Pilcrow

I want to live in a world of perpetual Thanksgiving breaks. Weeks of nothing but sleeping in, looking forward to delicious food (and it doesn't always have to be a meal of epic proportions; every 12th week of Thanksgiving Break can be taco salad and mojitos), excellent bargain shopping (I scored a hair dryer for $9), and reading books (for fun!) sounds exactly like the life I want.

Too bad it isn't true. Now that Thanksgiving break is over, I am going to be up all night working on a rough draft due tomorrow and a final project that I have due Tuesday. The rough draft should be no problem, right? Except of course for the fact that I always over think rough drafts, I want to impress this teacher since I have asked her to do an independent study with me for next semester and, since my topic was required to be "novel", I know absolutely nothing about it and so can't even BS my way through a few pages. So frustrating. I have a supply of Diet Coke to get me through the night, but it's going to be a rough two days.

I am also dreading going to work tomorrow since it will be the first time that I will see everyone since dropping the "Oh, FYI, I'll be in D.C. next semester" bomb. I told my boss about it two Fridays ago in the afternoon when there was hardly anyone there and then didn't work last week, so by now, everyone will know and I will have to deal with all sorts of questions and comments tomorrow. Not something I'm looking forward to.

My trip to D.C. was both educational and extremely frustrating. I've got the city down pretty well now - I understand where the neighborhoods are in relation to one another, know which buses I have to take to get to work, and decided that I will probably not be taking a car - but struck out fantastically on finding housing. I am sure that four month leases exist, but I am also sure that they most likely exist (in my price range) during the summer months when the universities are not in session. Everyone in my price range that I contacted on craigslist was looking for something longer than four months. I did look at one room in a house that would have been fine, except for the fact that the landlady suggested I walk to the bus stop five blocks away instead of the bus stop two blocks away since it was safer. Um, OK, maybe not. I have one more option that I should hear about tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I should take it. It's through an intern housing placement office and the townhouse is all furnished and very nice, but they have these house rules I am not so sure about. A) No alcohol (ok, so, I pour vodka into water bottles and keep it in my room), but B) No overnight guests - and the posting specifically notes "not even family members" so I couldn't argue that you all are my sisters or something. That would be a super, super bummer. But, I found so few other housing options, I don't know if I can afford not to take this place. Anything else is likely going to require me selling a kidney.

I am going to need a cute pair of boots in D.C. Every single girl had on a pair of mid-calf to knee-high boots. (I, of course, had on flats since it was a balmy 60 degrees outside. There are leaves on trees in D.C. Leaves! on! trees! in! November!) I dragged myself away from buying these on Black Friday, but I loved them very much and they were surprisingly comfortable. Either way, I will need to buy a pair of boots in this style before January. Also, I know that I do not usually wear wedges and abhor them as the death of humanity, but I think I will need the extra height in D.C. It seems like a city where small people could be run over easily.

OK, of a total 26 pages I need to write between the two projects, only 22 more to go! Who needs sleep, anyway?

P.S. I am super jealous of Aussie and my parents and my grandparents and anyone else I know who is jetting off to Europe this week. Hope they all have a terrible wonderful time,
get lost around just fine,
drink putrid sublime wine,
and eat disgusting delicious food.
No, really, have a good time!