Anna Maria Locke

Crazy Dreams

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So...I have a mouse infestation under my kitchen sink.
!!!!
Don't freak out, it's not that bad.
It's because I keep my garbage and compost under there, and the mousies have discovered how to crawl in through the holes in the cabinet cut around the water pipes and grab a delicious snack.
Luckily, I would MUCH rather have mice than spiders.
Unlike my mother some people, I'm not too freaked out by this, especially because the previous tenant left me a live trap so I don't have to deal with dead/dying rodents (THAT would be unpleasant...)
although I am definitely emptying my compost every night until I get a "real" covered can for it.

The point of this story is that I am starting to have seriously crazy and bad dreams revolving around animals.  3 nights in a row!!!
Like, a chipmunk family got into my pantry, and I accidentally killed the pea-sized fuzzy baby chipmunks while trying to put them outside, and the mother chipmunk started yelling at me and giving me a guilt trip for killing her babies.
???

And an even worse dream about beetles and ants and one of my cats getting smashed into a wall :(
At least I've been motivated to get up these past few dark cold mornings because I am excited to rejoin the real world and am SO relieved my dreams are not true.

I think the cat dream might have been sparked by looking at high school homecoming pictures of my (biological+foreign exchange) brothers on facebook.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE:

(stolen off f.b. from Irina Rinchy)


That is my foreign exchange brother Dime (who I haven't even met yet! living halfway across the country from my fam...) and my snugglefuzz Thijs, a bit shell shocked! HAHAHAHA! Seeing this picture made my day. Even better, someone's caption for it (Help me! I am a man, not a woman!)
Thank you, high school foreign exchange students!

In other news, I obviously survived my crazy Monday, and an almost equally crazy Tuesday.
I don't know where the days are flying off to.
I went for a slow (and chilly) run today after leaving the lab at 5 pm because I just needed to get outside and decompress after spending almost all day revising a map on ArcGIS (aka battling with the system, as those in the know will understand) for an article that's in review to be published (yay, being useful).
I love running around this trail that goes through the woods bordering the school golf courses because it is the perfect blend of grass/trail/up/downhill. I don't know how far it is but probably between 5-6k. I first ran it in 35 minutes and then last week did it in 32 with music motivation (reunited with my iPod and it feels so good!!!)


I go through huge phases of running with music, getting sick of the songs then running without for a few months, etc etc. I believe that it's always safer to be aware of what's going on around you and sometimes more freeing to be able to let your mind wander and get "in tune with nature", but it's pretty amazing how the right song can be so exhilarating and push you harder.
I definitely need music or a magazine to distract me when I'm working out inside or I go crazy on the elliptical/stationary bike.  Not to mention the dreadmill.  I'd rather not even go there, thanks.

Irony: The new giant fitness center at PSU is certified LEED gold for sustainability, but how does that work when you have 100000000 electric machines churning 24/7???