10-24-12

 

Today was Wednesday Writing Day. That means I stayed home all day and wrote. I wrote two reviews for NSF proposals, wrote the second draft of a paper I'm submitting next week, and wrote the second draft of a grant proposal I'm submitting next week.

I also COOKED DINNER AGAIN (that makes the 11th time since moving here).
And I took this picture for one of my writing pieces.

Tomorrow the electrician is drilling the hole in the wall outside my office at noon so that Squirt can install my DOOR TWEETER!!!!!
Photos coming soon. It's spectacular. Everyone will want one. I'm so proud of my son. You can start placing your orders tomorrow. Yes, you too can tweet to your door. I know a few twitter-bugs who would like this feature.

10-23-12

Today I felt like myself again after a four day migraine and the pit of darkness.
Rode my bike to school for a meeting at 10, worked until 3:30 on my promotion documents, then attended a faculty meeting and met with a student. Got home a little after 5pm and COOKED DINNER!
Afterwards, we went to check on the house and look at some paint samples.
I explored the attic.
I found the above photograph framed.

We will reveal the floor in a few days after some painting is done.
Lots of changes can take place now that the walls are all ready to paint.
It's gonna be a cool house.
The previous owner said to me at the closing, "Be happy there" and I think I will.

10-20-12

 

 

 

 

 

 We had to get there early, we were told. 7:30 we were told. That seemed crazy so we got there at 8. Found a great place to park... and got to eat some biscuits and syrup right away. Saw the whole shootin shebang. By 10 we had seen enough and headed home passing by THREE MILES of stopped cars on highway 14 just hoping to get to Loachapoka for a taste of syrup.


 Afterwards we checked on the house. The floor is done, but covered in plastic. I then spent the rest of the day in bed with migraine day #2.

 

10-19-12

Someone privately asked me how I was doing and my answer was not 100% positive. I thought my reply summed it up pretty well. Here it is:

It's nothing with the university or the job. I think it's just hard moving and starting over with a social life and support system. Nobody is ever at school and it's lonely. The departments are divided by floor and nobody knows other department people. There are no college wide faculty meetings and chances to see people. It's a lonely, almost deserted 5th floor in a 9 floor high rise, the tallest building in town. A town so small there are no antique stores and only one organic grocery and a block of downtown. It's quiet sleeping at night, very Romney conservative, with lots of racial disparity that makes me fume. Poor schools 5 miles from wealthy schools. I didn't remember just how poor it is here. That translates into a different kind of landscape when very few have money to spend, and they go to Atlanta to spend it. No furniture stores. No bakerys. One coffee shop. One. I'm having adjustment issues- thought being home would eliminate my chronic depression, but no. It followed me and I can't even treat it with retail therapy! Sorry- I have a migraine today and am extra crabby.

Adjustment issues. I wonder when they will end. Please, Chrissy, get adjusted. Remember what fulfilled you before. Remember the places and spaces and people and things that helped you feel peace before you moved here. What were they?

Aza
Flowers in the back yard
Artwork on the walls
A kitchen I loved
Neighbors to talk to
A co-op down the street with organics
Friends at work
Texting Miss March during faculty meetings
Dr. Phred walking by my office to check on me
I'm crying and can't go on remembering.

10-17-12

Life must be OK because I'm crocheting again.This is going to be a crazy scarf made from leftovers in my stash and a variety of stitches I've learned over the past year.It represents the craziness of this past year for sure.Last year about this time I was applying for a job at Auburn on a lark, just to see what it would feel like if I got an offer, just to play with the idea. Perhaps "curiosity killed the cat" should be my mantra, because my curiosity about going-home-again has been a difficult adventure. I keep hoping that just around the corner it will all make sense, I will feel the peace I crave, and I won't regret this move as much.

10-14-12

So the tiles are laid and next they need to be sealed and then grouted. We need to choose from two grout colors. The floor is a little more yellow than I expected so I'm glad we can test the grout color on some scraps. The Storyteller and his crew did a perfect job.Now Dan will have his work cut out for him priming and painting and doing trim.... getting ready for the cabinets.Meanwhile, I need to pick out a pendant light over the sink... and I think I want this one: http://www.marston-and-langinger.com/rise-and-fall-light-jade.html

10-13-12

This is the view looking out the building in Macon, Georgia where I gave a talk today. It's on the campus of Macon State College. Very nice facility. My talk was well attended--- I had about 20 faculty and students attend and they were very interested! Of course, I got a migraine from a) the lunch and b)not sleeping well last night in a motel nearby. Luckily I carpooled with a colleague and got to sleep half the way home. Then watch TV all night :)

10-11-12

The kitchen floor is being installed. The wall is up. It's looking good!

