Called in sick today. Felt crampy this morning so I thought why not? I have a sick day left and its my last week of work anyways. Slept all morning. It was glorious.

Its just starting to hit that its mid-August and almost the end of the summer. Where did it go? In fact, where did the last 8 months go? Looking back, it was such a mixture of boredom, relaxation, stress, and activity that I don't honestly know what to make of it. Moving to Baltimore, settling in, applying to grad schools and then all that waiting, figuring out what to do for the summer, moving again, the monotony of commuting, getting things together for Penn, and all the while trying to figure out what my relationship was and had evolved into. Just been feeling run-down a little, so trying to remind myself how good life is, enjoy the time before life really gets hectic with grad school. (Saw the syllabus for one of my classes. 16 books.)

Going to Florida on Saturday for a few days, see my Dad, get to the beach, enjoy a little of the heat and humidity that has been missing from my summer. :)

5 years

Tried out Ethiopian food for the first time on Friday. Went to Dukem, the only place to get Ethiopian here in Bmore, and it was fantastic. Although when Pancho and I first got there and couldn't figure out the menu nor a single word of what our waitress said, we were a little skeptical, and probably more so when the food arrived. It was on a giant metal hubcap looking thing, with various mounds of different veggies and sauces with a big mound of steak tibs all on this spongey bread. Once we started digging in and scooping up the mixtures with the bread bits it was delicious.

Got to attend/work the swearing in of the new Justice Sotomayor! The judicial oath ceremony was literally 4 minutes long (I recorded it at home on CSPAN and really, we initially fastforwarded over the clip because it was going forward by 5 minute intervals). Really amazing, she is incredibly nice. Stood right next to her several times. It's going to fun finally being able to talk to visitors about our new Justice.

Pancho and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary Sunday. I both cannot believe it has been that long (5 years just sounds like a long time, like its serious or something) but also that it has only been that long (once I start thinking about what all of this time has encompassed, its almost surprising that we've fit it all in). But the day was very low-key. He took me out for Cheesecake Factory Godiva cheesecake and drinks last night and today made jambalaya for dinner. Had tried to make plans to go to the beach but the nearest ones are like 2.5-3 hours away and that just seemed a bit silly for a day trip. SO. We went to the Baltimore public pool. which...was....interesting. and also where I was lifted up into the air and then pushed underwater by a 300-lb stranger. yep.

Watched Frost/Nixon. Nixon was such an odd guy. Very paranoid about his enemies and bitter about elitism and intellectuals. The movie made it interesting to see what happened to him after his resignation. I mean, he essentially dropped off the public radar after this interview.

When I went to the Nationals baseball game last night after work, I saw David Gregory!!!! I was standing outside waiting for Pancho's brother to meet us, and I look over Panch's shoulder and I thought OMG, I know that face. He walked right behind me and then passed by our group again a few minutes later. I should have said hi. Ugh. Not saying anything to him or Pete Williams leads me to think I will probably be speechless if --no, when-- I see Brian Williams. Oh well, it was still really cool.

We've started watching Weeds from the first season. Fantastic show. Mary Louise Parker is awesome. Already into the 3rd season just this week. :)

And I've been reading Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen, a book I got for Christmas and am only now just getting to... But its about the Everglades and west coast of Florida at the turn of the century, when it was still frontier land and basically only outlaws lived there. I'd never heard of it before, but apparently its like this great American epic. The book is big (900 pages) and apparently it was originally conceived as a 1500 page novel in the early 90s but the publisher made the author trim it down to 3 separate novels. They got all this acclaim and then a few years ago Matthiessen felt like it wasn't right and so he re-worked them all into one novel again (which is what I'm reading) and it is amazing.

Also, we now have a new Supreme Court Justice.

Getting everything together

So I signed a lease last weekend for my new apartment. A pretty big efficiency: it has a separate kitchen area and a nook for a kitchen table, a regular-size closet plus a big walk-in and then one big room for everything else. It's on the 6th floor, overlooking the front of the building (it faces south) so I can look at the courtyard and the elementary school across the street. Nice hardwood floors and big windows. No one lives there now so I was able to make sure everything was fine. I get the apartment Aug. 15 but probably won't move in to stay until Labor Day weekend. It's a big relief to know I have a place to live, and it is 3.5 blocks to campus so only a 15 minute walk to the History department. It is supposed to be a safe area, the Penn police go up to my street as part of their patrolling. And just a block away is a grocery store and 7 Eleven (yay slurpees) and CVS is actually diagonal from the apt. building.

