Spring 2009

Fulltime work and fulltime school allow for little else... I'm hoping to blog more over the summer once classes are over. But for now, here's the quick update:

• We've moved! My drive is shorter, the house is great, and there are lots of crazy DIY projects in our future. (And yeah, it's rather scandalously large--we weren't looking for anything that grand, but it was the right price.)
  

• Alex is still doing a lot of work traveling, and is on a crazy overseas-more-than-home schedule for awhile. He's very much enjoying the work, and I'm glad he isn't just stuck home evenings, watching me do homework.
• I will complete my PhD's residency requirement May 14th, and will be taking NO classes this summer. I will be taking two classes in fall again, but won't have to take fulltime school ever again (unless, for some crazy reason I actually want to).
• Once this semester is done, I will have completed 39 out of 60 credit hours for my degree... I'm hoping to finish up classes in about a year and a half--I think December 2010 will finish me up. (Then it's on to the dissertation, but let's not talk about that, as I don't need any further reason to hyperventilate.)
• I'm getting excited, now that summer is in sight. My summer projects include: 2 (3?) research projects, finishing the first draft of my novel, some DIY house stuff, unpacking the house, rediscovering that "art" thing I used to do, and possibly learning how to knit. Also, helping my BFF/"sis" Amy with her new arrival sometime around June (I'm so glad I live close now!).
• My mom is the Best Ever; she's come to spend over a week with me, to both keep me company while Alex is gone, and to start painting this mammoth house. Huzzah!!

Oh yeah--I also hear this rumor that after classes are done, I can READ FOR FUN this summer. Hmmm. I may have to try this odd idea.

Looking forward to getting reacquainted with you all, come June. Why hello, there Social Life! I've forgotten what you looked like!!

UPDATE: ooo, look, new blog colors! thought it was high-time for even a tiny refresh.
UPDATE 2: i forgot to include a photo of the new house. sigh, silly me!

Overload and Russian Dumplings

You would think I can't complain about being busy any more than I already have... yeah. I will try to contain myself when conversing, but suffice to say that work + preparing to travel for work + prepping for construction loan + car repair + normal bills and stuff to take care of... = Overwhelmed (more than usual) Starr. Sigh.

It seems worse than usual, since my co-conspirator is out of the country and not immediately available for help or venting.

But he did teach me something during our brief IM today: pierogies are Russian dumplings. He had some filled (variously) with meat, cabbage, mushrooms, apricots, and cherries. (He missed out on the salmon, apparently not enough to go around.) He had an apparently amazing boat trip around St. Petersburg today (well tonight, for him) from 10pm to 2am--gotta love having all that day light during White Nights. He said he took many photos (yay!) and there was apparently much yelling while under bridges. Huh. Guess that's a story I'll just have to hear when he gets back.

The 30-Second Update

So, here's what I've been up to:

• blogging at the TLA Conference
• meeting Gene Luen Yang
• reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother
• finishing homework (everything's due by May 2nd)
• dreaming of May 2nd
• planning to go see Iron Man on May 3rd
• packing our house; we close on Thursday!! This week! Aack!
• very successfully not reading Eclipse (until May 3rd)
• getting some photos uploaded
  
• Robin and Barney made out?! ZOMG!!!
  
• dreaming of all the things I can finally get to this summer... like having a life.
  

So This is What a Weekend Feels Like

...So, after a lot of cumulative work on the house and my academics, Friday resulted in a contract on our house and a 98 on my third statistics test (a class in which previous ridiculous amounts of studying had only resulted in a 78 and a 84 on earlier tests). W00t!!

Yesterday was refreshingly weekend-ish, as Alex and I unwound for the first time since January:

• watched 3 episodes of "Lost," which we've been DVR-ing and not watching all season
• decided that we actually care about "Lost" again, and are intrigued by time-travel-ish storylines (don't reveal anything--we're not very far into the season yet)
• had yummy leftovers from the previous night's Chinese-delivery celebration meal (we'll miss Chopsticks on 380 when we move)... btw spicy orange beef is awesome.
• shocked ourselves by laughing out loud together... and didn't recognize the sound of it
• ignored the lawn in need of mowing (ha! take that, adult responsiblity!!)
• ran errands at Wally-World... and bought Star Wars toys
• visited our gorgeous 1.25 acres in Cross Roads (near Denton)
• measured the spot for the new house... and perhaps a work building?
• looked at theater-room seating
• had yummy drinks at Sonic
• Alex got to hear his happy Feist song, aka "the Macbook Air song"
• perused Best Buy--but refrained from buying either Wii Star Wars Lego Complete Saga, Wii Smash Bros. Brawl, or even a blu-ray movie
• got oil-based trim paint at Home Depot (meh)
• did not spend over $100 at Half-Price Books... must be your imagination
• (dude, I finally have Watchmen!! and Birds of Prey! and Penny Arcade!)
• rented Stargate SG-1: The Ark of Truth
• decided that it worked really well as an extended episode of the show... but I'm still waiting for Carter and O'Neil to hook up. (Come on, already, it's been a decade and the show's over--give me what I've been waiting for!)

