|
Moonshine · Heather
She's taking care of business... takin' care of so much business!
 |
|
I'm too busy for a real update, but I want to write these down before I forget. "Word on the street is that you're kind of a badass." -my "mini-me," who I got to meet for the first time this weekend--I'm a fan of hers as well. "Everyone knows my name, and I don't know anyone else's name." -me running on 4 hours of sleep on Saturday. I have no filter when I'm sleep-deprived. But it did amuse me that a majority of people had some concept of who I was, and I didn't know almost any current students. "We're having an amazing time in the kitchen!" Derek, when Kristen DDing and trying to get him to leave the Theta Chi house "I hate everyone else besides you guys."- Chelsea. "It smells like a litterbox in here." -me, in Mckenzie's liquor store. It really did smell like a litterbox. We laughed until we all almost peed our pants. "I think it's really funny that you work for the federal government."-Missy : ) I think that's it. I feel like I'm missing some.
Current Mood: |
 busy | |
|
|
This is aptly timed (and sort of a lame LJ question, if you ask me). Spending all day in a course on the Federal Retirement System, which has turned out to be a whorlwind of financial planning for people who are under 35. It's odd, to some extent I can see my future stretched out in front of me and it doesn't totally freak me out. And then again, it's almost disconcerting that I'm not freaked out. Weighing long-term financial/life decisions against short-term happiness and fulfillment. Hrm. |
|
|
I feel like I've been a little crazy over the last few weeks (or days at least), but I think it's beginning to wear off. Or if I am still crazy, I have a plan to make myself un-crazy. It's odd, the advice I used to give other people and the beliefs I held so firmly to, to keep myself happy and sane, are so easily forgotten. I think I've been so worried about being happy, being financially stable, having a love-life that is un-pathetic, etc etc that I've forgotten the most important ingredient to acheiving all these things: not worrying. I think if I just continue to be my awesome self, not caring about these things, then everything will fall into place. More or less. Trying to be better Buddhist, letting go of my attachment to things that are not healthy.
Being an adult blows. I was just going through FB pictures the other day, and thinking about all the vitality I used to have. And how new and exciting everything used to be. Feeling nostalgic for those days. I think I need to work on "stopping to smell the roses" more often--taking the time to really enjoy the things that I enjoy.
In other news, I'm signing a 3-year contract with FERC to get my student loans paid off. 3 years of my life for approx $10,000.... Maybe not the most awesome decision ever, but I look forward to having one less bill to pay. Maybe that will get me closer to my travel goals for next year. Johanna and I are pretty serious about going to Mardi Gras in New Orleans next year, and I'm hoping to take my mom somewhere, and hopefully visit Kim somewhere in Eastern Europe or Asia. Maybe I just need a sugar daddy...
I saw Rob for the first time in about 5 months over the weekend. It just dawned on me that I had successfully stopped caring about whatever might happen with him, months ago. I think I only started caring again after a few other things didn't work out. Which I can objectively acknowledge now as delusional behavior. Again with the being a better Buddhist, and letting go of feelings that are unhealthy and unrealistic. What will happen will happen. And being crazy certainly won't help anything.
