Too many thougths

The problem about not having time is, well, not having time. The reason why I started this blog was so that I could write my thoughts, feelings, anything that came to mind. An on-line journal that was read by me and those that wanted to know what was up in my life. The problem, as stated above, is not having time to write and having such an accumulation that the posts become unbearably long. Get to it instead of rambling on you say? OK.

First, I love what I'm doing. I know that I've said it before, more than once if I recall, but I want to say it again: I love the course my studies are taking. Granted, as I've done in the past I can tell you that I had my doubts at the beginning of the semester. The classes seemed to have no shape, no purpose to the overall concept of what I want to do. But being the trouper that I am I stuck to it, following mechanically the process of reading, doing papers, etc... And although I still don't see the whole picture I'm getting glimpses of it, and I like what I see. Mainly I keep asking myself questions, and that in itself is proof that all is right. I am being challenged and made to think which is for me what education is all about. I only wish I had more time to dedicate to it.
The funny thing is that now I see a relationship to what I want to do everywhere. It's like when you start thinking that you can't do without a certain coat and all of a sudden you see that coat everywhere, whereas you never noticed before that everyone was wearing it. Well now I can't read, hear a conversation, watch a movie without thinking about what I've learned so far.
I'm not sure of what it means, it might be a sure sign of obsession but it doesn't bother me and I'm not driving everyone crazy with it either. I'm just observing and digesting, we'll see where it takes me.

The other amazing piece of news is that I'm calm. I haven't felt this calm, free of anxieties, stress or worries in a long time. Yeah I have gotten annoyed and uptight since I last wrote, but it's not affecting me. I don't know what that is all about either, but I'm enjoying the feeling.

So this has become a boring entry about me, me, me. There's a lot going on, but tonight I feel like I'm wading in a pool, listening to smooth music while watching the stars. I'm going with it all the while forgetting that it's below zero out there. The warmth of my home and the quietness of my mind is keeping me sane.

Eureka!

People, I've seen the light. It took me a while but I think that I've finally figured out how to best manage my time this semester. Phew!

I've been worried sick that I was going to fall behind in classes and would not have time to do all the work that needs to be done. Contrary to the past two semesters, I am now taking 2 classes like I've mentioned before, and with working full time I saw it a tad complicated.
Let's just say that when I come home from work I am so drained, that anything that requires an inkling of mental effort can't even be contemplated.
Beyond reading in the subway, which I've mastered quite well in all these years, I really could no see when I would actually be able to study, write papers and such. Well, this weekend it all came to light.

Yesterday I had my first Saturday class. It starts at 9:30 and so I wake up as if I were going to work, which is the blah part. But getting out at 11:45 leaves me the WHOLE day to write, review, read, you name it. And so I came home yesterday, re-wrote my notes (yes, I'm one of those), read the chapters I needed to read for next week, wrote my journal entries (and yes, I'm in grad school and I have to do journal entries, hey, it's a developmental reading class) and had time to make dinner.
I was so tired that by 11:00 I was in bed and sleeping like a baby. The result? I got up this morning refreshed and in full form, just what I needed to attack the 4-page paper due... in 3 weeks! And it's finished! Yay!
My calendar is updated, all the due dates are in and I'm already organizing the next paper... with time to spare to write in here.

So, although I will not be able to leisure-write as much as I had promised myself at the beginning of the year, I will have a window of opportunity on a weekly basis to indulge in it. I'll try and not write too much about school, but you'll have to forgive me if I do, it doesn't look like I'll have much of a life before this summer.

It's alive?

Barely breathing. Very busy. These coming months are looking quite heavy duty. I'll post about this past week soon. Nothing exciting mind you, just not enough time to write about it.
Signing off for now...

Never mind

I changed the look of the picture again. I hated the other one actually. So back to same ol' same ol' until I find something better.
Re-signing off.

Blah

I'm home. Still not feeling 100% and the weather is lousy. I have to go out and get some milk and stuff and I'm really not up to it.
I've been sleeping like a baby though! So I guess eventually that will take care of whatever bug I have.
I must say that I have great neighbors. One of them sent me an e-mail yesterday to see if I was up to going out and after telling her that I was sick she immediately asked if she could get me anything I needed from the store. The word got out since then and I've received a couple of calls offering soup, shopping for groceries, anything I needed. Very nice, and I should have thought of the milk (although up to this morning that was the last thing on my mind) but I didn't, and now that I feel slightly better I have to go out, agh!

