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Me and the fam have settled into Wicker Park. We love the new neighborhood and feel at home. The job is moving along and I’ve got the hang of it. It has been a good start to the summer and I’m really looking forward to the rest of it.

At home, after some more Ikea-ing, thrifting, painting, getting-stuff-from-friends-ing, we’re feeling settled. When Em first arrived to the apartment she had never seen, she was appalled by the walls. They were these loud colors–each wall a different color–and she said, “Yeah, we’re painting these.” Now that we have furniture and a new paint job and all of our things unpacked and put where they belong, it feels like home.

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We’ve been exploring our neighborhood finding our favorite places to eat, our favorite routes to walk or run, the fastest way to get to Native Foods, the best place for groceries. There’s a small little place a few blocks away that we can go when we need something quick, but Whole Foods is about a two mile walk there and two mile walk back. Usually I just Zipcar it and roll on over, or I catch a bus if it is a small load. But, on Saturday, we walked it. It was hot and humid but the shade was on our side and the stroller had its tires recently filled, so we were good to go.

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At work I’m wrapping up things from this academic year and prepping the programs for the new DEPARTMENT OF CREATIVE WRITING. If you haven’t heard this is official. Poetry, Nonfiction, and Fiction will all be housed in one department. Finally, we will all be together as creative writing programs should be. There will most likely be some kinks to work out, but the buzz around here is excitement. You should be excited too. This is a good thing!

I’m looking forward to introducing the incoming MFAs to the new program and looking forward to the changes and advantages that the students will see. This is me excited. Can’t you tell?

Till next time.

J