Let's start with the neutral:
--Our schedule over the last week was like this: Pack. Moving Truck. Train back to Seattle. Fly to Philly. Wedding. Fly back from Philly. Move the rest of the stuff to Portland. This all took place over seven days.
The negatives (or: Why I Bave Been So Angry/Tired for Weeks--the short version):
--Visa trouble.
--Tons of tiny little hang-ups that have added up to Energy-Draining Pains in my Butt (ex: thinking our cat ran away the day we had to drive down to Portland with a moving van*, having important documents arrive at our old address the day after we didn't live there anymore, Comcast being butts, UPS being butts, the British Consolate being butts, butts just everywhere, SHALL I CONTINUE?)
--I have another grad school deadline in 6 days. I'm not as behind as I was last time, but I'm not as ahead as I'd like to be, either. And the stress of a deadline is nice for productivity, but the stress of Real Life on top of a deadline is, frankly, not.
--Because of all the crap going on, I had to ask work for a project deadline extension. I hate being the person who can't get things done on time.
There have been other little things that would, in my normal mood, have been blissfully forgotten a day later but have, in this case, added to my frustration tumor (ex: woman on airplane dumps water all over me/my computer, does not apologize).
Now, the positives:
--My parents are awesome. If it weren't for them, their generosity (letting Daniel and I store all of the stuff we can't bring overseas with us for 3 years, and letting us live with them for a month), and their happiness at having us here, we would be sunk. We would be homeless. Or possibly living in a storage unit with all of our crap.
--My brothers are funny. I enjoy being around funny people.
--Daniel has not left me, despite my crankiness. In fact, he's been downright understanding. This is helpful, because it makes me less grumpy when the people around me are nice.
So, yes. This is what has been going on. I haven't had any time to draw, I've barely had time to read and write. Why am I doing this? Partially to vent (sometimes you just need to air out the feelings), and partially because I know my bros who read this are curious about all of the moving stuff, how we're doing, etc, and I don't want to (a) lie or (b) talk about all of this negative stuff to a bunch of people individually. I'd rather puke it all up at once, and then move on to positive things--like bike rides, and berry picking, and fantasizing about the wallpaper I'd like to get for our apartment**.
I promise, I have been thinking about intellectual things, but either I lack the energy to post about them, or they're secrets. I like having intellectual secrets. They make me more valuable. I plan on sharing them all, but only in my work. You have to read my futurebooks to learn all the secrets.
*she had, in fact, locked herself in a closet. But the front door AND door outside were both propped open, and we had checked this closet once already, so I was not saved the trauma of thinking my derpy little indoor baby had gotten lost on Capitol Hill and I would never see her little fuzzy face again. Since this incident, I have adopted some strange, overprotective-parent tendencies, as well as developing a whole new guilt complex that makes me feel bad when she's alone for more than five minutes. Totally healthy.
**Speaking of our apartment: our plans have changed since we've talked to some of you. We're now moving at the end of August/beginning of September, so we'll be in PDX for a while. :)