It’s very exciting to officially have my own desk. In an office, that’s not in my home. Granted, it’s a bullpen-style office, so I share it with 14 or 15 other people, but I like it a lot. I’m still slowly making the desk my own, as is obvious in that the only things that are mine there are my binder, sweater, coffee mug, and photos. Oh, and that tiny little bottle of green hand sanitizer. It’s fantastic, though, knowing that I don’t have to schlep everything I own to and from campus every day.
This is our costume shop! It’s a little messy right now, because we’re still getting prepped for the beginning of the semester next week. We’ll officially have undergrad lab students to supervise as of next Wednesday, so we’ve got a couple of days left to get it looking as neat and clean as it usually does. Kim, our shop supervisor, is so incredibly organized—it’s like a dream! I’m also learning to glean the best ideas from BG and from here, which gets me dreaming about the costume shop I’ll run one day. In this picture, you can sort of see the two other first-year grads working in the shop with me this year, Kitty and Randall. Kitty’s focus is lighting design, and Randall’s is directing, so they’ll likely not be in the shop after this year. Since costuming is my focus, though. I get a more “permanent” (3-year) residency in the shop, as well as a claim to my own cutting table.
It’s a little messy right now as well, since one end is covered with things from this summer that didn’t get finished, and because I’m working on assembling the undergrad training packets. Next week we’ll zip through the sewing training ourselves, then we’ll be off running, teaching the undergrads basic sewing stitches.
We’ve got a separate dye/laundry room, which is really fantastic because we don’t have to worry about accidentally getting dye on other garments. We also have this fantastically large dye bath that I’m really excited to use. The best part about this though, is that we’re totally allowed to use the laundry room for our own personal use, as long as we don’t use the shop’s detergent. Considering we were considering buying a used washer/dryer set for around $300, or eventually spending close to $1000 at a laundromat over three years, this is going to save us a ton of money, not to mention the water bills we won’t incur. Very, very excited.
Since we don’t have to buy a washer/dryer set, we have all this extra room in our kitchen. We’ve been looking around for something to create some more drawer space, because the drawers you see in the photo are only about four inches wide, which isn’t quite adequate for storing a silverware tray. So last night, after getting my financial aid refund, Jesse and I went to Target.
We came home, and I was totally intending to help build this thing. I sat down, slid on the box this thing came in, and whacked my head on the door. Jokingly, I suggested that I wanted to just go to sleep, and wake up with it put together. My wonderful husband told me to sit down and read my book, and he’d put it together.
I love my husband so much. I sat down to read A Storm of Swords, the 3rd book in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, and stopped to take a few photos along the way. A few minutes after I took this last one, I looked up and found this in my kitchen:
I love it, and it looks like it was meant to live there! I can store all my pots and pans inside, and keep the dust and such off of them. Hurray! The funny thing, though, is that our bamboo silverware tray, which I love, is exactly half an inch too long to fit in the drawer. Sigh.
At any rate, I’m very excited, and a new silverware tray won’t cost more than $5 or 6. I’m also very excited for classes to start on Monday. I’ve been purposely making way too much food all week so I have leftovers to take for lunch. I have a really neat lunch container that has a built-in cold pack, which will be great, and while we were at Target yesterday I bought a new lunchbox.
I think you can tell it’s meant for kids, because it’s super reflective in the flash. But I got in on clearance for $6, and it makes me feel happy to buy a new lunchbox for back-to-school.
Memphis is getting better and better, and I’m feeling more at home here. In meeting some of the other first-year grads, it’s great to hear that they all feel just as clueless as I do. It’s really nice to know that even though we’re all working on terminal degrees in our chosen fields, no one is stuck up about it. I’m glad that we can all be honest about just how little we know. There’s a welcome party at the head of the department’s house tomorrow, and I’m excited to get to know everyone a little better, as well as try one more version of Memphis BBQ!
I’ve got some sewing projects to tackle tomorrow—hopefully I’ll get them all done! I’ve got two one-seam dresses, which I know I’ll get finished, as well as the fantastic wrap-dress I need to finish for the first day of classes. So excited, but ready to relax and enjoy my night now.
Ciao, all!