2010:The Year of Travel

8 airports, 16 states, and one foreign country make the grand total. I've been to London, Pittsburgh, Boston, Tampa, Alexandria, Washington DC, New Orleans, St. Louis, Charleston, Hartford, Newport, New York, Philadelphia, and Williamsburg. I've spent hours in planes, trains, and cars. I've logged thousands of miles. I hadn't realized grad school would turn me into such a globe trotter.

So it is most fitting that I spent the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 as a nomad, bouncing from one location to another. Part of it was planned - a fantastic 5 days with The Beau and his family that culminated in watching New Year's Eve fireworks from the bell tower of the New Orleans cathedral. Then things got unexpected as I discovered how incompetent AirTran airlines can be. A canceled connecting flight from Atlanta meant that I did not make it home in time for the annual New Year's day ham supper. Instead, I got rerouted to Tampa, and am now on my way from there to Baltimore, from where I will take a shuttle of some sort. At this point, I would not be surprised if there were a stagecoach involved.

BUT as a surprise burst of Divine Providence, my Tamp layover meant I got to spend the day with my dear friends K&J and their three kiddos. We kept joking that I was playing Mary Poppins - I flew into town in the dead of night, and when the kids awoke I was there ready to play. I ended up helping keep track of everyone at a birthday party. I even assembled a kite - no joke. I almost expected to find Dick van Dyke dancing with some penguins. Then the winds changed and I was off in the air again.

The school-funded trips will end, but 2011 will see the nomading continue as I graduate (yikes!) and figure out where I will have a job. I hope the road continues to stumble on such fun surprises.

Pressure Cooker

"Don't make fun of the grad students, Bart. They just made a terrible life choice."- Marge Simpson

Last week was really icky. Grad school can sure mess with your head. Suddenly I found myself doubting and questioning pretty much everything in which I thought I believed. It was like there was a demon whispering in my ear that my life was pathetic and boring, and that there was nothing on this earth that could make me happy. Thank the Lord there were lots of good things on the horizon to cheer me up and give me a reality check. Here's the top ten in chronological order.

1. My grad prgram had a career panel consisting entirely of alumnae who are married with kids but also employed in museums. They all emphasized work/life balance and not neglecting your family for a stressful, high power job.

2. On my way out of town on Saturday, I ran to confession at a nearby church. The priest was a wonderful grandfatherly man who told me not to be too hard on myself. "You're just in a pressure cooker right now, gearing up for the next thing." Kind advice plus sacramental forgiveness = why I am glad to be Catholic.

3. When I arrived in New Jersey, I discovered The Beau had bought me flowers the color of autumn leaves :-)

4. After talking about it for ages, we finally cooked gumbo combining gluten-free roux (1/2 sourghum, 1/2 brown rice flour) with vegtables and stock

and chicken, andouille and rice. It was delicious.

5. On Sunday I tagged along to a choir concert/evening prayer at the Diocese of Metuchen cathedral. Why yes, I photographed the architecture.

6. On Monday I took another thesis field trip to New Tork, this time to Trinity Wall Street (the church at the end of National Treasure. Nicholas Cage did not actually find a fortune there.) The Trinity archivists were super nice and I even found some records of vestment purchases. A friendly security guard offered to take my picture while I was exploring the church.

7. I met my friend Laura for lunch uptown, emerging from the subway at yet another Anglo-Catholic church, St. Bart's.

8. After lunch, I went looking for a restroom. Laura suggested I try the Waldorf Astoria lobby. Good call!

9. The Trinity rector diaries were fun but not useful, so I cut out early and visited the Statue of Liberty instead. Hey lady, I'm tired and poor over here!

10.When I got off my train back to Jersey, I could look out from the platform and see where The Beau was doing homework and waiting for me. And when I got back to Delaware, my aunt was in town on business and we went out to dinner! It's nice to come home to people you love. Maybe I'll make it out of this pressure cooker after all.

Material Culture Alert: Toyota Corolla

Have you ever named your car? I never knew of this concept until high school. When I was a kid, we called Mom's Ford station wagon and Dad's Toyota by the very uncreative names "brown car" and "red car."

Now I have inherited the "red car," and I can't seem find a name for it. My siblings of course suggested choosing some historical figure, but the only moniker that sticks is "My poor little car." This vehicle is a champ, but it has surely seen better days. It did turn twenty years old this year, after all! Toyota Corolla engines are fantastically reliable, but no plastic interior parts are meant to last two decades. Here are some of my "poor little car's" battle scars:

• Broken driver's side door handle
• Detached rear view mirror
• Ceiling upholstery that fell off, was held on with bobby pins and plastic picnic knives, and then finally replaced
• Driver's side door paint is corroding
• Left passenger door will only open from the inside
• Front passenger seat belt sticks closed
• Gear shift plastic case has cracked
• Interior light only turns on for driver's door
  

It doesn't help that I am sometimes a klutzy driver. I still feel guilty about driving with the parking break on and losing the original gas cap. So much so that I let Jiffy Lube snooker me into getting the "power steering fluid exchange" with my oil change. It's only $60 extra!

As much as I love the Red Car, it might be time for a new one. Say, a 1998 Corolla that actually has air bags, power door locks, and anti-lock brakes. I did some shopping around over break, and will keep checking Autotrader.com.

My Dad jokes that cars can tell when you are thinking of replacing them. My Poor Little Car seems to be doing that. Just before I drove back to school, Dad and I found a gash in one of the front tires. There went my afternoon and $200 to buy new treads. Hey Little Car, I still love you! Didn't I wax you lovingly before you came to school with me? Didn't I decorate you with window decals from the finest Virginia public college? Heck, I even bought you a new starter in September! Even if we go our seperate ways, I'll still be loyal to your family.

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe we're in a new decade now. The Aughts are over, moving us one step closer to the Mayan apocalypse/disaster/absolutely nothing that will happen in 2012. 2009 was a pretty big year for me, so I'm going to borrow a friend's blog idea and list the Top 10 memories of 2009.

10. Frolicking in the snow in St. Louis
9. Seeing Jenny Lewis in concert with my two favorite California girls
8. Playing in the bell choir for Archbishop Carlson's installation, and making my friend meet him while wearing sweatpants.
7. The final VSC renewal weekend in Dittmer, full of relaxation in the sun and some epic pool jumping.
6. Helping the Nurses for Newborns Foundation win a major, multi-year grant for new programming.
5. Hanging out in San Antonio for week spending your tax dollars while I waited to testify in court.
4. Finally visiting New York City and seeing what all the fuss is about.
3. Seeing my family finally move back in to our renovated house.
2. Potlucks with my grad school classmates, and finding that I could fit into another community of 8 people.
1. Bringing my beau home to meet the family for Thanksgiving.

2009 brought me admission to grad school, a new apartment, a new state of residence, and many new people in my life. I'm excited to see what 2010 has in store!