beer and bread for weight loss

so mike and i have both been doing the body for life thing, as you probably already know. i've been waiting and waiting to see some more tangible results and this week i was finally rewarded. I've managed to lose three pounds this week which allowed me to cross my first weight-loss threshold. AND i fit into some pants that fit last winter but then stopped fitting by spring. i'm not sure if this means i'm down a size...but it might. hopefully things will keep progressing, since my goal is really to get down one more size and to lose about 15 more pounds. (i have a feeling that could be tricky with christmas coming up.) the funny thing is that mike and i both noticed that after skipping the gym and eating steak and bread and drinking beer on monday night, we both woke up the next day having lost weight. what's up with that? :D anyway, i have lost 10 pounds so far on this plan and i think it shows.

lots going on this week. we have two holiday lunch things this week for work which i have to make stuff for. i'm meeting a new friend for happy hour after work tomorrow and some other friends are meeting later for a cookie exchange party. i have to give finals on saturday morning (woo!) and finish up grades quick. party on saturday night and god knows what else is going on this weekend. i can't believe in a week i'll be headed home to iowa for the holiday. i really can't wait for some time off though.

in other news i was offered a phone interview for a faculty position. that will happen in january. i saw a few postings for cool jobs at the community college here, including a part-time one with benefits that would be my dream come true! i really really have to work hard on the dissertation as you know from my last post, so that position would be so cherry! keep your fingers crossed for me, especially since faculty members don't seem to want to give up any funding.

feeling more holiday spirit this year than i have in the past. more on that in the next post.

i hate to beg

and yet...its what i just did. i emailed my committee members for my dissertation to see if they knew of any funding that would allow me to work less and focus on my dissertation more. now that i've finished collecting all my data (WOO HOO!!!), i really want to have the time to just transcribe and write. this is especially important since i have a phone interview for a faculty position in january (can i get another WOO HOO!). and it looks like i could get an on-campus interview at a different school in january as well. what this means is that i MUST finish this sucker relatively soon. in fact, i will most likely have to have it finished by june. june...6 months away. that's not a lot of time...especially with my 40 hour/week work schedule right now. so cross your fingers that this will work out for me. or if you are wealthy and want to sponser my dissertation, let me know that too. ;)

more posts to come!

dilemma

so, i was opening my mail and found a letter from the property management company of my apartment complex and it turns out they are raising my rent by $40/month if i renew my lease. even though that's not a lot of money, its way too much for the "amenities" and "service" i get. part of being able to justify living there was that it was under $500/month and now it will officially cost as much as my bigger and nicer two-bedroom apartment that i had in college station. this presents a dilemma. i have moved something like 14 times since i graduated from college (which is less than 10 years ago). that's a lot of moving. and yet, i would venture to guess that i could get more for my money somewhere else. SO..what to do. i spent some time looking at craigslist this morning to see if there were inexpensive places and i found a couple. i also learned that people will post pictures of the most random shit when they are trying to sell an apartment. for example: http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/apa/234380195.html did they mean to post a picture of a bird? is that really a selling point for this property? "live here and hang out with this bird...who will probably wake you up early in the morning against your will." weird stuff.

insert intriguing and profound title here

i had a great time in texas. i was able to catch up with some friends and i managed to get all the interviews done that i needed. i talked with 11 students and my goal was 10. so that worked out really well. the trip involved A LOT of driving, so i'm very happy that i won't be going anywhere again until christmas time. after i was done in austin, i stopped in college station to get some coffee with sociology friends and then headed to houston to spend the holiday weekend with mike's family. holy cow was it awesome. we ate way too much (but luckily i didn't gain any weight...nor did i lose any despite my evil scales first read this morning!). it was good to catch up with mike's family and to just get some down time. we even played golf on saturday and though i didn't do great, i did save our team a few times. :) on saturday/sunday mike and i made the long-ass drive back to ABQ, which was also fun.

now that i'm back though, it seems i'm even less motivated at work than i was before i went to the lonestar state. i didn't actually know that was possible. but i think after spending time doing this research and getting fired up about it, its difficult to get amped up about entering data into electronic forms ALL DAY long. i've applied for a few other positions and i'm still hoping something miraculous will happen so that the situation is different next semester. i was hoping i'd get to teach more classes so i could just do that and not do this full-time thing. but then i sacrifice benefits. so its either financial security and no time or more time and no financial security...at least in the short term. what i do know is that i MUST get the dissertation done by august 2007, so cross your fingers that i win the lottery or get one of the part-time jobs i've applied for (which sadly pay more than what i make full-time...bleck).

so, being back in the grind has brought on kind of a feeling of being lost right now. looking forward to an evening at home though to just relax and kind of settle back in to life in ABQ.

peace out.

fortune cookie

so, things are going well in austin. i should have 10 interviews done before i leave on wednesday and maybe even a few more people interested in phone interviews. :)

ate lunch at pei wei for lunch today and this was my fortune: "tell those you love that you do."

pretty nice, no?

so love to ya'll. :)

texas here i come

so after work today i will be on my way to texas to hopefully finish my dissertation interviews in austin. i'll also get the opportunity to catch up with some friends and to hang out with mike's family for thanksgiving. looking forward to that A LOT. weirdly, i'm also dreading and looking forward to the drive. i'm dreading it because i have to get kind of a late start and won't be able to leave ABQ until about 4 or 4:30. my hope is to get to fort worth and find a hotel, get some sleep and then it's a quick jaunt to austin the next morning. i have two interviews already set up tomorrow afternoon, so i'm hoping all goes well with the travels. so, i have some dread because i have a long drive ahead of me after a long day of working. BUT, i do like to have the quiet time in my car to just think about stuff or sing really loud or talk to people on the phone (i have a handsfree thing so no worries.)

i'm hoping this trip will be kind to my diet...though i think that could be difficult. i won't tell you about pounds lost or gained...since it's been at a plateau for a while now. but i do feel stronger and have some muscles. i can even run/jog/walk 1.5 miles in 20 minutes. sure...not that impressive, but considering where i started a few months ago...its pretty damn good.

if anyone is bored tonight and wants to help me stay awake on the ultra exciting drive through west texas, give me a call. :)

more soon!

updating the list

haven't done this in a while, so though its boring...let's see the progress. then i will write more later when my brains have woken up about how things are going. in a word...kinda busy.

Things to Do: Dissertation/Graduation


Spring 2005

- Assemble Committee (complete)
- Thesis Publication (complete)
- Southwest meeting (complete)
- Dissertation proposal (complete)
- 2 courses (complete)
- File Degree Plan (complete)


Summer 2005

- Defend proposal (complete)
- Put together prelims list (complete)
- IRB (complete)
- Research design for NM project (I'm not doing this anymore)
- Lit review chapter (Joe says this is done, but i don't think it really is. And its not...so I will finish that one by the end of December too)
- Pre-interviews (complete)

Fall 2005
- Last two courses (completed)
- Austin interviews (ended up starting these in April 2006 due to IRB and time issues and will finish by December 2006 if all goes well next week)
- Write introduction and methods chapters (yeah....I need to do this by the end of December)
- Do some kind of OGS paperwork that I'm sure is required at this point? (completed)
- Take preliminary exams (Done and passed)
- Publication? (not yet...some are in the very early stages)
- Move? (Done....at least until August when maybe I'll be moving again?!)

Spring 2006
-Interviews in Austin
-Interviews in New Mexico
-Interviews in Chciago
*I started all of these and worked on more NM interviews in the summer. Now I'm almost done with this part.*

So I guess I need to add to the list

Fall 2006
-Apply for many many faculty positions (Mostly done)
-Make a job talk and sample lesson plan
-Write three chapters of the dissertation (hmmm)
-Wrap up teaching for the semester and plan next semester's course
-Finish data collection (just about)

there's much more to add to that list, but its mostly small stuff and stuff that i hope will happen...like maybe finding a better paying job here in ABQ and finally really cleaning my apartment and getting rid of stuff.

okay..guess I should do some work since I'm at work. Whatever though. :) More later.

holy exhausted batman

so, its my final night in chicago. i can proudly say that i am leaving tomorrow having completed 9 really really good interviews. if i get some people to do phone interviews then i will have wrapped up this leg of my research. somewhat hard to believe and i hope that my time in austin is just as fruitful.

now, i'm looking forward to dinner with some college friends and then an evening of relaxation and sleep. in order to get to campus on time for my first interview, i had to get up at 5:20 (that's 4:20 albuquerque time) in order to catch the train into the city. and i didn't sleep well since i had some things on my mind and was nervous about missing the train. i did manage to make it with a minute to spare. :)

this trip has really been great. i got to see jen and jed and their son ryan and crazy insane dog, daisy (who has inspired me not to get a jack russell terrier...no offense...they are just too high maintenance for me). jed and jen and i went to beautiful milwaukee on saturday night and had dinner with our duhawk friends chad, theresa, and greg at harry's bar and grill. we had way too much fun for sure. ("GOOD NIGHT CHAUNCEY!") we also went to a very cool german bar called von trier.

