Past and Future

I'm not thinking of the present right now, since that always seems to consist of dissertation editing. Actually, editing doesn't seem the right word, since it's basically a complete rewrite - at least for the first chapter and introduction, which are the two places where I'm focusing right now.

So I give you the past and the future instead, since they're far more interesting!

Past: I had a good, long weekend, with just the right balance of work and play.

• The new Star Trek movie was good. Better than I thought it would be. Given the number of things the movie had to accomplish: cater to existing fan base, attract new, younger fan base, provide back story for existing characters without irrevocably damaging continuity with the older selves of those characters and plots, I think it pulled it off fairly well. I've seen the criticisms and the praise, and must say that I fall mostly on the side of praise for the flick.... But then again, I've always been more of a fan of Star Trek than Star Wars, so I wanted it to be good.
• I think I've finally really accepted that we own this house we're living in. I've rented for so terribly long that when we moved in, I left things pretty much as they were. We tended to use existing holes for hanging pictures, and I realized the other day that there's a poster on the garage wall that I really don't like - I just never took it down after the previous owners left it behind. This weekend, I felt like I was really starting to accept that it is ours to do with as we please when I dug out a bush that I've never liked, even when we first viewed the place. It feels good to have the horrid little thing gone!
• Went for the first hike of the season. There was still a lot of snow, though it was mostly manageable. In fact, it wasn't the snow that was the problem, it was the run-off that made our trekking difficult. Despite the hike actually only being a short one, all three of us who went are still sore two days later! But it was nice to get out there.
• I finally got to go to dinner with my dear friend from when we lived here before. Both of us have pretty busy lives, but hers is one that I do not envy in the least given all that she does. All the more reason to admire her grace in managing it. I know I could not pull it off as well as she does. But it does mean we don't hang out near as often as either of us would like to. After several weeks of not seeing each other, and several false starts, we finally met for a long and refreshing dinner on Sunday night. Good friends, like family, are one of those things that make all the other stuff in a week worthwhile!
  

Future: this week is a fairly busy one... but in a good way.

• I need to go to the school to talk to the department chair about my brand spankin' new full-time position that will begin in the fall! I'm excited enough to have done a little dance for the benefit of my family when I told them I'd been offered the position at the end of last week. It is just a 10 month term, but it comes with more opportunities and responsibilities than I have had to this point, so that's terribly exciting. I need to meet with the department chair to talk about the details this week.
• I fly off to a conference down east this weekend, so I have to do a final run-through of the paper to make sure it flows properly as spoken word. The argument seems to have shaped up quite well, though I could do with three more minutes of time in order to make it. But overall, it's ready to go. I'm trying out an idea I want to introduce in the second chapter of the dissertation, so I'm really hoping I get some good feedback from the audience about it.
  
• After the conference, I'm heading down to meet with my committee members about revision plans, where to go from here, and now that I've got this new gig, tips about the job I'll be expected to undertake. Heading to my doctoral institution means I have a list of books and resources I want to access that I can't get at here (or not inexpensively), and a short list of red tape to work through, which always goes so much faster in person!
• I also will get to see some people who I haven't seen for over a year, and I'm really looking forward to hanging out with them! I just about talked another far-flung member of our graduate student group into returning at the same time, but she's swamped with work, and thinks it's prudent to get the work done instead. I can't argue with that logic, though I'll miss getting to see her too.
  
• I need to meet with my new boss at the e-learning company. The structure and focus of the organization have changed over the last month, and coupled with a new full-time position - even if it is temporary - will require some adjusting. I'd like to have an idea of what that would look like before I leave town for a week and a half.
  

So that's my life right now. In between the past and the future, I continue to revise the dissertation while trying to complete other writing projects that I've committed to and enjoy my life beyond work. So far, the rain (and snow!) this spring have made it easy to stay in and work...!