Summer in Kansas

I do believe we experienced at least three days of spring before the harsh 90 degree weather set in. Kansas wanted to remind everyone of her propensity for unpredictable weather this year. So far, I've done well pushing my way through finals. I have one take-home final left that's due on Sunday, and I've made some progress on it.

We may have found a house to rent that will work for us for a bit, although we have some competition in getting it from the sounds of it. We still have two months left on the lease, but the sooner I can get moved out of this place, the better for me. I'm so tired of being cooped up in a tiny apartment.

Last night was my first experience with a Zumba class. I dragged my husband to it, but even he had to admit that he had fun towards the end. It does kick your butt. I think it's much tougher than the Group Power classes we had been going to the past two weeks. So, yes, I finally accepted that I am getting older and not taking care of my body is a 20-something's game. So, yeah, been trying to eat better and workout more. I'm seeing some results already, believe it or not. There's a stronger community element with the gym we joined which I think is working more for me than just trying to force myself to go on my own. Also, I've been taught the incorrect way to use weight equipment since high school so that's been fun to work on as far as retraining the muscles in my arms. That's only twenty years worth of muscle memory. Awesome.

Right now, I am currently reading Black Bodies and Quantum Cats by Jennifer Ouellette. It's an accessible read for science enthusiasts. I'm also reading through the first volume of a manga for the Infernal Devices. And, as always, I'm picking away at Herodotus' the Histories. Currently, I'm reading his comparative analysis regarding the religious differences between the Hellenes and the Persians. Interestingly enough, the Persians did not believe in erecting temples or idols, because their view of the gods did not include human forms, as such... no such things were needed. Make of that what you will. Herodotus was, after all, the father of unbiased investigative reporting so he was only attempting to report what people told him and what he observed himself.

Today is payday, although not the big one that's going to allow me to settle my rent for the rest of the lease here and put a deposit on the rental house if it's not already been rented out by that time. What will happen, however, is that some necessary smaller bills will be dealt with and life will continue to get easier from here on out.

My next big goal is cleaning this apartment and getting rid of some more stuff we do not need so that the apartment is "ready" to be inspected when we move out near the end of July. It's entirely possible that we'll just be moving into a 2 bedroom apartment but I want to keep our options open.

Strange week

The weather is reminiscent of mid-to-late spring when last week we were freezing in our boots with snow and negative wind chills! Gotta love Kansas weather: it requires you to be both hardy and flexible. In the end, though, we're not nearly as hardy with the cold as our neighbors to the north, and everyone's excited for nicer weather. All I could think yesterday was how much I wished the pool were open. Because it felt more like late April to early May than the middle of March. Although, supposedly, we may get some snow tonight. If we do, I wouldn't expect it to stick.

It's only Tuesday and the week before Spring Break. I have a take home exam to work through this week. It's only eight essay questions, but some of them require a lot of work, so, I will be doing a few questions each day until I'm done. Probably straight through to Saturday when it's due. No sense turning something like that in early and/or killing myself to get it done in a day.

Tomorrow is the meeting for my team for further instructions regarding my team's presentation for pitching our business idea. We made the first cut, so I have no reason to expect that we won't place, but I'm sure our competition is stiff. A top prize of $4K has everyone's mouths watering. There were 31 teams apply, but only 20 made it into the semi-finals. I'm not sure, but I think all the teams may have been from ESU even though the local tech college was also involved.

I've also applied for a paid summer marketing internship at one of the offices I worked in as an undergraduate student. No guarantee there, but it is strange how much of this has gone full circle yet again. Maybe I'll learn something vital to my own entrepreneurial pursuits. The extra money, again, would not be bad for our current situation.

The hours at the funeral home and the pub have not been kind to John lately. There's no guarantee with on-call work, so that's nothing new.  But we've both decided it would probably be best for John to find something else with steady hours even if it's only part-time and leave the bouncer job. I think as long as he leaves on good terms, there should be no real issue there. The pay for the funeral home is too good to give up, though, even if it's irregular work.

I suspect this summer will be a slow start to the business, but my goal is that we will have a storefront shortly after I graduate with the MBA. This summer will be about putting some stuff on etsy, getting the website going, and possibly having a booth table at the Dirty Kanza with some merchandise.

One of my goals today is to go walk around the zoo besides the necessary learning and business-building goals. It's supposed to get up to 70 again and I definitely want to take advantage of the good weather. I will probably grab some photos and maybe put a vote in for the new lion cub's name.

Now for a bit of humor to end this post since I've been getting into Magic: The Gathering lately:

Grand Prix Richmond Crackstyle

All I can say is: wear belts, gentlemen, and clothes that fit you or your exposed ass crack might be featured on the Internet. I'm all for encouraging a bit more class in the gamer community especially for widely publicized events.