thursday i caught up with my friend becky who i haven't seen since 2003...and that hardly counts since it was only for a few minutes. we managed to talk and catch up for about 5 hours. :) we're actually meeting again tonight (with more college friends) and will have to resist staying up late. i think given how exhausted i am though, that i will likely poop out before it hits 8 in the windy city.

looking forward to getting back to my own bed in albuquerque and putting my suitcase back in the closet for a while....or a week. :)

anywho...that's all from me for now. have a good one kids!

crazy starbucks karma

so i'm feeling a little trapped at this starbucks in chicago at the moment. i'm in town doing research for my dissertation and can't get internet access where i'm staying. so i meandered in what i thought was the right direction to find this starbucks...and luckily happened upon it without issue. good karma from the get-go. but it gets better.

i order my drink and i get one of those "do our on-line survey and get a free drink" things. then when i go to pick up my venti percent hazelnut latte, i notice that i was given a grande (one size smaller for those of you who don't speak starbucks.) so that barista guy gives me both drinks. not bad but more coffee than i needed at 4 in the afternoon...so i figured i could take the other one back to my apartment and drink it in the morning.

after being here a while checking email and hoping to hear back from the many many students who have emailed me with interest in the study, i start getting cold. this is a rather drafty starbucks...mostly because its friggin' cold in chicago and every time anyone opens the door we get a preview of what it will be like when i finally leave. so i ordered a venti caramel apple cider mostly because it has no caffeine and i don't want to be up all night...but i do want a warm-up. to my surprise, the barista does it AGAIN! so once again i leave the coffee bar with two drinks. i currently have five drink cups on my table and i'm sure people in here, when they stop studying for a moment, think i'm the most wired person in chicago right now.

now my hope is that i don't pee myself tonight...that i find my way back to the apartment without issue, and that the many many students who have emailed me will actually have time to meet with me while i'm in town.

here's hoping karma stays on my side for the rest of the trip. :)

HAPPY HALLOWEENIE!! :)

where did october go?

i don't about you guys, faithful readers, but this month flew by! i can't believe its already almost november, though i have to say, i'm sort of excited about november. :) i'll be doing some traveling to chicago and texas which will hopefully mean i will be pretty much done collecting data for my dissertation. i'll get to see some college friends while i'm in the midwest. i get to have a fun thanksgiving with mike's family and hopefully catch up with some texas friends. and i get to miss a lot of work which is AWESOME. (boring job stuff going on right now..) then before we know it the semester will be over which will mean no more saturday classes and having the chance to go home again for the holidays. :) looking forward to all of that a lot!

i had a fun weekend with mike. we went to a halloween party on saturday night and i think our costumes were a big hit. i'll try to post some photos later on. the work computer is not cooperating.

haven't heard much on the faculty job front. i sent out about 10 more packets last week and hopefully that will be it for a while. i'll let you know if i hear anything.

i guess i should work or something now.

my scale is made of evil

so today i stepped on the scale and to my happy surprise it said that i had lost 10 pounds since this crazy process had started and had thus reach one of my benchmarks. i think foolishly stepped on it again and it was a dirty lie! it lied by 5 pounds. what the f@)#!?~ time for a new scale? :) regardless, pants are getting to big and ass is getting smaller. and i can run a slightly longer distance (thus faster pace) than i could even last week. boo-ya! screw you evil scale!

UPDATE: this morning (oct 26) the scale said that i've lost 9 pounds since this process started. it even said that the second and third time i stepped on it. can i get a woo hoo?! maybe those muscles i built up are finally starting to get rid of the fat. *grin* scale is less evil today.

crazy freakin' weight loss

mike and i have been trying out body for life. i think i'm trying to do a good job of sticking to the food part and have been working out more often and with more intensity than i have been in a long time. sure, sure...iowa was not kind to me in terms of eating right, but i'm happy to say that it wasn't a dis-ass-ter and i managed to even job while i was at home (and sick with a cold to boot!)

so my results after 3 weeks....pretty much the same weight..though i have dropped a few pounds...nothing exciting going on with the stupid scale in my bathroom. pants...a bit looser...i think i'm exactly between the size i really didn't want to be and the size i was when i moved here. so what is keeping me doing this? well...there are some noticable results even if the scale doesn't reflect it. my body is getting trimmer....i'm getting some muscle tone...my face is thinner...my boobs are bit smaller (of course)...and even that pesky tummy is shrinking slowly. and i can lift more weight, run/jog faster and longer than i could before, and can do some exercises that were impossible before due to jacked up knee. i'm ready and waiting for the part where the muscle i've been building up starts eating the fat away so i actually do shrink a size and smile when i step on the scale. but...so far so good i guess. right? :)

(by the way...congratulate mike because he's lost way more weight than me. damn boys!) ;)

"kate's mom just called jeremy a bitch"

this past weekend i went to iowa for the wedding of one of my closest friends from college. it was a great time and so nice to get to see my family and my college buddies. and i think it was especially awesome to see how happy monica is in her new relationship. she and patrick are truly a perfect fit and that was so evident as they took their vows and joined their lives. so happy for her. :) the wedding was beautiful and simple and monica looked gorgeous! maybe i'll post some pictures at some point.

the subject line for this blog is a quotation from a rock. now i know you're asking, "what the hell is kate talking about?" but i will explain. monica and patrick had large river rocks on each table with paint pens so that we could leave them words of wisdom. at one point my mom did, in fact, call my friend jeremy a bitch (he earned it..trust me!), so my friend jed wrote the aforementioned quote on one of the rocks for monica and patrick. i'm sure they will treasure it always...or bury it under the other rocks that say things like "laugh often." :)

the day before and after the wedding i got to spend time with my parents and my brother, sister-in-law, and nieces. i haven't seen my niece amber since december when she was a newborn, so it was fun to watch her running all over the place now. she's a cutie. and my niece amanda is growing up faster than i'd like to admit. she's doing well in her new school though and will soon be driving and stuff. insanity!

anyway, that's enough rambling for now. i'm back in new mexico...back at work...and stumbling through all the stuff i'm trying to get done. :) hopefully some more exciting news will be coming soon.

relief via usps

so my friend sara asked me how the job search was going like a week or so ago and i haven't answered her yet (see last post). but, the scoop is that i have sent out about 27 job applications. in fact, i sent the majority of them today which is a huge relief. could the packets be better....sure! would it help if i had more publications...absolutely! do i care at this point....not really. :) i mean, i care...it would be cool to get a job somewhere (kinda sorta), but mostly i'm just happy that they are out of my hands and in a mailbox and i don't have to worry about it for a while. as random positions pop up i can still apply, but its nice to know that most of them are on their way for evaluation. where did i apply you ask? well...all over the place. more details as i hear more.

fall is always busy!

so, its fall here in albuquerque. some leaves are changing, the weather gets relatively cool at night, its not uncommon to tote a sweater or jacket with you in the morning, and my schedule is freakin' busy as hell. it seems to be this way every fall though, which is probably good since i'm so much more motivated than the spring.

what's keeping me busy you ask? well...a lot of stuff. i've been working full-time still and about 3 days a week i have dissertation interviews scheduled after work. i've been doing body for life so i've been trying to eat better and work out more. i'm still applying for a bunch of faculty positions so i've been trying to get all of that information put together, copied, and sent. my hope is to get almost all of those mailed this weekend. i'm trying to figure out next semester in terms of employment (shhh...that's a secret so don't tell my boss) and might have some options there. and i've been planning trips to austin and chicago to finish my interviews and a trip to iowa for a wedding (one of three happening this fall!!). and on the more fun side, my great friend shelley came to visit last weekend which was AWESOME! good times. :)

and then there's the list of things that i need to do...which actually mostly involves writing 3 chapters of my dissertation by the end of the semester. hopefully once the interviews in NM are done that will be easier.

so...that's the scoop right now. need more hours in the day engineers. work on it.

night of the comet

so i went to an ABQ mall today and i have to say it was weird. i don't know if this mall is going out of business OR if its just starting (i think its the first one), but there were literally 4 stores open in the whole place. everything else was closed and there were hardly any people shopping (which makes sense). as i walked from the men's dillards to the women's dillards, i giggled a little, because it seemed like we could have easily been in a zombie movie of some sort. i was shopping with the only survivors of some comet hitting NM and didn't realize that the mall was closed and so empty for that reason. :) anyway, i got what i needed and didn't have to utilize any zombie attack skills.

congratulate me...

because i got my aggie ring today! WHOOP!!!!!because i got my aggie ring today! WHOOP!!!!!

little kate sunshine

so don't read this post if you want to know nothing about the movie little miss sunshine. i'm pretty sure that what i reveal about the movie won't ruin it, but sometimes people get uptight about having any prior movie knowledge (jeremy). i went to see it yesterday and found it especially relevant to how i'm feeling right now. so read on if you dare. (by the way...this movie is great. highly recommended.)

