GSU and ATL

I'm REALLY excited about starting school at GSU.  They have a nationally ranked Public Policy program.  When I was looking to apply to schools, they were my #1 choice.  Soon after I finished my application, the program director called and told me I'd been accepted.  As if that wasn't enough, they offered me a lot of money to come there.  So I said yes!

See how sweet?

When I told my man I'd been accepted, he was genuinely excited for me.  He was very supportive and so sweet about it.  When I was applying, he'd made it clear he didn't want me to go there because it would mean either long commutes for both of us, or living apart.  So I was nervous to tell him I was accepted.  But he was great about it. 

And then we avoided talking about it for weeks...  It was really hard to talk about.  But he is so supportive of me going to school there.  He never made me feel bad or guilty for wanting to go to school there, and he encourages me to be excited about it.

So I am!  I'm looking into apartments in the area (hoping for no commute!), and trying to plan decor and furnishing.  There are a few problems with this.  First, I'm about 1500 miles away from Atlanta.  Though I did visit a few places back in march, I can't really gather any new info...  Second, I'm flat broke.  I won't be for long once I get there, but I will be broke when I get there.  Luckily, that extra special, super sweet man in the picture is going to loan me enough to get my apartment and live until I get my first paycheck. 

I'm also looking forward to school.  I'll only be taking 3 classes at a time (as opposed to 5), and work will be school related and only 16 hours a week.  Plus (and don't tell them this), the classes should be a bit easier than the advanced Econ topics I was studying.  Not quite as intense mathematically.  So I'm really looking forward to it.  And, I'll get my own cubicle.  And I'll get to do research.  And I'll FINALLY get to study government instead of business economics. 

Oh, I'm just so excited. 

And I'm going to be living in Atlanta.  I've been to Atlanta many many times, but never thought about calling it home.  It's such a big city.  I'm from a town of about 4,000 people.  My grandparents went to the same high school I did.  It's just such a big step for me.  I'm very excited.  And I bet there's good sushi!

It's coming up fast, too.  I just can't believe it's only about two months until I start school.6 5555555555555555557 (Kitten now has no qualms walking on my keyboard...)  Part of me is very excited and hopes time will fly.  But another part wants time to stop so I can spend forever in my man's arms.  Ready or not, it's coming. 

Try again

So after I left New Mexico at the end of last summer, the realities of grad school hit me, and I quit writing here.  I did an accelerated master's program (15 hrs a semester -- AH! -- normal grad is 9), 2 hours worth of commute time daily, and a part time job that decided 36 hours a week was part time. 

Luckily, I survived all that, and graduated with my masters in econ in May.  I was also accepted to Georgia State University's PhD program in Public Policy.  Not only that, but they (my top choice) offered me a research assistant position and a fellowship worth more money than I thought possible. 

So, in August, I'm moving to Atlanta.  Sadly, my man is still stuck to his PhD program in Birmingham.  So we'll be living apart.  The kitties will be splitting time between us.  I'm really excited about this new chapter in my life, but very sad to have to start it away from the man who makes a house my home. 

Kitten (we've completely stopped calling Friday by her name) has gotten big, though not nearly as big as we thought she'd be.  Her paws and ears are enormous, but her little body hasn't caught up.  She is still growing, but slowly.  And as cute and spoiled as ever.  Here's the three of them.  At least they think the bed is comfy.  Duncan (in the middle) has lost a lot of weight over the past year.  He plays a lot more, and is very snuggly.  Parker's the same as ever.  Dumb and sweet.  We love them all.

We've also added another species to our brood.  We got three female rats in September (that part time job was a pet supply store).  They are adorable, and sweet, and we love them a lot.  The cats like them, too.  They are fun to watch (or so they tell us).  Caring for the rats is a lot of fun.  Their favorite toy is a box full of tissues.  It's fun to watch them tear out the tissues and make a little nest.  I don't have any pictures of that, yet, but I did just get a new box of tissues at the store today.  Maybe I'll post some soon.  But here's a picture of a couple of them.  They all look exactly the same (grey dumbo), except the different white spots on their bellies.  The one standing is Luna (no spots on her belly), and I'm pretty sure the other is Terra.  She is always following Luna around.  Astra is the other sister.  She's a bit more of a loner.  She's a sweetie, too, but she's always the last to run up to see us. 


Over the last year, I've had very little time to sew anything.  In fact, I don't think I sewed a single garment after leaving New Mexico.  I did sew a few hammocks for the rats, but that's pretty much it.  So getting back here for the summer, with nothing but time on my hands, I've been sewing like a mad-woman.  So far, I have sewn 6 skirts, 7 tops (one of which was torn by Kitten just before it was hemmed), a pair of wrap shorts, and a few attempts at shorts that didn't quite work (tweaking the pattern still).  I have plans for many other things, too. 

So that's where I've been, and where I am.  I'm going to try to pick this back up, and keep it up when I start school.  It should be slower than this year was (should be backwards going from master's to PhD w/ assistant job).  I'm really hoping to be able to keep organized (a new topic I'm going to explore here), and keep from losing all the things I enjoy when I get busy.  Hopefully this will become a place I can talk about keeping myself in that groove.

So.  I'm back!