Checking It (twice)

Here's how I did on my Thanksgiving break To-Do list:

-Laundry I washed my whites only
-Grade student papers. I am currently halfway done. Not bad for a long break!
-Read The Giver I love this book! Kyle let me read it on his Kindle.
-Clean the bathroom Cleaning bathrooms are a necessary evil.
-Clean bedroom My room has never felt bigger.
-C-mas shopping Not all shopping is done, but the shopping I intended to do this break.
-Finish writing my own C-mas list I usually resent doing this, but it beats grading papers.
-Make a websitegr http://www.wix.com/prebecca/writing150
-Make student punctuation assignment My students really need to review this before the final
-Make my own assignment schedule for rest of the semestert I have three big papers to work on and some smaller projects
-Haircut (next weekend maybe?)
-Facial with Emily (next weekend maybe?)
-Find out about Gold's Gym Gold's is having a special right now: $25/mo, no contract, no fees!

I love getting things done and checking them off my list. I cross something off my little white notepad and that horizontal strike-through line I draw is a symbol of accomplishment! Now I know why Santa spends his time checking it twice.

Enjoying Thanksgiving Break

It's Thanksgiving break! I am so excited to have some time off from the daily grind. I made a To Do list yesterday to be completed in the next 5 days:

-Laundry
-Grade student papers
-Read The Giver
-Clean the bathroom
-Clean bedroom
-C-mas shopping
-Finish writing my own C-mas list
-Make a website
-Make student punctuation assignment
-Make my own assignment schedule for rest of the semester
-Haircut
-Facial with Emily
-Find out about Gold's Gym

Okay, not all of these are fun things (some are), but I am one of those people that gets down when I am unproductive, even over a long weekend. I have had about 24 hours of break and all I have done is clean my room and bathroom and watch movies!!!

It's kind of a bummer when I have free time and Kyle still has to work. I tend to text him a lot on days like today:

9:00 AM
Me: Good morning! How is work going? Did you finish that thing you needed to do for Neil?
K: Morning! Yep, all is well here. How are you? Did you sleep well?
Me: I did! I was only scared for about three minutes when I thought about Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping.
K: But then you remembered that you don't have windows in your room?
Me: No. Then I pushed it out of my mind and sleep overcame me.
K: Oh good! :)

10:22 AM
Me: Hey, doesn't every American family lose pieces to games? My dad is trying to say we are reckless and wasteful. But I think that's normal.
K: Well, American families with young kids and grandkids. If pieces are lost with games that only adults play, it might be a little... Carefree :)
Me: My dad is upset that Boggle is missing one piece after having the game for thirty years. That's seven kids and at least four moves.
K: (No response)

10:49 AM
Me: What do you want to do tonight?
K:( No response)

12:17 PM
Me: I kind of wish I had blonde hair...
K: (No response)

12:23 PM
Me: Also, let's go to Asia! I want to get out of here and travel!
K: (No response)

12:26 PM
Me: I just added Eat Love Pray to the Netflix queue.
K: (No response)

12:27 PM
Me: Don't you just love the days I have off so I can text you all day?!
K: (No response)

1:03 PM
K: Just got back to my phone. I'm glad you don't have blonde hair. I want to travel too. And I DO love the days you have off so you can text me like crazy.

...And the day is only half over! What a good sport.

Well, I am off to cross out another thing from my list! Have a very happy Thanksgiving! It is my birthday tomorrow and I will be eating lots of turkey and pie at my cousins' house in Sandy. Lovely holiday season!

Where Scholar Meets Shopper

A few things about myself:

I am not naturally a "shopper." I hate shopping in groups. I like to go by myself or with my significant other. I am not big on spending money at all, and I usually buy the cheapest thing at a restaurant when I go out to eat. I have a hard time motivating myself to exercise if I am not committed to a team or an exercise class. I dislike watching movies by myself and usually can't justify the luxury during the week.

HOWEVER...

Ever since I started graduate school, all I want to do is

shop,
eat out,
exercise,
and watch movies on Netflix.

Just when I should be cultivating deeper thoughts and rigorous intellectual pursuits, I seem to be getting shallower. Okay, it's not inherently shallow to do these things. It's just weird that all of a sudden, I feel a gravitational pull toward them. What's funny is that I have talked to a few of the other girls in my program and they have said similar things. What kind of subliminal messages are women being taught in this program? Just kidding. It must be that we are working so hard/ are stressed by expectations that we feel the need to simultaneously pamper ourselves. No idea. It just feels out of character for me.

Diverting

So you know that thing in the tub faucet that you pull in order for the water to come out the showerhead? It's called a faucet diverter (I had to look that up). Whenever I turn off the showerhead after I shower, the water continues to trickle out the tub faucet. It trickles until the diverter randomly falls down and the remaining water in the pipes pours down from the faucet in one big flood.

Here's the thing: For years, this sudden sploosh of water has reminded me of a pregnant woman's water breaking. I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to shake that connotation. Every time I shower, that little diverter falls and I am suddenly thinking of pajama-ed, soon-to-be fathers breaking traffic laws as they speed to hospitals with their overdue wives in passenger seats having contractions and praying to God while assuring themselves it's going to be fine!

I told a coworker at the Writing Center a couple years ago that the reason I don't emphasize in creative writing is because of situations like these where I start noticing too much, feeling the weight of day-to-day observation and trying to convert them into interesting metaphors. They stick with me. I think that when creative writing is on the brain, it makes me perceive the world in more creative ways. That's not a bad thing at all; that's one of the great blessings of being creative--the ability to see the world in different ways. It just makes me feel like I am living so much in my head that sometimes I can't surface, like the faucet diverter has fallen and drowned out all other things.

The More Loving One

I discovered the following poem a year ago in my British Modernism class. I was so moved that I bought a book of poetry by the poet. The title popped into my head this afternoon, so I pulled it out again. Re-reading it brings back good memories. I know it might not apply to all situations, but I think Auden is generally right.

Enjoy.


The More Loving One
by W.H. Auden

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.