The gun & the cannoli ...

Well, it's official, I'm living in sin.

It hasn't quite sunken in yet, but I know I'm happy! That's all that matters. It is a bit strange because we were both very used to staying every night at his place. We rarely stayed here (cats and allergies and whatnot), so it's kind of a new living space for the both of us. it's a nice mish-mash, whatever way you slice it. :)

After the weekend's events, we both feel like we've been wrung through a knothole backwards; however, the majority of the moving is done. There's still a bit of last-minute stuff to store, but that's about it. Words cannot express how much I loathe moving. The good news is that Alex didn't have all that much to move. He dropped over half his stuff in the move to Austin from New Mexico last year, so ... yeah. Almost done!

It's good timing, too, because we're leaving town on Thursday. Alex is headed to Albuquerque for an eye doctor appointment and I am headed to Lubbock for the entire weekend as soon as I taxi him to the airport that day. It's a holiday weekend, and my mom's birthday all wrapped up into one nice, little packaged deal. So, I'll be doing "girly" things with my fam and friends for the first few days. Then, Alex will fly to The Hub on Saturday afternoon and co-ed family events will commence.

Speaking of my friends and family, it's CRAZY how much I miss them! It's even more so how it has actually gotten worse, instead of better, as the time has gone on. I've been here for going on the back-end of a year so far, yet all the time has done is make me realize more and more how much those folks at home mean to me. It's not easy being apart, that's for sure. The visits are SO MUCH FUN, though! We've got it all mapped out. I'm excited!

It just proves to me more and more that it's not necessarily where you are, it's who you surround yourself with. Here, it's super-saturated with things to do, but it's not fun if you don't have your posse ("peeps," if you will) to come along. Alex and I have a great time together, though, so that does help matters tremendously! Still, I miss my folks (and I don't just mean my parents).

Everything is always so up in the air that I don't know if we're coming or going half the time, but I do know that things have not gone exactly how I planned coming here. The whole "hiring freeze" BS that I've mentioned time and time again threw a HUGE wrench into "the plan." So, we've adjusted a bit. It all depends on what we decide together, but we both need to start figuring out where we want to go to Grad and Law School (for me, for Alex, respectively). Here is now out of the question, for too many reasons to type at this moment. I need to go somewhere where I can teach while getting my Master's, and Alex needs a law school that isn't so snooty and more hooked on their diversity than accepting people who have all the creds.

So, we are in the process of discussing where we would like to go ... together, of course. "You jump, I jump." Now is the time of decisions, that's for sure! And not always easy ones ... in fact, very rarely easy ones. It's okay, though. It's "character building," as my fabulous Aunt Kay would say. Whatever happens and as always, we shall see. There's no hurry right now. Write goals in permanent marker and plans in pencil. One step at a time. All the cliches! You get the idea.

OH! And, quickly, my sister helped solve my music stagnation issue last week, so I'm starting to kick off the ickies. (Musically, that is.) Some stuff not on her list that I have been listening to a lot are You Are the Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne (on his new album coming out in October sometime), I'd Rather Be With You by Joshua Radin (also on his new CD), and To the Beat of Our Noisy Hearts by Matt Nathanson. (Hey, I had to have something to get me through the heavy lifting!)

To end, I'll go with this one today: "There is no set path. Just follow your heart."