I'm back in Northampton and it seems like it's been beautiful and sunny since we drove in. That is, after having to stop near Rochester, NY midway through the drive b/c it was snowing so much. I got to play ultimate (indoor in Greenfield) again last night for the first time in a couple months. It was wonderful to play again, though my feet were frozen and my muscles are quite sore. I've started working at Sam's again in a rather ambiguously defined managerial position. Seems to be mostly about organizing, making things/people more efficient, and promotion. Mostly so far it has been having people tell me all the things that need to get done around the place. Just a bit overwhelming. Until I get some scheduled shifts and start class I'm also setting my own hours so everything feels kind of up in the air. I've also been looking at apartments, none of which I'm psyched about yet, but I have two more to look at on Saturday. Until I find one, my co-worker Vina has graciously let me stay in her apartment, which is right downtown. I also have grad school apps to finish yet and am having a hard time settling down to work on them while there is all this transition going on in my life. Sunday Paul and I are going down to DC for the inauguration, to see his parents, and to get some more of his stuff. I'm hoping I will find some time to work on my apps then. So much to wrap my head around. It all just makes me want to curl up in bed and never leave, but so far my sense of resposibility has prevailed. Tonight I get to see Arlen. Yay!

Time on My Hands

I completed my first grad school application. It's the school I'm least interested in, but I put a lot of work into it. Hopefully the rest will come easier. I still need to track down a couple letters of rec. that are AWOL. I was giving myself a break to do other things after the app. was done, but now I'm restless and don't know what to do with myself. I started getting some stuff together to pack for MA, but I hate packing in advance and since we're not leaving for a few days still it's hard to get everything around. It's a beautiful sunny day here in Michigan with lots of ice glistening on the ground.

Kids are Cute

It's new year's day and we have some friends of the family over with three little kids. I received a box full of truffles from a friend and they were sitting on the table. So while the kids were eating lunch I opened the box and ate one, then put the box back on the table. The youngest asks what's in the box? Knowing that he loves chocolate, I tried to outsmart him. The box was a tea box, so I read him the label: Cranberry Cove Tea. To which he replies, "I want to see." Ok, you win, I tell him to open the box and check it out. He can't open it... I am winning again. He asks me to open it and I tell him there is a secret password. He tries a few, ice cream, cheese, still not opening. I loosen it up and tell him to try another word. Bread. Apparently if you want to eat my truffles, the secret code is bread. So he gets the box open and I am expecting whining about wanting to eat the truffles. He looks in the box and says, they're rocks. We chuckle and agree, they are rocks. I win! My mom later asked if she could have one of my rocks.