Since When Do I Watch Football?

Marriage--one of the precarious things about being in my early twenties. No, I am not engaged, but my peers keep pairing off two by two. It seems like once they tie the knot, they have a baby or two or not in that order...either way, we stop having much in common.

Instead of being a whole list of things like friend, sister, emergency contact person (lol), they become Wife and Mother. These two roles are always so infuriating because their tag-line is "You just don't understand...," like I'm less of a human being because I haven't gotten knocked-up or kneeled to become someone's doting house wife.

Some day I might be there, planning a wedding or painting a baby's room but right now I'm a recent graduate with a Bachelor's degree. And I live with my parents.

I mention all of this because until several months ago, I had avoided dating for several years. My brother decided not to date while in school because he wanted to remain focused. He also said, "Watching people together, they always seem so unhappy and stressed out." After cutting out chunks of my sanity to try dating, I took a cue from my younger brother.

In an odd sort of way, the timing of my life is panning out better than I expected.
Graduate high school.
Go to college.
Graduate college.
Get a job.
...and then somewhere toward the end I wanted to get involved with someone and THEN consider making such a drastic change in roles.

Maybe I thought I'd be a spinster (which is still a possibility. lol.), maybe I thought I'd make a huge mistake and have to drop out to raise a fatherless child, maybe I thought I'd fall head-over-heels into a romantic comedy with cheesy music.

Somehow, I met my high school sweetheart at twenty-three. Everything is rather simple and nicely paced, a new pattern for my life.

To make a definitive point, I'll connect this strange dating ramble to football.

Out of all the things I thought might happen, I never thought I'd be watching a football game. I'm not athletic. Period. My boyfriend, however, is. He played on our high school football team and is a huge Colts fan. His mother is too and, incidentally, owns four season tickets. Like I said, big fans.

Despite the fact that I've always had a sour spot for girls/women who do odd new things when they get involved with someone romantically, I was compelled to at least learn a little.

My stepmother is a huge HUGE Colts fan. She has every kind of Colts paraphernalia I can think of--even a seat cover for her BLUE car. She has been more than obliged to tutor me. Surprisingly, even my dad answers questions. (He's famous in our family for telling people to shut up and be quiet while watching TV.)

So,
Get job (several)
Graduate high school
Go to college
Get more jobs
Graduate college
Date high school sweetheart ?
Get another job...

Oh yeah, that's the other thing I'm spinning my head on. I landed a blogging job at the biggest communications company in the state. It's a very modest position with very modest pay but it's something I want to do.

dear diary: today i watched my first football game. then i got my first kinda real job.

Lol.

Vacation 2011: Day 5

After a number of days in a condo with nine members of my family, I'm ready to go home. I enjoyed the laying around and excessive eating, unnecessary spending and beautiful scenery--but it's time to go home.

Going home I can get back to my "big girl" bed and keep looking for my "big girl" job. I can stop hating myself every time I undress because I'm thinking about the amount of calories I just consumed.

Another goal I have that should help my job search: lose weight. Being obese can send the wrong message about my work ethic and responsible nature. Not to mention I'd like to go back to smiling every time I get in the shower instead of grimacing at the mirror.

Vacation 2011: Boying Mt. Day 1

Less than twelve hours into vacation. We've been looking through local travel guides, trying to plan events-ish. With my back, I can't participate in a lot of things.

No horses, distance hiking, biking Mackinac Is., zip lining, wave runners, etc.
Ugh, long list.

Then, on a long drive into green, green and more green (the very tall and woodsy kind) a beach appeared. Not just a beach but a beach with a tiki bar stand. Tomorrow the pack will be hiking while I'm sleeping in and then they'll be catching their breath while I'm sipping a Mai Thai.

We have different ideas of vacation but everyone agrees that hot tubs are awesome. Particularly 49 capacity hot tubs.

