Just a warning, this is going to be a long one. A lot has happened and I have a lot to catch up on. I probably won't even be able to touch on everything.
I'm blogging from MY ROOM in the big house! It's exciting! Kind of. It's strange being here. It doesn't feel like it's for real yet. I'm loathe to unpack my boxes and put my clothes in the closets and dresser drawers because it would feel too permanent. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. It still feels like I'm just up here for a vacation. Like next week I'll be back 'home.' But I known that this is 'home' now. Weird.
I can't wait to set my desk and computer up in the office and start working again. I need to make some moolah. I'm pretty much broke right now. I don't like being broke. I am also looking forward to doing my taxes ASAP this year so I can get my refund. One of the only upsides of not making a lot of money and having a kid and not having to file jointly with someone. Also paying tuition gets me some nice education credits. At least it did last year and I'm hoping for a repeat.
Tomorrow I'm driving back down to Jersey with my dad so we can do a last clean-out of the apartment, and pick up his car. After that, it will be completely done. Nowhere to go back to. I've already done my change-of-address through USPS, and changed my billing address on everything that matters. Including my college records so they mail my diploma to the right place.
In other news, I have to go to the high school on Monday when the schools reopen so I can register Caelyn. I was going to do it before they closed for the winter break, but it snowed, and we had no snow blower for a day, and we didn't shovel out til it was too late. I figured Caelyn wouldn't mind a couple extra days of no-school. And it would give her some more time to get acclimated to LIVING here, and not just act like it's a vacation. Well, it sort of is a vacation, since it's technically "Holiday Break," but eh, we gotta get back into a routine. At least time-wise. Going to sleep at midnight is not good for a 5 year old, especially if she is gonna have to get up early for school.
And I was thinking, I'm not sure if I like having moved up in winter. It does give us a good excuse to stay in and unpack and organize and rearrange stuff, but it also doesn't make it easy to get out and DO stuff. I'd like to explore town and get involved in things; make friends, get to know people and all that good stuff. It's way too easy to isolate up here, especially in the winter. Maybe I'll sign up to be a class mom, go to PTO meetings or whatnot. Idunno. I'm thinking cleaning out all our stuff as we 'move in' will create a need to have a garage sale in the spring, and boy do we have the perfect driveway to have a garage sale!
On another note, I need a night stand. My "desk" where my laptop is now is against the wall by the foot of my bed. What I really need is a taller table to put a lamp on, and also so I can put my glasses on it when I go to bed. Also, I think I want a nice comfy chair in here with a tall lamp behind it, to read. And a bookshelf. I must have a big shelf for all my books. I've got boxes and boxes of them. I'm sure I won't be able to put all of them out, but at least my favorites will be able to breathe again.
And to end on, before this gets any longer (I will try to blog more often, about interesting things!), Merry Christmas everyone! even though it's a few days late. I hope everyone also has a fantastic New Year's Eve. And don't think too hard about all those resolutions. Mid-way through February we'll all forget about them anyway. I've never stuck to one in my life and don't see it happening this year either.
Well, that's about it, wishing you all every kind of holiday cheer from my new abode north of the Adirondacks.
PS, I knew I'd forget something... I registered for NYC Midnight's Tweet me a Story contest! Registration was free, so I figured, why not? I won't lose anything from entering and it should prove to be really fun! I'll probably post about this again as the event gets closer.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
I'm DONE
With school, that is. Last final and paper were due on the 20th, but due to the whole moving thing, I spent yesterday doing my syntax final. Today I went to campus to hand it in (ie. slip it under the professor's office door), then went to the library to write up my phonetics lit review. It took about as long as I figured it would take due to the fact that though the title of the article made it sound very easy and cut-and-dry, unfortunately the content was very hard to understand. The actual writing of the summary didn't take very long; it was all the understanding and interpreting of the data that took a long time. And it was freezing in the library. I'm sure this affected my performance to some degree... Get it? Degree!?
