A Scheduled Life
Wow, so it has been a while since my last post. Well, a lot has changed – but when hasn’t it lately. After returning from my amazing backpacking trip and my stopover in Korea for a last hurrah, I was ready for a bit of a slow down. Whoops. Maybe I should have thought about that before I tried to cram at least a months worth of activities into two short weeks. Typical.
When I returned home, I had to hit the ground running – literally. I moved up to Columbus a little over 2 weeks after returning to the states, but in between the two moves, I needed to get furniture, pack/unpack, and fit in TWO trips within the continental US. Thankfully I learned (yeah, right) how to say “no” and had to postpone a few other trips that I wanted to take.
Working off my little sleep due to the 14 hr time adjustment I was getting used to, I catnapped and unpacked all day and night for the first weekend. Since my WHOLE family was out of the house, meatball came over to keep me company. Not wanting to be one to bore with unpacking and cleaning, I furiously worked in the wee hours when the time change prevented me from getting sleep. Side note, as someone who hates lack organization – well, I live by the policy of managed clutter – staying in my room with my SIX suitcases worth of “crap” – as my family calls it – was probably another factor in my restless sleeping. Needless to say, my room was in top shape within a few days. I WISH I had before and after pictures. I mean it was insane!
Furniture, well thankfully my mom found most of the big items while I was in Korea, but I was on the hunt for CHEAP used items, so Meatball, my dad and I went to Goodwill to find some gems that I could fix up. Success! What I didn’t find there, I found in Meaty’s basement and our spare guest bedroom – thanks!
At this point, I was stressing and not sleeping because of that and the time change, so I was a hot mess. Good time to jet off to NYC, right? Well, I planned this trip whilst in Korea – before backpacking, for a friend’s Bachelorette Weekend, another friend’s wedding, and to see additional friends in the city. I relished this break – even though I was stressing about getting things finished back home – from the heat. Painting furniture (cleaning/sanding/priming too) in 100+ humidity in the Atlanta August heat is not my idea of fun. While the trip to NYC was fun and shenanigans were had, getting back to Atlanta was a much needed wake-up call. Back to my schedule of 12 hr painting and packing, while trying to fit in seeing friends I hadn’t seen in a year or so. Thankfully everyone was patient with my during my little “stress outs” – and by little I mean BIG.
After a few days of the painting and packing it was time for another trip – I know, seriously, who did I think I was? This time I went to Chicago to visit with my Korean friends- friends from working in Korea that is. What a fun reunion! How I love that city in the summer. But with NYC, all good things must come to an end, and I was back in Atlanta – after a LONG delay at the airport – to more packing, purchasing, and painting. My neighbors – parents’ neighbors – at this point were laughing at my schedule. Finally, though I finished my painting. I know everyone was happy to get the garage partly back… well for a day.
Not one to rest on my laurels, I prepared for school in my LAST day living in Atlanta – this time – and packed up the TWO cars and U-Haul. Did I mention that my dad went to business school in his VW bug? I guess I over packed a little.
On the road again- well, on the road – then detour to switch the weight around in the U-Haul to prevent the car from tipping, then on the road again, again! We made good time going through the heart of America, but I can tell you, I was a little apprehensive about moving here. Not having been to Columbus ever, I was nervous about so many things: school, the city, my apartment, etc… I wish I could say that I was super excited when I first pulled into Columbus, but I wasn’t. However, after seeing my apartment – massive – and the cornfield next to it… I know, I was getting a little more comfortable with living here.
We unpacked the cars and U-Haul, and my parents and brother started to set me up. They finally left, exhausted, for their hotel around midnight, while I was still unpacking box after box – you know, since I cannot sleep with the mess. However, exhaustion set in, and I collapsed into bed around 4 am. Up early to continue to conquer and prevail, I finished what I could, and we went shopping at Kroger and Target – as if I did not have enough stuff. (I don’t think my fridge will ever be as full as it was that first day.)
My place was finally coming together, so we headed out to a restaurant in the Short-North, a really cute area of town. Honestly, I am so happy we explored that first weekend because I felt more excited about the town after seeing all of the different little shops and restaurants in each part of town. I honestly thought Columbus would be all strip malls and suburbs. Thankfully, it isn’t. Saying goodbye to the family was a lot easier than when I moved to Korea - maybe it is the whole 1 hr flight instead of a 14 hr flight difference.
Slowly but surely, I explored more and more of Columbus that first week, while balancing orientation homework – honestly, it was more of an “ahh what IS this?” than doing the work. We had our first tailgate that week as well. Since I live right above where these tailgates happen, I went and met some new friends. Pfewf. My anxieties were getting lower, slightly, every day.
Then of course the first day of orientation hit. Schedules, schedules, networking, schedules. Seriously, I am one who kind of likes to live by the fly, but I am thinking that b-school is going to change that. I have never lived such a scheduled life. Orientation was great because it really gave us an overview of what to expect, and it got us off on the right foot, but for me, this is going to be a challenge. I have already tried to pre-plan my scheduling, which never works out like I want it to. I’m trying to stay on the ball and not let the procrastination build, but I can foresee that as a challenge. I mean these people are on their games. Goodbye “COLLEGE!” and hello Grad School.
Now that classes have begun, the first one today, I am realizing just what they were talking about when they said “you will have more than you can handle, so you have to prioritize.” Oh boy, I am really excited for these next two years and a little nervous all at the same time. I guess it really is about getting the schedule organized.
1 year ago