It has been quite some time since I last updated this blog. To sum life up since the New Year...

...January was the longest month of my existance. I will always remember January 2007 as the month where I was working all month frantically on work related projects, frequently staying late, and dealing with the onslaught of classes beginning again. It was a month that just wouldn't END. Even though the overtime hours I put in weren't crazy bad (nothing like Room Selection at BU Housing) the quick, high octane, get this done or drop dead pace left me a mere shell of myself when I came home and sat like a puddle on the couch.

By month's end the light at the end of the tunnel was viewable. I signed up at Shad Hall, HBS' gym, and even signed up for the 30 day get fit program. Certainly it has been good for getting my tuckus in high gear. I also started a class on February 7 which is going well so far. There's only been three classes, one which I missed due the nasty Valentine's Day storm last week, and the worst part is that it involves group work. Not that I hate people or anything--but its hard enough to work full time and go to class and do the reading and also find time that suits someone else's schedule to do a presentation. However, 30 people are in the class and 30 presentations is too many. So I understand that...I would have just refrained from doing presentations. But that's me...

One thing that also changed in January was my work schedule. Coming home the Thursday before Martin Luther King day I was walking from the bus stop to my apartment when I spied two men in puffy jackets acting suspiciously in an alleyway. To describe the situation, they appeared to be trying to hide so they could jump and unsuspecting passerby. I was alone, except for a young man directly across the street from me. So I stared them down, they stared at me, and then I booked it. I booked it directly to the other man, kept near him, and then huffed it home. Called the police. They came immediately and patrolled the area and found nothing. But they thanked me for calling and said there are some groups that do hang out in the area (near a rec center nearby) at night, so they would continue to patrol the area regularly when possible.

This wasn't good enough for me. So I negotiated with my faculty to work a 8-4 schedule until springtime. Frankly, I wouldn't mind keeping the schedule. Its easier for me to get up in the morning and I'm my best and brightest in the morning, especially when everyone else hasn't come in yet. I find it a huge advantage getting things done and there's never a shortage of things to get done, for sure. So maybe they'll let me keep it, but maybe not. We'll cross that bridge eventually.

At the end of January our heat in our apartment inexplicably failed. And continued to fail. As of today, we've had one full week with heat, but we are hitting up our landlord for a very generous refund of rent. Boston law is very, very clear on what is acceptable living conditions for an apartment and this apartment was outside the bounds of the law for 20 DAYS. When the temperatures outside were 0-20 degrees at best!!! Our landlord had surgery almost two weeks ago so we are trying not to harass him day and night, but still, we're not paying rent until we get down to some kind of equitable solution.

In addition to the mess that our neighborhood and commute became following last weeks snow/ice/slush/sleet storm, we were yet again the victims of crime or perhaps mere misfortune. Our entire back windshield was smashed in by a block of ice sometime late Wednesday the 14th early Thursday the 15th. No other cars in the lot were touched, however, ours was the only one minus snow on top (we made efforts to defrost the car before it froze on it). There was certainly nothing worth stealing in the car at all and the car was in fine shape the Wednesday night before. Since I had a planned personal day the 16th to catch up on necessary appointments etc, it was up to Keith to bag work, take care of the car, and then work Saturday. So Keith lost his long weekend. He also had the indignity of digging out our car with our hands so the glass could be replaced because our landlord/contractor for our apartment did not have the driveway shoveled and so 5 inches of solid ice formed on it. This wasn't corrected until Saturday and so we are taking steps there to be financially compensated.

One week later I am still busy, but much better than where I was a month ago. I'm still feeling unsettled about my future and can't seem to wrap my head around what it is I want to do. I'm taking steps to go to workshops and the like and see what will be a good fit. I'm not sure I have what it takes for a PhD program, even if I could get in. I'm not sure the drive is there. Needless to say I have some time to figure it out, but I don't want to be complacent and have the right timing sneak up on me.

This weekend will be spent largely cleaning, some shopping and working on projects. My free time has been spent largely working on our taxes, gathering any last minute documents for taxes, playing more Harvest Moon, and trying out the new Wii. Admittedly, I think my whole favorite item on the console, despite playing games with friends has to be the weather section. I've always had a fascination with globes and geography; one of my earliest memories as a child was painstakingly examining the globe on my grandparents piano.

Hopefully the next update will not come 7 weeks after this one!