Yup...we got to meet the band...

How many modes of transportation can one use in a day? Yesterday I capped off at five. Here is the breakdown...

1. Drove our car to Portland (2 hours)
2. Picked up the Concord Trailways bus there and took that to Logan Airport (2 hours)
3. Grabbed a commuter bus there to get to South Station (1 hour)
4. Took the red line (10 minutes)
5. Got a cab to the hotel (10minutes)

Add in waiting for busses and figuring out how to get where we needed it took about 6 hours to get here...a trip that would normally take around 4 or so in a car. But a easy price to pay for not having to pay $25 a day to park in the city for a week...oh yeah, and avoiding driving in Boston!

We came down a day early to see The Yellowjackets, a jazz group my husband is a fan of. And...can I just say that I am now in the running for the best wife EVER! Not only did I find the concert that coincidentally was the night before we were supposed to leave for our trip (and taking place in the same city we were to leave from) but I also took pictures of him with the band. Yup, I did. The venue was very small, probably around 200 people or so and everyone sat at small round tables. They played from around 8 to 9:30 or so and after sold cd's in the lobby and autographed them and posed for photos. So, we now own the latest Yellowjackets cd, autographed.

Oh It's Coming Fast!!

In T-minus 7 days I will be in Iceland and can I just say it doesn't seem like it's that close! Maybe it's because life is so incredibly busy with school and work, or maybe it's because we planned everything so long ago...I don't know...The planning isn't going oh so fast, but here's what we know so far....

Friday - Drive to Boston to see the yellowjackets because Matt is a fan. Me not so much, but I hear I'll be able to get dressed up in my hot little black dress and drink a couple toasted almonds...and that makes me happy.

Saturday - Hang out in Boston and maybe have lunch with a friend who we haven't seen in a long time. Then catch our flight at 8:30pm.

Sunday - Arrive in Iceland and hit the hot springs. This is where I pray that I have kept my low carb diet the week before because sadly the only bathing suit I have is a bikini and nobody wants to see a chunky carbed out me at the springs! After a day at the hot springs we'll head into Reykjavik and find our hotel.

Monday - So from here on we have no set plans. We're pretty much thinking that we're going to pick up a few tours. Matt REALLY wants to go in one of the jeep/hummer things and drive fast through rivers and snowbanks. I found a tour that will let him drive. Plus the same tour also lets us hike on a glacier which includes wearing crampons and safety lines and I'm actually pretty psyched about that.
Hopefully on the way home from that tour we'll be able to see the northern lights as that's one of the reasons I wanted to go to Iceland. I've also found another tour that will let us go caving in a lava cave and snorkel. Yet another day of wearing a bathing suit for me. Who would have thought my bikini would get this much use? Seriously, I don't think I broke it out once in South Africa!!

We've also decided that we're going to try some of the fermented shark and whatever the liquor is that people shoot after. There will be video of that. Don't you worry! I'm not sure what else we'll do...We'll probably visit the geyser but I'm not sure what else. We got international drivers licenses so we can rent a car should we want to. Oh and the macbook will be coming with us, partly so we can upload stuff while we're there (because we're cool like that) and partially so I can do homework because sadly the work of a grad student is never done.

Wish me luck...and if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!!

I'm Living Proof That One Can Screw Up Royally and STILL Recover!

My undergraduate college experience was pretty much a first class party scene. I stayed up late and ignored the whole learning thing. In fact, there were classes I may have only hit once and then there were the classes I liked, the ones I hit once a month. Somehow I ended up graduating and at the time never expected to want to go back to college. But, somehow things change and I found myself wanting to go back to school and figuring that it would be a long hard road to get in.

So, my plan was to take some classes as a non degree student and see how it went. So I took 2 classes last semester and I'm taking another 2 this semester. I took the GRE's and bombed the first time after a horrible experience with a global meltdown, then took them again the beginning of this month.

Then Wednesday came. It was a great day, work went well and I met with another professor about my second life project. It was a great meeting and I got a ton of information. I was really happy. Then I called home.

Me: I'm leaving right now (45 minutes later than expected)
Matt: Ok...there is a message on the machine from Nate (the graduate coordinator at the school)
Me: really?
Matt: Yeah, do you want to know what he said
Me: Ya
Matt: You got in!!

And that is how I found out that I was accepted into Graduate School!

When It's Good...It's Good!

Yesterday was one of those days that come a long once in a while where everything seems to go right.

I started my day with the GRE's and I am happy to say that after my first failed attempt, I have actually moved up to average! I'm not proud of my scores, but at least now I can say that I may have a chance at Grad School. I'm not sure how I could do better than last time, I didn't study for them because quite frankly where do I have time to do that? I just basically got a good night sleep and that was it. It was so much less stressful taking them the second time! Seriously, what was the worst that could happen?!

I spent the afternoon on the couch doing some reading and hanging out with the puppy, oh and figuring out the new DVR. It's nice to not feel like you have to be doing something school related when you are home, just to have a minute to yourself to relax and hang out. There is a good deal of stress related to balancing full time work and full time school and having any type of a life outside the two. Any time that I can just sit and not worry about what I need to be doing is huge deal!

Then for dinner we went and had italian and the lady (who normally isn't so pleasant) was really nice to us! We ordered pizza and got some peanut butter pie to go which was SOOOO good!

Oh and the day before I came up with an idea for a paper which may turn into a thesis. VERY exciting!! YEAH FOR ME!