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General Update
Jul. 25th, 2009 02:13 amOh dear lord I need to do this more. I need to write in my paper and pen journal more too now that I think about it. At least this time it isn't a silence because I'm unhappy or depressed. It's silence because I'm way to damn busy for my own good. Which is good... I suppose. Not the too damn busy part but the part where I'm not unhappy or depressed.
Big new first. Or perhaps more immediate news first. I'm getting a roommate. And not just any roommate I might add. Yep, I did it. I asked F to move in. He's hoping to be moved in by August 15 or so. I'm hoping to have enough room for him to be by then! Good god almighty do I have way too much shit! I look around here and have no idea where to begin. But I'd better start somewhere or we aren't fitting two of us in here without a shoehorn and possibly an arrest record.
It's good though. I've been wanting to sort through things and get rid of stuff I don't need, don't wear, don't use anymore. Heck, I've been sayin that was going to be my vacation job for the last two vacations (barring the one where I worked on my prelims for the entire week.) This is a perfectly reasonable sized apartment for two people. I just have to cull the herd so to speak.
I'm pondering Wal-mart and organizational bins for the time being. I think that might be the ticket. My first order of business has been to get space downstairs in the storage area so I can move stuff from up here that doesn't need to be up here down there. I think those bins might help. And I have a few smallish ones in the garage I think I might put to work tomorrow to see if it helps. Ah-ha! A starting place!
I'm actually rather excited by the prospect. Nervous too of course since I've never lived with anyone before. (He keeps telling me that college roommates and my mother do not count. I hope so because neither of those experiences are ones I want to repeat.) I'm getting giddy over silly stuff. Like grocery shopping. Who gets excited by grocery shopping? But I'm looking forward to meal planning and then going and buying food for a week with coupons then making dinners. It's positively domestic.
We have so much fun together. He likes going to the more independent type movies, ones that don't generally play in the big chain theaters. I'm a fan of that myself. More than once we've spent more than a few dollars at the big kid arcade (the one in St. Louis is something like American Pizza and the one where he's from is Kicks.) I have a collection of little tiny Care Bears from the one here in St. Louis that he started when he got me the first one there on Valentine's Day. I can usually beat him at trivia but I don't even try when he plays pinball. I prefer skee ball myself.
He treats me so well. I think what really got me was that he opens my doors for me. Not just when people are around and looking but all the time. If we're leaving the apartment or a restaurant it doesn't matter. I laughed at myself about a month ago and had to tell him; I'll tell you so you can laugh too but it illustrates what I mean.
We'd gone out to dinner with a friend of his (and a friend of his friend's) and had decided to take one care rather than two so we could all talk on the way there as well. We'd had a very good dinner at an Italian restaurant the friend and F like and were on our way to the car. F and I were in back and I was behind the driver. We're all chatting as we walk up to the car; we get there and I stop. For probably a good 20 seconds. Because my door didn't open itself. I'd walked with the driver to our side and he'd just opened his door and got in. Of course he did! Why wouldn't he? But I am so used to my door just opening that it took me a few beats to realize "oh right, open door, get in!" I had to laugh at myself. Who else would stand there for a few seconds and then have the light bulb come on?
I could go on and probably should since I know I've hardly written anything about him but then I wouldn't have time for the other news and I'm getting tired.
I've decided that I am going to go back and try my prelims again. I spent the first few weeks of the summer thinking about what I really wanted to do and really, I want to teach. If that doesn't work out I have other things that I'm sure will also make me happy but I know that I'm happiest when I'm in front of a classroom. So, back to school, back to prelims, and this time I know more about what my limitations are and where I might need more help. I feel more confident this time than I did the last. Though I need to figure out how to narrow my writing for this go-round.
It's a little daunting, I have to admit. I've never been the best on compare and contrast papers and in a lot of ways that's essentially what I'm doing. But I have people who have told me they'll help me with the reading so I have someone to discuss it with and hopefully that will firm things up in my mind. I think I'm also going to try a suggestion from someone (I forget who) about doing what would basically be an annotated bibliography for any article I read. Maybe that will help in the writing process. Which is another change I'm making. I'd planned last time to spend a week reading then a week writing but I didn't do that. At the time I felt like I didn't have enough information to be doing that but I think that was mostly my fear talking so I'm going back to that plan.
And I know this sounds strange but I think it might be easier with F here. It feels more like home when he's here. The few times he was staying over and I was writing it was easier than when I was home alone. Plus now I think it may take some of the pressure off me.
