Wednesday Randomness...things I have learned so far on this trip edition...

Hey, bet you didn't expect to see me today, did you? I just realized that it was Wednesday, yes, just now, even though it's just past eight thirty. Can you blame me? So anyway, in the spirit of my usual Wednesday routine, even though nothing today is routine or usual, I thought I'd go ahead and do a little randomness....things I have learned so far on this trip edition...

• I can, and in fact, did, get up at 5:30. It's amazing how easy it is when you still have a million things to do before leaving the state.
• It's sort of freeing driving along the highway, somewhere between Georgia and Virginia (I suppose that would mean one of the Carolinas) while trailing a 26 foot Penske truck containing all of your worldly possessions.
• Did I say freeing? I meant scary. Just kidding. It's great. My adventure sense is tingling...
• I also learned that I am entirely capable of driving 450 with only a three year old and a walkie-talkie for company.
• Of course all of this was made even more possible by a trip, care package from my mom (for the kid) and a few Red Bulls.
• FYI, Red Bull is a bad idea for a long trip. Unless, of course, you really need the caffeine. Which I did, but I had to pee really bad about two seconds after chugging it (TMI sorry). Also the caffeine crash afterwards was brutal.
• I literally can tell the difference when we left a state. Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia all looked different to me.
• Also, it is possible to eat cheeseburgers and fries three days in a row and still not be sick of them. Not going for four though.Trying to sleep the night before moving 900 miles away is downright impossible. I'm really amazed the Professor and I are still conscious. OF course, Batman napped in the car, so he's running around the hotel room right now. Hopefully we'll be in bed soon!
• Free wi-fi in hotels is awesome.

So this officially may be my last post for a while. At least until we get internet or until I go to my friends house and bum off her wireless signal. Comment moderation is off for now since I won't be around to moderate them. We might go ahead and drive straight through to Connecticut tomorrow. It's only another 450 miles, psshhhh. We'll be finishing up driving through Virginia, after that we pass through DC, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and finally home sweet home! I'll be waving in every one's general vicinity as I pass, Philly for Joanna, and I'll wave when I pass your exit Inez! (Jocelyn, I"m not sure which direction you are!) And Laura I thought of you when I was passing through North Carolina!

The countdown is on...

We are officially pulling out of Georgia in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Today I've got to finish up packing, quite a tall order at this point. I feel like we've got most of it done and then I realize that I've forgotten something!

My father-in-law is coming tomorrow morning to help load the truck. I suppose at some point today I will have to unplug and pack up my beloved computer, saying goodbye to my limitless internet (and blogging) access for the time being. The Professor is taking his laptop on the road, so you may or may not hear from me sporadically throughout the week. I'm not sure how soon we'll be getting internet up at the new place, because of our financial situation. But be assured anytime I find myself near a wireless signal you will hear from me, either here or on Facebook!

Wish us luck!

Chasing dreams and taking chances...

You know, I'll be honest, there have been many times in the past few weeks were I have honestly wondered if we know what we're doing. I mean, how many people do this sort of thing? I know for certain that some of our family members think that we're completely out of minds. They probably think that we would be better off staying here. Closer to family, where its safe.

But little by little all these thoughts have been chased from my mind. Yes, we're taking a chance. But if there's anything worth taking a chance on, wouldn't it be your dreams?

I'm lucky, all I ever wanted out of life was to be a wife and mom. I know that sounds lame and old-fashioned, but it's true. I'm extra lucky since I got the two things I wanted most by the time I was twenty-one, my husband and my son. Of course, I have other dreams. I'd like to be a published author, for one. But even if I never achieve that, if I can manage to be a good mom and a good wife, I'll be satisfied with my life.

My husband has dreams. Big dreams for a man who grew up in a small town in Georgia. Bigger dreams than his own parents can even fathom. He wants to be a Professor. But more than that he wants to change people's minds, change their lives. He wants to educate and illuminate. He wants to write books. He wants to have the biggest personal library known to man (and trust me, he's close on this one). He wants to get a degree from Yale.

So I say, why shouldn't he chase those dreams? Even if right now they seem so far away, and the road that will take us there is a rough one? I want him to have everything he's ever wanted. No matter what cost. After all, don't I owe it to him, the one person who gave me everything I wanted?

