Conferences & travel up the wazoo
Remember how I ended up with a new GF awhile ago? Stuff's been moving quickly. Heh. Which means we're already having a situation. We'll see how it goes. I'm fairly confident it'll all work out, though it's annoying that we won't get to see each other again until the 14th. I'll be missing her next two days off (Mon/Tues), as I'm presently in Portland for a standards-based grading conference which goes through Wednesday.
The main situation is that apparently while she has enjoyed my being touchy/feely at least initially, we need to get some boundaries set regarding quantity/frequency. The fact that we basically were together damn-near the entire time she had eight days off in a row probably exacerbated that. Also, note to self: as much as you like someone, spending pretty much that long together, uninterrupted, is not a good idea. Alone time is necessary too. Anyway, I wrote her an email addressing the issue honestly and stating that we'll need to compromise a bit. She hasn't replied; possibly/probably cos she's been busy with work and/or perhaps she just wants to talk about it in person. I would've appreciated an acknowledgement of acceptance or at least some kind of response, but oh well. I was slightly concerned that after I sent it the next post she put on FB was about still trying to decide whether or not to keep on as a travel nurse or to stay in Seattle with good people, cos I was under the impression that she had decided to stay...
Being a travel nurse is what she's been doing for some time now, and (possibly in part due to being a Sagitarius) the travel part is something she's enjoyed. Settling down would be a BIG life change for her, so I understand. Hopefully she'll feel a bit rejuvinated after spending time with her family back in SC in a week and a half.
So my present conference starts tomorrow (came down last night and stayed with a former college roommate as the pre-conference was today) and gets done on Wednesday the 11th around noon-thirty. Already got people to hang out with lined up, too, including an old college bud I got on FB awhile ago who said he's around and how we should get drinks. :) That'll be on Tuesday. Tomorrow I'll get to see my buddy the creator of Coffee Critics, and Wednesday I'm gonna go swimming with another friend from high school who's up here now (with whom I stayed last time I was down here for a bit). After that I'll stay with my ex-roomie one more night and hang out a bit more with her before going back home on Thursday. That'll give me a coupla days to get resorted and laundry done, in preparation for my NEXT conference. And, Saturday the 14th is the next day I'll get to see The GF. Looking forward to getting things straightened out. It's actually kind of nice having someone who IMMEDIATELY brings up issues (and has also been reassuring about us working things out), though at the same time this is definitely new to me and a little jarring. She's a real sweetie though, and I've got much respect for her. It'll be her first day off so I won't see her until the afternoon/evening. Unfortunately I then have to turn right around and go to my next conference the following day.
Said next conference popped up. My administrator called me about a week-ish ago asking if I'd be interested in attending one on safe & civil schools, as I'd attended a few of the meetings throughout the school year. He'd told me he had wanted to send me to this one too, but at the time the number of people we could send was full. Turns out the teacher who's gonna be doing yearbook next year has a conflicting yearbook conference, so his spot opened up so I said yes. (I figure being willing and enthusiastic to jump at opportunities provided by my admin is a good idea when I can.) This conference will be in Eugene, OR. We'll be leaving next Sunday, and it goes until Thursday the 19th. Turns out that's the beginning of The GF's next bunch of time off - another eight days in a row. She did decide to go home to visit after all (didn't wanna be a bad aunt and miss another birthday; sounds like she's typically been able to be home for them). This also means that we won't see each other for another week and a half or so, until the 26th.
The plus side to this was that I was quasi-planning on heading home to NorCal myself for a bit during the summer to visit the folks, so that's when I can do it. I calculated it out and realized that in an average month during school I drive ~1900 miles, and given that I've not been driving to/fro work during summer, and how the trip is ~1600, I should be good as far as keeping under the maximum number of miles per year on my lease goes. (In other news, my new car now smells like Big Time Brewery's Amber Ale, as the growler I bought for my ex-roomie leaked on the way down. *sad face*) AND, since I'm already gonna be a good third of the way down in Eugene, what I'll do is simply head on down to CA from there. Not terribly looking forward to all the driving, but at least going down will be broken up a little bit. 6hrs shouldn't be SO bad. Coming back is gonna be like 13hrs though, ungh. Oh well; it should be worth it. It'll be nice to relaxedly catch up with the folks, as well as anyone else who's still around.
But yeah. So there went July. >_<; Then it'll be August, during which time I've got a union leadership retreat thing one day in the second week, followed by more SIOP training the next week, followed by PRAD Days the week after, and then SCHOOL STARTS the last week. Where the hell did summer go?? Man, I'm gonna have to get back into the groove again relatively soon. I feel a bit disappointed I've done relatively little so far towards (1) studying my own Japanese or (2) getting back into a regular routine of exercise between my Sun Salutes in the morning and alternating between cardio & weights five days a week. There's still time though, right? Also, I was good and brought my running shoes with me to P-Town; I may go hit up the treadmill here in the hotel in a bit...
Oh yeah. There's been a free blues/rock festical literally acros the street from the hotel, and they're now in the final act - friggin' Steve Miller Band, baby. They just finished "Fly Like An Eagle" and are now playing "Jet Airliner". I'm listening to it through my open balcony door. It's pretty trippy with the sound echoing through the buildings. :)
...I think that's about it for me for now. I've been a bit anxious about the whole GF situation thing (as you know me by now, heh), BUT I've been trying to better remember my Brian Tracy CDs and to spin things positively and remind myself that I. AM. RESPONSIBLE. for my own thoughts, and thus feelings. It's still difficult, but I feel I'm making progress, so that's good news. Plus, I've been able to distract myself fairly effectively as well - including by my working Pocket Station! XD I now have Chocobo World and have been acquiring items formerly impossible to get in Final Fantasy 8. Yes, I am a huge dork, but it's still pretty friggin' cool that I finally met that high school dream. ^_^
Hope you're all doing well! Love and happy thoughts.
