Life Updates

I’ve been totally MIA lately, but as you can see from the plethora of categories, it’s been a time. A month ago my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and it doesn’t look great. She’s receiving radiation now, and will be re-evaluated this week to determine where it is and what the chemo process is going to be. I can’t express feeling/emotion to my family because I have been “the rock” since childhood, so I’ve been holding in a lot and it’s honestly starting to fuck with my head. Ellie’s been MY rock through this, and I wish I could express how much that means to me, or let her in more.

Graduation was Friday, so I am officially an MS in College Student Development & Counseling. This also means I need a job ASAP because there are no more loans coming in and no more money in my Assistantship stipend. I also feel compelled to be the proper little housewife for the duration of my unemployment, but the feelings of anxiety and being overwhelmed make it hard to become motivated.

A week ago, President Obama announced the death of Osama Bin Laden. Although it’s been over a week, I still wanted to record my thoughts for posterity. I’m happy that justice has been served, but am saddened by the fact that so many people are expressing JOY at a person’s death, like we’ve just won the World Series after 86 years. I feel it was disrespectful to all of the victims of his rein of terror and hate. I also fear it will fuel his followers into carrying on his mission. I honestly don’t think this will change much, if anything when it comes to terrorism around the globe. Pessimistic outlook to have, but true.

I’m off to do some housework and then, hopefully, send out a couple more job applications. We’ll see how that goes.

Determined to Post

Well, other than working at my GA this week (in addition to my regular shifts, I’ve been proctoring exams for the Disability Office, and finals are next week, so I’m getting a ton of hours), I have nothing to do until I get a job. So, I am making a promise to myself that I will treat my weekdays as semi-work days.

So, this is a written promise to myself and readers (the few of you that exist) that I will do the following until I get a job:

• Make a post to one of my 3 main blogs (here, spiritual and/or wedding) at least twice per week.
• Spend at least two days per week searching and applying for real jobs. I have been notorious for saving jobs but not applying in a reasonable amount of time, and have begun to slack off more about actually searching.
• Spend at least one day per week searching for temporary employment to supplement until I get a real job.
• Read a real book for at least half an hour three days per week. I would like to get this up to five days, but am going to set small goals. I spend FAR too much time on my computer and need to cut the crap.

So, let’s see how this little experiment goes, shall we?

Yet Another Chapter Closed

I’m officially done with graduate school. I still have a week of my Graduate Assistantship left, but it’s not actually part of my education–it’s more like a Work Study job, only without the financial need requirement. Graduation is May 6, and I have a couple of events left, but they are basically just fun events with my cohort.

It’s surreal thinking that I’m done with graduate school. I now have to get my ass in gear and start applying for jobs because I am BROKE. The idea of applying for and getting a job is stressful as hell, and I know that stress leads me to shut down, which is very bad. I just have to set goals for myself and make sure I apply to at least one job every day during the week  and I will feel like I I’m making progress.

I’m tired, and am not in the best place mentally for myriad reasons, none of which I have any interest in discussing with anyone, let alone the random public that may or may not read my blog. Not that I don’t consider many of you to be actual friends, but I just don’t have the energy, know what I mean?

Not a Real Hiatus

I’m not ignoring this blog, I promise. The problem is that I have been feeling stressed lately, and we’ve been looking at wedding venues (two separate links!), which is making me get really antsy about the wedding. Plus I’m going to NYC this weekend for shiggles and dress searching with my MoH’s (not planning to buy, especially in NYC, but it’s an excuse to get away for a couple days and have some fun). Thus I’m pretty exclusively blogging at the wedding site. Not to mention the fact that, other than the wedding, my life is pretty damn boring lately.

WIT is super dull–it’s the height of the year in Operations because of Housing Selection, yet I’ve still been given nothing to do.

MCPHS is better, but it’s still pretty slow until after warnings go out and I can finally start meeting with students that are academically at-risk (ooo, that’s a good phrase to put in my resume!)

Classes are pretty average; not a lot of work, but I do have a project in a couple weeks that I need to get the reading done for so I can get together with my partner and plan. I am so absolutely done with this semester it’s not even funny. Just get me out and into a job!

And I still have to work on my presentation for the True Colors Conference, which I’ll do after we get back from our trip to NJ next week.

Deperate Times Call for Girl Scouts?

I should probably not be thinking too heavily about this yet, but I am a little worried about the idea of graduating and needing to find a job in just a few short months–I don’t have my dad’s house to go back to after graduation, and can’t rely on Ellie to support me forever. Have I discussed this before? Yeah, well, if I have, skip the rest of this post. If not, still feel free to skip 😀

I’ve already applied for a couple of jobs. I have no hopes of getting them since I will not likely have graduated by the time they hire someone, but it’s always worth a shot, and these are positions that I REALLY want. I can’t not go for them. One in particular is MADE for me. But I’m not going to get my hopes up–if I can even get an interview I will be ecstatic.

This lack of a job reminds me of the fact that, as of a week ago, I have no more income. I can hope to get some kind of refund from the Federal Government, but I’m honestly not looking forward to one this year. I have thought about doing the unthinkable–going back to Girl Scout Day Camp as a Counselor for the summer. But I hesitate for more reasons than the obvious one that I have no desire to be outdoors all day all summer long in the humidity and rain. My actual biggest deterrent is the idea that I will get a ‘real’ job that will want me to start before the summer is over (highly likely in Student Affairs), thus making me put the camp into a crappy situation being one Counselor short. I know that ultimately my career is more important than summer camp, but it would still leave a guilty feeling.

So, faithful readers, should I try to get some kind of summer job (camp or something else), or just feel confident that I’ll be able to find a job before the money runs out?