The wheels are turning but we're not moving (forward)

The past month has been like treading water--a lot is going on, but not too much progress is being made. Lots of little things keep creeping up which eventually hinder something we need or want to do (for example, two broken watches, parking tickets, lost car keys, a maxed-out credit card and no Dell laptop to show for it, etc.). The biggest annoyance for me is misplacing my day-planner, which has absolutely EVERYTHING in it. So while I would like to talk about what has happened the past several weeks, I can't be too sure of the details and dates. This is probably good, because I can now only provide the more memorable events :P

The week (or two) we spent in New York was such a breath of fresh air that it makes me already really want to go back. Though Seth was busy as usual, I spent heaps of time reading, going for walks to the end of the road with Seth's mom, eating lots of very delicious food, watching the Amish buggies ride past the house, wandering around Wegmans, petting the multitudes of friendly cats, and picking corn. Though it was early August and sweltering hot down South, it was cool and crisp every day in New York. Could a person want anything else?

We eventually had to leave New York and spend a day driving down to North Carolina, where we took just a few days packing and visiting wonderful friends and colleagues in Chapel Hill. We then piled back into the car and made the 14 hour drive up to Boston, hitting every major city on the east coast along the way (that day, we woke up at 3am to go for a short run then managed to leave the house just after 6am, which allowed us to avoid at least some DC traffic and NYC traffic). The drive should have only been about 13 hours but we got stuck in a small town called Perryville, where we had a very hard time finding an ATM to withdraw cash to pay for the last few toll roads. If you every find yourself in Perryville and in need of cash, don't waste your time with gas stations and go directly to the Food Lion!

Since arriving at Chrissy's apartment in Boston (well, Brighton, to be specific), we have been spending nearly all our time between Brandeis and Brighton, but we did manage an afternoon outing to Harvard Square in Cambridge. It wasn't as bustling as we were expecting, probably because classes were not yet in session. I still haven't been to downtown Boston, so I will need to make a point to see it sometime soon.

Yesterday Seth taught his first class--he did not start with any introduction and just launched right into full lecture mode and passed out the syllabus in the last minute or two of class. For each undergraduate to be paying over $36,000 a year in tuition, at least they will get their money out of having Seth as their professor! He will be teaching Classic and Romantic Music, a graduate proseminar in Music of the Renaissance, and doing lots of his own research. And until I find myself a job, I will be sitting in on Introduction to Economics (that's right, econ), and Art History (post-1945).

Besides this, we have been doing lots and lots of apartment hunting, attempting to wrap up more loose ends in Australia (like Superannuation, taxes, etc), and last week I got poison ivy down my lower legs. I have never gotten poison ivy and I thought I was resistant, especially considering I have a hard time identifying it and Seth always catches me before I wander right into it, so in theory I should have had it many times before. However, where we go running, near Hammond Pond, it is like an entire forest of the oily stuff. At least it doesn't really itch.

The past week and a half the Meyers were in New York, and Jens returned early. It has been nice to stay with them during this time. However, this evening Mark and Gina will be leaving for the Outer Banks for a week, and we will be dog-sitting for them out in the 'rural' part of town (about 30min west of Brandeis, or about 60min west of Brighton). This afternoon we cleared out of Chrissy's house and once again, everything that is important to us is in the car.

As nice as it is to be staying in comfortable homes and not necessarily have to pay rent (which can be ludicrously high), I do wish we had a place of our own to live. Since preparing to leave Johns in mid-December, we have moved approximately 12 times (in less than 8 months):

Johns --> Stephen and Kim's house --> Johns --> New Zealand --> Nick's house/Office --> Share house on Fenner St --> (*Seth goes to the US --> *Seth returns to Fenner St) --> Northern Territory --> Vietnam --> Hong Kong --> (Seth goes to New York --> Seth goes to Boston) --> (I go to Rochester, MN --> North Carolina --> *Boston) --> *New York --> *North Carolina --> Boston/Chrissy's place --> Boston/Mark's place

* = these are not moves, they were just big trips

The rest constitute a 'move' and not a 'trip' because we carried a significant amount of our belongings with us. At each move, we did not have a more permanent 'home base' or address or phone number where we could be reached.

New York is a State

During my last few 'rousing' weeks sitting at home collecting dust, I did manage to rattle off a job application (for a position at the Museum of Science in Boston), go to a few more Bikram Yoga classes, meet with Meghan for archery, visit with Monica Gray before her departure to Minnesota, and order a shiny new lap top (sorry, Acer). I can't wait for my new PC to arrive--though today I discovered there actually is a 'wireless button' on Acer, so now I can once again connect to WiFi and get lots of things taken care of without having to go to the public library!

Meghan at the range

Last Saturday I finally caught a flight up north, to Boston. I planned it just right so that I would arrive in time for a little girl's birthday party, the daughter of Seth's cousin. However, my flight path from Raleigh followed directly behind a storm and my flights were delayed and/or canceled. I arrived over 8 hours late, missed all the fun, and wasted a day.

In Boston I finally met with Seth and we stayed with his sister, Chrissy, and her family in Brighton. We spent the next three days looking at apartments, share houses, etc. in Waltham and Watertown, and by the end we decided to expand our search to the more bustling Cambridge. The most promising place we found was of course a bit expensive, especially with oil heating, so I think we will just have to continue our search later. We spent so much time looking at places that I never had a chance to explore Boston--besides meeting with Seth's brother-in-law, Jens, for lunch at the Prudential Center. One of our excursions, however, was meeting a friend of Seth's from UNC (Paul) who just so happened to live around the corner from Chrissy. It's a small and very weird world.

Near Prudential Center (Newbury St.). Gnomes.

Dropping a few things off at Seth's new office at Brandeis

Yesterday Seth and I took the train from Boston to Syracuse, with a 2 1/2 hour layover in Albany. The train was actually really nice, like a super deluxe bus, and I got to watch the stunning scenery of Massachusetts and upstate New York pass by through the windows. *Note: For those readers who are not familiar with American geography, New York is a large state which contains New York City. New York State is predominately rural and sparsely populated. Seth lives about 7 hours outside the city.* We were greeted by his parents at the station--it was really nice to see them, particularly since I have not seen them in about 3 years.

Riding the Amtrak through New York

We will be at Seth's parents' house for an undetermined number of days before driving back to Boston and North Carolina. It is so lovely and peaceful here--when I was in Australia and I thought of how nice it would be to return to the US, I would usually be picturing these farming communities in New York and certainly not the rich suburbs of the hot and humid south.