Well in true reporter fashion, I will just give you the news first, in most-to-least-important order.
- I lost my job last month. The official statement when I was called into the office was that the management decided I was "not a good fit for the company." I feel no hesitancy to say I think I was sabotaged out of the job, but I also can't deny that I did not feel like part of the "group" at that company, so all in all, I don't regret the splitting of ways.
- Now I am waitressing to pay the bills. The restaurant where Brian is working took me on with absolutely no waitress experience, for which I'm grateful. Despite the long hours, demanding work and rather low pay, I feel so much happier now than I did working for the paper.
- I took on a freelance position with a little twice-monthly paper covering Jarrell and Georgetown. So far, I have not been very gung-ho about my assignments, so I'm thinking the break from reporting is something I need.
- Still living in Georgetown, for now. Hoping I will have decided what path to take next by the time my lease is up in October so I can dive on into another position in another city for another adventure.
I still haven't figured it out. The few paths I considered pursuing (something in gardening, something in baking, something with event planning or interior design) all seemed to require either an "in" to the industry or going back to school - which I do not have or do not have the money for at this time.
Fortunately, when I lost that income, Brian was able to get more hours at the restaurant almost immediately. With our incomes together, we are making it all right - if not a little less frivolously. Less eating out, fewer movies, tighter grocery budgets. But it will work out, at least for the time being. No one is starving.
Now I'm sure if anyone is reading this they may be wondering how I am happier at a job that keeps me on my feet and moving for the better part of 8 hours a day (beginning at 6 a.m., I might add). I can't answer that. Maybe it's the actually having to physically work for my income as opposed to working at a desk in front of a computer most of the week. Maybe it's because for the first time since I've been in Central Texas, I'm surrounded by people around my age (most of the staff at the restaurant is in the 19-30s age range) who talk about things I'm honestly interested in. Maybe the hours, which leave most of my afternoon free, make me feel like I can do more after work, despite the fact that I usually sleep away the afternoon, and sometimes part of the evening, recuperating from serving people breakfast and lunch.
I really don't know. I do know that my attention span is growing. Brian got me to start the Percy Jackson series around this January. I just started the third book last night and find myself actually excited to go home and read again. Even though it is a middle-school level book, I haven't been able to focus for more than 20 minutes on any one thing in several years. It's so nice to rediscover this part of my personality - the forget-the-world-I'm-reading-a-book part.
*Disclaimer: I am reading this series because my interest is on the series that follows it, which gets into Roman gods and more, but I need the background of the first five books to understand, or so says Brian.
Also, Tyson is one of the best sidekicks ever...
Speaking of attention spans, I was also able to focus on sewing for nearly two hours straight the other night! I made an apron for work (I keep forgetting to bring people straws or setting my order book or pen down before I take a table), which turned out pretty nifty. The apron itself took about two days to make, but I did a lot of the gross construction the first night, a lot of wrapping up and detail work the second.
The finished product. I braided the ties, which taps into another old hobby of mine: friendship bracelets.
This machine has me so pumped. I checked a few books out at the library for project ideas (even read through the basics chapters of one, which I normally would have scanned and skipped!) and rediscovered my StumbleUpon account for some tucked-away projects I'm now considering attacking with my menial machine skills. I did a lot of sewing by hand when I was younger, but that hobby also went by the wayside after high school. Another thing I'm thrilled to rediscover (now with technology!).
In news of others, Brian stepped down from his preaching position in Georgetown. We are still friends with the head pastor and his wife (ran into them and their dog at Red Poppy Fest this weekend), but his main reason for wanting to stay in the area when I lost my job is now nonexistent. The state, and even states beyond, are open again for my next life chapter. As soon as I figure out what the topic will be. :-)
