Closing a Few Doors

I read a very interesting article in The New York Times entitled “The Advantages of Closing a Few Doors” (which you can read in full here), explicating a study regarding the reason(s) for which people try so hard to keep ‘those doors’ open in their lives.

Is it safe to assume that we all have ‘those doors’ which we try to keep open . . . just in case? I think so. I know I have a few. The article reiterated that which I already knew but at times stubbornly do not want to acknowledge, that we keep ‘those doors’ open & make excuses for doing so because it is too painful to let go.

Over the past few years I realized that in order to move forward, I not only have to stop living my life in fear of making bad choices and/or getting hurt, but start taking chances and be willing to close some of ‘those doors’ behind me. Time and again I am reminded of the fact that my life is in God’s hands. And, I acknowledge that by keeping my options open . . . just in case . . . I am demonstrating a lack of faith. He opens and closes doors for reasons that I will never fully understand, but I have to continually learn to trust in Him, for He himself says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Kristen

* “God never slams a door in your face without opening a box of Girl Guide cookies." Eat, Pray, Love. *

Coo-Coo

Okay. So. My biological clock is ticking so hard it feels like the coo-coo bird's beak is piercing my heart every time the damn alarm goes off.

Problem is, I made a pact with my husband that we would wait 1 full year after we got married before we would start trying for a baby. Unfortunately for me, I made that pact with my head and not my heart, and certainly without consulting my biological clock, so now my words are coming back to bite me in the uterus. I mean, heart. Er, I mean, ass.

But, 15 weeks isn’t that long to wait, right? Especially when I’m going to be stuck with that mini-Martin for the next 18 years… ;)

Trust Your Journey

Making Lists

It’s been …

7 weeks

50 days

1200 hours

72,000 minutes

4,320,000 seconds

… since I had a job.

I’ve cleaned and de-cluttered the house, Craigslisted the clutter, painted the girl-child’s room, walked the dog, applied for hundreds of jobs, had dozens of interviews, and watched a crap load of movies on Netflix, and pinned hundreds of pins on Pinterest.

I’m starting to get antsy. I LOVE not working, however, I do miss the paycheck (and shopping) and having a purpose (although sleeping in till noon is rather nice), though I still have so much to do.

My List:

-          Spend more time with my step-brats (as I affectionately call them)

-          Lose 50 lbs

-          Use the crock pot at least once a week

-          Babysit for at least 1 friend each week 

-          Paint feature wall in Kitchen

-          Hang pictures on feature wall in Kitchen

-          Paint Feature wall in Living Room

-          Get new curtains for Living Room

-          Paint Master Bathroom

-          Re-organize garage. Again.

-          Get to know my neighbors

-          Gardening – get more rocks for the rose garden and dig out rocks out of South garden to make room for plants/flowers, and clean off patio so I can bring up new patio furniture.

And on, and on, and on… 

With my luck (and I cross my fingers, knock on wood, and say a few prayers that this is true!!!) I’ll have a job by next week and won’t be able to cross anything else off my list.  ;)

You don't bring me flowers...

...So I bought them for myself!

I just had to bring a little bit o'Spring inside the house until I am motivated enough to get outside and do some gardening. 

On a roll.

I was on a roll, or so I thought.

I had written a very real blog post about Integrity likening my experience at a former employer to Mad Men, with allegories and fashion… and then I deleted it, along with about 10 other blog posts I had lined up to post.

In the meantime, my contract job ended and I’ve been spending my time sleeping in and sipping vino.

I'll come up with some new material...eventually. For now, I am enjoying my freedom.

All This Stuff

I'm in the process of de-cluttering the townhouse because a) we've got too much stuff and, b) we need the extra cash. It's therapeutic to get shed the things that are cluttering up your life, but it's hard to let go at the same time. I'm workin' on it. 



Found this clip about "Stuff" and it's pretty funny stuff. 

A Change Will Do You Good - Part Deux

Remember when I said that thing about change? Yeah, well… I dyed my hair. Red. After being a blonde for 35 years I decided it was time for a change. I'm still getting used to it, but I am looking forward to putting the whole 'Do Blondes really have more fun?' question to the test. 

A Change Will Do You Good

The only thing constant is change. Right?

In a few days I will be back out on the streets, hitting the pavement, looking for another job.

I wish I could get paid to hang out with friends, drinking wine, sharing stories, reading blogs and viewing Pinterest, and just being my fabulous self… but that just isn’t reality. Dammit.

Over the past 2 years I have had over 100 interviews for different jobs.  I’ve gotten pretty good at the whole interview process – mostly because I like to talk and am completely honest. Honesty is the best policy! Though other sources may tell you to play it cool and put your best foot forward, I choose to live with integrity and say, “You’re going to get the real me when you hire me, so I’d rather be the real me up front”.  Besides, the real me is pretty awesome.

I am off to yet another interview. Wish me luck!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

When I was a kid, any time I was asked that question I picked something different – teacher, nurse, actor, singer, veterinarian, mother - all seemed entirely plausible at the time. I was footloose and fancy free, and had absolutely no idea of what I actually wanted to be when I grew up. I thought eventually it would come to me. A light bulb over my head moment. But it never did.

I struggled in university, flunking out of my Education courses (I wanted to be a teacher, right?) and barely passing my Communications courses (Marketing sounds cool, right?), so I took some time off. I started working at a bank and my career snowballed from there, dabbling in customer service, fraud investigations, compliance, and eventually demoting myself to executive assistant.

Now, here I am at 35 years old, and I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up. 

I hope I figure it out soon, because I will be out of a job in another 2 weeks. *shrugs shoulders* 

New Year, New Post

Though I am newly married and was excited to spend NYE with my new husband, I was more excited to hang out with my sister. See, she's moved far away (no longer just down the hall) and I miss hanging out with her whenever I want to. Which is, pretty much all the time. Hence the reason I was excited to have her come over to my place, drink wine, play games, listen to music, and ring in the new year by toasting champagne. While so much has changed (I got married and became a mother), some things stay the same. #therewereneversuchdevotedsisters