Well-oriented

It's been a busy week. The incoming Arts Adminners (myself included, of course) went on many a tour of are arts venues, heard from 20 arts organizations (about what awesome stuff they are doing, and how we can help....we are quite in demand!), registered for classes (I have successfully clawed my way into a business class and will either get into another or will perhaps take voice lessons...), and survived orientation week. Now, I thought that this would be like undergraduate orientation to some extent -- near pointless talks about how to use the campus computer system, lots of "bonding" and "trust" activities (though, I guess having class with the same 16 girls and one guy for 16 months will encourage plenty of both...), and some free food. Pretty much all I was right about was the free food. And there wasn't even all that much of that :-)
I tell ya, if orientation was the easy part...I'm now even more worried about how busy I will be over the next 3 semesters! Friday night I was so zonked that I went to lie down at 9PM and got up at 10AM on Saturday.
Saturday was mostly spent on a shopping spree of sorts -- we returned some items to Crate and Barrel and Williams Sonoma and then spent all of the proceeds as well as gift certificates and moneys. What a trip it was! Highlights were finishing off our 12 placesettings of nice flatware and dishes (as well as serving items to match both), the fancy schmancy new food processor (which was used to make amazing, husband-approved salsa today), and a drill and many other toys for Matt. Those were also put to good use today as Matt made us a pretty good-looking shelf! This will, for the moment, complete the new furniture and storage we have been needing. We had so much storage in our place in Oberlin that we are really struggling to find places for everything. Eventually everything will have a place, right? And everything will magically stay in its place, too? Excellent.

I will survive!

Just a quick post to say that it's Wednesday of orientation week and, despite all of us Arts Adminers having issues registerring for electives with the SOB (School of Business), resulting in my running around both buildings of the school for 1.5 hours yesterday and another 20 minutes today....I am alive :-)
I still have one more class to get consent for, then my rather full load (13.5 graduate hours...) begins on Monday. Argh. I'm still not-so-thrilled, but 3 semesters of coursework will go fast....right?

......and the honeymoon is.....OVER!

Officially, at least, the honeymoon is over. Supposedly the whole first year of marriage is kind of the "honeymoon period," so don't get me wrong and think I've suddenly become disillusioned with my thusfar very brief marriage :-) Quite the contrary.

Matt and I just returned from the last segment of what has been referred to as "the honeymonth." Pictures from the whole week (August 11-18) can be seen here. We headed off to Washington State on the 11th. On Sunday, the 13th, we had a wonderful and busy familiy party (including an 850+ degree fire pit of meat-cooking fury...) with the whole Carlson Family and close friends of the family who were unable to make it to the wedding. It was a fantastic reception, during which I got to learn Bocci Ball from Grandpa Bud, got to taste Grandma Mavis's Calico Beans (for which I already have the recipe --now I must make them!), and ate at least 5 meals worth of food in as many hours. The next day I could hardly look at food of any sort aside from vegetables.

So, that Monday was spent cleaning up a bit, lounging, and packing. On Tuesday we drove up to Canada and I FINALLY got to see Point No Point. What is so special about Point No Point, you might ask? Point No Point (PNP), is a rustic resort on Vancouver Island in Canada. There is no television, there are no telephones, there is no internet access, and I could have stayed there forever. There were no 2 bedroom cabins available when we booked, so we got a duplex cabin. GORGEOUS. We had a small kitchen (with pots and pans and glasses and everything for two people), a living room with two picture windows (one on top of the other) looking down a cliff to the ocean, a sleeping loft (so the upper window was really on the "second floor" and we could see the whole view from our bed), a huge bathroom, and a deck with a jacuzzi. The folks thought of everything, I tell you. The balcony in the sleeping loft and the fencing of the deck? Plexiglass -- so even seated you could see the ocean.

Tuesday evening, we took a walk down to the beach and discovered it was very high tide. Matt told me a secret that I wasn't supposed to tell his parents -- he once scaled an enormous cliff. I don't mean he hiked up some stone thing. This is a cliff. Of course, I later convinced him to tell them, since it was about 10 years ago and he survived.

