the blog is back in town.

April is finally starting to come to a close, and with it, the majority of our largest events on campus are finishing up.  I have to say, while April is always stressful here, having two energized, motivated and team-oriented staff members made it feel like a breeze in comparison to years past.

Just as we descend the peak at work, the summer social scene starts to heat up for me and J.  Here's what we've got to look forward to in the next two months, so far:

• May 1: Sunday BBQ with friends
• May 7: Jeremy's Godson's First Communion
• May 8: Baseball game @ US Cellular Field
• May 12-16: Erin home to Virginia, Jeremy to Reno for USBC
• May 19: White Sox game (staff outing with our beaus!)
• May 20: J gets his wisdom teeth removed
• May 24: Cubs game
• June 18: Wedding
• June 19: Cubs game (vs Yankees!)
  

I think that leaves us 2 or 3 weekends unscheduled right now, but I also know there will be a birthday party thrown in there somewhere, as well as some family time with J's dad.  I also can't forget to mention that J's football season starts up at the end of June, thereby sucking away every Saturday from our time together.  Practice is already going on every Tuesday and Thursday, as well as bowling on Fridays.  That means we see each other twice a week and on weekends.  If we didn't live together, I'm not really sure when we'd get together anymore!

Any tips for balancing busy couples schedules?  I try not to get upset over our reduced time together, but the truth is that it's hard to go from seeing each other all the time to 4 times a week.  Add into that the fact that we are both often stressed out, cranky or just plain tired when we are home together, and it can seem like forever some months before we have a really good day together.  How do you squeeze the most out of your time together to make it more meaningful?

true to title.

In my line of work, August-September and March-April are my busiest times of the year.  This year has been no exception-- I've been out of my mind busy for the last few weeks.  Last week alone, there were three after-work banquets and a major weekend event.  I'm grateful to have such a supportive and competent staff-- everything went off without a hitch!

Things really start to slow down around here in another week or so.  I can't promise I'll be updating again regularly until we hit our downturn, but in the meantime, here's a picture of my staff and our significant others from this weekend's formal event!

agony of defeat.

VCU's run in the NCAA tournament came to an abrupt ending on Saturday night.  After playing some extremely impressive basketball over the last few weeks, the Butler game was a complete meltdown.  Whether due to fatigue, biased refs or simple bad luck, the road ended.

The Final Four party was a success-- about 20 Chicagoland VCU alumni showed up, and about 8 of my friends.  Everyone enjoyed snacks, pizza and the drink special.  I even got to see one of my favorite people from my time working in the Student Commons at VCU, what a treat!

Opening Day at Wrigley Field was also Friday.  This marks my third year of attending the home opener (obviously, a Jeremy-driven activity!), and the weather was typical-- cold and rainy!  Temperatures in the 40s all day with a steady drizzle.  Adding to the dreary mood was the fact that Jeremy wasn't feeling well and the Cubs lost.  Booooo!

The rest of our weekend was consumed with sleeping and laundry.  We slept for 11 hours on Saturday night-- which felt amazing!  I wish I had that chance more often, especially in preparation for the next few weeks at work.

Speaking of, I'm completely overwhelmed right now.  April is always our busiest time, and this year seems even more stressful than ever.  I'm trying to take it one day at a time, but that's hard when every day is jam-packed, including the weekends!  After the end of April, though, things significantly calm down.  I'm soooo looking forward to that day.

Jeremy has football practice tonight, so I will be home alone.  I really struggle to be alone sometimes-- not that it isn't relaxing, but I'm just so bored by myself!  I'm also an extremely light sleeper, so I tend to stay up until J gets home, which is sometimes almost midnight.  It's a vicious cycle-- I look forward to him coming home, and then I get mad that I'm up late and am subsequently tired and cranky the next day.  It is a good exercise for me, though, because I do need to understand everything doesn't work around my schedule all the time.  I also am admittedly jealous that J has hobbies and friends here in Chicago, something I lack.  It's hard to have a partner who lives in their hometown-- all his close friends and family are always nearby, but mine are 1000 miles away.  I look forward to the day when we are on more even territory!