something is working for me!

things are going so well i'm afraid that the bottom is going to fall out. or, i guess it's just possible to have your cupcakes and eat them too!

no time for posting, i have a syllabus to generate.

best. week. ever.

can we just take a minute for the third comment on my last post?

proverbial icing on the cake.

chapter endings and such

hello, you.

i dyed my hair today. it's more subdued now, damnit. i really didn't mean for that to happen, i mean, i guess i wanted it to be darker, yes, but in a fall way, not in a non-adventurous blend in way. i suppose it will have to do for now and my first impressions will be slightly darker than i originally intended them to be. ah, well, take me for what i am.

orientation starts tomorrow. and teacher training. and meet & greets. and the judgefest that will be the meeting of this cohort. i haven't googled, i haven't facebooked, i haven't even stalked these people at all. and i know exactly why that is. sure, i want to know about them, but i don't want to draw my own conclusions before i meet them. mainly because i don't want them to do the same to me. damn them if they think they can read something or find something random that they feel is indicative. i myself don't know what is indicative. therefore, i have not stalked, but i'm sure they have.

truth is, i'm absolutely terrified to walk into that building tomorrow. alas, what is growing up if not scary?

i learned several things today

on my walk to campus today i learned that i should always choose the road less traveled. or the road more traveled? i don't know. anyway, i passed a walk-through thing labeled as "pedestrian/bicyclists campus access." skeptical (as always) of this barely beaten path through what appears to be amber waves of grain, i looked and looked and read and read, but ultimately kept walking to stick to the route i knew. well...that route is much longer when you are not on the phone with a friend laughing about how lost you are or you think you are. so, the whole way i'm cursing myself for not taking the odd pedestrian route, even though i don't know where it ends up. guess what i'm doing tomorrow??? ugh. [i also bought a parking pass for a wopping fifty bucks, so i'm covered whatever i decide to do.]

as i opened a bottle of wine with dinner tonight, i learned that maine is one of those lucky states that reimburses you for recycling bottles and such. so excited about that. according to pete the dentist, it's a very enjoyable and addicting process.

finally, as i tried to do some power yoga with rodney yee, i learned that those advisory bits in the fold out thing just might have some validity to them. sure i laughed at his admonition for menstruating women to avoid inverted poses, backbends or vigorous standing poses (obviously has not heard of the diva cup), but there might be something to that waiting for an hour after eating. i was feeling pretty good for a while, but i think i've done enough for one night. feeling fullish and blah. at least now i know. :)

that might be all i learned today... oh! on campus today, i learned that my attempt to smile casually without looking over eager and ridiculous turned out more like nick nolty's mugshot. at least it's only my student id?! ugh. typical.

party + blog + music

i feel like it has been ages since i updated, but i guess it really hasn't. so...my neighbors were having a crazy party tonight that consisted of loud music and continual screaming. i didn't even know it was possible for people to scream so consistently for so long, but go figure. on the up side, it's only midnight and they are absolutely silent. i'm not sure how long they have been silent because i was catching up on big brother, but they are silent silent now. wierd. mainers party hard, but quick. interesting.

anyway, i've been updating the family-friendly blog more frequently than this one, so if you are bored or curious, it's listed over there --> in the links.

oh, and you should probably listen to dolores o'riordan when you get a chance. she's my new crush. spread that around.

my new digs!

well, i won't say that my decorating is complete, but my unpacking is. i am quite pleased with how everything turned out, but there are some things that need tweaking. without further ado...


the transformation that took place in the bathroom may not be as obvious since the major pieces (crunked cabinet, sink, vanity, light) have all remained. however, the shower rod, the shower head (which was non-existant earlier), and general bathroom things were brought in to spiff the place up. also, there is a new doorknob that appropriately locks from the inside. now, back out to the kitchen.


alright, much improved, i think. i decided to decorate with a utilitarian bent since, really, i don't have room to store all these things in cabinets or my one, (count it) one, drawer. this is not the cone's final resting place, but it's currently marking the stool that might as well just be a sign that reads, "too short to live." (golden girls reference, i listened to the dvd while i worked today.)


these two pics show off my use-every-possible-surface-for-storage mentality. challenge: can you find the cutting boards?


this is my bed. surprise, i know. you can also see my solution to the lack of room for a bedside table b/c of my underbed storage drawers. to the left is one of my personal favorite perks to the room: my improvised vanity. i'm thinking about adding nails for bracelets in clusters around the top. let me know what you think.


okay, so this is a favorite too, but just wait you're going to love it in a minute. this is my reading/writing area. hot chair. nice lighting. and the capper: a rotating cabinet that houses my stationery bits around back. shown here in the rotated position, this cabinet will allow me to communicate across these united states with relative ease. if you want to see me in this position, write to me. you know the address and if you don't, just ask.


red peanut-shaped desk. i don't know what more you want me to say. it's hot. this lamp casts an oldly yellow glow if it is relied on as the only lightsource. it's this odd yellow glow under which i now sit. can you picture it? :)


continuing our leftward spiral, we come to THE BOOKSHELF. i hesitate to call it a favorite or say it's hot because i've done both at least twice already, but you know i mean them both again on this piece. i mean, just look at it. if i were a piece of furniture, i'd either be the mandal, the crazy whack chair, the peanut-shaped desk or this bookshelf. placement of books/objects is still subject to change; the books are in no particular order and you know how i feel about that. to the left of the shelf is the sequel to my vanity. this vanity is complete with scarves in the top drawer and sunglasses on a ribbon near the top shelf. and i'm not sure if you can tell, but the laminate has been tacked down with some lovely white shoe molding. challenge: can you guess which shoes i am wearing right now?


