bookish dreamer

and thought... I kinda love life.

Which means, I suppose, that I don't often talk about it.  When I'm content I don't really end up ranting - it's hard to find a proper turn of words when I'm feeling lazy and over-full.

Not that I'm not worried with those day to day things that I get lost in... wondering if I'm going to ever be a better writer (my advisor suggests trying to be crisp, and I wonder if I've lost the ability to actually write in crisp vernacular).  Japanese test tomorrow that I'm preparing for - would like to get an A.  Would be happy with a B.  We shall see.

There's the bathroom front - it's been fun repainting, but that was the easiest part.  We're now in new fixtures limbo, finding that the old ones are corroded onto the pipes and that we need more pieces than we originally bought.  Hopefully this weekend we'll be tiling our uneven floor with our lovely new nutty-brown tile, and then the bathroom will really start to take on it's new colors.  Not that it hasn't already... painting always makes a big impact.

Hopefully, if schedules permit and she hasn't crossed me off her list because I'm a huge flake, I'll be meeting emeraldswan on Saturday!  In between tiling, of course!

Spring break is next week, and I'm ready for it, even though I feel like there are a million little things I need to get done during those days.  We're heading out to Arizona to see our friends Michael and Lauren get married too, and that should be wondrous. Bunches of friends, so it's a mini-reunion, and besides, they're so sweet together that I can't wait. Lauren's even letting me be the one who runs around on the wedding day and makes sure everybody gets where they need to go (not quite coordinator, but more than just guest, i suppose) and it's the perfect kind of job for me.  This, however, means that I need to find a pretty dress in three days for an upscale spring wedding, and get my hair done, because it wouldn't exactly do to be running around directing people everywhere with four inch roots.

After that, in April we're going to my Grandfather's 90th birthday in Kansas, and we need to do things like get tickets, make hotel reservations (ok, that's done, but still) and figure out rental car situations... like now. 

In May I'm doing my conference, so that'll be another weekend that probably arrives too soon.

Hopefully at some point, too, I'll know if I'm going to Japan.  I keep meaning to find backup programs in the US in case I don't get in.  That's another on the laundry list of things to do.  Ah, things to do.  :D 

But this morning I snuggled into the pillows of our fluffy bed, wrapped my hand in Neil's, and coasted in that half dream state where I was cuddled and warm and happy, and thought to myself, well, this is all pretty damn good.

Hi guys!  I'm sorry, i've been ... utterly uncommenty, utterly unwriterly, and basically mute for the past couple of days ...

Not for lack of inattention, it's just getting to be that time again.  That time when I have to make school a priority over everything else.  (Gasp! No!) 

This week was pretty frigging fabulous, because I was able to do one other thing - make Neil & Kate time a priority.  We're not big Valetine's Day celebrators, but for some reason this year, we managed to do silly things.  ( cut for those who don't want to hear it )

Other than that, school's been chugging away.  I'm doing applications for Summer in Japan right now, trying to put together my statement of purpose (and lo, it's another one!  And I still don't know what to put in this one, other than FUND ME!).  Yesterday our profs did this great seminar where they talked to us about the three big things we should be concerned with as grad students:  Publishing, Conferences and Funding.  It was grim, but ... I feel better about the whole thing, regardless of how grim it is.  I like to *know* things, ya know?  Even if it's the worst news.  And it's not quite so bad for me.  The upshot of the whole thing really was:  don't be a conference floozy, pick and choose, don't be a publication slut, because it matters where you get published as much as when... but, most master's thesis should be considered as things you can transform into publications.  Oh, and funding... apparently the more you get, the more you'll get.  Just like money everywhere.

Now we're off to look at tiles for the bathroom remodel.  Yep, we're going to tear out our master bathroom and put a new one in.  This is me giving y'all fair warning that although I adore you, it is doubtful I will be a commenter in the next months, because with school + remodel + applications + grad research.... yeah, i don't know how i'm gonna do it either.