31.12.06

Una señora

I'm now a married lady. Wow.

The wedding was beautiful, though I was incredibly nervous. In fact, I almost cried on my way down the staircase with my parents, and I didn't know where to look or if to smile or not as S and I walked to the table where the magistrate was waiting for us.

But now we are married, and we had a very nice party. My favorite part of dinner was the cake. Chocolate truffle cake. Delicious. I also enjoyed dancing with S and my brother, sister, S's cousins, my Dad, etc. I also enjoyed throwing the bouquet in part because my friend caught it, but also because it was just fun. I could be the center of attention but it wasn't uncomfortable - nor do I think it was for S.

So, yes, I am married. Wow. As I said to S, I don't feel any different, besides the nerves about the wedding being replaced with nerves about other things in life. But I am super happy. Super duper happy.

25.12.06

On this day angels sing

...with their song Earth shall ring, praising Christ Heaven's King, born on Earth to save us, peace and love he gave us...

Merry Christmas!

Yes, yes, I am still awake at 5:30 AM. We got home from visiting all of the relatives about an hour ago and having had a glass or two of cola de mono, I can't sleep.

Christmas here is so different from Christmas in the States. For all those people who complain about the commercialization of Christmas, come here. We've got nothing on the Chileans in the commercialization department.

My wedding is Saturday. My family arrives Tuesday. I am so excited!

I made snickerdoodles last night and my suegro has proceeded to eat about half of them. We all over ate at dinner, and then opened presents right at midnight. My suegro was watching his watch, which was amusing. Everyone seemed to like my presents so that is good. Hopefully they still like them tomorrow.

Given that the sun will be coming up soon, I should probably try to sleep. Oddly enough, Christmas day isn't really a big thing here. M was telling me that when she and my future husband were really young Christmas day was a bigger deal, but now it is all about Christmas eve. Christmas day is for lazing around and eating the leftovers from Christmas eve dinner. And we are painting the house tomorrow, because we are that cool. The three of us are also so cool that we can exhaust ourselves in 15 minutes of kicking the soccer ball around the plaza, and that I taught them both the words to "Santa Claus is coming to town" in English. Yes. Cool.

So - ¡Feliz Navidad! May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white.

21.12.06

It's summer now.

I am in Chile now... and I have been for a few days now. It's hot hot hot during the day and I am still not over my micro-fobia. But it's nice to be with Seba.

We had the tasting for the wedding last night, which was very nice despite the fact that I was so nervous I could hardly eat anything. It will all be delicious, though. I am very excited about it all, but also nervous. It's a big step. But I'm excited about it. I'll be even more excited when my family gets here next week.

14.12.06

freedom!

Hmmmm have I mention that I am DONE DONE DONE?

It's an odd feeling.

I leave on Saturday... I turned in my grades today and took a gazillion books back to the library. Crazy.

I still have some shopping I need to get taken care of before I head off... though I had some people over this evening so that was a motivation to straighten up the living room, which is now quite nice. My bedroom, on the other hand, is if possible even messier than it was. But I can take care of that tomorrow. But, I'm free! Except for not. But it's nice not to have to read for class or grade anything. One more semester... :-)

12.12.06

!

As of 2:05 PM, I am done with my own academic work for the semester.

Unfortunately, my freedom is almost up - I have to give the final to my students at 7 tonight.

Should I read some Jane Austen during the exam, or something for school? I can't decide. 3 hours. of. sitting. there.

11.12.06

Dead dictators, done papers, plumbing and Advent, oh my!

Pinocho is dead... I know you shouldn't be happy about someone's death but I am certainly not sad that he is gone. It's hilarious to listen to the BBC people talk about it because they are sort of out of it - which makes me feel weird when I hear things from them about places I don't know as well, but I suppose superficiality is key in most areas when you have to try to cover the entire world. But he's gone!

Also finished (te hehe) is my paper. I did not, however, finish it before Lessons and Carols which was a disappointment, and I was up pretty late last night finishing it, but, oh, wait, it's done. Later today I'll just print it out to check for typos, and listo. I'm actually pretty pleased with the way it turned out. I do, of course, keep thinking of other works I could add to this study but I'm just going to have to leave it at this for now - I don't have the time to re-read all of that stuff to add it in! Besides which, I'm at the page limit.

My bathroom sink is backed up, which is a mystery to me and sort of disgusting. I brush my teeth in the shower. My friend brought over a plunger but that didn't help, nor did the vinegar and baking soda. The maintenance people came this morning but they woke me up - at 9:30! Shameful! But they are coming back after lunch, which should be any time now. However, I also got to do some organ prosletyzing with my friend, which is always fun. I forget that people usually just hear the music rather than knowing how it all works. Which is fine, but the way organs work is really cool!