I got a phone call from hubby this morning, all is going great. He sounds a little tired (too much partying, hehe) but in very good spirits. I miss him though, and not only for having someone to go get milk when I'm feeling sick.

Damn bug, making me feel all mushy and stuff. Bah, off to bed again. Maybe I'll go out later.
Signing off.

So much for the weekend

I had plans. I was going to clean the house, give myself a facial, manicure and pedicure, buy some flowers, cook a great meal for one, have a glass of wine and veg-out in front of the TV watching the Law and Order marathon.
Besides the TV part none of it happened. I spent the weekend visiting often my great friend the Porcelain God, feeling absolutely miserable and not being able to even phantom any kind of solid food. I've been hit by that damn bug everyone is getting. I felt it for a couple of days, run down, tired, cranky, but thought that it was the Little Creepers that were playing tricks on me. No such luck.
No amounts of Pepto helped, nor did the litters of chamomile tea I drank. I just crawled under the covers, turned on the TV and hoped for the best.
Today I'm a bit better, but the lingering nausea is driving me crazy. Toasts went down fine, but I can't even smell the coffee without gagging. Good thing I love tea.

So I have nothing to say, but wallow in self pity for getting sick on MY weekend. Hubby called and told me that they're having great weather and that he was going to have lunch (gag) with a friend of ours. I don't like him right now, I should be also out there having lunch (double gag) instead of hoping that the damn toast stays down. Oh well, at least one of us is enjoying this. I'll get my turn, as soon as I'm not closely attached to the bathroom.

Off to watch some more mindless marathons.

So there.

Well, I sort of changed it, the look of the picture I mean. They now have a more artsy feeling to it. Whatever, indulge me.

This is my second night in what I'll call the bachelorette pad (only for a week until hubby comes back) and I realize that nothing really is different. Yeah a bit more quiet, but I'm not running around in my underwear doing pirouettes or anything of the sort. The only thing is that it took me about 2 hours of being alone to go back to my old habits: moving stuff around and cleaning at night.
Yesterday, at 11:00PM I started doing the windows because one of them had a smudge... by the time I had moved on to the second window I realized what I was doing and stopped dead on my tracks. I've been known for doing such crazy things and I guess that having Mr. N around sort of keeps me in check. Not last night, boy was I at it. Dust bunnies? Hell no! A couple of fluffed pillows later I decided to really indulge and watch dumb TV (Mr. N is a Dicovery, PBS kind of guy). So I surfed the channels and found... nothing.
I proceeded to go to bed and be bold: I laid in the middle of our king-size bed (yeay! all to myself) and slept like a baby.

So wild times as a single gal? Nope, not happening in this pad. My wildest moment will most likely be when I decide to give myself a facial and walk around the apartment with green gook on my face without fear of giving anyone a heart-attack.

I must be getting old.

New Look?

I learned through reading other blogs that last week was National DeLurking Week, go figure. Apparently it was the week to come out of hiding and post something to those you stalk . Well, as much as it is nice to have comments (somewhat validating your writing I guess?) I do respect the fact that you might just want to take a look and have absolutely nothing to say. I know because I do exactly the same thing.
But I'm thinking about the look of this blog, and although it's starting to look somewhat mine, the fact that you are greeted by 5 huge pictures of me, well, seems a bit narcissistic doesn't it?
I actually love those pictures, they were taken by my cousin as a series of black and whites, but, do you think they they're a bit much?
Let me know what you think of the template as well (if you so wish to).
I'm a big girl, I can take it ;)

Hummus!

I've been wanting to make hummus for ages now, and so today I decided hummus or bust. So hummus it was. I can't believe that I never made it before: Tahini, chickpeas, garlic, salt, food processor and voila! Added roasted peppers and some olive oil and I'm in heaven. It was blended to the consistency that I wanted (a bit crunchy) and it's ready to be devoured by N and yours truly. 

