Since coming to D. C. there has been so much to do that time has flown. I realized early last week that I have been here for a month! It definitely hasn't felt that long. The result of being super busy, I have slacked on my blog writing. To make up for it this blog will be really long and will relate to Dr. Seuss quotes. I was looking at quotes on day and realized that I could relate to a lot of Dr. Seuss quotes, so here it goes!
"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."
The past two weeks at work has been the same from when I last wrote. I am still working on USS Klakring's ships history and I still enjoy going to work everyday. So I have two stories. The first one was from Tuesday the 18th. I knew when going to work that morning that it was supposed to rain, which would make class that evening interesting, since we were meeting in Georgetown. As the day progressed the storm looked like it was getting worse and at one point included a tornado watch. When I was told about the watch I just kind of laughed, people were making a big deal out of it. Being from the midwest where we don't go into the basement unless there has been a tornado sighted I justthought it funny. Well the storm eventually
became a big enough deal that the director of NHHC gave everyone permission to leave an hour early. Since Cassie and I planned on leaving at four this meant we left really early, at 2:45. This was in effort to get back to the RAF before the rain let loose. While waiting for the bus and hoping not to get wet, we found out that our class had been cancelled because of the storm. This meant we had left work early and now had a good chunk of our evening to relax. Unfortunately, we did not miss the rain. After getting off the bus at Union Station Cassie pointed at the wall of rain that didn't even give us a chance to get our umbrellas up. When we finally did get them up they proved useless because of the wind. By the time we got back to the RAF we looked like drowned rats. In the end, the storm didn't last long. By the time we got up to our rooms it was starting to let up a bit and by the time class would have taken place it wasn't raining at all. My second story took place on Friday the 28th. Our office is making some office switches and the conference room that Cassie, Alastair, and I have taken over is going to become the oral history office. This means that we are getting kicked out of the room, thankfully not yet. The new used desks came on Friday so we had to get our stuff off the table so it could be deconstructed to make room for the desks. When the desks were finally moved in Alastair beat us into the room and chose how he wanted his things, which we were fine with. Once Cassie and I figured out where our stuff was going with the help of Alastair and Kevin we began organizing. This began after Alastair, Kevin, and Laura went to lunch. Since the room was originally a conference room there was a lot of chairs and I decided they would be perfect behind Alastair's desk, so I squeezed six of them back there and put his cart back next to it so he would have to move everything to get all of them back out. Cassie and I managed to get back from lunch before they did and we were there when he found the chairs. Kevin and Laura thought it was funny and Alastair said to be prepared because it was on. Since I grew up with brothers, I think I can handle it! It is things like this that makes going to work so enjoyable. We do work but we make sure to have fun at the same time."You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose!"
For anyone who doesn't know, I have decided to go into intelligence work. This being said I have had to make a lot of decisions in the past few weeks, like finding another entire list of grad schools to choose from (there aren't many) and trying to change my schedule winter and May term to fit into this new direction. This is my new direction, one that I am excited to follow. Last Friday after work I went to my first grad school fair where I met with different schools, Georgetown, Kings College, and the Institue of World Politics. I was greeted the best at IWP and I am looking forward to going to their open house on November 2nd.
"And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed! (98 and three quarters percent guaranteed)."
As part of the grad school search process I have decided to take my GRE again. While I did well on the verbal part the last time, my quantitative portion was not as high as I would like. (I am a history major, why do I need math? JK) I was hoping to take it at the end of October but there was no date that worked for me so now I am taking it on the 5th. I think it will go better, I just dread taking it. But if that is what it takes to get into grad school then I will power through it.
"Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered."
On Wednesday the 19th I decided to walk the CVS by the Navy Yard to get a few things before I went home. While I could have taken the metro home I decided to take the bus, since it was cheaper, and I will never regret that decision. When I got to the stop a woman asked me if I rode the bus often because a man was trying to make his way to Georgetown to the hospital. After we gave him directions we continued talking. When it came time to get off the bus at Union Station we discovered that we lived only a block and a half away from each other. I ended up walking home with her and Sandra gave me her number and to keep in touch. She also gave me a recommendation for a church to go to. Well, I ended up going to the church last week and it was awesome! I had a blast, which lead to me calling Sandra and leaving her a thank you message. That evening I got a call back asking me over for dinner. Dinner was awesome and I got to meet Marie, who is an intern that is living with Sandra and her husband until October. It just goes to show you never know who you will meet on the bus!
"From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!"
Wartburg has always said that they have alum all over the country but I never really tought about it until I got here. While I have not met an actual alum I had someone from my class come up and tell me his dad graduated from Wartburg. My roommate Sam was telling me about one of her professors, Kunihiko Terasawa, and how he was going to be teaching in Iowa now. She couldn't remember exactly where he was going to be teaching so she looked it up. I bet you can't guess where he is! That's right, he is at Wartburg now! It is funny how things like that work! I was also introduced to someone who is in the Navy at work and it turns out that he is from Wausau, Wisconsin. The other funny coincidence happened last weekend. Being from Wisconsin I root for the Brewers. Well my roommate Camilla and I decided we wanted to go to a Nationals game, not for the baseball but because Dierks Bentley was performing afterwards. Ironically the Nationals were playing the Brewers. 
While here I am definitely learning that life is a balancing act. I am being pulled in so many directions. There are festivals that I want to go to on the weekend and I also have to find time for homework. Then during the week I have to go to work, programming, class, optional career services events, and study. I am learning that sometimes I have to choose what is most important and give up something things. I guess that is life!"If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good."
While weekends are crazy packed and Sunday's are usually spent doing homework there are a lot of festivals that go on in D.C. One I recently went to was the H Street Festival which was a ton of fun! The most interesting thing was watching the ASL interpreters for the musicians that were playing. I think they were having more fun than the musicians. Yesterday I was wandering the mall and taking pictures and came across a Chinese festival and a walk for dogs. It was definitely interesting to watch!
"All alone! Whether you like it or not, alone is something you'll be quite a lot!"
This definitely rings true right now. While I am always with people I do miss my friends at the 'Burg. My coworkers in the Mensa, and my family at home and the midwest feel. I love the big city but I miss being able to know the other people walking down the street.
Until next time!
Courtney
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| This one is for all the folks in the Mensa! |
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