Moving

Hi everyone...

I thought it only fair that my blog move when I do. It's time for a new start and hopefully some more regular posts. Come on over and join me at:

http://madnessinmadtown.blogspot.com

See you there!

A river of stuff

So I went to the used book store, the Goodwill donation drop-off, and the post office today, and between those three locations, another carload of stuff is OUT of the condo; therefore, we don't have to move said stuff. The place is really starting to look almost ready to show, which is good because we're working on getting it on the market early next week. All this packing and moving keeps reminding me of how much STUFF we have that flows through our lives, and how difficult it is to keep that stuff to a minimum.

I've seen enough design shows and "clear out the house" type shows that I know all the mantras. You can't have more stuff than you have space, or the stuff will start to take over. Stuff isn't memories, and if you're holding onto stuff to remind you of someone or something, you need to let (at least some of it) go. At the same time, it's incredibly difficult to get rid of, say, DVDs of your favorite movies. We were able to let go of a few, but for most, the objection was "but I love that movie!" As if giving it away were a sign that we don't love it as much as we say we do. My new criterion is whether I think I will watch it again, but that didn't seem to get rid of as many movies as I thought it would. In this case, I think it's a matter of convenience: we want to be able to say "Hey, let's watch The Princess Bride right now!" and then go get it off the shelf. We do have that movie-subscription service, so any of these movies would be available by mail in a couple of days if we really wanted to watch. Some are even part of the "watch online" service. Or we could watch another movie that we have, or something saved on our TiVo, etc., etc. And yet we persist in wanting to have these movies available at all times. I'm as guilty as the next person on this one.

I'm always trying to reevaluate the stuff I really need and the stuff I can let go of, and I guess that's the best I can do. One carload at a time, really.

Big changes

Guess it's been a while since I posted here. Hard to remember sometimes--I do updates on that site that rhymes with "spacenook"...but I forget that some people aren't on there.

So...D has submitted his first paper for peer review, it came back in less than 5 hours and is now in the final steps of the publishing process. It should appear in one of the next few issues of a journal in his field. He is also wrapping up his thesis, which he will give to his advisors shortly and defend on April 15th. Last but not least, he has nailed down a post-doc position, and this means we are moving! Both old and new bosses agreed on late June as a starting date, so that is when we will be packing up and heading out.

I sent my application for licensure in the other state today. This occasions a mini-rant whenever I think about it, because I think it's ridiculous that you can be licensed to teach in one state and not in another. With all the ways the federal government is sticking its fingers into education, you would think that they would have reformed licensure. Making licensure national would be SO much easier for teachers and would help ensure quality teachers in every state, not just the ones with strict licensure requirements.

Anyway, I've done about all I can do on the job front for now. No jobs are posted yet in my subject or in the area we'll be moving to, and I can't submit applications until I have a folder number from the state honchos who are processing my licensure. I feel better now that I've done everything possible so far.

On Girlfriends

I just spent a fabulous weekend with three of my best gal pals. One of them was the bride, the other two were the maid of honor and another bridesmaid. Let me say how amazed I am every time I see these women how incredible they are. They are intelligent, articulate, opinionated, hilarious, quirky, fashionable, caring, well-read, patient, and all around wicked awesome. They have grown up into accomplished and incredible adults. I could not imagine my life without their presence, though sometimes we lose touch for a little while. We can always pick up right where we left off.

Sometimes we forget how long we've been friends or how many little in-jokes we have until we are around people who haven't known us as long. Then we proceed to finish each other's sentences while we fill in the newcomers. We told stories this weekend about the Van Song and Eat Me Teacakes, living and traveling in Europe together, Girl Scouts and high school, crushes and first loves, and craziness and mayhem (which generally follow us everywhere). To make a long story short (too late), every time we get together, we add a few more inside jokes to our bag of tricks. Our newest: the ka-THUNK of an imaginary seal of approval from one of us. It's just one more thing we'll have to explain to the new people who come into our lives. It's one of the reasons we love our friend's new husband (the groom): he jumped right in and started being part of the silliness. Ka-THUNK...I approve.

As the maid of honor said in her toast, certain friends help make up the fabric of our lives. You ladies are the reason I tear up any time I hear the song "For Good" from Wicked. Because I know you fabulous women, I have been changed for good.

We amuse ourselves.

