catching up

I haven't posted in a few days, mainly because I haven't had much to post about. Ranting about the political state of the union has gotten a bit stale and I haven't felt motivated to talk about much of anything. I do have a funny story about the bdance class I'm teaching for the local YWCA but I'll write that up and post it later (it's kind of long). I had a wonderful time visiting the YWCA camp - it's on the Oregon coast at Cascade Head - and it's unbelievably gorgeous.

Cascade Head is where the Salmon River meets the Pacific and it's stunning. The camp sits about 100 yrds up from the beach and overlooks a perfect little inlet with a white sandy beach and beautiful green hills surrounding the beach.

I also talked to a divorce lawyer about getting my divorce going and have decided to hold off for a couple of months, establish OR residency and file here in OR. That'll be *much* easier than trying to long distance it in NC. It's just sucky that I had to pay $50 to talk to this dork who basically suggested I file in OR. He's right, but lawyers in general gripe my ass and I hate that I even had to spend that little bit talking to one.

One other discussion I had yesterday was to determine my 'final' graduate program. I spoke with rmerc and have decided that I'm going to switch to the Master of Arts & Teaching program. It's similar to Interdisciplinary Studies but a bit looser and (probably) more unknown. It doesn't require a thesis or project but does require a written and oral examination. After looking at the curriculum I've worked on, it seems possible that I could complete my program in two years or with a only a term or two over.

I'm going to continue working with the advisors I've already selected, with the addition of one more person from the CR department. I'm hopeful that dwill will agree to be my Education advisor, that will mean btin, rgou (I have to ask him), and dwill will be my advisory committe (like a thesis committee) and that they will devise my oral and written exam. I feel better about the MAT program in that at least I'll get what I want - even if I don't get to do a project. I can probably do one, it just isn't required & I'm not sure how it'll count towards my degree.

The War, Peace, and Media conference is also just about ready to move into final ramp-up mode. I'm working on the program for the event now, final publicity push & planning will probably be full force in about two weeks.

I've talked to croed, parch, and jneal quite a bit this week and I miss them a great deal. When I talk to them, it's easy to forget how far apart we are physically. Emotionally and spiritually we're extremely close (energetically also), but I miss the face to face, physical interaction.

In addition to missing my buddies, I've lost my favorite watch. It's a Timex my mom gave me several years ago - has a light up face and a blue velcro strap. It's my barn watch - I have worn it riding for the last four or five years because I couldn't hurt it. It may seem stupid but I'm feeling really down because I can't find it. What's even more depressing is that I NEVER lose things! I remember wearing it to corph's place last Friday when we were practicing our bdance stuff. I took it off and laid it down on top of my stuff, I remember putting it back on and that's the last time I remember seeing it. I looked for it on Sunday and it was gone. I've checked all over my house, cleaned my car yesterday, and I can't find it. I'm really sad... :(