Oh blog, how you languish.
Things around here have been busy and stressful, and when that happens my stomach clenches and all "frivolous" activities fall to the wayside. Except not really, because I still find time to read blogs and watch TV, but authoring a blog article myself? Such a waste of time!
My recent stressor is that my employment situation will be ending the middle of this month, sooner than I'd expected. The family now needs a full-time childcare situation, which I can't provide while going to school. We're all a little sad, since things had been grooving so well of late.
So now I'm trying to apply for jobs in my field. Nannying has always been a great way for me to earn money while in school, but I don't see it as my life's work. The problem with going to a great grad program with challenging classes and a good reputation is that my competition for said jobs is stiff! There are many lovely people at the iSchool, some with prior professional library experience.
Things will work out, hopefully for the best. If not I guess I can look forward to free time for: Netflixing, sleeping in, baking, oh and maybe extra studying.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
No Middle Ground
I feel a bit like Goldilocks. My apartment is too quiet and comfortable for studying (see last Friday afternoon's TWO HOUR nap*). Right now I'm at a Starbucks and everyone here is so loud I am blaring Best Coast into my earbuds to drown out the chatter. I guess loud music isn't good for my concentration, because I have read roughly four pages in 30 minutes. Now I am here, blogging, because you know, why not? I thought I'd try a picture-less post. Blasphemy for this photo-bloated blog, I know.
Grad school involves a lot of reading. I suppose undergrad (and high school) did too, but who can remember that far back? So far I've been able to stay on top of my assignments, but not without significant grumbling. Now that I've been to all of my classes multiple times (the Labor Day holiday canceled two of my classes, which only meet once a week), I feel like I'm slowly developing a rhythm. Monday and Tuesday is for class Wednesday-Friday is work (nannying), weekend is a mixture of homework and fun. It's nice that I can kind of shift from mode to mode.
In a few weeks I'll get to add another activity to my schedule. I'm volunteering at the local public library for a weekend shift. My first training is tonight, and I'll start actually helping people (hopefully) in October. It's exciting because unlike my previous library volunteering gigs I'll get to work with patrons and not just shelve books. Like any true library nerd, however, shelving books is pretty therapeutic, and I kind of miss it!
So it seems like 3:00-4:30 was the rush at Starbucks, and things have thankfully quieted down. I guess this is my cue to try to do some more reading. Maybe.
*I am, historically, opposed to napping, at least for myself. I like to get 8 consistent hours of sleep every night and limit my sleeping to nighttime. In college (and high school) this was almost unheard of, given most students' night owl habits and afternoon naps. I just find that sleeping during the day makes me feel worse. I like being up late at night, but would rather keep a reasonable schedule.
Grad school involves a lot of reading. I suppose undergrad (and high school) did too, but who can remember that far back? So far I've been able to stay on top of my assignments, but not without significant grumbling. Now that I've been to all of my classes multiple times (the Labor Day holiday canceled two of my classes, which only meet once a week), I feel like I'm slowly developing a rhythm. Monday and Tuesday is for class Wednesday-Friday is work (nannying), weekend is a mixture of homework and fun. It's nice that I can kind of shift from mode to mode.
In a few weeks I'll get to add another activity to my schedule. I'm volunteering at the local public library for a weekend shift. My first training is tonight, and I'll start actually helping people (hopefully) in October. It's exciting because unlike my previous library volunteering gigs I'll get to work with patrons and not just shelve books. Like any true library nerd, however, shelving books is pretty therapeutic, and I kind of miss it!
So it seems like 3:00-4:30 was the rush at Starbucks, and things have thankfully quieted down. I guess this is my cue to try to do some more reading. Maybe.
*I am, historically, opposed to napping, at least for myself. I like to get 8 consistent hours of sleep every night and limit my sleeping to nighttime. In college (and high school) this was almost unheard of, given most students' night owl habits and afternoon naps. I just find that sleeping during the day makes me feel worse. I like being up late at night, but would rather keep a reasonable schedule.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Playing Catch Up
So my devoted (and only?) blog reader, Sofia, expressed worry that I hadn't posted anything new in a while. Basically I have been accumlating blog material and failing to upload anything. So what is before you is a bit of an overload of photos and anecdotes. I'll get the hang of this blogging thing eventually. My biggest problem is that I am bad at time management and grad school is making that blatantly clear. I feel too "busy" to blog since I should be reading/writing/learning. However, I just spend massive amounts of time procrastinating anyway, and in reality would have had plenty of time to blog, which is arguably a more constructive use of my time.
Over Labor Day weekend, I had the pleasure of attending Mary Jo and Keith's wedding. Mary Jo is one of my sister Amy's oldest friends and a close friend to our family. It was wonderful to see her glowing with all the bliss of matrimony.
Amy was one of the bridesmaids and has had a full year of weddings. When the year is over she will have attended 10 weddings total.
There was also time to visit my old house in Barrington, which was rather bittersweet. Due to unfortunate circumstances the house is currently unoccupied and falling into disrepair.
The grass is terribly overgrown and all the beautiful landscaping my parents spent time on is pretty much a lost cause. It was nice to drive around and see how things in the area have evolved and feel nostalgic about my childhood.
This was my first trip back to IL in over two years and I was lucky to be in the same place as Amanda and Amy at the same time. We had a delicious vegetarian dinner at an Indian restaurant and tried to get caught up on each others' lives in one evening.
Back in Austin, EC and I spent Friday afternoon at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The admission price is a little steep (even with a student discount) but the mission of the center is admirable and it was a beautiful space.
There's a tower that gives a 360° view of the grounds.
EC wanted to do some empirical research on the tastiness/poison content of beautyberries, but I talked her out of it. According to Wikipedia they are a natural insect repellent and have been used to make wine. So I'm going to go with not poisonous.
More Random Wildflower Center Photos....
It's Sunday afternoon, which means it's Time to Actually Do My Homework.
Over Labor Day weekend, I had the pleasure of attending Mary Jo and Keith's wedding. Mary Jo is one of my sister Amy's oldest friends and a close friend to our family. It was wonderful to see her glowing with all the bliss of matrimony.
Amy was one of the bridesmaids and has had a full year of weddings. When the year is over she will have attended 10 weddings total.
There was also time to visit my old house in Barrington, which was rather bittersweet. Due to unfortunate circumstances the house is currently unoccupied and falling into disrepair.
The grass is terribly overgrown and all the beautiful landscaping my parents spent time on is pretty much a lost cause. It was nice to drive around and see how things in the area have evolved and feel nostalgic about my childhood.
This was my first trip back to IL in over two years and I was lucky to be in the same place as Amanda and Amy at the same time. We had a delicious vegetarian dinner at an Indian restaurant and tried to get caught up on each others' lives in one evening.
Back in Austin, EC and I spent Friday afternoon at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The admission price is a little steep (even with a student discount) but the mission of the center is admirable and it was a beautiful space.
There's a tower that gives a 360° view of the grounds.
EC wanted to do some empirical research on the tastiness/poison content of beautyberries, but I talked her out of it. According to Wikipedia they are a natural insect repellent and have been used to make wine. So I'm going to go with not poisonous.More Random Wildflower Center Photos....
It's Sunday afternoon, which means it's Time to Actually Do My Homework.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)