After sampling the smaller pool and indoor hot tub across the lot, my cousin consulted a map and found the "frickin' huge" hot tub. Apres dine, we drove over. The other pool/hot tub are behind the Clock Tower Lounge and across the pond from "The Castle."

I'm calling it that because that's exactly what it looks like--classy and romantic trellises and wood work surrounded by a cute mock-Swiss village. Sitting on a rock infront of the lounge for a smoke, I saw the fountain. In the center of the pond is a fountain that shoots red and blue all night...right infront of the beautiful castle.

Tomorrow requires a camera. I need to capture some of these things. The green here is missed back home where rain has been away for awhile. Looking up the ski lift, there is a large hill with massive trees everywhere.

Well-to-do families have gorgeous cabins here. Some of these "cabins" are several stories and bigger than any home I've even stayed in.

Enough. I need to get back to my pull-out couch I'm sharing with my cousin. So, that part isn't the best...

God doesn't want Papa to have a Break

I set off with my grandparents today on vacation. Everything they do takes forever--not because they're older but because they have no sense of urgency. I was told to show up at 9:30 AM, so I crawled out of a comfy bed with my boyfriend to shower and drive over. Naturally...they weren't even out of bed. Then we had to have breakfast not at a drive-thru but an actual sit down restaurant.

I wish I had their patience. If the world were going to end tomorrow, they would still spend several minutes every day making the bed together. They'd watch "Jeopardy" and "The Price is Right." No matter the impending threat, nothing is going to make them afraid of the all-consuming clock.

One thing today did make them urgent. We got a call saying my great grandmother is in the hospital and in a poor state. She is my Papa's mother-- Grandy's mother died last November.

Maybe that has something to do with good and bad things always coming in threes.

My dad saw the humor in the situation. A couple of times in the last several years, Grandy and Papa have been haulted on leaving for vacation. Heart problems. Illness. Now Grandma's in the hospital. "Someone up there just doesn't think Dad deserves a break," said my dad.

He's right. This past year has been hell for our family. Happy loving people but lots of sick and sadness. Three cases of pneumonia, several hard flus, a handful of hospital visits and a funeral. Two of us almost died this year and one truly did.

_____________________________

In South Bend, we drove past the hospital my brothers and I were born in. At my request, we drove past the house we lived in. Things look so strange years later. I thought the house would look smaller since I've obviously gotten bigger.

Not so much.

___________________________

In Grand Rapids and lucky Grandy and Papa have decided to continue heading for vacation. Pheew! Rumor has it they were going to leave me in Grand Rapids (with all of my luggage) to wait for someone to pick me up on their way to our vacation.

Enough rambling...

Va-ca-tion is Sangria & Beach Chairs

I don't have much time to update but I'm taking my laptop on vacation...or at least that's the plan.

Half of my family feels the way I do about vacation-- lots of sleep, lots of sitting with mixed drinks in the sun and lots of unhealthy food. The other half think each day starts at dawn and that each hour must be packed with plans--hiking, canoeing, exploring.

Don't get me wrong, I do love shopping and spending a short day on the tourist strip. I'm bringing some books though and enough cash to pick up a six-pack of coolers.

I have little news on the job front: my boss at my mall job has told me there are several management positions open and she's set me up to interview with her boss. Crossed fingers! It's not necessarily my dream job but it pays better than my current one.

On living with parents again: "your room" actually means 'the space you will occupy until we have a more favored guest aka. someone older'. I am currently vacating the premises after some serious time scrubbing down my area. I know this isn't my home anymore but thinking about that gives me a kind of lost feeling.

Instead of sleeping on a couch, etc. I'm headed over to my boyfriend's for the night. Awesome--full grown man has a rickety old twin bed. Tomorrow morning begins my vacation and I won't be back for approximately ten days!

This calls for a happy dance.

Mayflower's Daughter, aka Me

Today was both exciting and embarrassing. I interviewed with a younger woman for an internship for a phenomenal communications company. Interviewing with someone closer to my age feels more relaxing, like maybe they remember vividly what it's like to be in my seat.

