Progress

Things have been going well. I've been busy, of course, as always: working, riding Jet, and chipping away at my long pre-move to-do list. As a result, I've had little time for much of anything else. I looked at the calendar this morning and realized the time remaining between now and my move is extremely brief. I still have a lot left to accomplish, but things are running smoothly.

1. I finally got round to editing and reformatting my manuscript. As I expected, it didn't take nearly as long as I'd imagined. I sent it off to Walt, the co-author, and now all I have to do it wait for him to review it and see if he'd like to make any additional changes before we resubmit. This might take a long time, but I'm hoping I can encourage a speedier turn around by playing the "I'm starting grad school soon and want to get this off my plate before I have far too many other things to think about" card. We'll see.

2. My running is going well. I'm up to running for thirty minutes straight! I'm surprised how well the C25K program works. I haven't lost any discernible weight, but I do think I've put on a little muscle and I'm definitely more fit. I don't breathe nearly as heavily (I could actually hold a conversation now, while running), and my breathing and heart rate quickly return to normal after runs. I don't think I'm at a place where I 'love' running. But I certainly don't hate it, and it seems to be good exercise for the time being.

3.I found a place to live. I was lucky enough to score a hit on Craigslist for a studio apartment at a very reasonable price point. The landlord was willing to wait for me to move in to pay a security deposit and first month's rent, so I don't have to worry about losing money in a scam, and I can see the place in person before putting any money down. They agreed to my move-in date and hosting my one remaining rat. The only (potential) issue is that it's about a half-hour commute from campus. It's a shorter commute, mileage-wise, than the one I make now to the ranch. But it will mean additional time and expense. Hopefully it won't be too much of an issue, and it will be worth the commute to have an affordable place to myself. It even might end up being beneficial-- it could help me to maintain a healthy work/life balance if I'm not so close to campus that I feel like I'm there all the time.

4. I'm starting to go through things, paring down on what I have, selling off items I no longer need, and making plans on what to take, what to store, and what to donate. I've already had success selling some bigger ticket items that I no longer use (my first DSLR, for example), so I have a little extra money on hand to put towards moving expenses.

5. I got an iPad! :) A very generous gift from my mother to aid me in my graduate school endeavors. Initially, when the iPad was released, I couldn't see myself ever having a need for one. I have a laptop and a smart phone, and couldn't envision how something that was more than a phone but less than a computer would fit my needs. But after speaking with my aunt and uncle (both professors, and avid iPad users) as well as reading reviews of the device written by current grad students, I decided I needed one, too. It's AWESOME. It will completely replace my need for three-ring binders and loose-leaf paper for note taking, negate the need for printing out thousands of pages in PDF documents and articles every year, help me keep all my files and information organized digitally, and, potentially, help save me a lot of money if I can buy certain textbooks in eBook format. I've had a lot of fun learning how to use it, and I've started to slide back into a more academic mindset, reading articles and doing some research. Apparently, all you have to do to make me more productive is put my work on a toy.