So today is the first day of classes of my senior year of college. That's fun. I've got lots of meetings and errands scheduled for today to get myself off on the right foot for the school year. Also enjoyable, as I'm the type of person who appreciates a good get-your-life-in-order-type day. One slight problem,though. I twisted my ankle last night.
As I've never really done this before, I figured I'd be able to walk it off. That was fine last night since I didn't have very far to go. This morning... well, let's just say that when you almost pass out in the bathroom in the morning (not again!) from the pain, you start to reconsider third-floor classes and all the steps entailed. So now I'm waiting for 8:30am to roll around, so I can get Security to haul me over to the Health Center for a) crutches and/or some kind of wrap and b) some major painkillers. Errands, shmerrands, give me drugs!
As always, I have too much on my schedule today to make time for taking care of myself... but I'm going to do it, rather than be miserable and late for everything for a week and STILL not get my stuff done because 5 minute walks now take, oh, 35 minutes. As for getting off on the right foot... well, my left is fine, but the right is definitely not right. Does that give me two left feet?
(*evil grin of the seriously over-punned*)
Monday, August 30, 2004
Friday, August 27, 2004
My life is everywhere
Whew. It's been a busy week. At least I got a free t-shirt out of this whole "orientation worker" thing. The new class seems pretty happy to be here, and many of them seem to have their stuff together. Many of them are more together than I am at this point, and they got here yesterday. Granted, I didn't have any relatives conscripted to my moving crew this year. Just me, exhausted from airport delays and facing a slightly overwhelming schedule. At least I've collected belongings from three and a half of my storage sites. Two and a half more to go! Well, three if you count the nonperishable food items. Apparently my belongings slowly exploded this summer and attempted to take over campus.
I also have too many computers. Yes, two is too many. I can't give up Janet the laptop because she's got all my music and papers and labwork... plus in a week or two she'll be wireless, which will be darn snazzy. But the beheamoth Newscope mac (which will have to be the primary computer this week) is taking up all my desk space with its huge towering blueness. The flatscreen monitor would help, but I can't hook it up until we find an adapter for the plug, darn it. (It was a relief to know that this is an option, because when I first hauled it all over and tried to set it up I had a moment's panic that I had just cost the school $600 for an unusable, incompatible monitor.) At least I get to give this one back at the end of the year.
Well, I have a few hours free today, so I should either attempt to nap or loft my bed so that some of this stuff strewn about my room can be hidden. If I don't post for another week, assume I got trapped under the bed.
I also have too many computers. Yes, two is too many. I can't give up Janet the laptop because she's got all my music and papers and labwork... plus in a week or two she'll be wireless, which will be darn snazzy. But the beheamoth Newscope mac (which will have to be the primary computer this week) is taking up all my desk space with its huge towering blueness. The flatscreen monitor would help, but I can't hook it up until we find an adapter for the plug, darn it. (It was a relief to know that this is an option, because when I first hauled it all over and tried to set it up I had a moment's panic that I had just cost the school $600 for an unusable, incompatible monitor.) At least I get to give this one back at the end of the year.
Well, I have a few hours free today, so I should either attempt to nap or loft my bed so that some of this stuff strewn about my room can be hidden. If I don't post for another week, assume I got trapped under the bed.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
No moping!
The summer is over. It doesn't matter that I've got another week at home. It definitely makes no difference that classes don't start until about a week after that. A major midwestern university has kidnapped my boyfriend, and I won't see him until Thanksgiving break.
There are about a zillion things I could do right now to keep myself occupied. I could call all the people I know in town and organize a massive social event. I could get back to reading the huge stack of journal articles I've barely looked at since leaving the lab. I could finish putting all my oodles of happy data in a giant spreadsheet. I could re-mulch the landscaping. I could wash the car. I could read a book. I could bake cookies. I could update my blog every hour on the hour... but I don't really feel like doing much, which is absolutely deadly. Still, I will prevail!
Hmm... that makes things a bit easier. Apparently plans have already been made for dinner out with my whole family tonight, and my Aunt needs a babysitter for the afternoon. At this rate I won't have time to pine. Fabulousness!
There are about a zillion things I could do right now to keep myself occupied. I could call all the people I know in town and organize a massive social event. I could get back to reading the huge stack of journal articles I've barely looked at since leaving the lab. I could finish putting all my oodles of happy data in a giant spreadsheet. I could re-mulch the landscaping. I could wash the car. I could read a book. I could bake cookies. I could update my blog every hour on the hour... but I don't really feel like doing much, which is absolutely deadly. Still, I will prevail!
Hmm... that makes things a bit easier. Apparently plans have already been made for dinner out with my whole family tonight, and my Aunt needs a babysitter for the afternoon. At this rate I won't have time to pine. Fabulousness!
Friday, August 13, 2004
Here again, at last!
Apparently I'm impervious to jet-lag, since I've been home for two days and my sleep schedule has been completely normal. I didn't have much trouble adjusting to Austrian time either, come to think of it. Where did I cultivate this skill? Either my circadian clock is completely attuned to light cycles or I've pulled so many all-nighters that sleep is an act of conscious will. It would be interesting to experimentally manipulate these variables and find out which is more correct.