The main situation is that apparently while she has enjoyed my being touchy/feely at least initially, we need to get some boundaries set regarding quantity/frequency. The fact that we basically were together damn-near the entire time she had eight days off in a row probably exacerbated that. Also, note to self: as much as you like someone, spending pretty much that long together, uninterrupted, is not a good idea. Alone time is necessary too. Anyway, I wrote her an email addressing the issue honestly and stating that we'll need to compromise a bit. She hasn't replied; possibly/probably cos she's been busy with work and/or perhaps she just wants to talk about it in person. I would've appreciated an acknowledgement of acceptance or at least some kind of response, but oh well. I was slightly concerned that after I sent it the next post she put on FB was about still trying to decide whether or not to keep on as a travel nurse or to stay in Seattle with good people, cos I was under the impression that she had decided to stay...
Being a travel nurse is what she's been doing for some time now, and (possibly in part due to being a Sagitarius) the travel part is something she's enjoyed. Settling down would be a BIG life change for her, so I understand. Hopefully she'll feel a bit rejuvinated after spending time with her family back in SC in a week and a half.
So my present conference starts tomorrow (came down last night and stayed with a former college roommate as the pre-conference was today) and gets done on Wednesday the 11th around noon-thirty. Already got people to hang out with lined up, too, including an old college bud I got on FB awhile ago who said he's around and how we should get drinks. :) That'll be on Tuesday. Tomorrow I'll get to see my buddy the creator of Coffee Critics, and Wednesday I'm gonna go swimming with another friend from high school who's up here now (with whom I stayed last time I was down here for a bit). After that I'll stay with my ex-roomie one more night and hang out a bit more with her before going back home on Thursday. That'll give me a coupla days to get resorted and laundry done, in preparation for my NEXT conference. And, Saturday the 14th is the next day I'll get to see The GF. Looking forward to getting things straightened out. It's actually kind of nice having someone who IMMEDIATELY brings up issues (and has also been reassuring about us working things out), though at the same time this is definitely new to me and a little jarring. She's a real sweetie though, and I've got much respect for her. It'll be her first day off so I won't see her until the afternoon/evening. Unfortunately I then have to turn right around and go to my next conference the following day.
Said next conference popped up. My administrator called me about a week-ish ago asking if I'd be interested in attending one on safe & civil schools, as I'd attended a few of the meetings throughout the school year. He'd told me he had wanted to send me to this one too, but at the time the number of people we could send was full. Turns out the teacher who's gonna be doing yearbook next year has a conflicting yearbook conference, so his spot opened up so I said yes. (I figure being willing and enthusiastic to jump at opportunities provided by my admin is a good idea when I can.) This conference will be in Eugene, OR. We'll be leaving next Sunday, and it goes until Thursday the 19th. Turns out that's the beginning of The GF's next bunch of time off - another eight days in a row. She did decide to go home to visit after all (didn't wanna be a bad aunt and miss another birthday; sounds like she's typically been able to be home for them). This also means that we won't see each other for another week and a half or so, until the 26th.
The plus side to this was that I was quasi-planning on heading home to NorCal myself for a bit during the summer to visit the folks, so that's when I can do it. I calculated it out and realized that in an average month during school I drive ~1900 miles, and given that I've not been driving to/fro work during summer, and how the trip is ~1600, I should be good as far as keeping under the maximum number of miles per year on my lease goes. (In other news, my new car now smells like Big Time Brewery's Amber Ale, as the growler I bought for my ex-roomie leaked on the way down. *sad face*) AND, since I'm already gonna be a good third of the way down in Eugene, what I'll do is simply head on down to CA from there. Not terribly looking forward to all the driving, but at least going down will be broken up a little bit. 6hrs shouldn't be SO bad. Coming back is gonna be like 13hrs though, ungh. Oh well; it should be worth it. It'll be nice to relaxedly catch up with the folks, as well as anyone else who's still around.
But yeah. So there went July. >_<; Then it'll be August, during which time I've got a union leadership retreat thing one day in the second week, followed by more SIOP training the next week, followed by PRAD Days the week after, and then SCHOOL STARTS the last week. Where the hell did summer go?? Man, I'm gonna have to get back into the groove again relatively soon. I feel a bit disappointed I've done relatively little so far towards (1) studying my own Japanese or (2) getting back into a regular routine of exercise between my Sun Salutes in the morning and alternating between cardio & weights five days a week. There's still time though, right? Also, I was good and brought my running shoes with me to P-Town; I may go hit up the treadmill here in the hotel in a bit...
Oh yeah. There's been a free blues/rock festical literally acros the street from the hotel, and they're now in the final act - friggin' Steve Miller Band, baby. They just finished "Fly Like An Eagle" and are now playing "Jet Airliner". I'm listening to it through my open balcony door. It's pretty trippy with the sound echoing through the buildings. :)
...I think that's about it for me for now. I've been a bit anxious about the whole GF situation thing (as you know me by now, heh), BUT I've been trying to better remember my Brian Tracy CDs and to spin things positively and remind myself that I. AM. RESPONSIBLE. for my own thoughts, and thus feelings. It's still difficult, but I feel I'm making progress, so that's good news. Plus, I've been able to distract myself fairly effectively as well - including by my working Pocket Station! XD I now have Chocobo World and have been acquiring items formerly impossible to get in Final Fantasy 8. Yes, I am a huge dork, but it's still pretty friggin' cool that I finally met that high school dream. ^_^
Hope you're all doing well! Love and happy thoughts.