Hah. That is the state I'm in right now. I'm done. Completely done. My syntax final is out of my hands and the lit review has been emailed to the professor. That's all I had left to do in both my classes. Then I went over to the parking office to get my refund for my parking pass. Apparently, my final audit for GRADUATION that states that my conferment is January 2011 was not enough for them to say that I'm GRADUATING in January and would not be attending Montclair State any longer. I had to go to the Registrar and get a separate document stating that I was expected to graduate January 2011. So I did that. No big deal, but really, my audit wasn't enough? Really!? Oh well. So I handed in my parking permit, filled out the form, and in 6-8 weeks I shall get a refund check. For some odd reason I was expecting to just get money back today, but alas, I obviously expected too much. But at least I'll get the money eventually.
And now I'm home, blogging. It kinda seems a bit surreal. My head hurts. I'm tired. And I can't believe I'm done with school. All I have left to do now is to wait for my diploma to arrive in mid-February and then it will be even more official. It's been a long road from beginning to end with a lot of stops on the way. But here I am, on the cusp of moving to boot, looking toward the future and a new beginning.
Hah. That is the state I'm in right now. I'm done. Completely done. My syntax final is out of my hands and the lit review has been emailed to the professor. That's all I had left to do in both my classes. Then I went over to the parking office to get my refund for my parking pass. Apparently, my final audit for GRADUATION that states that my conferment is January 2011 was not enough for them to say that I'm GRADUATING in January and would not be attending Montclair State any longer. I had to go to the Registrar and get a separate document stating that I was expected to graduate January 2011. So I did that. No big deal, but really, my audit wasn't enough? Really!? Oh well. So I handed in my parking permit, filled out the form, and in 6-8 weeks I shall get a refund check. For some odd reason I was expecting to just get money back today, but alas, I obviously expected too much. But at least I'll get the money eventually.
And now I'm home, blogging. It kinda seems a bit surreal. My head hurts. I'm tired. And I can't believe I'm done with school. All I have left to do now is to wait for my diploma to arrive in mid-February and then it will be even more official. It's been a long road from beginning to end with a lot of stops on the way. But here I am, on the cusp of moving to boot, looking toward the future and a new beginning.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Cookies
I love cookies. I love baking them. I love decorating them. I love trying new recipes. I love eating them. Cookies. The smell of freshly baked cookies is one of the most fantastic smells to me. Especially around Christmas, it's what I like to call Cookie Season. Oh! The varieties and flavors of all the cookies we've made over the years; choosing which ones to make next year, which ones will be a "favorite" or a "regular."
This year may be different. After the move, I will have 3 days to bake cookies before Christmas. I suppose I could bake some AFTER Christmas, but then, are they still Christmas cookies? Are they as good for New Years? I'm not sure. I've made chocolate chip cookies a few times, but none so far as to be called Christmas cookies. In those 3 short days, which recipes will jump to the top of the stack? Which cookies will be worthy of making, in absence of all the rest? Macaroons, with their sweet, sticky coconut bodies topped with a bit of maraschino cherry? Peanut butter blossoms, half-melted Hershey kisses pressed into warm, sugar-coated peanut butter rounds? Magic mints, their peppermint combining with the chocolate ever so perfectly, their tops crackled with powdered sugar? Fruitcake cookies, for those who shun the real fruitcake, these will make you change your mind? Scotch-a-roos, those elusive cookies so good we haven't ever tasted them yet? My famous sugar cookies, cut into so many festive designs, splashed with colorful, simple frosting?
I wish I could make them all, but today I'm baking up the rest of the gingerbread dough I made last week. It was my first shot at gingerbread. It's mighty tasty, but not as soft and poofy as I imagine really awesome gingerbread cookies to be. They look all poofy in the oven, and as soon as I pull them out, they go flat. Like a souffle. Delicious, thick, chewy cookies fresh out of the oven are, in seconds, demoted to flat, indistinguishable blobs, for not only have they caved in, they've spread. My meticulously cut gingerbread men could not hold their shape. Lop-sided 5-petaled flowers emerge instead of little boy cut-outs waiting to be dressed up in frosting and candy.
Despite their shape and lack of thickness, they are delicious. And chewy. I suppose I should be grateful that they didn't burn, or are otherwise inedible. I shall cast aside all my cookie cares and worries and bask in the satisfaction that something I've made brings smiles and sighs of delight to my family and friends. A toast, then, to Cookies!
