I'm sensing a semester long migrane

The start of the fall semester is never a smooth thing for me. This fall it's been even worse than usual.

For one, I really dislike being stuck behind a desk more than ever. I'm already planning for next year's field school. Montana baby. I'm so excited I tingle at the very thought. (What? I can start planning. It's only 8 months away.) Plus I'm taking Spanish this year. Learning a foreign language has always been difficult for me and taking 5 courses this semester on top of a 40 hour a week job isn't helping. But I really, really love my guitar class. It feels almost dirty to be getting credits for something I enjoy so much. Practicing doesn't feel like homework, it's more like playing with a really fun toy.

Plus there's my car. (His name is Ivan, Ivan the Impala. Shuddup, you know it's clever.) Ivan is a real bitch of a black hole when it comes to our savings account. I spent $2600 to get the transmission rebuilt in August, then another $150 on some valve that has something to do with emissions (it was causing the check engine light to come on) then another $200 on two new front tires. So I was a little fed up with the very idea of car ownership. (I swear if Indy had efficient public transportation I would use it, however I don't want to spend an hour and a half on the bus every morning and evening when I can drive the distance myself in 45 minutes.)

Then, two weeks ago I was headed home after work and class and some woman who was too busy yakking on her phone wasn't paying attention and she rear-ended me. (Oh irony, your sense of timing never fails.) I wanted to scream at her but I restrained myself to simply cussing at the ceiling of my car. Now Ivan is in the shop for 4 - 5 days while he gets a new bumper (which means I loose my bumper stickers, booooooo), a new rear panel on the passenger's side, and probably some other crap. I have a rental (a 2008 Impala which sucks donkey balls and I hate it) and a headache. Cars. Phooey.

I have been knitting in a effort to preserve some of my sanity. The therapeutic value of knitting is vastly under-appreciated.


A sweater for my little monster man nephew


A shawl for me

I'm attempting to plan a camping trip in October as a mini-vacation. Then it will be time to hunker down until the end of the semester. Research, paper-writing, and other general unpleasantness. Ugh.