i close with this picture because i believe it gives a more accurate perspective than the pictures that i have to this point given you in which none of my "living spaces" have overlapped. in this one shot you can see the bookshelf, the kitchen, the bathroom door and my bed. you can also see that my refrigerator is naked. so, to you who have asked what you could send me, the answer is magnets. they are small, flat even, and i can't do much else with the surface of the fridge.

are you feeling optimistical about maine now? i think i am.

i only have a minute, but...

early this morning i woke up, packed up and started the drive from newport news, virginia to orono, maine. clearly, i did not make it yet, but connecticut will have to do for tonight. i'll regale you all with stories of the journey later, but for now just know that as i began my interweb addiction rounds tonight, my heart got a little bit sad when i saw you girls. that's right, my girls, kate, bridget and jessica. i miss you three tonight and i wish we were watching the l word or trashing each other or quoting napoleon dynamite, or really anything else besides driving to the corners and fanning out to the sides.

anyway, here's to summer! you rock, ladies.

the displeasure is all mine!

"so what are you doing these days?"
"well, i'm leaving for maine on wednesday..."
"wednesday?! this wednesday?"
"yeah..."

it will be nice when i can have other conversations.

also, i have officially put a ban on meeting fun new people. if you are living in virginia and will continue to do so, or even if you are going elsewhere but not to maine, and you are fun, then i do not want to meet you. i don't want to have the you've-been-here-forever-and-so-have-i-why-didn't-we-hang-out-we-could-have-had-so-much-fun conversation. it's just too bummy. not altogether sad because i am excited about going to maine; i am going to meet great new fun people and i will make friends of some of them, but i am bummed to have to leave everyone else behind. i guess i'll just have to do the long distance thing, because i'm not ready to say goodbye to my friends. awkward, but true. i'll just blog the pain away, blog the pain away, blog the pain away (better if you know the song).

on a lighter (different?) note: ikea tomorrow. hoping to get some drawers to form a desk of sorts and then a bed perhaps and a chair/couch/who knows what of this will even fit in the truck... so, it will be interesting. i'm going with the parents, so we are leaving at 8am. and i blog at 3am. don't question me.

and one final thing to leave you with in an attempt to make you smile: i'm currently laying on the livingroom floor. my laptop light is the only light in the entire house and the clicking of the keyboard provides the only soundtrack. and for the icing on this family cake, my mom just came down here and said, "oh, you're awake" and a couple of other things before going back to bed. baby's excited about moving out!

this could get interesting...

today was the last leg of the packing marathon. it was also hellishly hot. brilliant combination, really. so now that i have shed the skin of my three-floored, empty-roomed apartment, i'm wandering around the family home. i should definitely be reading, but i'm not really seeing that happening for a while. i'll get to it. i promise.

i have a postsecret. it's a funny one. not dark at all, and i think it would be one that people could laugh at. i don't know if i'll make it and send it in, but i'd like to. keep a look out for it.

i'm not really letting myself think about it, but i freak out everytime i think about the fact that i am leaving on wednesday. not next wednesday, or a week from wednesday, just wednesday. i'm terrified. but instead of worrying or doing what i need to be doing, i'm going to look for beds and drawers and desks made of doors and file cabinets and other fun things that will make me look frugal in only the cutest way.

oh, and just in case you were wondering, the carpet cleaner and i are to be married as soon as i finish school. yep.

oh, carpet cleaners, my carpet cleaners, wherefore art thou, carpet cleaners!

today could certainly be described as slowish.

i lost my mattress last night so i had to sleep on this little pad of a twin mattress (not comfy) and i fell asleep with the tv on and woke to a 5am infomercial (not roomba or scooba, sadly). i got up around 11 and got serious about cleaning. that lasted about an hour, but let me just take a moment to applaud the hardest worker of my cleaning crew: the mr. clean magic eraser. that is one bad ass cleaning product. yes it disintegrates after a while and gets this white filmy stuff on my hands, but i dare you to find the scuff marks on my walls or the hair dye residue in my tub. you won't find it. you just won't.

sadly though, my arm got tired so i took a break that i have clung to for the last two hours. my plan was to be quiet so i would hear when the carpet cleaners got here since i am on the second floor and usually don't hear stuff like that. well...would have worked except for the fact that the carpet cleaners are nowhere to be found. the appointment was for 1-3pm. well, it's 2:54pm and carpet guy calls to say he's stuck in traffic. brilliant. so...here i sit. what else to do but start a blog?

i'm moving out tomorrow and then i'll be at my family's full mercy. family time all the time! then, on the 15th i'm leaving for maine. on the 27th i'll start learning how to teach and on the 5th of september, i will teach my first class. it's all making me crazy with worry but it's an adventure, right?

well, more later. i should really get back to cleaning. and waiting. perhaps i'll just do more of the latter.