219/365 Sunday, 08/07/2011

Today was the day we took George with us back to my apartment in Oxford. Since we wanted to drive all the way through without stopping for a meal, we drove to Jackson for a big breakfast at our favorite breakfast place: Roxy's. This is their toilets sign, and since I thought it was funny (as did Bill) it became the pic of the day...Everything went well but true to his scaredy-cat ways George is still spending most of his time under the duvet that is on my bed. (It's Thursday now, so it hasn't been that long yet).  In the evenings I force him out from under the bed and chase him into the living/dining area and close the bedroom door behind him so he cannot run straight back. He complains but he does eventually calm down enough to wolf down some food. He likes to sit under the new orange IKEA blanket I got for him. during the night when everything is dark and quiet he takes care of business (kitty-litter business that is). I'm hoping he'll come out of his shell more eventually. It just takes time. 

215/365 Wednesday, 08/03/2011

This is a picture of the IKEA restaurant area, fairly early on Wednesday morning. We decided to eat a bit more breakfast before commencing the looking and shopping spree.We always have fun at IKEA and today was no exception. It IS tiring though. I noticed more IKEA-newbies at this store, who stood around wondering how to go about getting the things they want--they apparently had overlooked the little pencil and paper dispencers that one uses to write down the item name/number plus where the item is in the warehouse area. Sometimes you heard people say things like: "They're going to have to order that..." 

We made it through the showroom, marketplace and warehouse area in about 3.5 or 4 hours--after which we  paid for everything loaded up the car and went back inside to get our fill of cheap Swedish meatballs and a piece of chocolate overload cake for lunch.  My excuse for eating more than usual is that I have not been sleeping all that well-I regularly get up from about 3am-5am and so lose a coupe of hours of rest--hence chocolate cake must come to the rescue. (We split a piece). 

Then we moseyed on home in our trusty civic and Bill immediately set to putting all the pieces together. I continued getting settled and cleaning the apartment. We had decided that instead of Bill coming back and having to re-load the car and George all by himself I would accompany him back to Albion the next day, in order to offer moral etc. support for the trip back to Oxford with George and the rest of my stuff. (which will take place on Sunday). 

I thought I would have more to do, but since most of my clothes etc are coming on this next trip I didn't have that much to do yet - I had already taken care of work-related tasks such as getting an ID and showing my employment documentation. So as I write this I am back at my old desk, for a short while longer at least. 

Once we go back I'm sure I'll want to get cracking on course-preparation -- it will be Miami's first semester using a new e-learning system that I need to figure out how to use, plus there is all the usual prepping/planning necessary before classes start. I have seen my office and it is quite nice--it might be a bit noisy since it is directly opposite a door to the stairs. 

202/365 Thursday, 07/21/2011

Packing up for a temporary move is tricky--on the one hand I don't want to be burdened by too much stuff, on the other hand I do want my little apartment to be cozy and comfy. I'll also be teaching every day of the week - which means bringing quite a few clothes...We decided to make two trips with our trusty Honda civic, well actually that means Bill will make two trips I'll stay down there and continue getting things settled. On the second trip Bill will also bring George the one cat we decided I would have with me for the year. This will all happen next week. (starting Monday, the day we'll make the first drive).

One of the major changes will be the fact that I won't have internet access in my apartment. All my interneting will take place in the office at school (and so will be mainly work-related) or in other places--the library, coffee shops etc...I'm actually looking forward to being off the grid at home. At least thats what I say now...

199/365 Monday, 07/16/2011

This is a big old suitcase that I packed full of clothes for the fall. I'll be teaching every week day and so need to prepare "teaching-appropriate outfits" for each day. In my case teaching-appropriate means: a bit more formal than my everyday clothes, comfortable and either warm or cool enough depending on the temperature in the office building...the secret to this kind of dressing is layers...shoes will be important too because on some days I would like to walk to the office. The walk is between 20 and 25 minutes, depending on one's pace--I will need comfy walking shoes, because I'll be schlepping textbooks etc back and forth. I'll probably keep dressier shoes in my office and just change into them, like they used to do in the 80's..There is a free bus service that runs almost door-to-door so that will be an option too. Mieze cannot resist a suitcase and had to give this one a try!!

198/365 Sunday, 07/17/2011

Ever since I knew I'd be moving to Ohio for the upcoming academic year I've been wondering how much and what kind of meals I will cook for myself. I'm not a very confident cook, although I've become a bit better at it in my middle-age. I have a feeling I will enjoy the abundance of take-away eateries in the beginning but after the newness of those wear off (since there are very few good ones to speak of in Albion) I'm sure I'll want to cook again. Plus I'll probably take a lunch to the office with me--which I always liked doing at Albion. I'm taking my laptop lunchbox with me for that reason. We went to the Barnes & Noble in Battle Creek where I decided to pick this one up--since I am on my own, and not a very accomplished or picky cook I thought a student's cookbook would be fine. I went with vegetarian to get some ideas for non-meat or fish based meals. I have packed what I hope is just the right amount of kitchen utensils--a couple of dinner plates, smaller plates some silverware, knives, a few pots and a skillet. I'm also taking a small microwave, which I'm sure I'll use a lot...I also picked up a small coffee maker and a new fairly cheap toaster. It's kind of hard to pack for a move of a year (well nine months). On the one hand I don't want to take too much stuff on the other hand I don't really want to live too ascetically, even for a limited amount of time...I hope I'm striking a happy medium...I'm a bit of a creature of comfort...

187/365 Wednesday, 07/06/2011

We took George, our orange tabby for a ride today to see how he would react to being driven somewhere that was not the vet's, since those are the only car rides he has ever taken with us, other than when we first brought him home in 2004. (From a pet-store in Jackson, where an employee had found him in the parking lot where someone had dumped him). It was a lovely day and we drove around the back-roads for about an hour, listening to our latest audio-book which is whatever the audio-equivalent of "page-turner" is...The Girl Who Played With Fire, the second installment in the famous Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson.  George was not a happy camper of course, but he actually did better than I expected. At first he meowed and meowed but after a while he fell into a sulky silence and just sat quietly in his carrier. I think he at some point realized that we weren't taking him to the vet, so he just simmered down. And even when he was meowing it wasn't as deafening as with some other kitties, since his meow is quite high-pitched and not very loud--more like a squeak.  And best of all was that when he was let out of the carrier back home, he reverted back to normal George almost immediately, which was a good sign that the driving had not traumatized him. Of course the actual move will be in a different car/van full of other things and will take quite a bit longer, but I think he will be OK. I'm sure he will be a bit traumatized by being in a completely new place, and without his brother and sisters, but I hope he adjusts fairly quickly.