Got it...

We went for the older place, good neighborhood, washer and dryer hook-ups, but no free heat. As it turns out it was much larger than we thought, so that was a huge plus.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Confuzzled...

Yeah that's not a typo. I think that it's a cross between being confused and befuddled. Not sure where the zzzz's fit in, but whatever.

So we have two apartments we're looking at right now, and we have to pick one soon. The first is in a big apartment building by the river, it's more expensive, but includes heat. It also does not have washer and dryer hook-ups. The second is an older home that has been converted into apartments. We would have the bottom floor. It's cheaper, but doesn't include heat. It has washer dryer hook-ups, but a goofy kitchen. (No countertops!) Sigh. They're both the same square footage. The first place is more open with just a large living/dining area. The second has an eat-in kitchen, dining room (which would be turned into a study for the Professor) and a living room. Problem is, both rooms are pretty small.

UGH!

Seriously, the Professor and I stayed up until three in the morning last night weighing our options. We really need to make a decision today and we can't seem to make up our minds. (Right now we're waiting to hear back from the landlord of the second place, we're hoping they got their measurements wrong.)

On the up side, the Professor has a job interview for a Director of Education at a church up there!!!!

In an effort to cope with the stresses of my current situation...

I drank last night. Erm...a lot.

Let me start of by saying, I had a rough day yesterday. I won't go into the details, but suffice to say it has finally hit all our family members that we are leaving Georgia in a week. Everyone wants us to visit them or let them come visit us. The Professor and I just had to put our foot (or feet) down and say no. We have one week left to pack, let us pack. Yeesh. Everyone acts like we're moving to Mars or something.

I hate it when I feel like I can't meet every one's expectations of me. But there's nothing I can do about it right now, sorry.

So, instead of continuing to stress and worry the Professor and I decided it was time for a drink. I haven't had anything but the occasional glass of wine in the past few weeks, so I guess I was due. About two hours later, and three glasses of vodka with cranberry juice I was having a state capital naming contest with the Professor and laughing so hard my face hurt.

Ah yes, vodka. I should always and only drink vodka. It's the only kind of alcohol that doesn't put me to sleep right away. In fact it makes me really, really hyper.

It was fun, of course I'm paying for it now....

Some good news...

Yes, you heard me, or in this case, read me right! I have some good news to share. First, we found another apartment that we're really interested in. It's actually the first floor of a huge house that has been split up into apartments. It's quite a bit cheaper than some of the other places we're looking at. Plus, it's a good size and it would allow me to keep my washer and dryer. (Can I get a hooray?) Also, it's about two blocks from the beach, how cool is that. (Yes, I know it's COLD up there!)

The other good news is that we've already been approved for another apartment. This one is our second choice as of right now since it has a higher rent and no washer/dryer hookups. Also, it's just one giant apartment building so we would have neighbors above, beside and below.

So, we're hoping we'll also get approved for the other apartment, and if so, we'll probably go with that one.

Good news right?

On the other hand I know feel the actual move looming closer and closer. We're planning on packing the truck next Tuesday and leaving town next Wednesday. ACK! I guess I should be thankful, and really I am, we have a place to live. That's good, right?

Again...

it's Monday. And I don't have anything to say other than the whole "no news is good news" or is it "no news is bad news", or in my case it's just "no news is NO NEWS!"

I hate waiting.

Meanwhile, I feel like I'm losing my mind I'm so constantly stressed.

Have we heard this before. Yes, I believe we have.

About this dream I had...

sometime in the later hours of this morning (between 8 and 9) I had this really strange dream. I had already been woken up by the Professor getting out of bed and then again by Batman going downstairs. So I was in that weird, half-dozey state that seems to brew the best, and strangest dreams.

So in my dream, I'm not sure why, but I was having a friend sort through my closet. Apparently I have far too many clothes and this friend was particularly fashionable. So she decided, while I left the room to sort through my clothes for me.

This friend by the way, was none other than our favorite little vampire and fashionista, Alice Cullen. (I kid you not.)