We sent the following to our friends as an invitation to come over and watch election results:

Fellow armchair pundits-

Change is coming. Change you can believe in. A celebration to mark the end of the election season will take place at [Ourname] Election Headquarters, home to the best news junkies watching television. We will be monitoring election results as they come in, and listening to expert analysis from the liberal 'gotcha' media. We welcome anyone, whether you're a plumber or an elitist snob, Muslim terrorist or Christian nutjob, maverick or messiah, Caribou Barbie or blowhard who has foot-in-mouth disease. We won't look into your past, so don't worry if you've asked God to damn America, or if you've harbored thoughts of secession. We'll even welcome you if you're a jack-ass who always refuses to acknowledge the elephant in the room.

When: The end of days, Tuesday November 4th. First polls close at 5:00PM CST (portions of Indiana and Kentucky). First full-state poll closings start at 6:00PM CST. Feel free to stop in anytime throughout the night (though we may not stay up waiting for Alaska and Hawaii).

We'll supply: television, green chili, 4 varieties of homebrew, Oldstyle beer, and wine.
You'll supply: small munchies to share.

Location: (our address). We are in a condo community, but there are no gates (bitter, trooper, or otherwise). We're near (local college) main campus. If you reach the Bridge to Nowhere, you've gone too far.

Preferred attire: Palin-casual

We look forward to meeting with you, though unlike Obama, we have a precondition. People who have not voted will not be allowed to enter. Polls close in (our state) at 9 pm, so you have plenty of time.

Confessions of an iPod junkie

I heart my iPod. Really. Not only can I listen to any of my CDs anywhere, anytime, but I am in LOVE with podcasts. It's like a portable education, and I learn so much every day from them.

Some of my favorite educational podcasts:
NPR's Planet Money. This was very recently started by the producers of This American Life in order to explain what the heck is going on with the economy to lay people.
The Naked Scientists. Awesome British dudes talking about cool current science.
Left, Right, and Center, a balanced debate show about politics, free from rhetoric and screaming.
A French-speaking radio podcast to keep up my fluency.
NPR's Books podcast
NPR's Intelligence Squared debate series--they debate really interesting questions such as, "Should the market for human organs be legalized?"
NPR's Science Friday

(can you tell I like NPR?)

And for sheer entertainment value:
Real Time with Bill Maher
NPR's Wait! Wait! Don't tell me! quiz show
Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac. His voice is so soothing and he reads a poem every day.
My friend B's podcast Chicago Bites, about her dining adventures in Chicago.

It's so refreshing to be doing something like getting out or putting away lab supplies and learning about super bacteria at the same time. I feel like I've been losing some of my ability to use my brain since college; perhaps this is part of the cure?

Fall has...fallen?

Brace yourselves: assorted random thoughts ahead. It's late and D is watching the Cubs playoff game. By the way, D won the chance to buy Division Series tickets and got some for next Friday. If the Cubs move on to the next level, D and I will be attending Game 2 in Chicago!

Fall is here. The iPod is awesome; I continue to discover fun new podcasts. I was able to enjoy some of them on the plane to Denver--I had a great time last weekend participating in a wedding (the first of two this fall!). The aspens were just turning and the weather was beautiful, if a bit chilly in the evenings. Saw some folks I haven't seen in a while, which was very nice. :-)

I am again in rehearsals for The Nutcracker. I'm playing the same part as last year, so that's easy--I watched the DVD for a small refresher course a couple of weeks ago. It's just a matter of working with the new kids so that they know what to do and where to go. I'm happy to be performing!

The economic crisis is scaring me, especially as I learn more about the depth and breadth of the problems we are having. It's enough to make someone want to hide money under her mattress. I am SO glad that I'm not going to retire any time soon. Also scary: the election. I'm really hoping I don't have to move to Canada this time. It's cold up there.

I always enjoy seasons changing because of the different foods that come into season. We had a great meal last week with pork chops, acorn squash, and wild rice. It seemed very appropriate for a slightly chilly fall evening. Speaking of seasonal foods, our favorite restaurant in town was closed by the flood and should be reopening soon. We are definitely planning on supporting them as they try to regain business.

Forgive my random ramblings. Pretend that you're reading Faulkner and that all of this has some profound meaning that is masquerading as "sound and fury." Like I said, it's late.