Hello, Friday

Kansas wanted us to remember that is indeed still winter. Snow is impending and all I can hope is that the director decides to close the mortuary on Monday. Emporia, Kansas cleans its roads in relationship to the income distribution and other signs of political power. Everyone else is shit out of luck until it melts. Not so good for our little car.

My body wanted to remind me that I can get sick still even though I've been extremely robust thus far this winter. Pretty bad timing too. I have two written assignments and some reading to make it through. Never mind the social events I was looking forward to this weekend.

It seems to be the month of losing hours (or outright losing jobs). Right now, I am to the point that I will spit or piss on anyone who praises the glories of a "right to work" state and demonizes unions. Not having any kind of recompense just lets employers walk all over their employees or discard them like trash as it suits them. Employees get no excess benefits from the arrangement. Technically, you should be able to just leave a job without any notice, but you'll get a negative recommendation when those calls start coming in to previous employers. Employers get away with practically murder these days.

In regards to the previous post about Violet the cupcake loving pit bull, she is fine. It turns out that there was some miscommunication about her status. She still needs a home, but she's not currently on a fast track to being euthanized. If that changes, there will be a further update.

Does anyone else have that one friend who seems to make drama out of pixie sparkles and pinches of stardust that they've just randomly sucked out of the air? *sigh* Yeah, I get to deal with that today too. Being sick is making my inner filter turn to a rather unfriendly setting. Don't mind me too much. Just venting ahead of time to avoid saying something later I may/may not regret. I would like to think that this is just a genuine 'misunderstanding' but with the way this week has gone, I'm not so sure.

Normally, I really love Fridays. This is just not 'my' Friday I guess. I really should be in bed, I suppose, but I need to get some work done. I just can't laze about no matter how bad I feel today. It's a hot tea kind of day. No coffee for the fiend. Wish me luck and better health!

First Monday in December

First things, it's probably no surprise that I lost momentum on Sunshine the Morning After. It has been busy at the funeral home and the last few weeks have been inundated with group projects, final papers, and preparing for exams. Grades, sadly, are a bit more important that indulging in my writing. At the same time, I feel like I got the start of an idea for what may be a decent book. It just needs some work.

Secondly, we have reached December. Today, temperatures are going to reach into the 60s. By Thursday, we will have snow. Welcome to Kansas! I am just happy that any potential nasty weather is happening after I have to take my evening exams this week. Other than that, it is December. You can't really complain about the cold without sounding silly when it's so close to the winter solstice anyway.

My husband has picked up another position, this time at a gorgeous pub. The hourly pay might be less, but it's more than enough for what we need and I imagine his tips will get decent as he learns more about tending bar. It's a good place for learning about running a small business as well.

I am trying to get a little bit of review time in before work. We are both going in to help decorate the mortuary and participate in the lunchtime holiday employee party. Then I have to get hubby back home so he can get to work on time. It's going to be an interesting day.

Sunday is our big holiday memorial service that we do for the families whose loved ones have passed on. After some ESU music students unprofessionally cancelled two weeks in advance of the date, I believe we are still trying to find replacements. My funeral director is stressed and I can already sense the frantic mood that will take over this morning.

It's going to be a fabulous day! Kansans - enjoy the warm weather while it lasts. For the other Kansans who don't like warm weather... don't worry, winter (and snow) is coming.

Sunshine the Morning After

Despite the title of my current writing project and this blog post, the morning after Halloween and the first full day of National Novel Writing Month is anything but sunshine-filled. That's just how I like it and my main character might agree what with her sloshing around in the muddy wet pasture turned music festival site in which I've stuck her. Good thing Susannah Yearout is a pluviophile. (That's someone who loves rainy weather, if you were wondering.)

Our new neighbors might be nice people but they are really noisy at night. I suppose Halloween is just another excuse to party for some people. I can't say much. My crowd is going to be tearing it up tonight in grandiose fashion. Trick-or-treaters aren't really a thing around here, but that's good since I had not bothered to buy candy by that point anyway.

It feels like the Friday that it is around the Mihulec apartment, but I need to clean because I promised a less disastrous looking abode by 5 p.m., writing or no, and there is shopping to be done today. Here's to a great start to the weekend for everyone. Keep calm and keep writing!

Heavy Metal Thunder

According to Weather.com, we are only under a heat advisory and they fail in noticing the huge thunderstorm that has just descended upon the area. Someone has failed a will save somewhere. I am currently in the midst of banter before the start of a Dungeons and Dragons game. Clearly it's going to be a good night for gaming. Part of me is contemplating a quick dance in the rain.

There's going to be a rowdy party of crazed writers on Tuesday night / Wednesday wee hours of the morning as the August Camp NaNo kicks off in full swing. We just need to decide on the location, but I can't think of a better way to kick off Lughnasadh than with artistic endeavors. Except maybe with beer, both of which may be a possibility.