Catching up

As is only right in the summertime, I've been spending a lot of time out-of-doors, and/or with good friends, and have consequently abandoned my blogs. There has been lots of news, but I'm on a roll with my proposal, so I'll only take time out for the bullet points:

• the garden is growing like mad. the pumpkin, in particular, is attempting to take over the world. so far we've harvested lettuce, strawberries, peas, summer squash, and catnip. i fertilized the corn yesterday (a process fondly referred to as "corn porn"), and weeded around the tomatoes, which look as if they're about to make me grateful that i know how to can.
• last week, i spent many lovely hours with old friends who were in town from CA and SC, respectively, and re-connected with another friend who has been in boston this whole time, but who i had "lost" along the way when life happened. good times; i really miss having those guys around.
• i thoroughly enjoyed the local festivities on the holiday weekend. bridgewater's fireworks were unexpectedly stellar, and a great time was had by all.
• we rearranged the house such that the green room is more useable, and the library is now doubling up as a study (we moved patrick's desk and computer into the room). we now get to hang out together while we play/work/taunt the cats, instead of being marooned in separate corners of the house. it's a very nice arrangement now. i'm glad to have the hubby nearby again during my brief stints of productivity.
• we are thoroughly enjoying the new kitchen. bouts of baking and roasting and casseroling have produced more food than we can eat; thank heavens for friends to feed!
  
• i have been daydreaming a lot lately, about everything from winning the lottery, to waking up one morning and realizing with glee that someone had written my dissertation for me while i slept, to spending a month in Alaska, to buying new flippies, to wandering around in alternate realities (a.k.a. the "what if" game). it's all harmless - i am extremely content with my charmed life, have no regrets about my past, am very excited about what the future holds for me and my little family - but i occasionally wonder what would have happened if i'd said "yes" instead of "no," "no" instead of "yes," or "f* you" instead of "sure, take advantage of me with my blessing" at certain points in my life. i imagine i would have avoided many pitfalls, but i certainly wouldn't be the person i am now, and i would never want to give that up, rough patches and all.
• my friend's dissertation proposal has inspired me. i tend to want to get all the research under my belt before i do anything in life, and i finally realized that i don't have to do that in this case at this stage; i just need to convince the profs that i *can* do that by the end of the thesis-writing process. i will start my own proposal in earnest today.
• i desperately need a haircut
• i'd really like to get a massage. my beloved hubby gave me a gift certificate for one way back in Oct., and i have yet to use it because i only remember it when i can't get to it to call the place for an appointment. i have no one to blame but myself, but it's fun to complain about it, just the same. :)
  
• i haven't played the viol at all this summer. i recognize that this makes me a bad person. a bad person who's going to have to play with the beginners again in the fall. le sigh.
• i got my teaching assignments for next year: Into to Chinese and Taiwanese music in the fall, and a writing class on "the Masterworks" in the spring. should be interesting...
• my parents were out for a week last month, and it was a wonderful, wonderful visit. it sucks to live so far away from them, but it is fun to have them all to ourselves when they do come out to the boston area.
• i'm reading 4 books at once now: Sophie's Choice, Maynard's Beethoven, The Absolute Sandman (though I'm at a lull in that one until patrick finishes vol. 3), and the first Harry Potter. i tend to re-read old favorites when i need a "comfort book," hence that last one.
• work is cool. i've been writing a lot of java code lately (for test automation), and while i'm still a novice coder, i find it rewarding to poke around and pick up new skills.
  

And that pretty much sums it up. More, after these messages from our sponsors.