Why did it take me so long to make it? That is one of those questions that has no logical answer. I think that the tahini was the culprit, I didn't quite know where to get it from (I know, I know, I'm in NYC so I could have looked anywhere, I never looked, shoot me). So N suggested I go to this little Palestinian store in our neighborhood. Well, big mistake. I had been in the store once before and couldn't think why I had never gone back. The moment I stepped inside I remembered: I love that store! As soon as you walk-in the smell of spices greets you and lures to buy everything. You look at what they have on the shelves and even if you do not understand what is written, it looks so appealing that you want to get it and eat it right there on the spot. 

They have all kinds of couscous, semolina, rice, you name it, in little plastic bags that still have the look they were put together by hand. You want pita? I've never seen such a variety of it, and fresh! I passed by their desert display shutting my eyes because just the smell of honey and pistachios was making my mouth water. I strolled through the aisles all the while mumbling in an almost frenetic way "tahini, tahini" so as to remind myself that I had come for one, and only one condiment. I walked out with the tahini, roasted red peppers and Markouk bread, and quite proud of myself for not buying the entire store. 

I keep forgetting that besides the local, generic supermarket there are an infinite amount of small stores that carry amazing food and are kept by amazing people. The local Turkish store that is on my way home has one of my favorite snacks: Turkish pizza (or Lahmacun as I've learned it's called). If you've never tried it you have to; It's light, it's healthy, and it's soooo good. The small supermarket a couple of blocks away is mainly Korean and among many delicious things, has huge jars of Korean pickled cabbage (for like, nothing), the kind of thing that I would eat every day if it didn't kill my stomach. Curry? I am so close to Jackson Heights (or little India as it has been called) that I might as well be in New Delhi. The local Colombian restaurant makes for $5.99 one of the best roasted chickens I've had. There are a couple of Mexican stores that carry everything I need when I feel nostalgic. 

And the people? The manager of the small supermarket that is right by my subway station went as far as to call his mother to ask her for a good hummus recipe for me. The man from the Turkish deli greets me every morning, as does the Jewish old man that has a shoe-repair store. The cashier at the pharmacy sends me notes when it's hubby doing the shopping and the elder that is always standing by his building wishes me every morning a good day. 

I love my neighborhood. As much as I often feel that it's too far, or that I hate the subway ride, the fact that I can breathe when I leave Manhattan and feel like there are other human beings surrounding me makes it a special place to come back to. I've got the food, I've got the people. Doesn't get any much better than that now, does it?

Can someone please?

Hit me over the head and tell me that it IS winter and it IS 2007. Whatever happened to the hype of a new year? It feels old already... I need to go back to school. 7 Days into the year and it feels like the same old story.
So yes, I expected to have a brand new shiny year, like a car that smells good and all. But no, same ol' same ol'. It's still Sunday and I still have to go to work tomorrow... And you all know how much I loooove Sundays. Yuk.

Quiet weekend, no news. Maybe something will happen tomorrow that will be worth me mentioning it? Dunno.
But anyway, happy b-day to Jen, welcome back to the blogosphere Sam, and way to go on the homemade pasta Lena (I'm so jealous I might even get me one of those contraptions and let hubby do the work).

Signing off.

Out of sync

Those who know me know that I dread the cold temperatures of winter, but this weather is ridiculous! New York City on January 6 is NOT supposed to be 70F (21C for 3/4 of the world).
And so keeping with the tradition of completely being confused as to what to wear throughout these months, I was again fooled by mother nature. Hubby and I went for a walk and I thought that I was going to suffer from heat-stroke after only one block.

Even though I was aware that it was unseasonably warm out there, my brain could only process that it is winter after all, and so although I didn't put my mittens and hat on I did don a heavy sweater. N took one look at me and in his ever-so-wise way said "don't you think it's a little too much?", to which I replied "It's January!" and off we went (His Wiseness doesn't argue with his wife when she makes no sense).
Weeeelllll, not smart. I came back to the house ready to put on a swimming suit and jump into any body of water (but the bathtub, it's too small to be "jumping" into unless I want to break something). So out the sweater came and t-shirt it was.

Dinner? well, since it's warm: chicken with rosemary... yup, summery kind of dinner.
I finally used the rosemary that I had so dutifully put into ice-cube trays when I did my urban harvest. I can vouch that the whole freezing in ice-cubes works, the house smells great!

