Happy Memorial Day

For the first time since I started this blog, I want to post about something other than myself. Normally I fill the page with random stories about my life, my thoughts, and oh yeah all of my loves! Today, not so much.

On Memorial Day I not only remember those who have served, who do serve, and will serve our country. Today is also about the freedoms we all share thanks to those men and women. We are oh so lucky to live in a land of freedom. People have literally shed their blood, sweat, and tears for strangers. The Bible tells us has no more love than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. True love. True love of country, freedom, and human.  It hurts my heart we only have a few days out of the entire year to remember and celebrate our soldiers and our country. So I ask everyone to continue to pray for our service men and women who love us so much. Every. Single. Day. 

Stuff

Have you noticed that of all the things I've blogged about loving so far almost none of these posts have anything to do with stuff? The closest I think I come really is when I talk about going to the salon. Still, the ultimate point of that is the feeling I get when I'm at the salon more so than the end result. So why is it that other people have such a hard time excepting the fact that stuff to me is just that? 

I was able to build a pretty good career for myself for nearly three years. With that, came stuff. I have a really nice apartment, some bits and pieces of furniture, a bike, and a 14 year old car. Sure, I'm not living in luxury by any stretch of the imagination but I was able to take care of myself. That included regular manicures, expensive makeup, and days at the salon. I haven't had a manicure since I quit my job and I'm probably going to have skip the new highlights I've been sporting for a few months now. I'm also going to have to switch to drugstore makeup. Ouch! Oh well. I've also started selling a few things here and there, mostly for gas money. Now I'm still struggling a bit financially so I might start selling more things. So what? It's just stuff. I like my things, but I don't LOVE them. And this new found life of mine is all about love not like.

What I do love more than anything in my life is God, my family, and my dogs. Missy and Mister are my world and without them, well I don't really have anything. They pretty much are my family here in Washington and they will continue to be my family always. I can't blog about that enough. So I just want to make it clear I love not being attached to stuff. Every. Single. Day. 

Fab Friends

Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with my two lovely dogs, but sometimes you just need a gal pal to hit up places with. For me, that fab friend is none other than Danielle. We both work together and live in the same apartment complex. She just recently moved to Spokane from sunny California and she's ready to take on this new adventure life has thrown her way. Funny, me too!

Our new found friendship is still just that, new, but so far, so good. We like to walk to and from work together and compare notes on how things are going. We also found out we like going to the bar for trivia night. Our team came in fourth! We've tried to meet for coffee but our schedules haven't always meshed, but still I'm hopeful. I think she is great. Totally positive. Totally a go getter. And totally a have fun, t-shirt and jeans can be fabulous kinda gal, just like me.

It's about time I've found a friend in Spokane. It's been almost two months since my only other friend here ditched me, and I'm still not even sure why. Oh well. Out with the old, in with the new. I love hanging out with my new fab friend. Every. Single. Day.

An Offer I Can't Refuse?

Wow! Sorry it's been nearly a week since my last blog post. I hate when I blog slack but I haven't even turned on my computer in days. Which leads me to this latest story.....

It's been two months since I put in my two weeks notice and left the news world behind. I still have no regrets. I love my life in case you haven't noticed :) But a few days ago I received an email from a news consultant I used to work with a few years back. We've always kept in contact and he often tells me I'm one of his favorites. That's always nice to hear from a guy who travels around the country training producers. Anyway, he asked how things were going and was quite surprised when I said I had quit and was now waiting tables. He wrote me back saying that was too bad he had big plans for me. I didn't pursue what that meant.

Then, another email came with those big plans: An executive producer position in Toledo, Ohio. No matter the market size, I would consider that a promotion and it would take me back to the Midwest ((I moved to Washington State from Illinois 4 years ago)). Wow! I didn't see that one coming. I'm flatterer and conflicted.

I haven't had a chance to really get back to him other than to say I'm not ignoring you just busy busing tables and running after 2 year olds. It's worth asking a few questions about, but the biggest question of all is Will this make me happy? Because right now I'm exactly that. And I love being happy. Every. Single. Day.

Happy Mommy's Day

My mom is my best friend, and at 25 I've officially become her. Every time I look in the mirror, I can see my mom's reflection looking back. Her little voice of common sense and wisdom annoyingly follows me where ever I go. When I take my makeup off at night and apply my face cream an echo in the room tells me to "lotion, lotion, lotion." Every Pilates and Yoga class I take reminds me of how she use to stretch on the living room floor when I was a kid. Then, I thought she was crazy, now I think she's a genius. And when I left my career behind, I became a waitress, just like mom was for all those years.

There is far more reasons why I love my mom then the fact I inherited her mannerisms, good looks, and some of her common sense. I've been through a lot of tough stuff her in Washington and when I had something really difficult to tell my mom, she reacted with nothing but love. She's been my support and my rock. I can feel her prayers from 2,000 miles away. I wish today I was spending the day sitting in her kitchen talking to her as she wiped down everything in sight or treating her to breakfast and a pedicure. One day I'll make it home for mother's day. Despite the fact that I can't be with her, I still love my mom. Every. Single. Day.

Tweet, Tweet!

I can't believe I am closing in on my 400th Twitter follower! It all started a few years ago while I was a morning show producer. I used my Twitter account to help promote our upcoming segments, but I'm sure no one ever followed me for that reason. At first it was just a few of my friends, then a few fellow broadcasters all across Washington, and now my followers include the mayor of Spokane, National Hemophilia Federation, KING 5 News in Seattle, more news and sports people, and a whole lot of people I don't even really know. What I do know is, I know them via Twitter and that's just fine by me.

