Catching up

I often find myself wanting to write, but unable to justify even the short time it would take to do so. There are so many things going on - new job, new semester, new dissertation, new kitchen, new marriage - that I feel guilty taking time from one of those things to write about them. But I fear that if I do not write, I will forget, and if I forget, this part of my life is lost. I've decided that this part of my life is important, not just at the moment, but in the formation of who I will become; I cannot lose it. A summary is in order!

• Work: I really like my new job. A lot. My co-workers are intelligent, witty, and dedicated. The product is viable, and the customer base is broad. The organization is quite good - there are kinks in the system, of course, but nothing like those in my past jobs, and nothing that makes me fear for our eventual success. It's fun to go to work again. Well, not as fun as not having to go to work at all, but if I must earn my bread, I am glad to be doing it at Brightcove.
• School: Teaching is still very rewarding, though it's a shame that some students haven't yet figured out that college classes are interactive rather than a one-way knowledge transfer. But they're learning that fact, along with the opera information, and I enjoy being part of that experience.
• School: The dissertation is going very slowly. I find myself prioritizing my job and my home life over my writing, and while the latter is certainly appropriate, the former is not. I have learned a lot about myself so far in this process, things like "I don't work efficiently when I have something I have to do later in the day," and "I work quite well when I have an entire day to myself and can choose the tasks and schedules for that day," and "I find it easy to procrastinate with crochet." My most productive times are those that come only rarely (the full day to myself), and if I rely on them alone, I will be writing this thing for 10 years. To move forward in a meaningful way I need to make myself a real schedule, a set of small deadlines, and stick to it. I have yet to sit down and do it, though; I'm not sure what's stopping me. I think I'm scared, but I haven't figured out why, or of what. Perhaps I fear losing some independence, the choice of what to do at a given moment; perhaps I know myself well enough to recognize that I *need* the down time that is keeping me from being 100% efficient with my days. Perhaps I'm just lazy at some level.
  
• Home: I love being married to Patrick. It is a joy to come home to him in the evening, and wake up next to him in the morning. We share the same values w.r.t. family, money, fundamental morals, etc., and it is lovely to be on the same page most of the time. He makes me laugh, he makes me comfy, he makes me feel beautiful, he lets me spoil him, he appreciates how I try to be a better person. He keeps me from taking myself too seriously, and he calls my bluffs. I am blessed to have him in my life, and I thank the Powers That Be every day.
• Home: the cats are insane.
• Home: we are in the middle of a kitchen renovation, and while I find many things easy to bear (cooking decent meals with a subset of tools comprising a toaster oven, an electric skillet, a microwave, and a fridge), I am having a devil of a time dealing with having no kitchen sink. Work started the first weekend of February, and after gutting the room and taking out the wall between the dining room and kitchen, we have since put in insulation and new walls, rebuilt the floor and tiled it, rewired and installed new light fixtures, put in new cabinets, ordered new windows, had the stone people out to template the counters, bought cabinet hardware, bought new appliances, and painted the new pantry. Thank heaven for Mike and Rob - this same amount of work would have taken Patrick and me months and months. The counters are due to be installed on March 19, after which the plumber can hook up the new sink and the old radiator, and we can put in the appliances and have the room back! Perhaps by Easter! Oh glorious day that will be...
• Home: family and friends are doing quite well, by and large. My best friend is pregnant with her first child, several close friends (Kate, Cyp, Kristen) are newly wed or engaged, Katherine just celebrated the birth of her second son, even my favorite bloggers are marrying, breeding, and publishing! It seems to be a very productive time for everyone, and I am glad that everyone is mostly happy and healthy these days.
  

That's the Reader's Digest version. If you've gotten this far, hoorah for you! This post is largely for myself, so I don't lose the little things that make up life. I have a wonderful, fulfilling, charmed sort of life, for which I am extremely grateful. Most days are good, and the bad ones aren't so horrid in the Grand Scheme of Things. I expect to look back on this time in my life as a happy, productive, challenging period that shall be known as "my grad school days." Now I just need to get off my bum and get to work on those grad school tasks and move on to the next wonderful period of my life...