Ugh, I feel homesick for Michigan. But I always feel that way when things don't feel so stable. Change always makes me want to take refuge in my parent's house. |
|
|
Dude, it's been a long time since I posted. I missed LJ for a little while, then just forgot about it. And now after going back and reading through my Friends page, I'm glad to be back. Life has been insane, but mostly in a pleasant way. Moving, getting settled into our house, the constant struggle to keep our house filled, etc, etc, is fun. But I like our house and I like where we're living much better now. I can walk to most places I'd want to go, so that's exciting. It's odd and wonderful and that most of my life is within a 2 mile radius. I kind of love it. Also, I've gotten really sucked into the kickball scene. Kickball is odd, as it's mostly composed of 20-somethings with real jobs who play kickball once a week and engage in college-like debauchery after the games every week. For a while, my attitude was more like "well, this is kind of fun. But I'm definitely not playing past this season." And then I got sucked in. It's something that's fun to do when you're not friends with everyone, but once you become friends with everyone, it's addicting. The only downside is that I find myself getting fairly intoxicated on Thursday nights when I (sometimes) have to work on Friday mornings. I've already went in super-late to work a couple of times... As a result of some poor choices on my part (hooking up with a guy at kickball who later turned out to suck at life), I decided to finally dip a toe into online dating. Because I'm not willing to totally give up on fate, chance, etc, I signed up for CrazyBlindDate.com. Which just sets you up with people, then you do the rest. It's not based on compatibility, just based on whether you are available to meet in a given place at a given time. And then you rate each other on different things, and then you get set up with more highly "rated" people if you're highly rated. I went on my first date with CBD last night--I thought it was going to be awful, but it really wasn't bad at all. It went pretty well, actually. He was nice, fairly interesting (he brews his own beer and makes his own wine), although possibly sort of safe (he works for the Patent Office and went all the way to Italy to play Ultimate, then didn't do anything touristy because he "doesn't like to travel alone"). Fairly attractive too. So we exchanged numbers, and he sent me his email through CBD today. And me, being the internet stalker that I am, FB-searched his email. What I came up with was a profile for a stuffed monkey named Plepleus. Kinda weird. I'm probably going to try to have a drink with him again, and will probably just bring up the stuffed monkey in a funny sort of way. I like weird people, so depending on his response about the stuffed monkey it might still work out. We'll see. So, that's most of my life these days. We're planning on a trip up to Annapolis this weekend, which should be fun. Will be nice to get away, chill out and eat some good seafood. Other things that are on the horizon-- my sister is in possibly her last month in DC (but that changes about every day) and Kim is leaving for Uzbekistan (SP?) in a couple of weeks where she'll be working for the State Department. Definitely going to miss them both. |
|
|
Quick break from (mostly) doing work. Life has kept me from updating for a little while... I meant to update about the awesome trip back home a couple weekends ago, in which I got to see almost everyone ever. And I remembered how much I heart metro-Detroit. Lately I've been thinking about something this guy told me in Indiana probably about 2 years ago. He was my only decent first date (when I met him at a party, he told me he had been enamoured of me all night--what's not to like?). Nothing came of it because he was graduating from the Journalism program, but he told me that he was from this really rural/shady suburb of Bloomington but being from there and going home keeps him grounded. And that is how I feel about metro-Detroit, in many ways. It's nice to go back to a place where no one is too worried about impressing each other. The fact that it's full of crazy people that I love only makes it better. My life has been totally absorbed by my housing search lately. Johanna and I looked at 4 houses last weekend and fell in love with 2. We met a potential roomate, Laura, who is also 25 and just got back from Peace Corps in Senegal. The three of us applied to an apartment that can best be described as "charming" in a really awesome location (20 min walk to work, 30 min walk to prettymuch any bar worth going to). But right now we're competing with 2 other sets of people to get our references and everything taken care of. Ireallyhopewegetthishouse. We also looked at a 4 bedroom that we loved, but the only interest we can seem to get to fill it is this girl from Detroit. We found each other on Craigslist, I guess she's moving here next month. And we looked at a 2 3/4 bedroom too that we liked, but I was somewhat less excited about the location and the probability of having a student move into the tiny third bedroom. I'm a cranky old lady with little tolerance for 19 year olds these days. But it could work. The rent is cheap : / In other news, I joined a kickball team. It occured to me that joining a kickball team is in many ways like joining a fraternity. Well, not so much as joining a fraternity, but as being in a frathouse. The bar we go to after games is a madhouse full of flippy cup, crazy drunk people, and spilled beer. It's fun, but it's a different kind of fun than I've been used to. Not sure if I'll play beyond this season, but I'm enjoying the new friends I'm making and an excuse to go out on Thursday nights. Also, an amusing story from last Thursday: when I was going to leave I found keys in my purse from Lake Bluff, IL. I thought that maybe someone had stolen my ipod (which I left in my office) and left the keys, but not so. And when I tried to find the keys in my purse later, I couldn't find them. Where they a drunken mirage? I guess I'll never know. Johanna and I have 6 extra people staying in our apartment this weekend. The funny thing is I don't think it'll even be that full. Our apartment is kind of huge. If there's one thing I'll miss about it, it'll be the size. My mom, my grandma, my aunt, my two cousins, and my sister are coming for the weekend. Should be a good time. My aunt and my cousins have never been to DC, or probably even a big city. Well, they've probably been to Detroit, but that's different. Urgh, I have way more to write but I should do work.
