Dry My Tears and Move On

So St Louis fell through. I won't bother with the details, but rest assured, it is a painful story filled with heartache, betrayal, deception, and ravenous hammerhead sharks.

OK, so I'm exaggerating. I have to keep it light - it's that or brood over the fact that my safety net has abruptly been yanked away. There are still some bitter feelings, to be sure, but on the whole I'm trying not to dwell on it.

Instead I am refocusing my efforts on finding a new job. At this point I'm looking at waitressing, something to at least give me some hours (as opposed to my current job where I am averaging...oh, 8 hours a week) and money until full-time jobs start coming back. I'm also planning to do some cold calling in the Chicago area, as I will be spending some time there later this month to do some Moxie-sitting. (I plan to teach her that before I leave. I checked out The Idiot's Guide to Dog Tricks, and everything.)

In the meantime, Ben and I are getting by, mostly by our weekly bowling night to keep us sane. The bowling alley near us has $2 Tuesdays, plus a student discount (and luckily my Cornell ID does not have a date on it, heh), so we can rent shoes and bowl 4 games each for only $15! We are slooooowly getting better - actually the very last game we played, Ben got a turkey (3 strikes in a row). I bet he could give Diana a run for her money.

My Poor Brain

I am very stressed out.

Because of the economy, and retail struggling as a whole, my hours have been cut down to...oh, about 2 shifts per week.  Since there is essentially no work to be found in Michigan, I am obliged to relocate to the St Louis area, to work for my uncle.  I resisted this idea for a long time, naively hoping that I could find a decent full-time job here.  

But I am in debt up to my eyeballs, so that kind of sucked the life out of my negotiating skills.

I've now accepted the fact that I'm moving, as soon as my dad works out the details with my uncle.  Actually, there are many aspects of this I'm looking forward to.

Obviously, moving away from Ben is not one of them.  My hope is that I will have saved up enough money by the end of the summer to get an apartment, and that he can come down and stay with me for a few months until...he leaves for the Navy.

We had both toyed with the idea of joining the military for some months now.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a lover not a fighter...but the idea of good health insurance, cheap car insurance, and the bulk of my student loans paid off was becoming increasingly tempting.  

Ultimately I decided that I'm too much of a wimp to make it through boot camp, and Ben was rather insistent that he should be the one to go if one of us joined.  And my mom said I'm too cute for the Army.  We had kind of set the idea aside for awhile, but as our finances shrank, Ben went to see the Navy recruiter.  He just had his physical earlier this week, and is officially signed up.

To be honest, I don't think it's hit me yet.  When he first decided that he was definitely going to sign up, I got excited and started looking at 'I Love My Sailor' t-shirts, and Navy car magnets.  Then when he actually signed the paperwork, my excitement dwindled.  I think for a time I was more enamored with the *idea* of him joining the Navy, rather than what his enlistment truly meant.  

That's not to say that this wasn't a joint decision that we discussed at length - it was - but of course I couldn't have any idea how I was going to feel when things actually were in motion.  I don't have anything to compare this to.  He plans to become a Navy diver, so at least there's not a large demand in Iraq or Afghanistan...but I'm still going to be worried.  I know this will be a good experience for him, if for no other reason than it gives him the funds to be able to complete his bachelor's (his parents have refused to cosign on any more student loans).

Well, here's hoping.  And Semper Fi...no, wait, that's the Marines.  Does the Navy even have a motto?  I have no idea - Ben's factbook doesn't say, though interestingly enough it does have the lyrics to 'Anchors Aweigh'.  Heh.

Finger Lickin' Good

Ben & I were watching Jackass 2.5 the other night (confession time - even though I wouldn't do about 99.9% of the things they do on that show, I do enjoy watching it) and we saw Stevo drink beer poured down the, oh, let's say...4 foot fingernails of a man in India.  

Let me repeat that: Four. Foot. Fingernails.

They were green, and slimy in appearance.  The thumbnail curled back in on itself, much like a watch spring, only attached to your hand.  The other nails extended nearly to the ground, twisting like some sort of nasty fingernail linguine.  The man protected his nails in a burlap-type sack, presumably to keep them from cracking.  

After getting over the grossness of drinking beer off someone's fingernails (anyone's fingernails, no matter what length...ew. Just the idea of biting my own nails is icky.), Ben & I contemplated the difficulty of carrying around such a weight.  I mean, that's got to be a considerable strain on the arm and hand, since it didn't look like he could fully relax his arm without having the nails crunch on the floor (*shuddering at visual image*).  How would you dress yourself?  Or shower?  Or sleep?  It seems like way too much inconvenience, for no real reason.

Whatever Gets You Through Today

I have been failing rather spectacularly at keeping my blog resolution...so in the spirit of optimism and general not-giving-up...ness...here is a meme-type thing appropriated from a friend's facebook:

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you.  At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged.  You have to tag the person who tagged you.  If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(A note here - since this originally came from facebook, 25 people is nothing there. But I don't even follow 25 blogs, so I'm going to open this up to whomever is interested, quite possibly no one.  And please don't feel required to tag me back - wouldn't that just result in a never-ending cycle of 25 facts, tagging, being tagged, 25 facts, etc?)

1. I am very probably moving to the St. Louis area within the next month or so.

2. This does not bother me as much as it once did.

3. In 5th grade, I wanted to play the saxophone like Lisa Simpson.  My parents argued that sticks were cheaper, so I played the drums instead.

4. I have been a vegetarian at two points in my life.  Sometimes when I have a mouthful of meat, my brain will say 'this is flesh' and I'll feel incredibly grossed out.

5. I love love loooooove country music.  I am the only one in my family who does.

6. My boyfriend is joining the Navy.  I have never been more proud/terrified in my life.

7. I hate when people bite their silverware.

8. I was not directly affected by the events of 9/11, but to this day I cannot see any footage of it without crying.

9. I prefer Cherry Coke to regular.

10. I would love to teach children about the environment.

11. If I had to be homeless, I would want to live in Hawaii.  Their homeless people live on the beach.

12. I would love to get a book published, but I fear I haven't anything interesting to say.  At least not enough to fill a book.

13. I have read Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods probably 10 times or more.

14. The only book I may have read more frequently is Where the Red Fern Grows.

15. In kindergarten, I wanted to be a construction worker on the moon.

16. I believe that wish helped me get into Cornell.  I referenced it in an application essay.

17. I have never broken a bone.  I have fractured my skull, and sprained my wrist, ankle and thumb.

18. I enjoy giving blood.

19. I once had a cell phone embedded into a dirt road by a minivan.

20. I plan to expand on my tattoo once I get the money. (sorry, Mom)

21. I have been to France twice.

22. If I could travel anywhere in the world, it would either be Ireland or Australia.

23. I am a youth group leader at a Catholic church.

24. If Obama had lost the election, I would be living in Canada right now.

25. I can't listen to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists' "Me and Mia" without dancing.

The New Year

Well folks, here it is - 2009.

And while I may still be the quasi-only-working-part-time Unemployed Cornellian, I have a very good feeling about this year, and not just because of inauguration day.

As such, here are my New Year's Resolutions:

-  get a full-time job before my birthday (day after Valentine's, for those who don't know)

- learn to drive a stick

- take Jack to obedience school (he's well-behaved on the whole, but we need him to listen enough to not knock over visitors)

- learn yoga

- exercise at least 5 times a week (combination of running, yoga, and hopefully eventually a gym membership at the Troy Community Centre)

- learn how to knit

- cook more, and try new dishes

- blog more! (...ok, you ought to have seen that one coming)

Happy New Year everyone!