around these parts

Hello!

Long time no see! Well, yes.  Here we are, one week post-craziness, and I for one am ready for the blessed weekend.  The past week has had me in four cities and at multiple events, leaving the house at 6:30am and not getting back until close to 10pm.  Exhausting.  Ruh-diculous.  But also wonderful. 

How the heck have you been? What have you been up to lately? 

I haven't had the chance to sit down to write a book review in ages, but here's hoping you're just as happy to see some pictures from some of my escapades.  Here we go.

^^I volunteered at the Young Women of Achievement Awards hosted by the Women's Information Network at the Carnegie Institute of Science on Thursday.  This was the only shot I got out of the night, but it was absolutely one of the best things I've done lately.  I grabbed some awesome cookies, mingled with the nicest ladies, and was incredibly impressed and inspired by the work that all of these women are doing.  Go check out their profiles! Added bonus? All of them are in their 20's and 30's.  Incredible.^^

^^New York City, best city in the world, hands-down, was where I went for a graduate student open-house weekend, and again, this was the only picture I took (what?!).  This was the hilarious gum they gave out our first day, and it actually tasted pretty yummy.  I saw some wonderful family friends who are more like family, got to visit with friends from Israel that I haven't seen in months, and managed to nearly talk my face off about philosophy, theology, and pedagogy.  I also came back with five extra books, but what I lost in packing space I gained in upper-body strength. ;) ^^

^^I visited my alma mater for the first time since graduating nearly three years ago, which was very weird.  The same, and yet not.  I went for a meeting and wished I could have stayed a bit longer, but - who am I kidding - the best of all worlds would have been to have had the old gang gallivanting around campus catching up and laughing.  Another few years till then! ^^

^^I moved! I am still in the "I don't know where anything is,"/"I think there's an axe-murderer in my closet" phase, but things look much better today than they did two days ago.  We managed to semi-reconstruct my Ikea furniture, and let me tell you...nothing brings out the cray in people more than trying to figure out how to put together anything bought a year ago from Ikea.  This does mean, however, that the countdown till Sheba returns to the premises is whittling away.  We're talking single digits here, people.^^

I'm off to buy some shower curtain rings (I know I packed them, I saw them in their bag before we got here, and yet...gone.  Totally, completely disappeared.) and get things straightened up before Shabbat.  Enjoy your weekend!

Yours in sweltering apartment heat,
Cornelia