I suppose I can supply a brief rundown of the trip, although the only person who I know reads this with any regularity was there too... The main highlights were the day trip to Vienna where we rode a famous ferris wheel, saw the Dom (cathedral) and ate the best eis (ice cream) in the city, the day in Salzburg wandering among the shops and visiting the fortress at the top of the cliff, swimming in a glacier lake outside Salzburg the following morning, riding up and later climbing on the Schneeberg, and of course all of the family visits and events. Opa's birthday parties were hilarious. For an 80 year old, he sure knows how to throw a get-together... and how to ham it up when he's the center of attention. What a flirt! He's worse than I am. :) Oma was really sweet too, in her finicky, just-so sort of way. I guess when you're accustomed to living your way for such a long time, it's at least a bit reasonable to feel affronted by change.
All in all it was a very good trip. I'm sad to see it end, not only because it was a fun adventure, but also because it signals the end of my summer and the fast-encroaching beginning of another school year (and in Kansas before Ohio, which means another familiar change - loss, actually - is even closer.) Sigh. Melancholy suits me not. I suppose I should appreciate the time remaining and do something with it. To that end, I'll go make some plans.
I suppose I can supply a brief rundown of the trip, although the only person who I know reads this with any regularity was there too... The main highlights were the day trip to Vienna where we rode a famous ferris wheel, saw the Dom (cathedral) and ate the best eis (ice cream) in the city, the day in Salzburg wandering among the shops and visiting the fortress at the top of the cliff, swimming in a glacier lake outside Salzburg the following morning, riding up and later climbing on the Schneeberg, and of course all of the family visits and events. Opa's birthday parties were hilarious. For an 80 year old, he sure knows how to throw a get-together... and how to ham it up when he's the center of attention. What a flirt! He's worse than I am. :) Oma was really sweet too, in her finicky, just-so sort of way. I guess when you're accustomed to living your way for such a long time, it's at least a bit reasonable to feel affronted by change.
All in all it was a very good trip. I'm sad to see it end, not only because it was a fun adventure, but also because it signals the end of my summer and the fast-encroaching beginning of another school year (and in Kansas before Ohio, which means another familiar change - loss, actually - is even closer.) Sigh. Melancholy suits me not. I suppose I should appreciate the time remaining and do something with it. To that end, I'll go make some plans.
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Home for a day
The thing I like best about coming back to St. Louis is that I know where the streets and highways go. There are always a few minor changes, a tree down here and a new construction project there, but the familiarity is a deep-rooted and enjoyable sensation. The thing I like least about being home is that nothing is within walking distance except church, so I'm constrained from making my own schedule by vehicular availability. Well, that and the fact that I feel guilty for choosing to spend time out with friends since I'm never home anymore... not that guilty, but a bit. I'm not here long enough for that to become much of an issue this time... at least, not until after I get back from Austria.
By this time tomorrow night I'll probably be cuddled up on the sofa at Mike's house watching Adult Swim and trying to decide how late I can possibly stay up without making myself miserable for the following (very long) day. He's home now and I've spoken to him twice already, but I won't see him in person until dinnertime tomorrow. I can tell we're both giddy about the prospect of spending time together by the number of times we break up and get back together in a single phone conversation. Every time he makes an off-kilter comment, bad pun, or dorky reference I tell him it's over. I think the longest I've ever gone before taking him back has been 2 minutes. It's basically an excuse to get cutesy and reiterate how much we love each other... yes, I know, it's totally disgustingly adorable. This is why the long-distance thing is good for us. If any of our college friends were forced to constantly watch this in person, they'd kill us with sticks. Our high school friends came close a few times.
I've managed to consolidate my stuff into a single highly volatile suitcase, which will be a bit easier to manage tomorrow. I definitely hope security doesn't have to open it up, because it looks like the slightest jostling could make it explosively spew my underwear and toiletries into the air at high velocities. I have no idea how I'm going to bring back any souvenirs without shoving into the fourth dimension for added space. Either way, I don't want to be known as the panty bomber... as cool a title as that would be for some kind of cartoon superhero. I don't even want to fathom the superpowers such a character would possess, or how they would have come about.
With that lovely thought, I really should try to go to bed. I may try to post tomorrow, but if not I'll update as soon as I'm back in the country!
By this time tomorrow night I'll probably be cuddled up on the sofa at Mike's house watching Adult Swim and trying to decide how late I can possibly stay up without making myself miserable for the following (very long) day. He's home now and I've spoken to him twice already, but I won't see him in person until dinnertime tomorrow. I can tell we're both giddy about the prospect of spending time together by the number of times we break up and get back together in a single phone conversation. Every time he makes an off-kilter comment, bad pun, or dorky reference I tell him it's over. I think the longest I've ever gone before taking him back has been 2 minutes. It's basically an excuse to get cutesy and reiterate how much we love each other... yes, I know, it's totally disgustingly adorable. This is why the long-distance thing is good for us. If any of our college friends were forced to constantly watch this in person, they'd kill us with sticks. Our high school friends came close a few times.
I've managed to consolidate my stuff into a single highly volatile suitcase, which will be a bit easier to manage tomorrow. I definitely hope security doesn't have to open it up, because it looks like the slightest jostling could make it explosively spew my underwear and toiletries into the air at high velocities. I have no idea how I'm going to bring back any souvenirs without shoving into the fourth dimension for added space. Either way, I don't want to be known as the panty bomber... as cool a title as that would be for some kind of cartoon superhero. I don't even want to fathom the superpowers such a character would possess, or how they would have come about.
With that lovely thought, I really should try to go to bed. I may try to post tomorrow, but if not I'll update as soon as I'm back in the country!
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