Sliver of the awesomeness of the past month

42. Lead a swingout.

I need to practice a whole lot more before I can lead a swingout on the social floor without, as the friend I tried it on phrased it, "concentrating so hard." But, I can do it!

44. Go to the opera (and stay for the entire show)

Made it through the whole show without a single cough!

Five Weeks

Five weeks ago I added this to the list:

30. Skating around a city ice rink holding hands with a boy

Maybe not “my boy” but it felt adorable just the same. The night before I left the county, I took some friends up on their ice skating invite. It's one of the parts of living in a Northern city that I feel like people talk about wanting to do, more than actually doing. I'm glad I did it.

Three weeks and a couple of days ago I bought a pair of ice skates. Renting them costs $6-$10 dollars a time. Good skates from a good store cost about $80. I have at least three winters left in a city with free rinks. The math seemed favorable.

The next day I went on a first date. We went ice skating.

We have been ice skating every weekend since. Yesterday was our first time at my city's most visible rink. Skating around a city ice rink holding hands with the guy I'm dating and feeling pretty adorable. Check!

Young'un

Finding of the day: I am 8 days older than one of the youngest students in the first year cohort.

She got very puzzled trying to do the math of how I ended up two years ahead of her in the program.

Also, almost everyone I'm TAing is older than me.

Sometimes I forget how much earlier I came to this program than most people do.