Wow....

A couple people (lately) mentioned to me that they had been reading my blog to catch up on my life. Considering I haven't written since APRIL I'm not sure there was much to catch up on in this blog, but I'm hoping that I'll be taking the time to at least write some thoughts down.

I tend to think best in terms of dates, so I'll try to start where I left off.

Our housing search continued in the late spring and summer as the housing market continued to crumble. Other homes came to our attention, and our area of searching further expanded to Milton, MA. Milton is an inner-ring suburb that is very diverse with excellent schools, all recently rebuilt in the last decade. An even bigger bonus is that its on the Red Line rail extension running between Ashmont Square and Mattapan Square. Which means a car free commute is a distinct possibility for us. However, we can get good schools, something that Boston public is sorely lacking at the moment. Keith and I are big believers in public education and we don't want to send or pay more parochial or private schooling.

Two homes presented themselves--one in Lower Mills, Dorchester just over the Neponset River from Milton, and one just over the Neponset from Dorchester, but after two looks we ruled them out for various reasons. Then, we went away in early July with my mom to Florida (only for a couple days sadly) and begin to seriously start thinking about apartment hunting. The market was still declining and buying something you don't like in a declining market makes ZERO sense. Florida was a fun distraction though for a few days.

There were some career developments in July. First, Keith found out that his hiring contract becoming permanent was going to be delayed (which ticked us off in ways you cannot imagine). Second, I had 6 interviews (yes, 6) for a possible promotion at HBS that went on endlessly.

Meanwhile, back on the housing front, we found a rundown (but not too rundown) house in Milton that we bid on in late July. Although we were financing (by pure coincidence) with the bank that OWNED the home and willing to close in 30 days, another buyer was chosen. Our mortgage brokers did their best to contact the REO department, but couldn't get in touch with anyone. The selling agent didn't want to take into account financing---after all, his commission is based upon sale price only.

Needless to say, we never heard back....and so we did have to find an apartment--one month away from the end of our lease.

So we found an apartment and are now living here: http://www.schoolhouseatlowermills.com/. We wanted to at least live in Lower Mills so we could be closer to the area we're looking and really try the commute out. So far, things have been going well and we like our apartment--although the bedrooms are a bit "cozy" we think.

We moved the last week in August after a yard sale where we sold off a ton of stuff. And found out upon moving that we should have sold a ton more stuff. We managed to unload a bit of it and hope to unload more gradually using Craig's List, etc.

Moving was a pain as a ton of our stuff got broken, even with hiring movers. One major casualty was a Åsa Brandt glass tray that was given from my Swedish host family as a wedding gift....Keith accidentally broke it. Unfortunately, it was a huge deal to me and its irreplaceable. So I'm trying to move on...*sniffle*

God, I hate moving. I'm not looking forward to moving again anytime soon.

However, now, I am convinced that God himself is watching us and its best we didn't buy. As you all know, the stock market started going berserk-o in September and I think the bottom is yet to come. We're keeping our eyes peeled, but, we're definitely in no rush--even if we continue to save and rent for a couple more years. My money is that the bottom (although this is subject to change depending on the incoming President) will occur between April and August 2009. We'll see if I'm right.

Back on the career front...In early August, I found out that I didn't get the promotion--not for any really good reason, but a whole lot of wishy washy ones (based upon the lack of straight talk I got). My faculty were dismayed---at least the ones who commented on it. Needless to say, I've moved on mentally, quit mentally, and am going to probably progress career-wise outside HBS. Ultimately, I'll be okay if I'm at HBS one more year--so I'm vested in my pension, but beyond that....bye, bye.

There is really a dearth of options now, and so I'm concentrating on other things.

