This is the library. Just one. In the whole damn city. Again.
I find myself living in a cramped bedroom in a house full of college seniors, in a town roughly the same size as the shitty suburb I fled as a teenager. Everywhere I turn there are slutty college girls (not that there's anything wrong with that) and for a time this week it was making me feel bad.
This is a catamount, mascot of UVM and possibly extinct.
(Yes, it's basically a Lynx.)
On the one hand, I fit in perfectly. My new pursuits have necessitated quite a bit of studying. I took a Spanish test today (spolier alert: I really don't think I did well-- a bit rusty). I am studying enough math to score 50 points higher on the SAT for my new job. I read three books on Pluto for a mock lesson I taught last week. I do kind of a lot of homework for someone who graduated years ago.
Long story short, it is Eris' fault Pluto is not a planet anymore.
At the same time, I am really fucking old. I had to show one of my roommates that his wine key has a tiny little lever to make it easier to pull the cork out. (Physics!) I rented a car to drive to an interview for my dream job. I split my time between teaching real science and moderating total sci fi bull shit. This week I'll spend 7 hours and $25 commuting to a job I hate just so I can tell my awful boss that I only want to work one day a week (the day I'm in Montpelier to mentor a second grader--makes sense to make a buck while I'm down there).
On the upside, this is seriously the view from the window of the bus as we pass Lake Champlain.
(Assuming it is not foggy. Can't see shit when it is foggy.)
I'm kind of a grown up now. I have never lived this far away from my family and friends, which was really hard at first, but it's all finally starting to click, though. I made my first new grown-up friends not through work. We met up last week to play Jenga at a bar too divey for the college kids (meaning it's perfect for late 20-somethings who've recently moved to the state). My new friends are from Colorado, which makes it extra nice because we can all complain that there's no Target or Happy Hours here. (Seriously. I should have done more research before we moved.) We're playing trivia on Wednesday, but not the douche-y chain trivia, the real trivia at a tiny sports bar (hopefully the Burlington version of Triviasco at Lucé).
I stole this photo off a stranger's Tumblr.
Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect. The new (to us) car is still in the mechanic yard after we blew out the engine moving up here, and neither of us can afford to fix it. I already love being at the museum, but it doesn't pay the bills (and food here is crazy expensive!). But it could be worse. I'm getting myself into a good spot, and I'm certainly out of my rut. I miss you all terribly. It's raining, not snowing. So much of my future is still up in the air. But I think it'll be okay.