So when I come back from whatever it was I was doing I start looking through my closet. Right I away I see something missing. "Alice, did you get rid of my black and white halter dress?" She nods or answers yes, I can't remember which. I'm a little furious, but whatever, I had only worn the dress once for a special occasion. The next thing I notice that a bunch of my skirts are missing. Furious again I confront her. She has indeed thrown out most of my skirts. Except my black and grey pencil skirts, thank god!

"Even my white gauzy skirt?!!" I exclaim, about to attempt to wring her little granite neck.

She nods, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that I'm losing it.

"Well, were did you take it all, Goodwill?" I ask, fully prepared to go buy back my skirts.

She shakes her head and names some church or charity, I don't really remember.

By now I'm really pissed, I only have two skirts left. I'm a religious girl, I go to church every Sunday, I need more than two skirts!!!

So I storm off...and go cry to my mommy. Who promises to buy me more skirts.

The end!

If you've already seen Half-Blood Prince...

This is all I have to say!




"Probably the pincers" BAHAHAHAH

No news is...

'eh...good news? Or is no news bad news? I can't remember.

Playing the waiting game around here. The Professor has a zillion job applications out. We're waiting on our apartment application to be approved. We're waiting on student loan money to come through.

Hmm, anything else. Oh, I'm waiting for my laundry to dry. Since I'm still waiting to see whether or not I should sell my washer and dryer I'm washing everything in my house while I still can.

Did I mention I hate waiting?

I am packing some, but again, the whole waiting thing.

Do you really think this whole endeavor could just fall through at the last minute? Honestly, I hadn't really considered it before. I was under the impression that come what may, I'd be driving to Connecticut in two weeks. I guess, as usual, nothing is certain.

I'm feeling a lot better lately. I'm not sure why. The Professor and I have been spending a lot of time just talking. Which I guess is good. I tend to internalize a lot of my worries so as not to worry him. I don't think it's good for me. I've been sick all week, it sucks! Stress can just wear you down like you would not believe.

I think everything will be okay. That soon things will start to go our way. I have to use this blog as my outlet. I can't let any of our family members know that things aren't going perfectly for us right now. My family would just worry. And the Professor's family would just try and convince us to stay here.

I guess I should go eat, I haven't eaten today.

Eh...

Life is strange, isn't it? It's either bloody boring or ridiculously stressful. I figure a month or two of stress ought to buy me at least twice that many months of boring, right?

I'm okay, really I am. I know that everything will be fine. I just need to hang in there. Not too hard, right?

For some odd reason I decided today that I'd like to pursue a little short story writing. Online I came across a few short story competitions, both with a nice grand prize. So I thought to myself ,"Why not?". Surely if I've already written seventeen chapters of a full-length novel I can write a 1,500 word short story, right?

It's funny, at first my thought was to just condense one of my many book ideas into a short story. But most of my ideas are bit too broad for a measly 1,500 words. I decided just to stew for a few days, let something come to me. For about an hour I walked around the house thinking "Plot line for short story, plot line for short story." And guess what? It came to me. Just popped into my head out of nowhere. I sat down, grabbed a notebook and pen and wrote for about twenty minutes and that was that. Weird huh?

I'm not convinced it's a winner or anything, it's kind of strange and unlike anything I've ever written before. But I think it could be good. I'm typing it up on my laptop now, figuring out if it needs to be longer or shorter to fit within the required length.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. When it's done I'll definitely be need some readers to give me their opinion on whether or not it's worth submitting.

I think I've been here before...

in fact, it wast just nine months ago that I had this very same feeling. The feeling that everything is crashing down around me, and there's nothing I can do about it. Just sit by and watch it happen. There's nothing worse than feeling like all your hopes, dreams and expectations are completely futile.

I know this place. It's called "rock bottom". It's the place that you come crashing into when nothing is going your way.

I've been here before.

This is the third time, in fact. I'm a little tired of it. I don't know what to do. What to say. What to expect. Will things continue to get worse? Or will they eventually start looking up? I'm not sure. Frankly, at this point my guess would be the former.

You would think that since I've been here before and seen things work out in my favor that I wouldn't be feeling so down about it. I guess that's just the way it goes.

