Hobby

I consider myself a pretty well-rounded person. I play volleyball and some other sports, sing, write and edit, play the piano (a little), make scrapbook-y cards, and cook (albeit grudgingly).

Lately, I've had the urge to branch out in all directions. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt. I want to make ridiculously incredible home decorations and furniture myself. I want to paint on canvas. I want to photograph artistically. I want to be involved in theatre productions. I want to try to write a book. I want to make beautiful flower arrangements. I want to read more books. I want to learn a few other languages. I want to join a city league for volleyball. I want to do anything and everything artistic and fun that I possibly can think of. See my problem?

I've tried to narrow down my list of desired hobbies, but I can't bring myself to get rid of any of them. Tracy recommended keeping all of them on the list but just working on a few at a time. But then I have to decide which ones to do first. I'm being silly and childish, but I really want all of them, and I want them now!! :)

Any suggestions? I'll let you know what I decide to focus on, but it will definitely be a difficult decision.

Planning Ahead for Next Summer

We Wulfs like to be prepared. We like to have things planned out. I keep my planner updated religiously. But both of us were unprepared for geology grad students applying for internships for next summer just a week or two after the semester started. For next summer! Already?! Seriously?!?

Even though Tracy got a slower start on applications, he interviewed with fifteen companies and come home with tons of free stuff--five water bottles, a flashlight, a toy truck, a coffee thermos, flash drives, a deck of playing cards, office supplies, and a hand lense (for looking closely at rocks). But perhaps the most common free item was food. Tracy got at least free ten dinners for going to information sessions and special dinners. We went to the grocery store and realized that we didn't need too much, because we hadn't really eaten any of our own food for dinners. SWEET!! I love free stuff!!!!

But the biggest piece of news we have to share is that Tracy has accepted an internship with Hess, an oil company that is pretty popular on the East Coast. It has many international locations and, while it is relatively small compared to Exxon or Chevron, it has done well in the recent economic crisis. Tracy will be working for Hess in Houston next summer. We are so excited!!

Before I Die

I really like lists!! I fill notebooks with them. This list was particularly fun to write.

It might seem strange that I’ve compiled a list of things to do before I die. I’m only twenty-two years old for crying out loud! But I’ve learned in the past couple of years that time flies by, and lately I’ve realized that unless I keep these goals of what I want to accomplish in mind, I might never complete them.

Some of these things are things I would like to do, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to. Others I must do before I die (for example, going to Britain). Although I realize that some of these goals are far fetched, I’d like to think none are completely out of my reach. I guess if anything else, this list tells you how imaginative and hopeful I am.

Go to Britain—I must do this!! Did I already say that? I’d like to go for at least two weeks, but I’ll go there for as long as I can. Tracy promised me he’d take me there when we got engaged. I would rather go to Britain than anywhere else on this planet!!

Go to Hawaii or on a cruise (I’ve never experienced this and would like to someday.)

Go to New York City and see a show (or perhaps several) on Broadway (That is, if I can convince Tracy to come and if I bring a pillow for him to sleep on while I watch it.)

Be in another musical (perhaps even be the lead!)

Record my singing on a CD (Obviously it won’t be professionally done and my voice won’t be heard on the radio, but I would like to record my voice on better technology than a twenty-year-old tape recorder.)

Take my kids to Disneyland (or Disneyworld)

Have a garden (both with food and flowers)

Learn French, Latin, Italian and/or Portuguese (I doubt I could learn all of these languages, but I would love to. This list is in order of priority. Since Tracy already knows Portuguese, I figure he can just translate for me. J)

Complete a somewhat impressive visual piece of art (whether a painting or something else) This one might be a little too far out there for my abilities.

Edit for a magazine or book publishing company (even if it’s just for less than a year)

Write a book—not sure whether fiction or nonfiction. I haven’t decided if I actually want to do this. Ironically, I prefer novels written before 1900, mostly from Britain, so it’ll be interesting if I decide to write fiction in America now. A bit hypocritical, huh?

Go to Australia and New Zealand with my brother Todd. (Haha! Right! This is one of those more imaginative ones.) We agreed on this trip years ago—other siblings and family are welcome to come too. This probably won’t really happen, but it would be awesome if it did!