so, one of the main characters in this movie is olive. she's like 7 or something and gets the opportunity to be a participant in a beauty pageant in california called "little miss sunshine." it is probably an understatement to say that olive is a bit weird (as is her family) and that she is not what you'd consider a typical beauty pageant type. when she gets to the competition, she sees other 7 year olds getting air-brushed tans with lots of make-up, huge hair, remarkable talents, and fancy costumes. they are scarily skinny and made-up to the point of creepy. olive has none of this. she's just herself. she has her own style and her own costumes, but they are not on par with her competition. she is full of hope, but vastly underprepared for this competition. she is herself, but to a fault in this case.

so what does this have to do with me? i'm not 7 (by a long shot!), nor a beauty queen hopeful. as i watched olive eye her competitors, i could totally relate. my vita, my cover letters, my writing samples, my statements of research and teaching are definitely works in progress. my dissertation is not done. i have one publication. i have few awards and accolades. i feel like olive. i feel like i showed up at the competition without my evening gown or make-up or big hair. i can get ready and plan to bust my ass to get this stuff in top shape to send out by FRIDAY for a few of the jobs. but i can't shake the idea that my competitors are light-years ahead of me in this process.

the lesson i can take from olive. go for it. try anyway. put it out there and see what happens. because in the end, it will all be okay no matter what. in one scenario, i get a new job that i hopefully like doing what i've been preparing to do for like 6 years. in the other, i get to stay in ABQ for a while, get more prepared, and hang out in a place that i love with great friends. so...i should probably chill a bit and just keep practicing. :) like olive did.

um...yeah....hmmm

so, this week has been unexpectedly confusing after a really fun weekend. i emailed my committee chair on tuesday about applying for a fellowship that would basically pay me to write my dissertation. he told me i should "go for it," but then yesterday wrote that i should apply for some of the many jobs that are currently being advertised right now. the basic idea is: hurry up and collect data and then get crackin' with job applications. i have resisted the idea of graduating in 2007 for a while now. i have a lot to do with the dissertation, i only have one publication, and i'm just not quite sure where i want to be. add to that the simple fact that i feel like i just moved here and i'm not sure i'm ready to think about leaving ABQ yet.

and yet....i'm thinking about sending out some applications anyway. as my chair says, there are a lot of jobs now and you should apply when there are a lot of jobs. AND some of the jobs are considering ABD candidates. AND i'm not that happy with my current job and after ASA felt antzy to be back in the sociological world.

i've found a lot of people to write me letters of recommendation and serve as references. i'm going to work on my vita and teaching philosophy and cover letter this weekend. i'll attempt to translate the weird sheets that came with my teaching evaluations in order to demonstrate my teaching excellence. i was also told that i should have a couple of chapters of my dissertation to submit which i don't really have now. any thoughts on that colleagues? and i'll figure out where i might want to move if i am somehow offered a job next august. i have some places in mind and will have to see what's out there.

so..this is all very crazy. and i figure that i'll know more about what to do when stuff starts happening. its very possible that i won't get any offers right now. you never can tell.

it's official

so this is the first time in 5 years that my car insurance, driver's licence, and license plates are all in the same state. i would say that means new mexico is definitely my new stomping ground...for a while anyway. :)

searching for appropriate song lyrics

so, i spend a lot of my day at work entering data and listening to my iPod (which is my tactic for blocking out all the background noise and chatter that is inherent to cubicle life.) i have a boat load of really good music on there and i've been keeping my ears open for an appropriate lyric that would sum up how i'm feeling about stuff right now. i thought for sure that deathcab for cutie or the postal service or blue october or keane would come through for me....but so far i haven't heard the quintessential collection of words that describe kate's feelings in late august. the closest i've come is a line from a zero 7 song (Garden State soundtrack...check it out). "wasting my time....waiting in line..." i do feel like there's a lot of waiting going on, but i'm not convinced my time is being wasted in all areas of my life. so...close, but not quite it. or there's the shins (same soundtrack): "i'm looking in on the good life i might be doomed never to find." this is a bit more negative and pessimistic than i feel right now, so again....not really it.

this one from bonnie somerville is closer: "
And it's a winding road
I've been walking for a long time
I still don't know
Where it goes
And it's a long way home
I've been searching for a long time
I still have hope
I'm gonna find my way home

so why is this one closest to the feelings i've had? because it captures the frustration of waiting for dreams to be realized and the cautious optimism that its not too late, despite the "long time" of walking and searching. and that's kind of where i'm at right now as another school year starts and i find myself walking and searching and waiting. for example, i'm waiting for some tangible results from the amped up work-outs i've been doing at the gym. i'm searching for a job that makes me really happy AND gives me benefits and a decent salary...a salary that actually rewards me for the experience and education that i bring to it. there are other relevant examples that i could write about, but i think the point is made. and its not that i'm unhappy about my life. indeed i have so much to be grateful for...great friends, cooler fall temps, a nice apartment that is almost up to par, a wonderful family (who i miss and don't see enough), my health, etc. lots of good stuff for sure. so that should probably be enough right? and yet, i'm still tryng to find my way home...which to me means getting, well...the total package. it seems like i'm constantly getting part of the package...but not all at once. and maybe its possible that i'm glorifying the idea of the total package. its my interpretation of what's going on for other people in my world. i don't know. but i'm optimistic...cautiously...that it will come together. hopefully sooner than later.

in other news, i start teaching for the fall on saturday. i think it will be fun and the small classes will be great. BUT i'm not really looking forward to a 6 day work week. here's hoping the extra money leads to less debts. :)

finally...a cool quote that popped up on my google homepage:

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
- Dr. Seuss

this seemed especially relevant with all the crazy shit going on at work lately. more on that later. thanks to those of you who matter so much to me and don't mind who i am. boo-ya!

au revoir montreal

i had the good fortune to travel to the American Sociological Association's annual meeting in Montreal, Canada last weekend. i wasn't looking forward to the trip really, but it turned out to be a great weekend. montreal is beautiful (i'll post pictures later). everything is in french, but most everyone speaks english too. there are awesome outdoor markets, pedestrian areas, flowers, old buildings, great coffee (tim horton's rocks my ass off), friendly people (including men who hit on lindsay and me since i was there), delicious ethnic food, good wine (and sangria), and just an overall good feel. my friend warren and i stumbled upon an art expo that was going on near the waterfront, which was a great surprise. the conference was great too. though my presentation could have gone better, it was good to be in the presence of other sociologists. it was very motivating. (if only work didn't totally drain me...which is weird since its mostly busy, crap work that requires little to no-brain power). plenty of texas a&m colleagues were there too, which was fantastic. it was great to catch up with friends and to talk about how things are going with faculty. gives me some perspective on what's going on here in abq right now. overall, it was a great trip...and i didn't even have to throw all my toiletries away...just one thing of lotion on the way back. :) so, i would definitely go back to montreal...it was really a beautiful city and i'm glad i had the opportunity to check it out.

au revoir!

(self-preservation tactic because i don't know my readership)

i'm not going to bitch about my new job right now...though it's tempting. instead, i will say this. i really miss advising. i've heard rumors that my job will eventually involve advising...but for now it doesn't. and i miss it. i miss it even more after looking at the TAMU website and seeing a couple of full-time advisor positions. don't get me wrong...i like ABQ. but i'm frustrated to be away from a school that i know and a system i understand. and i miss working with students. i'm tired of hearing about advising and being trained on how to do it. i already know. and i want to do just that. so...hopefully my job will incorporate more of that and less data entry. and if it doesn't...then i have some things to ponder i think. (don't worry...not going anywhere yet. and not leaving ABQ yet....just pondering).

giving myself a break

so, part of why i'm hesitant to go to the conference on thursday is because the paper i'm presenting based on my dissertation stuff is just not ready. i had to revamp my questions and only just recently started doing interviews again. and i haven't really transcribed stuff from before. i started doing it today, thinking i could just find bits and pieces that would work...but it takes a long time. maybe because i'm trying to do it amidst distractions at work...but more likely because it just takes a long time. so, after thinking about it and getting some helpful feedback from a fellow ph.d. student, i've decided to withdraw the paper. i think this is the right decision for a few reasons. 1. i have no time and don't want to slapdick this together. 2. since it's my dissertation stuff, it really needs to be done right, and not done fast. 3. i can submit it next year for the conference when its NYC and by then, it will be in much better and coherent shape. 4. i'm still presenting another paper and presiding over a session...so i have plenty to do at the conference. i feel good about it...it has taken off some stress for sure. now i can focus on one paper and getting it ready to go. yippie skippy...instant headache relief!

viva las vegas

great weekend with mike in vegas. its august which means that it was the annual defcon conference. this year i actually understood the two presentations we went to (more or less), so that was an added bonus. overall it was a great weekend and it went way, way too fast. way. on friday, we ate good italian food, saw the fountains at the bellagio (FANTASTIC!), walked around a bit, and then chilled at caesar's. saturday we got up a little late and went to the conference for a while. got an early dinner at todai and went back to the conference for a while. lots of chillin' on satuday night though there were intentions of going out. sleepiness got the best of us...especially me. sunday was great...more sleeping in, lunch at In-N-Out Burger (which is the best food on earth!), and then lots of Keno playing and margarita drinking. it's safe to say that i was quite loopy by the time we got to the airport. and quite sad to say bye to vegas. there are lots of details that i'm leaving out ("did you fart?"...."no, he beeped"), but my brains are tired at the moment.

