Orientation

I'm finishing up my second day of orientation. It's been different than I thought it would be. Part of me was terrified that no one would like me, and part of me hoped that all 82 of us would instantly be friends for life. Is it too obvious to say that neither of those things happened?

It overwhelming, being in such a large group of women from so many different backgrounds. Having loads of information and isntructions thrown at me for eight hours yesterday and another eight today. I feel like the last two days have really been two weeks. So much has happened, I don't even know where to begin writing about it. Honestly, I don't even know what to say. I've met some really nice people here, one who even lives next door. I've also met some not very nice people here, which was something I didn't really expect to find. The professors and the deans and the support system they have here are amazing. There's a reason this school is seen as a cut above the rest. Some people say that you're just paying for the name, but that's not true. You're paying for the resources, for the support system, for the history. There's 22 libraries on campus. Twenty two. Can you believe that? And they're all beautiful, with stained glass windows and great arches and leather sofas.

There's a lot of people to meet and classes to start and places to explore... I'll keep you posted.

Shakespeare in the Park

Last night Kevin and I went to The Elm Shakespeare Company's Robinhood. I didn't really know what to expect because it was in a park on a cloudy, chilly evening, but it was one of the best experiences I've had since we got here. The set was amazing, very detailed and elaborate, with lights and music and a four story castle. The costumes were fantastic, and the actors... well, they were really good, too. We were sitting right in front so we got to see all of the facial expressions and details (like a gaurd spitting out his teeth after Robin punched him in the face). It was a really good show and couldn't be spoiled even by the guy that brought his dog, which sat behind us growling and occasionally barking if someone snuck onto the set. There were arrows flying over the audience, really good fight scences, and of course lots of romance between Maid Marion and Robin. The same company is performing Much Ado about Nothing tonight (they do two plays, rotating each night). If it doesn't rain, we're going to see that one since we liked Robin Hood so much. If the weather doesn't permit that, then we're off to see Little Miss Sunshine at the theater (I've been wanting to see this movie since it came out) and hopefully we can find a night where we can see Much Ado About Nothing next week. Either way, I'm very excited for tonight.

The Rest of the NYC Photos

New York City

Okay, some error is occuring, so this is all the photos I can post right now, but maybe tomorrow it will let me post a couple more.

We did have an awesome time in New York! We didn't get lost, or mugged, or picpocketed, so that counts as a success, right? We did lots of wondering around the city, window-shopping, and taking pictures. We saw Times Square, and the building where the Late Show is taped. I could have spent much more time in Central Park, which is beautiful, but Kevin wanted to see other things and promised we could see more next time. So we had an authentic slice of New York Pizza, which was good, but not as good as New Haven pizza (which is spectacular - I can't even tell you how good the pizza is here). Then, as a final compromise, we saw the top of the Empire State Building, something neither of us want to do again ever. EVER. It was alright on the top, but the waiting and the shoving and the crowding to get to the top was something that I won't ever subject myself to again. Of course the day was perfectly clear when we entered the building, but by the time we finally made it to the top, it was foggy and raining and we couldn't see very far. It was still a nice view, though, and I'm glad we went. Now that's done and we can move on and see other things next time. We went home exhausted after walking around all day, and Kevin slept in until almost nine in the morning, which is something I didn't think was possible. All in all, it was a very good day, filled with lots of activity (but mostly walking). It was nice to see the city, but I'm really glad I chose not to apply to Columbia. I think New Haven is a much nicer place to live.


Sheep's Meadow in Central Park, where Kevin and I grabbed a snack before exploring the south end of the huge beautiful park.


Kevin in front of Times Square.


At the top of the Empire State Building! No Cary Grant, though, I'm sorry to report.

There's not much going on right now. Kevin's feeling better, thank goodness, since he works another long shift today. Tomorrow, he finally has a day off and we're going to explore New York City. We are going no matter what, because I start school on Monday and things definitely have the potential to get very busy once that happens. Stay tuned for pictures of a couple of overwhelmed newlyweds in a very big city. I'm so excited! In the meantime, since wedding pictures are done for now, I've taken up little Miguel's quilt again. I forgot how much I enjoyed making something with my hands. I've told myself I have to do the dishes before I can work on it today, though, so off I go - an hour of misery before a good afternoon can begin.

