This past weekend when I went to Connecticut I took two of my students with me. I wasn't optimistic about how well my traveling companions would hold up. Weeks in advance of our departure they notified me that they would not be speaking to one another for the entire car ride, and would instead be listening to their separate iPods. Okaaaaaaaay. Whatever keeps the peace, kids. I've seen this many times before: the final stretch of the semester and they start to turn on each other.
Thankfully, things went down much more amicably than expected. For the most part, they managed to get along!
But to say there were no tense moments would be dishonest. A couple of times during the car ride there and back I had to tune out their bickering. One of these times C was making fun of L, calling her boyfriend from Taiwan a "pop star". I thought he was doing this because of how said boyfriend's hair looked in the cell phone photo L flashed us, and so I frowned. "C, don't be mean!"
Tonight I had a meeting with several students, among them L, and I found out that her boyfriend actually IS a Taiwanese pop star!!!! Who knew?
C, apparently. He's usually a smart ass, so I hadn't even considered the possibility that he was being literal.
Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your boyfriend
Malfunction
After climbing out of bed this morning I stood disoriented in the bathroom, wiping sleep from my eyes as my brain struggled to process the situation. Something's not right here... don't tell me... I'll get it in a minute...
Turns out our shower was broken. The water wouldn't come out of the shower head, it would only come out of the faucet part.
What made this even more interesting is that I'd taken a legitimate bath last night and covered myself in baby oil afterward because my skin has been super dry lately. Which meant that when I first crouched down in the tub and started ineffectively splashing water at myself it just beaded up on my still slimy body. Fabulous. What's the best way to shower with no shower? Horizontally, clearly. But how awkward.
I arrived at our staff meeting this morning all look-at-what-the-cat-dragged-in sloppy, with exfoliating pearls from my shower gel stuck in my hair and a general sort of sogginess all over, like nothing had washed out properly.
Husband called in the plumber and all is now fixed. But still. Un. Lucky.
Spinning
I spent this weekend at a conference in Connecticut which I helped to plan and run. If you've ever been involved in the orchestration of a conference I'm sure you can relate when I say it's a nauseating, thankless job.
Now that I'm home again, all of the uncertainty of our future hits me full force. I can't hide behind key note speakers, awards selections, or round table discussion topics. WHAT'S NEXT? Husband has been short-listed for a position and we're starting to think about campus interviews, house hunting, and relocation realities. At the same time in our day to day life we're unable to commit to anything because we don't know if and when Husband will be jumping on a plane. I've been in a non-stop state of maximum stress for weeks now, and I'm so tired. I want answers, and at the same time I'm terrified that we'll soon be getting them.
And to make matters worse, we still haven't done our taxes. Not much uncertainty there, unfortunately. We'll be writing Uncle Sam a check this year, and we pretty much know that for a fact.
Thrown into the mix
A four month stint in Greece or London? Not in the original job (or life) plan, but enticing. We may make good use of your international calling plan! :) Stay tuned...
Mo' better, Mo' worse
Mo from Facilities came to address the filing cabinet 'situation' this morning. Oh, Mo! I love Mo. Now my filing cabinet can be unlocked (with its original key!) but can no longer be opened without jamming a pair of scissors into the release mechanism. So it's fixed... sort of. I mean, as long as you've got those scissors handy when you're itchin' for a file, you're good to go. Need that budget report from 2005? Got scissors? Or a crow bar? Voila! The filing cabinet is your oyster.
I really do love Mo, though, so I'll just shut up and be happy I have access at all.
*$@#%
I just dropped the keys to my filing cabinet inside my locked filing cabinet. Yes, this took some skill.
I have to tell you, the last few weeks? Not so hot. I am up to my eyeballs in work, and now said work is stuck in a filing cabinet that when in lock down is more secure than Fort Knox. I know, because I've spent the last hour trying to break in.
I HATE THIS STUPID WEEK!