Today, I'm involved in more responsible pursuits--writing/editing a collaborative book chapter and working on some of that ever-present homework. Ah, the joys of academic pursuits... but y'know, when I'm not also running about working on house stuff and what have you, I do love this. It's actually refreshing to have the time on a weekend to do homework... (shakes head).

Spring Has Been Broken

er... I mean, how was your Spring Break?

We don't really get Spring Break anymore at UNT as employees, due to a long story that most of us can only tell with a lot of grumbling and an exasperated expression, so I'll spare you. I took three of my vacation days, though, because I had so much homework slip by the wayside during the month and a half we've been working our tails off trying to get the house on the market.

Well, that was the plan, anyway. Actual Spring Break went like this:

• spent Wednesday morning with an upset stomach, but managed to finish New Moon
  
• spent Wednesday/Thursday on still more house-readying tasks (while grumbling)
• spent Friday, Saturday, and a bit of Easter Sunday on homework
• painted toenails two shades of orange (as per my Spring Break tradition)
• took some photos
• got house on the market Saturday morning
• read over script for a comedic video I acted in Monday
  

...And believe it or not, in the only four days we've been on the market, we've had several showings and already have one offer! Talk about blessed. I have no idea if this offer will pan out or not, but man it's nice to get some feedback after all those weeks of work.

Now, I just need about four clones to help me with homework, work-work, keeping the house clean, and planning my 30th birthday party this summer... sigh.

Hey There, Strangers

I see a light at the end of the tunnel... it still feels about a mile off, but still.

So, remember that whole thing about fulltime work, long commute, and fulltime doctoral classes? And how overwhelming busy it all made me? Ha.

(beginning of rant)
We decided to put our house on the market. To make a long, long (two-month long, really) story somewhat manageable, here are the highlights:
we had to help finish constructing our in-law's two-story addition, so that when our house sells (crossing our fingers), we have a place to live until the new place is built
we had to get our old truck running, so that it wouldn't be rusting in our driveway (and so Alex has something to drive to work)
we had to move over half (no, really) of our belongings/furniture/crap into that addition
then, we could see what paint/repairs/etc. had to be done before putting the house on the market
in sum: Alex and I have not done much other than work and work on the house(s) for the past two months. Every evening, every weekend. We are very, very tired and beginning to get a tad grumpy.

Two weeks ago, I took three days off and my wonderful awesome incredibly helpful Mom came up to help me--for five days straight, fourteen hours a day, we painted and packed and moved. And still, there is work to be done. The mind reels.

Thankfully, we have come to our senses, realized that with both of us working/schooling until about 8 or 9pm most nights, we can't finish this ourselves--we are officially overcoming our DIY-disease inherited from our parents and hiring help. Praise God.

Anyway, we're hoping (keep those fingers crossed, seriously) to be done this coming weekend. I am, pretty much, done with this house now. I very much would like to scream every time I see a paintbrush, considering that my schoolwork is beginning to suffer dreadfully because, let's face it, I didn't have time to read and write and study *before* this lovely hog of a project.
(end of rant)

Anyway.

Am I the only person unexpectedly addicted to "Eli Stone?"* And I didn't even know he was the kid from "Hackers" until four episodes in. Now, normally I am not a big fan of "laweyering" shows--or, for that matter, any of the occupational dramas, be they medical/legal/cop, etc. Too "real" for my escapist tastes.

However. This show has this amazing mix of hilarious fun, big musical numbers (which we all know I love), and unexpectly, real drama. In the last three episodes, I've laughed out loud numerous times, but I've also come close to crying in each one. And, um, I'm not a big cries-at-TV-shows kind of person. I mean, I cried at the last episode of Friends... and Star Trek TNG... but hey, those were series finales.

*(In the one hour of "fun" we alot ourselves before going to bed, this is one of the few shows we've been watching. That and, of course, the so-awesome-it-makes Friends-pal-in-comparison "How I Met Your Mother." Thank you, Tihleigh, for introducing me to the greatest show ever!!!)

SG-A News

Well.... dude! There are so many details about Stargate: Atlantis Season 5 in this page that I don't even know how to respond.

On the personal front, classes are going well for the most part--I am loving the reading and discussion, and our house gets ever closer to being on the market. I'm looking at my calendar for February and March and trying to take deep breaths. A lot.

At work, we finally got migrated to Outlook as our new email client, which is a welcome change... now if I could only ever finish a single day's to-do list, I'd be more ahead than I have been in months.