What can you do with a man, who being 35 years old and a registered nurse, still insists on sausage pizza for dinner, even after a day spent in the bathroom with an upset stomach?

I tried explaining to him about the bland diet that my mother always fed me when I was sick, which always worked, but he still wanted the pizza. He is a grown man and can make his own decisions on what to eat, but I am also his wife, which means I can sometimes modify his decisions. So he ended up eating vegetable pizza with a large serving of applesauce on the side. I don't know if the goodness of the applesauce canceled out the damage of the pizza, but he left early this morning to work a 14 hour shift, so I sure hope it did.

If I find one more huge, terrifying spider in my apartment, I will officially freak out. For every one I kill, ten bigger spiders rise up to take it's place. I swear I feel them crawling on me in my sleep. Which is probably why I have STOPPED SLEEPING. I used to be able to handle spiders until I was seventeen and one bit me on my face. Yesterday, I was taking a shower without my contacts in when I saw a huge black thing crawling around at my feet. As a mature adult, I starting screaming and jumped out of the shower dripping wet, hopping around with conditioner in my hand, screaming and trying to find a waterproof shoe. And my glasses so I could see what the heck I was trying to kill. Luckily, the only witness to this spectacle (the huge black spider) died before he could share the tale. I was too freaked out to even remove his carcass, so it sat there until Kevin came home (plus I wanted him to see how big it was). Now there's another one waiting for him on the office wall. I just can't wipe it off - I'm unreasonably scared that if I go near it, it will spring to life and eat my face.

I need to go buy some Raid.

Well, Kevin's work schedule changed, so it looks like we're going to have to put off our trip to New York for a couple of days. I'm pretty disappointed, but there's not really much we can do about the situation. We're also still waiting to hear when he's off around Christmas so that we can book some flights home. I really miss my family, so I'd really like to buy the tickets in order to reassure myself that it IS going to happen!

In better news, I think I've finally finished arranging my wedding album. It was pretty brutal, but I'm decently happy with what I've picked out and Kevin says if I second guess my choices anymore I'll drive myself crazy. He's probably right. I have a ton of housework to catch up on, but it's hard to get motivated to do it. I always thought I would love being a housewife and taking care of my own home. There are certain aspects that I do love, very much (cooking), but there are other aspects (like DISHES) that I hate passionately. It wouldn't be so bad if we had a dishwasher, but the closest thing in our apartment is my two hands and a scrub brush. Still, I can't really ask Kevin to get scrubbing when he just got off a 14 hour shift. Especially when I spent the day reading, watching movies, and playing X-box. He deserves to come home to a clean apartment after working so hard all day. I will try to think about that as I face the mountain of unwashed clutter in my kitchen. Maybe it will help if I turn on some Tom Jones music...

Kevin had a day off yesterday, so we got to spend the day together, doing fun things. We went on a nice walk downtown, stopping at the British Museum for Art and Ashley's Ice Cream Parlor. The Museum is a beautiful building and had a really interesting display on Shakespeare. They also had a cool display on English silver (it's more interesting than it sounds - really!) but we didn't get to see much of it because even though the internet says they're open until 8, they are really only open until 5.

We consoled ourselves by sharing a scoop of ice cream. I had tried to tell Kevin how good Ashley's was before, but he insisted that he had to try it for himself. If you don't know how critically Kevin judges food, then you don't know him very well. And he deemed it the best ice cream EVER. Even better than Whitey's in Iowa. Now that's saying something!