We've come to that familiar place where we sit down and weigh all our options. The Professor says if he doesn't get up a job up there and if we can't find a place to live than he'd rather just not go. I say he should go no matter what, even if it means leaving Batman and me behind, possibly living with my in-laws. So that's what it's come to. Again, it's familiar. I remember distinctly last fall dreading the possibility that we would end up moved in with his parents because he couldn't find a job. Then the school ended up offering him three teaching sections, which more than payed our bills and let us get this place.

It's probably easy for everyone out there reading this to say, "See, it will all work out!" But I honestly don't know. I would love to feel that optimistic, I really would. Actually I've always considered myself an optimist, but now am beginning to realize that I'm much more of a realist.

So, I don't know what to say. I guess at this point I should be praying hard. But I can't help but feel a little abandoned by the God I put so much faith into. (Again, been here before. Thankfully he is faithful even when we are not.)

(This post in not intended to make anyone feel sorry for me. I just needed to get it all out.)

So, um, yeah...

It's Wednesday right? Why is that time seems to be dragging all of the sudden. I'll guess I'll attempt some randomness, since that is my usual Wednesday post.

Not sure how random I'm feeling, I only really have one thing to say this morning...

• I'm going to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince today!!!!!! I've been waiting for this for so long you have no idea how excited I am. I have a ticket for the 12:30 showing. I'm going by myself since we don't really have anyone around here to babysit and the Professor knows how badly I wanted to see it. I'm so freakin' excited. Good thing too, I'm in desperate need of a distraction.
• Moving is, well, going along. Still looking for jobs. Put in an application at an apartment and waiting to be approved. It's not the greatest place, but will suit us just find. (Going with the whole "beggers can't be choosers" mentality.) I'm selling my washer and dryer, it will be a very sad parting, but we all make sacrifices. I guess I'll start saving my spare change for the coin-operated machines now.
• I'm beginning to realize just how hard life can be. Its sucks. I wish I could just fast-forward the next two months and not have to deal with all this stuff. But I can't. I know deep down that everything will be alright, eventually.
• I hate packing, packing sucks. And I need more boxes...
• Ohhh and the stress, the stress is killing me. I can't eat half the time because I'm so sick to my stomach. Lovely 'eh? The Professor has been having trouble sleeping, too.
• Let's see, what else can I complain about?
• I hate being this busy and unable to write. I miss writing so much. I miss my characters. I miss having that escape from reality...
• Life sucks.
• Well, sometimes it does.
• I guess I shouldn't complain, my husband is going to freakin' YALE! (Yeah, hadn't you heard?)

I'll leave you with that. I'm off to decide what to wear to see Harry Potter....

Here's another one for you...

plastic wrap is now my mortal enemy.

I know, I know what you're thinking, "how is that even possible?" But it is, my friends, it is.

I mean, honestly, have you ever had a good experience with plastic wrap? Has it ever served it's purpose so fully and completely that you were satisfied with it? Has it ever stuck to anything but itself?

Exactly.

Well, this morning I was fixing up a chicken that I was going to roast later on this evening and the recipe called for it to be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for 4-6 hours. After about five minutes of wrestling with a slimy, albeit spice-rubbed chicken and three yards of plastic wrap I finally managed something that looked strikingly similar to Joanna's wedding present from the other day. Minus the staples and taffeta bow, of course.

*sigh*

That's all I've got today.

Top ten quotes...

Okay, so I'm feeling a little bad about the state of my blog lately. I know you all appreciate my candor most days, but frankly I've been keeping myself down. So, to remind myself of how I'm usually a freakin' ray of sunshine I thought I would post my top ten quotes. Must are just dumb random things that I've said over the past year that still crack me up. Hopefully, you'll find them just as entertaining.

When you're done reading, be sure to leave me a comment letting me know which one was your favorite, or submit your own!

In random (you know me) order...

1.)"Sometimes you just need a drink, you know? Especially when you're out of the house without the kid for the first time all week. I think they would have noticed if I brought out my party flask too." From, "For fun and excitement".

2.) "So, if you're impatient you will only get crappy, second-hand, less-than-perfect things." From, "Words of wisdom".

3.)"Blah...piddled? Did I just use the word piddled? I guess I did." From, "Alone..."

4.)"I got lost in a parking garage yesterday...twice." From, "I know it's not Wednesday..."

5.)"I'll be back later after I brave Wally World (aka Hell). Do you think I can get some kind of over-the-counter Valium?" From, "Have I mentioned..."

