The honeymoon period...

seems to be coming to an end. Although we're both still loving it here and enjoying our exploration of our new environment, we're both quite ready to be settled. For Chad, he's anticipating the beginning of his coursework tomorrow and all the excitement and anxiety that churns up for anyone. He's starting a programme that we all hope will change his life. We've been waiting so long for this, and it's finally here. In a very real way, there's a whole lot riding on this, and for my part, I know that he's going to get out there and really shine. It's hard for him to expect the best sometimes, but he's so well-prepared for this. He's read 4 out of the 6 books on the "recommended" reading list for one of his classes without even having seen the list until last week. He read and thinks about this topic constantly in his spare time. He's already read at least 75% of the material due for this week. I don't think a student has ever been as ready as this guy is.

As for me...it's a little bit harder. I'm trying to find things to get involved, and have found a knitting group that meets weekly, the Bath Organic Group, where I can volunteer in community gardents, and a book club at a super sweet little independent shop in town. We're signing up as members at the Keynsham Leisure Centre this afternoon, and I signed up for the Bath Half Marathon (eek!), for which I'll be raising money for the Bath Cats and Dogs Home. I'm planning to find a yoga class around soon, as well as a meditation space and hopefully some kirtan.

All of this sounds great, and I'm really excited about it, but the fact that I don't have a job or really a social life is starting to weigh pretty heavily on me. As we've said several times, as long as I'm able to find work, we'll be able to stay here, which means Chad can complete his PhD, and we'll all live happily ever after (or something like that). I've applied for a few "professional" jobs, many of which I don't really expect to hear back from for a few weeks. I've sent out my CV to a variety of local food shops because I'm a huge foodie and think it would be a great way to meet like-minded people. Yesterday, I sent in my CV for a deli assistant in Bristol, and got a stock response today informing me that I didn't get it. That was a huge blow to my ego...my Master's degree, eternal optimist ego. A deli assistant. They hadn't even interviewed me. So, lesson one: Though there may be jobs out there that I think sound like fun and think I'm qualified for, they are not necessarily mine for the taking. Ouch.

I guess the thing for me is that I want to do something that inspires me. It doesn't have to be the best paid job in the world, but I want to learn, and I want to meet people. I don't feel like it's asking so much, but it's pretty important to my identity as I try to make this place my own.

We've compared this process to a roller coaster so many times that it's beginning to be trite, but we're really both feeling the pressure as we inch closer and closer to the precipice. It all starts tomorrow...and away we go!