Namely my feet. The end of August I went to a podiatrist because I always have painful walking and basically my option is surgery. I have toes that curl up (hammertoes or mallettoes, depending on the joint are the common name) and the joints have become rigid and permanently dislocated. Because my toes arch upwards, they get friction (blisters, etc.) on the tops of my feet. Then on the bottom, more blisters because a misalignment of the toes puts additional pressures on the tops of the ball of your feet. So, treatment is removal of the last joints in each toe, skewering the affected toes with pins, letting like that for 3 weeks, and then pulling the pins out. I lose mobility, but hey--I didn't have it before and its not really needed. The loss of mobility is a good thing because it means my toes will stay as they ought to--nice and straight.

I had the surgery on October 10th--and it really wasn't bad. The care at the hospital (Beth Israel Deaconess) was excellent, the doctor's been great, I took a week off with my foot up and on ice. I had anti-inflammatory drugs and Percoset when needed. Keith got me a video game and I played that, caught up on reading, caught up on movies.

All in all, the surgery was a good thing. Other than our foray into Florida in July and a week long trip to PA in August to see family (my great grandmother turned 90, my dad was preparing for major surgery at the end of the month, and my dad's parents celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary), I hadn't had time to really.....unwind and de-plug. Being forced into sitting or laying down and not able to clean up, do chores, see people, etc...was good for me.

By the end of my week though, I was a little zooey--full of cabin fever. So my other foot (my leftie) will be done on Dec. 19th, so I can minimize the amount of paid time off I have to use (what if I get the flu in February?) and basically do what I do at the end of December anyway---sit around. My family will be around that week to keep me company while I keep my leg up and on ice.

Back to career stuff--on Keith's end, his contract FINALLY ended September 2nd and he has been a full fledged employee ever since. So he's all set.

September 3 we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary amidst moving boxes by watching our wedding DVD. Awwww....

Ghost and Goblin turned 4 (already!) on August 19th and celebrated 4 years with us on October 19th!

The rest of September after this can basically be summed up as follows: start of school year and unpacking.

October 3 I turned 28 years old. I felt and still feel....OLD. Especially compared to all the 18-22 year olds running around here. I truly and really feel for the first time I've arrived as an adult. We celebrated by going with our friends, the Potters, to Six Flags New England on Oct. 4th. We had a lot of fun...and I highly recommend the FLASH pass.

Lastly, in my family some major things have happened. My father had his right leg amputated in late August and is still struggling to recover and learn to walk again with a prosthetic. I haven't seen him since early August (he didn't want us coming down for the surgery) but call him every so often to see how he's doing. Keith's dad also found out in May that his cancer had returned---and in September, he concluded his radiation. He had prostate cancer about 10-12 years ago (Keith was a teenager) and thank god all the lymph nodes were removed down there then. His doctor diagnosed the cancer because he had elevated PSA's (normal for a man with a prostate, but not for a man without). Even scarier, he had elevated PSAs for 2 YEARS before anyone noticed. Needless to say, that was not easy for Keith. My mom sold my childhood home in June and it has since been taken over by an elderly couple with appalling taste. I'm happy to remember it as it was. Mom and her fiance (yes, now fiance) moved into their new home in June as well...just before our July trip.

So yes, so much has happened, and so much of these events I recount are told without little anecdotes that have occurred all along the way. I think the secret to good writing is certainly trying to bite off less so that entries are descriptive and more interesting, rather than a regurgitating of the past events of the last 6 months.

Lastly, we are no longer car-less. Moving to Lower Mills made us 2 miles away from the nearest Zipcar. We live next to a Shaw's, but...returning the car at night after a late evening in Dorchester isn't exactly wise. So, lucky for us Keith's parents decided they needed a 4-door car rather than the 2-door they had, and we have it! Its older (1996 Oldsmobile Cutless Supreme) but only 65K+ miles on it. And its free! So we don't have to sign up for car payments while we continue to try and save moolah. And we don't have to deal with Zipcar's ever more pitiful customer service (that's an anecdote I'll spare you from hearing).

Labels: amputation, anniversary, birthday, cancer, car, fall, Florida, hammertoe, house hunting, Lower Mills, moving, summer, surgery, Zipcar

The month has been a busy one, filled with non-stop travel back to Pennsylvania and/or volunteer commitments. Therefore, I am just getting the chance to type this entry in the last 20 minutes of my lunch hour.