I'm so excited about living in this house.

Meanwhile, Squirt built my door tweeter!!! I asked him a month ago to design me one for my birthday and today he got it working. I sent this tweet to it via my iPhone. It's going to be installed outside my office door so I can update my whereabouts remotely.  Very cool.

Jes is having trouble scheduling her radiation treatment. There is a shortage of Thyrogen and they have postponed her treatment until December. And the way they have it now, she won't be home for Christmas. So she is just going to have to push them to get it done in November or January. I hate how long it is taking to get her done with this treatment. She was diagnosed FIVE MONTHS AGO and still is waiting to be "all clear."

10-10-12

 

Taught a class tonight on teamwork. Students had to brainstorm a solution to a problem. It was hilarious! Let's see... what else... oh! I finished writing an article and sent it to the second author for review. Plan to submit it to a journal by the end of the month.

10-9-12

 

I rode my bike to school today!
Sunday I loaded up my satchel and rode it around the neighborhood to make sure I could carry something hanging off one side. Today I did it!

Checked on the house this evening They laid the concrete flooring down to totally cover up the old stuff. Once that sets up well, they will start doing the flooring. They are fixing drywall piece by piece. By Sunday I should have a very different picture to share. I sure hope all this work is worth it. The Storyman really wants us to make a transom window in the foyer too. I'll have to discuss this with the BossDan.

10-8-12

 

12 hour day at work but I took a break to go check out the house. The Storyman got the kitchen floor leveled. See that angled part on the right? He said he had to BURN the floor off there to get it level because there was a hump. He got rid of all the termite eaten wood under where the fridge used to be. Oh boy, it still looks like a disaster though.

I taught a class tonight and all my students from both classes came. It went really well.

10-7-12

It's a good thing I didn't find these until today. I had a VERY productive weekend and got so many things graded, written, and planned. With the help of my little colorful friends!

10-5-12

Our pet ants. We like to watch their kingdom grow.
Finding beauty and living where I live. 

 I was able to get home by 3pm and start my weekend of catching up on work. I did manage to go out for the evening to a "game night" at a colleague's house. We played board games and ate snacks. See Frisbee at the front door? I do like the way our house lights up at night. Our rental house, that is. See the pines behind it? Alabama is full of pines. They are my new best tree.

I'm going to find the time to start painting pines. Find the beauty in a pine tree, a lowly humble pine tree.

10-3-12

This was on a gas station door in the southern part of this fine state. We drove back from the beach today-- I was a reluctant passenger in that car.

Got back home, did some work to catch up on email, then went over to the new house to see what was going on. Not a whole lot. It still looks shabby.

Walls needed, a floor needed, cabinets needed...
And still, it felt good. I felt awe. I felt a bit of peace being there alone in the house I just might, just might, grow very old in.

10-2-12

I am at the beach listening to the waves feeling awe, feeling grounded. I don't want to leave. I want to stay here in my hotel room where it smells nice and is clean and quiet... and just work on my computer and listen to the waves. I gave a talk this afternoon to after-school teachers from around the state. Drove down this morning... and need to drive back tomorrow morning. But I want to stay. This would be a perfect weekend get-away for me-- either a working retreat (to write and produce) or a relaxing retreat (to walk the beach with my self or with Dan).

9-30-12

Drive from Va to Al today. Yes, the peach in Gaffney looks like a butt. I arrived home exhausted. Then had to work after a visit with my mom and a visit to see the new house under construction.

9-29-12

My life long friend drove over from Richmond to see us today. I have many more photos to add about my 24 hours in my old haunt.
Good times.
Long drive tomorrow though. Work to do.

9-28-12

Successful workshop today with teachers and students. Left B'burg at 4pm for C'ville for a too short visit with Aza.

9-27-12

Dinner in Blacksburg with my good colleague the Archeologist- stories told, good food savored, and then there was the view!!!

9-26-12

I shall never do this drive alone again. It was just about the worst thing I have endured. It was supposed to be an 8.5 hour drive but I got lost, got a migraine, got dizzy and lost my vision, and it got dark. I arrived in Blacksburg frazzled to the bone, to the soul, 10.5 hours after leaving Auburn.

9-23-12

I am trying to see the beauty in life. Feel awestruck. Wonder.
I want to capture wonder with my lens and remember it.
What used to be a street is now a concourse on a Sunday morning the day after a big game.

Azaleas that bloom on campus in early fall.

My Aunt Cacoo came to visit and we are both old enough now to need reading glasses on our heads at all times.
Oh the wonder. Oh the joy. Oh the beauty of family.

