And so it Begins...

I am determined to be an optimist. The glass is half full DAMNIT. Yes, I am turning over the new leaf. I am going to be postive. California doesn't suck, shoot, I mean I LIKE California. I do actually. I can't complain about going to the beach two days in a row. I (deep breath) like graduate school. Really. I do. Yes.

I read this really great article in Real Simple (My OCD Bible) about the importance of positive reinforcement. The author discusses how she used this theory when she trained her new rambunctious dog. "That's a good girl not attacking that cat, yes you are!" This reminds me of Amanda which always makes me happy (Yay Ohio!!) and is an excellent way of life. So here are my good girls for this past weekend.

1. That is a good girl for going to the department party on Friday. Yes, it is. Even though you forgot to write down the house number (Thank you to one of my colleagues who returned my frantic phone call) and drove around for twenty minutes, you found it, yes you did.And you ate cold salads and you talked and you drank and drank even though you didn't bring a beverage to share, no you didn't because you forgot, but you still drank like a good little graduate student.
2. And going back the night before... That's a good, GOOD girl for going to the department happy hour that you organized even though few other existing or OLD graduate students went. You did go, yes you did. And you did make new friends, or at least began the process, and you did drink a whole beer and eat finger licking fish fry and you were happy that you went out. You got to know some of the new graduate students and they are actually pretty cool.
3. Good girl for going to the beach. You did not wallow in your room reading about Asian theatre. You did not give in to the temptation of the couch and college football, you got out there and you got a tan, yes you did.
4. Good girl for not bowing under peer's opinions and still persisting to see Across the Universe because you loved it yes you did. It was trippy at times but it did rock your world and you did choose fat free licorice and not calorie ridden Reeses Pieces, yes you did.
5. And a really good girl for ONLY drinking one beer at a dinner, yes you are because you wanted a second beer, yes you did, but you abstained and drank water.
6.And today, you were a good girl. You swallowed the shyness and met family friends at Madison's and you loved it, yes you did. You LOVED watching multiple football games at once and you LOVED that Brett Favre broke Dan Marino's record even if you are not sure how to spell Marino or Brett. Shit. Moving on...
7. And you went to the beach AGAIN because it was a beautiful day and you wanted to not hate that you had to reading and not watch football so you made the most of it yes you did. AND you even finished the whole, yes the WHOLE book that was assigned. Not many other girls (or boy) may finish the book, but you wanted to start the quarter out right and you did, yes you did.
7.5 Good girl for thinking ahead and watching next week's viewing (or a part of it) this week to ease stress before the Chicago trip. You are a good girl for thinking ahead.
8. Good girl for making dinner tonight. You shared with your roommate and your pasta pesto tofu dish (another shout out to Amanda) turned out the best it has EVER turned out, yes it did. And your roommate liked it and you even did your nails which always makes you happy, yes it does.
9. Finally, good good GOOD girl for doing your Czech homework. You didn't want to and the strange characters scare the crap out of you but you tried damnit and that's good, yes it is. You even talked along with the tape even though you HATE talking along with tapes. You even did it in front of your roommate and your homework is done, yes it is.

As annoying as it may sound, I actually feel better about the weekend. Here are some more shout outs (which I believe is an 80s term which I am embracing) for other good girls and boys.

KDH- Good girl having a baby. You approached delivery like a pro, a happy pro, and you delivered, yes you did. You amaze me.
Seriously, KDH, you do amaze me. You were the classiest, calmest, and one of the most beautiful pregnant women that I have ever known. You are going to be an amazing mother and I am so excited for you.
And I have no idea when you are actually going to have time to see this blog. Doh. I guess everyone else will know how awesome I think you are.

MJV- Good boy for writing a prospectus. Your summer was not a wasteland, but a productive environment. You are one huge step closer to the big P-H-D.

BW- Good girl for scoring the acronym A-B-D. You rock.

And now this happy little graduate student will curl up with Vaclav Havel and go to bed. ER...well, I guess I mean curl up with a biography on Vaclav Havel, but tomato, tahmahto.

Post Travel Depression Sigh. I am back. Now there is a part of me that is of course thrilled to be back. I was tired of feeling like a retarded child, grunting and pointing my way through Italy and uttering monosyllabic butchered French. My ego definately took a major dip. Here I am reasonably intelligent and articulate individual. There, well, it was just embarrassing. Lots of blank stares and incessant nodding. Also, it's nice to wear different clothes that are not stained, smelly, and wrinkled. I missed vegetables sorely and when I go to restaurants, I actually know what I am ordering (unlike the awful mystery meat experience in Florence). On the other hand, I don't get to move on to a new room when mine gets messy. No one is washing towels anymore and I am not seeing some of the greatest art in the world everyday (unless I look at my pictures). Cancer is back yet again. My sister's mother-in-law was just diagnosed with brain cancer. I feel like it's zeroing in on me slowly and steadily. I am just hoping it doesn't get any closer. Classes start next week which is exciting and terrifying. Several weeks ago, it was more exciting but now I am just afraid of a relapse of the doubt and insecurity that plagued me last quarter. My sister did give me a fabulous quote: Teaching is 1/4 preparation and 3/4 Theatre. I would add on for me that it's 3/4 Improvisational Theatre, but I know that this quarter I need to up the preparation because it's just me up there this time and I have two hours to fill twice a week. Luckily it's acting which is an andrenaline rush like no other. To ease the withdrawl, here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:

Quick Note from Italy

I have six minutes to write a quick post from Florence, Italy. The trip has been awesome so far. I am quickly falling in love with Italy, in particular Siena Italy. It is everything you imagine about Italy, but better. Yesterday we woke up to a church choir singing, pretty much right outside our window.
Today.s highlight was a secret passage tour through the Medici (sp?) palace in Florence. We got to go through tunnels and see the secret chambers. We were literally going through oil paintings and hidden doors. And the tour guide was really good.
Other highlights: seeing an Italian man perform La Bamba on the steps of Sacre Coeur, going to the Eiffel tower (cliche as it may sound), all of Siena, a true adventure on the night train, and an amazing meal in Avignon.
Tomorrow off to Rome and then to Venice. Hopefully I will get another post in before the end of the trip.
Cheers!