New Blog. Read That One

http://servingandsurviving.blogspot.com/

Hey, I'm still here, still alive. Still unemployed, but I have a 2nd interview at Starbucks today. Hopefully that happens.
Jessica and I are setting out on an adventure in a little less than 2 weeks - we are driving to Stockton, CA to see Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp play at a minor league baseball stadium. Then we are driving back up the coast and camping. Awesome.
My new big thing is canning - I'm going to make pickles and who knows what else. I'll let you know how that goes.

I love this town.

I love it here. Today I went to the YMCA with Lori and worked out - love the Y here. Sitting on the stationary bike is so much nicer looking out at the city and beyond that, the bay. Then I made the BEST OMELET EVER. Goat Cheese and Tomato with herbs fresh from my "garden" (aka my porch).
Following the consumption of the best omelet ever, I headed down to Fairhaven to visit my favorite shoe store. I was hoping they would say: "We need you! Come back to work!" what they said was: "We will probably need you in August or September," Which is actually just fine with me.
I continued to wander around Fairhaven, stopping in Village Books, and not buying anything, which I think is a major accomplishment. I peeked into Pacific Chef, looking for canning supplies, and discovered that they were hiring. So I dropped off my resume and chatted with the manager a while. Cross your fingers for me - although working in a kitchen store would be almost as bad for my bank account as working in a shoe store. Mmmmm kitchen gadgets.
I had heard that Avenue Bread had gluten-free bread so I headed there, next. I bought a loaf, I've yet to taste it, but it looks pretty good. They had gluten-free polenta cranberry cakes which I had to try, along with a cup of coffee. I sat there and read The Cascadia Weekly and What's Up Magazine, checking out what's going on in town. Tucked in the pages was an ad for Fairhaven Pizza's new gluten-free crust. Seriously? I love that place. I love pizza. Life is good.
Now, continuing to unpack my apartment... I'm almost there, I promise!

Arrival

I moved in!
Saturday, thanks to my lovely family, all my random belongings were trucked to Bellingham and shoved into my new apartment. I'm still unpacking and organizing and re-organizing. Discovering the joys of having an entire (albeit small) bathroom to myself. Something that hasn't happened to me since about age 8. Not to mention the kitchen! All of the stuff is mine! (And man, I have a lot of stuff.)
I will post pictures as soon as I feel it's decent - right now it looks like this:
box box box emptybox pile of books box half-empty box

hey internet, what's up?

It's June. Or will be, in 2 hours.
I'm moving to Bellingham at the end of the month - probably on the 27th.
I've been stage managing a show at Jet City Improv - FUNBUCKET!! And a few weeks ago I ran lights for a sketch comedy show at Live Girls! Theater in Ballard - that was awesome.
I'm nervous and excited to move to Bellingham. I know it's going to be a great place to start a theatre company and a great place to live, but I also feel like I'm putting my entire life on the line right now. I guess I am, and that's kind of the point.
I'm doing it, and that's the important part, right?
So, if you have a few extra (hundred, thousand) dollars laying around and want to donate to a new non-profit theatre based in Bellingham, let me know.

so much happening.

A lot has transpired in the past week.
To summarize:

SCT doesn't have many classes for me to teach this summer, I can apply to teach at the zoo but I'm not so sure I'm into it.
Since I won't be working at SCT this summer and since they won't accept my AmeriCorps money, I cannot afford to do the Italy thing this year. (I fully intend to do it next year, hopefully Tad and The Chief will play Italy together!)
Since I won't be working in Seattle this summer and I probably won't have a job in the Bellevue School District in the fall, I have decided to:
Move to Bellingham in June.

I was strongly considering moving to Bellingham this fall, especially if BSD wasn't going to hire me back. (Which, considering the budget crisis they are in, will most likely not happen.) I have been thinking that now is the time to start my theater - there is $50 million going to the National Endowment for the Arts, I really have nothing holding me back, and if I keep putting it off, well, like I said - I don't want to be 40 and wondering why I never did it.

Now seems to be the perfect opportunity. My friend is (was) looking for someone to sublet her apartment, walking distance from downtown B'ham, for a price you couldn't really hope to get a room in a crappy house for in Seattle. A one bedroom! No crazy roommates! And if it's terrible, her lease is up in September and I wouldn't be obligated to stay.

The combination of no job this summer and the available apartment is just too much to say no to. I will miss a lot of things about Seattle, but it won't be that far away. And really, when I break it down, the pros of Bellingham seem to outweigh the pros of Seattle. Which is a bummer, because I wanted to make it in the "real world," and Bellingham still doesn't feel like that to me.

What will I leave behind? My family, but 1 1/2 hours away is way better than 2600 miles or however far away Austin was. An awesome theatre community - but I will be creating my own. Fantastic people - well, much like my family - it's a lot closer than Austin.

If you are wondering what to do with your life - move to Bellingham and start a theater with me!!!

