Party on, Wayne. Party on, Garth.

We've been out of school long enough to get used to having holidays. Except, back in the University world... holidays rarely equal a day off.

MLK Day, however, is actually observed at U of M, so there are no classes. A few days ago it hit me - hey wait - there are no classes. So Arthur invited several classmates (and spouses - this year has been vastly improved because there are other spouses/SOs, like me, along for the ride) over for brunch.

And it felt really, really good to host such a brunch. Y'all know me - I <3 serving brunch to everyone. And Arthur loves running an omelet bar. The house was full in a way it hasn't been since we moved in (as much as Neffie did his best), and it was a good feeling.

 It did remind us of the limitations of our space, though. I missed the old apartment. This brunch worked, but we couldn't have fit more people. We're used to an apartment that is all on one floor. In JP, we just closed off the door to the back bedroom, and the rest of the apartment could be party space. Here, the split level means everyone's in one room - you can't really branch off upstairs comfortably.

Also, I really miss my old kitchen. The biggest challenge here is that for brunch, a lot of the cooking is live (versus in advance) - and that's difficult in a small kitchen. I remember having a pantry... and room for a table in the kitchen... and an entire front room (and library!) for putting all the cookies out at a cookie party, away from the kitchen. And more room meant more seating. We didn't bring a lot of the older furniture with us when we moved, so we have less space and fewer places to park one's butt.

Still, we've adapted to the space and having a bunch of people over for omelets and french toast and waffles and mimosas (and chocolate cake because there was a birthday girl) really felt good. I think once the semester is over we should definitely host more brunches. Or cookie parties. Or whatever. Plus, the weather will be nicer (*sob* or so we hope), and we can use the picnic tables and not feel so restricted with inviting people.


(It's definitely been nice this year for Arthur to have a cadre. Especially since some of them play games :) The decision to spend an extra year for the dual degree has really paid off.)

The Good News Post

Arthur has been promising me for *months* that he will make a post or two (he has ideas for several). But he keeps being too busy, so I'm sorry but y'all are stuck with me whether you like it or not.

This also means I'm tired of sitting on his good news. This semester he finally managed to score a research assistant position!


This relieves a LOT of financial tension. It doesn't solve everything, but it certainly helps a lot. (Especially regarding health insurance.) The only downside is that this was previously going to be his calmest semester (no fellowship, no fifth class, etc.) and I was enjoying having a weekday afternoon each week where he wasn't running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Now he's firmly back to headless chicken.


Also, I don't think I've posted here? But I am now working part-time at the community center across the street. This relieves some of our rent. Plus it has the added benefit of getting me out of the house. Contract work has been great, but it keeps me at home in front of my computer. Which isn't a complaint. But having a job that gets me out where I can meet my neighbors and be somewhere not in the house is also great. It's a much healthier balance than last year.

While it's not *that* far out of the house (across the street), that's actually been a benefit this winter. I just can't imagine having to commute via car right now. It's just been awful this year.

And I've started to organize activities at the community center. There's a knitting group that starts up this week (I've met several knitters; let's see whether any of them can actually make it), and I'm putting together semi-organized activities for school vacation week. I want to start a rotating cooking demonstration as well - there are so many different countries/regions represented in Northwood, and I'd love to have someone come and talk about the food of their childhood, and what makes their dishes different, and demonstrate how to make something and share some food around. (For instance, one of the other community assistants was telling me about how Hungarian paprika is different from the paprika she finds here. I would love to have samples of various paprikas, and taste how they're different (both as spices and in a dish), and learn more about it and its effects on local cuisine.)


So we're definitely wicked busy this semester, which is great. And sleeping better at night, because the GSRA makes so much difference financially. (And if he can get one for next semester, we're golden.)