Updates!

ledalia · July 2011

Hi Ladies! It has been a while since I last posted and I thought I?d check in, see how you all are doing, and post an update! I don?t actually remember the last time I posted, but here are some of the highlights this year:

I graduated college with two BAs, one in Classical Archaeology and the other in Latin. I?m starting graduate school in two weeks to get a MA in Classical Languages at the same university where I did my undergrad. I was lucky enough to be awarded a graduate teaching assistantship so I?ll be paid and have my tuition covered. I?m going to be a WIP TA, basically a writing coach for a Greek class and a upper level Classics course, and I?m keeping my current job as Editorial Assistant for a prominent archaeology journal. Should be interesting! I always planned to get a PhD but right now I?m not so sure if I want to do that anymore since A) I don?t really want to be in school for at least 5-6 more years after I get this MA, I?m tired of being a poor student lol, and C) it doesn?t really fit with my husband?s school plans. So I?m keeping my options open but I?ll most likely teach high school Latin after this degree.

My husband started college in January! He has been a chef (and still is, working full time while going to school) for six years and reached a point where he couldn?t really move up without a culinary degree. He always wanted to go to culinary school but it?s about $150,000. We would have to take out loans for that and while I know people do that for let?s say, law or med school, being a chef doesn?t make anywhere near that even with a degree! So he?s changed his mind and has decided to get degrees in computer science and mathematics. He wants to be a software engineer or something like that ? I don?t really know anything about computers and math! He went full time in the spring and summer while maintaining mostly As and is already a sophomore! I?m really proud of him. He is working on his associate?s degrees right now and should be done around the time I am finished with my MA. He plans to transfer to a major tech university that is one of the best in the country for these majors and finish up while I teach? at least that?s the plan!

We have been working on expanding our family. No, I?m not pregnant ? gotta wait until we are both out of school and have decent jobs before that happens ? but we adopted a dog! I?ve been hinting at a dog for a while now and DH finally caved in! I wanted to adopt at the pound but they couldn?t give us any information (understandably) on whether or not they were OK with cats, etc., and we weren?t able to do a trial period ? our current pets were our top concern so we decided to adopt from a rescue group that socialized the dogs with cats. We adopted a greyhound since I have always wanted one ever since my 5^th grade teacher brought hers to class ? but we also did a lot of research on other breeds to make sure we made the right choice. His name is Odin and he retired from racing in February. Fun fact: he has the same birthday as my husband, December 11.

And we didn?t stop there! I started volunteering at our local Humane Society. I fell in love with these two cats whom had been there for almost a year. Their previous owner died in a tragic drowning accident, leaving them homeless. They were having a hard time getting adopted since they are seniors (10 and 11) and had to be adopted together. We kept their names, Tony and Jewel.

They joined two other kitties we had at home in addition to our dog, ferrets, and rabbit. We have a full house now and absolutely love it.

We joined a YMCA and have been lifting weights together. I?ve started running. I?m on Week 7 of Couch to 5K (basically you go from not running at all to being able to run 3 miles in 9 weeks) and my 5K is on August 13! If this goes well then I?m signing up for a half marathon on Thanksgiving Day.

Whew? I think that covers it. We are going to Florida for vacation on Thursday to visit family and as soon as I get back I have a week of graduate orientation, proficiency exams, meetings, etc and then it?s back to school! I hope you all are doing well!

ledalia · July 2011

So clearly there are a lot of problems with this post... I have no idea what all that stuff is at the top because it doesn't show up when I try to edit the post. I'm also having a lot of problems with the pictures. Sorry, hopefully I can fix it later.

Also, when I go to edit it everything is nice and neat with spaces. It doesn't look jumbled up like that. I know it's hard to read, but I don't know how to fix it!

ETA: Okay, I think I fixed it. Just in case anyone has weird stuff pop up on their posts, I copy/pasted from Word and it only went away when I wiped it and copy/pasted from Open Office.

raangoli · July 2011

Wow you've certainly been busy! Congrats on the degrees and the graduate position and to your husband, too for starting school.

It sounds like you guys are really doing well and encouraging of each other, which is great!

Good luck with the 5K! I am a runner and love when people start. You'll have to come and let us know how your race went and whether or not you'll do the half. It seems daunting at first, but following a plan and perseverance is half the battle.

Have fun!