Sunsets, Speedy Gonzales, and Some Other Stuff

Is it Monday yet? That is when my Capstone is due. I really, really need for it to be due. I’ve hit 20+ pages and I think I’m at the point where I’m just willing to start bullshitting the rest of my paper. However many more pages that it will be. I’m shooting for anywhere between 26 and 30. Fortunately, this is just the submission for the rough draft. I have a month to un-bullshit should I decide to take that route. Ha.

Surprisingly enough, I have been doing other things that do not pertain to academia. I’m house/pet sitting right now for a family that I work for. I’ve been babysitting their kids for the last 2 1/2 years and at least once a month (or so it seems) they ask me to stay at their house and hang out with their Scottie, Miss Stella Louise. Her and I are best buds, I do this all the time. So, I’ve been making myself at home in their Pebble Beach mini-mansion complete with endless amounts of TV channels and free and unfettered access to their food stuffs.

Tuesday night Stella and I ventured just around the corner to 17 Mile Drive where I attempted to take pictures of the sunset with my new camera. It was insanely windy and naturally, very cold, so I was running into all kinds of problems. My lens cap was flying all kinds of crazy and every time Stella ran ahead of me, she pulled the leash and the camera jerked away, resulting in a crooked picture of sand. Eventually, I just left her in the car and I battled Mother Nature without my trusty sidekick.

One thing I am definitely  going to miss about California…

Amazing sunsets. Yeah, the wind was cold and I couldn’t feel my fingers and my hair was all kinds of crazy but it was so worth it to just hang out in the fading daylight for a half an hour. Much better than doing stupid homework.

Aside from my mansion dwelling privileges, I’ve been working too. I’m a nanny to the cutest 9-month-old kid that ever lived. Don’t believe me?

I told you. So yeah, I’ve been spending 20 hours a week with this kid, give or take, and we do all kinds of things like play with blocks, eat squishy foods, go for walks, and crawl around like Speedy Gonzales. I’m only taking care of him until mid May so I’m trying to make the most of everyday. Yeah, sometimes I’m tired and occaisonally he’ll decide that he’d rather scream at me than be my baby friend but we make it through. We’re buddies. I’m going to hate to have to leave him, especially because he won’t remember me. Thank God for e-mail, I’m sure his mom won’t disappoint. I’ll get updates all the time.

Between work and school, I’ve actually been planning for my trip. It’s insane. I can already sense how stressed out I am going to be during those last few weeks of May when I have to present my thesis, graduate, entertain family, move out of my apartment, and head out to Montana all in the course of like five days. Fortunately, my Montana vacation will afford me a bit of a relaxing vacation after all of that. I do, however, wish that I could spend more time my mom and my friends before I leave for Germany. :( Ah, but with the way things are shaping up, I can only give to them the time available to me, which is not a lot. So, I intend to make the most of my last few weeks in Monterey.

On a completely different note, I’ve actually done one thing for myself that will benefit me during my time in Munich. I bought myself some Crocs. And this won’t be like the time that I bought myself $90 Choco’s and then misplaced them, probably in a bag to Goodwill. I’ve always secretly wanted  a pair of Crocs and now I actually have them. They weren’t even that expensive, about $30. I wanted some comfortable shoes for the seemingly endless amounts of walking that everyone tells me I will be doing in Munich and Crocs seemed like a good road to take. On the more expensive side of things, I also bought myself a pair of Uggs. I’m optimistic that it will be a good investment.

 

So, as the Germans would say, “Auf weidersehn!” Well, they would probably spell it correctly, but you get what I’m saying!