The Vow

The past week or so has been hell on me. Ramadan is almost over (which means Mike is still working three nights a week). The end of Ramadan will not only bring to a close Mike's nights of working until 11pm, but also the official end of the lease on our cramped old apartment. So, the past few weeks have been hell on the two of us. We officially started moving last week. I hate it.

You have to understand that when we moved to Texas we brought most of the furniture from our spacious 1200 square foot apartment with us. Then, we added more furniture to that--a new treadmill, a new desk, etc. We've been cramming all of this furniture into a tiny 650 square foot apartment. So this time we upgraded. Our new apartment is a 1000 square foot garden style apartment. This means we have room again.

Of course it also means that we have to move everything again. I'm hating that part. Not only do we have a solid oak bedroom suit and a monster television, we have collections. There are the small collections (Mike's rocks, his records, my ceramic dolls and the hot sauce collection). The small collections were really not that difficult to move. However, moving the biggest collection of all has made me rethink a few things. You see, we collect books. I've got 99 comps books hanging around my office plus all the course books for my B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. coursework. Then, there are the free desk copies of textbooks that I get just being an instructor. Add to that the collection of writing books, Writer's Market books, vampire books (Mike's), cheesy romances given to me by my mother, the largest Terry Pratchett collection in the world, and at least seven other series that I can't name off the top of my head.

So, as we were heaving heavy boxes up the stairs last week, I looked at Mike and said

I'm taking a vow of illiteracy before our next move.

Don't get me wrong; I love reading. I devour books on a regular basis. In fact, I'm currently reading at least six books (okay, two for comps and two for class may not count, but I'm reading them). Unfortunately, I just want a chance to move without throwing out my lower back. I'm too tired at this point to say anything witty about the idea, but I do believe that having the chance to get rid of all the books in the house and start from scratch seems like a good idea. I can think of no other way to do that than by taking a vow of illiteracy. We'll see how well this goes over the next time I move

Will I ever be ready?

I chatted with Emily yesterday. I felt amazingly confident about my progress towards comps (I've read all of the Historical Greeks that I need).

Then it happened. I got up this morning and decided to do an inventory survey. I don't seem to remember crap about what I've read. Well, I remember the basic crap that I've known since I started the program, but nothing more. I had a bit of a panic attack since it seems that the method I'm using (though I like it) is all wrong for me. I guess I'm off to find another way to study for these.

Comps are in April. I wanted to be farther along than this by now.