in other news, i'm preparing to leave yet again to go to montreal for a sociology conference. i don't really want to go and i have a feeling that that mostly has to do with my slacking on getting my papers ready. the thought of backing out on one of them has crossed my mind, but i think i can figure it out still. at least i'm consistently a procrastinator. it will be fun to catch up with aggie friends. AND it will be great to take a few days off from work. more on that later.

bring on the evening

i think its safe to say that i was draggin' ass all day today. had a headache, didn't feel great, didn't have time to get coffee (*gasp*). just didn't feel great. that is...until the work day ended. then i had a fantastic interview for my dissertation and got to have dinner with a great friend out here. it's somewhat amazing, and potentially concerning, how energized i felt once i left my cubey and did some purely kate stuff. i felt super motivated after the interview and had some revitalization for making progress toward data collection. and dinner was just fun and relaxing and tasty and stuff. it made me thankful that i've met such fun people here in the land of enchantment. i think for a while (i.e.- pre-job security) i was holding back in terms of getting to really know my friends out here. after two nights of fun friend time, its nice to know that trend is reversed. and because i don't want to leave anyone out, i'll take a moment to say that i love all my crazy friends spread out around the country and the globe. so...i ended up with a good day despite a lackluster 8-hour start. :)

evaluating evaluations

i finally got my evaluations back today for the courses i taught last semester. overall, i think they were very very good. i got some great feedback and compliments on how the semester went, which is a great feeling and what i hoped for. they also provided plenty of ideas on how to improve the courses i teach in the future. and, unfortunately, there were some not so great things said too. i suppose that's inevitable right? there will always be students who don't like me as an instructor or didn't get much out of the course. i'm trying to not let those comments overshadow the positive ones.

time to hit the gym and not think about it anymore...more to write sbout my great weekend.

p.s.- great spam subject line: kung fu angst

"you can't go ass to mouth"...or to ninja sushi

so i had a great weekend! on friday night, mike and i had AWESOME sushi and kind of a hole-in-the-wall place. i had been telling him about this place called ninja sushi that i saw...and being the punk-ass that he is...he denied the existence of said restaurant, despite the fact that i had given him much evidense. so we went to find it and had trouble since they changed their name! but i did get verification of the fact that ninja sushi did exist. (boo ya!) everything we tried was great, especially the tempura roll. yum!! after that we went to a birthday party at uptown and then an after-party in "the hamptons." fun times in the pool, but did get hit in the face with the pool thermometer and definitely drank too much rum.

saturday i mostly laid on the couch (as i said, too much rum) and then got my nails done. that night mike and i made delicious kabobs and home-made mac and cheese. we were both tired and ended up falling asleep on the couch while doing some hard-core chillin'!

sunday i had coffee with a new friend, which was fun. that afternoon mike and i and others went to see Clerks II. it was good and inspired the first part of the subject line. it's funny stuff for sure!! mike then made yummy ribs on the grill and i made yummy rice on the stove. :) more chillin' after that which was just plain great!!

this week will be a fun one too. my friend sara is coming to visit for a while and will get here tomorrow morning. can't wait for fun times with her!!

:)

autumn antzy

i probably already wrote about this in my office daze, but i keep thinking about the fall and how i just can't wait for it to get here. actually, that's only partly true. i'm not ready for classes to start...but i am for cooler weather, fall fashions, and just the stuff that comes with autumn. changing leaves...sweaters and jackets...aggie football...cheaper utilities. i've already been thinking about thanksgiving and christmas. thanksgiving is an especially happy time of year for me. brings back a lot of great memories...especially from a few years ago. anyway, i know its only july...but i keep remembering that we get autumn out here in the land of enchantment. hopefully it won't continue to be unseasonally hot once september gets here. :) woo!

nothing exciting

hi kids-

i've been wanting to post for a while even though nothing all that exciting has been going on lately. had a fun time eating pizza and drinking beer last night. i've been corresponding with some old high school friends that i hadn't heard from in ages. one is my first high school boyfriend. very cool to be back in touch with him. he's a cool guy and taught me a lot about life back then...and even today. :)

my nephew luke turned 3 yesterday. he's having a birthday party this weekend that my parent's are going to. wish i could have gone too but flights were too damn expensive. he's very excited about the weekend and keeps asking my brother and sister-in-law "when's the party?" so cute!

i finally have something to work on at the job. one task is very data-entry heavy, which is not bad. and there are some other less mind-numbing projects that i have too. we're getting things figured out though and i think the position will start to be more fun as time goes on. realized school starts in a little over a month, so i should probably get my ass in gear in terms of making syllabi for the courses i'll teach.

seems like there's a lot of stuff coming up...trip to vegas, conference in montreal, a bunch of weddings in the fall, etc etc. i'm excited about the fall, though its going to be busy. looking forward to cooler temperatures and college football. :)

okay..enough rambling for now.

hugs not drugs.

spinning in my chair

so work has been really really slow this week. we had a project to work on, but because we were so efficient, it was taken away from us until monday. turns out technology could not keep up with us and we were breaking/overloading/crashing the server which meant a whole host of other people couldn't do any work. thank goodness a new server is being installed tonight and we have a huge stack of work to do that has piled up in the interim. i know..its sick and wrong to wish for work...but it is very boring to have nothing to do. i'm reduced to reading the undergraduate catalog. very exciting stuff. luckily it did spark a few ideas for our program, so that's a good thing.

in the meantime, i implore my friends with blogs to update those suckers so i have something more entertaining to read than degree requirements for the school of management. if you don't have a blog, make one immediately...or email me. :)

in other news, i think i'm almost over the cold i got from some crazy boy. i haven't coughed up my lungs that often today which i'm taking as a good sign. thanks sleep and nyquil.

peace out kids. have a great weekend.

working 9 to 5...i mean 8 to 5

started the new job today. i think it's going to be really great. i like the people i work with and this is going to be a super opportunity and unique in a lot of ways. i swear i'll elaborate, but i must gather up some stuff to take to the office tomorrow and get some much needed sleep. 8 a.m. is early for the formerly unemployed. :)

homeward bound

so i have been in texas since the 14th and it's safe to say that i'm really ready to be on the road home. :) it's not that i haven't had a good time here, because i certainly have. in fact, i didn't even get to see everyone that i wanted to see. but there's something to be said about sleeping in your own bed and just being back in your own routine with your usual stuff. i'm hoping that there won't be any students at today's conference so that i can head out tomorrow afternoon. usually they fax us the numbers but for some reason that didn't happen...the one time i really want to know. :) punks! maybe that means i don't have any? no idea!

not a lot of excitement lately. i downloaded a trial version of a new WinDVD and it works a lot better though is far from flawless. got a hair cut this morning. heard about a crazy thunderstorm that i missed in ABQ last night. have some tentative plans for tonight. finally ate at freebirds today which i realized i didn't do last time i was here (i know...blasphemy!). SO...it has been nice to be here and the weather wasn't even ungodly hot the whole time. love my texas friends for sure and miss them tons. but, i miss home too. :)

woo friday!

it's friday! woo woo!! :) feeling a lot better...its wacky how conversations until 4 a.m. can do that for ya. but they do. i'm in the office for a few hours today. got my students registered and figured out (again) that i will enjoy working with transfer students quite a bit. parents are a lot less stressed out with their students when they have a few years of college behind them already (most of the time...there are exceptions.)

not too much happening right now. got to catch up with friends for dinner last night and lunch today. good chat with my temporary roommate here. :) have a dinner meeting with my advisor tonight. might grab a beer later on with some people. got some plans tomorrow and sunday too. sticking around town which will be good i think.

in other random news...i really hate WinDVD. it sucks my ass. all i want to do is watch The Sopranos on my laptop and it freezes up every 9 seconds. i have one chapter of an episode to watch and couldn't get it done last night. any better programs or ways to fix piece of poop WinDVD? help me out computer gurus. :)

unexpectedly blah

hi friends....you ever just feel kinda down or tired or whatever and can't put your finger on the exact cause? i've been feeling that way lately. i suspect i know part of the issue, but mostly i should be excited right? i get to hang out with friends in texas for a while. i get to start a new job soon after months and months of waiting for that to happen. heck, i even ordered my aggie ring today which is super cool, right? and yet...blah. i think i'm sorta anxious to get back to my own stuff in albuquerque and i feel like i've been away more than i've been home lately. maybe that's it. i dunno...but i hope it changes. :)

say hi to the newest student program advisor

as of monday, i accepted the position i was offered here in ABQ. i think that this will be a job that i will truly enjoy and get a lot out of. the job i phone interviewed for seemed like it might give my new position a run for its money, but it turned out that they found a more qualified candidate. SO-that validated my decision a touch more...though for the most part i was already pretty certain that i picked the right job. i've been faxing all kinds of info so that my hiring paperwork can go through and i found out that HR has officially given their blessing. i also learned that i have permission to teach my classes in the fall since they won't interfere with the work day and new job. in other words, things are really falling into place. :) i speculated today how long it would take me to pay off debts if i live frugally for a while and continue teaching and working (yikes! dissertation!!!) and it would be mostly gone...other than massive student loan debt of course...in less than a year.