Work has been good. Incredibly busy. Spent this weekend catching up on the house stuff since I've been in Philly the last 2 weekends. Caught up on ironing! A major accomplishment, actually, because I usually have a constant stack to get through. Not too much else to report, getting all of my Penn stuff together, bit by bit. Found out that there are 18 incoming grad students in the dept. (14 PhD and 4 MA), and I'll get to register for classes here soon. Can't believe I will be back in the academic grind in 6 weeks, I've sort of enjoyed not having a monstrous weight on my shoulders about what I should be reading or studying or writing instead of doing for fun. Ehhh.

LOVE the video of the JK wedding entrance dance. If you haven't watched it yet, you really should. I just want to know whose idea it originally was and then how they could convince everyone to do it for real. It's awesome.

Just a sneak peek at Philly

Went to Philadelphia yesterday to scout out some apartments. I was really nervous that I wouldn't like any of them or that I would love them but they would be really expensive or not close to campus but lo and behold, I liked several! Now I just need to review the pictures we took, compare all the pros and cons and start making moves to get a lease signed. Although it did just hit me what living in a studio is going to be like--- very very cozy. I appreciate the old Gainesville apartment more and more every day. A dishwasher AND a washer/dryer in the apt AND it was clean with no mice?! Oh.. the glorious days in Lexington Crossing... :)

I think I will be quite happy living in Philly though. University City (the neighborhood I will be living in, borders Penn) is cute, residential, definitely has personality. Lots of converted Victorian houses, quaint front porches (sadly none of the places I looked at had any but I will make friends with people who do. Perfect studying spots!) At most I will have a 15-minute walk to campus and there are lots and lots of little eateries nearby to tempt me from my economical and healthy home-cooking. (Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and this awesome dessert cafe, Naked Chocolate, are right across the street from the History Dept. and Library. You know, the places I will practically be living in for the next year. Its going to be a daily struggle not to indulge!

This was only my second time to the city so when we left we drove through Center City and I got a glimpse of the museums and Independence Hall area. Then it was off to Geno's to familiarize myself with the local cuisine. Got a "Whiz with" cheesesteak and it was delicious. also put me into a food-coma for the 2 hour drive back to Baltimore!

Fantastic July 4th weekend.
-Went kayaking because it was gorgeous out. Failed to put sunscreen on lower than my knees so I have lobster-red burns the length of my shins. So nice being outside, it really made it feel like a proper summer day.
-Caught the fireworks downtown at the Inner Harbor. Panch and I found a perfect spot, almost by accident. Figured since we were already paying for parking and were downtown we went to a dueling piano bar. So much fun. Really impressive how they just know so many songs. There were a few bachelorette groups, too, and I just cringed for all the embarrassment that those poor women were being put through.
-Capped off the weekend with breakfast at the amazing, delicious, and chic Ms. Shirley's. Cinnamon danish pancakes? Yummm.
-Pulled off making a strawberry shortcake. With homemade whipped cream. So freakin good. (I've been eating 2 slices at a time...)

July. Already?!

Work/Life are good. The days seem to be all a big blur. Weekends are here again before I know it. Not quite sure how I feel about the fact that the school year is just that much closer each day. Yikes!

Got to meet Justice Souter yesterday. The interns had an hour Q&A with him. Pretty sweet job perk. He was beyond brilliant. An entirely different level of intellectual-ness. He was also at times pretty funny. He is looking forward to "serious reading" during retirement, going to reread Shakespeare. Said that the usual 2 month summer vacation for the Justices only allowed for light reading, "like appetizers. They don't fill you up." He also talked about the law (of course), and one of the things I liked the most was when he was saying how there are no absolutes. Things are all in relation to other things. It was just incredibly amazing to listen to him talk, it was awe-inspiring to think about what he has read, how he thinks. Being a Justice is a pretty tall order (personally, I'd have to say its now my favorite of the 3 branches of government. Actual work gets accomplished here and on a really consistent and efficient manner at that. Yes yes a little prejudiced I guess but really. SCOTUS has its act together)

The Julia Child book was fantastic. I've moved on to Sweet Revenge, a culinary mystery (one of the latest in a series.) Easy reads but they revolve around food which is awesome. The main character is a caterer who just happens to have murders occur all around her! Plus there are recipes in the back of the books. never made one but they sound delicious.

No plans for the 4th. I do get Friday off (thank you federal employment) so I get to sleep past 6am. Yay! But will most likely spend the day figuring out private school loans and hunting online for apartments. ughhh, probably going to be frustrating. Think Pancho and I will go downtown and watch fireworks over the harbor. Maybe make a strawberry shortcake (you know, something really American-y). My Blockbuster movie this week is Rachel Getting Married, pretty excited about it. We liked Curious Case of Benjamin Button last week, a little on the long side but a good movie nonetheless.