feeling like an irresponsible grown-up

After all the hooplah over the past year, this is what I feel like doing while at work these days:

• Playing Scrabulous! on Facebook
• Shopping for carpet, area rugs, washer, dryer, fridge, stove, and microwave/fan for the new house
• Making appointments for everything that needs to get done that is not related to work (e.g., car repairs, haircut, massage, annual eye exam, etc.)
• Shopping for a new dress for an upcoming summer wedding
• Booking the rental car for the upcoming out-of-state summer wedding
• Booking the moving truck for our move 9 days after the summer wedding
• Catching up on my subscribed blogs (of course!)

Note that these items do not appear on this list:

• Reviewing a manuscript for the third time (why, oh why, does the editor keep avoiding rejecting it? I think it sucks and am so sick of looking at it….)
• Starting one of my three new papers that I’ll work on for the next year
• Reading about stats I really need to learn for one of these new papers
• Finishing revisions to a paper I’ve been working on for several years
• Starting to draft syllabi for my fall classes
• Starting IRB application materials for my fall and spring pilot studies
• Finishing my postdoc work-related responsibilities
• Eating lunch (bad, bad Dr. Addled!)

Even taking my medication, I can’t focus worth beans or make myself do anything productive at work. All the  while I feel really, really super-stressed about it. I’ve taken three days off in the last three weeks but each of these days was spent in New City (e.g., house-hunting, faculty & student meetings, etc.). What weekend time I’ve had has been dedicated to early packing (!) and mortgage applications.

I think I just really need a day off that’s truly a day off…  I think I’m going to pick the day with the best weather forecast, stay home, turn off the phone and the computer, and take the time to read and relax, all in the name of better productivity at the office.

I feel like a grown-up!

It’s now official… I definitely feel like an adult. We put in an offer on a house last weekend, and I’ve spent the entire week trying to figure out which mortgage is the best for us, scheduling inspections, gathering paperwork for the aforementioned mortgage, filling out the application, harassing hubby for being so uninvolved in the decision*, and soon I will also call the moving company to schedule our move!

*Hubby is excited to pick out appliances and such (i.e., the small purchases), but not particularly interested in the largest part of the purchase itself (i.e., the mortgage). This is a bit ironic, considering that he was a business major in college…

Needless to say, I’m not exactly getting a great deal of work done these days. I will go to New City tomorrow for a faculty meeting and to meet students. I spent some time during the past week getting ready to have some discussions about my future research plans. Tomorrow is also the deadline for our mortgage application. If hubby needs to sign it, the only time he’ll have to sign it is Friday. If we both have to sign in person, he’ll have to come to New City with me tomorrow even though he’d rather stay at home and get a haircut.

I love our house, but it’s harder than I’d anticipated to make all these decisions. It’s going to be a long 6 weeks until we close and pack the moving truck.