Current Location: |
work. |
Current Mood: |
 anxious |
Current Music: |
"Container"- Kalzer's Orchestra (on my Pandora) | |
|
|
I always complain when I don't have enough work, or enough meetings to go to, to get away from my desk. After today, I'm definitely regretting that... Ugh, I spent approx 6 hours in meetings today and didn't really get a lunch break. My. brain. is. fried. On the upside, we are working on some fairly interesting stuff at work, it just makes my head spin sometimes. Sometimes I feel like the little kid struggling to keep up. And other times, I'm the one struggling to understand why the old people are confused, but that's how it goes. And more work is better when you don't have enough work, but holy cow. I think I got assigned at least three new projects that are due by June. That, in addition to a strategic plan that needs to be written and submitted by mid-may (and I'm the designated "writer" in my office). In other things that stress me out, I just found out that we're going to have to pay for half of the month of June. I kind of hate the management in our apartment complex. Not just for this reason, but for many other reasons. Well, at least they never charged us for having cats. I'm just starting to realize how much of a headache moving is going to be. I'm anticipating directing most of my free time and cognitive capacity to dealing with moving, starting in May or so. Also, I am still trying to sell my car. I offered to sell it to this guy for approx $1000 less than the Blue Book value (assuming the quality of the car is "fair", which it might not be) and he's still trying to talk me down from there. But he's coming over tomorrow morning to look at it again. I'm debating whether I should just take what I can get, or if I should just renew my registration and insurance and just keep it until I can get a decent price for it. It's hard to put a price on the value of just being done with it, and not having to deal with it anymore. And it would help me pay off my credit cards. Ugh. I don't know what to do. The only thing that is getting me through is the anticipation of coming home. I always get homesick during the spring, for some reason. And for a variety of other reasons, I've been ready to come home for about a month or so. Looking forward to seeing everyone and getting away from DC and my worries. AND for the first time I'll have seen my sister in a year. Ugh! Can it be at least next Thursday yet!?!?! I'm so ready!
Current Location: |
my office. |
Current Mood: |
 braindead |
Current Music: |
Soul Meets Body- Deathcab, on my Pandora | |
|
|
I've been reminded a bunch of times lately as to why I don't really trust men. I constantly have guys that are in relationships either hitting on me or legitimately trying to pick me up. If I had a dollar for every time a guy with a girlfriend tried to make a real move on me, I would have a lot of dollars. The most recent incident happened last night, when I was out with my co-workers. I was talking to this guy, who works in my office, and we were kind of talking and flirting. And when we were all leaving the bar, he kissed me, asked for my number, and we talked about doing something today. So, thankfully I was too hungover to talk to him on the phone today, when he called me, I texted him back saying I would call him tomorrow. Then he texted me, apologizing, saying he has girlfriend. Awesome. And I get to see him around the office, and at FERC happy hours. Even better. At least the situation is way more awkward for him than it is for me. And the ironic thing is that part of the reason why I was interested in him is that he seemed much nicer than most guys that I usually date (nice bordering on boring, actually...). But I'm making an effort to date outside of my usual "type." Clearly that's paying off. Ugh, there's more I want to write but I'm too hung over to put in the effort.