6.)"Purple shiny sheets...I has some. Jealous?" From, "Purple shiny sheets."

7.)"I'm writing a book, and so far it is all kinds of awesome..." From, "Just thought you should know..."

8.)"Oh yeah, can you believe I have no idea what I'm wearing to Batman's party? Would a Batgirl costume be too much?" From, "Consider yourself warned..."

9.)"We're back from the zoo, let me tell you, nothing like a good public outing to affirm your superior parenting skills." From, "Feeling pretty good..."

10.)"Well fuck Princeton and their fucking PhD program anyway!" From, "What do I do next?"

So, there you have it. No, I did not read through all my 700+ posts to find these, I just read a few random old posts and came up with this list.

Hope it brought the LULZ and just for old times sake....

I...

have nothing to say today.

It's Monday. I hate Mondays anyway, they just always manage to suck no matter what. And they suck a little harder when you're already stressed to the max and feel like you have a big, dark cloud hovering around your head.

So, that's all I have to say.

Look who's blogging on the weekend...

it's me!

I usually don't blog on the weekends, as you've probably noticed. But I have a lot on my mind lately and feel the need to just let it all out.

I can't believe as of next Tuesday we'll be two weeks away from moving. Two weeks?! When did this happen. It seems like just yesterday the Professor got his acceptance letter and we starting thinking about the move. Actually, he got accepted back in March so it has been awhile. Time has just flown by so quickly.

This week I think I will start packing for real. I've sorted through all of the rooms and got rid of all the extraneous stuff we've collected. We're putting in our application for our apartment this week, wish us luck on getting approved. Even though the Professor is not employed up there yet, we should get approved since we have good credit and good employment history. Phew! The place we're getting seems really nice. The woman who has been helping us out went and took pictures of three of their available units and let us choose. Of course we ended up going with the more pricey one, well pricey to us, I think it's cheap for up there. It's also the larger unit and has a gorgeous view of the river. We were not too anxious about moving into a 700 sq. feet apartment again, so now we're getting around 1,000. It will still be tight, but whatever.

So this also means I won't be taking my washer and dryer with me. And you know how excited I was to get them back. I'm over it at this point. We all make sacrifices, right? Plus, not having a washer and dryer was super inconvenient when we lived on campus because we also had a baby at the time. Now I have a three year old, so he can easily walk down to the laundry room with me. See, I've thought it all out. Now if someone would just buy my washer and dryer off of craigslist!!!

Anyway, it's recently come to my attention that we will probably moving up to CT without a job. Which is, as you can imagine, scary as hell. But, I think everything we'll be alright. The Professor will just have to take the first decent job he can get his hands on for the time being. Fortunately, we have a little bit of savings for once in our life and all our credit cards are paid off, so we have those as well. Can you tell I'm trying to talk myself into this? Reassure myself that it will all be okay? LOL it works, most of the time. This sounds bad, but usually when we are in these types of situations, like when we moved here to Athens, our families always offered to help out. They would always give us a little money to help get us through. No one has offered yet, which sort of surprised me. It's not like I expect handouts from all of them, but, like I said, they usually just offer...Personally I can't help but wonder if they're all pissed about us moving so far away and are not offering to help in hopes we might back down from lack of funds.

I hate to tell them this, but we're still going.

Despite all the stress, I'm really looking forward to moving. I love getting a new apartment. I'm really, really looking forward to the drive. I used to love roadtrips as a kid and getting to see new states is always exciting.

Here's to staying positive, right?

Show and tell...

So I thought I'd try something new today to break from the monotony of my "I'm freaking out because I'm moving 800 miles away" posts. We'll see how this goes.

Basically I've moved about a billion times in my life, okay at last count, around twelve. Eight with my family, military brat remember? And four with the Professor. Yes four in four years! Not sure how since we've lived here for three. We moved twice in our first year and this is our fourth. There, that adds up, right? So, I'm a pro at moving at this point. I've already gone through the whole "distance yourself from everyone you know so that the move is less painful" thing, done and done. Now I'm just in the "lets get this done" part. This involves a lot of packing. And before I pack, I always to my pre-pack purge. No, that has nothing to do with weight loss, I assure you.