This year may be different. After the move, I will have 3 days to bake cookies before Christmas. I suppose I could bake some AFTER Christmas, but then, are they still Christmas cookies? Are they as good for New Years? I'm not sure. I've made chocolate chip cookies a few times, but none so far as to be called Christmas cookies. In those 3 short days, which recipes will jump to the top of the stack? Which cookies will be worthy of making, in absence of all the rest? Macaroons, with their sweet, sticky coconut bodies topped with a bit of maraschino cherry? Peanut butter blossoms, half-melted Hershey kisses pressed into warm, sugar-coated peanut butter rounds? Magic mints, their peppermint combining with the chocolate ever so perfectly, their tops crackled with powdered sugar? Fruitcake cookies, for those who shun the real fruitcake, these will make you change your mind? Scotch-a-roos, those elusive cookies so good we haven't ever tasted them yet? My famous sugar cookies, cut into so many festive designs, splashed with colorful, simple frosting?
I wish I could make them all, but today I'm baking up the rest of the gingerbread dough I made last week. It was my first shot at gingerbread. It's mighty tasty, but not as soft and poofy as I imagine really awesome gingerbread cookies to be. They look all poofy in the oven, and as soon as I pull them out, they go flat. Like a souffle. Delicious, thick, chewy cookies fresh out of the oven are, in seconds, demoted to flat, indistinguishable blobs, for not only have they caved in, they've spread. My meticulously cut gingerbread men could not hold their shape. Lop-sided 5-petaled flowers emerge instead of little boy cut-outs waiting to be dressed up in frosting and candy.
Despite their shape and lack of thickness, they are delicious. And chewy. I suppose I should be grateful that they didn't burn, or are otherwise inedible. I shall cast aside all my cookie cares and worries and bask in the satisfaction that something I've made brings smiles and sighs of delight to my family and friends. A toast, then, to Cookies!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
It's December!
Well, as my title suggests, it's December. It seems I'm averaging about two blog posts a month. I'd like to change that. And I don't mean give up altogether. I would really like to keep blogging, but I'm not sure what my direction is. Talking about myself every time seems so trivial and boring. But I suppose that's why people create personal blogs, amirite?
I'm currently sitting in my Phonetics class not paying attention. If anyone says anything, I'll just show them my collection of A's and leave it at that. It's not really that difficult and the professor lays everything out for us pretty thoroughly. And this current section seems only slightly harder [for me] because it looks like it involves more math and numbers. The heading on the power point slide that's showing right now is "Average vowel spectra values for several male speakers." Oy. Syntax is going along swimmingly as well. I can't wait for this semester to finally be over already! Finals should be a breeze. The only thing I actually have to do work on is an article summary for which I haven't read the article yet. Twelve pages of drivel that I must summarize in one paragraph. No biggie. The hardest part is trying to understand all the technical verbiage of the experiment that it's about.
But let's forget school for a while. Like, forever. The bigger, more important thing that's happening this month is MOVING. Yes, my dear New Jersians (Jerseyans? Jerseyites?), I will be heading north (WAY north) on the 20th of this month. I'm excited and sad at the same time. I love North Country, the mountains, the trees, the clean, fresh air, the lack of light pollution, the list goes on. I'm excited about this being almost like the start of a new life, a fresh start to everything. But I'm sad because, well, I've lived in the same place for 28 years, pretty much my entire life. My daughter is going to the same elementary school that I went to at her age. It's all so nostalgic! All my friends whom I've known my whole life are here. I'm going to miss the diversity of practically being a suburb of New York City. I'm going to miss the City! I was never one to go to the City very often, but in the past 2 years I think I've gone there more than I have in the whole rest of my life combined. I'm going to miss this mecca of culture, the sites and sounds of the city that never sleeps.
More trivial things I'm going to miss is good Chinese food. A good slice of NY pizza. I'm going to miss a good bagel! As much as I hate the kids in the neighborhood running rampant, I'm going to miss it, too. I'm going to miss telling Caelyn to just go outside and play with her friends. That population density is really a pro of living in an apartment complex sometimes.
