habits and that will most likely make your week go ten times easier.

Good luck on your finals, god knows I need it.

Super Sleep Deprived

Is nine hours really how much you're supposed to get? I'm expected to get nine hours of sleep a night... that's seemingly impossible. Yes, I am not the best at managing my time per say, but for me to get a full nine hours of sleep that means I have to be out cold at 10:00pm if I am waking up for school the next day at 6:00am. Lets see here; if school gets out at 2:25pm, I go straight to swim practice after. Swimming is from 3:00-5:00pm. After swimming I can also have lacrosse some days, if lacrosse practice is from 5:30pm-7:30pm, that usually doesn't leave me getting home until 7:45pm or sometimes even closer to 8:00pm. By the time I come home and get something to eat for dinner, that's already pushing 9:00pm. That leaves me to shower (the chlorine often leaving knots the size of dreads in my hair doesn't necessarily help with time efficiency), and get ready for bed. At this point it's usually around 9:30pm or 9:45ish. Keeping in mind I still have yet to get to my schoolwork for the day, I generally get to bed around 11:30pm or 11:00 on a good night. Thats also if I don't get sucked into the vortex typically called Tumblr for an extra "ten minutes" (which is an hour when we're talking Tumblr). *Side-note: My phone is probably the sole excuse of my unhealthy time-management skills. Leaving me with six to seven hours of Zs.

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Sometimes I feel better going off of three hours of sleep then I would six. At school lack of sleep can definitely start to catch up to me. Between the five to six hours of sleep I've been getting over the course of the past three weeks, the stress overload, and my science teacher's melodic voice-- how could you not have a little understanding for the exhausted and half-asleep head bob? That's bad, I know... I should at least be able to stay awake during class.

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I've gotten to a point where I'm so used to going to bed at later hours that I can't even fall asleep when I do scrape up the time to. Sometimes I try falling asleep to music, that can either do the trick right away or totally backfire and resulting in me wide eyed for an extra hour or two. Counting down from one-hundred is a myth, and counting sheep is a joke. I know they have sleeping pills and other medical options out there, but I'm that type of person that will NOT pop the pill unless I am in dire need. Sleeping drugs kind of scare me.

Thus I am still waking up every morning with bags bigger than a Louis V under my eyes. Long story short, I think I've accepted the fact that I will not be getting my full nine hours of sleep.