okay, okay

Okay, here’s an update.

I graduated on the 19th. It was kind of like turning 18 — a lifetime of anticipation, but when you wake up, well, it doesn’t really feel all that different. I have moments when I feel proud to be done, moments when I wonder what the hell took me so long, and — the majority — moments when I wonder just what the hell that piece of paper sitting in a tube in a box in a cluttered room of boxes is really going to do for me.

The cluttered room is full of boxes — instead of just unboxed clutter — because we’re getting ready to move in June. Now that I no longer have to drive to Westminster every day, there’s no reason for us to be in southern York County where our social life consists of talking to the Starbucks girls. My favorite days are those when it’s the cute Starbucks guy at the counter, but they are few and far between, and I’m ready for something a little more diverse.

So Mechanicsburg it is.

I had dreamt of living in Harrisburg proper, of going to city council meetings and walking along the river, but when I think of what life is likely to actually hold, it doesn’t include the time or energy for deep involvement in city politics, nor the willingness to deal with on-street parking, flooding, or a lack of grocery stores.

We’ll be moving just a mile or so from the new Wegmans, and while we won’t be within walking distance of the Susquehanna, our deck (and our bedroom!) will overlook the Conodoguinet, but from a great enough height to make it safe from floods. It’s enough to make me forget any philosophical issues I have with living in the ‘burbs.

And what will I be doing with my days? I’ll be working. And working on applying to grad schools. The latter part of that is important, because Harrisburg offers very few opportunities for a recent graduate to put her English degree to work, and the more I think about the more sure I am that I need to do something I couldn’t have done sans degree, if only to preserve my sanity. College was fun and rewarding and it got me out of working a real job for a couple of years and blah blah blah, but in this postmodern age we all want direct and immediate results, and I’m still looking for those. I mean beyond the enormous additions to my library.

When it comes time to move, it turns out hoarding books doesn’t seem like such a great idea after all.