And then there are taxes to file... such is life!

But the huge, big, awesome news is... well, actually, I don't know how many people he's told yet, so I'll have to sit on this one a bit. But it's juicy!

Layin' Low

Believe it or not, our Christmas tree is finally up. No ornaments, but hey the lights are pretty on their own.

Last week was my crazy week of two out-of-town trips and four deadlines: this is my week of playing deep catch-up at work, so I'll still be lying low on the blog-radar. Enjoy your holiday preparations!

Where Am I? (aka Dazed and Confused)

I'll give myself three guesses.

1. San Antonio? ...Nope.
2. Washington, DC? ...Nope.
3. Abilene? ...Nope.

Oh... this is home. Which is apparently in McKinney. This seems oddly familiar.

Vacation Means Not Thinking of Titles

So, the San Antonio trip/presentations is done, the DC trip and presentation is done, we picked up Bryce, and now we're in Abilene. It's been a packed two weeks! And for once, I've been mostly off-grid--which is both disturbing, and nice. I've been rediscovering the use of the phone for things like checking museum hours, and enjoying the silence of a hotel room with nothing but a comic book in hand (the internet connection having gone bad, and me having not the energy to complain). But a break from email, even for just three days, was a great way to relieve some stress (momentarily, however, as there will be four times as much to deal with when I log in tomorrow).

The DC trip was fantastic--I had a great three days of vacation with Alex and all four of our parents, seeing many thing I didn't have time to see before. And then the FDLP conference was really great--it's nice knowing so many people now. Plus, my presentation went so well and was so packed (upwards of 100 people!) that I was asked to give it again in KC in the spring--w00t! And since Alex's parents stayed while I was in conference, Alex had people to go out and have fun with, which left me feeling at ease about attending meetings I needed to. And even gave me a few hours after my presentation to decompress with that comic book mentioned (Jack of Fables vol. 1, which was as great as I expected). Then I watched part of two of my favorite movies, Star Trek: First Contact, and Stargate (not as great as the series, IMHO, but still awesome, particularly the beginning).

Bryce was waiting at the airport when we got there last night, which was awesome, if surreal, and we spent this morning laundry-ing, re-packing, and catching up on Stargate Atlantis episodes. I think the series will truly be great, now that Sam's on it and they've got the potential for a nice Locutus-esque storyline with Dr. Weir. Oh, and I also re-read Y: The Last Man vol. 1 so that I could then read vol. 2--and man, that series is not overrated. I can't really place my finger on what I like about it so much (unlike Fables), but it's just a heck-ton of fun and fast-paced beyond belief.

Now we're all at the Grand Admiral's place (i.e. Jared) in Abilene, playing Wii and doing a large amount of giggling. I had to take a break to do some work and re-connect to the internet, but I think next I'll read some of my "for-fun" blogs and then sign off. I'd like to take that "vacation = relax" philosophy seriously for another day, considering that tomorrow I need to do some serious homework catchup, type up my conference notes, etc. Sigh.

Ick, I'm Sick

So, who called that this was going to happen? I spend a week with a couple of 14+-hour days at work, complete a major project, welcome my husband safely home from a foreign country, and dodging about ten coworkers with various instances of colds and bronchitis... so, yeah, my body decided Sunday night it had had about enough of that.

Well, that and then already being tired and achy on Sunday, I nevertheless pushed myself through the paces on DDR Hottest Party for our Wii. My humiliatingly, husband-laughing-gut-bustingly bad paces. Probably didn't really help the whole energy level... but gosh darn it, they have "Hot Stuff" on the soundtrack. You know I can't resist a disco siren call like that. (Fair warning to DDR n00bs like me: turn off the hand motions until you've got some semblance of skill. Trust me.)

So yesterday I spent the day... sleeping. Wow. Imagine that!

Here are the pros of being sick:

• Getting sleep.
• Discovering that Burt's Bees Hand Salve is also effective on a chapped-from-too-much-Kleenex nose.
• Reading a new book from one of my favorite authors. (I might mention that this favorite author is, to my relief, still alive, unlike Madeleine L'Engle, Robert Jordan, or well I guess I had no hope with C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkein. Still, it's rough when most of your favorite authors will never produce something new. Good thing I've got Jasper Fforde to add to my list.)
• Getting work done. (Er, ooops--but really, I needed one uninterrupted day of solid work to get a lot of updates done on the ALA GODORT website. Sad thing is, I'm still not done--I blame the crummy CMS and my lackluster internet connection.)
• Being so rested that I write most of three presentations without really trying, because I suddenly have the energy to be excited about my topic again. And it not feeling like "work."
  

