This morning I woke up early. I cracked the flue on the fire, realizing that I'd accidentally smoked out the house last night. Again. I opened up my doors to air it out and then went to greet the pets next door (I'm caring for them for the weekend). I kept the cats at bay with my boot, while filling their ceramic food bowls and freshening their ( Read more... )

This time feels very much like four years ago when I was hearing back from PhD programs. There was so much anticipation and good news that came early, so I could enjoy the process throughout January, February, and March, knowing that, no matter what happened with the other schools, I had been accepted somewhere. And that meant I was going! Leaving ( Read more... )

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?

A "hook up" of sorts.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

To eat more raw vegetables. Yes, I think I did.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No, that was 2010.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No.

5. What countries did you visit?

Just this one.

6. What ( Read more... )

People always talk about how stressful the holidays are. But, in general, I love the holidays and being with my family (minus the few stresses that come with interacting with and navigating a larger group of people). This year, however, was stressful. I'm going to get in the fetal and cry for awhile. Then sleep. Then, maybe I'll have enough energy ( Read more... )

And sometimes the future is hard.

The future is now.

So, I worked really hard (pretty hard) through the weekend. Imagine me holed up in my apartment with sweats on and an never ending cup of tea and you've probably got a pretty accurate image. In fact, the dissertation has reached a lovely, easy place. It won't stay in this place forever, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts ( Read more... )

Stress. I live a pretty stress-free life. So, when I feel stress, it feels horrible and overbearing and remains so until I can emotionally or psychologically reconcile it. I just got a stressful phone call from my...partner? I don't know what to call him. It was short and terrifying. And then, it was over, and in hindsight, it was not nearly as bad ( Read more... )

My boo is coming back for a visit. Tickets have been purchased, everything's been set in motion. *This* is how I prefer to function. Now I can spend some time mentally and emotionally prepare to share my space with someone before he arrives ( Read more... )

So, I presented my paper. It was better for me because I talked it rather than reading it. It was okay. I repeated myself a few times. I presented a few bits of information that were truly interesting to the audience, I think. Someday I want to write a book, like David Sedaris, and laugh about how terrible I used to be at all of this ( Read more... )