If I had any confidence at all in finding a job (in like, a week) that would give me a salary conducive to living in Bergen county, I probably would be more inclined NOT to move. I've thought about it every which way, and it's just not meant to be. Right now. If I ever, EVER, have the opportunity to move back to Bergen county, I probably would.
Trying to find a plus side, I will be very close to Canada! Trip to Montreal, anyone? Another plus is that the house is HUGE. Plenty of room for guests. (hint hint). Also very close to an Indian Reservation. Gambling and Bingo, anyone? But really, I shouldn't have to lure anyone to come visit me with promises of flashy lights and travel across the border, right? RIGHT?? I kid. But really, six hours is a long way away, so I guess I'll have to get used to video chatting? Skype, anyone?
At any rate, I'll probably talk more on moving in a future post, probably about actually packing (boy do I have a lot to say about that), and hopefully an uneventful final trip up, leaving behind an empty apartment and arriving at our destination. Not the final destination by any means, but a destination nonetheless. If I don't blog again until after the move, I shall see you all on the other side, as they say.
I'm currently sitting in my Phonetics class not paying attention. If anyone says anything, I'll just show them my collection of A's and leave it at that. It's not really that difficult and the professor lays everything out for us pretty thoroughly. And this current section seems only slightly harder [for me] because it looks like it involves more math and numbers. The heading on the power point slide that's showing right now is "Average vowel spectra values for several male speakers." Oy. Syntax is going along swimmingly as well. I can't wait for this semester to finally be over already! Finals should be a breeze. The only thing I actually have to do work on is an article summary for which I haven't read the article yet. Twelve pages of drivel that I must summarize in one paragraph. No biggie. The hardest part is trying to understand all the technical verbiage of the experiment that it's about.
But let's forget school for a while. Like, forever. The bigger, more important thing that's happening this month is MOVING. Yes, my dear New Jersians (Jerseyans? Jerseyites?), I will be heading north (WAY north) on the 20th of this month. I'm excited and sad at the same time. I love North Country, the mountains, the trees, the clean, fresh air, the lack of light pollution, the list goes on. I'm excited about this being almost like the start of a new life, a fresh start to everything. But I'm sad because, well, I've lived in the same place for 28 years, pretty much my entire life. My daughter is going to the same elementary school that I went to at her age. It's all so nostalgic! All my friends whom I've known my whole life are here. I'm going to miss the diversity of practically being a suburb of New York City. I'm going to miss the City! I was never one to go to the City very often, but in the past 2 years I think I've gone there more than I have in the whole rest of my life combined. I'm going to miss this mecca of culture, the sites and sounds of the city that never sleeps.
More trivial things I'm going to miss is good Chinese food. A good slice of NY pizza. I'm going to miss a good bagel! As much as I hate the kids in the neighborhood running rampant, I'm going to miss it, too. I'm going to miss telling Caelyn to just go outside and play with her friends. That population density is really a pro of living in an apartment complex sometimes.
If I had any confidence at all in finding a job (in like, a week) that would give me a salary conducive to living in Bergen county, I probably would be more inclined NOT to move. I've thought about it every which way, and it's just not meant to be. Right now. If I ever, EVER, have the opportunity to move back to Bergen county, I probably would.
Trying to find a plus side, I will be very close to Canada! Trip to Montreal, anyone? Another plus is that the house is HUGE. Plenty of room for guests. (hint hint). Also very close to an Indian Reservation. Gambling and Bingo, anyone? But really, I shouldn't have to lure anyone to come visit me with promises of flashy lights and travel across the border, right? RIGHT?? I kid. But really, six hours is a long way away, so I guess I'll have to get used to video chatting? Skype, anyone?
At any rate, I'll probably talk more on moving in a future post, probably about actually packing (boy do I have a lot to say about that), and hopefully an uneventful final trip up, leaving behind an empty apartment and arriving at our destination. Not the final destination by any means, but a destination nonetheless. If I don't blog again until after the move, I shall see you all on the other side, as they say.
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