Thursday

I'm still at my grandmother's house, which is super nice. It's so relaxing, which is great.

Things I've done today...

Sleep, a lot. I don't know why I've been so tired (maybe because I haven't been sleeping well at school), but I took two realllly long naps today. I hope I'm going to sleep well tonight :S. Hopefully I can get back on a more reasonable sleeping schedule. I'm also thinking that I might try to get on more of an early to sleep early to wake up kind of schedule when I get back to school. What is everyone else's preferred sleep schedule?

Went to the dermatologist. As I said yesterday, I'm still not delighted with how my skin's looking with all the hyperpigmentation but the dermatologist seemed confident that they'll fade in a few months. She wants me to keep doing what I've been doing (duac in the morning, atralin once a week at night) and come back in six months. Hopefully, things will start to clear up soon.

Thesis...I at least started on my goal for this week. I wrote about 2.5 pages of the introduction and I'm going to spend time tomorrow thinking about what else to put in the introduction. At least I'm getting going on it!

I didn't get a chance to go to the gym today, or really do any exercise, but my eating was generally pretty good. I had salmon with onions and tomatoes for dinner which was super yummy! I also had sweet potato, which was so good. I haven't had it in a while and I really missed it :(

PS I'm really bummed - I bought my camera to Connecticut with me, but I didn't bring the cord so I can't upload all the photos I've taken. I promise lots of photos on Saturday or Sunday when I get back to school though!

January Recap

January was an interesting month, with lots of highs and lows.

The Highs....

Exams and Grades

This was basically a month of exams, but at least I'm done now. I'm still waiting on one more grade (Econ), but my others were good, and I was really pleased with them. There's been a bit of stress because my boyfriends grades weren't as good as he was hoping they'd be (as always). He's a bit of a perfectionist and he's also not great at taking exams. Plus his writing style isn't...exactly the clearest. Anyway, it's been a bit stressful trying to make him feel better about that.

Thesis

I'm not sure if this should be a high or low. It's a low in that I'm miles way from finishing (so so far). But...it's a high in that I've at least started and I've come up with a plan to set weekly goals for myself.

And the Lows...

Food

My eating's been...so far from great this month. I seriously seriously need to work on eating less sugar. In a really weird way I'm looking forward to lent when I'm giving up dessert because then I'll have a big incentive not to eat sugar.

On the plus side the boyfriend and I got to cook a lot during the last week, and we made a bunch of really yummy dinners including shrimp, tomato sauce and pasta, chili con carne and rice and pork with apple sauce and pasta. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take pictures because my camera was out of battery :(.

Exercise

I haven't gotten in anywhere near as much exercise as I'd like over the last month. I did get in some great weights workouts at the end of the month because I went with my boyfriend.

Goals For Next Month

Thesis

Set weekly goals

Feb 1-5: Write the background section and read 30 pages

Feb 6-12: Talk to my advisor, come up with an overview plan, [other things...]

Get a new sub-project (a few new compounds in the series I've already been working on)

Spend 2 days/week working in lab (probably Tuesday and Thursday)

Food

Lent is starting during February, so I'll be giving up desserts when that starts.

Two of my closest female friends have a pact to only eat dessert once a week starting at the beginning of next semester, so I'm going to start off doing that with them.

Trail mix - I'm going to make up some "healthy" (as healthy as it can be) trail mix. I'm going to put in cereal, pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds, golden berries, chocolate covered goji berries, yoghurt covered cranberries and some nuts. Does anyone have any other suggestions for what to put in?

Exercise

I'd like to get a regular exercise routine organized. I'm going to try to get one set up with my friends, because I'm far more likely to go when I'm going with others. I'd like to get a mix of cardio (~twice a week) and weights (~twice a week) and maybe pilates once a week.

Sleep

I'd like to try to sort out what's happened to my sleep schedule. I want to try to make whatever changes I need to make so that I'm not tired during the day and feeling like I could nod off at any moment.

Skin

My skin is looking at bit better, but still not anywhere near as good as I want it to be. The main problem now is the darkened pigmentation on my chin, which kinda looks like scars. I'm going to the dermatologist tomorrow, so one of my goals for this month is to follow whatever advice she gives me to reduce the pigmentation.

