Quick, Silly, but Seriously

Things I love:

*Alpaca
*Neutral zones/territories
*Ted Kennedy as my senator








Things I hate:

*The commodification of health
*Headaches
*The physiological need to sleep

Tipping Point

I know I say "baby steps" most days, but today I really, really mean it.

This has been the.most.crazy.day.

Something is in the air.

I sent in my response to New England. They sent a "we'll get back to you later" email.

I went to Dunkin' Donuts. I went to D's to work on the funders meeting.

D and A danced around to oldies once we got the foundation report completed.

I heard back great news from New England! I sent them an informal acceptance.

I am going to New England!!!

Then it was back home after dropping A off downtown, only to try to reserve generic dream apartment over the phone and to try and negotiate a new tenant into unique dream apartment, all in less than 2 weeks.

Tomorrow is said funders meeting. Then the next 2 days I have another big meeting and an all-day training. And then I am off to visit MD up north and NC down south. And then, after 3 more days of work, and hopefully quite a few evenings of catching up with best friends in the area, I will be leaving! To where, to what? - that is really up to fate and determination to decide.

But I know it can be done.

Very simply, I thought this was beautiful and should be shared.

What an inspiring way to start the week!

Kool-Aid

Not drinking the kool-aid, but drinking kool-aid none-the-less. Grape kool-aid. Generic, Giant Food brand grocery store generic grape "kool-aid drink" mix to be exact.

S and I have been trying to buy as much 'do it yourself' as possible during our transition between school-no job-job. We buy kool-aid mix instead of slurpee's, coffee mix instead of Starbucks, window shopping instead of shopping, and Ikea instead of, well, I don't even know where you'd get furniture that doesn't come with instructions! While sometimes we cave and go out to eat and after driving home from the beach without AC, we shared a delicious Starbucks venti - meaning large to the non-pretentious set - caramel mochiatto, we pretty much keep it on the minimum expenditure per item as possible, with S's furgality often trumping mine.

But the kool-aid is a remnant of this time in lovely CV, since this weekend he traveled back to his hometown to take a chem engineering job for a few months. The job is luckily in the same city as the train station I visit when I commute down there, which I will be doing next weekend to see his lovely parents and middle school aged brother, and oh yeah (hee hee) S himself.

For now we Skype, and make plans for the summer tour of our Rock Band group, which will be debuting in a living room near you within hours of my arrival to NC I am sure.

Fairly soon we will also see whether or not I will have a job in - eek! - New England. The land of pretty fall leaves and too much snow. I am going to be playing the ultimate waiting game this week, but that's nothing new.

Life has been surprisingly good throughout this time - I am just now coming out of a cognitive overdrive to reconnect with friends and blogs! I just got a really good Christmas present idea from one of my favorite blogs, and all of this moving around has me thinking about the holidays, since not too long from now we'll all be making plans to meet up for Halloween (Can we please go as Chuck and Blair?!), Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. That's right, folks - anyone else realize that the year is more than half over? Instead of a ton of New Year's resolutions, let's figure out what we can improve now, and go for that, right away. As for me, I have taken stock of the fact that it is summer, it is all good, and the kool-aid is sweeet.

Taking stock

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

As I head to the mall today, as I think about moving today, as I worry about whether my choices will earn me or cost me nice things and comfort, I remember that a nice heart and a comforted countenance forbears all conditions and is greater than temporary satisfaction.

I think who we are is more our actions than our words, sure, but I also think that what is behind our actions and words counts more than both combined. Every little choice counts, and no big choice can break us if we have the will to make a change.

Just a thought, since these words ring so true to me and guide me in the little and the big.

My mini-guides to life

I'd say like most that over-analyze, I love quotes.

Two recently have become for me mantras that are great for reviewing time and time again to renew a sense of purpose and passion in day to day living.

Though I have not lived all that long, I can make the hypothesis that these aren't youthful or transient words of wisdom just for people my age, but I really think that they can and will in my case, carry out to be helpful in seeing the bigger picture for all stages of life.

The first is from Walt Whitman, and the second is from the apostle Peter:

~Love the earth and sun, and animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence towards the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown, or to any man or number of men, go freely with the powerful uneducated persons, and with the young, and mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church, or in any books, and dismiss whatever insults your soul.

~Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

I love the first quote, because I think it is somewhat subversive, in a great way, and absolutely speaks truth to keeping a person's heart and conscience in good repair in daily conduct. The second quote I love because it shows a path toward the progress of character, one that I guess should be cyclical, so that love, in the end, leads to faith. This guide map can then help wherever one's strengths are, so that if one has love but no faith, one can find faith, and if one has knowledge but no self-control, he or she can begin to connect the dots to see that after learning a truth, the next step is to commit to it.

Sometimes when there are too many perplexing life questions, it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling to return to the simplicity and instruction of these statements.

Big girl hair

So the impossible has happened. I got my haircut today. At a salon.

It's a pretty nice cut, and I guess after saving about $1000 on avoiding other people cutting my hair for the past 7 years, it was time to splurge a little. Plus, it is summer, and no time is better for a lighter, easier hairstyle. And with an interview coming up next week, it can't hurt to take off some split ends and add some shine, because hey - that's what gets you the job, right? As I told S, I got "power hair," the young lady's equivalent of the power suit.

At this point with interviews, I am kind of all over. I am a little drained from the process, but figure each time that I should shoot for a better experience than the last, because practice makes perfect, and making a good professional impression is a great skill to have under my belt.

Today I attended an open house for teacher's aides positions with children in the Baltimore City schools. If I decided to take one of these positions, I would be working three jobs again, since I would continue the mental health work I am doing in Baltimore part-time and I would be consulting with private schools' substance abuse programs. Like I wrote in my last post, the assumption that life decisions like this come easy is false! They can be fun though too!!

Speaking of fun, since S is off in a week and a half to start his 3-month contracting position a couple states away, we are taking my birthday trip to the beach this weekend! This is perfect timing, since my boss is on vacation right now too, so I can wrap up work a little early this week, and after that, it's work for S and training and more interviews and work for me. I can't wait to get my feet in the sand, jump around in the water, and enjoy a relaxing, exciting time that does not include behavioral health, ha. S treated us to a hotel right on the boardwalk with a rooftop pool, so everything will be super convenient. I am counting down the moments until the weekend..

Sunlight in the valley

The road to success leads through the valley of humility, and the path is up the ladder of patience and across the wide barren plains of perseverance. As yet, no short cut has been discovered. ~Joseph J. Lamb
So it is an exciting accomplishment to think that I have been able to juggle multiple part-time jobs for over a year now to make a living. Undoubtedly, I have had tons of support in this effort, for which I am so grateful.

I think it is important, now, as I reassess my future and live in faith that I remember the virtue of patience. Patience is not about waiting until you are ready, it is about waiting past that point, and having the hope and confidence that everything will turn out as it should, while taking stock of the blessings that surround me even in a time of waiting - health, family, friends, a strong mind, will, spirit, and most of all sustaining love.

Without these things, what I temporarily long for is meaningless. With these things, I know I can persevere much longer and rejoice when time takes its course and I have a full-time job I enjoy and can look toward even greater goals.

I really think it is a beautiful time to be alive, when so many of us are now turning to what we are thankful for instead of just wanting more and more.