snapshots (sort of)

i know, i know

i'm not a great blogger. the posts are becoming increasingly less frequent and interesting.

you just have to accept that.

but i feel you might take pity on me for some of the following reasons:

• i am working full time these days. and it is awful. luckily, i have a very attractive live-in nanny. (i don't want to get too descriptive, but i think he might kiss me if i play my cards right.)
• penelope is getting over her first sickness. this is terrible in itself, but even worse knowing that jesse is the one taking care of her all day while i am at work. at the height of the illness, i came home at lunch for some hardcore snuggling. she cried until i gave her back to jesse. i might have cried a little on my way back to work.
• we are moving to boise next weekend (hooray!)
• we are moving next weekend (ugh... packing...)
• i am throwing a bridal shower for the sweetest libby in the whole wide world (hooray!)
• i am throwing a bridal shower the same weekend i am moving (ugh... what was i thinking? last time i checked, i do make my own social schedule.)
• i am changing my work location (see boise note) and cutting my hours, but still retaining about the same work load. i will be overwhelmed, but now i will only overwhelmed for five hours a day at work, and the rest of the time at home with the little one.

isn't this just how life seems to go? busy, busy, busy. i am seriously craving a nap. and some downtime with emily dickinson.

p.s. did i mention it has been snowing here? SNOWING in late may. at this rate, this little girl is going to outgrow all her summer clothes before the sun comes out.

the sound of stifling

when i got my job, i was elated. my dad was disappointed.

i don't think it's that he reveled in my unemployment misery--health insurance nightmares, extreme boredom and constant stress about paying rent. he worried that if i worked as a writer that i would "lose my spark." he told me that the work would suck all the fun out of writing for me.

i told him he was crazy. i survived book reports. i had survived the five paragraph essay in high school. i had even survived the grueling hours dedicated to exploring fetishes, epiphany, romantic poetry (ugh), and even rhetoric and composition (double ugh) on the page. i still loved writing.

i quickly assured the man that the blog would remain strong, that i would continue fanning my sad little spark under the delusion that only smoky the bear could slow me down.

to be honest, work is great. i write and edit every day.

but i'm beginning to think the colonel might be right. after all, it's been two weeks, and this was the best post i could conjur up. are you all worried that this is telling of my sad demise?

p.s. in other talent development news, i have been working diligently on my ability to kill aliens on jesse's ps3. if you have any aliens that need to be shot or beaten with the butt of a gun, let me know.

speech! speech! speech!

does this blog feel more official?
does it sound like it is coming from a productive member of society?
because it is.

i got a job. and i am thrilled. and it is BY FAR the best job i applied for.

in two weeks, i will begin working as a writer/tours administrator for the idaho national lab (inl). this job is fabulous for a few reasons:

they actually LIKE that i have a master's in english (who knew?)
the interview itself was so relaxed, fun, and interesting
it is in idaho falls, so i will be able to go to target on a regular basis after work
the health insurance is AWESOME
i get every other friday off
it pays significantly more than any other job i applied for.

so, thank you to everyone who said a little prayer for me or kept me in their thoughts. i have no doubt that those efforts helped so very, very much. today i have learned--yet again--that i am pretty willing to take whatever comes my way first, but that if i am patient and let the Lord help me make these decisions that he always comes up with a much better plan.

and that's today's thought. holla.

update on the mundane

i never thought i'd be genuinely sad to see a class go. certainly i have had those classes that i knew i'd learned from and enjoyed, but after a full semester, i generally knew it was time to go. but today i am actually sad that i didn't have to go to school again.

i just finished taking a week-long creative nonfiction class, and it was absolutely wonderful. i loved my instructor and his approach for setting up the class, i loved my writing group i workshopped with all week, i loved seeing andrea's happy little face every day, and i really loved making the time to write something new every night. i received such positive feedback and helpful critique--and i even shared some of my stuff with jesse (which i generally refuse to do).

i thought i would dread a 9-4 class every day this week, but all in all, it was a really great experience.

let's hope this upcoming week's class is almost as good.

and seriously, guys, i need some positive thoughts headed my way for the job hunt. i'm starting to really stress out...

school's (not) out for the summer

i started school again today.
only two more weeks of class and i am officially done with classes for my Master's.
now, if only i could find a job to use my degree...

DONE!

all student-ly duties for Spring 2008 semester are officially completed.

if i didn't feel so exhausted and have such a headache, there would be frolicking of sorts.

conversation with jesse

b: missy says that i need to destress and be treated like a queen
j: yeah? i think she's onto something
b: really?!? (look of excited anticipation)
j: ... yeah... MUTINY!

the job hunt begins

now that jesse has made his decision for his future education, and we have an idea of where we are headed for the next few years, the time has come for me to begin the dreaded job hunt.

while i am looking forward to this new chapter of our lives, let me be clear: i hate looking for jobs.

there is something incredibly nerve-wracking about trying to find a position that i will enjoy, that will use my education and my so-called "skill-set," and that will provide decent pay and--most importantly--health benefits. even more annoyingly, i hate drafting overly confident letters of application and listing out my many brilliant qualities (brilliant as i may be).

as i work through this process, i have learned that i am not good at selling myself. i am sure my mother will be relieved.

on a lighter note, here is a list of qualities i wish were appropriate for a résumé:

• Outstanding internet shopping skills
• Mediocre attempts at cooking
• Ability to prevent small children from placing even smaller toys in my husband's guitar
• Stellar laundry-folding and organizing skills
• Total inability to find multiple terms for "skills" that people would actually use

you know how it goes.

inaccurate cross-section of american culture?

i'm hoping that my itunes spying on campus in no way reflects the true musical tastes of our society. finds so far:

ace of bass
iron maiden
vast amounts of kanye west and missy elliott
acdc
blink 182
sugar ray

do people really listen to these on a regular basis?

in other news, i quit my job (well, put in my two weeks' notice).

in other other news, i am attempting to find meaning in finnegans wake for tomorrow's presentation. pray for me.

two weeks down

things survived thus far:


beginning two new jobs
a whole new semester of classes
a parasite
an ambulance ride/ER visit
a terrible chest cold
a deep scrubbing of my entire apartment
two weeks of not touching my husband (see number three)

it seems odd to look at these minor setbacks as accomplishments, but i can't help but feel an eery kinship to this image.

we're gonna make it after all.