Resolutions

I've looked back at my resolutions for this month and I've haven't done too much on them. I'd like to continue working on my posture (with my back support - 30 minutes/day, working up to an hour or so/day), improving my clothes choices (I'm going to try to take photographs of my outfits twice a week) and epilating (more than I've been doing).

Tuesday

Good news! I think I might have finally worked out why I'm so tired! This morning the boyfriend told me that I'd woken him up numerous times during the night trying to get him to scoot over in bed. I realised at the beginning of this semester that I sleep much much better when I'm sleeping with him. But...for some unknown reason recently the bed keeps sliding away from the wall, so I've basically ended up sleeping in a crack, not super comfy! Anyway, we're going to see what we can do to keep the bed next to the wall/me not sleeping in a crack.

I also spent a bunch of time in lab today, which was somewhat productive. I'm getting nervous about getting my thesis done on time, so I'm going to set a goal of getting a first draft of my "Background and Significance" section done by the end of this week (Sunday). According to the guide we've been given, the background and significance section needs to include:

"Why is your work important? Briefly sketch the background to your thesis work; critically evaluate relevant existing knowledge; explain the problems and challenges in the field; and identify gaps in our present understanding that can be addressed by the thesis work. Conclude with a statement of what the thesis is about and why you believe it represents an advancement of the field. This exposition is intended to place your work into a broader scientific context, and to provide clear and logical motivation for both the general approach and the specific aims (below) of the thesis. This section may need to occupy as much as 5-6 pages, but not significantly more. "

It's going to be super general and I'm going to discuss some of the basics of magnetism.

My second goal for this week is to read at least 30 pages on the topic from the textbooks I've borrowed.

In other (food) news I found a place in town that sells bitter lemon! It's a lemonade-like drink but more bitter. I love it and they sell it at home, but I haven't managed to find any in the US.

Tonight for dinner the boyfriend and I made prawns sauteed in white wine and garlic on pasta.

It was delicious (I tried to take pictures but my camera was out of battery)!

I'm headed off to Connecticut tomorrow to visit my grandmother which I can't wait for. I should have lots of great food when I'm visiting her!

(Also, I have no idea what's happening to the font here).

Sleep!

For some reason I've been having sleeping issues recently. I just feel tired alllll the time. I'm (generally) getting enough sleep at night (I need about 8 hours) and I'm going to bed and waking up at pretty much the same time every day. I
'm pretty sure I'm not getting ill with anything (this has been going on too long for that).

As bad as it sounds, I'm pretty sure its psychological. I get bored, and then I want to sleep. I also think that studying in my room isn't the best, especially when it's warm and I'm bored and my bed looks super comfy!

I think I might love my bed more than is normal! It's just so pink, and covered in hearts and so me! [I won the teddy bear at a fair last year. I'm not super into teddy bears, so actually the reasons that I still have it are a) I actually won something! b) it makes a really good back rest!]

Anyway, it's been on my mind a bit recently, as I'd really like to be able to feel more alert and awake during "awake" hours! A few days ago I got an email about an "Interactive Sleep Workshop" that my college is running this Wednesday. Apparently "If you're not getting enough quality sleep, then you're probably not performing at your best. Does it take too long for you to fall asleep? Do you awaken often through the night, or hours before dawn? This interactive workshop, provided by two sleep experts from CPS [counseling and psychological services], will inform you about insomnia and offer effective strategies to help you fall asleep more quickly, and others to make your sleep more satisfying.". It sounds a bit goofy, but for the last year or so I've been on a mission to take advantage of all of these kinds of workshops offered through my college. It's something I'm interested, and in some of them (especially the one's on study skills), I've learned a tonne. Plus, if I do find this useful, I'd consider going back to see a counselor about this issue if I'm not able to resolve it soon.

Once I've gone to the talk and heard what they have to say I'm also going to try to incorporate things that I know will help - studying outside my room, keeping my room cooler etc.

Fingers crossed that the talk's useful! I'll let you know!