39 days till 2011...

Is a pretty unbelievable thing to realize! The past 3 months have consisted of a lot of craziness. Maybe I should do the breakdown of what's been happening.

August 28th: My last day of work at UMass. The job ended up being way too much busy work at the end of it, so I was starting to get very depressed, feeling like I wasn't accomplishing anything substantial during the 8-4 hours of work. Takes a serious Type-A person to get depressed for getting PAID, doesn't it?

September 1st: moved to Somerville, MA to live with one of my lovely friends who I have known for seven years, Irene. My intention was to have a quiet place to live (my family is great, but living with 4 people means that there's always noise and the expectation of helping out) that was much closer to my job/classes. It was certainly a bit of a risk to get an apartment without a secured job. But, I figured something had to come up. Even if it was another mind-numbing job. At least I could then have my year of adventure and exploring the city. Newton is no place for a young professional without a family. Just too boring for a person of this description. Maybe good in another 3-5 years though. One never knows :)

September 18-26: In Pittsburgh, PA. Mom and I intended to fly from Boston on Friday night, which was ideal for me. On Friday, I had an interview with the New England School of English for the position of an ESL teacher. At the end of the interview, my assessment was that I didn't do that well on the interview. But even having an interview was a good sign, of course. We ended up missing our flight (it was delayed and then Mom slept through the delay). So, we took a 5am flight on Saturday. And then had to take a cab to Sonu and Sarah's. On an hour of sleep. Jaya's birthday was beautiful. Above is a picture of the beautiful family and their excited one-year-old. I stayed with them through the week. On Monday morning, I received a call saying that I had been offered a position as an ESL teacher. What a relief--I calculated the amount that I would be making, and I would have more than a $1,000 surplus each month, assuming that I got new classes each month. The caveat was that it's a month-to-month contract, since it's totally dependent on the number of students. I'm hoping to stay as long as I can, until starting my 'real' job, of course. They seemed to indicate that they had flexibility for that. On September 22, Aaron came down from Butler, PA (40 minute drive) and met Sonu and Sarah. They liked him immediately. Sarah said something along the lines of "He really wants you to do what's good for you." Very true. I feel very lucky to be with someone who's so supportive of my pursuits. On September 24th, he picked me up from their house. I said goodbye to little Jaya that morning, and Sonu and Sarah the previous day. It was sad, but I knew that I'd see them all for Christmas again (and time flies so quickly when you're a busy adult. sigh.) I had showered and gotten basically ready for the day (and meeting the boyfriend's parents...always anxiety-inducing). One of the first things that was said was, "You're so pretty!" by his aunt. How sweet! It took me less than 20 minutes to get the right dress, makeup, and shoes on. And I'm the laziest person in the world when it comes to hair...not much said. At 7pm in Grove City, PA, Aaron's youngest (full-blood) sibling was married. It was a beautiful ceremony and a heartwarming reception. I have to say, the best part was the father/daughter dance (maybe since we didn't know the groom well at all?). It was really nice to meet not just his parents, but his whole family. A little overwhelming at first (it was a dry wedding too!), but then they really were so down-to-earth that I was put at ease, completely. It's a little hard keeping track of everyone, though, as his parents are divorced and (happily) remarried to other people. This is my favorite picture from the wedding, prompted by his stepmother, Vicki. What a cool lady! I have to say, it really was great to be part of that event, and to be so accepted into a family. We'll see what happens next :)

September 27: Started my new job. It was pretty intense-- teaching 3 separate classes. Prep takes around 3 hours. And correcting papers takes much longer than that. I had 11 students in an upper-intermediate class, so that was a great deal of essay-writing. It's been trying, but the students were (overall) very appreciative. So, it's a job that's often worth having.

October 28th (ish): Session 2 of work begins. Which means I start independently tutoring, which is totally great for my wallet, but kills my social life and sleep. I don't see Aaron during the week, but I do get all the cleaning/other stuff out of the way during the week, so that we can make best use of our weekend. I was teaching a class on humor, and the topic was puns. So, I dressed as a "Cereal Killer." I wore all black, and black gloves, and the box of cereal was massacred with a (fake) bloody knife. It was the most thought that I'd put into a Halloween costume since...forever. Usually, I throw on whatever I have in my closet and dress as a "trophy wife" or "Catholic Schoolgirl." And since neither costume was particularly appropriate, I went for the most creative. Then, the 4 weeks were finally over. Which then led me into yet another pursuit.

No, not accomplishing anything off of my 30 before 30 list :/. Maybe I should amend the list, as my goals have shifted a bit. I'd been in correspondence with a woman at the North Shore Rape Crisis Center in Lynn, MA. I know that Lynn has a large population of refugees, and with that population, there is a greater risk of rape and other abuse. They're not 'valued' as much in society, don't have as much of a 'voice,' and are often treated as objects in their own countries. It's the sick, sad truth. My first weekend of training was this past weekend, which was 18 hours of really detailed, awful truth of rape of women of all ages. It was really hard to sit through, and despite sufficient water and 400 mg of ibuprofen, when Aaron picked me up from Lynn (what a great boyfriend for saving me from waiting 45 minutes for the next commuter rail!), I had a throbbing headache. So we ordered Thai food, and I could barely eat. What good can I be if the TRUTH is causing me such physical ailments? Hopefully that will pass. The second day was actually more intense (and I expect days 3 and 4 will be even moreso). I didn't buy lunch during the day (it's too expensive and snacks are usually enough), so I cooked a homemade spaghetti and meatballs dinner for us. And it was GOOD. I mean, wow. I didn't even completely know what I was doing, but it ended up being really good! Well, it was totally appropriate that we were watching "Julie and Julia," since 'Julie' went through over 1 recipe a day. I certainly don't have the time/money/energy for that, but we all have different priorities. I'd be happy to experiment with new foods on weekends though :). Weekdays have become salads, soups, whole grain pasta, yogurt, eggs, chick peas, fish, and occasionally chicken and sausage. Thank God for multivitamins, since I'm sure I'm missing out on some essential nutrients.

This week is Thanksgiving week, which means I have 2 full days of work, a day off for the actual day of Thanksgiving, and working again on Friday (which is just crazy--there will be next to no students in class!). Aaron's car has been having problems accelerating, so he's taking it to the shop tomorrow to make sure that everything is fine with it. As a backup plan, he'll take the commuter rail down both Thursday and Friday (if he didn't have the overnight job, he could just stay here :/). Thursday, to spend with my family, and Friday to spend the whole weekend with me (and I'm having a semiformal dinner/dance party on Friday). Short notice, and a lot of people are out of town, but there should be at least 10-15 or so, including coworkers and close friends. And Liena's going to Paraguay in Feb, to be a Peace Corps volunteer! I'm jealous and excited for her, but also really sad that she'll be gone for 27 months. She promised to come and visit...should any big, exciting things happen :P. I suppose this is a good enough update for now--sorry to have taken so long!