Well, so I think I've found housing, and the situation should be pretty good. Nicer neighborhood (which makes Rob unbelievably happier) and actually a cheaper price, and just as nice of a house and room - perhaps even slightly better. And I'll be living with 4 other people that I don't work with.

When I left college I thought it would be nice to live with at most just one other person; I thought it would be good to have a place of my own and so on. I've changed my mind. I'm looking forward to 4 new people that I can talk with and get to know; chances are there's got to be at least one of them that I can hold a conversation with. Living with just 1 other person that you don't really know is a particularly bad gamble - if you don't hit it off, then there's nobody else to buffer you guys, and nobody else to distract you, etc. And just fyi, living with somebody you work with is a particularly bad idea. If anything goes wrong, there's no escaping it . . . and if both people aren't professional enough to leave personal difficulties out of work, well, then you're really in for it.

But that's my spiel. Almost graduation time for those lovely folks still at Cornell; hmm that means I've been out in the real world for about a year. I'd like to say it wasn't so bad, but I'd be lying. It's been rough. Still I think that it's a different experience for everyone, and I can see choices that I could have made differently that would have made it easier.

In any case, I'm very much looking forward to being in NYC next year. I'll be close to several people who are already living in the greater NYC area, and a shorter traveling distance to Philly, and Baltimore, and wherever else people are. And more money - I just have to keep remembering that.

I've also learned my lesson on housing . . . if there's one budgeting tip that I picked up this year, it's that housing should never be greater than 1/3 of your income. Man did I ever learn the value of that bit of wisdom!!

Just get through the summer . . .I just have to get through the summer. And really once May is over, the worst will be passed by. By the end of the first week of June I'll be done with the independent project that's making me work extra hours, I'll be in my new apartment. So I can then turn my attention to bigger concerns - like figuring out where I want to apply to law school and where I'm going to live for my NYC job. Yikes!

Transitions are tough. There's no pulling the punches on that one . . . it's an adjustment, life after college. But even if things aren't so great for me, I can look at Rob and see how things could go pretty well. Life seems to be looking up for him, overall, I think . . . summer is always nice because we can get outside, and he's making friends to hang out with . . . something I haven't managed yet. :-( And time to explore hobbies, and the money to pursue them. That's definitely a positive picture of what life after college could be like. Most of the stress in his life comes from me, probably. ;-)

I've been floundering, but I've managed to keep my head above water, just barely, and I think that's important. I feel like I'm catching a glimmer of the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm learning how to swim by being thrown in the water, to go back to the previous analogy. But now that I'm starting to figure out how to swim, I can start to do more than just manage not to drown. I can start heading out into open water and *going* somewhere. And it's always a good feeling to feel like I'm moving again, instead of just flailing. Moving forward.