I read an article a few days ago that talked about how many New Englanders feel that this year's as well as the most recent years autumnal display of color has been lacking. I've been hearing that a lot lately and have to agree. This year in particular, it seemed that only parts of trees lit up with their fire-y reds, brilliant oranges, and bright yellows, while other tree limbs and other entire trees seemed to from green to a faded brown, papery mustard, or dried burnt russet color. Having grown up in the southern Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, I know something of leaf peeping--but even at home the leaves seemed to lack some of the former splendor I remember vividly from my childhood. Some of my favorite trees in my yard, more than three hundred years old, were felled during my college days due to disease and age, and so, perhaps its just that I'm missing my favorite red oak in our backyard.

Bedford County has been suffering a bad drought the last few years, this year being the worst--Boston's been luckier to have some late summer and early fall rains, but not much more than my hometown. When I was growing up, every summer night almost was filled with torrential thunderstorms on hot and humid summer days (and most of them were hot, sticky, and muggy) and most Indian summer nights. I used to sit in the bay window of the living room eating popcorn and watching Evitts Mountain to see the lightening striking at various points across the night sky.

The lackluster leaves seemed to be a parallel representation of my life this month which has had its brilliant sparkling bits, but was otherwise blase, sometimes decidedly frustrating in its discouragement. Sure, it started out nice enough with the chapters meeting in Lancaster for Franklin & Marshall on Sept. 29-30, and then my birthday, and then my trip to Bedford October 3-8. Regrettably, I found through that my stress levels in getting my work done betweens days off and a burdening workload, home errands run, packing and unpacking, the added expense of all these trips, and having exhaustion as my frequent companion overshadowed much of the enjoyment I typically feel in this favorite season of the year.

It was Tuesday last week sometime when I commuted home feeling utterly frustrated and near weeping, in the twilight (yet again, even though my day's supposed to end at 4 p.m.)--angry yet again that my plans to leave on time and reclaim some of my life had again been thwarted by a lack of planning and not seeing any way out of not having exhausted evenings for the next 5 months. It was windy and the skies were almost purplish owing to the late hour of the day and the hazy clouds that had blown in. The leaves on the broken sidewalks below me seemed to almost take on an otherworldly brilliance--the leaves became peach, mint, saffron, white, soft scarlet, and soft chartreuse---the dim light contrasting with the duller color of the leaves and making something very soft and beautiful. As the wind blew, and the glinting leaves rolled across and around my legs in cascades, I felt disappointed that in some odd way, I couldn't feel any pleasure in seeing these colors and watching the leaves flutter in the breeze--all I could think about was the stress I had leaving work that day and already dreading my return the following morning.

The contrast between now and October 23, 2006, when I began my work here at HBS is startling. While no where near the level of constant pressure and stress that came with working in BU Housing, I'm definitely feeling the time is ripe for transition. I have yet to have a job that leaves me feeling, well...intellectually fufilled. Perhaps my expectations of the "real world" are just too high coming out of a liberal arts college education topped off with a master's in education. I don't know. In meeting with Suzanne, a career development guide at HBS, she agrees that I'm way overqualified for what I do. I'm glad someone does. I can't help but worry that the concept of starting low, working hard, and being promoted at work is going the way of the dinosaur. My greatest fear is that by doing this work, which my faculty really appreciate, that I'll become pigeonholed and be seen as completely unable to step up for greater things--and I know I can! There must be more to work life.

Since then, I've thought about the leaves I saw around me on the broken sidewalks of Allston on that smoky Tuesday autumn night and their meaning--nearing darkness and dullness inadvertently colluding to create something that looked so soft and yet so vibrant at the same time. Is there a meaning or a metaphor to be glanced from this? Or is it just something beautiful, just like all the other something-beautifuls of no particular significance?

Labels: autumn, Bedford, Boston, busy, drought, fall, October, stress