Lessons and Carols! I love Advent, and the Lessons and Carols service is one of my favorites. Unfortunately the cold/allergies stuffiness kicked in after the second hymn so I couldn't project without my voice breaking, which was disappointing. The choir sang a piece that I hadn't heard before, it is called "Advent" and is music by Roland Martin set to a poem by Christina Rossetti:
Earth grown old, yet still so green
Deep deneath her crust of cold
Nurses fire unfelt, unseen:
Earth grown old.

We who live are quickly told:
Millions more lie hid between
Inner swathings of her fold.

When wil fire break up her screen?
When will life burst thro' her mould?
Earth, earth, earth thy cold is keen,
Earth grown old.

It was quite beautiful, and really brought back to me a comment someone made as to the links of our current Christmas celebrations and pagan winter rituals - I always chuckle to see the snow-themed displays in Chile in December when it is 85 degrees outside.

Speaking of Chile - I leave on Saturday. So exciting! 19 days!!

9.12.06

Chugging along...

Happily the writing block didn't last. Unhappily, I can't dedicate days and days to writing this paper, which is what I would prefer to do. I hate having to rush things. And even though I still have plenty of time, I feel like I am being forced to rush. I think back over the semester and wonder if there were another time I could have been working on this - and the answer is basically, no. I haven't really had much free time. I've been studying, writing other papers, reading for all of my classes, attending Grandma's memorial service, and getting ready to get married. All of those things take a lot of time. So while I am a bit annoyed with myself for not having worked on this more earlier, especially because I am really enjoying the work now that I am in the middle of it, realistically there is nothing else I could have done before. I need to have blocks of time to write - I am horrible at the sit down, write a paragraph, go do something else for a few days, come back and write the next one, etc. So today is a block, again. And though my goal had been to finish it by this evening, I think I have to admit that it isn't going to happen. So I'll be aiming for tomorrow afternoon before the Lessons and Carols service. We'll see how it goes.

For any of you who use MSN, you should try out the games. They are pretty fun. I especially enjoyed the Minesweeper - though I found the competitive Solitaire to be confusing, very confusing.

7.12.06

writer's block.

I'm totally blocked right now. I'm working on the last paper I need to write for this semester and even though (or perhaps because?) I have been thinking about it a great deal and have done all the research and have it mostly organized, I am finding it incredibly difficult to sit down and write anything that makes sense, which is incredibly frustrating.

Usually when I write a paper, I just start writing out an outline and/or writing myself a mini lit review that sometimes makes it into the final paper and sometimes doesn't. I tend to write everything all at once - I am actually quite bad and inefficient at writing a few pages here or there. This paper, however, is a lot more like my thesis was - rather than looking at one particular work or author, I'm taking bits and pieces from all over the place, so it is more difficult to start out at any one place, because there are so many different places to start. Do I want to work chronologically? Thematically? How do I want to introduce each writer? I am not a huge huge reviser, which is part of why I think it takes me so long to get started - I have to think it all out in my head and have it set. Most of my revising consists of just going back and checking for typos and sometimes rephrasing things, but I can't think of a time when I have had substantial content changes. There have been a lot of things out on the web recently about how academics write and revise, and I feel like I need to work on my revision skills. I'm great at revising other people's work - I just struggle with my own.

So now that I have written a nice, neat paragraph here about writing papers, perhaps I should return to staring at a blank page and trying to begin the actual thing. I can't even organize my sources anymore - I have them all organized in how I think I want the paper to go. I just need to write! Write! Write!

On an entirely unrrelated note - I just adore Colbert's Blitzkrieg on Grinchitude graphic. For those unlucky ones who may not have seen it - you have Santa Claus in his sleigh flying through the night sky, only to be shot down by a plane. But who saves the day? Jesus, who catches him in an open two seater to the strains of the Hallelujah Chorus. It's just hilarious. I adore it.

3.12.06

If only everyone read more

Today would have been my grandmother's birthday... but she is no longer with us, so I guess it's not.

However, Pinochet had a heart attack and will maybe die soon. I feel guilty about thinking that it is only fair that he die already so he can burn in hell... except that I have other issues with hell... but yeah. It's sort of odd.

1 paper is written, 1 is still but ideas floating around my head and books and articles strewn about my apartment floor. Luckily, I have some time to work on it still.

I couldn't resist another quiz:

What Kind of Reader Are You?
Your Result: Dedicated Reader

You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.

Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Literate Good Citizen
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You?
Create Your Own Quiz


PS. Michael's was absolutely crazy today. I got the 2nd to last wreath hanger thing for the door. And they were out of cookie tins. This is what I get for waiting until now to go... wait, no. This is what I get for going on a weekend day.