Every person I've interviewed with so-far--for every job I've had over the last five years--has been a middle-aged woman. It's hard to tell someone who has ten times the credentials and years of experience I have that I am so indispensable she must hire me.

Of course, I don't know quite yet how the interview went from the other end. I felt positive my recent interview for the editing position went moderately well. The interviewer seemed quite pleased with me on all counts but my confusion over many parts of InDesign. It is now eight days later and I haven't heard back.

(On a side note: After being tutored by several people on interview etiquette, I emailed the woman to thank her for her time and express my genuine interest in the position. In retrospect, I wish I would have sent her a hand-written thank you note but I worried it would not reach her in time. I was wrong.)

The embarrassing part of the interview was "the tour." Most interviews have them. Amiable interviewers  will give you a tour of the work space and introduce you around. I've always seen this as a sign they are fond of me but today felt particularly different.

I felt positive vibes from the people and place but I was introduced to everyone as ______ Mayflower's daughter. Things like this worry me.

Back when I was applying for college, I received a rejection letter from DePauw--a Methodist run college. My grandfather, a long-standing Methodist minister, argued that I should allow him to speak to a few people. To me, this meant I wouldn't be accepted so much as my family's name would be accepted.

I want to be known for riding on my own credentials and abilities. Networking is the number one key to the job market but I don't want my name to be confused with anyone else's. I've always envied people with large silver spoons. I've also always feared people seeing me the same way, as a person who never has to work for what they get.

The plans for tomorrow are to attend physical therapy (which is turning out to be somewhat exhilarating) and then continue work for my grandfather. The man had boxes and boxes of bills, reports, etc. that needed to be filed. Now that I'm done with that I get to set up a filing system for his hundreds of sermons. I owe them quite a bit for this opportunity though...I desperately need the money.

Beginning the Search

I plan to turn my blog into  a record of this quest I am on. Like so many recent graduates, I am stumbling through the dried up job market. Even better, with no money, I've been forced to move in with my parents.

I'm sure most young adults are aware that moving back in with your parents is... well, it sucks. In high school, I was required to always let them know where I was or was going. Now the stakes are higher. They call me throughout the day, look over my shoulder at my screen, ask for rundowns of my days. What are my plans? Have I considered this? Did I get the emailS they sent me?

After applying to a handful of clerical jobs through IU Health that my stepmother found, I stumbled on a few jobs myself. I found a "social networking position." --My boyfriend calls it "corporate trolling." I went through the 8hr training coarse and worked hard to try to get a handle on it. When applying, I thought I would be running a blog, Twitter, or Facebook page for a company I was assigned. That's not exactly what the position called for.

On top of the "social networking position," I got a call from a friend saying a friend of his had posted that her workplace was looking for an editor. A couple of phone calls and messages later, I sent my resume to the girl's boss. I got an email a couple days later and an interview several days after that.

I interview well... at least I thought I did. I'm friendly and speak well. However, no one had ever explained what a "working interview" is. The interviewer, thankfully a very friendly and patient woman, had me edit a few pages and then sat me down to InDesign. Editing is not a problem for me... in fact, I'm one of those strange people that enjoys it.

My resume says I have experience with InDesign and Photoshop... perhaps I should have explained the experience I have was forcibly learned in less than two months. I learned a lot for such a small time period but I have no experience with formatting for a print piece. Given a couple of weeks, I would easily pick up enough tricks to have a working knowledge. That's not exactly what the interviewer got to see.

After struggling for over an hour, I had the heavy feeling she was distinctly disappointed.

So here I am. I have a confusing and embarrassing job that feels an awful lot like a scam. I am waiting not so patiently for a call back on an interview. And today...I am headed to my dad's workplace to interview for an unpaid internship.

The internship is a great opportunity but it's not getting me any closer to leaving my parents' house.