Exploring Pennsylvania

Since Gregg and I started our first full-time jobs together, we have had to make spending time together a priority. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Gregg is on the train or in Philly from 7am to 6pm (till 10pm on Mondays). Tuesdays and Thursdays, I am on campus from 12pm-6pm. While I know this is common for most couples, it is uncommon for us and we have been trying to compensate.

Our other priority since we moved to PA has been to explore Lancaster and its surroundings. So far, we have mainly explored restaurants. Once we ventured to Harrisburg but that’s about it. So Gregg decided to combine our goals into a new rule: Saturdays are days we spend together doing something new and not working (at least till the evening).

In that spirit, we got up this morning and drove to Gifford Pinchot State Park. It is about 45 minutes from our house. It is on a lake and has trails and camp-grounds. We took Giggs with us. Once at the park, we spend about 90 minutes walking the “Lakeside Trail” with Giggs and then headed out. I do not usually like hiking but this was a swift easy walk around the park. It is located outside a very small cute town and we went to what was advertised as a Farmers’ Flea Market. True to its name, it turned out to be part farmers’ market and part flea market. We walked around there for a while where Giggs got a lot of attention. By this time, we were very tired, very hot and hungry. So, we got Giggs some water and snacks and then stopped at the Hillside Café for lunch. The place looked like just some diner from the outside but turned out to be quite nice and swanky inside – in spite of its name and location. Anything but a café. The food was very good – I had their BBQ ribs and Gregg had a fish platter. Huge portion sizes too. I highly recommend it.

On the whole, a wonderful day!! What made it better was that it was a cheap way to explore. The state park was free; we only paid for lunch and gas. We did not buy anything at the farmers’ market. Overall, I spent a wonderful day with Gregg and Giggs, did not spend much money, got some exercise and discovered a very beautiful hilly part of PA. What more could one ask for?

The End of Summer

First, let me apologize to Jill for blatantly plagiarizing her blog entry. For those of you who would rather go to the original source, click here. Second, in my defense, Jill also asks her readers what they have to do before school starts – so I am only giving her a detailed answer!!! However, unlike Jill, I have two lists here. The first one is my list of things to do before school starts next week and the second one is a list of things to do this school year.

This summer has been one of the most hectic ones we have had. Moving to PA took a lot out of us, especially because Gregg and I packed, loaded, unloaded and unpacked all by ourselves. Plus, getting used to a new place always takes time. Emotionally, the job search for Gregg was draining – the euphoria of West Point, the discussions on living apart, the joy of Temple etc. But we have since settled down wonderfully – and thank you to everyone who visited. Living in a new place does get lonely and I am so happy that so many people made the time to come and see us in PA.

Starting Monday, for the first time in my life, I have to go to work every day – just like everybody else. So, I have to be ready for it. This is my To Do list for this week – my last week off from work.

1. Prepare my Intro to American Govt. syllabus (the American Political Thought and Intro to PT syllabi are already done).
2. Make copies of all my syllabi for all 4 classes
3. Write lectures for next week’s classes on APT, Intro to PT and Intro to AP
4. Move more of my books into my office
5. Set up the voicemail and computer in my office
6. Scan and upload the syllabi and readings for next week onto Blackboard
7. Complete the paperwork for benefits

To-Do List for this school year:

1. Attend and present papers at least 3 conferences (Since I am already going to APSA and Northeastern, I think I will try one more)
2. Have the entire draft of my dissertation written
3. Have a written record of all my lectures for the 4 preps I have this year
4. Exercise at least 3-4 times per week
5. Get to know one person in Lancaster well (I have to learn to make friends where I live)

I always make resolutions made for the new school year. The question is: will I carry them out? I have always been terrible about implementing New Year resolutions - will school year resolutions be any different?

Stress!!!!!!!!!

I have heard of many ways to deal with stress but I am still trying to find a way that works for me. Recently, my stress level has been sky-rocketing. The reason is that I found out that I got two papers accepted to two conferences – APSA and Northeastern. While this is good news in some ways, it is bad news in others.

It is good news because I use conferences as deadlines for dissertation chapters. Therefore, I will have to write one chapter for APSA (end August) and the second for Northeastern (end November). This will simply leave me with the Introduction and Conclusion of my dissertation to tackle – I hope to have a complete draft by the end of the Christmas break.

However, writing two chapters in the next few months will be daunting – especially because I will be teaching 4 classes this semester with 2 new preps. I have been especially stressed because the discussant wants the paper for APSA 2 weeks before the conference – which will be around Aug. 15th. While this is a reasonable request, I also have a 7-day orientation at Millersville before that (from 9am-5pm) as well as a wedding to attend and 3 separate guests scheduled for 3 separate weekends. So, you can see why I am stressed!!!!

Gregg and I also completed our move out of Farmville two weekends ago. Spending 3 days driving 15 hours, packing, loading, cleaning and unloading simply added to the stress level.

Anyway, so I have been trying to lower my stress level using different tactics – unfortunately, none of them have been working very well. I am still walking around 2 miles a day on the treadmill but that does not seem to help. I am not the one to take long baths (while stewing in the tub, I tend to reflect on all the things I have to do). I have been cooking in an attempt to relieve stress. Also, working on the paper in small increments but it is not going fast enough. Lastly, I still spend time reading fiction (probably should work on the chapter at the time) – this is the only one which actually works.

So, what about you? How are you spending the remnants of your summer? And how do you deal with the stress of the coming year?

Moving and Books

Gregg and I are driving up to Lancaster this weekend to collect the keys to our new apartment there. We are also taking a U-Haul with us but it is a small one with most of the really big furniture. Since we still have to live in Farmville till exams end on the 8th of May, we are leaving most of our books and a lot of the kitchen equipment here.

This got me thinking about books. Gregg and I have an unseemly number of books. We divided our books into ones we have to sell and ones we will keep. We have about 165 books that we have to sell. This number is down from 250 which we had when we moved here - we have been selling them on Half.com. We also have over 400 books which we are keeping. This brings up the question of storage. How many bookshelves should we buy and where do we put them? We do not have space for a library. Is it OK to put bookshelves in the bedrooms, living room, den etc? My only problem with that is that there seems to be little separation in our lives. Most people have a work space and then a space for relaxation. I see the books as symbolic of the lack of separation between home and work lives which academics constantly face. Anyway, at this rate, we will need to buy bookshelves for the kitchen and bathrooms as well.

Gregg will be driving a U-Haul and I will be following him in our car. This is my first 7-hour drive by myself on the highway and I am nervous. Merging onto and off highways is not my strong suit!!!!! Wait for a blog about this experience.