Learn to fence (Not required but again this would be awesome!)

Ride a horse up to a gallop and feel comfortable doing so

Get a master’s degree in English literature and teach (Maybe even a PhD and teach at the college level. This again probably won’t happen, but I’ve thought a little bit about it. Who knows? If this does happen, it will come after my kids are older and I have completed most of the other things I want to do before I die.)

As you can see, I’ve got a lot of work and saving to do to accomplish all this before I die.

Working/The Plague of Texas

I have finally reconciled three work schedules and am finally working at all of them. I don't do much else, but I am working. Yay!!

Last Saturday, I worked at the home football game on the third deck in a trailer full of shirts, hats, stuffed animals, and other memorabilia. By the middle of the third quarter, I wished the game would end soon. It wasn't too busy or too slow. It was warm but not unbearable outside. What was the problem? Moses sent the plague of locusts to Texas, and they were all at Kyle Field. Every shirt and hat was covered with inch-long crickets, moths, gnats, and other creepy crawlers.

By the fourth quarter, I was swatting in every direction like a madwoman. When the alumni left their seats at the end of the game, I heard tons of horror stories about crickets landing on people's faces and shirts and crawling down people's shirts and about people's needing to basically brush and groom the backs of those in front of them because of all the bugs. Yuck!!!

Above is a picture from Texas A&M's student newspaper depicting the conditions at the game. Yes, all those black things are crickets. The headline above this picture read, "Bugging Brazos County." I'm glad I'm not the only one. Tracy tells me that in late October the bugs will go away. Needless to say, I'm counting down the days and praying for seagulls to come and eat all those nasty crickets. What did I do to upset you, Moses?

Widowed

Friends, family, and loved ones.

I want to announce that I am unofficially a widow for the next nine to ten months. College football season starts in September and the NBA Finals end in June. I say again, I am a widow.

Although I admit that I enjoy a few games with him (BYU wins, Notre Dame losses, USC wins, and Texas Longhorn wins), after two games a day, I'm done with football for at least a week. When he watches sports, Tracy becomes a machine. He can't get enough football and basketball.

So, here's to all those good times I had with him. I'll remember him, and I look forward to seeing him again in nine months. Until then, I live with this guy. I guess he'll do until I get Tracy back.

A coerced sports spectator/commentator shows his enthusiasm.
The enthused spectator/commentator caught in action.

Laboring on Labor Day

Today I went to work and Tracy went to school just like any other Monday, but it isn't another Monday. It's Labor Day.

I'm confused. Aren't we supposed to have Labor Day off? Isn't it a national holiday? I found out that Labor Day was created to celebrate "the social and economic achievements of American workers" (United States Department of Labor) and give the working man (or woman) one day's rest he (or she) rightfully has earned. Even though I've worked at my new job for only one week, I worked well over forty hours (actually closer to fifty hours) doing rather frustrating tasks with people not too eager to help out. Why does Texas hate the common worker?

I'm happy I have a job--don't get me wrong--but getting a day off is always nice.

I got another job at the Texas A&M Writing Center, and coordinating two schedules is way more difficult than I thought it would be. But again, I'm grateful for my jobs, and I will work hard. Too bad I don't have a holiday to celebrate my labor!

New Job, New Possibilities

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a long time. I've been waiting until I had something to post. Although I have been working on our apartment pretty much every day, there's only so much you can do without spending money, which we are avoiding right now until I get a job.

I've searched high and low, applied for any and all kinds of jobs, had to take the SAT to be considered for a job (but that job didn't work out), and almost given up hope that I would one. But, thank goodness, I got one. I'm working for the Texas A&M Bookstore. I'm excited. It should be fun. And a few other probably possibilities have shown up as well, so I could have two jobs. Plus, I'm pretty sure that even if I find one or two other jobs that have me work forty hours a week I can still work at games and special events for the bookstore. (My co-workers, 99.9 percent of them students, don't want to work during the football games, so I get to.) So this is great!! Yay!!

Because I have had relatively no work for the past six months (should I consider tutoring at the WSU Writing Center for four hours a week work?), I'm ready to work, work, work!!

I'll update the job situation when I know more myself.