We signed our lease today! I will have a house to come back to in August - hooray!
Now I just have to worry about acquiring some furniture... at least a bed, anyway!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Behind the times.
Hello all! Well I had planned to be MUCH better at keeping my blog up to date, but somehow it just hasn't quite worked out that way... Oh no! I'm such a bad blogger!
Ok, let's see... I have TONS of photos I would love to post here... but they are just too many, too time consuming - and too incriminating! Perhaps I'll add a teaser or two, if I have time. But meanwhile, there are LOTS of exciting things to report (as well as a few less exciting ones).
So, the weekend after spring break was nuts! We had a drag party at Adam&Andy's house (Adam's idea - inspired by the hats and boas at the previous party) and I spent most of the morning shopping at thrift stores, the afternoon baking, and the evening partying. It was hilarious! Remember to hit me up for photos - I took LOADS, and there are too many brilliant ones to choose only a few to post here. Good heavens, but there were some ugly 'women' that night - but some truly impressive make-up jobs!!
The next weekend I went hiking. Yes, I can hear the gasps of shock from here - thanks very much! Well, admittedly 'hiking' might be too posh a name for it. None of us who went are hikers, so it was a gentle morning wandering the trails of Sabino Canyon. But the weather was perfect - early spring, warm but not hot (but enough that paddling barefoot in a mountain stream was a fabulous idea!) and the desert blooming enough to be beautiful, but not hellishly allergen-producing. Also too many gorgeous photos to post here - I might do a separate post (although I'm still having issues with photos).
There was also a street fair that weekend - loads of fun, and my friend Jaeci was performing as a clown. AND I went to the gym with Kara. Kara is a yoga teacher part time and really a LOT stronger than me! But she gave me some good tips on useful weights exercises to do to help strengthen my shoulders which are getting very stiff and sore from the endless hunching over laptops. So anyway - that was a pretty active weekend for me!
The next weekend was spent in hermitage, recovering from the previous several weekends...
Last weekend was pretty quiet too, actually - I had work to do, although I met up with Jelena and Theresa for house-hunting for next semester. Actually a lot of time was spent sleeping and doped out because last week the pollen count sky-rocketed in Tucson and oh my lord, the hayfever is killing me! I have been a bit sick and miserable because of it, and I also have a skin infection which means I can't wax or shave my legs right now, and it's getting hot and I'm sick of my jeans. Argh.
BUT. This week has just gotten pretty damn good, despite that. First, Heidi is officially gonna be my advisor. Yay!! Second...
We found a house!! I am SO excited! We just went over this afternoon to look, we were one of three groups looking and the landlady isn't going to show it any more. Everyone submitted applications (the other people were all undergrads) but we stayed longest chatting and the landlady told us straight up that if we want it, it's ours. We went away for a bit to discuss among ourselves and talk numbers etc, but we're pretty much definitely calling tomorrow to accept.
It's in Sam Hughes, which is a very nice, very desirable neighbourhood just east of campus. There is a (lit) bike path that goes straight to campus, and our street is also fully lit. (This is not that common in Tucson, apparently because there is lots of astronomical research done here, and they try to keep the ambient light down as much as possible.) There's also markets and an independent cinema nearby, as well as a park with pool and tennis courts and a library. There's a backyard with a barbeque and a spa (!!) which is shared with the landlady, Betty, who seems really cool and lovely, and her dog (a black lab). We also have a private, fenced section of yard if we want to avoid the dog or whatever. There are three bedrooms, two good-sized ones which share the main bathroom, and a HUGE master bedroom with ensuite. I'm taking the smallest of the rooms (still way bigger than my current room!) in exchange for a smaller share of the rent. We have a carport and washing machine, but no dryer (eh, who needs one in this climate anyway??). We can move in first week of August, which is perfect for me.
I'm so excited! So, after utilities and stuff I'm not saving that much more on rent than I've been paying here, but it's a really great place. We couldn't expect to find anything better, or in a better neighbourhood, for this kind of money. We'd have to sacrifice a fair bit to spend much less, so I'm pretty happy. And I'm hopeful that we'll be able to stay put here for the next few years, and not have to keep moving. I'll need to find some money for a deposit pretty soon (hello? tax return, where are you?) and I'll need to buy some furniture when I come back, but overall I'm really pleased. (Also, we know a few people who have furniture to give away, so we might get lucky there.)
So that brings me up to date!! Only two more weeks of classes left, and lots of work to do, but it should be manageable... I'm looking forward to the Anthropology and Linguistics conference that's being held here in May. I'm going to work on the registration desk or something in exchange for free entry. Renae will be here, presenting at the conference - hurrah! I think she'll have about a half-day for me to show her around a bit, check out some of the cutest cafes etc... ;-)
Also, Claire Bowern will be one of the plenary speakers. I've been corresponding with her a bit via email and will hopefully get to meet for lunch and chat about doing Australian language stuff from the US, and complex predicates and historical linguistics and fieldwork and what have you. And, we've been using her textbook in our field methods class, so we're also having a shindig with her at Heidi's place the night before the conference, to harass her about issues to do with that. Fun times!
Phew! I'm exhausted just recounting all of that... at least the house-hunting has been a quick and painless experience - I was really worried we'd have trouble finding anything before I left in May, but we seem to have been blessed on that score, so now I can focus on getting school stuff sorted. I've arranged to leave most of my stuff with a friend over summer so all I need to worry about post-school is getting cleared out of La Aldea - and celebrating my birthday in appropriate style!!