Now all those nearly 400 accounts get doses of inspiration, my thoughts on the Bulls and Whitesox, pet updates, and all my other passions. I even upload pics every once in a while. For those of you who don't follow me, it's probably the best way to keep up with me 24/7 ((if you really care that much)) plus, it's the main way I spread the word about this blog and the dog blog.

Of all the forms of social media I am a part of, I have to say Twitter is def my fav. I almost thought about getting off of Facebook for awhile, and we all know I almost abandoned ship on at least one of my blogs. But when it comes to Twitter, I'm pretty sure I'll be tweeting away until I'm 90. You should have seen me the day I discovered Tweetdeck! Ahhhh! Like a kid on Christmas I was so excited. For me, I treat tweets like headlines in the newspaper. In fact, I think of  Twitter like my parents would think of the newspaper. I have my coffee and check the day's news on it. I also use it to put my own news out into the world. I feel like I have something to offer and say to the world, and I use Twitter to do it. Plus, it's like one stop shopping. I can find out what's happening in Spokane, news from everywhere, what's the latest with all of my favorite sports teams, and check on my friends, all in one cup of coffee. For me, there is no better medium to hit up a lot of sources all at once.

What can I say? I love Twitter. Every. Single. Day.

Employed Part Two

So now I have two jobs, funny how life works out huh? Yesterday I interviewed for a part-time daycare position at the early learning center at the church I've been attending. ((I'm hesitant to call it my church because I'm not a member and if any place is my church it's BL in Kennewick)) Sure, I have zero experience working with kids, but you have to gain experience some how right? Plus it doesn't hurt that I'm super Lutheran  remember? OK that was a lot of questions... now on to some more statements.

I thought I'd be a good fit there because of my Lutheran education. I attended Lutheran school from K through 8th grade. ((my dad didn't believe in sending us to preschool, but that's another blog for another day)) I am so proud of that education and the opportunity I had to go to religion class everyday that I saw this as my opportunity to give back. I never imagined that I would be working with kids, in fact they've always scared me until recently. Now that I'm 25, kids seem like the next step, but my single status has something to say about that. Hopefully, this will help with that whole ticking clock thing. So in the meantime, I'll love the little kids at the early learning center. Every. Single. Day.

Cleanliness is Godliness

Nothing is more relaxing to me than a clean apartment. OK, maybe that's not true. Nothing I don't have to pay for makes me more relaxed than a clean apartment. When my apartment is a mess or dirty, I actually can't function. Sometimes I will have so much to do, but the first thing will be to clean. It helps me get my brain in order. I also really, really enjoy sitting in my clean apartment and watching TV.

Sometimes when I would have a bad day at work ((OK again, lies, more like every day after work)) I would take my frustration out on my kitchen sinks. My poor, poor kitchen sinks! I've also been known to take a tough day out on my floors. My mom is similar in some regard, but she just likes things clean and breaks her neck to get everything spotless. I actually enjoy the cleaning process. It's a bit therapeutic for me.

I've been taking a little bit of a break from the OCD cleaning lately, mostly because I've been taking that frustration to the gym instead of the sink. But yesterday, I started tearing through my apartment at full speed and it felt pretty darn good. Of course, with two dogs it wasn't long until there was a nose print on the sliding glass door and dog hair on the couch. But lucky for them, it's A OK because I love to clean. Every. Single. Day.

Cheaper Than Therapy

I've decided to continue with the blog. Despite the fact only three people seem to read it, and only two people put in their two cents ((which was a split verdict by the way)) I'm going to forge ahead.

For me, blogging has almost become a form of therapy. It has helped me clear my head, stay accountable and actually come to grips with the life altering decision I made. I even discovered a word for it, burnout. I have burnout. But life in the restaurant biz is so far, so good. Sure I'm only four days into it, but I already know I am totally out of my comfort zone. Today rolling silverware reminded me of failing art at camp in 6th grade. I can't help but laugh at how horrible I am at basic skills. But I've never really needed to work with my hands before, outside of typing. As frustrating as that might be for someone else, Sunday I washed dishes while listening to the radio. What I didn't hear? Suicide calls, domestic violence calls, and nobody called me up to swear at me about what football game was on CBS. Like I told my mom today, it's just food. How pissed can people get? No FBI suspect's dad called me, no grieving parent threatened to sue over comments someone else wrote on a website. In that context, washing dishes felt like the best thing in the world. There was nowhere else I wanted to work.

So I'm going to continue to update my three readers about my new found simple life if for no other reason than I love to blog. Every. Single. Day.

Employed

22 posts into the unemployment blog and I have a job. I actually didn't think it would take so long to find work, considering I didn't really care what I did as long as it seemed like the people I worked with would like me this time, I could see outside, and they paid me. I've had a blast being unemployed and I think a lot of these loves and adventures will continue. The only difficulty has been the obvious, I'm beyond broke. But that's OK because what I've really learned from my "career years" is that just getting a paycheck isn't enough to keep me at work.

So my new gig is waiting tables at Laguna Cafe on Spokane's South Hill. It's actually right next to my apartment complex so I can continue to walk to work and now I don't even have to cross the street! It's important to save on gas money. I'm only two shifts in but I already really like it. Everyone there seems really nice. It is a pool tip system so it doesn't appear to be overly competitive for no reason either. Already two wonderful attributes missing from my "career."

The only question now is should I continue with the unemployment blog? I've used this forum to stay positive during my job search. I had a few down days, but focusing on the positive allowed me to see those were just days, not a lifetime. So what do you think? Should I continue to find the love in my post career days while I wait tables or has this little blog run its course? Either way I love being employed. Every. Single. Day.