I no longer maintain a daily routine of journaling. I used to and it used to be my main vehicle for processing the world around me. Writing was very much my own form of therapy. It seems I rarely write anymore.
Why is that?
Well I started school. Which seems to eat up a huge chunk of time and energy. As it should I guess. And my best friend is back in town for a few days and he is always a big distraction. (Not on purpose I’m sure.)
Or also maybe because I didn’t want to stress myself out with one more “thing I had to do” so I just let myself fall out of the habit. Maybe I should make the space for writing in my life again.
Oh did I mention that I start working on Monday. I have a care giving job. There are some huge down sides to the gig, such as it is in Mill Valley and I don’t really want to commute. Plus the administrative assistant woman at this company continues to be a pain in my ass and I can’t seem to shake her. I should have been more assertive with her. But.. I will likely end up loving the clients. It is an elderly couple who need some care in their home several hours a day. And I really dig most old people. So that is big news.
We love jokes in this house. Love love love them!
Puns, clever and whitty jokes, bad jokes, and even… the practical joke.
In fact I am famous (in my household) for the “rubber band on the dish sprayer” joke. It’s always a crowd pleaser. Unless of course you have to be the wet victim… then I hear it’s not so funny.
Tonight however it is my father who gets the “Best practical joke” award.
Several weeks ago my father installed a fancy under-the-counter Stereo thing in the Kitchen for my mother. We love it. It has a radio with all these pre-sets, a CD player and a clock. Plus in the location he installed it, it gets great reception. KQED comes in perfectly.
Earlier this evening my parents and I were in the kitchen getting dinner ready. At some point my mother asked “Why aren’t we listening to NPR?” (I don’t spend any time in the kitchen really without NPR.) So I said something like “They have been telecasting the Alito hearings all day, and it just depressed me to keep listening to them, so I turned it off.” “Well they should be over now. Let’s see!” she piped up.
She turned on the brand new fancy radio and tried to find KQED (88.5 FM in case you were wondering). It is set as the first pre-set station. However whenever she hit the pre-set button, it would skip to the next station or switch to the AM band or maybe just turn itself off all together. After a minute I went over to help her and we both began frantically hitting buttons and trying to figure out WHY we couldn’t get it to work. This frantic button pushing and wacky maneuvering went on for about five minutes before we noticed my father giggling behind us.
It turns out he had the fancy remote… and was messing with us the whole time. (We had forgotten all about the fancy remote. It has a magnet on it and is kept on the refrigerator. He had subtly grabbed it and every time we pushed one button, he would push another.)
I would be upset, but I was laughing too hard.
I just had my first job interview since returning home.
It was with an organization that provides in home care for people with disabilities. I met with the owner of the company and her office assistant. The owner was a very nice woman who has been an RN for about 30 years. She is an SF native and we talked for about 2 hours about nursing, hospice, healthcare, spirituality, and San Francisco. It seemed like more of a visit than an interview.
I really like her. We connected in a very…comfortable way.
She offered me a job (provided my background stuff checks out).
Then her office assistant told me I would need to take out my nose ring. She also made several disparaging comments on my hair.
She went on about how, the company has many older patients and we needed to respect them by living by their “professional” standards. I just stood their dumbfounded.
The whole conversation left a real bad taste in my mouth.
I am not sure I’m willing to take out my nose ring. I lived without it for several years in order to better fit into a corporate environment. I hated it. I really like the way my face looks with my nose ring and I recognize myself in a mirror when I see it. It is a big part of how I see myself.
Do I pass this gig up because of it?
Do I compromise and remove the ring or maybe get a small stud or something?
How am I going to handle this?
It is the first offer I have gotten… there could be others.
What would you do?
I just got home.
New Orleans is defiantly a site to see. I meant to write all about it, but got too caught up seeing it. I guess that is how those sort of things go.
In other news…
I have a dog of my own. (again)
Pictures of Cobain and I coming soon.
I think I finally feel moved in.
Yesterday I got a bookshelf, an old dresser of mine and a few other things from Max. I was able to unpack some of my favorite clothing, and some of my books. I don’t know why but I never really feel like I am home unless I have my book (at least some of them) around me. I blame my mother. I put one of my old down comforters on my bed (with the purple duvet I loved.) And I hung an old Parkes print that Sylvan had framed for me years ago. I think it finally feels like I live here.
I still have a few things to conquer. My mothers crazy food issues (that become my food issues.) My inability to yoga every day like I want to. And of course my fear of saying goodbye (again) to my best friend, going back to school, and getting a job. But overall I am really happy to be here. I figured I would be less happy and more “readjustment crisis”y at this point. I mean I still have trouble shopping, watching regular TV, or going places with too many people (specifically Malls or large retail places like Costco), but honestly I am beginning to think that all those things… are completely avoidable.
Ok, I had better get going, this lingering morning spent writing (on my laptop while in bed) is just about over. There are lots of things o get done, no matter how comfortable I am in this moment.
I had a productive morning.
I got in contact with my references. Wrote a few cover letters. Sent off three job applications. And completely failed to convince Salvation Army to take some sold furniture off my hands.
Maybe this time next week, I’ll have a job.
Cross your fingers for me.