Destination: Working Vacation

This past week has felt like the first real week of "summer." Billy and I are still working, but we've been able to enjoy the sunshine and more leisure-time activities than we have for several months. Monday and Tuesday I was off work while the movers transported all of our stuff into the new building. Monday I met Erin for lunch and we went to Alexandria to pick up my bridesmaid's dress for her wedding. It fits fine without need for alterations, so that was an exciting discovery! It is hard to believe her wedding is getting so close!

Wednesday it was back to work in the new building-- but not without a considerable number of "growing pains." I don't have my own desk in the new office, and on days when I am supposed to be working in the main reception area, there's not really a place for me to sit. I didn't say much, assuming we would figure this out as we settled into our new space, but several of my coworkers have been much more vocal about their displeasure about their new surroundings (This is not enough desk space! I look like a receptionist! My drawers got broken in the move! etc.). It's hard to hear people griping about such trivialities, especially considering the number of people out of work, but I'm trying to remind myself that if this job was my career rather than a means to an end, I might see things differently. I'm hoping that after some time passes people will learn to adjust and realize how much better off we are even though it is an adjustment.

On Thursday evening we met up with my friend Anne-Marie and her husband Jon at the Orioles game. Anne-Marie is in my graduate program, and we have had three classes together already, so it feels like we are old friends, but until this week we had not met one another's spouses. Even though the offensive slump the Orioles have been caught in continued, it was fun to get together outside the school environment, and I was glad to meet Anne-Marie's husband and prove to Billy that she is a real person and not just a figment of my imagination! : ) We were back at Oriole Park last night to watch them play the Braves with our friend Pat and a friend of his. It was a perfect night for baseball, and after losing an early lead, the Birds scored 6 runs in the 7th inning and ended up winning 8-4. Both nights we were seated right down on the field thanks to Jon and Pat's respective work tickets, and it was fun to have that perspective on the game. We were also in Baltimore on Friday night-- a cover band we like was playing a free outdoor concert, so we went to dinner before meeting up with Hernie and Crystal for the show. They are in the midst of planning their upcoming October wedding, so it was fun to hear about the progress they're making in that, and it was great people watching! In the complex where they had the outdoor show, there is also a live music venue that had some kind of indie show going on, and there are several dance/nightclubs, so it was quite an eclectic mix of people, fashion, and body art!

I have also enjoyed pursuing my academic interests at my own leisurely pace now that I'm not facing anyone else's deadlines. I am continuing to work my way through the film trilogy of The Lord of the Rings and have enjoyed analyzing the ways Peter Jackson chose to translate the mythology onto film. I wonder what it would be like to see the movies without having read the book-- there is so much missing and unexplained-- but I can see why Tolkien fans and "regular people" alike have responded positively to the films. (I don't know how you could watch them in the theater, though, not to mention back-to-back-- I can only stand about one hour at a time.) I never thought that in a million years I would like this story, so I am further surprised that I have actually developed respect for it as a work of fiction. I think it will always retain a little sentimental value for me because the text and the class represent the "fun" portion of a very rigorous academic semester, and without that little bit of fun, I might have lost my mind (not to mention my focus)

And, Nate says I'm the last remaining American tennis fan, so feel free to stop reading now, but... I have been suffering for the past week from the lack of tennis excitement that overwhelms me during the two weeks of each Grand Slam. Andy Roddick had a good showing in the Wimbledon tune-up tournament at the Queen's Club, but he had to retire in the first set of the semi-final against James Blake yesterday due to a foot/ankle injury. The good news is that he should only be sidelined for a few days, but the bad news is that he did not get a chance to test his skills against Andy Murray, who beat Blake easily in the final. Murray will certainly be exciting to watch at Wimbledon this year (can a Brit actually win it?!), but if Roddick could have beaten him or even played well against him it would have been a good sign. Oh well! Djokovic lost to Tommy Haas in the final of the other tournament, so as far as I'm concerned, his demise continues.

I also admit to succumbing and violating my boycott of Twitter when I found out that Andy Roddick uses it. So does his new wife (the swimsuit model), and much to my surprise, her updates indicate that she is actually kind of funny.