I'm Busy Again!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Ok, so I guess I've been busy since I've gotten here: settling in, figuring out the city, hanging out with new friends, job searching, doing married stuff... But I never really feel quite right unless I know what my week looks like. Does that make sense?

I started my (second) new job last week. I'm working at a women's athletic apparel store in Noe Valley, and it's pretty cool. So, it was my second week of teaching and first week at the store. It's a lot to get used to, but at least now I have pretty much a set schedule to work other things around.

Maybe I should catch you up. So I didn't end up going to that music festival like I had planned. Instead I went to the Giants game with some friends from church:
And I ate disgustingly unhealthy garlic fries which haunted me for the rest of the day. And it was a great time.

Last weekend Chip and I ventured to the Golden Gate Bridge:

And he made his typical "happy-to-be-here" face as I snapped pictures of the two of us. Afterward we saw "Emo! The Musical" and then took the cable car to Fisherman's Warf because Chip wanted a milk shake from In-N-Out. We strolled around the piers a bit before heading back home on the cable car again. (I've discovered that the trick to not having to wait forever in the cable car tourist line is to just go late at night.)

This weekend was just as delightful. It happened to be our two-month anniversary on Friday, so Chip brought home some artisan chocolates for me. Plesae note the awesomeness of said chocolates:

Then we finally pulled out our City Walks guide and Chip chose the Chinatown walk. Chinatown is delightfully colorful and annoyingly crowded. Also, everyone's trying to get you to eat at their dim sum restaurant. (Rumor has it, however, that you actually have to go outside of the city to get good Chinese. Go figure.) You can also get lots of bargains on random stuff:
Here's Chip reading from the City Guide in Portsmouth Square as I look on in exaggerated interest:

The weekend was finished off with a visit to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival at the Square, where we watched a master chocolatier give a demonstration on making dark chocolate mousse (complete with a delicious sample). Chip won us a Ghirardelli chocolate cookbook, so guess I'll be working on whipping up some scrumptious sweets.

All in all, it's been a good week, aside from the sickness I've had. Just a cold-like ickyness, but that, combined with my second week of teaching and first week at the store made me opt out on running. So I'll be picking it up again tomorrow morning to run 5ish miles before work. Yeah!

Ya sé.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Ya sé como formular una lista. Ya sé como seguir un horario de cosas y deberes. Ya sé como trabajar hacia una meta. Ya sé. Ahora, de un sitio del web, tengo un horario para prepararme para mi maratón. Cada día--cada semana--ya sé cuántas millas tengo que correr y cuáles días tengo que descansar.

Ya sé como lograr una meta.

Pero ahora me encuentro al principio de mi nueva vida y tengo que hacer algo. La frustración de tener tantas horas libres (por ahora) durante la semana es demasiado. Por eso, tengo que hacer la fuerza de cambiar algo. Por eso, tengo que estructurar mis días. Soy una persona quien necesita estructura. Sin la estructura de mi vida universitaria, tengo que estructurar mi vida para mi misma, específicamente en tres áreas:

1) Mi vida espiritual: Sé que deber ser algo natural; leer la Biblia, pasar tiempo en pensar lo que has leído, etc., pero--por ahora--tengo que estructurar esta parte de mi vida. Es como hacer ejercicio espiritual, com mi alma. Una vez que la tenga bien organizada, puede dejarla pasar mas naturalmente, ¿no?

2) Mi vida profesional: Ya sé que quiero explorar la vida de traducción. Por eso, debo estudiar y aprender sobre como hacerme traductora. También, voy a explorar programas para obtener mi credencial, si es que todavía quiero ser maestra.

3) Mi vida académica: No voy a dejar mi meta de obtener mi doctorado. Voy a explorar los programas--más o menos--locales y la investigación que sigue allí. También, quiero leer más y pensar bien en lo que quiero estudiar y ser especialista. Quiero ponerme en contacto con unos profesores.

Tengo que ser específica.
Tengo que ser intencional.
Tengo que tener autodisciplina.

Ya sé.

I gotta fevah...

Saturday, August 23, 2008

...and the only cure is... more live music!