One by one I've gone through all the rooms here and just sorted out junk. Strangely enough, I love to throw crap away, it makes me feel really good. Batman's room was hit the hardest, I had a whole carload full of toys that I took to Goodwill. His clothes, baby books and baby bedding are going into storage. (You know, just in case.) I found in his closet several of my own storage boxes that I've hauled with me these past four years. So I decided to crack them open and see what was inside so that I could sort through them, and label them accordingly. I know, I need help.

In these boxes I was please to find a number of mementos from my childhood European travels. (Sounds fancy huh?) My parents basically dragged us all over Europe when my dad was stationed in England and Germany. We were always allowed to get one thing from the gift shops or markets as a souvenir. And I have hung onto mine all these years.

Oh yeah, pictures! (You know, in case you don't believe me.)

Cool huh? You can tell at the time these were collected by a 8-12 year old girl right?

From left to right, starting at the back row. Teapot from Poland. Handmade doll, brought to me by one of my friends from Turkey. Polish horse. "Matryoshka" or nesting dolls from Russia, I bough these at a market in Germany though, never been to Russia. Painted vase from Rota, Spain, given to me by a friend. Cherry bowl, from Italy. Hand carved, wooden "Love Spoons" from Wales. Marble egg, from Carrera, Italy. Painted egg cup from Bavaria, Germany. Cup and saucer from Poland. Cup and saucer from England, Royal Dalton china. Tea set from England. Carved, round box from Poland. Alabaster box from Italy. Cup and saucer from Poland. Cup and saucer from Holland. Miniature wooden shoes from Poland. Tea pot from Germany.

I can't believe I remember where I got every single item. I guess that's the point of souvenirs, right?

There's one more thing. When I was living overseas I actually became quite the collector...of thimbles. It sounds really funny, but over there it was a pretty common souvenir item, you could get a thimble with anything on it. I even have a few with the Queen Mum herself! Check them out... no I won't go through all of them, there are far too many. Forty-one, I think.

And now that I've bored you to tears...

Four years ago today...

I was lucky enough to marry my best friend. I know a lot of people say that, but he really is my best friend. More than that he's been my anchor and my rock for the past four years and I'd hate to think of where I'd be without him. We've been through a lot in just four years of marriage, and I don't think I need to go into detail about what that "a lot" is. In fact we're still going through it. But we've always stuck by one another, always relied on one another.



Before I was married people always told me how hard marriage is, that it's a struggle everyday. We've been fortunate that all of our hardships and struggles have come from outside instead of within.



You know, I always think these types of post are going to be easy, just say a bunch of glowing things about my husband and hit post. But they never are. I guess it's because I'm forced to think about just how much we have been through and it makes me a little...well...emotional. But at the same time I can draw strength from that, especially in these times, that we've always made it through just fine.



Most people would say we were asking for it by getting married at twenty and twenty-two. That you're just guaranteed more hardships then usual. I say we were lucky to meet our soulmates so young and that most people would have done the same thing had they been that in love at our age.



Anyway, hardships aside, there's been plenty good to balance it out. Despite all the difficulty I am, on most days, incredibly happy to have such a wonderful life. Not many people feel 100% loved all of the time, no matter what. Not many people have someone they can rely on completely to take care of them, forever.



So, I say here's to forty more years and maybe many more.



(Oh and obligatory wedding pic!)

It's that time...

Wednesday Randomness (Moving and Complaining edition.)

• So, in less than three weeks I will be in my car on my way to places unknown. Well, not really unknown, just un-visited. In case I didn't mention it before, we're doing this move all on our own. We'll have some family members come and help us load the truck, and the next morning we'll set off. The Professor will be driving the moving truck and I'll be driving our car with Batman. Should be fun, right? A three day road trip. 800 miles or so? Okay maybe not fun, interesting, right?
• I've got three good-sized boxes sitting downstairs right now. I just can't decide what to pack first.
• I find that I'm equal parts excited and scared lately. I think at this point I'm just ready to go. I guess I like to face challenges head on, and I hate put of things that are inevitable.
• Actually my first thought this morning was not "I'm moving in three weeks". It was actually, "Harry Potter comes out in one week!". At least I've got my priorities straight, right?
• I guess my book is on hold for now, I can't seem to find any time to write lately. For me to right successfully I sort of have to space out for a while. It's sort of an escape for me. I feel like I need to stay present for now. It's too temping to zone out and not take care of the things that need to be getting done.
• Speaking of thing getting done, I think we have found a good place to live so wish us luck!
• Also our cable is getting shut off this weekend, tired of paying for it! We're keeping our Internet until we leave though. I'm not sure how long it will be before we get internet at the new place. But both the Professor and I have wireless on our laptops so hopefully I can keep y'all updated.