besides the money stuff, i'm just really excited to be back in an office. who knows..in a month i could be ranting about crazy office drama..but i'm going to think positive and relish in my excitement to meet new people and be a part of a new program that's designed to really help students. i can't wait to get started! my first day is july 5th, which gives me some down time to recover from the 12 hour drive back to ABQ and hopefully get my apartment organized and cleaned. but luckily it's not too long and i get to jump in soon. i can't even wait to see my cubicle...how lame is that?! :)

so, i will of course keep you posted about how things go. in the meantime, the texas trip is going pretty well. not too much advising excitement. getting to the rec in the mornings. getting to catch up with friends (which included fun times in houston with jeff this past weekend), which is always a good thing. it's been rainy and thus not quite 22138u1q32 degrees (yes i know there was a u and a q in there). its nice to be back. :)

triangles are NOT octagons

ags....let's talk about what a yield sign is. a yield sign is NOT a stop sign. it means you slow down and see if there is someone coming down the ramp or lane or whatever and you yield to them if they are in fact there. if no one is there, you go. you don't stop unless you will plow into said car in lane or ramp. no STOPPING! this is not hard. it's the difference between a triangle and an octagon. for your reference....

octagon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_sign

triangle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_sign

get it together and stop fuckin' around at 2818 and university. (this rant is probably also supported by mike who knows from experience that you need to differentiate between the two shapes.)

a relief for the uncertainty

i was telling mike the other night that i still didn't really feel like ABQ was home yet. the reason for that was that my world was still swirling in uncertainty. wasn't sure about the job stuff...not sure about crazy boy stuff...not sure when my dissertation stuff will be done. so basically, a lot of pretty major things in my life were unknown which created this sense of being unsettled. like at any moment i would have to pack up and move again. i'm very hopeful that that will now change. though the offer is still unoffical until it gets HR blessings, it looks like i will be taking a job at UNM soon. i'll finally have steady employment and won't have to wonder how i'm going to pay the bills at the end of each semester. i'm still waiting to see if i'll be able to teach, but all in all things are looking good. so though i still have uncertainty (boy..dissertation..etc), i'm hoping this chunk of financial stability will help me feel like i can truly settle in and call ABQ home. :) so as predicted in yesterday's blog post...more good news. now i'll hope for continued patience with the other mysteries in my life. :)

good vibes lead to good things

i had good vibes after my most recent job interview in new mexico...like i had just nailed it and i'd be hearing from them. i told mike that i hoped i would be calling him with job news this week. and guess what...i was right. i got a job offer for that position AND i have an interview for yet another position tomorrow. all my impatient waiting (contradiction?) has...i think/hope...paid off. :) the job offer is still unofficial and i'm working on negotiating a bit more money, so i'm not totally celebrating yet. but i'm hopeful that it will all work out soon one way or the other.

i think the position i was offered could open a lot of doors for me at UNM, which is mostly a good thing. the only bad thing is that i'm getting somewhat close to graduation and will be expected/encouraged to go on the faculty job market. not quite ready to think about that yet...or to think about moving away from ABQ already. (though i was given an interesting possibility by my unofficial graduate school mentor...more on that as it develops.) anywho...i'm happy to finally have an offer. it was a much needed boost to my self-confidence. a girl can only take so much rejection (HEAR THAT MEN?!?!...heehee).

in other news, i'm back in texas to finish up my advising obligation to the sociology department. i was dreading the long drive but found out its not so bad when you have an iPod of sweet music (like informer by snow). should be a fun couple of weeks hanging out with friends, advising, dissertation work (i have a plan!), and going to the rec regularly with sara. all very good stuff. :)

okay..i gotta get some sleep so i'm awake in the morning. more news soon.

:)

rain in duke city

it's been showering occassionally in albuquerque this week. it makes everyone pause for a second and look out the window with a touch of marvel. we haven't seen a lot of preciptitation in any form...rain, snow, sleet. so it's kind of nice to see. sunshine is great and everything, but every once in a while...you need to see some clouds, thunder, and lightning.

trying not to get my hopes up, but...

i found out through the grapevine that my references are being checked for the position interviewed for on friday. good sign right? :)

also...i'm heading to texas again in about a week to finish up my advising stint. i migrate there every two weeks it seems. not looking forward to the long ass drive, but should be fun. :)

cross your fingers

i had an interview on friday afternoon. i think that it went very well and would be a position that i would greatly enjoy. the official title is student program advisor, but specifically i would work with transfer students in their adaptation to life at the university. it's a position that requires academic advisor skills as well as student affairs stuff and it's a new endeavor which is always exciting. i hope to hear something very soon. they did all the interviews on friday and expect to notify people in the next week or so.

i will of course keep you posted but keep your fingers crossed that i hear from one of these crazy jobs soon.

p.s.- kate tip: don't try on suits the day of your interview while in the process of losing weight. totally demoralizing. yay for fun accessories. :)

"you don't go out looking for a job dressed like that? on a weekday?" "is this a... what day is this?"

i am unemployed right now, just like the dude from the big lebowski. in a way, it's nice to have some time to chill and get things done that i should have done long ago (like clean out my big closet and get organized.) i'm hoping to get some more work on my dissertation done now that class stuff for the spring is over. and i've been going to the gym more in an attempt to no longer be a freakin' slug. let's just say that my two weeks in iowa during the winter were not kind and things haven't improved in new mexico for some reason. so, i'm trying to finally reach my goal, since i have time. :)

i've always had a dream of doing nothing, but now that i actually don't have a job, i do not have the solace i would have expected. maybe you need to have some cash saved up before fulfilling that dream. :) in the meantime, i'm really really hoping that the job interviewed for at UNM will come through. or that the interview i have on friday goes well. i'll let ya know. and in the meantime, i guess i'll try to live the dream a little.

:)

junk

i keep getting weird junk mail in my school account with crazy subject lines. the weirdest one was tonight: panties response.

what does that mean? why would that make me want to open it?

ah well...time for sleep.

aggieland update

so, since some of you are aggies and might care, i thought i'd tell you about a few of the changes i've noticed while driving around town this week. all of them are restaurant related, but i swear i'm not totally food obsessed. :)

first up, new freebirds opened up on university near 6 where all the new stuff is going. there's also a linens n' things there too.

lanes has now morphed into a newer building and is called raising canes, but i think it's still chicken fingers. i haven't eaten there so i'm not sure about the scoop on that.

new c&j bbq place is opening on wellborn near southwest parkway.

deluxe diner has gone out of business. i guess their business must have dropped off after tim, wes, mike and other MOA guys left. :)

no more double daves on northgate. it turned into a bar. luckily there is a new DDs on george bush and texas.

amazingly the place that always switched between chinese food and mexican food on texas (cazadores or something) is still open! finally something has stayed in that spot.

texas avenue is still under construction. do not ever drive on it unless you want to swear at people...A LOT.

haiku still has awesome sushi. macalisters is still really busy at lunch time and they will ask you three times if you're done with your food even though you're not apparently. :)

so..some changes..some sames. overall a good trip so far which i'll get into more later. feeling ready to head back to New Mexico though. allergies are killing me and i miss my bed.

peace out ya'll!

crazy eHow

it's funny/ironic that eHow posted this tip today of all days: http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Over-a-Break-Up

i think i could write this one. :) which is a good thing, right? means i know how. i know eHow.

hangin' out in h-town

had a WONDERFUL weekend hanging out with my good buddy (and oldest friend) Jeff in houston this weekend. always good times with the cool bobcat. highlight of the trip was yesterday. slept in, hung out by the pool drinking shiner and getting a tan (almost), and then went to eat dinner for 3 hours at a fantastic restaurant with drinks following there. i'm just going to link the places we went and tell you what i ate. that will give you an idea of how full i am now and how much rec time i will need next week!

friday night- star pizza we had deep-dish half starbust and half jeff's OCD blend (pepperoni, mushrooms, extra sauce, light cheese i think) on wheat crust. very awesome pizza.

drinks at dean's credit clothing - pricey for the girl from ABQ but tasty all the same. definitely a nice ambiance and fun people watching (aka mocking).

saturday night- prego excellent food! we had a lot of appetizers like the pan-roasted lump crab cake, corn flour crusted oysters, potato gnocchi, and calamari. i had the smoked duck ravioli ( Smoked Duck Ravioli with port-soaked cherries, roasted pear, pistachios and white balsamic sauce) holy shit it was good. AND we had dessert too. i chose a chocolate mousse tiramisu. there was also, of course, lots of wine. excellent!

drinks at the lounge at benjy's they have an awesome outside patio where we enjoyed a few cocktails. i tried one of their specialty drinks which was delicious. definitely try the blood orange margarita if you ever go there.

just when i thought i could not eat any more food, jeff and i met his friend (and my friend too) heather at baba yega. delicious food and WAY too much of it. luckily jeff and i burned some calories walking around IKEA afterwards.

