I think I found my favorite spot on campus. It's this little square area surrounded by perfectly manicured cherry trees with a beautifully simple water fountain in the middle. I have sat on the benches that surround the fountain every Tuesday and Thursday before I have to go TA. It's called Monroe Court and I have even begun to fall in love with it so much that for one of my classes we are supposed to observe an ecology, and I chose this spot. I love watching the sparrows hop around the court and stand on the water fountain. I am so jealous that they get to stand there, mostly because it is already in the mid 80's here in DC and I'm ready for Fall (which I think we talked about this). And for the record, I did some research and I think those are sparrows, but I'm not entirely sure, I've never tried to qualify birds before. I find it amazing how I am so comfortable here in this completely man-made structure, yet I feel so connected to nature. I guess I'm falling for the landscape architect's plan.
So other than me enjoying my little refuge, this weekend I had the boyfriend's parents down. It was great to see them and spend some time with them. I wish I had been able to take them to the airport yesterday, but my office hours and 2 grad classes needed to be tended to. We did a good amount of walking in Alexandria and DC, but mostly we did a lot of eating together. (Which made me think of Jim Gaffigan's quote about getting something to eat...) But either way it was a nice weekend, especially because I was able to get rid of almost all of my boxes that had been hanging around a little too long, so that was an added bonus. I find that there is no greater pressure to unpack/clean than having visitors who flew from home to be with you. So now that it's Teusday, obviously my place looks like we haven't cleaned since, and I really don't think we have... Oh well.
Which brings me to my next fun topic, co-habitating is hard. I've never lived with a boy before and when I was in college I had some wonderful roommate issues, to which I always wondered if it was me that was the problem. These past few weeks have shown me it probably was. I have turned into the worst version of my mother... I never really understood her need to make sure the house looked pristine. Oh I do now. I also realize that being organized and keeping things clean is a hard thing to manage, especially when the other person you live with just came from a 3 guy bachelor pad that I don't think had ever really been cleaned. So breaking the habits of over 5 years living on his own is going to be quite the feat. But I will not give up! Mostly because I'm sick of turning off every light in my apartment and he needs to learn how to do that himself. (And for the record, me turning off all of the lights is me channeling my dad... He would be so proud, if I admitted that to him haha.) How do you balance the nagging with the "Goddamn it I will just do it myself!"? It's sad that at 24 I'm just learning how life is hard when you're on your own. But really, I'm just learning about myself as well. I'm still working on my likes and dislikes, my eating habits, and my exercise habits. It's weird to look back and think of my undergraduate career as more of a continuation of high school, I did what was expected of me and followed all the rules (okay, most of the rules). This is the first time that I feel complete freedom and that is terrifying. Which is probably why I keep channelling my parents' control traits, it's much easier to follow their example than to figure out life for myself... yeah that sounds horrendous. But I am trying to combat it, trying very hard to enjoy my life and make the best of it. So off to class I go, I'll be around later with more and more updates!
Also, I have NOT forgotten about my 101 project, I'm obviously just terrible at posting about it.
~E
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