Mia is a Snoring Snorer

Last night Mia woke us both up, she was snoring so loud. What kind of cat snores? Honestly.

I made a caramel cake yesterday, and then today, right before I went on my afternoon run, I met up with Dominic, who had just pulled into our driveway.
"Hi," I said. "I have to go for a run because I don't feel so good. I ate a piece of cake for breakfast."
"Awww," he said, "and you ate one for lunch?" I nodded. "And for a snack?" I nodded, and then I said,
"How did you know that?"
"Oh, sweetie, I married you."
Then I sighed because it's true. Dominic knows me too well.

And speaking of Dominic, lately he has seemed to be just awakening to the realization that our slow, relatively stressless college days, wherein we would go to the same classes and be together every day and then come home and be together every day, have ended and it may not be that way with us again for years and years. I'm a little dumbfounded that it took him a year and a half to understand this sad turn of events. I'm pretty sure I got it way back when in Texas, when he would be gone for 10 hour days, sometimes weeks at a time, and then it was just Mia and I, sitting on the couch and blinking at each other for hours. I suppose now that I'm busier and he's a little less busy he has time to think about my not always being here, and that makes him sad. It makes me sad too. But, hey, soon the universe will right itself once more because he begins training again in March, so that means at that point I might see him again around, say, September. Ugh, the travails of sickeningly-in-love married folk who would sit around making doe eyes at each other and saying, "I love you," "No, I love you," for hours at a time if they didn't have to go to work. I mean, I hate those kinds of people.

Anyway, here's hoping our loudest of loud cats doesn't keep us up with her snoring again tonight. Really! What kind of cat snores?

Is Anybody Else Tired Of Work?

I feel like I'm in danger because I've only been working for nearly two years after my two year college break and I'm looking forward to the the day I retire like it's next year. I know that's really sad because I have such a long way to go! Kate and I went to a co-worker's retirement party a couple of weeks ago and I was so jealous. It's just that after having just passed my ten year anniversary with the Air Force, I'm just starting again. I'm lucky that I have only a little over eleven years until I retire, but that most likely means that I will only have to get another job. Oh well, I'm done with griping for now.

Kate and I went to a beautiful Catholic Church this weekend for an Art & Flower show. Basically, local artists were able to showcase theor work and florists took on the theme of the painting or statue and used it as a themem in some sort of floral arrangement. It was very interesting. Later that night we went to meet some of Kate's co-workers for a birthday celebration. It was a lot of fun, and really nice to meet some fellow Democrats here in Nebraska. We hope to be able to hang out with all of them again soon.

I think I'll start flying again soon. I don't know how I feel about that, but It may require me to vacation most of Febuary. That would be nice, Kate and I hanging out all the time. Just like college.

Procrastination and Prom Dresses

Lately I've been trying to work on balance, like that's not what everyone who finds themselves suddenly busy tries to do. But I'm not that busy, so I still have to monitor myself when I know I'm taking too much free time, when I've been on the internet for two hours clicking from link to link through garbage, when I've been sitting on the couch and not reading, when I've been noting for weeks what an awful mess our beautiful house is, and still I can't find the time to clean it up. Also, I've been trying to run, and wow has the Nebraska weather been helping me out. But oftentimes I find that I just can't get my priorities straight. Like today, I had plenty of time to a.) piddle around on the internet this morning for about an hour or so of free time, b.) do reading for my class and a bit of at-home internet research, c.) go for a half-hour run, d.) go to the library before class for some more research, and e.) drop by the English office to take care of a few things I've been putting off the last couple of weeks. I did about half those things, which is all right, I guess, but why, I ask you, couldn't I somehow have found it within my capabilities to finish all of it? I just don't know. Maybe tomorrow I'll be better about getting things done. But probably not.

On a lighter note, hey, I've had wonderful running weather lately. Which means tomorrow we'll have a snowstorm, but whatever. What matters is that I've been out running with some regularity again and that's awesome. Something else that's awesome: I bought my prom dress! Actually, the event was tinged with a bittersweetness, as I'd hoped to extend the search for the aforementioned dress for at least a month or longer, which would have meant that I would have gotten to drag Dominic to a lot of stores and try on a lot of dresses, but alas, I found the perfect dress on a sales rack at Dillards at 8:00 at night last Saturday, and I had no choice but to buy it, even if prom isn't for another two months. I won't even need to buy new shoes to go with it because I already have the perfect shoes (and, darn, I was looking forward to buying another pair of shoes!) but I've managed to comfort myself with the fact that I still have to find the right clutch and jewelry, and that could take months (oh, joyousness). And this is what I derive pleasure from, folks. But why isn't it fun to buy pretty frivolous things, especially since I know it's rare for me to have a use for them? So when I do, have a use for them that is, it's fun.

And also, just to tie in the whole wasting time theme with the prom dress shopping theme, don't think I didn't spend an hour and a half combing the internet for a picture of the dress I bought so I could post it here for you to see. If you did assume that I would never waste time that way, you'd be incorrect.

Lists

So here's the deal:

1. School
2. Dominic's healing time from mouth surgery being rather longer than we had expected, resulting in bummed spirits all around this week. Even the cat has been sighing.
3. Work
4. Running

But besides all that, there have been several things to happen over the last few days that I wanted to tell you guys about, but I was too busy needing an attitude adjustment and stomping off to my room in a huff to write in my diary. I'm feeling a little better today, so I'll share those things with you now:

1. We hosted an impromptu dinner party on Saturday. I made loads of chicken stew, and then we all walked to a bar and had a jolly grand time. Also, I met a married couple who are now my favorite married couple ever because they are seriously funny and they talk about their cats even more than we talk about Mia, which is a lot (no really).