But there you have it, the two biggies. I'm sure I've missed lots of little stuff but on the whole that catches this up. I've been to the doctor a few more times; once for strep thanks much. But basically I feel pretty good. Except right now, I'm tired now. So off I go to bed.
Big new first. Or perhaps more immediate news first. I'm getting a roommate. And not just any roommate I might add. Yep, I did it. I asked F to move in. He's hoping to be moved in by August 15 or so. I'm hoping to have enough room for him to be by then! Good god almighty do I have way too much shit! I look around here and have no idea where to begin. But I'd better start somewhere or we aren't fitting two of us in here without a shoehorn and possibly an arrest record.
It's good though. I've been wanting to sort through things and get rid of stuff I don't need, don't wear, don't use anymore. Heck, I've been sayin that was going to be my vacation job for the last two vacations (barring the one where I worked on my prelims for the entire week.) This is a perfectly reasonable sized apartment for two people. I just have to cull the herd so to speak.
I'm pondering Wal-mart and organizational bins for the time being. I think that might be the ticket. My first order of business has been to get space downstairs in the storage area so I can move stuff from up here that doesn't need to be up here down there. I think those bins might help. And I have a few smallish ones in the garage I think I might put to work tomorrow to see if it helps. Ah-ha! A starting place!
I'm actually rather excited by the prospect. Nervous too of course since I've never lived with anyone before. (He keeps telling me that college roommates and my mother do not count. I hope so because neither of those experiences are ones I want to repeat.) I'm getting giddy over silly stuff. Like grocery shopping. Who gets excited by grocery shopping? But I'm looking forward to meal planning and then going and buying food for a week with coupons then making dinners. It's positively domestic.
We have so much fun together. He likes going to the more independent type movies, ones that don't generally play in the big chain theaters. I'm a fan of that myself. More than once we've spent more than a few dollars at the big kid arcade (the one in St. Louis is something like American Pizza and the one where he's from is Kicks.) I have a collection of little tiny Care Bears from the one here in St. Louis that he started when he got me the first one there on Valentine's Day. I can usually beat him at trivia but I don't even try when he plays pinball. I prefer skee ball myself.
He treats me so well. I think what really got me was that he opens my doors for me. Not just when people are around and looking but all the time. If we're leaving the apartment or a restaurant it doesn't matter. I laughed at myself about a month ago and had to tell him; I'll tell you so you can laugh too but it illustrates what I mean.
We'd gone out to dinner with a friend of his (and a friend of his friend's) and had decided to take one care rather than two so we could all talk on the way there as well. We'd had a very good dinner at an Italian restaurant the friend and F like and were on our way to the car. F and I were in back and I was behind the driver. We're all chatting as we walk up to the car; we get there and I stop. For probably a good 20 seconds. Because my door didn't open itself. I'd walked with the driver to our side and he'd just opened his door and got in. Of course he did! Why wouldn't he? But I am so used to my door just opening that it took me a few beats to realize "oh right, open door, get in!" I had to laugh at myself. Who else would stand there for a few seconds and then have the light bulb come on?
I could go on and probably should since I know I've hardly written anything about him but then I wouldn't have time for the other news and I'm getting tired.
I've decided that I am going to go back and try my prelims again. I spent the first few weeks of the summer thinking about what I really wanted to do and really, I want to teach. If that doesn't work out I have other things that I'm sure will also make me happy but I know that I'm happiest when I'm in front of a classroom. So, back to school, back to prelims, and this time I know more about what my limitations are and where I might need more help. I feel more confident this time than I did the last. Though I need to figure out how to narrow my writing for this go-round.
It's a little daunting, I have to admit. I've never been the best on compare and contrast papers and in a lot of ways that's essentially what I'm doing. But I have people who have told me they'll help me with the reading so I have someone to discuss it with and hopefully that will firm things up in my mind. I think I'm also going to try a suggestion from someone (I forget who) about doing what would basically be an annotated bibliography for any article I read. Maybe that will help in the writing process. Which is another change I'm making. I'd planned last time to spend a week reading then a week writing but I didn't do that. At the time I felt like I didn't have enough information to be doing that but I think that was mostly my fear talking so I'm going back to that plan.
And I know this sounds strange but I think it might be easier with F here. It feels more like home when he's here. The few times he was staying over and I was writing it was easier than when I was home alone. Plus now I think it may take some of the pressure off me.
But there you have it, the two biggies. I'm sure I've missed lots of little stuff but on the whole that catches this up. I've been to the doctor a few more times; once for strep thanks much. But basically I feel pretty good. Except right now, I'm tired now. So off I go to bed.