I have a feeling that this may be an occasion to break out the ridiculous red shoes... ;-p
Ok, let's see... I have TONS of photos I would love to post here... but they are just too many, too time consuming - and too incriminating! Perhaps I'll add a teaser or two, if I have time. But meanwhile, there are LOTS of exciting things to report (as well as a few less exciting ones).
So, the weekend after spring break was nuts! We had a drag party at Adam&Andy's house (Adam's idea - inspired by the hats and boas at the previous party) and I spent most of the morning shopping at thrift stores, the afternoon baking, and the evening partying. It was hilarious! Remember to hit me up for photos - I took LOADS, and there are too many brilliant ones to choose only a few to post here. Good heavens, but there were some ugly 'women' that night - but some truly impressive make-up jobs!!
The next weekend I went hiking. Yes, I can hear the gasps of shock from here - thanks very much! Well, admittedly 'hiking' might be too posh a name for it. None of us who went are hikers, so it was a gentle morning wandering the trails of Sabino Canyon. But the weather was perfect - early spring, warm but not hot (but enough that paddling barefoot in a mountain stream was a fabulous idea!) and the desert blooming enough to be beautiful, but not hellishly allergen-producing. Also too many gorgeous photos to post here - I might do a separate post (although I'm still having issues with photos).
There was also a street fair that weekend - loads of fun, and my friend Jaeci was performing as a clown. AND I went to the gym with Kara. Kara is a yoga teacher part time and really a LOT stronger than me! But she gave me some good tips on useful weights exercises to do to help strengthen my shoulders which are getting very stiff and sore from the endless hunching over laptops. So anyway - that was a pretty active weekend for me!
The next weekend was spent in hermitage, recovering from the previous several weekends...
Last weekend was pretty quiet too, actually - I had work to do, although I met up with Jelena and Theresa for house-hunting for next semester. Actually a lot of time was spent sleeping and doped out because last week the pollen count sky-rocketed in Tucson and oh my lord, the hayfever is killing me! I have been a bit sick and miserable because of it, and I also have a skin infection which means I can't wax or shave my legs right now, and it's getting hot and I'm sick of my jeans. Argh.
BUT. This week has just gotten pretty damn good, despite that. First, Heidi is officially gonna be my advisor. Yay!! Second...
We found a house!! I am SO excited! We just went over this afternoon to look, we were one of three groups looking and the landlady isn't going to show it any more. Everyone submitted applications (the other people were all undergrads) but we stayed longest chatting and the landlady told us straight up that if we want it, it's ours. We went away for a bit to discuss among ourselves and talk numbers etc, but we're pretty much definitely calling tomorrow to accept.
It's in Sam Hughes, which is a very nice, very desirable neighbourhood just east of campus. There is a (lit) bike path that goes straight to campus, and our street is also fully lit. (This is not that common in Tucson, apparently because there is lots of astronomical research done here, and they try to keep the ambient light down as much as possible.) There's also markets and an independent cinema nearby, as well as a park with pool and tennis courts and a library. There's a backyard with a barbeque and a spa (!!) which is shared with the landlady, Betty, who seems really cool and lovely, and her dog (a black lab). We also have a private, fenced section of yard if we want to avoid the dog or whatever. There are three bedrooms, two good-sized ones which share the main bathroom, and a HUGE master bedroom with ensuite. I'm taking the smallest of the rooms (still way bigger than my current room!) in exchange for a smaller share of the rent. We have a carport and washing machine, but no dryer (eh, who needs one in this climate anyway??). We can move in first week of August, which is perfect for me.
I'm so excited! So, after utilities and stuff I'm not saving that much more on rent than I've been paying here, but it's a really great place. We couldn't expect to find anything better, or in a better neighbourhood, for this kind of money. We'd have to sacrifice a fair bit to spend much less, so I'm pretty happy. And I'm hopeful that we'll be able to stay put here for the next few years, and not have to keep moving. I'll need to find some money for a deposit pretty soon (hello? tax return, where are you?) and I'll need to buy some furniture when I come back, but overall I'm really pleased. (Also, we know a few people who have furniture to give away, so we might get lucky there.)
So that brings me up to date!! Only two more weeks of classes left, and lots of work to do, but it should be manageable... I'm looking forward to the Anthropology and Linguistics conference that's being held here in May. I'm going to work on the registration desk or something in exchange for free entry. Renae will be here, presenting at the conference - hurrah! I think she'll have about a half-day for me to show her around a bit, check out some of the cutest cafes etc... ;-)
Also, Claire Bowern will be one of the plenary speakers. I've been corresponding with her a bit via email and will hopefully get to meet for lunch and chat about doing Australian language stuff from the US, and complex predicates and historical linguistics and fieldwork and what have you. And, we've been using her textbook in our field methods class, so we're also having a shindig with her at Heidi's place the night before the conference, to harass her about issues to do with that. Fun times!
Phew! I'm exhausted just recounting all of that... at least the house-hunting has been a quick and painless experience - I was really worried we'd have trouble finding anything before I left in May, but we seem to have been blessed on that score, so now I can focus on getting school stuff sorted. I've arranged to leave most of my stuff with a friend over summer so all I need to worry about post-school is getting cleared out of La Aldea - and celebrating my birthday in appropriate style!!
I have a feeling that this may be an occasion to break out the ridiculous red shoes... ;-p