Sorry for the late update!
Updates:
Have not taken up meditation, have taken up Chinese! Nihao!
We did have a second study session that was mildly more productive than the first and ended in a delicious dinner at Cortese. NOTE: Cortese now sucks. Don't eat there.
October has been a fun-filled month! The quick version:
Hiking:
We had a few hikes. One involved more people than normal, was extra spooky, and we pretended we were in a horror movie.
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| Leah killed me with a stick. |
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| Sometimes she gets a little over-enthusiastic. * |
And finally, my desert-dwelling ways led me astray one morning when I checked the weather, saw it might be rainy, advised Mandy to bring an umbrella and/or raincoat, then did none of those things myself. Mandy kindly let me use her poncho (aka, pee-colored, semi-transparent, trash-bag-with-a-hood-and-sleeves). Thanks Mandy!
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| Maybe people won't notice me if the waterfall is in the picture . . . * |
Finally, my mom came up for a visit and we had a wonderful time. Sunday we went up to the beautiful Buttermilk Falls, a place that can only be improved by decreasing the amount of steps you have to climb to get to the really good stuff. We also took my dog to Aqua Terra and let her off the leash and I have NO pictures or video! What good am I?
Anyway, Zoe had a blast at Aqua Terra. For those who live 2000 miles or so from Bing, or who have less distance-related reasons for never going, it's basically a little lake with a trail around it. There's probably more but I've only been twice and that's all I have seen. Remember, Zoe is a swimming dog now, so she went off and played in the lake, fetching sticks, and when she was on land, she bounded around the forest sniffing everything and stepping in all the mud she could find. We gave her a good combing and bath afterwards but she was the happiest dog on Earth for a good hour at the park.
Also, I got a car!! Thanks all go to my parents who helped me research vehicles, find a deal and ultimately not get totally screwed over. Thanks to my dad who did most of the talking, and scolded Toyota when they screwed up, and thanks to my mom who came out to Binghamton and helped me out with pick up and new driving. I have the best parents ever. :)
Here's a funny story. I have a one bedroom apartment all to myself, I go to grad school in the best program for my interests and this point in my career, I go to state parks, and I have a 2013 Corolla lease. Why is that funny? NO ONE DOES THAT. No grad student does that! I laugh because I get to pay for all the monthly stuff plus rent and living expenses with two part time jobs and if you can't handle that with a laugh you can't handle it at all. Having the car will make life much easier and I'll save on the cost of therapy after I finish grad school, so it all really evens out in the end.
Here's the token picture of Zoe doing something cute, no shortage of these:
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| Yes, that is me sleeping on the couch with Zoe's paws all over my face, why? |
When I first came to Binghamton University, I was far from home and had no connections. Now, thanks to the efforts of others and myself to go out and do things and forge those vital social relationships, I'm just far from home. Going hiking on an almost weekly basis and attending events like apple picking with my newest friends has been an important part of enjoying graduate school, despite the efforts certain professors (we know who you are). This blog is about finding the funny side of life despite the stress, and my friends have made that ten quadrillion times easier. So here's a shout-out to all of my grad school friends, you know who you are!
Stay cheerful my friends.
P.S. * This picture was not taken by me or with my camera. Credit goes to Mandy Roome. Thanks Mandy!
Seriously. Cortese. Avoid it.
