In Outline Form

Hey, it's been ten days since I last wrote here. This is due to a combination of
-schoolwork (which isn't currently any more of an insane amount of work than it usually is, it's just that, well, it's still the insane amount of work it usually is)
-my grandparents coming to visit and needing to be entertained for two days
-the fact that I have to go to two conferences in the next three weeks and I am currently trying to polish both papers I'm presenting (and "polish" in one case actually means "write the entire thing")
-the stupid stupid cold I've had for over a week now, and
-Penn's move over the weekend (the majority of which took place in nonstop pouring rain on the same weekend that some sort of bank robbery/shooting fiasco closed down every major highway into his hometown, leading to a really fun back country road adventure for me and apparently 10,000 other drivers.)

The good news is
-I had fun with my grandparents (when I wasn't being lectured about Barack Obama's evil socialist plans and the utter correctness of Fox News)
-My cold is slowly but surely going away
-The discussion group for one of the conferences has given me positive feedback on my paper so far, thank god, and
-My boyfriend actually lives in the same city that I do! I can get out of class and go to our apartment! We can see each other every day now! I've spent two nights in the condo and so far it's proving to be as nice as I hoped it would be (the kitchen storage space, oh my god, unbelievable), and it's going to be even nicer when there is internet there and an actual bed because we haven't moved any of my furniture over there yet and Penn's mattress was a casualty of the move so we're sleeping in a nest of pillow and blankets on the floor. What, you think I'd actually sleep at my own furnished apartment? No. Beds and couches are for sissies.

I'll try to post more regularly sometime in the future, but it definitely won't be happening until after the weekend because I have my (early) birthday/Halloween party on Thursday night and then I'm going to "Punkin Chunkin" and watching a bunch of redneck guys slingshot pumpkins around all weekend, so in other words, I'm busy. With important stuff.