As a house, Barton Cottage, though small, was comfortable and compact; but as a cottage it was defective...

Well, here I am, all but situated in Illinois. The first day here, Dad, Adam, and Mom helped me unpack, and Mom stayed longer to help clean, because the apartment was dreadfully dirty when we first arrived. It's a little better now, or at least habitable, though it will be quite a while probably before it's really clean. Also, the living room ceiling needs to be repaired. We're supposedly getting internet soon, but for now I'm contenting myself with the local mall, which is about three blocks away and has wireless.

The first couple of days here, my roommate was gone to a wedding, so I was alone with my unpacking. It was really, strangely isolated and lonely, being without internet in a strange new place where I didn't know anybody. I unpacked during those days, mostly. Since then I've been dividing my time between unpacking and organizing and reading up on the class I'm going to teach and how to teach it. I feel a lot better about it now than I did. At least it seems like something I can probably manage now. My first day of orientation is tomorrow. Though I walked to the English building yesterday, it was kind of arduous, so I'm probably going to rely on the bus most of the time in the future. Of course, I'm a little nervous about testing the bus system the first day I have to actually be somewhere. Maybe my roommate will give me a ride.

The day before yesterday I got my keys to the English building and to the floor where my office will be. And I picked a desk. It's sort of like a cubicle. I'm on the same floor as a lot of people I know and like, which makes me pretty happy. Today I set up my school email account.

For most of the day, my roommate tends to be gone on various errands, so I largely have the place to myself. That's pretty nice. Right now I'm listening to songs from "Spring Awakening" in the mall, and since I forgot my headphones, that's probably pretty inappropriate, but I don't care at this point.

Either the day I moved or the day after my granddad fell and broke his hip, so he's been in the hospital having surgeries. I'm worried about him-- he'll be ninety in October-- and it sucks that I can't even visit him right now.

Well, anyway, I hope you guys can come and visit me at some point. Any point, really. In the meantime, enjoy your time with your families and starting school again.

Jellybeans are just little nuggets of cynicism.