My new apartment has very good light- in the morning the sun streams through the bedroom and living room windows--in the evening it comes through the kitchen and dining room windows.
Milo has made it a new habit of his to chase the light squares that dapple the floor.
His other main hobby is sitting the windows watching the birds (of which there are a lot of.)
So.... once we got to Texas we had to do all that moving in stuff. JCap and I unloaded the cubes with the help of a one of my new colleagues (C) and his wife, M (actually we are old grad student buddies- we were in the same program for five years and he got a job out here last year--at the same school and in the same department. A bit of serendipity eh?) Then Jcap and I unpacked in a flurry of craziness, saw a few of the sights (Riverwalk, Alamo- and it was 104 out) and generally ran around, buying stuff I needed, eating out at a few of the local places... etc. We dumped all my books at school, and the night before she left, had a great steak dinner with my colleague C and his wife M, while JCap regaled them with stories of growing up with a father who was a former Ringling Brothers clown (all true, btw.)
On Tuesday, I sadly put Jcap on the plane back to upstate New York and had to face down the fact that I was, indeed, in Texas alone now, and that I know very few people here.
JCap was probably one of the few people in my life that I could make this trip with and not drive crazy (or have her drive me crazy.) Not only did we live down the hall from each other in college (where we often ate our daily meals together and took many of our classes together) but we also were roommates and classmates at Divinity School. Jcap and I get each other- in a sort of quiet, easy way. We've just known each other that long... I miss her terribly sometimes and some days I wish for our happy college days, when I would shuffle down the hall to her room to watch a movie and order chinese food. Or when we would sit sipping cups of her matzo ball soup during Passover (Jcap is Jewish- I am not, but I have so many Jewish friends that I have learned to appreciate many of the finer points of Jewish life, including matzo ball soup, what is kosher for Passover, and what is not, and competitive dreidel where you gamble for Goldfish crackers.)
For the last few days I have been keeping myself busy with Pedestrian things, like filling out tax forms at my new job, unpacking my office, having my new office computer installed, putting up new light-blocking shades (my bedroom is too bright at night and I haven't slept well all week). I was almost too efficient because by this weekend, I sorta ran out of things to do-- all that is left for next week is to deal with the DMV and to get new plates and a title for my car. I think i have gotten entirely too good at this moving thing, and that is a little scary in and of itself.
(My new windowsill herb garden- I have no porch or deck here, so I'm growing stuff in a sunny window)
Things I have learned about Texas:
The heat will do you in. Seriously. I have come to realize that I have to drink way more water than I think I need and then some.
The people tend to be really friendly. Especially chatty older women with big hair at the grocery store. (Seriously- I have talked to so many nice older women, and the one thing they have in common is a Texas drawl and big, coiffed, hair.)
Texans take their selection of cornbread mix, ice tea flavors, and bar-be-que sauce at the supermarket seriously. Kinda like North Carolinians.
HEB Central Market has got to be the largest specialty food grocery store I have ever seen anywhere. Think Whole Foods times two and a half. Seriously. Everything's bigger in Texas.
When you are having a miserable day, two breakfast tacos from Taco Tacco makes everything better. 'Nuff said.
I have to figure out how I am going to structure the rest of this summer. I have about a month stretching ahead of me before the big ramp up to the school years starts (and my dissertation defense for that matter). I have to design my courses now, and start getting ready for them. Write a book review and finish editing an article so it can go to the editor for the book it will be a part of. So I have stuff to do, but none of it is "fun stuff." So somehow I gotta find free stuff to do around here, so I can do some exploring and sight-seeing. (It has to be free because I am not being paid for three months.)
So knitting. I have knit very little, but plan to get things up and running again now that I am settled. Another friend is pregnant (man these babies- keeping me on my toes!) I also need to find a knitting group. I miss my old group in Ohio-- those ladies were awesome.
Watching Sonia manage those senators is free and fun. Good luck in Texas.
Posted by: Lynn | July 14, 2009 at 07:14 AM
No big news from Oberlin that I know of. Knit group last Friday was empty--me, Cory, Elaine, and Gail for a little while. I have started knitting Aeolian from Knitty. Last night I neded something small and complicated and lacy. I am waiting for my swatch to dry (yes, I swatched...). It is with random black wool weaving yarn, so I am curious to see how the drape turns out. Debating wether or not to include the beads the pattern calls for. Would be an excuse to walk down to the bead store, though.
Posted by: Ondrea | July 14, 2009 at 12:54 PM
I'm so glad you are settling in, although in this heat wave I bet you are looking forward to cooler days.
Milo looks very happy.
Good thing about an indoor herb garden, no chance of odd chemicals floating in the air to land on them, and my personal favorite no bugS!
Posted by: Rebekah | July 15, 2009 at 07:39 AM