This is where I am today.

Grad school is hard this semester. Every time I finish a task, it’s on to the next one. Example: Today I had a two-hour statistics midterm. Now it’s time to focus on a literature review on L2 writing, due Monday. When that’s done, I have a paper on diversity to write for my teaching seminar on Tuesday. And then there’s the telecollaboration and presentation on cultural aspects of compliments in German vs. English on Wednesday. Etc. etc. etc. Wah wah wah. And that’s not even considering my teaching load.

My drama-free roller derby team has had drama. Maybe it’s all a misunderstanding. But now I see people hurting each other unintentionally and intentionally, and that sucks. I don’t take sides, but I am exhausted from trying to understand and explain everyone’s perspectives.

House buiding has been buerocratic and slow. It took a full 4 weeks for our land to be surveyed. The next step is to figure out where to put the house on the lot. That’s complicated because of the steep slope. Everything is complicated because of the steep slope.

But I’m still glad to be in Austin.

This is the only city I’ve lived in that would respond to North Korean nuclear bomb threats with brilliant parody. And while it’s still winter in Germany, we’ve already had lake days and sunburns. Sigh… I wish I could have spring break back.