9-21-12

The night before the big game, the lights in the stadium are bright as we drive to the theater for a play. The play was VERY good. "Nickel and Dimed", it was called, about a woman who lived on minimum wage as an experiment. Very thought provoking. It felt good to get out and do something in the community that I enjoyed.

9-20-12

The beauty of living here is that when old friends come "home" they look for other old friends. Breakfast this morning with gals I knew at 14...

9-19-12

I've been riding my bike for exercise. I'm getting better. I'm tempted to ride it to school tomorrow... really tempted. Should I take the plunge???

Today I taught a class in the Engineering School. and did really well. No nerves- fluent words- felt right at home.The kids seemed to enjoy the activity. Also observed two classes at AHS. A pretty exhausting day, and I finished it with a bike ride which I'm proud of.

Tomorrow morning I'm having Breakfast with three old high school girlfriends. Two, I haven't seen in 30+ years... and I'm so excited!

9-18-12

Dinner tonight with my dear father figure, Dr. HH and his lovely wife the "Rheporter." We went to her book signing last night and tonight and had a lovely time catching up on old times and new. Dr. HH was my history professor back in the early 80s, and a dear family friend since I was a little girl. We were European travel companions when the girls were 10 and 12, exploring the south of France together with his late wife Joy and granddaughter. Good times, good times. We were invited to visit them in Mississippi and I think we should take them up on that. I'd love a traveling tour of the most "southern" state where the tea is probably even sweeter.

9-17-12

Today was my grandma's 91st birthday. I decided to make her a video greeting, upload it to YouTube, and email it to her. I had to work all day... Mondays are always 12 hour days, and didn't get home until after 8pm. It was a bad day and was only made better by my teaching a class in the evening. I love teaching. The badness of the day was the email from NSF that said,

The PI Transfer Action 1247287 for award 1029724 was cancelled on 09/14/2012 by Regina M Al______r-P______.

 Remarks:

     THIS ACTION IS BEING CANCELLED. E-MAIL SENT RE: VARIANCE IN BALANCES. NO RESPOND FROM AWARDEE. 9/14/12-RAP

which means in layman's terms that somebody at NSF dropped the ball big time and cancelled my grant transfer because there was "no respond from awardee" which is a bunch of crap. Well, I was so upset Dan had to drive me to school where I fumed most of the day until I got to teach class. I think this will be resolved. There is no way I would have come to Auburn if my grant hadn't been able to follow me. And, I am supposed to be here... it was destined by the feeling of peace I got when deciding to come. Although not much has been peaceful since we arrived on July 1st, I hold on to that fleeting feeling of peace when my prayers to the universe were answered.

Happy Birthday Grandma. I hope your day was super special. I'm going to come see you soon.

9-16-12

I rode my bike over to the new house today to help Dan with some wiring. I pushed and he pulled. This wall partition was built... it will have the range in front and a breakfast bar in back. Dan and the Storyteller have done a lot. The new AC vents are in... and some of the old AC ducts were removed, so caked with gray dusty crud that I think all the ducts need a thorough cleaning after this is all over. VERY GROSS.

I still can't believe I actually live here. It's like something from a strange dream. Not like "a dream come true" and not like a nightmare... just unreal. Really. I live here? I really live here? I really moved BACK here??? Somebody wake me up.

9-15-12

This flower appeared in the yard today. It must be some kind of naked lily or amaryllis...

Today before Dan left to go to the AU football game he told me to do two things: ride my bike and clean the bathroom. He insisted those two things would help me feel better.

Sometimes it's comforting to just have someone direct you like that.

I rode 3.4 miles and like to died. Then vacuumed the whole house, cleaned the bathroom, and mopped three floors. Did two loads of laundry... and indeed... felt better.

We went to dinner tonight at Johhny's in Opelika and it was OK but the company was good. We are making friends and need to remember to reciprocate.

9-14-12

Friday night, my mom needed help in the kitchen. I helped make ham biscuits then formed 160 snausage patties (yes, I said snausages) and after Doris cooked them, made 160 snausage biscuits. Three hours. I think I will stay in the professor business and out of the food business.

 

9-13-12

Tent city sprang up today in anticipation for Saturday's home game. That's where I will be on Saturday-- home. See the building far off to the left with the white top? That's where I work. I took this picture from the parking garage.

9-11-12

I turned 49 today. It became anticlimactic around dinner time when it was apparent there would be no cake, no party, no presents, no cards. Pity party-- that's all. Just me celebrating another year of life and dreading the feeling of an incoming migraine. Dan took me out to dinner here (see pic) and we had Popsicles afterwards at The Overall Factory, which was nice. My sweet husband tried to make 49 a little sweeter.