Shelter from the Storm

My reading load this week has been comparatively light, which has allowed me to enjoy a bit of relaxation and re-prioritization that has served me well. It has been a pleasant week.

Tuesday, I set aside all the stuff I was "supposed" to be working on, and focused instead on what I wanted to be working on: my PhD writing sample. I finished the book I had assigned myself and completed the 1 page abstract of my argument that my professor requested. He and I were both happy with the result, so after a bit more research, I will be ready to begin writing it! For dinner, we met up with Billy's family to celebrate Chuck's birthday.

Wednesday, I had a productive meeting with my aesthetic theory professor. I have a paper due for her tomorrow, and when I left her class Monday night, I had no idea what to write about. My meeting helped me talk through some things that had been confusing me, and the paper is almost finished. She also confirmed that I don't need to retake the GRE for my application, so that was a relief.

Thursday, I survived another Readings in Early Modern Literature class meeting, enjoyed spending some time reading Inada (more on that in a minute), and watched The Office with Billy. Last week's episode was a bit of a dud, so I was happy that this one made me laugh again.

Friday, my boss was out of the office, so I was able to get some of my reading done at work. (It's not that I'm a bad employee; when she's not there to give me work, I have little to do besides answer peoples' questions.) By Friday night, Billy's injured leg had healed sufficiently to allow him to participate in our softball game, which did not get rained out for the first time in weeks. Although we suffered our first loss, I was called out by the umpire when I was clearly safe, and we had so many girls that I had to sit out the second half, I had a good time.

Saturday, I spent several hours communing with Katherine Anne Porter, and by that I mean reading through the marginal comments she wrote in the books she left to the University of Maryland. I am trying to figure out the connection between her and Willa Cather, so my success of the day was finding a note in which she acknowledges the similarity between a scene she wrote and one Cather wrote. I believe I finally found the perfect pale pink nail polish (OPI's Isn't it Romantic?)-- feel free to laugh, but this search has been going on for months. To finish up the week, Danielle and I met for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, where I got to enjoy my Renee's Special, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake, and Danielle's company. : )

As I said before, I've really been enjoying the Inada poetry collection I was assigned this week. Tucked inside the "Oregon" section are a few poems about his wife, including the one I leave you with below, which I wish I had discovered in time to have it read at my wedding. So simple, but just right.

X. Pledge

Repeat after me:

I

Do

You

We

Be

(Repeat as necessary.)