Sick AGAIN

I'm really sick of being sick!  I was really feeling much better yesterday and hardly coughed at all last night, and then when I woke up this morning my immediate thought was "NOPE" and I stayed in bed until 1 pm. 

I finally moved down to the couch, but I have aches and pains all over, and I've definitely busted my diet by having a whole box of box mac n cheese for brunch.

The only good thing about today is that the girl who seems to be moving away deposited a cabinet and two DVD storage units by the dumpster (as well as TONS of other stuff that I didn't want or need) and I rescued them, cleaned them and put them in place:

Doesn't it look nice?

Having more storage is such a pleasure!  And although they don't exactly match my bookshelf they come close enough, really.  I need to remember to bring the rest of my DVDs from home when I come back for the Spring semester.  I've been leaving them behind because I really didn't have a lot of storage and hated just leaving them in stacks on tables, but there's plenty of room left in these units now.

Now I just need to find all the candle holders I got from California and South Africa and put them out.  I do so love candles and now I finally have somewhere to put them!  Maybe I'll even bring my Galilean thermometer from Florida and set it out here. 

I'm feeling quite rotten again, so I think I'll lie back, chug water, and watch Rugrats the rest of the afternoon.  Perhaps by evening I'll be well enough to get some work done!

First day back

Well, I finally made it in to work today.

The first hiccup came when I sat in my car and suddenly noticed on the back of my brand spanking new parking pass that it's valid from August 17, 2014.  Epic facepalm.

So I get myself back into the apartment, haul out my bike, and set off.  Halfway across the parking lot I realized my back tire was almost entirely flat. 

I turned around and went back, pumped up the back tire and filled up a water bottle, and set off again.  Managed to get to campus this time without any further issues.

I get into my office, flushed and panting (it was 93 degrees Farenheit without the heat index and it rarely got over 80F when I was in Croatia), flop down in my chair...and my computer won't turn on.  Ten frustrating minutes later I finally got the accursed thing working, it booted up normally and then I realize my ethernet has been disconnected!  I disconnected the ethernet (which had been strung to the other desk in the office), and reconnected it to my computer.  I didn't feel one bit guilty because A) the ethernet port is right next to my desk, and right next to my computer, and B) I'm the only one in the office now and C) I'm pretty sure there's another ethernet port on the other side of the room.  Also, it was my office first!

I stayed there for four hours, but I only recorded 3 because I spent an hour talking to my photography professor about the upcoming semester and some of the photography he's been doing.  If I do four hours a day (weekdays...) I'll have a nice stock of hours by the time the semester starts so doing the necessary hours for December early won't be a problem.  I love having a nice long Christmas!

My plan was to come home and work on my thesis, but after having some chickpea salad and developing a headache I went to lie down for an hour.  Didn't get much rest, but it did ease my head a bit.  I tried to get some work done after that, but couldn't focus, and finally gave up and went to the dollar store to get some ziploc bags (they're cheaper there than anywhere else), then came home and made barbecue pineapple pork with asparagus and peas.

It was very yummy...but I need to start marinating the pork again.  Oh well, now I know.

I've gotten almost all my household chores done, just need to vacuum and wipe down some counters, but between my head and the advanced hour of the night I don't think I should vacuum now.  I must make myself do that in the morning.  The most frustrating part is that I KNOW there's something I wanted to do, but now I simply can't remember what it was! 

Time to go clean.  Maybe it'll ease my head some, or even remind me what the heck it is I'm forgetting.  Oh the many splendored life of a graduate student!

Setting up for the semester

Safely back in Texas - came back after just a week at home with the intention of getting lots of work done before the semester starts.  Got extremely ill my last few days and the drive here was horrible, and I almost collapsed when I got back. 

However, I have managed to buy and assemble a desk, rearrange my apartment, and unpack all my belongings.  Unfortunately I'm still quite sick and have decided to put off going into work until Monday, in an attempt to let my body throw off this bug.

So that's the new setup.  Need a few bookshelves around for books and DVDs and hiding wires and all that sort of thing.  But that can wait.  My most pressing need right now is a table and some chairs so I can have people over for dinner, but that may have to wait until I get paid come October.

Now my plan is to lie around for the next few days, letting myself heal, and trying to not overdo.  Although I really need to vacuum.  And lying around doing nothing is really boring.  Maybe it'll be okay to work on my novels and try and find an agent for the finished one?

Who knows.  I miss my family already.  Growing up is such a pain in the bum!