When we got home, a UPS guy came to our door and he had a surprise for me from Kevin. An X-box game, yes. But not just any X-box game. A PIRATE X-box game! We sat down to play for a couple of minutes, and it turned into four hours. I never thought I would spend so much time, or have so much fun, with a video game. Kevin and I (or should I say Captain Scurvy Wench - we named him) are in the process of totally dominating the Carribean, and we are something of a rogue with the ladies. We took a break to eat dinner and then played four MORE hours! We couldn't believe it when we looked up and it was 1 in the morning! We had a good time, though. Together, as pirates, we are pretty unstoppable.

Kevin just got home from work (and brought food!) so I've got to run.

Shoes

The frequent changes of my blog's template have just been manifestations of the nervous energy coursing through my system. Orientation starts in less than two weeks. Some nights before I fall asleep, all I see are sneering socialtes in pumps and pearls, looking down their perfectly powdered noses at my clothes, some of which I've had since high school. It's strange walking down the street, because people here just don't wear a t-shirt and jeans like we do in the good old Midwest. Everyone seems to be dressed to the nines, all the time, even at the grocery store. We just can't afford to buy me a whole new wardrobe, one that will fit in with all the trendy fasionable people that live here. So I've consoled myself with two new pairs of shoes; both are comfortable, fashionable, and make me feel a little dressier in my old clothes.

At the end of the day, I know I haven't really changed my wardrobe at all. I know when I start school, no one will care what shirt or shoes I'm wearing. But it's not really about what other people see. It's about how I feel about myself. And if little kitten heels make me feel more confident when I walk into orientation that first day, then it's worth the fifty dollars to me. Kevin doesn't understand, but luckily, I married a man who can afford his wife these little luxuries, who can roll his eyes, kiss my cheek, and say, "You look good, baby."

Destination: Newport

The Hoves had a lovely weekend in New England. Saturday, we went to the local history museum, where we learned all kinds of things about New Haven. It wasn't interesting enough to visit twice, but it was worth the $2 we paid to get it. That evening, we walked downtown to see the big concert on the green. The opening band was a swing band that was pretty good. In between bands, we decided to go to this Dim Sum place on the square because we'd never had dim sum before. The food wasn't so great and the service was wonderful, if you enjoy being thoroughly ignored. We won't be visiting there again. Luckily, downtown helped us out by proviing the best gelato I've had since Italy at Caffe Bottega. The girl that cut my hair last week (who happens to be Italian) told me to go there, that they import all their equipment from Italy so that it's just like Italian gelato. I'm telling you, that's the only gelato I've had in America that tasted like the real thing. Every single person that comes to visit me here on the east coast can expect at least one trip to that little restaurant!

While finishing off our ice cream, we made our way back to the green to see Kool and the Gang. They were pretty old, but still pretty good. They had a bunch of whippersnappers doing most of the dancing and singing and playing. There was about thirty thousand people packed in there and they were all going crazy, singing along and dancing, so that made for a good time. At times, it was more fun to watch the audience than the band! We had to watch out for pickpockets, though. At one point, I saw (just in time!), a guy crouched over, going for my own husband's wallet! He thought we were distracted just because Kevin was giving me a little kiss. Well, I saw him out of the corner of my eye and I slammed my hands over Kevin's pockets and flashed him a nasty look. He slunk off and we did not see him again. See? I'm getting my street smarts!

Today, we got up and I packed us a lunch and we hit the road. It was nice short drive to Rhode Island. We stopped in Newport and drove around a little bit, stopping at The Breakers, one of many mansions on the island's coast. The whole drive is incredible, and I would highly recommend it.

The Breakers, a mansion which served as the Valderbuilt family's summer cottage. It is one huge, fancy summer cottage. It's modeled after a Florence palace. I have been inside a Florence palace and I am telling you: this could have been the Medici's summer home. It is huge, it is fabulously detailed, it is astonishingly luxurious, it is everything you think it might be, and in excellent condition. Definitely worth the $15 tour. Definitely.


I think being by the ocean went to his head a little bit. Also, I called him sailor (as in "smile for the camera, sailor!"), which may have been a mistake. This is the state park in Newport, where we stopped and had a little picnic lunch.



This is leaving Newport. It's a terrible picture, and doesn't do justice to the beauitful view of the island and the ocean. It' shard to get a good shot when you're going 70 mph.

