My goal on Tuesday was to waste almost as much time as most other people here do. I had to include "almost" because I wasn't sure I was capable of wasting fully as much time. I'm not entirely sure that I achieved "almost" either, though that's obviously a rather subjective term. My problem is that I don't want to socialize for very long with most of my co-workers, and if I'm wasting time, I don't want to be here wasting time. I want my wasting of time to involve a couch and a book and solitude and some strawberries... possibly covered in chocolate. Still, I was reasonably effective on Tuesday, and I seem to be resuming pursuit of that lofty goal today. Partially because my entire end of office is empty except for me and the assistant director of international students-- and he hides in his office and is rarely noticeable except that he likes to sing old jazz tunes. I find it difficult to work on dull folders of final high school transcripts when I am constantly distracted by the thought that my co-workers are relaxing by the pool or setting up camp in the Wichita Mountains or even just spending a simple quiet day at home. Hence the post.

Before starting this I spent several happy minutes reading all of my January 2003 posts. [To help some of you (most of you) out there, that's the eighth link down from the top of the Archives list. There. You've learned your first Arabic word. That means "January".] That month brought some rather entertaining adventures as I was settling into my new home in Alexandria--- including that wonderful trip to the downtown post office. My life has changed so much since then. <sigh>

Still-- my last day at this job is in only two weeks, and that's a blindingly bright spot in my life. I'll have about two weeks of freedom-- some of it probably spent in Houston, a good deal of it in the darkroom as my class ends and loss of access to the darkroom looms large. And then-- insha-allah-- I'll start some training for my new job at the physical therapy clinic a week before classes begin (23 August), and after that the starter's gun will fire and the furor of the school year will begin. Three years after my last semester at OU. But-- school is something I know how to do and know how to do well, so the approaching familiarity lends a touch of serenity to my days as I prepare to make my life over again.