Tucson Bound

I’m leaving for Tucson Thursday evening, and I am SO SO SO excited. It’s just me going, and the week away from Feller will be pretty terrible, but I am so looking forward to uninterrupted time to visit and reconnect with my friends.

Am I in any way prepared for this trip? NOPE. I am pondering what I will pack, which means debating HOW MUCH I’ll pack. Like, Imma be gone for a week, maybe I should check a bag? But I don’t WANNNNNNNNA check a bag! But how much makeup and shoes can you fit into your carryon? I think it’ll just take some creative finagling of the “overhead compartment bag, under the seat bag and purse” rule. But, SERIOUSLY? You gonna make all your shit fit into what the flight attendants will allow you to carry onto the plane? Like, REALLY?

And that’s where I start downsizing the amount of makeup and shoes I would normally pack for a week long trip that involves going to church on Sunday, an occasion for which I like to dress up. I think Imma leave my heels at home this time. I will take two pairs of jeans, because, really? I’ll be gone a week; I need to at least PRETEND to wear more than one pair of pants ever. (Feller was SHOCKED and SCANDALIZED that I would pack three pairs of jeans for our six week trip to Cape Town and the UK. “But … you can just WASH them!”)

I might need to pack before I pack just to make sure I can actually fit everything I want into my various bags. Also, I should determine whether I can carry more stuff easily in my GIANT laptop traveling bag or if I should borrow Feller’s backpack. And what purse do I want to bring? The heavy one that holds a lot of stuff? Or the one that doesn’t weigh five pounds when empty?

And HOW THE HECK am I getting to the airport? My flight leaves at 4 pm, so Feller can’t take me because his job is PRETTY STRICT about 9-5, and fuck if I’m paying for my car to sit five minutes from our house for a week. I’m thinking bus, but again, HOW MUCH SHIT AM I TAKING?! Because lugging all that on public transit doesn’t sound fun to me. But I might be too cheap to take a cab. DILEMMAS.

Oh, and is my present for BFF’s baby shower ready? NOPE. I mean, I guess I have until Sunday afternoon, but let’s not wait until the LAST POSSIBLE second, shall we?

There’s just so much to do in the next few days, and I’d like to hit the gym before I go, hopefully for my 3 times a week goal, but that depends on when the TV delivery guys get here, I think. Sometime between 1-6. Wonderful. And guess who’s been fighting a cold the past three days and, thus, utterly useless for anything that isn’t NAPPING? ME. That would be me. Doesn’t my immune system know that I have BETTER things to do?

I guess now, while waiting for the TV, would be a good time to be productive.

Amy’s Awesomeness Project

Yesterday, UPS brought my Resolutions Chart for tracking Amy’s 2012 Awesomeness Project. I haven’t filled it out yet, as yesterday evening was fulling of cooking. I know, right? I COOKED. For the first time since Feller and I moved in together. But it was for a good cause; we visited some new parents for dinner, and it was fun to feed them.

Anyways, I’m done with work at 1030 tomorrow morning, and after that, it’s chart filling out time! My resolutions range from firm, precise things, such as gym and running three times a week and having a weekly game night with Feller, to more nebulous ideas, like “make time for music”, as I adore listening to it but haven’t been, and “be a better girlfriend.”

I also want to spend this year focusing on friendships and new experiences and meeting people. I want to spend my time doing more interesting, fun things than just sitting around watching tv all the time. I want to finish lingering knitting projects and work on my spinning. I’m going to blog regularly and send mail to friends and family.

I’m going to be a better student and a better housekeeper and stay on top of the dishes by washing them as we use them. Imagine that! It’s FASTER that way. And easier. And my kitchen stays CLEAN.

I’m going to find little ways to make my life easier and better and more full.

Things To Do

This has been a lazy couple of weeks, clearly, as I’ve been mostly off the low carb diet since the night before our braai last Saturday, and now we have ANOTHER party to attend tomorrow. Well, I’m showing up with a salami and cheese plate in hand if only to keep my fingers out of as much of the other not low carb food as is going to be there. I’ll already be drinking up a storm and probably eating too many deserts, I don’t need to stuff pasta and chips in my face too.

This of course means a Costco run, which I hate but have, blessedly, been mostly excused from since I’m dating the most sainted man ever who doesn’t necessarily mind going to the store. However, I made the mistake last week of mentioning my willingness to hit Costco myself since I need kitty litter. I didn’t end up going last week, and now Feller is holding me to that promise of going alone. Apparently, he is also suffering from some shopping fatigue.

I also need to get myself and all our bags and bags of recyclables down to the recycling place because Trader Joe’s bags full of glass and plastic bottles and cans are taking over our kitchen a little. At least I’ll have a few dollars in my pocket for my trouble, but not nearly as much as I think I should be getting for how much saving the earth we’re doing.

