I've been making it a point during the three weeks that I don't have to grade for class to make some significant progress on my dissertation proposal. So far that's going really well. I went home yesterday, took a nap and read for 6 hours. Today was kind of the same deal, but I'm having a lot of trouble keeping focused now. Sigh. So many things to think about!
In reading yesterday, I figured out yet another component that I want to add to my project. I talked to DQ this morning about it and she was very supportive, and it sounds like it's going to work... I'm just getting really tired of reading. I want to write. I have 1.5 papers left to read that I printed out for myself, and tomorrow I was going to type up all of the notes that I made from my readings and finally get down to writing the proposal. But sometimes late at night I get really anxious, and I'm not sure why. There are several possibilities/probabilities:
- Wedding is 88 days away. Commence mental rundown of checklist and stress over what hasn't been dealt with yet.
- Proposal needs to be written by April 1st. At least a draft of it.
- Need to study for qualifying exams. I'm still not sure when these are going to be held. Or what it is that I need to study. But once I get going on the proposal I can get into studying.
- Still need to see my dress and make sure the necessary alterations have been made and it's not completely screwed up.
- The never ending pile of grading that I will have to do.
- I hate being alone during the week. It sucks. But it's also great because I can get a lot of reading done.
- I replaced the catalytic converter in my car a couple weeks ago (read: I spent about $1000 on my car a couple weeks ago) and the check engine light came on AGAIN this morning. I'm really hoping that it's not something horribly wrong... My little car ate all of my tax refund :(
- I'm switching to the dark side. All this week I've needed to have a cup of coffee instead of tea to get started and keep myself awake at least until 2 pm. It's still too bitter for me but I think the Vanilla Bean blend from World Market is nice with some whipped cream :) Makes it drinkable. You know you're getting in deep when you have to up the daily caffeine dosage.
So that's the window into my head at the moment. Some good things have happened this week though:
- "Poop, while grim;" student dropped my class yesterday. It was the best decision for both of us. He met with the other TA, myself, and DQ and it was apparent that he just had no clue what was going on in the class. So now he doesn't fail anymore and I don't have to spend hours and hours fixing everything that's wrong with his reports.
- George has been getting several job offers! It's nice that he's such a hot commodity and that we'll be financially taken care of after he graduates. I got me a sugar daddy and it's NICE. We can finally comfortably plan a honeymoon (need to figure out where to...) and maybe move to a nicer apartment. Oh, and make some substantial payments on my student loans, but details, details.
- I submitted my first grant application last week! It would be absolutely amazing if I get it, and would be a significant weight off of my chest, but I won't find out until May if I'm accepted or rejected. Fingers crossed!
- I know that I need to work out more, and that I need to make time for it. I'm never really sure where to go or what to do, but it occurred to me this evening that I could swim laps before leaving school during the week. It's an interesting idea, and I think it will give me the activity I need, since I'm either at my desk or on the couch all day if I'm not teaching.
Woooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Showing posts with label apartment hunting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apartment hunting. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Gardening is hard work.
So today at A&M was The Big Event. Seven oceanography grad students (myself included) and G rounded up at 8 am to walk over to Reed Arena, check in, get our tools and head over to a lady's house in Bryan to do yard work.
We spent about an hour waiting to check in and get our tools because we couldn't actually get our tools until the "speeches" were done. There was a former student athlete doing the last speech and honestly, I wonder how he ever graduated. He spoke three words at a time, i.e. "word word wordSTOP. word word wordSTOP." repeat. It was very hard to follow and he just kept going on and on... to be honest I don't think he really knew what he was talking about.
Anyhow, we drove over to this lady's house in Bryan. She's probably in her late 50s-early 60s, had a nice southern drawl, and her husband works the event staff part time at A&M. Their house was pretty large for this area and was lined all the way around with garden. We spent 3 hours pulling up weeds and avoiding spiders. Very sweaty work, but she bought us all pizza for lunch and had a cooler of water ready. She was awesome. She knew exactly what she wanted done and had all the tools to do it. I never realized how cathartic pulling up weeds and chopping away at dead plants was. It's a great way to metabolize angry and frustrated chemicals in the brain.
We came back home and showered. I opened a beer and crashed on the couch. I didn't feel sleepy immediately after getting home, but man, I passed out for 2 hours.
Spring has sprung. There's a carpet of pollen outside our apartment and if I don't take something for my allergies in the morning, dear god I want to die. Just walking outside makes me feel all itchy. It's fortunate to be in a profession where the likelihood of me being allergic to something is very low.
