Finally some breathing room
Well, the tax season is finally over, and I’m so glad to have survived. It was really nice being able to enjoy 2 whole days off from work this past weekend. It will feel even nicer when we are officially unpacked and I feel moved in. We are probably about 75% there. The move went smoothly, and the movers finished very quickly. We got our cable/internet/phone hooked up the same day and overall it was amazing how uneventful the whole day was.
The weather was unusual, but luckily it didn’t interfere with the actual move. It was cold and dry when the movers were working. An hour after the movers and the cable people had all left, Mark and I were just sitting at the dining room table, taking it all in. The weather suddenly turned gray and it started to hail. It was heavy, and I found it interesting watching it bounce and accumulate on the deck outside the dining room. It was fascinating listening to the sound the hail made as it hit the wood deck, and it just seemed to emphasize and magnify the oddity/reality of our new home ownership. I even went out and grabbed big scoops of it in my hands and tasted it (which amused Mark who was staying warm and dry inside.) The hail continued for a while, and we finally started unpacking. Just an hour later, it was bright and sunny, and most of it had melted away, as if it never happened.
I’m still struck even now the strangeness of owning a house. I think after 3 weeks, I’ve gotten used to the insides, but the outside is still a vast unknown that at the moment I am trying to ignore until I feel fully settled and unpacked inside. It’s a beautiful house, and even though it has its quirks, we still feel like we’re in some bed and breakfast that we’ll have to leave after our vacation is over. The sunlight in the place is amazing, and just being surrounded by trees is great. The cherry blossom trees are in bloom, and so our living room has a gorgeous view of pink trees. I’m trying not to look too carefully, since the yard needs cleaning and the weeds are starting to sprout along with all the leaf buds on all the trees.
I finally gave up on World of Warcraft, and disabled my accounts. It was a glorious 4 years, but I really feel like moving on. This doesn’t mean the end of computer games by a long shot, but I’m taking a break from the responsibility of multiplayer games and just playing some single player stuff like Oblivion, Witcher and Neverwinter Nights 2. Its nice to play a game and not feel socially obligated to play.
I must be crazy, its just been a week since I stopped working insane 70 hour weeks, and already I’m planning to jump into something else. I went to a conference last Thursday and found out that PSU has a multimedia certificate program in Internet Design. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I don’t think doing taxes is going to replace my regular job, so I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to do when I grow up again. I can’t stay a computer generalist all my life, the money is just not there and I’m really much better suited working on projects as opposed to random general tech support. So, in thinking about what I’d like to specialize in, I’ve decided to learn more about internet programming. I’ve always been interested in how to organize information so that people can learn more effectively, and so I’d like to learn more about making web pages not only look good, but organize large amounts of content so that its readable and understandable. One term that describes it best is knowledge management. Since there are no programs that teach that specifically, I think this program is in the right direction. It’s a one year program in which I’ll take classes in web development, graphics software, and web design. I could start as early as this summer, and the classes would be nights and weekends depending on when the courses are offered. It’s a lot more attractive to me than going for my MBA because in this program I don’t need to take a lot of general business courses, I just take the tech classes I’m interested in. I need to meet with the program administrator first and have some questions answered, but I’m pretty excited about the possibility.
Other than unpacking and working on little things on the house, Mark and I have just been recovering from my crazy work schedule. Mark was a great help when I was working; taking on a lot of the household chores and doing most of the packing and unpacking throughout the move. Mark has been seriously considering teaching as a part time faculty in the community college system. He already works there as a fulltime staff, but he would love to eventually do full time teaching as a faculty, and this would be a good way for him to get his feet wet first. So perhaps this summer, we’ll both be busy with school.
The weather was unusual, but luckily it didn’t interfere with the actual move. It was cold and dry when the movers were working. An hour after the movers and the cable people had all left, Mark and I were just sitting at the dining room table, taking it all in. The weather suddenly turned gray and it started to hail. It was heavy, and I found it interesting watching it bounce and accumulate on the deck outside the dining room. It was fascinating listening to the sound the hail made as it hit the wood deck, and it just seemed to emphasize and magnify the oddity/reality of our new home ownership. I even went out and grabbed big scoops of it in my hands and tasted it (which amused Mark who was staying warm and dry inside.) The hail continued for a while, and we finally started unpacking. Just an hour later, it was bright and sunny, and most of it had melted away, as if it never happened.
I’m still struck even now the strangeness of owning a house. I think after 3 weeks, I’ve gotten used to the insides, but the outside is still a vast unknown that at the moment I am trying to ignore until I feel fully settled and unpacked inside. It’s a beautiful house, and even though it has its quirks, we still feel like we’re in some bed and breakfast that we’ll have to leave after our vacation is over. The sunlight in the place is amazing, and just being surrounded by trees is great. The cherry blossom trees are in bloom, and so our living room has a gorgeous view of pink trees. I’m trying not to look too carefully, since the yard needs cleaning and the weeds are starting to sprout along with all the leaf buds on all the trees.
I finally gave up on World of Warcraft, and disabled my accounts. It was a glorious 4 years, but I really feel like moving on. This doesn’t mean the end of computer games by a long shot, but I’m taking a break from the responsibility of multiplayer games and just playing some single player stuff like Oblivion, Witcher and Neverwinter Nights 2. Its nice to play a game and not feel socially obligated to play.
I must be crazy, its just been a week since I stopped working insane 70 hour weeks, and already I’m planning to jump into something else. I went to a conference last Thursday and found out that PSU has a multimedia certificate program in Internet Design. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I don’t think doing taxes is going to replace my regular job, so I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to do when I grow up again. I can’t stay a computer generalist all my life, the money is just not there and I’m really much better suited working on projects as opposed to random general tech support. So, in thinking about what I’d like to specialize in, I’ve decided to learn more about internet programming. I’ve always been interested in how to organize information so that people can learn more effectively, and so I’d like to learn more about making web pages not only look good, but organize large amounts of content so that its readable and understandable. One term that describes it best is knowledge management. Since there are no programs that teach that specifically, I think this program is in the right direction. It’s a one year program in which I’ll take classes in web development, graphics software, and web design. I could start as early as this summer, and the classes would be nights and weekends depending on when the courses are offered. It’s a lot more attractive to me than going for my MBA because in this program I don’t need to take a lot of general business courses, I just take the tech classes I’m interested in. I need to meet with the program administrator first and have some questions answered, but I’m pretty excited about the possibility.
Other than unpacking and working on little things on the house, Mark and I have just been recovering from my crazy work schedule. Mark was a great help when I was working; taking on a lot of the household chores and doing most of the packing and unpacking throughout the move. Mark has been seriously considering teaching as a part time faculty in the community college system. He already works there as a fulltime staff, but he would love to eventually do full time teaching as a faculty, and this would be a good way for him to get his feet wet first. So perhaps this summer, we’ll both be busy with school.
posted by Judy | 5:31 PM
1 Comments:
Congratulations on being a home owner. Now the work begins!!! We are starting on some major modifications, then some repairs on the house if the $$ hold out. It HAS been a weird spring hasn't it? Sorry to hear about your grandfather but glad you were able to be there for your dad. I had H&R do my taxes this year. The long drawn-out story is in a couple of the recent blogs. I bought the peace of mind because she did them in a much different way than any other tax person had done them. Figure I'm covered if something goes wrong. Sounds like some really neat goals for the future. Well, have fun with the house. Maybe we'll get up there this summer to check it out.
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