Blogging from work

This is my first full week back in the workforce and I gotta say that I'm exhausted! The job I am currently doing is managing an academic journal on East Asian culture. Last year I worked on a journal with 4 employees and one editor in chief. On average we would have about 80 manuscripts out for review at any one time.

In this job it is only me and the editor-in-chief. We currently have over 200 active manuscripts out for review. So in sum, it is a TON of work! The past managing editor got overwhelmed and started letting everything slide before she just quit so I'm playing catch up. On top of that, the journal is moving from University of Washington to Rice so all week long I am trying to catch up on the manuscripts I have while new boxes of manuscripts are coming to the door.

Eek! I am going back and forth from being at peace and liking the job to being freaked out that we are so far behind and I don't really have any help.

I am still working part time at Pier 1. I took shifts every day this weekend since Chris is out of town. He left this afternoon to go to Memphis to present the research he did this summer.

Chris took my laptop since his monitor decided it wanted to not work this week so I'll be taking it to Best Buy (still under warranty...yay!) on Saturday after work to get it repaired.

I'm looking forward to getting a day off next week!

On a more random note, we voted this morning. I love voting.

Saving Christmas

I keep seeing all of these articles and news pieces about how great it is that stores are reviving their Layaway programs so that people will have gifts for Christmas. I understand that the Layaway system will help people afford to give each other gifts but these articles and such bother me for a couple of reasons.

Layaway is essentially a savings plan. These people are going to a store, seeing something they want to purchase, and instead of being instantly gratified actually paying for items before they take them home. This could be done without the assistance of a business. Companies that offer layaway will charge some type of fee, usually only $5 or $10 and if you change your mind you will lose a percentage of the money that you have already given the company and will still have no gifts. This is potentially a huge problem as our economy shows no signs of improving and it is likely that unemployment will increase as Christmas comes near.

Also, what's so bad about not giving store bought gifts? There are enough services to be gifted or homemade items that are a fraction of the price or potentially free. Why are we not hearing more about people simply choosing to break the gift giving cycle?

Shopping impaired.

Ever since I returned from Japan I cannot shop. I guess being to big for almost all clothes in an entire country will knock a girl's shopping interest right out of her. Now that I have my job I was going to treat myself to a few new things for my seriously outdated wardrobe. I have been to malls, discount stores, little hole in the wall boutiques and all I have purchased since my shopping quest began is two purses, a pair of boots, and a belt I needed for our choir concert tomorrow. So I have some accessories and no cute clothes to wear them with. I have got to get a personal shopper or a date with Tim Gunn to figure out how to pick things out. After being in and out of one or two stores I just get frustrated and leave. As motivation I have been watching "What Not to Wear" and "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" whenever I find them on TV. So, beyond my losing weight goal, by January 2010 I will no longer be afraid to shop. And all clothing items I purchased while still a student at Cooper High will be forever purged from my closet.

You're hired!

I'm so relieved to finally have a job with benefits. It is going to pay more than I expected and is actually in a field and topic that I am interested in. I am a little nervous though. I just got the call that I got the job today and I start tomorrow! The journal will consist of me (managing editor) and the founding editor. She is leaving on Thursday to go to China for three weeks! So I have 2 days to learn as much as possible before she leaves. This will be interesting.

Intro to the Main Street Theater

Tonight my dear friend Cathie took me to the Main Street Theatre to watch "... and L.A. is Burning". I thought it was funny that they pointed out in their opening announcements that "theater" was spelled "ER" in their case. I like a theater that comes with a spelling lesson.

The theater is very small. I would guess fifty seats. The stage is in the round and if you are seated in the outside aisle (as we were) you can easily have an entire scene acted out less than a foot away from you (which we did).

I didn't know what to expect when they described the play as dealing with the L.A. riots as a comedy but it was actually really good.

I look forward to future visits to our little hole in the wall theatre...I mean theater.

They say it's you're birthday.

So I'm now 25. Assuming I live to be 100 years old, one forth of my life is complete. Likely, I won't live that long so maybe more like a third of my life is done.

But it's been good. I've been blessed with many opportunities that have taken me dozens of exciting, zany, special places that have broadened my horizons, make me appreciate what I have, and long to see more.

Museum of Fine Arts

Today we went to the Houston Museum of Fine Art to see the "In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Coret to Monet" exhibit. The exhibit showed a collection of photographs of paintings of the forest over about 200 years.

Chris enjoys history and science museum but he's humoring me with the art. Since this exhibit is leaving Houston Monday we went and only checked out this exhibit. I will probably return on my own to see the rest.

The Weight Loss Cycle

In the six years since I left Abilene the same 15-20 lbs have come and gone more times than I would like to count. This has caused me endless frustrations and, even putting this information out there in a semi-public forum, I'm not sure I am yet in a place to permanently change this. I know what I need to do to fix it - eat better, move more - but I can't get myself into the habit of doing it. I lose weight and get to a point that I am happy with and then I resume my habit of eating junk.

