Intro to bloglife (aka packing procrastination)

NOTE: spell checking thingy does not seem to be working so I do apologize in advance for what I trust are errors glaringly obvious to everyone else! [but like I always say with arithmetic and handwriting - two other things I am not that great at - I don't have a PhD in spelling! :-) ]

OK, so I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while, especially after I had so much enjoyed reading my cousin's blog, but it always seemed that if I had that much time to write I should be working. Besides, I thought, who wants to read the mindless ramblings of a mid-30s crazy cat lady?

Well...what I have recently realized is that when I feel like writing but am procrastinating the actual scholarly writing I have to get done, I instead seem to write grossly long emails to people (many of who may not even read them...I mean who wants a novella in an email). So...at my cousin's urging and following her lead, I am making my grand entrance - my red carpet into the Blogosphere.

So...where am I at today...well...my mind feels like the Peanuts character Pig Pen, and my house looks similar as every room has become some sort of staging area in preparation for my trip. In 10 days I am leaving to go live and work in Belgrade, Serbia [NOTE: NOT Siberia, NOT Syria] for 6 months. I was nervous for a long time, then filled with dread of the unknown, and now I am just excited to get on with it. I feel like I have been worrying about it and obsessing over it far longer than I will actually be there. I mean remember what you did in July? That was already 6 months ago!!! Besides, I know the local language (somewhat) and could really use a sort of sabbatical from my life here on the edge of the AC. [NOTE: Beach not nearly as fun in the winter!]

So not only is it going to be a super cultural and professional experience, but it is also going to be like a sort of mental and physical space to recharge. For 6 months I can be whomever I want. I can be a person who gets up early! A person who works out daily [yes I do miss those days!]! A person who says no to a second glass of wine! A reserved person! [NOTE: it helps this cause that my language skills are not advanced enough to have a personality in Serbian language. Imagine a cross between Yoda and the Jim Leher news hour...unintelligable and as interesting as watching paint dry].

So so so...my goals then for this year...1) Learn to live on a budget!!! ; 2) Remember that I actually do love to exercise (I really do!! I don't know why I developed a sudden and year long allergy to it...I was so dilligent for 10 years!) ; 3) send out 3 articles (by August) and a book manuscript (by December); 4) keep up with this blog as a sort of travel journal to remind myself and share with any interested on-lookers the ups and downs and general growth of my life abroad as well as to document all the new places I will see...

[you see, b/c of the terrible state of the US dollar, my year in Europe this time will necessarily have to be almost exclusively southeastern Europe...no Holland...no Spain...no Greece even...and definately no London...but no worries! Still so many things I have not seen! Plan to see Skopje, Macedonia; Podgrica, Montenegro; Sofia, Bulgaria; and Istanbul, Turkey! Am also planning a few trips back to Budapest...which seems positively western to me now both in expense and western capitalist influence...Ahhh for the days of bottles of champagne and all night parties! Now Americans are the new unfortunate poor friend amoung expats - the one who cannot go out to dinner everynight. The one who eats sandwiches at home and who drinks well liquor (well we will see about that one...I'd rather not drink than to drink Jim Beam!)]

There are probably tons of other things I need to work on aside from those 4 mentioned, but while I am somewhat of an over-achiever, the secret to over-acheiving success is to not take on too much at once so you can actually acheive! (Oh and relish life like a silly party girl so that people are both suprised and impressed when you turn out to actually be pretty well together...call me Seabiscuit...)

OK...well I think that is it for my very first entry. I hope they will get more focused, but we will see. Enjoy the Friday and thanks for reading :-)