Move to Bellingham, we'll hang out. Move to Bellingham, we'll go all out.... oh wait, that's not how it goes. But really, Bellingham is way cooler than Bremerton.

Another month passed...

I'm still here, still loving being back in the PNW, despite our crazy weather. We had a brief week of beautiful spring, then it snowed. And snowed again. And is basically freeeezing. But I'll take it.
What I've been up to:
I've begun stage managing the late-night show at Jet City Improv. It's pretty awesome. If you find yourself in need of something to do at midnight on a Saturday, come see it. Bring friends. Bring music for me to play, something crazy to put in the Funbucket. Buy a drink. Laugh.

I've also been trying to face the fact that I'm turning 25 soon and still have no idea what I'm doing with my life. In light of that, I've decided that my children's theatre needs to get started soon, for fear that I will be 40 and wondering why I never did it.

I'm trying to get money together to teach at a drama camp in Italy for a month this summer, that will be pretty cool. I need $525 for the TEFL training (Teaching English as a Foreign Language - it's a drama camp with the underlying mission to teach Italian kids English) and money for plane fare, the rest is taken care of by the program. They organize a home stay and pay you a salary. All in all, it sounds like a pretty awesome experience. I have some of my AmeriCorps education award left and hopefully I will be able to use that to pay for the training.

And that's the update for now...

Department of Lame

I just wasted 40 minutes of my life driving to, being at, and driving home from the department of licensing.
That's time I will never get back.
And I still have a Texas driver's license.
And I apparently will for quite a while.

And that was January....

Howdy, friends. Long time no update. I've been alternating between too busy to post and unable to think of anything good to write about, but it's been over a month and so I guess it's time for a quick recap of the last few weeks.
We had a lot of snow. Seattle cannot handle that much snow, everyone freaked out and the city pretty much closed down. Not just the city of Seattle, but the greater Puget Sound Area. It was insane.
I got to work at a SCT break camp (unfortunately only one day, because of that pesky snow) and it was wonderful to see my beautiful friends as well as see the fantastic performance of The Wizard of Oz. I missed SCT like you wouldn't believe.
Christmas was snowy and crazy.
January 5th I started my new job. I'm working at an elementary school in Bellevue, where my mom works as well. I'm a one-on-one aid for a 1st grader who has Cerebral Palsy. It's challenging but rewarding and for the most part a lot of fun.
Being back in the Northwest is great. I do miss a lot of things about Austin - not having to make sure I'm wearing at least three layers, one of which is waterproof; The Flying Theater Machine and all the people involved in that; BBQ; Talleri; my cute house; walking to the corner store.... lots of stuff. But being back here is wonderful. I love walking around Capitol Hill with my best friend and going to shows in Ballard and being at Seattle Center and with my family and hearing seagulls and smelling the ocean. It's definitely where I belong.

I still have a bunch of photos that I need to upload and post from the drive home from Texas, but the one thing that seems to have been lost in the move is my camera case, which contains my cord to connect my camera to my computer. Bummer.

As for things to come, I'll be 25 in two short months, I'm going to Las Vegas at the end of March and Maui via Portland in April. I'm also planning on going to New Orleans for Thanksgiving - 2009 is going to be the year of travelling! Hopefully the first in many to come. My big travel goal is to go to Ireland before 2010 is over.

I'm going to a superbowl party tomorrow and I realized I have no idea who's playing... oh well, I'm making guacamole and that's all that's important, right?

Happy February!

SNOW!

We got home. We drove straight through from Redding to Bellevue, and I think we made the right choice.
It started snowing a little just south of Olympia, then increased a lot in Tacoma/Federal Way. We powered through, and it was a good thing, because the snow kept coming and thoroughly messed up the Tacoma area.
Tuesday I had a job interview, then it snowed Wednesday night. And snowed. And snowed. And snowed.
I'm supposed to have work tomorrow morning. Hopefully it doesn't snow anymore. At least until tomorrow night.

In Redding, CA tonight - we drove a looooooong ways today. Looks like we are definitely going to hit snow tomorrow, hopefully it won't be too bad.
Now - sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day, if the meteorologists are right.

Quick update

We are still alive! Currently at my Grandpa's house in Southern California.
Went to the Joshua Tree National Park yesterday - it's a HUGE park with HUGE rock formations and it's amazing. We saw a bunch of people rock climbing and now that's what I want to do - climb rocks in Joshua Tree. Someday.
Apparently the weather gods do not want the rest of the drive to be easy - it's supposed to snow snow snow from the time we get to Northern California until we get home. Yuck. Cross your fingers for us!

It all fit!
We drove all day, through sun and SNOW - omg lots of snow. It was crazy.
Now we're in El Paso and I'm going to go to sleep. Tomorrow - Lunch in Tucson with Moriah and then on to Phoenix.

Step 1 complete!

Packed!



I think this will all fit in my car... (not the couch and table, thank goodness.)