Here are the cons of getting sick:

• The chapped nose. And the fact that before I tried the hand salve on it, for some reason I tried peppermint lotion... owwwwww!
• Feeling more thirsty after drinking something. Which makes me want to drink less, which of course is not the best of ideas when sick.
• Realizing that I have three major tasks to complete before Friday... not counting finalizing three presentations for next Monday. And trying to relax and get better and not freak out about it all, considering that similar circumstances are what got me sick in the first place. Riiiiight.
• Having cable and realizing that most of the time, TV still sucks. (Although that does make me feel better about spending my days at work instead of vegging out on the couch.)
• Forgetting to call my mom on her birthday, because I slept through most of it. (Luckily, she's a forgiving mom, and didn't realize I didn't call her, until I called her today to apologize.)
• Oh, did I mention being sick? That's a huge con, right there.

Making a Wish

Would you like to see my laundry-list of excuses of why I'm too busy to blog much at the moment? Then click here. And add to that list a list of personal items, such as (but not included to):

• reading my camera manual (again)
• reading Fables vol. 9 (happy birthday me!)
• preparing for the October trip to DC (yes, you have to reserve tours that early)
• editing, processing, and uploading photos
• keeping mi casa clean(ish)
• waiting for Guitar Hero III on the Wii (oh wait, that's on Alex's list)
• working a second job over the summer
• writing creatively twice a week (woohoo!)
• going out of town all the frelling time

So... short and sweet update, then. This past weekend, we bought some stuff at Best Buy, including (finally) the last Farscape DVD volume. We also had my (early) b-day party with the Hoffman clan, at which I received a new flash for my new camera (yay!), some toys, a giftcard, and the above-mentioned Fables vol. 9. This joins my new stash of comics* that the boy bought me a few weeks ago at Recycled Books in Denton (aka Mecca of All Things Bookish). We also had some fantastic mother-in-law baked cake, and two of my three nephews astounded us with the sheer energy that is possible in a body under the age of six. Kind of a cruel reminder, this close to my actual 29th birthday, considering that my body's energy level is about a tenth of that. When I'm lucky.

This was illustrated when I went to blow out all 29 candles. I got about three done before I thought my old lungs would cause me to pass out--luckily those two nephews saved my wish from eternal non-fulfillment. And no, they weren't trick candles, and I'm not a smoker--just a sedentary old librarian. Hmph.

I've worked the past two Saturdays, so "weekend" has been a kind of loose concept, anyway. Hence even less time to get everything done, hence even less time to blog about all the stuff I'm doing. Ah, well.

I am really, really looking forward to spending this weekend in Abilene. Alex and I will be chairing BYA committees, sure, and that will take a bit more effort on our parts than usual--but it's Abilene and HSU and friends and my about-to-pop-she's-so-pregnant pal Kat, and our generous host Jared and staying up late to play games and talk geekery. That sounds very relaxing and fun.

*About those comics... I can't find that I blogged about these yet, dangit. So here was the score:

• Astro City, Vol. 1
• Planetary, Vol. 1 (I've already borrowed and read 2 and 3 since then)
• Marvel 1602 (hardback!!!)
• Mary Jane vol. 1 (okay, so I'm a girl, and this proves it--just deal.)
• Flight, Vols. 1, 2, and 3 (major score!!!)

To date, I've finished Astro City and Planetary (and--ahem--MJ), and am in the middle of Marvel 1602, which I am thoroughly enjoying, despite being less familiar with the Marvel uni than the DC universe. I'm trying to save Flight for a little, since it's short stories and I tend to devour those. So the top item on my wishlist, now that I've finished Fables 9, is the Fables stand-alone Jack book.

Once again, I'm running out of space on my comics shelf. I removed all the manga, and that helped--for about three weeks. And now, back to square one.

Still Tired, But Excited

...And in about a week, I'll tell you why.

In the meantime, I have to move my office in preparation for my new boss (hooray!) arriving soon, migrate content onto our new library website, finish up everything that has been sitting around since before ALA last month, and get my feet wet as ALA GODORT's Web Administrator.

Whew.

In those moments I can steal to read comics, I'm on Vol. 2 of Planetary--which is only less-than-excellent because each story ends right at the point where I'm wanting more (which I suppose is the point)--and I finished Vol. 6 of Sandman and Vol. 1 of Astro City. Oh, and I started reading Marvel 1602 Monday, but haven't been able to come back to it.

This weekend is my birthday celebration with the Hoffmans (we'll call it my the-last-year-of-your-twenties-is-the-best birthday), and the weekend after that, we hit Abilene for the Board of Young Associates meeting. This time around, Alex and I are each chairs of committees--eek!

And, um, I need to return to my lunch. And my coffee. C ya!

Update: I fixed the previously-non-accessible library website link. Oh, and just to clarify, what I'm hinting at in the first sentence is *so* not about me being pregnant or anything. Just in case you were wondering. (The "tired" and "excited" have nothing to do with each other.)