Spring break was week before last. We went to DQ's house for a lab party with a white elephant gift exchange. It was very fun, and it was interesting to compare and contrast G's lab to mine. Obviously hard science majors = hard drinkers. We likes the alcohols. DQ stopped counting the bottles of wine to make sangria after about the 6th one. And there's this really awesome Australian beer that everyone brought one of. Cause you know, DQ and Mr. Quigg are Australian. Blonde Allison #1's hubby is Australian, gotta represent.
White elephant exchange was long lasting, but full of laughs. The gifts that were stolen the most often were the box containing coffee beans, a coffee mug and Ghiradelli chocolates, and Moon Sand (my gift!).
After the party we drove back to CS, which was a lot easier to stay awake for because we left Galveston at 10 pm instead of 12 am. And then Sunday we went shopping for boat gear for me cause I was going to be collecting samples for the first time and needed stuff to wear that would dry quickly. Thankfully those items are tax deductible because they were pretty pricey.
Being on the boat was a lot of fun, and fortunately I don't get sea sick. It was pretty windy in the morning (thanks, meteorologists for being COMPLETELY WRONG about the forecast), so the water was really choppy getting out to the first station. But after that it was a piece of cake. Again, it's something that completely wipes you out once you're done. I went to bed at 8:30 and slept until 6:30 the next morning. BEST SLEEP I had had in A LONG ASS TIME.
G came by on Wednesday and we stayed in a nice hotel. We walked along Sea Wall in the morning before heading out to Houston to go apartment hunting. I think we found a place, but we'll see how things go in the next month or so.
We spent about an hour waiting to check in and get our tools because we couldn't actually get our tools until the "speeches" were done. There was a former student athlete doing the last speech and honestly, I wonder how he ever graduated. He spoke three words at a time, i.e. "word word wordSTOP. word word wordSTOP." repeat. It was very hard to follow and he just kept going on and on... to be honest I don't think he really knew what he was talking about.
Anyhow, we drove over to this lady's house in Bryan. She's probably in her late 50s-early 60s, had a nice southern drawl, and her husband works the event staff part time at A&M. Their house was pretty large for this area and was lined all the way around with garden. We spent 3 hours pulling up weeds and avoiding spiders. Very sweaty work, but she bought us all pizza for lunch and had a cooler of water ready. She was awesome. She knew exactly what she wanted done and had all the tools to do it. I never realized how cathartic pulling up weeds and chopping away at dead plants was. It's a great way to metabolize angry and frustrated chemicals in the brain.
We came back home and showered. I opened a beer and crashed on the couch. I didn't feel sleepy immediately after getting home, but man, I passed out for 2 hours.
Spring has sprung. There's a carpet of pollen outside our apartment and if I don't take something for my allergies in the morning, dear god I want to die. Just walking outside makes me feel all itchy. It's fortunate to be in a profession where the likelihood of me being allergic to something is very low.
Spring break was week before last. We went to DQ's house for a lab party with a white elephant gift exchange. It was very fun, and it was interesting to compare and contrast G's lab to mine. Obviously hard science majors = hard drinkers. We likes the alcohols. DQ stopped counting the bottles of wine to make sangria after about the 6th one. And there's this really awesome Australian beer that everyone brought one of. Cause you know, DQ and Mr. Quigg are Australian. Blonde Allison #1's hubby is Australian, gotta represent.
White elephant exchange was long lasting, but full of laughs. The gifts that were stolen the most often were the box containing coffee beans, a coffee mug and Ghiradelli chocolates, and Moon Sand (my gift!).
After the party we drove back to CS, which was a lot easier to stay awake for because we left Galveston at 10 pm instead of 12 am. And then Sunday we went shopping for boat gear for me cause I was going to be collecting samples for the first time and needed stuff to wear that would dry quickly. Thankfully those items are tax deductible because they were pretty pricey.
Being on the boat was a lot of fun, and fortunately I don't get sea sick. It was pretty windy in the morning (thanks, meteorologists for being COMPLETELY WRONG about the forecast), so the water was really choppy getting out to the first station. But after that it was a piece of cake. Again, it's something that completely wipes you out once you're done. I went to bed at 8:30 and slept until 6:30 the next morning. BEST SLEEP I had had in A LONG ASS TIME.
G came by on Wednesday and we stayed in a nice hotel. We walked along Sea Wall in the morning before heading out to Houston to go apartment hunting. I think we found a place, but we'll see how things go in the next month or so.
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