May has just been a whirl. It has been such a relief not having classes, but I have never been so busy with research before. My brother (a senior in high school) recently posted as his Facebook status that he is "so done with school." I laughed when I read it because I shared the same sentiment my last year of high school and again my last year of college. Nine years later I am still in school.
Life never turns out the way you expect. If you asked me 10 years ago where I'd be today, I would have told you I would be working a cutting edge job with a husband and maybe a child or two, living in a small house in New York. Instead, I am a single grad student with a part time job, living in a studio in Texas.
Yet I don't think the path you take is ever an accident. I have this propensity to always worry about where I am going that I miss where I am at. The past few weeks have been full of catching up with good friends and reminding myself that life is not always about getting to the next place. The next place will arrive soon enough; in fact, a year from now I don't even know if I'll still be living in Texas!
So since I've last blog I've spent an afternoon listening to the local symphony band play in the park, salsa danced multiple times, spent a day out on Lake Travis, and finally tried this sticky mango rice dessert from a restaurant I've been dying to visit for a few months now. I've been very alone and isolated all semester, and May has been a refreshing time to realize that even though I'm not where I thought I would be (thank goodness), I am living well and loving well!
