Snow Day, Running, and TEAS!!!

I haven't blogged for a while because I haven't gone into work for a while.  I'm not complaining though!  Yesterday was a holiday and today we have a snow day.  Yay for random snow storms!  Ok, I'm not that excited about the snow storm because it seems like it will be cold the rest of the week and that means it won't melt for a while so we'll be left with icy roads and a wet dog (after every walk).  However, it was nice to stay home today and play with Evan.  He has decided he LOVES this pig that my mom made him and when he spots it on the floor he picks it up, gives it a big hug and kiss, and makes some cute cuddly noises.  It's the cutest thing ever.

Please excuse the messy apartment - we have no place to put the stroller except the middle of the living room.
And most photos with Evan turn out blurry because he won't stay still for two seconds.

This past weekend was good and bad.  I had my TEAS exam (nursing school entrance exam) for University of Maryland scheduled on Saturday...or so I thought.  In my head I had scheduled it for 18 January at 7am.  I had to be there 30 minutes early so I arrived bright and early at 6:20am.  And then I waited for someone to show up, and no one ever did.  I got out my confirmation sheet to see if there was a phone number and there wasn't.  So, as I was debating what to do, I looked closely at my confirmation sheet to realize that I had scheduled the exam for 18 December 2013.  WHAT???!!!!  Why would I do that???  It was clearly a mistake because I never would have scheduled it for December when December was full of moving, finals, work, and our trip to Vermont...so I had obviously messed up.  And it was a pricey mess-up because it costs $115 to take the test and there are no refunds.  So I went home and paid the fee again and signed up for the test on Monday (luckily there were a few spots left so I could still take the exam before the 3 Feb. deadline).

Uggg - that mistake did not make my weekend a happy one.

On the other hand I was able to make it to my friend's son's 5th bday party and that was a good time.  It started at 10am and I stayed until 3pm!!  I know, maybe I overstayed my welcome.  I don't see my friend very often and since I was out there I felt like we should spend some time catching up, so I wanted to make the most out of the visit.

On Sunday I did the amazing - I got up early and met the Team In Training group for a training run.  I hadn't met up with them for a long time - since I was a mentor back in 2012.  I love TNT though and missed running with a group.  I ended up doing 7 miles, which is pretty amazing to me since I had only run four times since October.  I wasn't sure how 7 would feel but since it was only 21 degrees out, my legs were numb by mile four and I couldn't feel how tired they were.  Plus, I was running with one of my friends and she was doing a run/walk (run four minutes, walk one minute) so it made it slightly easier.  She tried to convince me to run 14 miles with her but I declined.  I may have been persuaded but we were planning on hitting up the aquarium again so I needed to get home.  I promised I would do a longer run with her next week.  I think.  If I don't wimp out.

We did end up going to the aquarium again.  We love that place and I'm so glad I decided to buy an annual membership.  It is so fun!  This time we toured the Australian exhibit, which was really fun.  We also saw the jellyfish exhibit (amazing) and watched the dolphins during a training session.

Isn't that beautiful!!!

That's Evan in front of the Moon Jellyfish - they glow in the dark.

We ended up staying for about two hours, but it was plenty of time.  And I don't really worry about it because entrance is free with the membership so I don't feel pressured to stay all day (which I would if we had paid $30 a person to get in).

After the aquarium I headed to the grocery story.  I love grocery shopping.  I think it stems from my days when I was in college and I'd meet my mom on Thursday mornings and we'd go grocery shopping together.  I just think it's super fun.  Well, up until I have to pay the bill.  I am trying so hard to keep our bill below $100 but it still creeps up to more than that.  On Sunday my bill was $119.43, so pretty much $19.43 over budget.  As I get to the self-checkout (does your grocery store have a self checkout?  I love it), I see that the person who had gone before me had gotten $20 cash back but hadn't taken the money.  There was a $20 bill hanging out of the machine.  The person was long gone and I was unsure what I should do with the money.  I thought it was ironic that I had found $20 and my bill was almost exactly $20 over budget...so I was tempted to keep it.  However, I just couldn't do it and it felt too much like stealing so after I paid my bill I went to customer service and turned it in.  They said they could reprint the receipt for the person before me and if they had used their bonus card they could call them up and tell them they had it.  I really hope it works because I'd be really bummed if I forgot to get my $20.  I'm really hoping that turning that money in (when most people probably wouldn't have) turned my karma around and some good energy will flow my way.

On Monday I headed out to take the TEAS test again.  It was so stressful trying to reschedule because the only other options were on days that I was working.  I thought that Monday, being a holiday, would be a good day for me to retake the test but it is SO hard to find someone to watch Evan.  Since it was a holiday, my sister closes the day care.  She said she could watch him for a few hours but I could tell that she didn't really want to...so it made me feel bad.  Ivan had to work and could take a sick day, but I hate using his sick days unless we really need them because he has so few.  My golf friend said she could watch him but she had a meeting in the middle and wasn't sure if her daughter was going to be around to watch him for that hour.  Ahhh!  In the end my golf friend watched him and her daughter watched him while she went to a meeting and then I picked him up after my test.  So, it worked out...but it was so stressful beforehand.  I'm not sure how I scored on the test - I ran out of time on the math section (boo) and the science section was a bit hard...but we'll see.  Hopefully I didn't do too horribly.

And that brings us to today.  Snow day.  I surprised myself by getting up and going for a run this morning before the snow started.  Or that was the plan anyway.  By the time I got all my running clothes on and sneaked (did you know "sneaked" is the past tense of "sneak" and "snuck" isn't a word...I just had to look it up and I still can't believe "snuck" isn't a word, I've been using it for years) out of the house while Evan wasn't watching (Ivan didn't have to go to work until 11am), it had already started snowing.  So I did four miles in the snow.  My legs were tired from Sunday though so it felt a bit like work.  I'm sure they are protesting running so much after such a long break.  Hopefully they will adjust though and I won't end up injured or with shin splints.  It was chilly and wet, but a nice peaceful run.

Please excuse the unmade bed, it eventually got made.

By the time I got home the sidewalks were covered in snow and some of the roads were turning white too.  They forecasted 5-10 inches today and another 1-3 at night but I'm not sure I fully believe that.  Although it is snowing a lot today, so we'll see.

The view from our deck/balcony/whatever it's called.

Luckily tomorrow is a telework day for me, so I don't have to stress about going in to the office.

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Is it snowing where you live?

Would you have kept the $20 or turned it in?