How can you tell if you are a recent college graduate?

This is amazingly relevant to you and a large majority of your friends.

Landmarks

Tomorrow is my last day at the nursing home. That means that I've got about a week and a half left before I'm on my way to Germany. For a year. (begin hyperventilating...)

Actually, I'm not in a panic just yet... more like a healthy state of denial. Small things keep coming up and jogging my memory, like the mail. Today I got my transcript and a new backpack. Yesterday it was the medical forms I requested. Sometimes I almost stub my toe on my suitcase. The to-do list on my markerboard...

Otherwise, I'm trying to have a normal summer, to ignore the poignancy that wants to seep into every minor event and accomplishment. In the past week and a half I've done some fun things, some important things, some special things... and my endorphins are constantly trying to convince me that these events are somehow more fun and important and special than say, everything leading up to this point. Funny how our perspective channels the here-and-now and lets other stuff slip away. Do I even remember what it's like to wake up and run to the lab at 8am seven days a week? Rehearsing with the Cornerstones? Chamber Singers tour? Senior year was a blur as it happened, but should it already be this blurry in restrospect?

Just in case I have no recollection a year from now of the things that are so pressing, a list:

• Emma S. checked out on Saturday, so I stopped in to say goodbye at the end of the work day on Friday. She is my little German woman who came to DGMV (the nursing home) about a week after I started working this summer. I stopped in almost every day to practice my German a little bit, and she told me about her life. She gave me her mailing address, so now I have a pen-pal! She also told me that she thinks of me like a granddaughter, and went on and on about how much joy I brought to her stay... anyway, it was wonderful and completely encapsulates why I love working there so much.
• I went out last friday night with George and Mary Ann from work... and got in at 4:30 in the morning. Our excursion included a martini bar apertif, dancing until last call at a crazy lesbian bar/club, and ice cream in the Central West End in the middle of the night. I never go out like that, so it was some kind of adventure.
• Then Saturday morning (10am!), Mike and I finally had our meeting with Msgr. Norb about our premarital compatibility quiz. High points: 100% agreement on "problem solving." Low: Under 50% on "financial issues." That's a big one. And yet, most of our differences lay in answering "unsure," mostly due to the fact that neither of us has a steady permanent income. We can't really figure out what to do with money we don't have yet... and first we need to find out where it's coming from! The ostensible purpose of the quiz is to identify areas for future dialogue, so we're confident (what with our mad problem solving skillz) that we can get things resolved in due time.
• Same meeting... also discussed timeframe. We sort of stumbled upon a new reason for waiting until the spring of 2007. Namely, we need to practice our relationship in the same place. As of right now, we haven't been in the same state for longer than a couple of months in four years, and we're adding another year in different countries on top of that. I'm completely confident that we're still as compatible as ever (as evidenced by the amount of time I want to spend with him when we are lucky enough to be together for a while) but it won't hurt to test it out a little bit. (Still not considering living together, though. As obnoxious as it will be to pay for separate apartments in the same town, it's only a year, and even being in the same town is a big deal!)
• Went out again with the work crowd on Wednesday, this time at a hoosier little bar in Fenton for "suicide karaoke" after the staff party. Mike got dragged along and found things most amusing. I should explain the concept of suicide karaoke. Basically, you sign up for a slot and when your turn comes up you pick a number out of a bucket. Number=random song assignment, and you must take what is meted out, even if that means standing up there like an idiot making up a song you've never heard before. Mary Ann got Billy Joel, "My Life," and I got stuck with a torch song. Celine Dion. "All By Myself." Blech! There was a run-off competition for the three way tie at second and third place, and I drew "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton. At least it was upbeat... against Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll" I wound up with third place and a free drink that I didn't use. Despite my usual love-hate relationship with Karaoke, I'd do it again. Maybe this Wednesday night...
• Marie D., one of the residents at work, organized a little concert before today's afternoon activity. She wanted to hear me sing with a girl who works as a dinner server and plays piano. She was so sweet and earnest when she came to me with the idea a couple of weeks ago, and I'm glad we got to do it. The lineup was a bit crazy, but it was a hit nonetheless... I sang "Somewhere My Love," Stephanie played "100 Years," we did Billy Joel's "Lullabye" together, I sang "Edelweiss," she played "Bohemian Rhapsody," and we finished together with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." It would make for a silly playlist, but it went over well.

I guess that's the summary. I've got a busy weekend planned, but more on that later. Now I have to go to Kirkwood to bestow my approval on Mike's fresh haircut... or mock him mercilessly if necessary. Yay!

Alas, poor Jukebox

My MP3 player died last week. It was an ugly death. Symptoms included a rattling sound, completely stuck on/off button, and a casing that was slowly bowing and expanding with each passing day. If a Best Buy customer service desk somewhere in St. Louis explodes sometime in the near future, we'll all know why.

