a little of this, a little of that

I made a pot roast today, and even though I got advice from almost everyone in my immediate family on how to do it properly, I was still disappointed. And then I remembered: I don't even like pot roast. But I love the potatoes that go with it. So for the potatoes, it was worth it. And the meat was on sale for super cheap so meh, no big deal.

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When I called my sister Beth to ask about the pot roast, she said she misses me more when I don't blog. So, I guess I'm going to try to blog more.

Speaking of missing people, I'm heading to Ohio in two weeks. This is the longest I've gone (10 weeks) without a trip to Ohio since I moved here. It gets easier but it's still so freaking hard. I wouldn't have to make pot roast for one if I lived closer to my family...

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My poem-a-day experiment is failing. As usual, the first two weeks were strong, the last two weeks not so much. But still, I'll have 10+ drafts to revise (and another 10 or so to throw away).

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I proofed the galleys for Flood Year this morning. It really is happening! (ps - Karen, you'll be getting a copy of my chapbook as soon as I get my author copies. As will the rest of you who I've promised to trade with.)

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I still haven't sent out In the Weeds. I'm thisclose, though, I swear. Just have to fix the page numbers, print it out, and label the envelopes.

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Some days, I still don't know what the heck I'm doing in academia, what the heck I'm doing in front of a classroom, or even how to write a poem...but for the most part, life is making more sense than it has in a long time. Ssshhh, I don't want to jinx it.

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I take back what I said about Italian class. I study about 10 minutes a day and have a 98% so far, so I guess the way my instructor teaches works just fine. On my first oral assignment, I lost two points for my "midwestern accent." Guess I'm gonna have to work on that...

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I think I'm coming down with the swine flu. You see, normally, I would say "I think I'm getting a cold" but since we get URGENT ANNOUNCEMENTS about once a week from the administration about dealing with excessive absences and sneezing into our elbows to contain H1N1, I'm pretty sure this sneezing and coughing I'm doing today is going to lead to my imminent demise.

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My friend Andy invited me out tonight, and I said yes (before I realized I had the swine flu) and he said he'd text me later to let me know where. I just got the text and we're going to the Skylark which makes me unhappy for several reasons, first because it's in Pilsen which is like 800 miles away (okay, so an hour+ on CTA and 30 min/30 bucks in a cab), second because the last time I was there I am pretty sure I left a $60 tip (because I was embarrassed for drinking too much because the bartender was my student [In my defense, we were celebrating the last day of the first year of our PhD program]), and lastly because the beer there is not cheap. On the other hand, I've been a bit more antisocial than usual so far this semester, so I guess I can suck it up for one night.

Here I go...