I've been packing - or at least trying to pack - all day (minus a few hours set aside for my last Flying Theater Machine show), and I'm nowhere near done. I don't know why it's so difficult - I don't own much stuff, only have one box of breakables, and am going to stuff everything in my car tomorrow night.
Maybe it's more difficult on an emotional sense - as excited as I am to get home, back to the rain and the cold and Puget Sound and my family and friends, I am still bummed to be leaving, to be giving up on this dream.
But I'm not giving up, just postponing it. Or maybe the dream isn't right for me and I need to find a new one.
Regardless, I'm not getting any closer to being packed by sitting here writing about it.

Saying goodbye

Today was my last day at the preschool.
It was sad to say goodbye to the kids - they are awesome, even the crazy ones.
Otherwise, I have never been so happy to leave a job in my life. I tried not to write anything negative on this blog about the people and the job as I didn't want to endanger my position (and my paycheck) but now that it's over - thank GOD it's over.
I was at the bottom of a huge pile of 4-year olds today and that was pretty awesome. I love those kids, they are amazing. It's funny how some of them kept hugging me and telling me they would miss me, while others kept saying "will you tell us a story tomorrow?"
Kids are crazy.
I'm excited to start the drive home - it's going to be an adventure for sure.

reflections on the giving of the thanks

After staying at my Aunt's house for two days, I headed to South Houston to my Uncle's house. (on a side note - getting from North Houston to South Houston takes over an hour. Who on earth decided a single city could be that large?) Being at my Uncle's house was the exact opposite of being at my aunts. I felt like I was hanging out with a bunch of (50+ year old) college boys, instead of at my mom's house. Both were great, I was just thoroughly amused by the contrast.
My uncles were tearing apart the kitchen, in preparation for Uncle Olin's Extreme Kitchen Makeover, 2008; which is part 2 in Uncle Olin's Extreme Home Makeover, Nelson-style.
The guest bath is done. They are finishing up the kitchen today (so the plan went) and will move on to the master bath by Christmas.
We ate leftovers, went to all the hardware stores, drank a lot of Miller Light, and hung out. It was good times.
I also got to see my friends Anthony, Gina, and Nick on Saturday - they moved to Houston not long before I moved to Austin. It was great to see them. We went to breakfast and then a park in downtown Houston where there was - get this - and ice skating rink. An OUTDOOR ice skating rink. In 60+ degree weather. Oh, Texas. Really?
I drove back from Houston on Sunday morning and managed to get back in time to do my improv show - I was very impressed with myself. Driving through Central Texas is a lot like driving through Eastern Washington, except it goes on for a lot longer. A LOT longer. I saw a dead armadillo and listened to Christmas music - exciting trip.

I leave in a week - or really less than a week. I'm not sure what to do with myself right now. It seems too early to pack. I ate too much (not possible!) barbecue and watched some Twin Peaks tonight. I'm going to miss good Texas BBQ. I will have to find a place in Seattle to satisfy the cravings.

Giving Thanks

I'm writing this on the verge of a tryptophan-induced coma on my aunt's couch in suburban Houston. My cousin and I drove in last night, in what will forever be remembered as the best Thanksgiving-weekend traffic ever. There were long periods of time when we were the only car on the road. Thank goodness for Texas and Farm Roads. My cousin coming from New Orleans was not so lucky, a normally 6-hour drive took almost 10.
I guess this is where I'm supposed to talk about how it's Thanksgiving and I'm so thankful for everything in my life. So here you go. I'm thankful that I have had the experience living in Austin for the past few months. I'm thankful that my roommate is awesome, that my car hasn't fallen apart yet, and that I haven't managed to bankrupt myself.
I'm thankful for my family, that I've been included in this Thanksgiving celebration here in Texas, and that I have so many different fantastic family members.
I'm really thankful that I am coming home soon.

Two weeks from now we will be halfway through our drive back to Seattle. If all goes as planned we will be at my grandpa's house in southern California, getting ready to make the drive up I-5. I'm excited for the trip and for the destination. Although I have enjoyed my time here, I miss Seattle (and all it entails) like crazy.

I think I'll keep up this blog even though my Texas adventure is ending for the time being. So, stay tuned for next week's episode!

Tornado watch? WTF Texas? Tornado warning in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Which I think is the more serious one.
Gross.
Also, it needs to get cold already. It doesn't feel like November, or even like October, (except at night) and I have to say I don't like it, not one bit.
I like to wear sweatshirts and sweaters and jeans. I like to drink hot coffee and curl up under a blanket.
I do not like it when it is 78 degrees and raining, thanks. Unless it's also Hawai'i. And Austin is not Hawai'i.
I'm sure I will get home and it will rain for three straight months and I will hate that, too. But for now, it sounds good.

Is it possible that it feels so cold here because it's not as humid as Seattle? That seems counter-intuitive, but the weather report says the humidity level here is 25% and in Seattle it's 67%.
I thought it was supposed to be more humid here?

Either way, I'm freaking freezing.