In another piece of useless blabbering (which by the way I've seen spelled as blabbing which is not quite the same thing – Blabbing: To reveal (secret matters) especially through indiscreet or unreserved talk; Blabber: To chatter – I'm not indiscreet and so this is not blabbing but blabbering).
So where was I? Oh yes, useless chattering. I was thinking about being lazy and not sticking to my resolution of writing more. Which led me to think about being lazy in general and all the little forms it takes, which in turn took on the form of a list: The Height of Laziness. And here it is for your enjoyment, feel free to add your "proud" moments.

The Height of Laziness
1) Leaving the toilet paper resting ON TOP of the empty roll instead of just changing it (mea culpa, can't even blame hubby for that one).
2) Walking around in circles looking for the remote control (because actually changing the channel, song, etc by hand is unheard of).
3) Eating on the kitchen counter (place settings, plates and cutlery for two? so passé).
4) Seeing dust bunnies procreating and multiplying and constantly repeating "next week I'm definitely taking care of them" (and months pass until the only choice left is to either do it or move to a new place).
5) Considering the option of going out with wet hair even if it's 10F outside (because the 5 minutes it takes to blow-dry your hair is waaaay too long - not styling, just drying).
6) Not shaving until you can't distinguish between your husband's legs and your own (hair cannot grow that much in one day, or two or three, can it?).
7) Serving yourself yesterday's left-over coffee and nuking it (throwing it out, getting the coffee out of the refrigerator, pouring water and turning the machine on? too many steps).
8) Waiting until a bikini bottom is the last piece of clean underwear you have before doing laundry (and no, it's not a fashion statement, I despise doing laundry).
9) Making sure that whatever clothes you buy are wrinkle free (I have an iron somewhere, it scares me, I bet it's the dust-bunnies' pimp).
10) Making a list instead of doing all the afore mentioned.

Rest assured, the house is clean, but far from perfect. Then again, perfection can be so boring. Right? Right.

Update: The bunnies have moved on to a better place (the vacuum cleaner). May they rest in peace. I'm still working on the rest of it, including the toilet paper...

Newbie

I've been in a semi-comatose state the whole day. You would think that it was because of the *ahem* small meal that we had tackled last night, but no, must've been something else since we almost didn't eat.
As usual, when hubby and I get ready for a "degustatory" feast we end up not eating over half of it. I guess it happens to all cooks: after a day of being in the kitchen with the smells and (most likely) tasting everything you make, by the time dinner comes you are no longer hungry.
So we have an incredible amount of left-overs that I have been, slowly but surely, going to visit on a regular basis today.

Last night, after munching on some prosciutto, jamon serrano, nuts and smoked salmon, we proceeded to have the goat cheese clafouti (I do have pictures of how great everything looked though... besides the clafouti who didn't have enough time to cool down before we inhaled it). Needless to say that we couldn't even look at the rest of the meal after that. The shrimps, scallops, lamb and fresh pasta with mushrooms were abandoned without a second glance. We wobbled unto the living room at about 8:30, not from alcohol consumption mind you, but from utter exhaustion. After having the oven on for over 4 hours the house felt like a Turkish bath and we were ready to take a nap. I couldn't even drink the champagne! (which, if you know me, is a big deal).

Although we tried to stay put, we both fell deeply asleep (snoring and all) each on our respective couches in front of the TV. I have to say, as much as I hate doing that, I could not keep my eyes open and so I welcomed the godforsaken act with a sigh of relief.

I woke up at 11:50PM and proceeded to shake hubby up so that we could at least share a new year kiss, which he dutifully obliged to. Put the food away and off to bed we went.
Today I woke up at 7:30 (hate to say it, but I'm starting to follow my grandparents schedule here), cleaned some more and... started surfing... Hi, my name is Nath and I'm an internet addict...

Aaaanyway, I started attacking the left overs at around 8:30 - I must say, smoked salmon for breakfast? oh yeah!-. By 12:30 I had a mimosa, cheese, a piece of lamb and some dried fruits.
No wonder I felt sluggish the whole day.

Well, the year started, if not with a bang, at least with a slight tap on the door; Loud enough for me to hear, soft enough that it didn't make me run the other way. And that in my book, is a good start.

