Confessions

#1: I own a shower squeegie (is that how you spell it?). And I use it. Every day. I am one of those people. I squeegie out my shower (especially the sliding glass doors) after every shower.

This morning, as I was squeegie-ing my shower, I remembered a week during my freshman year of high school, when a friend stayed with me while her parents were out of town. She asked if she needed to "wipe down" the shower after she was done (with the same towel she was using to dry her body). My immediate thought was "Why the hell would anybody ever do that?" And now, I am one of those people.

#2: I am, as I type, having a front-loading high effeciency washer/dryer installed in my laundry room. And I am positively giddy about it. Yes, I have a laundry room AND I'm ecstatic about my new appliances currently being installed.

#3: I live in the suburbs. 'Nough said.

#4: I like living here.

Oh my God! What is happening to me?????

2 Things

1) I moved into my house on Tuesday! Now I am officially a resident of the 'burbs. (I am also officially in more debt than I ever thought possible.)

2) I found this funny website that harkened back to my middle school days.

That's really all. I'm very busy trying to move in and figure out all the extra stuff you need to buy when you own a house instead of rent an apartment (like, a hose, a lawn mower, a washer/dryer, and curtains, for example). It's funny - you spend so much freakin' money buying the actual house, and you think you won't be spending any more money for a long time...but no! That's the secret no one tells you - there are a million little things to buy right after you move in.

I am not complaining, though. I'm still pinching myself because I can't believe that I actually get to live in this great house!

Memories

Happy Easter!

I love haiku. I think it is one of the most beautiful forms of poetry out there. I think I like it because it is so structured that the words seem more...purposeful. Thoughfully chosen, if you will. I don't particularly care for other structured forms of poetry, but I absolutely love haiku. Richard Wright, in fact, spent his last years writing haiku -- he wrote 1000s of them. I have a book in which his favorite 872 (or something) are collected. Haiku is beautiful stuff.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, while I was living in Sitka, I was very good about keeping a journal. I wrote in it nearly every day. And, there was a period of time in which I made a concerted effort to write a haiku poem in my journal every day. Sometimes, that's all there would be -- just a haiku, nothing else.

I am currently in the process of packing (because I move into my beautiful home in 9 days!), and I came across my old journals from my years in Sitka. Of course, I had to stop and look through them. I found a few haikus that actually did not repulse me, so I thought I'd share them:

11 April 2001:
The wisps of my hair
And soaring eagles above
Follow the same wind

15 April 2001 (this I wrote after meeting an ex-boyfriend for coffee):
Silence and sunlight
Embrace the empty feelings
And unspoken thoughts

29 October 2001:
The sun shines through snow
And the mountains echo light
The bare wind feeds me

31 October 2001:
Beautiful sunrise
Lights the small and friendly streets
Nudging me awake

And here is one from Easter day, 15 April 2001 (this one isn't that great; it's just funny):
Actually, no.
I'm way too tired to think,
So this poem sucks.

It's funny how I can look at some of those poems and remember exactly what I was feeling at the time.

Looking back over my journals makes me want to start keeping one again. I gave up on keeping a journal when I started grad school -- too much writing. But now...who knows? Maybe I'll let my old haikus inspire me.

Okay. Off to do some more packing...fun stuff.

Triumphant return...?

Funny, it's been quite a long while since I've written anything. What's even funnier is that I actually tried to log back on several weeks (months?) ago, but couldn't find this blog and assumed it had been erased. But now - poof! - it's suddenly and magically here again.

Here is a basic rundown of my life over the last...11 months:

1) Got my master's degree!


2) Went to Hawaii!


3) Got a job (only 1 month after graduation!)!

4) Went to my lovely friend Natalie's wedding in Minnesota.


5) Turned 29!

6) Bought a house (and move in on April 17!)!


And that's about it. Oh, and I just found out that my dear friend, Megan, got a Fulbright. Now I can say, "Oh yes, I know someone who got a Fulbright," and people will be very impressed that I have such talented friends.