Pretty Baby

My mom sent this to me today and I couldn't resist posting it. Isn't he getting big? And I am MISSING EVERYTHING because of stupid grad school. It had better be worth it.

The first thing Kevin said yesterday when he saw me (and my new hair) was that I looked beautiful. This is why I married him. I feel a lot better about my haircut today. I actually really like it - and it's a lot easier to style than it was before. Kevin didn't freak out about the price - he just said, "Ok, so half the money I made today went to your haircut. Alright." And the sad thing is, that it's true. Six hours of work at the hospital goes to... one cut and color. But I promised I wouldn't ever spend that kind of money on my hair again. Kevin said not to say never, that someday after our loans are paid off, we might have that kind of money. I laughed and said, "Never."

Today, Kevin and I are going to either the Britith Muesem of Art or the Yale Art Gallery. The former has what looks like an interesting display on Shakespeare and the latter has a few Van Gogh paintings in for the season. I don't think I've ever seen an original of his, so I'm looking forward to it. They're both free to the general public so that makes the deal even sweeter.

We're really hoping sometime in the next week to get in a road trip to Rhode Island, but everything is becoming so busy so quickly. His brother has talked about driving south to meet somewhere halfway between here and North Caroline for a visit (which I don't think is going to work out) and his parents are talking about coming over for a visit (which, I think the apartment is ready for, kind of). It's hard to find a day off during the week that we can use for a road trip. I hope we can fit one in because before we know it, I'll be starting classes and then things will get really crazy.

New Hair

My hair was turning a little green and the layers were growing out funny, so I decided it was time for a change. Kevin's co-worker recommended a place in Hamden, so I made an appointment at the Hair Chateau last week. When I called, I asked about prices, and they told me 60 and up. The last time I got a cut and color, it was around 70, so I assumed the price would be similar. I was wrong.

The girl did a very nice job with the color. I love what she did with the subtle highlights and the dark tone. It's perfect for fall. The cut, well... I know she didn't have much to work with. I mean, my layers were REALLY bad. I had her redo it three times. THREE. I was pretty happy with it until I got to the counter, where the receptionist said, "145, dear." I just stared at her. I asked her to repeat the amount. It hadn't changed. Never in my life did I think I would ever pay so much for my hair. She smiled when I handed her my credit card. "What would we do without these?" she asked me with a knowing smile. I wanted to scream, "DOES A CREDIT CARD MAKE IT LESS MONEY?? BECAUSE THE RECEIPT STILL SAYS ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE DOLLARS!!" But instead I took a deep breath and left.

I held off panic long enough to call my mom and wail about the prices on the east coast. Then I looked in a mirror and realized I'm not even sure I like it. Please look at this picture and email me what you think because I am FREAKING OUT. In the meantime, I'm going to watch an Audrey Hepburn movie with a side of hot tea to soothe my fragile nerves.

Today, I met up with Farrell and Annie for coffee, and then they showed me around campus a little bit. There were several really beautiful places I didn't even know existed! It helped that they both had Yale IDs, which allowed us entrance into a few buildings I'm not allowed to go into yet. For example, the Payne Whitney gym. It's huge - nine stories! I'll be glad when I get my ID so that I can start working out there istead of being a bum in the apartment all the time. We had lunch at this neat little Irish pub and then went for ice cream at Ashley's, where Farrell had a cup launched at her head by one of the employees. That was kind of surreal, but the ice cream was really good. I might meet Annie later this week for coffee. It was a really nice afternoon. It reminded me how much I've missed spending time with girlfriends. I'm looking forward to starting the program so that I can really start meeting people. It's a little weird being here right now, like I'm waiting for my real life to begin.

This morning, after sleeping in absurdly late, I had to go to the immunization clinic, where they did me the honor of charging me $166 to stick me with no less than three different needles. They pumped my arm up so full of disease that it is sore and weak and sad. Luckily, I had a very kind husband to sympathize and take me out for gelato after my shots. And it was GOOD gelato. Sometimes the married life isn't so bad.