Tic tic tic

This is the last blog of 2006 and so I decided to throw caution to the wind: I'm going to make it as long a post as I damn well please, throw in a curse word here and there, not pay attention to run-on sentences (or too many parenthesis) and ramble on about absolutely nothing until my fingers cramp. It's all in good fun. There, you've been forewarned. Get the kids out of the room and let's get this baby started. It's 2007 in some parts of the world already, only 6+ hours to go before it's our turn. At this moment I should be all contemplative and sh** – you know, the typical things that have past, things to come– but the only thing I'm contemplating right now is when to take a nap, all the good stuff we'll be eating tonight, and the dust bunnies under the bookshelf. Speaking of dust bunnies. I often check a site that cracks me up. They review blogs, and most of the time tear them apart in such a way that when I need a good laugh I go visit them. Yesterday, as I was reading their reviews, they mentioned a blog that killed me. I swear I've never laughed so much. This woman either has a strange sense of humor or she needs some serious therapy. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people that take pride in cleaning their house, hell I've even been called a maniac from time to time (no comments from the peanut gallery, especially you 'me'), but stating that you should "Clean canisters"? You've got to be kidding me. It's the 50's Good Housewife book all over! There goes years of women's rights kids, put your bras back on and don't forget the apron, the duster will be from now on your new accessory (and sex is only for procreating, really). As I was reading it –with a handkerchief in one hand so as to wipe the drool caused by my jaw dropping and the tears of laughter, and a glass of wine in the other to try and numb the pain–, I kept hoping that somewhere, anywhere in there would be a hint that all was a joke, but no. I had to stop after the coupon-clipping entry (I kid you not) as my stomach started to turn. What the hell?? You have to see it, I'm sure you do not believe me. I will not be held responsible though for any harm that you might inflict yourself when you punch the screen. (Señor N just told me that it wasn't nice to criticize a fellow blogger - I don't want to be called fellow anything with that type of mentality- but I guess I should *snort* respect others' perspectives, even if they set us back a few generations). Okee, moving on. N is starting to get the food ready for tonight's binging marathon and, AND, the chorizo is bad! It has mold on it, agh! there goes one of the tapas... oh well, we've got a few thousand more thing to munch on. HA. Being the perfectionist that he is (he really is), last night he tried one of the dishes to see what needed to be tweaked for the big dinner a deux. The dish in question was the goat cheese clafouti. I have to describe it because it was beyond amazing (at least for me, Mister Chef decided that indeed in needed tweaking). In a small individual baking dish he layered potatoes, goat cheese and pieces of smoked duck breast, topped with puff pastry. When it was done, he served it upside down (hence the "clafouti" part) so that the pastry was at the bottom... well... let me tell you: Holly cow! (OK, goat) u.n.b.e.l.i.e.v.a.b.l.e! I on the other hand made my mousse, and I attempted to make tiny meringues to accompany it... I think they're burnt... how the hell do you miss meringues you say? leave it to me to accomplish such endeavor. The cheeses (many many stinky - really stinky cheeses) are out, perfectly positioned, pretty to look at and definitely covering the smell of cigarettes. Not only good to eat, but useful too! There's lamb, and loads of appetizers, you'd think the whole building is coming over, but nope, it's my man and I. The downer tonight? I've got an acute case of stiff neck, I look like Quasimodo. And when you try to either kiss or simply look at your 6'4" husband from a stiff 5'2" frame, trust me, the effect is quite humorous. A sideway glance is all I can manage for now. Winding down. The hype of the holidays can be tiring, which is why I always look forward to Jan 1. First of all I have the day off, which feels like a mini vacation to rest from the previous year (and a day of fasting). And then there's that whole "new page, virgin territory..." blah blah blah thing. And so on that note, I leave you all. My fingers aren't cramping yet and I still had more blabbering to do, but I'm starting to feel the vibe coming from the kitchen telling me to move my butt so that the table can be made pretty, and we can start calling the overseas folk that will be toasting within the hour. Happy New Year people, hope the next one is as good one or better than the last. Cheers!

Here we go again

Yup, this is about the contemplations of another yummy dinner.