So, I lost all my music. At least now I'm legal and the RIAA can't touch me... but I also lost some good stuff that will be difficult to replace. Old Cornerstones music from before my time with the group. Chamber Singers concert recordings... I'll have to wait a year for the CD to come out, although at least the recording will be better when I get the "official" version. Tim and Beth singing "I Shall Be Released," was that sophomore year? Obscure and annoying christmas music, including Alvin & the Chipmunks. I'm sure all this stuff exists somewhere, but I don't think I have the will to track it down.

The upshot: I'm finally cracking and buying an iPod. We had the extended warranty on my Lyra player, but apparently (go figure?) they don't make them anymore. So, store credit. I've been inexorably goaded towards mac products for at least the past four years thanks to faculty advisors, friends, and boyfriend. I also had to cough up for WindowsXP to support iTunes (RIP WindowsME... we were fairweather friends...) but now I guess I'm finally ready.

Will my next computer be a mac? Only time (and the availability of publication-worthy statistics and graphing programs) will tell. If Mike had his way, of course, our firstborn child would come with a click wheel.

I still love him, though. He's helping me rebuild my music library from his own collection. What a catch!

Thanks to Husky

How far would you get when taking over England? by Kratos
Name
Weapon of Choice
You take over:	Cornwall. You give it up several years later because it's boring.
You are stopped by:	James Bond.
The French:	Mosy on over to visit.
Quiz created with MemeGen!

One month from today

I'll be getting on a plane.

That is so scary.

correction

I'm back from vacation in the lovely Rolla, MO. The river is still there, albeit slightly different... but everytime I see it it's slightly different. It's been two years this time, so by now the "usual" frog ponds are mostly gone and new ones have eddied their way into existance. There are still frogs, though. And fish (I caught a drum and a largemouth bass.) And muskrats, and eagles, and horseflies, and cows, and dogs, and all the things that make a vacation just right. At least for me... but then again, I'm part river rat.

Mike is over for dinner, and read my previous post. He reminds me about the part where he had me close my eyes and put the ring in my hands. And also about the part where he saved innocent puppies from terrorists... I'll vouch for the first part, at least. Consider the story addended.

Oh, and more progress! I got mail today from Germany... seems I've managed to reserve appropriate living arrangements. Must translate the rest of the letter tonight so I can reply tomorrow, but most of it looks good. Rent is only 113 euro a month, which leaves a nice hunk of my stipend for incidentals, feeding myself, etc. A little worried about the "teilmöbliert," though... I might have to buy some more furniture when I get there. I guess I can always sell it when I leave, though.

I guess I should make a point of contacting my new research advisor to remind him that I'm coming... But I'll still have a month at Kiel in the language course before I get to Göttingen, so I'm not particularly worried about it. Who would resent another pair of (ostensibly) capable hands in the lab?

It's so soon. A month left at home. One month of summer before I'm in another kind of school. One month of my family, of Mike, of my friends in St. Louis. One month at work. I'll miss that too. Maybe my job description is less fun this time, bussing tables and serving food and passing out juice cups... but I still like it. I need to remember to burn a CD of some of my recital for Emma, so she can hear me sing in German before I leave. Maybe some chamber singers stuff too... I sure hope I can find a good choir when I get over there... and that I'll have time for it. What am I saying, I'll make time. I always do.

making good

I promised a story, so a story I shall post.

Last Wednesday night, Mike and I went to the gardens, as per usual, for the weekly concert. Bluegrass this time, a bit of a change from the usual. Also different from the usual, we skipped Subway and got fancy food for dinner. There are some new restaurants in Kirkwood, so he got a burger and I got sushi... yum. Believe it or not, he actually tried a bite! Didn't like the eel much, but hey, more for me.

After food, we wandered around and saw the sights. This time we tried the hedge maze and English garden before hitting the lake to feed the giant koi. Instead of going straight for the bridge, though, I led the way down a rock path that led to a stony promontory on the water. Remember, this was the day when the heat index was about 110... So we get down there, absolutely no shade, and he plops down on a granite slab by the water's edge. We look at a small school of sunfish that gather expectantly... hungrily... and I start complaining about the heat.

"Let's get out of here. I'm sweating. Ugh. It's too hot. Let's go..." etc. He asks me to hold on a minute, come sit on the slab of rock that must be 20 degrees hotter than the air... and won't hear no for an answer. I'm still whining when he gets the little blue box out of his pocket.

I'm pretty sure I kept up a running commentary on the heat the whole time. He got the ring out of the box, I gave him my hand, he thinks for a second (and says something cute... not imagining a future without me... cribbed from tv? still cute.) Asks the question.

Of course. Yes. Of course. It's so hot here!

Was it yesterday that I was still bugging him to call the jeweler? Okay, I wanted it to be a surprise... but I'm not good at waiting for surprises! Especially surprises I expect!

He slips the ring on my hand.

"Okay. Let's get out of here! I'm burning up!"

I'd say it went well.

Oh, and pictures:

(not from the night, but a visual aid is fun)


side view


front view: sparkly!


on... need to do my nails...


catching the light


close up

Suffice to say, I'm overjoyed. And now I'm heading back down to Rolla for the second half of my vacation... Yay!