As Promised

I said in my last post that it would be an eternity before I posted another entry. And it kind of felt like an eternity. My first semester of graduate school was busy, and I was working 35+ hours a week and taking 9 hours of graduate classes. But now, all of that is over (until next week) and I was inspired by Kimmy's A+ blogging to fire mine up again!

(BTW, I'm pretty sure the computer I'm on right now is about to blow up).

I don't have much to say right now except Christmas 2010 was the best ever. Why? Because I finally had a white Christmas!!

I am an obsessive weather checker... sometimes, I think I have a problem. So I knew it was going to snow on Christmas, but I didn't expect that much snow! To be fair, these pictures make it look like a lot more snow than it really was because they were taken on the golf course behind Travis's house... but still, it was a certifiable white Christmas. I'm not a huge fan of living in the South lately (I need to remind myself to write a post about my love affair with the Midwest soon), so I love any occurrence that makes me feel like I live somewhere different. Christmas day made me feel like I was living out my dream of living in a small town in Illinois.


Oh! And my sweet boyfriend got me a nook color!I've been somewhat of an e-reader hater ever since they came out, but reading the New York Times on my BlackBerry every night before I go to sleep has made me realize that reading on a LCD screen really isn't so bad. Plus, I get really sick of carting around a million different books to campus/the airport/work/etc. so it will be nice to have a portable library! How cool am I?


Excellent gift-giving skills are just a small slice of Travis's greatness. Since he moved to Texas, I've been better able to appreciate (and miss) all of his wonderful facets. Distance has been hard, but not as hard as it has been in my past relationships. We both made extremely mature and forward-thinking decisions to do graduate school apart, and it will pay off in the end. In10 years. When he finally graduates with his PhD in Physics. And I'll probably be working at Starbucks because I'll never find a teaching job. So basically we're going to be extremely poor. But at least we'll be educated. Kind of.

Well, that's about all I've got for now. Fall 2010 in a very tiny, very focused nutshell.

An Update

My life is painfully boring now. I had a great summer filled with graduation, wonderful trips, family time and easy classes. But all good things must come to an end... so, enter graduate school, my boyfriend moving to Texas, and working almost full time. Let's divide and conquer, shall we?

My graduate classes are... well... not the most exciting. I'm chalking that up to the fact that they are "prerequisite" classes, which is code for "mandated by No Child Left Behind." The material is interesting, but I feel as if it's not really anything I don't already know. The assignments are easy, but tedious. I also have to use APA format, which I absolutely hate. I started my observation hours at two locations: Wenonah High School and New Rising Star After-School Program. I had a very enjoyable first day and many of my previous misconceptions about Birmingham City Schools have been diminished.

At the beginning of August, Travis moved out to Austin to start graduate school. I helped him move out, pack up his whole life into a Ford Taurus, and drive 13 hours to Austin. I spent about 10 days out there helping him adjust to his new life aka helping him find his way around town, furnishing his apartment, and sharing pizzas. Austin is such an interesting city, and I'm loving that I have the opportunity to make it my vacation spot. There's just SO much to do there compared with Birmingham. We saw movies, kayaked on the lake, learned how to two-step, and ate raspberry-jalapeno gelato. It was wonderful.

Now my days are pretty boring in comparison. Let me give you a break down of my daily activities:

• Wake up to my alarm at 6:00 and continue to press the snooze button until 6:45.
• Shower, makeup, hair, and if my outfit was not planned in advance, try on at least 3 things before I finally decide on an outfit.
• Drive to work, try to find parking, and make the trek to the office.
• Head straight to the coffee maker upon arrival, sit down at my desk, cross my fingers for exciting emails, feel disappointed when all I see are emails from Papa John's and Domino's Pizza.
• While checking email, consume one(1) Nature Valley Oats & Dark Chocolate granola bar.
• Check my bank account to see if any money has magically been deposited.
  
• Spend the next 2-3 hours avoiding schoolwork by Facebook stalking, adjusting my Fantasy Football Team roster, tracking packages, and reading the news.
• When this starts to get old, send Travis an email with the subject "!!!!! :) :) :)" which contains links to 5-7 dogs that I found on Petfinder.
• When Travis responds, email back and forth about what accessory each dog needs. For example:

This dog really needs a top hat and/or a monocle.

• Work on schoolwork and take breaks to google medical ailments that I have
• Repeat all steps until 5:00.
• Go to class and feel confused and defeated.
• Drive home, immediately change into sweatpants, and get in bed by 10:00.

The really sad part about all of this is that my weekends don't look that much different. Blurg.

Well, I think that was a good enough update! See you in 5 months!

Procrastination: A Love Story

In 11.5 hours, I have to turn in a paper for my British Victorian Poetry class. All fine and dandy, except I just started on it an hour ago. In my defense, I've tried really really really hard to write it over the past week or so, but couldn't even nail down a topic until tonight. Let me walk you through the progression of my procrastination over the past 5 days...

