Finally Friday

Man - this was a long week. Monday, I thought I was going to have an easy day, sinces I was told I could spend the week studying for a certification. Then, monday afternoon, I found out about a new project opportunity (week and a half max) and, me being the procrastinator that I am, agreed to put off my certification and start this new project. So, tuesday I was back out at Redmond. Now, the short "no more than 8 days" project might get extended an additional month.

Its a good thing they're paying me well.

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Also, we may have finally found a reason for Jason's wierd nighttime puke marathons.
It ain't a great diagnosis, but it could be worse. His ultrasound confirmed a gallstone. So, that probably means surgery.
Woohoo! 3 surgeries since february in our family.

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1. Something in your house that isn’t where it should be.


Whenever any cabinet in the house is opened, the l-o-l-a monster immediately must inspect.

2. Something you broke, but kept it.

My parents bought this plaster giraffe at a garage sale. They've had it since I can remember. When Jason and I were married, It moved with us to Mississippi, and the front legs broke off in the process. I glued them back with epoxy.

3.Food that you have in your house that you never eat (or drink).

I just took a pic of the entire fridge, because I HATE eating leftovers. They just don't taste the same.

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and I'm outa here. Enjoy your weekend. Go Horns!

indifference

What do I want to do?

I’ve been asked that question more times in the last 6 months than I think I’ve been asked my entire life. My current employer is awesome because they appear to genuinely care about that. Not only because placing me in a position that makes me happy and furthers my career goals is profitable for them in the long run, but also because when I’m unhappy, I advertise that I am unhappy, and the company looks bad. I went to business school, I know that all organizations have ulterior motives.

The problem is, I don’t have an answer. My job is NOT my life. My job is what allows me to live my life. And I don’t want that to change.

That question, “What do I want?” is answered much more easily.
I want to make enough money to live comfortably.
I want the ability to work from home from time to time.
I want a 40 hour work week max.
I want my career to escalate through time.

But, “What do I want to do?”
I’m wordless.

There are way too many things, and none of them are relevant to what I was educated to do. I want to be a forensic investigator and put together pieces of the puzzle and solve mysteries. I want to be a doctor and heal people. I want to volunteer with the red cross and help build houses for the evacuees in the gulf coast. I want to design buildings. I want to see Europe.

Sometimes I feel like I was pushed into my profession. My parents are/were computer people. My brother is a computer person. It is natural to assume that I would also enjoy the occupation. I didn’t know, so I followed their advice, went to business school, and got an MIS degree. It was comfortable, because I knew what I was getting into.

I think that is one fault of being a parent. You love your child so much that your advice may be tainted towards a successful career versus a “soulful” career.

I’m not blaming my parents for pushing me in a certain direction. I’m glad they did. I’m sure if they weren’t supportive I’d be a floundering Liberal Arts major who had changed degree plans a dozen times before settling on psychology or something.

I now have a focused career path. I know where it will lead me. I know what my responsibilities will be if I continue. I know that most people would choose this path (if they had a chance) because it is profitable, and lucrative, and sounds impressive. I work hard, and I do a great job.

My current job is emotionally satisfying and challenging. There are definitely good days and bad. More good usually. But I truly believe that anyone can sustain a bad job as long as they know how long it will last. God Bless the navy for moving us every 2 years.
Maybe I don’t want to get too emotionally attached because I know I will have to give up my position eventually.

So, back to the question. “What do I want to do? There are left and right turns in my path, and I just want to stay on the road. Then again, someday I might just pull over and make a u-turn.

aftermath and 'after-math'

So, labor day has passed. Goodbye white shoes, Hello frost on the windshield. Well, not frost yet, but man did it feel frosty this morning on the ferry. I wore a coat.
50 degree mornings are not my cup of tea. I cannot wait till Monterey.

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I decided I’m not going to write a long editorial about the hurricane. Yes, I was indirectly affected. No, my suffering is no where near as huge as what some are experiencing. Yes, I’ve spent hours thinking about what I would do if I still lived there. That’s about it. It is time to move on. The cities will rebuild.

Please note I’m not trying to belittle the situation. Katrina was a terrible thing to happen to the US. The fact is there are much better journalers out there who have written beautiful tributes and eye-opening contributions to this issue. Go read them. I’ll wait.

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Jason and I have spent the past month researching his mother’s retirement, fiddling with computers, puzzling, and working.

He is about to start a new schedule on his ship that includes frequent short deployments, so life should get hectic soon. We haven’t gotten orders yet. The newest word is that we will be moving in the april-may time frame. Which has its pros and cons. Pros are that we will finally get out of the moving-at-christmas-time schedule. Cons are that I have to continue commuting for another 8-9 months (Yikes!) I knew I could do it when it was going to be 8 months at the most, but doubling that is worrisome and slightly stressful to me. Pros – I’d get a full year of work on my resume. Cons – I’ve already used my vacation days, so now I’ll have to work over Christmas.

So, it really isn’t that bad waiting till April, but it screws with my “type A” schedule.

The puzzle…is coming slowly. Thanks a bunch Andrew! This is the same 4000 piece puzzle I started in January. I think I’m about 2/3-3/4 of the way done with it. I’m sure I’ve lost pieces since I started it (because the cat thinks she can play puzzle too) and I know for a fact that I have at least one duplicate piece.

The computers – well, that’s really Jason’s project. He’s been working on turning a linux based pc into a tivo for about a year now. I’m hesitant to say he has finished successfully, since the moment I do, the tv gods will inform our pc to stop working instantly. And since today is a duty day, I will have no pacifier tv to keep me company tonight.

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Lastly, the retirement. I think I might hate the retirement more than I hate the tv. Mostly because it is absolutely completely 100% out of my control. All I can do is give my opinion (and money) and sit back and watch. To summarize, mother-in-law found out she can buy back a certain number of years of work. Doing this will increase her retirement pay exponentially. It is a no-brainer situation. But to do this, you have to pay cash money NOW, and well, she doesn’t have it. Our family unit fortunately does have the cash to cover this expense without any major inconveniences. So, now, MIL is excited and kind of being pressured (I mean this in a completely nice way) to retire yesterday now instead of finishing out the year and adding even more to her retirement pay.

She desperately wants to call it quits. I really feel for her. I understand the pressures of family to do one thing while your brain tells you to do another. I also understand how it feels to hate your job, and wake up miserable every day because there’s nothing else.

But I also believe that retirement is not just something you wake up one day and decide to do. (not that this is how MIL got to this point) There is a certain amount of preparation that needs to be done, and I don’t think she has taken the time to sit down and actually go over her budget.

Also, the thought of retirement without a backup plan scares the hell out of me. I don’t ever want to be in that situation, so why would I help anyone I know and care about get there?

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Before (yellow circle encloses our house.)

After