I do not desire to be a stick by any means but I want to be healthy. There are several health problems that I am genetically more inclined to have and maintaining a healthy weight will go a long way in preventing them. I don't know what this block is that keeps me from doing this. Disappoints me about myself.

So in an effort to self improve I am on a mission to drop this 15 pounds and keep them off. I have to exercise regularly and consistently. I have to replace sweets and sodas with water and fruits and vegetables. Once I learn some self discipline in my eating I will be able to have sweets on occasion but frankly I don't have the self control right now. Occasionally I will post about progress. In an effort to be fair to myself, since this blog is mostly intended for me to get my thoughts out of my head, I will include the good, bad, and ugly.

Events in town.

Part of the fresh start in Houston is getting involved in activities I enjoy and not making excuses. I'm very lazy and after I get home from work (or if I'm not working at all) I have a very difficult time convincing myself to leave the house again. There are pros to this because it keeps me organize.d I dislike leaving the house to run errands so I plan my day to prevent this. However, this little habit keeps me from participating in things I would enjoy. So, I've joined some activities.

The first thing I became part of was the United Nations Association International Choir. This choir is made up of individuals of every race, nationality, color, and creed. There are a lot of really interesting people and I meet someone new every week. I had forgotten how much I enjoy singing and learning music. And I'm falling in love with the classic European composers again.

Then I found out about a Bible study Beth Moore is hosting at First Baptist Church of Houston. I went to the first class tonight and really enjoyed it. We'll see how this progresses.

Finally, I have found a yoga class right by my house that is fairly in expensive and meets on Thursday nights. Honestly, giving up The Office for exercise is not in my nature. I love some funny TV. But I can watch this on my own time due to the invention of online television! Yay.

Beyond these weekly activities I am trying to incorporate some of the opportunities a big city offers. Last Friday we attended the Tour of Gymnastics Superstars.

Most of the museums in town are either free or free on a certain day of the week. The Museum of Fine Arts is free with extended hours on Thursdays so we are going to see the Monet exhibit currently on display. Before the exhibits leave, we want to visit the Museum of Natural Science to see Bodyworlds and "Dinosaur Mummy CSI".

This Saturday will be my first visit the the Main Street Theatre. I am slowly learning of smaller more intimate settings to spend time and do things I enjoy. My dear friend Cathie recommends it and is taking me here.

There are many traveling theater groups that come through Houston in the next few months. I hope to see Spring Awakening, Les Miserables, and Legally Blonde.

Chris participates in my ideas when he has time, but a good restaurant or two is usually the main focus of his interest! We'll see what we can fit in and who I can convince to go with me when he's too busy/not interested. If anyone's interested in participating in anything here let me know and we'll play.

Catch up!

I thought I would try to post regularly here, but of course I am hopelessly behind less than ten posts into my new blog. However, I have a legit reason for at least part of my absence.

Hurricane Ike came to visit. Chris and I stayed in Houston and rode out the storm because we were not in an evacuation zone. We set up a little makeshift bed in the hallway. We were in the living room until about 10 pm when our power went out and the wind was starting to get a little scary. A section of the gutter fell off our building and tried to hit our patio door but luckily the railing blocked it. But the noise was loud enough to scare us into the hall. So we sat in the hall with a flashlight (me reading Anderson Cooper's book) and Chris studying dental anatomy until about 6 in the morning. We locked the cats in the bathroom because I had a fear of the window breaking and them either falling or getting sucked out or getting hurt by glass/debris. The wind finally calmed enough by early morning hours that we felt comfortable going to bed.

Probably the most time we will ever spend in this hallway:

Our power came back on after about twelve hours (yay for living near the Chinese consulate!) but Comcast couldn't get their act together for another two weeks.

After that Chris has been insanely busy making up for the time lost post hurricane (school closed for almost a week and a half since so many people had no power). I have been working part time at Pier 1 while I search for a full time job. Post-Ike I had many many hours since other employees had no power or water or access to gasoline.

Overall, Chris and I were incredibly lucky to come out of the storm with very minor water damage to our property and nothing else.

Since then I have had job interview at Rice that I will hear about at the end of this week. It is by no means my dream job, but it would give me a lot of experience in some areas where my resume is currently lacking and hopefully open more opportunities in the future. And it gets me back in the world of East Asian studies which I like.

Chris goes to a conference in Memphis, Tennessee in a few weeks to present the research he did this summer. It is a great opportunity for him, but I know it is making him nervous to miss tests/school to do this. Here's a quick picture of the two of us at his white coat ceremony.



I'll leave you with some photos of the damage Ike did to our immediate area. The first shows the downed carports, broken trees, and lack of a fence our complex was left with.


Another shot of the carports.

The complex behind us got much more damage.

A tree split in half about a block away from us. Reliant Stadium's missing roof (three blocks from us).