I used to be a live music junkie, and I'm getting the craving again. I'm rather disappointed with myself. I've missed some spectacular shows just this weekend: a music festival including the likes of Tom Petty, Beck, and Radiohead; Ryan Adams. And, on the cheaper side of things, a couple of weeks ago I missed the Watson Twins for $10. Needless to say, I can't have this hiatus last.

Tomorrow there's a music festival/DIY craft fair in the mission: http://www.myspace.com/rockmakestreetfestival, so I think I'll check it out. (Bonus: It's free!)

Come to think, I should update myself on new music in general. Paste podcasts and metacritic, here I come!

And for those of you who haven't seen it, here's a link to the wedding picture slideshow (thanks to the wonderful Mabyn!):
http://www.mabyn.com/Slideshows/BCWedding/
(Give it a few minutes to load after clicking "play".)

One more thing: I taught two demo Spanish classes yesterday, and they were swell! Thanks for asking!

Beating negativity with a stick

Monday, August 18, 2008

So, whilst I run, I often think (particularly since my ipod broke), and whilst I think, I have internal conversations with myself. They go something like-a this:

Me: Ugh! I can't run another tenth of a mile. I must slow down!
Other Me: No! I can run another tenth. And then another and another...
Me: But my legs hurt!
Other Me: Shut up and run!
Me: But I can't!
Other Me: Who says?
Me: I say!
Other Me: Exactly. Keep running.

Whenever talking about exercise or sports with others in the past, I have always been quick to note my enjoyment of certain exercises and some sports (soccer, volleyball, tennis). But I've been even quicker in noting my lack of endurance. I've always thought I had horrible endurance. I realized just yesterday that it was my THINKING I had bad endurance that MADE me have bad endurance (to a certain extent). My negativity caused me to believe that there was no real use in working on my endurance: How can it improve if it's so bad?

I realize now that it's just a psychological game I play with myself: I tell myself I'm bad at something and it gives me an excuse not to work on it. Now, I'm making it sound as if I'm just a lazy slob, which isn't the case. I only do this with certain things for which I've never believed myself to have a gift.

All this to say that I've started training to run the San Francisco marathon next year. I'm working on mileage build-up right now, and afterward I'll start the marathon training. I know that RIGHT NOW I don't have the endurance to run a full marathon, but I believe that with the right training and a healthy lifestyle that I can possess that endurance in a little less than a year. Just watch me.

Job #1: Acquired!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I was talking to a good friend the other week who just happens to be a teacher, and she was commenting on how great the summer has been because she enjoys being a "lady of leisure". I agreed to a certain extent. It's a little different when your leisurely hours are spent looking for a job.

Anyway, all that to say that I got a job yesterday! It's only part-time. And it's in Palo Alto. BUT IT'S A JOB! And a really cool one at that. I'm going to be teaching Spanish immersion classes to 2-7 year olds. It's a lot of singing and goofing off and playing with puppets and making funny faces... all in Spanish. I observed one of the classes yesterday before I was told they wanted me to take over Friday classes in Palo Alto. So I'm very excited to get the "official" offer letter and get started next week. And because it's only one day a week, I still have plenty of time to work out another part-time gig.

My next plan of attack is to apply for a volunteer position at Center for the Art of Translation. Eventually, I want to become certified to translate either legal, business, or medical documents (by joining and taking an exam with the American Translators Association), but I also want to learn more about the world of literary translation and publication of anthologies of translated poetry/short stories. The CAT has fall internships/volunteer positions, so I'm going to work on that.

So that's what's up right now. Next week I start training for my classes and I present a demo class next Friday. Eep! Guess I'd better start listening to all of those Spanish CDs. I'm sure that won't drive Chip crazy...

One Month of Marital Bliss?

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Today is our one-month anniversary. Don't worry, we're not going to celebrate EVERY month, but one month's exciting, no? What have I learned so far?
~ I am not the emotional wreck that several of my preparing-for-marriage books suggested.
~ Living with a guy is... well... interesting.
~ Living with basically your best friend is awesome.
~ Making Valerie-style menus to put on the refrigerator is fun! (How domestic am I?)
There's lots more, but these are the basics that I don't mind posting on the interweb.