Thursday: I woke up early, intent on heading to the library before my 11:00 class to work on the paper. That flew out the window when I realized that it was storming outside, and nothing beats sleeping in during a thunderstorm. So I slept in. Until 10:00. Which made it impossible for me to make it to my 11:00 class. I went to my next 2 classes, but felt so guilty about skipping my first one that, with the immense help of BlackBerry Sudoku and Al's, I goofed off the rest of the afternoon. And into the evening.

Friday: Friday afternoons are usually a great time to get schoolwork done at the office. But nooooo. Friday afternoon consisted of a gchat marathon with Libby, searching for hilarious houses to buy in Austin, and using successful Facebook stalking skills to track down this annoying guy that posts on a pre-med forum that Libby and I laugh at. I told myself I'd go work on the paper that evening, but my new bunion-friendly shoes had been delivered to my parent's house and I had to go try them out. For 4 hours.

Saturday: I had set aside this day as my "fun day" in the midst of what was supposed to be a productive weekend. It was definitely a fun day, but was not necessarily a break from paper-writing.

Sunday: Ok, ok. This day was a major fail, no excuses. I told myself to go to the library... but it just didn't happen. Sudoku and napping won that battle. And then I cleaned. That's how you know I'm desperately not wanting to write a paper... I clean.

Monday: I've now reached that hilariously awful point in Erin-style procrastination.

1. It starts with excuses not related to schoolwork in general. I went to the library this morning, sat down with my venti latte, and then decided I hated the outfit I was wearing and went home to change.
2. Next, food becomes a method of procrastination. Generally this involves me texting someone and asking them if they want to go grab some lunch. This makes me feel like I am doing something good because I am having social interaction. Camp Taco, I do not regret you.
3. Then I reach the point where I work on assignments for other classes. While sitting at my desk at work, I thought of EVERYTHING else I needed to do in my other classes. I finished my portfolio for my Education class and even completed an extra credit assignment. Before I knew it, it was 4:25 aka Sporcle Wind-Down time.
   
4. The next mode of procrastination comes in the "just trying to get situated phase." This consists of me cleaning my already clean living room, making 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and searching through Netflix to decide which movie I'll watch while I gather my thoughts.
   
5. Usually at this point, I feel hopeless and decide to switch my paper topic.
   
6. Once I've actually started writing some Faulkner-esque stream of consciousness crap, I start to realize how screwed I am.
7. After this realization, I'll usually pull out my syllabus and begin to tally up my hypothetical grade in the course. How much of my final grade is this paper worth anyway? 35%? Oh. Good.
8. Repeat steps 1-8.

As I typed this, Mulder threw up a hair ball. Time to go take care of that.

Bunion, Blackberry, and Bombast

I am really slacking on this whole "hobby" thing; you'll have to excuse this, because I've had midterms for the past two weeks... along with other...afflictions...



So, I have this bunion. I didn't even know that a 22 year old get get bunions, but lo and behold, I have one. Actually, I have 1.5 (my right foot is slowly but surely developing one). If you know me, then you know that I am totally grossed out by three things: navel oranges, sliding my finger across a touch screen, and the human body. I like to pretend that my body is inhabited by elves, and they keep things running--the thought of muscles, bones, and abnormalities in muscles and bones CREEPS ME OUT. When I realized that the blister-looking thing on the side of my foot was actually a bunion, my first instinct was to go to a doctor and ask him to chop it off. I calmed down enough to make an appointment with a podiatrist (not a real doctor) to have it looked it. Very uninformative, as he told me there's really nothing I can do aside from "changes in footwear." Basically, this is my future:

In other "Erin's-a-certifiable-geyser-in-her-early-twenties" news, I purchased my very first Blackberry and I'm obsessed with it. It's nice to have a phone where the coolest function isn't its 1.3 mega pixel camera.

For now, it's back to studying for the GRE.

My Declaration

It has come to my attention that I am in dire need of a hobby, and here's why:

I have never been exceptionally good at anything. You know those kids that took dance lessons, played soccer, were active with SGA, made straight A's, and managed to fit in volunteering at a nursing home twice a week? Well I was never one of them. Not even remotely close. I spent my high school days procrastinating, fighting with my parents about my endless procrastination, and driving around suburban roads with my friends. My greatest achievement was being the Vice President of the French Club when we won the homecoming sign competition.

I'd like to say that all of that changed when I came to college, but it really hasn't. Sure, I'm much more responsible, make good grades, and actually hold down jobs, but I still don't have a hobby. I don't wake up every Saturday and go to the farmers market so I can cook an elaborate meal or meet up with fellow cycling enthusiasts for a weekly twenty mile bike ride. I love to read, watch terrible reality shows on MTV, play with dogs, and buy clothes but I wouldn't necessarily consider any of those activities hobbies.

So here I am, a senior in college, 2 months away from graduating, trying to find a hobby. I've decided a blog would help me in this pursuit--besides, what else do I have to do when I sit at a desk for 15 hours a week?

We'll see how this goes.