Um, I think that's all. I have to go now...go do...something...

(I just scrolled through my tags and saw my "I'm a maverick" tag and made me LOL IRL.

All I need...

is for someone to tell me that everything is going to be okay. To promise me that everything will be alright in the end. Maybe then I won't be stressed about this move. Unfortunately, no one can give me what I need right now. I guess it's in times like these when I'm fortunate to be a person of faith. Not great faith, but little faith. Speaking of great faith, the Professor reminded me the other day of the story of Abraham, who set out from the land of his forefathers to an unnamed land which God promised to him. In a time when traveling with your family meant almost certain death, hunger and hardship. Yeah, my faith is not that great. Plus moving to Connecticut doesn't really involve certain death and I'm pretty sure it's not the promised land. (Although it's looking pretty good to me right now.)

So anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, faith. You can get faith lots of places, I suppose the Bible is a good place to look. There are tons of stories of great trials that God overcame for those who believed in them. But still, they are just stories, sometimes it's hard to identify with them. If I need a good dose of faith boosting I simply look to my past. How many times have I been at the very precipice of despair and was pulled back at the very last minute? Too many times, let me tell you. But I can draw strength from those moments, knowing that almost always, things do work out for the best. The problem is how long do I have to wait?

I try to take comfort from the fact that this move is probably going to be life-changing, in a really good way. Hopefully someday, with a degree from Yale, the Professor will be able to get a really good job and maybe we won't have to worry so much anymore. If there's one thing that I don't want my life to be it's stagnant. Never moving forward, always staying the same. As long as I feel like we're making forward progress to a better future then I'm fine.

So, I'm trying to keep my spirits up, though I confess I've been having a hard time lately. I've been listening to a guy who is a reggae rapper/singer who happens to be a Hasidic Jew. His lyrics are very inspirational to me and always help me keep my head up. His name is Matisyahu and his songs are amazing! I've got some on the side over there if you want to give him a listen. My favorite by far is the one called "Time of your Song". I particularly like the part in the chorus where he says "I'm the arrow, you're my bow, shoot me forth and I will go," I guess I feel like I can relate, He is shooting us forth, and we're going.

Of goodbyes and splinters...

This weekend was a long weekend, to put it mildly. If you didn't already know, we went to stay with my in-laws for the long weekend. Usually it's a lot of fun to visit them. All of the Professor's siblings come over and we have cookouts by the pool.

For one thing, I didn't even really want to go. I just get in this weird mood when I'm moving, like in my mind I'm already gone and I don't feel like prolonging the goodbyes any longer than necessary. This trip it was like everyone suddenly realized we were moving and changed their minds from being happy for us, to trying to persuade us to stay. Especially my mother-in-law. First she laid on the guilt for us taking her grandbaby away. (Right, she has two more that live right around the corner from her.) Then as we were leaving yesterday morning she told the Professor that if he decided not to go to Yale that they'd be so happy. (Seriously? You'd rather NOT have your son go to Yale?)

I don't understand people. Don't they realize that life is not about family barbecues? I mean, those things are fun, but that's not what life is all about. Is it so bad that we have aspirations of our own? Other than for the whole family to live on the same block forever?

It's so annoying to feel like your family thinks you're a total freak for moving out of the state.

Oh and I just found out that my sister-in-law refers to me around her boyfriend as "The Yankee". WTF How am I a Yankee? (Oh and yes, in the south that's pretty much an insult. I don't take it that way, but still.) I guess it's better than my old nick-name "The Hoochie of the Family."

Oy, Connecticut here I come.