I finally asked hubby what his plans were for New Year's eve dinner, not that I don't like surprises, but I'm curious (plus it's fun to write about our culinary adventures).
So, as you know there's seafood. We've got some gargantuan scallops wrapped in bacon on skewers. Tapas-like servings of shrimp with fresh pasta (God-only knows how he's going to manage to make tapas out of pasta...), goat cheese clafouti that sounds divine, chorizo (a recurring option don't you think? but this one is the real thing, plus we still have the Spanish bug going on), some lovely stinky cheeses, a salad, and chocolate mousse to wrap-it all up.
I'm only doing the mousse, so I came off easy.

The quiet, the smells of cooking, the music, hubby and I... now, what could be more perfect than that? OK so the crackling of fire in a fireplace and snow falling would make it ideal, but no such luck, so we'll be happy with what we've got.

And speaking of being happy, I've decided that I will write more in '07. I will make it a point of writing one page a day and let it be what it wants to be —besides this blog I mean.
Just to get the fingers going, I started yesterday. The funny thing is that when I decide to write fiction I might base it on things that I know, but it really has nothing to do with me. What I'm writing so far seems quite gloomy, and yet I am not feeling down in the least.
Does that mean that words take a life of their own? Dunno, it's a fun experience though and since I enjoy doing it I'm going with it. What makes it special is precisely that, that I'm doing it for myself and not for others...

2 more days in '06. I'll fare it well then. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to a great evening with señor N.

All's good?

I almost feel guilty to admit that I feel content today. I say almost because I can't quite pin-point the reason behind it.
Maybe because a brand new year is coming and it just feels as if it was virgin territory: You know that you can make anything of it since it hasn't been touched yet. It hasn't been molded or corrupted by bad mementos, it has no memories or experiences. For all you know it will be perfect, it'll be what you want it to be. And I guess that's the exciting part of it. Like a new notebook that you will start writing on with perfect handwriting, no erasures, white-outs or mistakes. Just blank, perfect pages that promise to be great.

I'm not one to enjoy the holiday season, and so having decided to stay home with hubby and snubbing all our friends has lifted a weight from my shoulders. We will have a delicious tête-à-tête accompanied with seafood (check, in the fridge), cheeses (to be purchased tomorrow), champagne for toast, wine for dinner and Calvados as digestif (all already present and ready to make their debut).
I know that it sounds slightly alcoholic, but the fact is that we've been frugal this year, and so this feels like a true treat.

Having traveled overseas three times this year could also be playing a part in this elation. It served as a base for things to come. Before, N and I would just contemplate inland trips, now the world is open to us. OK, granted, with the seldom visa annoyances and stressful moments, but still, we can travel and actually consider going to see people we haven't seen in over 10 years.
If you've never experienced this, you will think that we're making too much of it and it's not a big deal. It is. N hasn't seen his sister since 1995, I have little cousins that I have never laid eyes on, we both know of family members that were little ones when we last saw them and are now doing their masters or married or with children. It is a big deal.

As much as we are (often) happy to be far, when we realize how long it's been since we last saw our families, there's a void that becomes apparent and brings out a need to come closer. And I guess that's what this last trip reminded us of: far is fine, too far for too long becomes almost a burden.

2007 is looking promising, it's starting with N going to see his sister, us making plans to see those we haven't seen for ages, and foreseeing trips that if do not turn out to be perfect will be, at the very least, needed.

Now, if we could only hit the lotto all would be good ;)

Back

Every time we go to Spain there's some issue with the airline. The first time, in May, after suffering major delays in NY and missing our transfer in Madrid they lost our luggage - which we never got back-. Hubby is 6'4" so his cramping into the tiny spaces airlines offer as seats becomes a Houdini accomplishment, so this time I thought I would foresee the problem and reserved the emergency exit seats. I was told that they were available but that we had to sit separated by the aisle. No biggie if you've been together for over 8 years, biggie if the one next to you happens to be a talkative nut-job. N was not only folded in half (they gave us the wrong row) but had a paranoiac companion, needless to say he was not a happy camper. I, on the other hand, kept thanking throughout the trip my lucky stars that I had quiet people next to me. Besides that all went fine. On time and no luggage to worry about, so all was good. Being with the family? Quite an experience. It was great to have 4 generations together for Christmas. My grandma seemed very happy, and ultimately that's what we were there for. We just came back. Landed last night after a 17 hour trip and I'm pooped, so I won't go into more detail tonight. Suffice to say that I'm happy it all went as it did. But it is great to be home, nothing like finding your turf, you know?