On the upside, I have been quite diligent about getting my hiney to the library every day after work and finishing a module or two before heading home. It’s turning into quite the nice habit, and, at least for now, I’m still getting home before Feller so I can take care off my chores and just relax and enjoy spending time with him when he arrives.

Of course, I have been SLIGHTLY less diligent about some other things: the basket of clean, unfolded laundry sitting in the middle of our bedroom floor for example. I’ll probably fold it tonight, just in time for there to be MORE clean laundry to fold on Sunday.

Also, I continue to be INFINITELY thankful for the he cooks/I clean arrangement Feller and I have. I love not having to worry about feeding myself in the evenings. It’s the best ever, and I eat a lot less pizza because of it.

School Is In, Sucka

(As a preface, I’ve been a little … uninspired. I’ve got a couple of things I WANT to write about, but there’s some Shit Going Down soon that has me a bit pre-ocupado, and it’s been hard to sit myself down get some words out. Hopefully, I make some time this week-ish to write (and also knit), though realistically, there’s a good chance I’ll spend my spare time Kicking Ass and Taking Names in Radiant.)

ANYWAYS, I was just sitting here, reading some blog posts in Reader, as one does, when I got to the most recent post by the SJSU School of Library and Information Sciences: FALL 2011 SCHEDULES ARE AVAILABLE. Like, I KNEW I was starting school in the Fall, but now it’s REAL. I’M REALLY DOING THIS. AGAIN. And it’s a little terrifying.

I feel utterly unprepared for what’s to come and could easily lose most of the afternoon in a haze of not actually productive SJSU SLIS site browsing looking at courses and schedules and advisor names and transfer credits and figuring out how long this endeavor is going to take me if I take 6 credits per semester? How about 9? Can I get away with more than that? Will it take less time if they accept the 9 credits I earned at Pitt as transfer credits? Oh look! They have like A MILLION classes about resources and materials and literature for babies and kids and tweens and teens and HOLY CRAP. Should I take one of everything? Should I maybe only take one or two of those classes and maybe take some classes that might round out my education? Like what if I can’t get a job in a children’s department but the only classes I’ve ever taken are about working in a children’s department? I should take some other classes. But what? There’s so many OPTIONS and WORDS describing each class! Collection Management! That sounds useful! OO, and something about the Web! And Digital Librarianship! Yes! How many of these classes will I be ABLE to take? I should find out if they’ll accept my transfer credits. Is it too early? I should email the lady that they tell me to email. And a language class? Should I take Spanish that focuses on serving the community?

And this doesn’t even BEGIN to cover the worries I have about working and living and wondering if I can ACTUALLY do it and Getting a Job once I’m done. And next thing I know INFORMATION OVERLOAD BRAIN SHUTS DOWN, and I’m playing some more Radiant on my phone.

Finding Favor

So I’m trying to save for a major trip, and I have to stay on top of all my regular bills as well, plus I need to eat sometimes, you know? And I had it ALLLLLLLLL figured out. I’d be getting PLENTY of money before taxes so that HOPEFULLY, the government would leave me with enough to put away $200 a week and comfortably pay my bills. And I PROBABLY could have ACTUALLY found out what the ACTUAL dollar amount I’d be netting would be, but I chose to be surprised. And boy was I ever.

The taxes taken out were SIGNIFICANTLY higher than I expected, and I panicked a little and tried to think of ANYTHING that could help me. And I realized that if I stopped paying my weekly tithe, I would have enough to get by. And my heart broke a little.

Now, I don’t know what y’all believe, and I don’t really give a shit, not in an “I don’t care about you” way but in a “believe whatever the fuck you want to believe” way, but for me? Giving my tithe MEANS something. It’s IMPORTANT to me, even if I’m not regularly attending church. I was THRILLED when I discovered that I could have my tithe automatically debited each week because it meant that I would be able to fulfill one of the basic tenets of my beliefs. Not to mention that I’ve seen in my own life the blessings and favor that come from tithing regularly, and even more selfishly, my tithes last year are why I only owe $52 for taxes instead of almost $400. So tithing really isn’t something I wanted to give up.

I wrestled with it all yesterday afternoon. I prayed for guidance. I cried. I had just about resigned myself to giving up my tithe because … well, I need to eat. Then I talked to my BFF, the one person I know really gets where I’m coming from on tithing, and she agreed with me; that something else should give before I stop tithing. I just didn’t know WHAT.

AND THEN. Relief came in pretty much the unlikeliest way possible. Well, maybe not unlikeliest, but certainly from a source I would have NEVER considered had it not been offered. I could practically hear God saying “This is what you were looking for. Take it.” And I am so BLESSED and SO humbled and SO grateful.

This is how I know God loves me.