so, i had a great weekend and i'm anticipating a fast and furious week in texas before my return home.

southland in the spring time

(for you non-indigo girls fans out there, the title refers to one of their songs. boo-ya.)

so, i'm temporarily back in college station helping with advising in sociology. it has been really slow this week, but nice to be back in the blue office. i thought i'd be rusty on stuff, but i seemed to pick up where i left off five months ago. helped a few students and i'm attempting to put out a fire i inherited. fun stuff!

it is cool and weird to be back. this is the glorious time of year when the town is pretty much empty. i've been able to catch up on my girly maintainence. got my nails done and my hair fixed up. both are very nice now. i've been to the rec a few times attempting to make up for all the meals out with friends. not sure i'm breaking even on that.

overall, it's good. some of my buddies are gone this week, which is disappointing, but it has been great to see those who are in town. i was so focused on leaving college station that i didn't realize how homey it was. don't get me wrong, i'm happy with the move, but it's nice to be in a place that's almost entirely familiar. there have a been a few changes...places closed, new places opened...but all in all i know where the good dry cleaner, nail place, salon, etc is in town. i look forward to ABQ being that familiar.

in other news, i have a phone interview for a kick ass job at UNM set up for friday. cross all your crossable parts for me. this would be a fantastic opportunity and would allow me to finally get out of debt and have benefits again. woo woo! i will keep you posted.

i think i'm good at this

today i saw quite a few students who were either making-up tests or picking up their final papers and stuff. a lot of the students who were picking up stuff commented on how much they liked the class, asked me if i'd be teaching more, and in general had some good things to say about the semester. one of them was a non-traditional student and my class was her first one. she was so excited to find out that she got an A. her first A in an undergrad class as a full-time employee and mom of a college-aged student. :) i was genuinely happy as i entered 200 grades for my intro class to see that some of the students that have been showing up and working hard all semester did well.

i also talked with a student for about a half hour today. i never knew what to make of him in class. he always had this shitty grin on his face and sat in the back, so my impression was that he wasn't taking it very seriously. i was wrong. very wrong. he told me last week that his younger brother died unexpectedly and he was thus behind on things. today, he turned in missing homework and lamented that he only got a 92 out of 100 on his last test (which he took during a stressful time). just goes to show that some students really care and are willing to bust their asses. in fact, i wish more students were like him...rather than giving me some b.s. excuse when the fact of the matter is that they are just slacking, they work through a difficult time. i'm truly proud of that student and hope he is also proud of himself.

so, even though i still have lots of grades to calculate and will inevitably hear some gripes about grades, i can say that this has been a very positive experience. the more i do it, the more i think i'm really cut out to do this. the administrator/teacher/small college path seems to be the right fit for me...just as i've always suspected. perhaps that makes me a quasi-academic...but i don't care. :)

time for bed.

quick wit

a few weeks ago i was watching the HBO show big love with a few friends of mine. the show is weird and addictive and makes me want to get hbo for sunday nights only. at one point in the episode, a group of 4-5 high school guys are driving around in a wood-paneled station wagon and the driver...for reasons that i still struggle to understand...pulls out his wang and uses it to steer the car. if i remember right the boys ended up in an accident. what i do remember was an instant barrage of jokes from me and my friends.

b: "he was a little 'cocky' with his driving skills."

me: "well, he was driving a 'woody.'"

d: "it was a 'head'strong lane change."

we were all very proud of ourselves. as i think is clear that we should have been.

:)

commense wine drinking

today was a hectic day. so hectic that instead of grading tests right now, i'm going to bust open the botttle of gewürztraminer wine i bought a few weeks ago. my methods courses starte presentations about their research proposals today. overall, i was very happy with how they did, though the transitions from presentation to presentation could have been smoother. we were crunched for time though due to course evals and had some technical difficulties. i did learn that a video project will still work after taking a dive off of a desk. it was neat though to see that the students had such good ideas and they really pulled the projects together.

my office hours were also crazy today. lots of visitors wondering about grades, a few make-up tests, and a lot of grading to do. i'm sure there are not many undergrads who read this blog, but in case there are, here's a piece of advice to you. do NOT throw away homework or tests or anything you got a grade on until after you see your final grade. with TAs and crazy instructors all trying to keep track of shit, it is inevitable that mistakes will be made. and you will be a sad puppy if you find out that someone didn't enter a test grade for you and because of your expediency of recycling paper goods, we have no idea what your grade was. get a folder and put everything in that sucker.

i'm happy and amazed that the week is half over. next week will be a mad dash to get grades in and trying to find a freakin' job still. you guys are praying and crossing your crossable parts right? maybe profs will still fund me and i could just work on my dissertation all summer. doubtful, but maybe?

love yas!

not to complain yet again...but

okay, so i promise i will post a happier entry soon. but first i have to vent a bit. yesterday was may 1st and i forgot to pop by the office of my stupid apartment complex with my rent check. didn't figure it would be the end of the world, since hey....it's not even 24 hours later. i was totally wrong. i stopped by with my check to find out that i have to pay with a money order AND pay an extra TWENTY-FIVE dollars. maybe this is standard practice and i am just naive about such things. i did have a great landlord before who was very laid back (thanks mike). but still...even my last apartment experience was nicer about rent day than that...and they were stupid about most things. you had until may 3rd to pay before they started charging you extra and they still would take a check. it was a giant pain in the ass to get a money order, but luckily the post office people were very helpful and nice. anyway, the rant is mostly to talk about how stupid the policy of not taking a check is because of one day late rent. i mean for god's sake...they would take my check yesterday?! i was bringing them a check in person. what's the problem?!! it makes me anxious to get out of this building...though i would need a job to do that, huh?

rant over.

pray for employment for me soon!

ah...the rivalry

so i'm in texas recruiting people to participate in my dissertation research. i've been really fortunate because a number of faculty members here have allowed me to talk to their classes about the research in order to get in touch with students who might be willing to do an interview. i have a lot of names so far and hopefully some or most of them will actually follow through.

in one class, the professor announced me and that i was from A&M, which at this particular school is a strike against me. i always make fun of myself a bit and assure them that i'm coming at this research from an objective standpoint and won't be calling the university TU or bleeding maroon all over them. when i was done with my usual spiel, i handed out flyers and two sign-up sheets to the class. as those were going around, the prof proceeds to tell two stories about bad experiences he's had with aggies in the past and how that has shaped his (and his family's) impression of them. now, i will be the first to admit that aggies can have their moments, especially when interacting with austinites. it can get ugly. it can even be dumb. but i was a bit frustrated that this was the moment he told those stories. i'm trying to build some credibility and get undergrads from our rival school to trust me enough to give me an hour or two of their time...and stories from their professor about how aggies are dumb does not help my cause.

so...even as a grad student, trying to do my dissertation research with the assistance of my future colleagues...i encounter the rivalry. and it was dumb and ugly.

a glimmer of hope?

i asked our department head about his advice regarding finding a job at the university. before he gave me his advice, he offered me 2, possibly 3, courses for the fall. SO...that is a good thing right? the bad thing is that i still would rather find a full-time position. you know, one that would pay me enough to get out of debt and would come with benefits. i'm grateful and i took the classes and told him i would let him know if anything changes. if i teach again i would need to find something else anyway...or see if profs want to keep giving me money to do research.

a bit of good news on an otherwise uneventful day.

actually...that's not quite true. a bunch of profs at UT are letting me talk to their classes next week about my research which will TOTALLY help me get interviews. party time...excellent!

a different kind of easter ascension

look what i did today:







have a happy easter kids.

lost post

so i had half a post written before and suddenly it was not "saved as draft" and thus gone forever. :) i think it will be inspired at some other point though, so no worries.

i don't have too much to say right now. just a random post. pretty good day. made tacos. yum! i think i was inspired by the show top chef. :) i should go on that show and make my tacos.

okay....i just spaced out which probably means its bed time.

night kids.

what the..

so how is it that april is almost half way over? i must say i'm sort of happy about that because that means it will soon be pay day again. and that i will soon be going to texas to visit friends and do more interviews for my dissertation. i'm looking forward to that trip, even though it will mean a long ass drive. :)

i registered for research hours for next year. its weird that i'm two hours away from finishing the course work on my degree plan. my hope is that i can collect most of my data this spring/summer so that i can just write in the fall and hopefully graduate next spring. that's the goal anyway.

things in ABQ are good. the weather has been great lately which makes it hard to be inside. can't believe teaching is almost over for the semester. everyone cross your crossable parts that i find a job soon. or else i'm not sure what i'll be doing. :(

okay, i'm done rambling for now. :)

sunny day jealousy

it is beautiful outside today. the temperature is in the low-60s, it's sunny, the mountains are still hanging around. *grin* as i walked to my office this afternoon, i found myself feeling jealous of the couples who were cozied up together on the grass near the fish pond. i was always jealous when i saw people doing the same thing on the grass near the academic building at a&m too. i think my jealousy is because i think that'd be an awesome way to spend an afternoon, or even an hour, and i rarely get the chance to do anything like that. and if i did, the person i'd want to cozy up to is likely to be at work during the day too. seems like it would be a good thing to do one of these days though. take an afternoon, and a book, and a lucky boy, and just be.