Oh and the splinter thing...we spent all day Friday out on the pool deck and when we woke up Saturday morning Batman's feet were full of splinters. He had one that was about an inch long. I tried to remove them with a pair of tweezers, but they were too deep. So we headed for the ER. Just what we wanted to do on a Saturday morning! About two hours later the Dr. came in to remove them. Unfortunately they didn't numb his foot at all, we just had to hold him down while he screamed in pain as they basically cut the splinters out of his foot. It was certainly the hardest thing I've ever had to endure as a parent, I cried just as much as he did. It was awful. But one happy meal later, he was feeling much better. Also, he's taking an antibiotic for the first time. How come I never knew they had to take this stuff every six hours? That's so crazy to me...

Oh and one more thing...

Apparently that plug or whatever it is, was connected to my stove. (It's on the other side of that same wall.) Well, guess what? Now my stove doesn't work!

I almost...

electrocuted myself yesterday. (For lack of anything better to talk about this morning.)

I've been laying out on one of those beach, lounge chair thingies in my little back garden everyday. Sometimes Batman comes out and plays in the kiddie pool, sometimes I go out while he's napping.

Things started out badly enough for me. I couldn't find the book I was looking for "The Picture of Dorien Grey" by Oscar Wilde, I suspect that I might have left it at the beach house. I was really upset. I only paid a couple bucks for it a second-hand book shop, but I hadn't finished it yet! So annoying. Anyway, I went with book choice two "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (one of my favorite books of all time!) and grabbed my iPod and headed outside. After setting up my chair I proceeded to lay down, and it proceeded to collapse on me and deposit me on the ground. I would have recovered quickly with no embarrassment, but the cable guy, who just happened to be hooking up my neighbor's cable just happened to walk by at that moment and witness my little accident.

Great. I mean, I really didn't care, but still.

Then later, when I was too hot to stay out any longer, I picked up all my stuff and folded up my chair. I brought it over to the backside of the house where I was going to lean it up against the wall and leave it. Well, there's some sort of electrical hook-up out there. It looks very nasty and my dad, who used to be an electrician, had told me to get someone to come look at it. Of course I haven't. So when I put the chair down the metal frame bumped against that plug which apparently is still very much live it popped like you would not believe. Yes, metal is a conductor my friends. Fortunately, the rubbery fabric covering the chair served as an insulator, keeping me from getting electrocuted. But it still scared the wits out of me.

Okay, well, maybe I wouldn't have been electrocuted, I think that's the bad one that can actually kill you. The proper term would have been shocked. I have been shocked before and it's not that great of fun either!


Well, hope that was at least remotely entertaining.

Wednesday Randomness...

The writing edition...why? Because it's on my mind, that's why!

• First off, let me be completely honest...I'm beginning to think this book will never be finished. What if I keep re-writing it forever? What if I'm never satisfied? I guess that sort of diminishes my chances of being published, huh?
• Although, if the re-writing makes it better, than so be it. I guess.
• This is boring so far, isn't it? Sorry.
• I think that to be a writer you have to be a tiny bit crazy, you know. Okay, maybe more than a little crazy. Every time I talk to someone like the Professor or my mom about my storyline or characters I get a little too into it. Their reaction is usually like, "oookayy" *slow eye-roll*. I don't mind.
• There are somethings I am a little crazy about, I'll admit. For one, my characters. In my head (see there's the crazy right there) they are complete, fully formed people. I could tell you exactly what they look like, sound like and pretty much how they would react in any given situation. Its like I've really gotten to know them over the past year of me writing this book. And it makes the writing so much easier.
• I read some interviews of Stephenie Meyer and a lot of people were making fun of her for saying that the character made her do such and such. It sounds crazy but it's true. Sometimes I feel like I don't have any control of where the story goes.
• Yes I am crazy, didn't you know that already.
• Oooh I think someone is moving in next door... (this is randomness you know.)
• Also, we're going to the Brave's game tonight. You should watch to see if I'm on tv. If I am, take a pic of your tv with me on and it send it to me, okay? It would make a great Facebook pic...
• Speaking of Facebook, my life is officially over now that my mom has a Facebook page. And they say chivalry is dead? No, my dear, privacy is dead.
• Anyway, if you're my friend on Facebook, don't ever expect me to say anything interesting. Follow me on Twitter, that's my latest outlet.

Okay, all for now. Hope you enjoyed this weeks installment.