Current Location: |
my apartment |
Current Mood: |
 hungover |
Current Music: |
The Opposite of Sex | |
|
|
Working for the government is nice because we get even obscure holidays off. Had a 4 day weekend with MLK day (which I've NEVER had off before) and the inauguration. Inauguration weekend was awesome. Lots of excited people in town, and finally we have a president not to be embarrassed by. Good times. I stayed with Cathi and Steve most of the weekend, which was fun as well. Also got to go to the big concert at the Lincoln Memorial and see Everyone Famous EVER (Tom Hanks, Jack Black, Garth Brooks, the Boss, Beyoncee, etc, etc). And by see, I mean I watched them on a JumboTron with a half million other people. This weekend, I also lost everything ever. Things I lost: -cell phone (thank goodness for a nice man who found it and gave it back) -(new!) headphones -umbrella -ONE (leopard print) glove! -the front tires of my car! (and by lost, I mean they are completely flat! I suck at auto maintenance!) I also left my credit card at a bar and left my hiking boots at Cathi's, but I also got those back. Things I acquired this weekend: a nasty cold. Which is maybe sort of a blessing because it's forcing me to stay home and sort my shit out. My mind has been all over lately, and this has given me a much needed opportunity to center myself. The only thing that really sucks about being sick right now is that I actually need to start working at work. Meaning, performing my job tasks even though I don't really know energy policy or speak energy policy yet. It's normal at FERC to spend approx. your first month- 2 months just reading and getting up to speed. Well, I got about two and a half weeks... We have trainings starting in 2 weeks, but at that point these trainings might actually get in the way of me finishing my work : / In other news, I am in love with the band Gogol Bordello. I'm probably about 3 years behind in this (as I tend to be) but I'm totally enamored. Discovered them on the Wristcutters: A Love Story soundtrack (mediocre movie, awesome soundtrack).
Current Location: |
my apartment |
Current Mood: |
sick |
Current Music: |
Wristcutter's soundtrack | |
|
|
Federal employment has been a real trip so far. My primary responsibility right now is to read past Performance Budgets so that I can write future Performance Budgets, but I have surprisingly little time to do this, in between going to presentations, filling out paperwork, and getting lost in the building. My major accomplishment of the last few days was figuring out how to make it from the elevator to my office without getting lost. I have all of these stupid things I need to sign up for (government travel? Flexplace so I can work from home?) that people keep telling me "you really need to sign up for this soon. It's very important." And I really have no idea why. And where I would get the time to do all of this, and do actual work. But I think those frustrations will diminish as time goes on. I'm starting to learn some things about energy markets... I still have a loooong ways to go. There are some really basic concepts that I don't quite grasp at this point. Maybe my boss is just crazy and permanently on crisis mode, but it seems like I don't have that long to figure out what I'm doing. Let's hope I'm wrong. And I'm really thankful to work with a couple of my friends from gradschool (and Melissa is coming in February!) and everyone I meet is really nice, but I verymuch feel like a teeny tiny fish in an ocean. It's been a while since I've really felt this way. It's humbling in a way, but I also have to keep reminding myself that I'm awesome and I deserve to be there. I intend to be the kind of person that doesn't blend into a crowd of government drones in DC, and I need to keep that in mind. I always have two competing voices in the back of my head, one telling me to hide and the other telling me to swathe myself in hot pink and to be bold. In other news, apparently my best friend from high school (Cheri) is pregnant?!?! I think this would freak me out less any other week. I feel like too much of a grown up this week. How did we get this old? I don't understand.
Current Mood: |
pensive | |
|
|
Wasting time with a survey before my train leaves. Holy cow, do I have a lot of crap to bring back with me. It was a good visit, but I'm really ready to go back to DC. Ready to start my new life, as cheezy/weird as that sounds. ( 2008 Survey (stolen from Esther) )
Current Location: |
Roseville, MI |
Current Mood: |
 waiting |
Current Music: |
my Pandora station | |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=88.8){kind=small}
ihrtjimmorrison's journal
unfocused