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Phew! I need to catch my breath.

That’s me and my first week on the job. My best friend back in San Diego wanted to see “Professional Office Jenn.” I sent her a picture every morning documenting my outfit choices. That’s just how we stay in touch.Two months ago life was a little hectic–graduation, applying for jobs, moving. This past week, I feel like the chaos is soon to be over. I’m getting settled into my new job and my new apartment, and Sassy will be home soon too!

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My apartment is superb. It’s in the Bucktown neighborhood, and I got my three wishes–hardwood floors, a yard, and laundry on the premises (right outside my door, actually!) I’m looking forward to unpacking, purchasing a couch and few other key pieces of furniture that I didn’t have in my last place because it was so small, and attacking the weeds in the yard. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a garden soon!

My job is superb too–it’s only about a 12-minute bus ride to the DePaul Lincoln Park Campus from my new apartment, and everyone has been so encouraging and helpful the past two weeks. I think I’m going to like it here.

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Next up, now that the dust has settled, I have got to get my butt into gear and start submitting again. I submitted to few a places in May, but June was a bit on the slow side. I’ve got a notebook with some jottings of lines, ideas for essays and an ever-growing list in my phone that I’ve been keeping track of. Examining all of my belongings, as I packed and unpacked certainly gave me some ideas for new essays to possibly expand my thesis, or go back into some essays that I’ve already written, though the thought of even touching my thesis, lately, seems overwhelming. I think, in keeping with the theme of new (new job, new degree, new apartment), the best idea is to just open up a blank word doc and start fresh. A new poem, a new essay, a new idea. I’m sure I will return to what’s at the bottom of the well, those central themes in my thesis, but I think that starting fresh, with a blank page, is really the best way to go about this. I’ll unpack my belongings onto the page; stack them onto freshly pressed pages.

Here, here to new writing, new ideas, and a yard to spend my summer in!