D-Day

Yeah, yeah and yeah!

I couldn't wait until 1:00 PM to find out if N's visa was ready so I called the Spanish consulate. A nerve-wracking 5 minutes later while they put me on hold: It's ready!!! they made us sweat it but it's there... phew!
So we're off. Now I have to pack (I couldn't bring myself to doing it before), and start running around the house like a chicken without a head... as usual.

Sayonara people, have a great holiday and I'll be back in a week.

Yeah!!!

My pet-peeve

I hate Sundays. They're such a let down. It's now 12:50 AM and I keep looking at the clock thinking that I have to get up early tomorrow. Well not so much getting up early as staying in the office until God-knows what time since I'm (maybe) leaving Tuesday.

Agh, I wish I had one more carefree eve and do what I want to do... which is nothing really, but still my evening.

Anyway, in case you were wondering the quesadillas turned out pretty good and filling. Having tortillas, cheese and meat all in one package makes for one "hearty" meal on its own. I'm about to burst.
And I'm procrastinating. I'm trying to make this evening last as much as I can. I could say that if I'm exhausted tomorrow, I'll sleep better on the plane the day after. And If I don't leave, well, I'll just sleep in my comfy bed. But that would just be an excuse because regardless of how tired I am I never sleep during flights.

Sooooo, I do have to work, so off I go and try to be a reasonable adult.

Keeping busy

The fact of having no classes left and the (hopefully) impending trip to spend Christmas with mom and grandma has me somewhat on the edge. And so this weekend I decided to stay put, empty my mind of all things that might turn my stomach into a knot, and play with the look of the blog...

What do you think??

For someone that has no idea about HTML, CSS, or all those letters that seem to make no sense, no too shabby if I may say so myself.
I had moments of amazing patience and others of utter frustration, but I've finally -sort of- accomplished most of what I wanted to do.

The trip? we'll know on Tuesday - about 4 hours before leaving- if we can go. It's a long story and since the weekend is not over I rather not go into it (the knots and all, you know?).

On the other hand some goods news: I went to see my mentor last week and we decided what classes I'll be taking next semester. One of them is with an eminence in the field. She was recommended to me by the head of the Bilingual Education department at Columbia University, hence the reason I applied to the Hunter program, and so I'm totally psyched! The course is Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching, which is a perfect fit for the class I just took... I love the course my studies are taking.
It'll be a difficult semester: Tuesdays 7:10PM to 8:50PM and Saturdays 9:30AM to 12:00PM, plus my regular work hours of 9:30 to 6:00ish (although I might adjust Tuesdays from 10:00 to 6:30). Busy busy busy, and as of this moment I can't wait, although I'm sure that by mid-semester I'll be posting some exhausted "I'm fed-up" kind of post.

That's about all for now. Hubby is calling me to help with the quesadillas he decided we will have for dinner, so I'm off to chop some onions ...

After the euphoria...

Today I went to Hunter for the last time this semester to drop off my final paper.

There's always something a little sad about that last day. Although you know that you will be back (in my case, for many semesters to come), the fact that you know that most likely you will never again see the people you've shared breathing space with for 6 months, makes it a bit gloomy.
I know I know, we are all somewhat following the same career, and so we will eventually cross paths, but still, it's not the weekly thing you know?
I guess it's the habit of it all, the fact that after a semester you finally got to know the names that go with the faces and then one day puff! It all goes to dust.
Well OK, if a friendship is in the making, the weekly meeting should not make a difference. But the whole point is that it's in the "making", so no long-term connections have been made. You'll never know if those people that have sweated it with you during exams, presentations, and such could have eventually become friends. There just wasn't enough time.

And so I've become a bit cautious in forming any attachments. School? A semester goes by and it's all gone. Work? They either leave or are let go. Neighbors? They move out.
I guess that's why my best friends are those that I've had since childhood and adolescence. Those that shared with me the moments (besides the pimples) when time was not an issue and felt that the hours were eternal; When there was no end to be foreseen and our lives had no further ado than who was talking to whom.

Ahhh, if only to go back to those times... Oh well, another semester wrapped, another one to come soon enough. Nothing left to say but, cheers mate! I made it once again, let the next one be as good as the last. And the next, and the next one after that...