Little truths

Don't let anyone tell you that ice cream sandwiches are fine after 6 months in the freezer ...

Catching Up

I doubt I'll ever make a great blogger.  Although I write quite a bit, I'm not very disciplined, and tend to stop and start willy-nilly. So, let's catch up … shall we?

School started 3 weeks ago.  I opted for a seminar on Gender and Sexuality in US History, as well as the 4 hours of thesis research/writing. Overall, I thought this was the best way to go.  So, I've been doing lots and lots of reading.

So far, we've covered Kathleen M. Brown's, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race and Power in Colonial Virginia.  This week is Clare A. Lyon's, Sex among the Rabble: An Intimate History of Gender and Power in the Age of Revolution, Philadelphia, 1730-1830.  Both very excellent reads.

Downtime has been knitting-- working on the "Butterfly Shawl" out of the Folk Shawls book by Cheryl Oberle.  I'm three and 1/2 rounds (out of 14) into it … but I'm committed to doing 4 rows, 700 stitches a day.  At this rate, I should have it done by December at the latest.  It's a large shawl … over 70,000 stitches, and so far, I'm about 16,000 stitches into it.   You really needed to know that, didn't you? HA!

Filed for Social Security this afternoon … I have really mixed feelings about that, but with no jobs on the horizon, it was the prudent thing to do, regardless of how I "feel" about it.  The 25% cut hurt for a bit, but I think I'll be OK, even when I leave for Ecuador. If the amount I was quoted is correct, it let's me qualify for a pensioners visa, which is a bit less complicated than the professional visa. 

Well, it's time to finish up Lyon's book, and then get those 4 rows done.   Things are good, Ferg even got a bath and really enjoyed drying himself on my freshly made bed.

Quiet

Not much going on in my life at this point in time.  New (and last) official semester will start in two weeks, and I'm working on compiling the information needed to apply for a travel grant, so that I can visit some archives that I think will help flesh out my thesis. 

I had thought that I would only have to go to St. Louis for the Daughter's of Charity archives, but they have consolidated every thing at their mother-house in Emmitsburg, MD, so driving may not be the least expensive option, it may actually be more cost/time effective to fly.  I will still have to go to Baton Rouge/Carville to visit the leprosarium and their archives.   It may just have to get done in two trips, although Carville seems the most important trip, and I have to wonder about the duplication in the archives.  I'm going to email Dr. D., get his email and go from there.

So, it really has been pretty quiet.  Working on knitting up some square for an afghan, getting ready to start a shawl for fall/winter ... doing a bit of reading.  It's been a very lazy summer.

The earth rumbled

Another small earthquake was felt in Wichita last night.  It was a 4.3, once again centered in Oklahoma, around Medford.  Fun times!   We've actually had quite a few over the last year.  All have  been small and hardly felt, but I wonder--and so do many others what this might have to do with all the fracking going on around the area.  I've been here for 48 years, this is very unusual.

Obstacles?

Last night I thought I had run up against a problem that might preclude the move.  The Ecuadorian University system only recognizes degree from some universities in the US--not all.  They will recognize mine ( either one or both) but it will take at least 70 days.  Things move much slower, but I'm assured that if I'll hang in there, it will work out.   Thankfully, I got excellent advice from the Ecuador Expats group on FB.   They really are a lovely bunch of people and I can't wait to know them in person.

I've started the Spanish lessons on duolingo.  I can't believe that most expats show up without the basics of the language. But they do.

In the end, the biggest obstacle will be me.

Random thoughts at 4am

I found out yesterday that with my Master's Bachelor's* degree that I should have no problem emigrating to Ecuador.  It will also allow me to find a job, which will help enormously. 

There is still quite a bit to consider.  I've put the thought of doing a year or two in Vietnam to the side.  Fergus McDogg being the main consideration.  He's 12, closer to 13 and there's no way in hell that he could make that trip.  His health is OK, but the thought of him being in the hold of an airplane for close to 24 hours (at 26 lbs he probably wouldn't be allowed in the cabin.)  Someone said that I should just leave him here, either with my daughter and grandson (who already have 3 dogs and 2 cats) or consider putting him to sleep--which is absolutely not an option.   Gaaaaa … I never will understand people who think that animals are just like purses or shoes that can be discarded when they're no longer useful.  He's been my constant companion ever since I adopted him from the shelter 10 years ago …  a scared, sickly, underweight, little pup.  I won't  leave him, and if for whatever reason he can't go, then I'll stay.

As I walked around the apartment tonight, I was mentally packing and discarding.  Leave the novels … take the non-fiction. Leave the cloth … take the yarn, but not all of it. Leave the furniture … take the linens.  It was starting to sound like something out of The Godfather.

It was a good laugh …

* All that is needed is a bachelors degree ... I'm still going to finish the masters, but it's nice to know.

"Old" age is not for sissies

Well, that's an old and totally overused catchphrase but it seems to fit.  So, I've been thinking about where my future lies … and I'm not sure it's in the United States. I'm just not. Even with this MA degree, I may end up being a greeter at Walmart. Which is not my idea of a good time.

So, I've been looking for alternatives and honestly, everything keeps pointing to emigrating (but honestly, I may not even have the SS to qualify for that) to a place where I can live somewhat comfortably without having to worry whether I can pay the rent OR eat (and let's not even talk health insurance.)  That's just no way to live, and trust me, while it's been awhile, I've been there and done that.  I'm not looking for a rock-star life style, and I know that a few will say that I should have planned better.  But it is what it is, and there are going to be choices that have to be made.

The whole thing is depressing.