I'm sitting in my apartment drinking Blue Bottle Coffee. (For those of you not living in San Francisco, Blue Bottle is pretty much the best coffee in town. At least, that's what the locals say.) Chip picked up some fresh-roasted beans yesterday and a coffee bean grinder, so I was pretty excited this morning to try it out. I just have to work on getting the amount of beans right.

A friend volunteered to give me some career advice. (She career counsels for a living.) She's given me some great ideas and I'm feeling a little better about the job search. She showed me some more things I can do to better market myself, so that's exciting.

Today I'm going to the Museum of Modern Art with a friend. Apparently admission is free today. Yay, culture!

In the city by the bay...

Friday, July 25, 2008

A good Syracuse pal was just here for a couple of days and aside from him getting a parking ticket and his car getting broken into, we had a great time! It certainly helps that he has a great attitude and is a very positive person... and that insurance covered the broken window completely.

So wednesday we walked down to the bay where we enjoyed some free chocolate and wine at Ghirardelli Square:

Then, we walked along the water where we watched the herd of sailboats drifting in the bay. There's a Festival of Sail this week so we enjoyed the lovely view along with the other tourists. Next we stopped at Hyde St. Pier and explored the old restored ships for free. (Yay for Jordan's National Parks pass!):

Jordan took many pictures with his fancy camera (which fortunately wasn't in the car when someone broke into it). This was the view from atop the ferry:

On the way to meet Chip to see "The Dark Knight" we hopped a cable car. Extra touristy? Yes. Extra fun? Absolutely!

table eatin's fer city folk.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

the exciting news at the hardeman household is that we ate at a table last night! no, san francisco doesn't have a shortage of table-chair combinations, just our apartment. however, because we shopped till we dropped at target, ikea, and world market last weekend, we now have two--count 'em, TWO--tables (with chairs) at which we can eat our dinners. this is exciting because we've had one of the tables for quite some time. it's a little blue--what i like to call "breakfast nook"--table in our bedroom. that's where we had dinner last night and it was glorious. the sweet tea i made earlier in the day topped off the excitement.



other excitement involes all of the kitchen, bath, and general living things that we got, putting our gift cards to good use (thanks, everybody!). oh, and i can make coffee this morning because chip's mom mailed us the french press that was given to us as a wedding gift. it just keeps getting better and better...



and the really awesome thing happening today? jordan (former neighbor of mine and the road trip king this summer) should be arriving this afternoon/evening! he'll be here all day tomorrow to check out the city, so i'll get to do some more exploring with him. yay!



it seems that my body knows when there is coffee to be made.

First Week

Friday, July 18, 2008

So my first week in the city has nearly come to an end. For those of you not in the loop,--I don't know why you'd be reading this if you're not in the loop...--I just got married and moved to the lovely city of San Francisco where Chip, my new husband, has been living since last October.

That's us at our wedding reception. Yay for kissing in front of outdoor water features!

Anyway, Chip's quite accustomed to the city, and I'm floundering around trying to figure things out (with his help, of course). I've explored a bit. Wednesday I walked all the way up Van Ness till I got to the water and then walked out onto Municipal Pier:

On this particular day, I got a ghostly view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Yesterday (Thursday) I decided to fill my time with some volunteering, so I helped unload and load donated books for the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library (shout out to Val). Apparently they have this huge used book sale in September in Fort Mason--the largest used book sale on the West Coast. They're also having a Latino Poetry Festival next week that I think I'll check out (and maybe volunteer for).

Today I have an interview, so we'll see how that goes. I'm really looking forward to it, even though it doesn't mean they're going to hand me a job. It'll just be great to see how another independent high school works in the city. It's also in a beautiful location with a great view of the Marina.

I went to my first Community Group last night. A Community Group is basically a small group Bible study (organized by our church, City Church) which is organized according to neighborhood. Chip leads the discussion and people take turns providing dinner. Chip volunteered us last night, so it was good practice for me (thankfully, I've had some experience cooking for groups with Friday night Bible study in Syracuse). I made a slow cooker lasagna that turned out really well, especially since I was gone most of the day with the library folks. For those of you who might be interested, here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipeID=39294&Source=SearchResultPage .