cliff notes update

Well, clearly it's been a while since I've updated here.

I should write about 1) my job 2) my apartment 3) my birthday 4) the Boston lock-down.

So, cliff notes:
1) Work is fine; winter was miserable and very very busy. We finally mailed decision letters on March 28th and things have slowed down. Now I spend my time at work responding to applicant e-mails, organizing my desk, and making travel plans for the summer.

2) I live with two other girls from the ward. It's fine. My room is pretty big and upstairs by itself, which makes it nice and cozy. It's going to get hot in the summer, though! We live near a Catholic school, liquor store, pharmacy, dry cleaner, deli, pizza shop, and ice cream shop. So, all the essentials!

3) I am 25 now. It's weird. I really would have thought by 25 I would have a job I want and be living on my own. And maybe dating someone. Haha. But... nope.

4) Because this bombing suspect was on the loose, I had the day off on Friday and spent it glued to my TV along with everyone in the area. I made the apartment of men downstairs come up to keep me company since I was home alone. We spent the morning calling/texting our friends in the affected areas. "Where are you? Are you ok? Did you see/hear what happened? Have the police checked on you?"

We live on the edge of Arlington, Somerville, and Cambridge, so we weren't technically on lock-down, but still, the roads were empty and all the businesses were closed. Now that I think of it, I don't know anyone who went to work on Friday, regardless of whether or not their city was covered in the "real" lock-down. Part of that was residual, I'm sure, as many of the people who work here live in the affected areas, and vice versa. But part of it was that when you're only 5 miles away from a dangerous situation that has proven to travel and change very quickly, you're not too excited about being out on the roads. I mean, this suspect killed a guy, shot another guy, carjacked someone and got into two gunfire fights in the middle of the road in two different cities, over a span of 4.5 miles. No one wanted to go anywhere until it was over.

My old apartment is about 2.5 miles away from the action. Harvard (my office) is about 2 miles away. I know many people who live down by where the MIT firefight happened, and I know many people who live in Watertown, within the 12 block perimeter. It was exhausting to worry all day that the next news update would report that you or someone you knew was now in grave danger. It was exhausting to have nothing to do and nowhere to go besides your living room to watch the news for 16 hours straight. I'm so glad it's over.

In other news, my roommates were out of town this past week. The last time they were out of town, I was miserably ill and my parents had to come get me and drive me home while I laid in the backseat like an invalid. The time before that, I got in a fender-bender (that wasn't my fault), locked myself out of the house, and blew a fuse. This time, I was feeling pretty good about my success, until Thursday night when I tripped down the stairs carrying my laptop and laundry bag. And this was from the top of my staircase, so I had to tumble all the way down. It was not enjoyable.

There are times (ok, most of the time) when I wish I could afford to live on my own. I probably could, if I didn't live in Boston, which is obnoxiously expensive. But anyway; then I have experiences like this while I'm alone and I think, "Maybe I'm not ready to live on my own." Hah. Although, I suppose I could have just as easily fallen down the stairs when my roommates were home, but I just don't for some reason.

Speaking of my travel plans, I'm going to Philadelphia this summer to attend by professional conference and see Katie (from college). We haven't seen each other in FOUR YEARS because she graduated early, went on a mission, and I moved to Boston. So I think that will be fun. I've been trying to figure out how to get there and where to stay etc. while minimizing my cost. The conference hotel is offering a "discount" of $178/night. I Pricelined and Hotwired tonight and Hotwire brought up the conference hotel for $109/night. That seems like a good deal! But, being skeptical of everything, I am of course wary that I'm getting had somehow. So I didn't buy it. But... if it stays that low in the next couple of days, I think I will.

I just have to decide if the convenience of being at the conference location is worth an extra $25/night than another hotel further away in the city. And I suppose it is; since, if I don't like the event that's happening, I can always waltz up to my room and take a nap. That would be pretty great.

Katie's going to come stay with me and then we'll go back to her grandparents' house together when the conference is over.

We have the option of being in Philadelphia for July 4th; maybe that would be cool?

Anyway. Just a random update about what I'm doing. I'm done now.

My vacation to UT to see the new baby and my sisters and their children is in 3 weeks! I am beyond excited. I need to get out of this city! I was supposed to leave last October, and my trip got canceled because of Hurricane Sandy, and I've been stuck here ever since, except for the occasional trip home to CT.

Mollie