Busy Busy Busy!

My summer went okay. I didn't get to move out West, but I'm okay with that. The week of exams, my grandmother had gone back into the hospital. When she came home, and my exams were over, there was a daily onslaught of tornados through the middle of the country... where I needed to drive, no thank you. Then, as if that wasn't enough to discourage me, Phoenix, Arizona was blanketed by a severe duststorm!! Okay, truth: duststorm was not enough to dissuade me without the terrifying weeklong drive through tornado alley at peak season! So, I settled in with my folks for a long summer.... and enrolled for fall classes here.

School started for me on a Wednesday. Two days later, my grandmother passed. I had been expecting her departure for a long time. Watching her ability to take care of herself steadily decline was hard. She is missed, but I have peace in my heart. Just hours after her graveside service, there was a great earthquake! ('Great' for this area is anything that people can actually detect!) I laughed, because I was musing that if that EQ had hit during the service, we might have been digging some more holes!! LOL (okay, sorry, that isn't funny to everybody... but I still crack myself up!) I happened to be in structural geology lab at the time of the event, and we momentarily got off topic, but that's another story!

Family, school starting back, Fall Break planning, deciding on graduate programs, whether to file for a second Bachelors (not a bad idea, as it solidifies concepts by having to complete more classes, but   it would add more than 2 semesters to plan), moving... stay with folks or move closer to school.... need a job... want relevant work experience (in geology), not cashier at grocery/retailer (not that there's anything wrong with those jobs, but I need experience on my resume!) OH! AND.... I've been adding to my etsy.com listings (www.etsy.com/people/andiroth) ... and eBay (and_ankhira)... so I am feeling very busy busy!

I need a cross-country itinerary to Arizona

I want to move out west. I have been planning this for a year already. I know I definitely want to study geology among those gorgeous outcrops in Arizona! If I knew anything about networking, I would know a few key persons out there and maybe even some intern prospects. However, I am plodding through the hard way. I know I need to complete some remedial courses in Geology to make up the difference between my undergraduate degree and the pre-reqs for graduate school. I have started taking those here, but have a few still to go... I also need to take the GRE and actually APPLY to grad schools!

On the practical side, I have decided that driving to Arizona is my best travel plan, since I have a car, and I will need one once I get there. How to navigate that distance is my issue. Okay, Interstate 40 goes directly from my house to Flagstaff, Arizona.... a whopping 2,025 miles away! I've read that a solo driver should not aim for more than 500 miles per day... so, there's a minimum 4 days on the road. I have been searching online all morning for websites that would help me plan the trip and all the details like 200 mile breaks, 500-600 mile stopovers, where to eat, etc. I need to stay on a shoestring budget, and still be safe. Plus, I until I can get a GPS unit, I don't want to stray too far off the interstate... I am easily lost trying to find my way out of a paper bag! LOL... also, I am concerned about current flooding in the Mississippi Valley because I will have to cross the Ol' Mississip at Memphis.

I am interested in finding a surrogate church family. I love my church here in NC, and I expect to find a "home away from home" out there...Next order of business is a JOB!!  I will need a place to stay and a way to pay for it, and plus, I want to take advantage of IN-STATE tuition at Arizona universities... I have a couple in mind, but I was first attracted to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff because of their relationship with the USGS Astrogeology Science Center (also in Flagstaff). I hear that Flagstaff gets cold and snowy in the winter.... not my favorite season... and a desert cat like myself might enjoy the more temperate Phoenix area. I was impressed with the Mesa, AZ, area when I took a class trip out to Usery Mountain Regional Park last fall. Four days was NOT enough! I wish we could've stayed a whole semester (or longer!)... coyotes, tarantulas, Bagdad Copper Mine, Superstition Mountains, ... awesome, awesome time!

Okay, that is a full enough post for today. On to other things... thanks for letting me vent! :)