Last Week in Pictures

Our new TV cabinet that Ikea finally got in. It was worth the wait - I think it's beautiful. I had to go to a couple of different stores to find stuff I thought would look ok on top of it, and there were a couple of times I was desperate for someone like my mom's friend Jane to just tell me what to buy, but in the end, it turned out better than I thought it would. This whole being in charge of decorating a whole apartment business is hard.



That whole side of the room. Notice the new curtains and tablecloth I made. This is my first sewing project I've ever done outside the presence of my Grandmom that I didn't take any lazy shortcuts. It really makes a difference!



Hurray for paychecks!! You should have seen how excited he was to receive his first one in three years. It didn't hurt that his boss gave him a raise and let it count for his first check! Now we can afford all sorts of things: rent, groceries, electricity... maybe even a nursing book or two come fall. It's good to be employed.

Busy Week

Kevin's been working five 12 hour days this week, but it's still been very busy for me. It's true that a good wife's work is never done! Sometimes I just want to throw my arms up in the air and give up. Kevin's very good about helping me out when he can, but he's been working so much and he's so tired when he gets home that I feel bad asking him to do anything. Seven more boxes of stuff arrived yesterday and my first thought was, "where are we going to put everything!?!?!" We have no more storage space. It took a lot of thinking and creativity to re-arrange dishes, buy S hooks to hang pans, and re-stock the shelves in the hallway. And still, there's a pile of kitchen stuff on the floor of the living room. Not to mention the pile of dishes in the sink or the floor that's in desperate need of scrubbing. What I want to know is, how does anybody handle doing all this work when they have kids making messes, too?

Yesterday we went to Ikea to pick up our new TV cabinet that I've had my eye on since we got here. We had to wait for the new August model to come out because they were sold out of the old one. It took us most of the day to get it put together, but it was worth it once it was done. It's beautiful! I also sewed matching curtains with the leftover material from the tablecloth and I think they make our apartment look a little more finished. I couldn't find a tension rod big enough for our huge window, so I had to buy a more traditional curtain rod and then rig it up to fit our oddly placed window. It's stayed up for three days now, so I have serious hope that it may stay up for good.

Kevin got his sign on bonus from the hospital this week. He was so excited! He went ahead and ordered his new computer with some of the money, as a graduation present for himself. I'm hoping we can use the rest of the money to buy a loveseat, which we could really use for the living room. Lazyboy is having a pretty good sale over in Milford, and we found one there we liked. Kevin also found out with his first paycheck that they already gave him a raise! More good news! We went out with another couple for dinner to celebrate. We had a nice time, and after the food, we met a couple more people from the hospital and stayed up late talking. It's good to know there are cool people in Connecticut.

All in all, it's been a pretty good week. However, the mass destruction of the living room (empty boxes, styrofoam, mounds of dishes...) indicates that it may be a very busy weekend for this little housewife.

New Friends

The people that I've met here have just been amazing. It's like our social life suddenly exploded. I mean, I can actually say we have a social life! It's nice to be around each other, but it's so important to have friends outside of each other too. I never thought we would meet them this quickly. Tonight, we invited Jeff over for dinner and then went out to Little Italy for dessert and cappocino. We lost track of time talking and didn't get back until late - especially considering Kevin has to be at work at 7am tomorrow morning! Tomorrow, I'm meeting Julie (a girl that works on Kevin's floor that's a year ahead of me in the GEPN program I start in three weeks) for coffee downtown. I've never met her before, but Kevin says she's really nice and looking forward to answering any questions I have about the program. This Friday a group of us are going out for drinks after a few people get off work at the hospital. Next Tuesday, one of the girls I met at CPR is driving into New Haven and we're going to hang out. Then later in the week the other girl is driving up here so we can get together. Isn't that wonderful? I've loved getting to know the library so well, but it's very refreshing to get to know people outside of books (I've read so many biographies about English and French royalty that I feel I could teach a class! It is pretty fascinating, though.).