jobby job

so, i've been a little more stressed about this job thing, though i realized that the application closing dates for some of the jobs haven't happened yet. i'm really hoping one of the positions comes through and not only so i can pay rent and eat food and stuff (though that is nice.) i also miss that office feel and having work friends. part-time instructor life is pretty isolated. i get to interact with students one-on-one occasionally, but that's about it. i'm getting anxious to be a part of a team again which i think all of the positions i've applied for would include. plus, it will be good for my ego and my sanity to know that i have a job that will have some stability, benefits, and all that stuff. it might make dissertating more challenging, but honestly, i don't think i'm the type of academic who functions well with just one task. in fact, i know that i'm not. i don't need to be (or want to be) as busy as i was last semester, but i need a minimal amount of stress to stay motivated. some might take that to mean that i love being stressed. i don't necessarily. but i work better under pressure and at the moment the pressure is a bit low. i do need to get my ass going on data collection though, since there are some potential publications being thrown around (a book and an article). so, i have a little pressure, but not enough to really get my shit together. and i feel too hermity. (yes, i said hermity.)

so cross your fingers that i will get a shot to show various UNM offices how cool i am and that ultimately i'll get to be an advisor or coordinator or something soon.

good signs?

so i checked my email today and UNM job finder told me about three positions that would be perfect for me. i, of course, applied for all of them.

THEN, my google home page word of the day this- metier: an occupation, especially in which one excels.

i'm hoping this a good sign that one of these positions will pan out. :) cross your fingers for me.

google home page also had this quote from the former mitch hedberg (awesome comedian): "I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later." -Mitch Hedberg

not a bad philosophy i think. check out more mitch wisdom from the link i posted.

back to the grind

so, my two week hiatus has come to an end. i had a great time catching up with people and hanging out with friends in texas. heck, even the road trip with mike through exciting oklahoma and west texas was fun stuff. it is good to be home and sleeping in my own bed and not living out of a suitcase (well....once i unpack that will be true), but it was nice to be obligation free for a while.
it is also nice to be able to go to the gym again. vacation was not kind to my ass. :( but that's what vacation is for right? i think i ate queso more days than i didn't while in texas.

not much else going on. trying to get my apartment cleaned up. decided to cancel my match.com subscription. not really into it and no need to pay dr. phil for his "services."

trying to figure out my employment situation after classes end. cross your fingers and say some prayers that something works out.

nobody knows that i'm a lesbian on extasy

okay, so i'm not really...but i am wearing an 80s style button that says that. if only i had my jean jacket with me. :) i'm in austin, texas at the moment hanging out with mike at south by southwest. one of the bands we saw the other night was called lesbians on extasy. they were awesome and covered an indigo girls' song which made me quiet happy. if you want the low down on the bands and stuff we've been seeing then check out sooshie.org

overall it has been a very fun trip after a successful and fun trip to chicago. i officially started my dissertation data collection which is a great feeling. i have more interviews to do there, which is not a big deal since i enjoy chi-town and will get to catch up with great friends once again. :) i will also be doing interviews in new mexico soon and in texas in april. it's great to finally have started and its especially poignant since my committee chair was asked to write a book about racism in higher ed and an article. so hopefully publications will be on the way!

it has been nice to be out of ABQ for a while and to travel a bit. i'm not anxious to get back to work next week, but it will also be kind of nice to be back home and not living out of a suitcase. cross your fingers that one of the many job applications will pan out. i'm applying for a junior faculty position when i get back too. that would be rad.

miss you all. keep the peace.

good mail

i got this letter today:

dear ms. katemonkeypoop:

our records show that you have passed your preliminary examination, satisfied the residence requirement, submitted a satisfactory dissertation proposal, and completed all formal course work on your degree program...you are hereby admitted to candidacy for the degree of doctor of philosophy with a major in sociology.

sincerely,

dean of graduate studies


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

renaissance woman

monday i felt a bit like a renaissance woman. i taught in the morning, advised students in the afternoon, worked on my dissertation, made a delicious salad, watched 24 (my new TV addiction) with friends, mocked mike's contra skills a bit, and then proved that i could beat super mario brothers and save the princess.

i have many tricks up my sleeve. ;) boo-ya.

"Ah, breaker one-nine, this here’s the rubber duck. you gotta copy on me, pig pen, c’mon?"

so this is another fun website that a few of my friends posted on their blogs: https://home.comcast.net/~josh.hosler/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm

you can see what song was the number one on the day you were born. my was convoy by c.w. mccall. this fact will make dennis piss his pants. :)

"brownie bites would be like huge because there'd be eight brownie bits in every brownie bite...that's awesome.."

i haven't written in a while. i know...slacker. :)

so here's the update in a nutshell:

had a fun valentine's day. mike and i went on a progressive fast food meal this year..revived an old tradition or something. i planned our "menu" and it was a great time. ended with yummy sonic treats, hence the title of this post.

work is still going well. still like teaching quite a bit. my intro class is watching the breakfast club tomorrow. i love using films in class, partly because it's less prep time for me and mostly because i think it's such a good way to apply the material.

i'm also trying to find a gig for after may. i applied for a really cool position and i'm trying to not get my hopes up. it has been hard to even get a foot in the door at UNM for full time positions, so i'm not holding my breath. i think if i got this job though...it could be one of those futurey kind. it's not a faculty position, but i think that's okay with me right now.

i also FINALLY got started with dissertation stuff. i sent out a buttload of emails at u-chicago and u-new mexico and now i'll just wait for people to get back to me about doing interviews. i have a trip to chicago planned in a few weeks so i really hope to find some people to talk to. i feel like i'm getting some good support though from faculty and they are passing the word around. :)

i think i have two trips coming up to texas as well. i'm going to go to south by southwest and see a lot of good bands with mike. and i want to go back in april to visit people again and to do interviews at u-texas.

got to spend some time with my mom and dad and my brother and his family this past weekend. went to st. louis and hung out with them. the only bad thing was that it was the coldest weekend since january 2005 so i came back to ABQ with a cold. luckily its starting to go away.

i also have been working out more. over did it on tuesday though and now my upper-leg muscles are really really really sore. i've been walking around like frankenstein and the three flights of stairs to my apartment are killing me. hopefully they will feel better tomorrow/very soon!

so...that's the scoop poops. sorry to be a shitty friend and not to be in better touch with people. i was in a funk for a while...sort of unexplained funk...and i'm snapping out of it now. love yas!

now i'm copying phil

sara's fiance, phil, had another series of questions on his blog and now i'm copying him. before i copied shelley. i'm a copier. call me xerox bitch! :) it's all in good fun though..and there's that whole imitation/flattery thing.

before i start the list though...i finally joined a gym and worked out today for the first time in a while. i'm proud to say that i did 2.5 miles on the elliptical machine and lifted some weights. not bad for the first time back. the only evil thing about my gym is its close (very close) proximity to the local krispy kreme. that's just mean. :) i will resist and where those f'in pants that i've been moving all over the country. it will happen.

so now..the fun.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
i look pretty cute today...and a little tired.

2. How much cash do you have on you?
i think i have a shiny fiver in my billfold. :) it's not actually shiny.

3. What's a word that rhymes with TEST?
why was breast the first word in my head. wtf?!

4. Planet?
definitely saturn. love those crazy ass rings. plus i think it's my planet or something. capricorns and saturn...no idea. oh..and my car is a saturn. :)

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list?
probably greg.

6. What is your favorite ring on your phone?
i really like "the internet is for porn" ring (from avenue q) but it's too quite...so i'm sticking with "gonna make you sweat" by c and c music factory!

7. What shirt are you wearing?
sweaty red rugby t-shirt. just got back from the gym.

8. What do you label yourself?
hilarious, smart, cute, buck wild, nerdy, foul-mouthed, generous, humble (haha), a good friend, loving to a fault, fiesty, Catholic, liberal, sociologist, teacher, etc etc

9. Name the brand of shoes you've recently worn.
i love Clarks. LOVE.

10. Bright or Dark Room?
usually somewhere in between.

11. What were you doing at midnight last night?
i was watching Roseanne on Nick at Nite and entering grades into a spreadsheet (and consequently swearing at Excel.)

12. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? it said "World Market?"

13. Where is your nearest 7-11?
um...i wanna say there is one a few blocks east of my apartment complex, but i just moved here so i don't freakin' know.

14. What's a saying that you say a lot?
while driving: "what the fuck?! what are you doing?" in life: buck wild, cheetos, monkey ass, durkheim blah blah blah, random swears, rad

15. Who told you they loved you last?
dennis

16. Last furry thing you touched?
mike's face

17. How Many Drugs Have You Done In The Past three Days?
illictit---none. prescription--two

18. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed?
at least one

19. Favorite age you have been so far?
hmm....28 wasn't too bad.

20. Your worst enemy?
usually myself (stupid second-guessing.)

21. What is your current desktop picture?
my nephew luke

22. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"so call me later?"

23. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly, which would you choose?
show me the money! i would definitely choose a million bucks. lots of debt to pay off and fun to have. :)

24. Do you like someone?
yup

25. The last song you listened to?
some postal service songs while working out. i love "such great heights"

i might be watching too much law and order..and sex in the city for that matter..

so i haven't been sleeping well this week. not sure what the deal is, but last night i was actually awakened by a nightmare at 4 a.m. (which is probably why i was a bit of an emotional basketcase tonight..that and pms..yikes!) in my dream, i was about to be shot in a street shootout that was happening as i was walking by. it was scary enough that i couldn't get back to sleep right away. so i figure i've been watching too many zombie movies with mike..or too much law and order. or it's related to a weird incident last week. i was meeting with someone and while we were talking she learned that her child had accidentially shot and killed someone. it was a weird situation, especially because her child was only a teenager. so that might be still haunting me a bit. either way...stupid bad dreams. might need another glass of wine and some serious zzzz's.

some good news: my apartment is starting to look really good i think. almost everything has a place. just need a space to store my atari. maybe mike's house? :) then we could play basketball on the big screen (it's one of my favoriate atari games because the ball is a square.) :)

bored

so, i still really like teaching...especially the intro class. but i find myself dreading office hours. i've been trying to pinpoint why i lack enthusiasm for them, especially since it's only 2 hours on monday and wednesday (which is minimal office time compared to what i've had for the past three years). i think the issue is that i share an office, so i can't really make this one mine. or at least i hesitate too because i share this space with 5 other people. we're not here at the same time, but i'm not sure it would be appreciated if i had my shit all over the place. :) i did co-opt one desk drawer to put some lunchy/snacky things in. and i have a folder on the desktop of this computer, but otherwise, i'm like a nomadic office person and take all my stuff with me (except the radio i bought..that stays.) i can suck it up though and deal, because jeez..it's two hours. maybe the real issue is that i miss when friends would stop by academic and say hi and eat candy and shoot the shit. and i sort of miss the regular student interaction i had as an advisor (though there were times that i needed a break from that.) now students just stop by when they have questions or problems, so i've only really seen one person so far. so if you're around and are bored, come by my office. :)

in other news, my apartment is really starting to look good. i almost have everything put away so that i can do some serious cleaning. then it will be fit for guests!

later skaters.

i'm copying shelley

my good buddy shells posted her responses on her blog and i'm copying her. you can find shelley's responses on her blog which is linked from mine (Bean Around the World.)


10 Firsts:
Real Best Friend - Laurel Smeins
Screenname - I think the first one was on something called ISCA and I was known as HappyMarmot
Pet dog name - No dogs, but our first cat was Sylvester
Piercing - Ears only
Crush - Justin T. was always my crush in elementary school and in high school my first crush was definitely John C. College...definitely Father Dennis (this was pre-priest status)
Car - The first car I drove was a hot ass Ford Ranchero. The first car I attempted to buy was a Plymouth Neon
School - Woodbury Elementary (WOLVERINES!!)
House location - 1103 East State in M'town
Favorite Toy - my doll Martha (who I still have)
Name - Katie (shut up Mike) :)

9 Lasts:
Time you smoked - too many cigars at Mike's a few weeks ago
Food you ate - meatball sandwich
Car ride - home from dinner with a friend
Movie you watched - Sliding Doors
Phone call - Jared
Song you listened to - Hebrew songs
Bubble Bath - can't remember...probably finals week last semester

8 Have you evers:
Dated a best friend - for the most part
Been arrested - no way
Danced with no music - sure
Been on tv - most recently I was interviewed on the news because of this high school program i was working with one summer. it was awesome because the caption under me just said "kate" as if the people in b/cs would like "whoa..hey! it's kate!!" :)
Kissed someone & regretted it - without a doubt
Cheated on your bf/gf - no
Been on a blind date - ugh..yes
Been out of the country - yes i have and can't wait to go again

7 Things you're wearing: pj bottoms, white tank top, bra, hoody, glasses, underwears, a smile

6 Things you've done today: taught people, went to k-mart, mailed a box, unpacked boxes, dinner with a friend, went to synagogue with same friend

5 Favorite things: hanging with friends, watching movies, coffee drinks, good music, laughter

4 People you most trust: only 4?! Mom, Dad, Mike, Dennis (and many others...you know who you are.)

3 Choices:
Vanilla or Chocolate - Vanilla
Hugs or Kisses - yes please...i mean hugs
Pens or Pencils - Pencils

2 Things you want to do before you die:
Have a family
Write a book

1 Famous Person to meet: I wanna say Jon Stewart off the top of my head.

Your turn!!

toot my own horn

on wednesday a few students came up to me after the lecture and let me know that they were really trying to get into my class, because their own section of intro was "horrid." in between classes i always get some lackluster coffee at the student union and while i was in line a girl told me that she really enjoyed the lecture and that her boyfriend was actually disappointed that time was already up. all of that was very nice to hear and leads me to believe that i'm doing a pretty good job with that class anyway. it's kind of funny because i was intimidated by that course since it's huge compared to the others. but the students seem to be interested and engaged in the lecture for the most part. i know i'm not reaching everyone but i'm reaching a lot and they seem to really enjoy the class. they participate, they take notes, and they ask questions. it's totally awesome and a pretty big change from my experience last semester at the community college. the other two courses are going alright too. the subject matter is less interesting and since i've not taught it before it's more challenging. but overall, i dig this teaching thing. i don't want to be a bragger, but i think i have some skill in this area and it's something i really like. woo!

all else is well in ABQ. making friends. enjoying the view. can't wait for my new camera so i can show ya'll some pictures of my new digs.

moon rise

on saturday night i got to watch the full moon rise from behind the mountains. it was absolutely beautiful and amazing. i saw it happen once when i lived in austria and i was mesmerized. it's nice when nature makes you stop thinking about all the stressors of life. honestly that was part of the reason i was so excited about moving here. moments of awe to break up the day. i haven't been disappointed so far.

i have to say though that it's taking a while for it to hit me that i live here now. maybe the move was so fast and furious that my brain didn't really process it. still seems like at some point mike will be taking me back to the airport and i'll be on my way to texas again. i'll meet up with tim and sara for guac and shiner and we'll bitch about stuff and laugh our asses off. (miss that). i think it just takes me some settling in time and once i get that accomplished...this will feel more like home. once all the boxes are unpacked and safely shoved under my bed, pictures are on the wall (need your help with that mike), and i have people over for the first time (which will hopefully be soon), i suspect it will all sink in. this is not to be read that i'm not happy to be here. i definitely am (though i miss my texas peeps something fierce). it's just hard to get out of the "what's coming up next" mode. i've been anticipating moving and finding a job for so long, i have to break my old habits and realize that i've done it. :) anyone else have this problem or is this specifically and idiosyncratically kate?

in other news, i start teaching tomorrow. i was/am really nervous about it, but i think it will go well. i finally got my syllabus done for the methods course and feel much better about that now. gotta go copy it this afternoon, check out my classrooms, get a parking pass, and submit a paper or two to the american sociological association meeting. busy busy busy.

in a quil daze

somehow in the land of enchantment i managed to catch a cold. it's better than the flu that was going around, that's for sure. but it's still no fun to be sick and sniffly. luckily i'm well-stocked on vitamins and orange juice so hopefully i'll be able to kick this cold's ass before classes start next week.

things are going pretty well so far. i finally have cable, internet, and utilities set up after the apartment switcheroo mix-up when i moved in. and i have access to mail too. basically i'm connected to the outside world again. still have some unpacking and settling in to do. AND i have to get my syllabi together for my classes. gotta say that i'm sort of nervous about teaching. my intro class is going to be giant and the other two courses are new ones for me. i will have two TAs though which will help a lot. it's just a matter of figuring everything out at this point. and figuring it out fast.

okay friends, now that i have interweb in my house i will try to be in better communicato. :) peace out.

i'm now on the 30 side of 30

hi friends,

today's my birthday and i'm officially old. 20s no more. i've heard that the 30s are way better than the 20s, so here's hoping that's true. though i have to admit that the 20s weren't so bad. now though...30.

i always had this vision that i'd be like jennifer garner in that movie 13 going on 30. successful career, skinny, cool clothes, cute boyfriend. not quite there yet. i'm on my way to a successful career and have some cool clothes i think (including some i bought today.) i DEFINATELY need to start going to the gym soon. thank god i live on the 3rd floor of my apartment building. :) stupid holiday weight.

it occurs to me that i'm rambling. :) so the news is this: i got all moved in, bought a new bed, and turned 30 today. i'm going out to dinner tonight in ABQ which should be a good time. wooo!! and i got two massage gift certificates from mike which i can't wait to uses. moving hurts your muscles.

hope you all have a great weekend. miss my peeps.

UPDATE:

i had a wonderful birthday! lunch at pei wei, birthday coffee and cookie from satellite coffee (it's an awesome coffee place), dinner with lots of people at chama river brewery, and then drnks at spectators. AND i found a pair of jeans that fit despite my christmas weight gain. looks to be a beautiful day today!