Happy New Year!

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. I know I've posted a few times in the last week, but I feel like my head's not that into it. I was so burnt out on writing papers that I barely turned on the computer last week. I opted instead for books, the TV, and going out with friends. None of which are bad things, of course, but the blog got a bit neglected.

And it's only going to get worse, unfortunately. I leave for my big "East Coast Tour" on Thursday. I'll be spending a week in NYC, then four days in D.C., then one final night back in NYC. I'll be visiting two cousins & lots of friends from high school & study abroad. And I'm hoping to get in lots of museum-going! :)

In the short term, however, I'm going out in Portsmouth for New Year's tonight. I hope you all have fun things planned. I'll try to get some pics & post them before I leave. Happy New Year! :)

Christmas Photos

I'm tired tonight (out late & worked for a few hours earlier), so I'll make this quick. My disco nap awaits! ;)

In short, Christmas '07 was lovely.

My tree was big & pretty (even though I trimmed it at 1:00 in the morning on the 23rd!)

My sister's tree was lovely, too. Doesn't it look especially nice surrounded by presents?

The big bow I got for Thing 1's present was

actually too big, but isn't it fun? :)

It's true - I do!

Presents galore! I might use this for wallpaper next year. :)

Thing 1 is very speedy. ;)

I loved my new hat (that matched the scarf I bought for myself).

Here, Thing 1 is using the hammer from his new tool bench to "adjust" his new basketball net. He's going to be a handy kid, let me tell you! :)

On to New Year's!

Merry Christmas!

I'll post more pics soon, but just wanted to pop one up tonight. This is Thing 1, wearing a hat (with mittens still attached) from Auntie Stinky & playing with his new tool bench from Pop. :)

Hope you all had lovely & bright holidays!

If I don't get to post . . .

before Tuesday, Merry Christmas to you all! :) (Picture is Thing 1 & puppy at Christmas last year)

I. Am. Done.

Yup, you heard me right. I am finally done with my first semester of grad school. And nobody lost an eye. ;)

I emailed my last paper to my least-favorite professor last night at 10:30: twenty-one pages on the concept of Self vs. Other for early medieval Scottish saints. And yes, I know I'm odd; you don't have to say it. :)

Now let the relaxation & celebration begin!

Long Johns

OK, what I really should be (and sort of am) doing is working on my final final paper (no, that's not a typo - this is my last of the final papers). However, I had to share my current weirdness with you guys.

I was at the university library & now I'm home. Since I was chilly at the library & I'm now in my own office, I decided to wear whatever was most comfortable & kept me warm. Hence, I am stylishly outfitted in long johns & knee-high snowboarding socks.

No, I'm not kidding. ;) I look pretty goofy & will have to change when my landlord wakes up, but for now, I'm warm & streamlined!

I Love This

I'm about to toddle off to bed after being up way too late working on a paper, but I had to share this. On SeacoastNH.com, they've listed the schedule for the upcoming Portsmouth First Night festivities. And the best part is the opening blurb:

"Well, you did it. You survived another year of the Bush administration, and now it is time to celebrate the coming of regime change. So ring out the old and ring in the new at the annual Market Square-centered celebration."

Yet another reason why I love this town. ;)

Quick Note

(Photo by Chris Adzima)

to say I'm still alive & not buried under either books or the snow.

I've had a crazy-busy weekend, marked by lots of Christmas stuff & snow on one side and lots of drinking & snow on the other. Snow, snow, snow. ;)

In related news, I've been doing some reflecting lately, thinking about my first semester of grad school & my first fall in Portsmouth. And I can honestly say that I'm living exactly where I want to be living & doing exactly what I want to be doing. I'm so glad I made the big scary decision to go to grad school & move to a new city alone. I'm really happy here. :)

Whine, Whimper, Moan

I know, I know. I've warned all the men in my life not to expect to talk to me until next Thursday at the earliest. I've whined to my mother, my landlord, anyone who will listen about the number & length of the papers. I've clearly been bitching & moaning too much about my final papers.

To my credit, though, it's awfully hard to go right back into academia after three years off. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it again soon, but this is only my first semester back. Luckily, this will all be just a memory one week from today.

In the meantime, I promise not to write any more whiny posts. Of course, that likely means you won't get any posts at all. ;)

My Head Hurts

Holy crap, I'm tired. I spent my longest day to date on campus today: I hopped on the bus at 9:22am & just shuffled off at 10:40pm.

For a girl who used to work from 9am until around 8:30 or 9pm, this shouldn't be that bad. However, there's a big difference between working casually on a company project & squinting at a computer screen all day, trying to determine why exactly Canadian confederation differs from American federalism & what the main schools of thought are on this topic. ;)

I am going to take some ibuprofen, put on my glasses, and crawl into bed with a snack & my seven books on Canadian history & politics. See you folks on the flip side.

A Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth

That's the slogan the Chamber of Commerce has been shilling this winter. And to be honest, for some reason, this Christmas does feel a little slower & a little more "vintage." I think a lot of it does have to do with the quirky side streets & charming brick facades of my adopted town.

I was walking home last night through the snow and I thought to myself, "I heart Portsmouth at Christmas." :)

(Flickr nod to Dreamers Realm for the picture of the Market Sq. Christmas tree.)

Quick Update

As I mentioned to Susie in the comments of my last post, last night ended up far from relaxing. It's my fault for assuming it could be, I guess. ;)

I started off by meeting one section of the graduate school group at the Coat of Arms. That part was great: I love this pub & haven't been often, I had some good chats with some of the girls, I met some new people, etc.

