Christmas in the City

     Despite sleeping in until 10:30 A.M., I've been incredibly productive today!
     Last night I watched this documentary called Finding Traction, about this woman that set out to break the record for the Long Trail, a 273 mile trail. She was well-known in the ultra-running world for being one of the fastest women but she wanted to break the men's record for the Long Trail. *SPOILER* She didn't wind up breaking the men's record but she did break the women's record by two days. Anyway, it inspired me to run down to Center City this morning because I figured if this woman could run 10 back-to-back marathons, I could run a measly four miles. It actually wasn't that bad because when I was waiting for the walk sign, I could stop and take a break, and once I got to Independence Hall I decided to walk around a bit and look at all the little vendors that were set up selling Christmas gifts and I got to watch people skating around the rink at Dilworth Park (while "Better Together" by Jack Johnson played in the background <3) and I admired the huge, rather rotund Christmas tree in the city square. It felt fun and adventuresome to be downtown by myself, just looking around at all the decorations and Christmas-y things and to know that I got there on my own two feet! I started getting cold though, so I ran back to campus and that wasn't as fun. I feel like it was a gradual uphill the whole way, plus running towards North Philly is not nearly as scenic as running towards downtown. And I didn't get to stop as often because I kept getting green lights. It was worth it though, because I had fun (something I don't normally have while running) and I exercised!
     When I got back to my dorm, I took a shower then met Melissa for lunch at Cosi, then went back to my dorm where I cleaned the bathroom and wiped down the whole dorm room floor with Clorox wipes (we really need to invest in a broom or a Swiffer), shook out my rug into a trash can in the trash room (note to self: don't buy fuzzy white rugs. They turn gray and collect the most random, gross things in their furriness), organized my desk drawers, and wrote Christmas cards for Haley and Melissa. I feel like SuperWoman! Let's ignore the fact that I haven't studied for my finals. I'm not too worried about them because one is just a chapter test for Spanish and the other one is for Mosaic (my English class) and the final is just a timed writing about Hamlet and Paris Spleen, both of which I read so I'm in good shape.
     Honestly, I love finals week (because I only have two finals). I have a feeling next semester will be different...but maybe not! I feel like my work ethic has significantly dropped since high school. Maybe that's just one of the perks of being an English major. Not going to complain, that's for sure!
     Anyway, have a great week and if you're feeling down, put on some Christmas music and go have an adventure. You deserve a break. 'Tis the season to be jolly, after all!

Day 1112 Song Recommendation: "Mary Did You Know?" by Pentatonix.
Day 1113 Song Recommendation: "What Child Is This?" by All Tribes.

-SE Wagner