Erincita

Reality Bites
Tuesday, August 17, 2004

I hate being a grown-up. Making grown-up money might soften the blow, but alas, I am left with grown-up obligations and a college-size pocketbook. It blows. Remind why I went to college again? Being a barista, believe it or not, was a very intriguing position for me in college. I was somewhat covetous. Don't get me wrong now, because I enjoy my work now, but it seems God has decided to humble me by granting my desires as a 20-year-old at age 25. I had sort of moved on from barista dreams but, as they say, better late than never. The part that sucks is bills, especially car insurance bills with a shabby record like mine. I bit the bullet and wrote the check today. The good part of being a grown-up who works for Starbucks is the benefits, which I've recently been perusing via the internet. I've tentatively chosen a dentist and a primary care physician whose specialty is dermatology. You see, I have this bump on my head, right above my right ear, and it's been there for months and months. It seems to be getting bigger and it's definitely more tender to the touch than it used to be. The pain is supposedly a good sign: supposedly it rules out the chance that I have a brain tumor or that the bump is mushy gray matter seeping out of my skull. Yuck. There are theories such as lymph node problems or a possible ingrown hair. I don't much care as long as I can get rid of it. I'd like to think that I had an attractive head if I ever wanted to shave it. It's something all of us want deep down inside.

10:19 PM |

Baby Lexus
Monday, August 16, 2004

My sweet, sweet baby, yet again marred by a loving but perpetually flawed mama. It's like having a black eye, dealing with a spare tire until I can get her a replacement. Continuing on the black eye tract, would that make this like cataract surgery? Never mind. A tire blew out on the way home from work, and I resolved the problem by becoming a member of AAA over the phone in my time of need. I'm thankful for my health and the fact that time was not of the essence. Work was over and tomorrow is my day off. I am now back at my place. I want to name it the same way Dana named "la buca" so I would welcome any suggestions. An adjective and a noun are necessary i.e. "sweet honda" or "fabulous yard". The tire guy was a sweetheart. He gave me a tootsie pop when he was finished to make me feel better and it did the trick.

8:08 PM |

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Yay for comments! I am inspired to write again. Love the family. You tend to appreciate family more when they're far away. As most readers know, Mom, Dad and Dana left for California on Sunday afternoon. Saturday was a frazzled day of packing and tying up loose ends, and I feel that I have at least partially redeemed myself for my poor track record of family moving obligations. One of the best parts was Dad being impressed at using my legs instead of my back to lift. He was suprised that my legs were that strong and it means alot from him because he usually depends on Dana to do all the heavy lifting. That's not to discount Dana, of course. She and Dad still had to move some of the most cumbersome furniture. Even Jon came over to help out, which is above and beyond the duty of eldest daughter's boyfriend. Mom and Dad will hire movers next time. We were all rummy and exhausted by the time it got dark and they finally relented and admitted that they wouldn't be able to leave at dawn the next day. I'm fairly certain they've made it to socal by now and I'm looking forward to hearing how the trip went. Well, I hope.
I have started volunteering at my church again. Tuesdays from 9:30am to 1:30pm. Last week I created a spreadsheet all by myself. Not too impressive, I know, but it's something that I wasn't able to do before. Today I may working on attendance for the roster I created, and I don't know if that will require using Access. We'll see. Right now I'm just answering the phones while everyone is in a staff meeting and trying to wake up. I had a late night but it was well worth the drowsiness I'm suffering at the moment. I called my dear friend Megan after I got off work and suprised her at her house before the call ended. We cuaght up while she fed me home-made apple pie and lemonade. Megan's one of those people who's always ready for company even when she's not expecting it (at 10pm, for example), and I love her for it. It's just so amazing how my new living arrangement has changed my relationships. All of my friends I used to make such an effort to see are now my neighbors. I love it! I'm alot busier than I thought I would be and I hate putting off my chores, but Kate has been exceedingly understanding and says it's only the first month. She allots me a certain number of hours to do my chores, and takes about $8 of my rent for every hour, so if I don't get around to doing something we can still work out a reasonable rent check for each month. Still, I want them to be able to depend on me for what I agreed to do and now that I know how busy I am I can be more diligent about it.
Work is just work. I'm more efficient each passing day and getting to know more customers, realizing that I will miss them if I get the transfer I'm hoping for after my six-month review. There's just nothing for me on the Eastside besides work, so I'd like to cut the commute out of my schedule. I really have all these dreams of what could come from Starbucks, like moving up into corporate and travel and help to open stores in other countries. How fun does that sound!!? If I get a decent review and the transfer after six months I might start pursuing something along those lines, because I'd rather start in low at the corporate level than moving on up in the retail realm. I feel kind of silly talking like this when I'm just a lowly barista, but it's fun to dream and great to have goals, right? I'm learning to be content with where I'm at and doing the best I can with what I've got. We often overlook how fortunate we are.

10:04 AM |