Around 11:30, that group was heading home & my presence was requested at The Knot. Off I went & found a parking spot right in front of the bar! However, it was packed b/c the roommate of one of the guys in our group was playing that night. I actually had to wait outside for about 5-10 minutes before I could get in. In New Hampshire!!!

Anyway, once I got in, there were good & bad things. I met a few new people & had some fun. However, The Accountant, who said he wasn't going, was there. I'm not going to get into too many details, since I link the blog to my Facebook account & I know some of the people in this group are on Facebook. However, in a nutshell, I found out that the man who said he wasn't ready to date asked my friend to the movies. Grrr.

So. New resolution for the month of December: no dates & no drama. None. I'm going to ask The Bouncer if he minds giving me some space right now. For the next three weeks, my only activities will be writing my final papers, working at my part-time job, and doing all of my Christmas errands (shopping, card-sending, decorating, etc.).

From 4 to 1

Oy vey. I'm starving & about to make dinner, so I'm keeping this short. It's been quite the week, you guys. Here's where we stand with the boys:

1. The Accountant: After the quickest "first date to big-time crush" I've ever experienced, we're no longer dating. What? I know. Basically, he came over last night to sadly tell me that he had thought he was ready to move on from his recent break-up, but realized he's just not. Naturally, it sucks, but it was a major concern of mine, too. I'm glad he realized & let me know before we had been dating longer. And, because I'm an eternal optimist, who knows what might happen down the road? I think we'll stay in touch (we have a lot of mutual friends) and when he's ready to date again, hopefully I'll be around.
2. The Bouncer: Had our first date last night (about an hour after The Accountant left - it was horrible timing, but I couldn't bail on him). We had a nice time, found some common interests, and closed down the Brewery. Definite potential here, but I'm still sad over The Accountant & trying not to let that affect this.
   
3. The Pilot: We chatted on the phone Tuesday night & he was v. friendly & casual, asking me to "keep [him] updated on all these boys I'm dating." So I figure we're good as just friends, right? Wrong, evidently. While I was on my date with The Bouncer, he texted to see how I was & upon hearing I was on a date, he said, "You stoppin' by my place later?" Um - whaaa? I wrote back: "No, dear. I think it's best to avoid something like that."
4. Former Army Guy: After breaking things off with him, I ended up bailing on our Tuesday night plans (which were, in essence, me driving thirty minutes to a place I'd never been to meet a boy I didn't like). He was ok with my excuse (not feeling well & lots of work to do), but then wanted to see me both Thursday night & Sunday for the Pats game. Huh? Didn't I break it off with him the night before? I begged off, but hope he's not going to make a habit of this.

So, long story short: I'm down to one guy, but my love life still feels confusing, stressful, and keeps taking my mind off important things like my final papers. Ugh. As for tonight, I'm off to make a quick dinner, do a little reading, and then meet some graduate school friends at The Knot for a relaxing drink or two. Have a nice night! :)

Squash Ladder/Footrace

As I mentioned the other day, I've somehow ended up juggling four men this month. Trust me when I say that this has never happened to me before & I'm not sure I can handle it. I'm usually a one-man kind of girl, but somehow I've met four interesting men in one month.

In direct imitation of Londongirl, I've decided to instate something like her squash ladder. However, I can't remember all of the rules & I ran track for a decade, so I'm going to style it more like a footrace. And in answer to your obvious question, no, I haven't identified what the "finish line" is & yes, you should get your mind out of the gutter. ;)

So, here we go. For convenience & privacy, their nicknames are their occupations.

1. The Accountant: Absolutely the front-runner. We've seen each other twice in the last few days, our first date lasted five lovely hours, and he continues to give me butterflies. I know - it's weird that an accountant gives me butterflies. ;) However, we've only known each other for about a week & he has a very recent break-up behind him, so I feel like I need to proceed with caution.
2. The Bouncer: Met him on a bad date with The Pilot a couple of weeks ago. We started chatting, realized we had a close mutual friend, he found me via her Myspace page, and we're going out Thursday night. We'll see how it goes.
   
3. The Pilot, a.k.a. Date #2 from a few weeks ago: Contrary to my first impression of him, this guy ended up nicer than I thought he'd be. However, he's still pretty immature (case in point: I mentioned my sister is married & he said "Eww.") and very cocky, so I think it's best to downgrade us to just friends.
   
4. Former Army Guy, a.k.a. Date #1 from the same night: I went out with him the following week, on what turned into a double date (my GSBB was out with a date @ the same restaurant, so we combined dates after our entrees & played trivia). However, I just never got that excited about him, nice guy though he is. I called him last night to tell him that I'm fine with being friends, but am not feeling a spark romantically.
   

It's not as useful a tool this week as it would have been last week, since I've already begun to cull the list. However, it's still useful in a way. My mother made an excellent point over the weekend. I tend to have a "damn the torpedoes - full steam ahead!" mentality with relationships. I get super excited about someone & that's it. I'm his, he's mine, and every other man in the world is out of my sight line.

While there's nothing wrong with doing that in a serious relationship (in fact, you absolutely should), it's risky to put all your eggs in a fairly new basket. As I mentioned, I think The Accountant is the bee's knees, but maybe going on a date or two with The Bouncer will help me temper my expectations a little. Wish me luck! ;)