screen time

I spent all day yesterday online shopping. Besides walking the dog and getting up to eat a grapefruit and pasta with my family, I didn't get off the computer. Normally, I spend quite a lot of time on the computer, maybe between 2 and 4 hours. But I wouldn't call that unhealthy, because a lot of it is for school and work reasons. But yesterday was like 9 hours. Yeah. That's a lot of screen time.

At one point I was looking for backpacks and watching a TV show at the same time. Did anyone else see the HGTV dream home? It's freaking gorgeous!!! And it's in South Carolina. I've always wanted to be a southern belle. But maybe I ought to work on just being a belle before I start moving my life south bound.

The reason I spent 9 hours on the computer is that I was having a panic attack about shopping for my study abroad trip to Europe. I realized that I only have two weeks to go and that if I wanted to order anything online my window for free shipping is quickly closing.  So far I've bought a "sleep sack," (which is like a very thin sleeping bag to use where there are really grubby sheets in a hostel) an anorak jacket for spring weather, and a large backpack.

I spent around three hours looking for shoes, but ended up not getting any at all. Then, when I went to Marshall's with my dad, I found the perfect pair right away. Figures, huh? I was so surprised I had to try them on like 4 different times just to make sure I wasn't imagining that I actually liked the look of comfortable and practical shoes.

The one up-side to being extremely lazy is that you don't get hungry. So it's pretty easy to skip meals and not even notice it. Today for example, I had grits with cheese for breakfast at like 10am (not super healthy, but trust me, they're very good) and then a bit of steak and a small salad at 6pm. Low calorie day! But I know I need to eat more protein and less carbs. I've kind of given up on being under 135 for spring break, but I'd at least like to be under that number for summer. If I'm good about my diet when I'm abroad, I know I can do it. Especially with all the walking we'll be doing. I think the main problem calorie-wise is going to be alcohol. But there's really no realistic scenario in which I'll be drinking low calorie in Europe. C'est la vie.

Had I mentioned before that I will be studying abroad in Europe this semester? I will be living four days a week in a castle in the Netherlands, and then Friday-Sunday traveling to different countries in the EU. A lot of my good friends are going to be on the trip as well, which is the biggest blessing. But for right now, I'm getting very anxious about packing and preparing for this trip. I have several notebooks of check lists, and I'm obsessively reading travel guides. Wish me luck and sanity.