2. Speaking of Mia, she killed a mouse sometime early Monday morning. We didn't find the mouse until later that evening, but all signs point to her guilt. Especially when Dominic sagely noted that mice don't make pilgrimages to the Land of the Grand Fireplace simply to fall over and die and be all gross with rigor mortis. (Also, we have mice! We haven't seen anymore of them or noticed droppings anywhere. But still, mice!)

3. The past couple times I've gone for a run I've met up with a three legged puppy dog who is always in the process of taking her owner for an extremely brisk walk. Both times it made my heart feel funny, as if all the ice were melting from it or it was growing three times too large or something. Three legged puppy dogs are really cute.

Princess Tigerlily

There's something about being in school that can make me feel humorless. Generally, I think it's because I usually feel intimidated in scholarly situations. That, and also nobody gets my jokes.

Lately, I've been trying to figure out everything that comes with starting a new school, new classes, new program. Also, I'm still working part-time. So it would appear that my uselessness as a ne'er-do-well housewife has come to an end. And now I'm just another confused English Lit. graduate student with a liberal bent and vague, misguided aspirations to grandeur. Not that I even take my vague, misguided aspirations to grandeur seriously. So what does that leave me with? Jokes no one understands. Right.

Well, Dominic came home with a bottle of wine he got for a dollar at a raffle today. So that's good.

I'm Alive!!!

Well, obviously I made it through the surgery. It was not without it's moments when I thought I would not. I woke up about half way through the surgery wondering what was going on. They had to strap me down. I asked them to put me back to sleep, and after that I wandered in and out of conciousness. I did get to see my teeth before they were digarded as biohazardous waste. There were three whole teeth and one very broken up one. The last tooth they pulled was huge and it gave them a hard time. The had to call in a closer, a very experienced dentist, to handle it. I've decided that I don't like him.
I made it home ok and then Kate left for her first day of school. Yay! Then I started throwing up. First I threw up in the hide-a-bed and scared the cat. I got it in a bag though(the throw-up, not the cat). Later after Kate got back, I wasn't feeling well so I thought I would try to take a poop because my stomach hurt. Instead I threw up on the bathroom floor. It was gross. I felt better after that but the throw-up was all bloody. Ggrr-oss!
Now I feel better and I'm off the vicodin as of today, no rehab for me! I will however need a haircut and shampoo. Yay.

Open Mouth Surgery

Unfortunately in the morning, I will be put under general anesthesia for the first time and have my wisdom teeth violently ripped from my mouth. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to it. The one good thing is that except for the hour and half Kate will be at class, she'll be at home looking after me. Nurse Kate...sweet, sweet Nurse Kate.
Anyways, I'll be at home convalescing for a few days so Kate went out and bought me plenty of applesauce and yogurt. I'll be veggin' on the pullout sofa for many days. It's going to be fun except for that mouth pain and losing a part of my body that I've had for so long. I used to say that I would keep my wisdom teeth because if the apocalypse occurred I would need them to chew and digest tree bark. Now, when the apocalypse comes, I have no chance. That sucks. Oh well. I will be getting narcotic drugs for the first time ever. That will be strange and new. Hopefully I won't become addicted to prescription drugs.

Dominic Pops the Question

A couple days ago, Dominic sat me down and said to me, very, very seriously, "Kate, I have something to tell you."

"What?"

"Listen to me carefully. This is really important."

"What? What is it?"

"Now, don't take this lightly. This is serious."

"WHAT? FREAKING WHAT? WHAT IS GOING ON?"

"Kate...will you go to prom with me?"

"...Yes!"

Prom is actually the Birthday Ball, an event the good folks at Offutt Air Force Base are holding. As to whose birthday it is--who knows? Who cares? I GET TO BUY ANOTHER PROM DRESS!!!

All I have to say is that this is seriously going to be the best prom of my life because, a: my prom date will not dump me at the end of the night in order to get back together with his 200 pound ex-girlfriend, thereby forcing me to hitch a ride home, and, b: my prom date will not be a deranged cowboy with ADHD and a pickup truck so big I have to be hoisted in and out of it all night by a complex system of pulleys and levies until I finally tell him to just leave, thereby forcing me to hitch a ride home. Also, this time I KNOW I'm going to get to makeout with my date afterwards, which pretty much puts this prom into the category of Best Prom Ever, and it hasn't even happened yet.

Student Again

Well, I'm finally registered for classes at UNO. Dominic has had to put up with a much-to-do of my freaking out, and it's not over, buddy, oh no it's not. I suppose the realization that this is the first truly adult endeavor I've ever undertaken is slowly dawning on me. All I know is that this Master's is going to be a lot of hard work, especially if I opt for going the thesis route, which I think I should. But it's something I need to do--so that I know I can do it, but also so I can get my feet planted more firmly on the ground. People are very lucky if they can figure out what they want. I never could really, but I think I can make this work for me. If I learn enough and really try to be a good scholar and teacher and (most importantly) a genuine lover of books, I think I can make a career of it. It doesn't make me feel sick to my stomach like so many other options do. Perhaps because the intention behind trying to understand and make use of good literature is noble and good and all about trying to better understand our world and our humanity or something like that. Am I right? Close? A fool?

We'll see where this goes. Hopefully to someplace good. Someplace where my brain will stop feeling like a dead mass of brick in my head and ignite into something that holds something useful, valuable even.