Wednesday we went to China Beach, where the Carlsons spent much time throwing a football around when the boys were young. There were even a couple pictures of this in our rehearsal dinner slideshow. Mark and Matt threw the ball around a bit, I knitted on the beach (I finished my poncho at PNP!!!! There are pictures of it...it's not fringed yet, though...), and we all took walks down the beach. It was sooooo relaxing.

We had a wonderful dinner back at the resort that night. The next day we were a bit lazier. We spent the evening playing cards - Matt, Diane, and Mark all learned to play gin!

We returned to Washington on Friday, stopping to have dinner with Grandpa Bud and Grandma Mavis. Then it was back to pack up our stuff -- including our AMAZING quilt (formerly known as our amazing Huppah, but it has now been expanded into a full-sized quilt with some incredible personal touches. An incredible gift from Mark and Diane and a radiant work of art by their friend Karen).

So, we're back now. And, guys? The honeymoon is over. I have to go to school tomorrow. I DON'T WANNA GO TO SCHOOL!!! Matt is driving me, and I really might cling to his pant leg and cry. He's totally going to have to walk in with me, introduce me to everyone, and sneak out when I am good and distracted.

It's not that I am not excited for this program -- I am SO excited for this program. It's more the school thing itself. I am not, honestly, all that academic a person. I don't enjoy reading articles, completing projects that aren't in the end used for anything, etc. I am looking forward to the practical knowledge, contacts, and, I'm sure, great friends I'll gain from the program....I'm just hoping it really is as "hands-on" and "practical" as I want it to be and think it might be. I know there is always a certain amount of busy work, I'll call it, but I am hoping that will really be kept to a minimum. I'm also really nervous about over-committing myself. Over the past year, I have come to appreciate the flexibility of working from home, and the time I have had to spend with Matt and Pepper. I also came to appreciate many nights of good sleep in a row! How did I EVER get through college on the amount of sleep I was getting? I can't even get through BREAKFAST that way now!

Ok, so I'm a little nervous about what changes in my lifestyle this whole MA thing will entail. I have to stand firm and not say yes to ANYTHING besides schoolwork, my job at the museum, and teaching. Nothing else until Xmas, when I might do something (SMALL) with The Heart Project. Other than that, nothing else until summer. There. I've put in writing. I feel better.

Ok, my blog just turned into a journal entry. Apologies.

All Growed Up!

On Thursday Matt and I bought a piece of furniture. Somehow, it felt like a milestone for us. It seemed like such an adult purchase -- a brand new piece of furniture worth more than all our other furniture combined! It's a lovely buffet and hutch, and it will be delivered Saturday betheween 11 and noon :-D

I slept in for pretty much the first time since we returned from our honeymoon -- I must be getting used to the construction (there are now TWO houses going up!), as I now consider it a quiet morning when there is only hammering, and I can sleep through it. Anyhow, I slept in today and it was amazing.

I've also started my second knitting project! It's a poncho that I'm doing in a lovely brown heather yarn -- it's a wool and mohair blend that is soft and nice :-) So, I'm getting really into this whole knitting thing! Does anyone want a scarf, a pair of mittens, a hat, or a pair of leg warmers or something??? I'm serious. Knitting rules.

Let's see, other than that, Matt and I have been cleaning up the house, inventorying wedding gifts (thank you notes need to go out in the next week, so watch your mailboxes!), and plumping Pepper up before his next trip to "Doggy Day Camp." He went to the vet after returning from the breeder and hadd lost a full pound! That may not sound like much, but it's almost 10% of his body weight, and he was only there two weeks! We think he just played way more and ate a little less than usual while at the breeder. He was noticeably thinner, but not unhealthy-looking. Now he seems to have plumped right back up to a full 11 lbs :-)

That's pretty much it around here. We're just trying to get everything around the house settled down before we head out again in a week. VERY excited for that trip, though!!!