Single Saturdays

Is it even right that I am home alone on a Saturday night (St. Patty's day no less) drinking wine and studying for a midterm at the young age of 26??? Ugh. Oh well. I guess I need to think of it as a lifesaver, as this week I've mentally said goodbye to two men who were complete duds. One is just completely unstable and will never have a healthy relationship and the other one...well...not too sure about him. I feel like we've been on the same date 10,000 times. It's always dinner and a nice hug goodbye, wait two weeks and then he'll call again for another night of dinner and a nice hug goodbye. Trust me, the dinners have been GREAT! I've gone to fancy places that I would never go myself and he always paid. But, I'd rather have McDonalds and be in a relationship that actually goes somewhere.

Enough about my sad dating tales. I've missed everyone's blogs. It seems that the ones I read are finally beginning to write again (I know, I've been away a long time too) but for a while, I thought we had all given up.

Anyway, here's to another Saturday night of singlehood. At least no one will steal my covers...

Proof Reading is worth 1000 words

I think we all can agree that spell check is an important funtion in most of our professional lives. BUT, it cannot save you from human error. I mean, there are times when I hit the "send" button and realize I completely misspelled someone's name (it's not that often, but once is enough to scar you for life). Panic sets in as you know the person reading the message is thinking you're totally dumb.

There is this man at work. He is supposed to be helping our team through the transition. He wrote this memo last week in which he failed to 1) Save it on his computer and 2) Check that he had all the names correct. He misspelled one name and completely called a councilmember by an entire different last name!!! Of course the news picked up on the mistake. The article read "Mayor's staff needs to check Rolodex." Oh the horror!!! The guy is actually quoted in the article as saying it's terrible and that a lot of people actually read through the memo. Of course he fails to mention he is the author. Ugh.

The thing that bothers me about this (besides the stupidity of it all), is that this memo came across my desk. I quickly scanned through it to make sure the format was correct (because that's what he was asking me) and I thought nothing of it. I wish I took a few more minutes to read through the entire document. This could have spared my boss some embarrassment. People do lose their jobs over things like this. Hopefully I'm not indicated as one of the people who "read through it," as he said. Definitely a lesson learned!


P.S. I did not spell check this document. :-)

No new shoes for me

"Fortune, fortune, oh who decides thee?"

Ok, not a legitimate quote (I don't think) but it is something that has been on my mind as of late. On the eve of celebrating my 26th birthday last week, I arrive home with dinner in hand ready to drop on the couch and relax for the precious hour before bed time. I had been running around all day doing errands for a special event and I was exhausted. Walking up to my front door, I am searching for my keys in my huge work bag (my friend was with me and he had been driving my car all day) and there are no keys in sight. I search my car...nothing. Does my friend have my keys...no. Does my apartment manager have a key to my apartment...no. My regular keys are gone and my only two spare keys are sitting in my apartment on the kitchen table. $200 paid to the locksmith later, I am wondering how fate brought me to the moment where I am handing over my birthday money to a man who only worked for 20 minutes on my door. Let's just say, I am in the WRONG business.

So, after being seriously ripped off (I mean, $200 translates into 4 pairs of awesome shoes!), I have a nice cry and crawl into bed. 5 hours later my alarm is blaring and I stumble into my bathroom in my sleepy stuper to find a large, hairy spider perched right in the middle of my bathroom mirror. I scream and run in to wake up my friend who graciously spent the night. He makes fun of me for being a big baby and again the tears begin to flow. The only thing I can think of at this moment is: "If this is any indication of how my year will be, I want to go back to sleep for the rest of the year!"

It's funny how life throws these little curves. A minor streak of bad luck and it seems like your whole world has caved in. Luckily, the week got better from those low moments. I found my keys a week later at a restaurant I had visited that Sunday afternoon. All that drama over a stupid key. You better believe everyone has the key to my apartment now!

How to Relax???

I have been working non stop since January 1 and it is starting to affect me in weird ways. For example, I worked this morning. When I came home, I tried to take a nap. I fell asleep for a few minutes and then flipped through the tv channels attempting to find something to catch my attention. No luck. I then spent the rest of the day attempting to do things to fill the void my lack of work (or lack of being at work) had created. Relaxation is what I really need, but how??? Suggestions anyone?

In other news, I've officially moved into adulthood. I received a vacuum cleaner and paper shredder as Christmas/Birthday gifts and was excited. I've used the vacuum at least 5 times in the past two weeks. It's great!

Alright, I am going to search my apartment for a magazine and climb in bed. If no magazine is to be found, sleep will be the next best thing.

Serious, serious boredom

It is amazing to think that by the end of this day I will have sat through 23 presentations of my classmates on various subjects in less than 30 hours. I had to give two myself. Right now I am listening to one on a Fiber Enterprise Leasing System. Huh? Exactly. Maybe I should be paying attention.

In other, more exciting news, my mom called Wednesday to let me know she and my dad will be purchasing a condo...for me!!! Well, I still have to pay rent but amazingly enough they said I could pay what I'm paying now, get a 2-bedroom place and I can live alone (unless my brother becomes apartmentless and then he'll live with me).

Oh man, this is SO boring (back to the presentations). 5 more to go. Truly, truly painful. I need a drink, a sandwich, and a nap. All in that order.

Scary

It's amazing the things you find yourself doing when you live alone. I came home this afternoon after spending the night at my sister's and found my front door wide OPEN! My heart started pounding at the thought that my door had been open all night and all the things that come with that. I bravely walked up the stairs and set foot into my apartment calling out "hello?" (like the person robbing my place would respond). No answer. I then scoped out the scene. Laptop? Check. T.V.? Check. Bicycle? Check. Phew. All my belongings were in place. No robber in sight. I hate my stupid door. From now on I'm locking the deadbolt before I leave as to not entice anymore accidental door openings.

Maybe I was dumb for going in the apartment alone. But the truth is, nothing in my apartment is worth anything. I guess that's the beauty of being poor, or poor enough that I don't own anything expensive.

The scariest thing that probably came in last night was some extra spiders. Eeew.

Maybe

I am a little conflicted on how to feel tonight. My first inclination is to be sad because tomorrow I will be without the one person who has been with me through everything all year. That chapter of my life is closing. It's always hard when things come to an end -- especially things that made you laugh and cry and see that things really weren't so bad on the worst of days.

Another part of me is trying to focus on the good and see that these sad feelings will not last forever. I want to be thankful for what I have and not concentrate on what I don't. Ooooh, it's so hard. Ok....here I go...

I am thankful that I can count on my family and friends. Especially in the most difficult times, they have stuck by me and loved me for who I am.

I am thankful that I have a job that allows me to have my own apartment and live comfortably. Many people in the world don't have this luxury. It's easy to take for granted.

I have to be thankful for an uncertain future. Maybe next year Thanksgiving will be different. Maybe instead of feeling conflicted, I will feel determined. Instead of feeling heart broken, I will feel loved. Maybe instead of feeling uneasy, I will be confident and ready to take on the world. There's a lot of maybes here but maybe they won't be maybes for long.

A girl can only hope.