Chicas y Maletas

It is scholarship application day for me. "Please oh please, won't you give me some money?" No, I beg my future school in slightly more verbose, slightly less lyrical language.

"As an incoming non-resident student to the cohort, I am facing an extraordinarily large tuition bill for a relatively short program of study. Additionally, I will be relocating from Chicago, Illinois in order to take part in this program. I am excited about the fact that this accelerated program will allow me to be observing and working in the classroom almost immediately, but I am in need of some some significant financial assistance in order to make this dream a reality. I am pursuing any and all funding opportunities available. My sincerest gratitude to you for your consideration."

I'm also applying for a scholarship that is given exclusively to gay men. The age cutoff for award consideration is 35 years old. I find this to be a close call, which I then find to be incredibly disturbing. Like finding a rat in my refrigerator, it turns my stomach a bit.

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Work is going well. I feel like I've got most of the transition behind me now. I'm working out of the main office about half of the time, working at other branches the other days. After two years at the same desk at the same location with the same people every day, this obliteration of my safe, comfortable routines was just what I needed at just the right time. A swift kick in the ass; no more coasting, no more inertia.

And the time is passing so quickly! Just a couple more days until April. And then May, the month when everything changes.

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My parents are coming to visit for a few days next week. I'm excited about this. The last time they were in Chicago was back in the summer of 2006, a few weeks before I left for Taiwan. I've got a few things planned for us. Hopefully the weather will be nice and spring-like. It has been drippy nose temperatures the last few days.

The week after that I am expecting quality time with my dear friend Sarah as she visits Chicago for a medical conference. She is an extremely important medical professional - Dr. Sarah, in fact. We missed our yearly catch-up Christmas date this past holiday season, so it will be great, great, great to see her. Is her sister Kati Jo coming to town too, perhaps? I haven't heard, though I know that this was under discussion.

Spring! What an exciting time.

Last night I watched a wonderful film:

Broken Embraces, a film by Pedro Almodovar