Well the past two weeks have been very eventful. I didn't expect any of it to happen, and in a short time the majority of my life drastically changed. I will give you as much of a condensed version as possible, but I apologize in advance for the length.
Sunday the 15th I was searching online for jobs, just looking for something different that I could potentially do instead of Mathnasium. I wasn't looking too seriously, but I was on the Sylvan website and they didn't have anything posted but had a way to submit your resume and other information to be considered in the future. I figured it couldn't hurt, so I went for it. I honestly didn't think I'd hear anything from them.
Monday I had off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day so I brought my car to the shop and planned to relax. And low and behold who do I get a phone call from, but a lady at Sylvan. At first she offered me a position doing an after school tutoring program in the city schools 2 days a week, but it wouldn't be enough to justify leaving the job I had, which I told her. She said she had to talk to her staff and she'd get back to me, and she did, 15 minutes later and offered me the after school program and 10 hours a week as a math tutor at one of their centers. I was kind of shocked, just based on my resume and a quick conversation she was offering me a position. So we set up a time to talk the next day and I was left with a lot to think about. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and talking with my parents and a few friends about my options. Most people laid out the facts clearly enough that it was pretty obvious what I should logically should do.
Tuesday was a very long and emotional day! Work at school went well, nothing out of the ordinary. After school I came home and tried to relax and not stress out about having an interview. As I walked into the interview I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out I didn't need to be worried at all. I ended up asking more questions than the lady I was talking to. It wasn't a typical interview at all. It was more just seeing if I was willing to take the job and if I had any questions about the program. She was willing to hire me before I walked through the door. It was all happening really quickly, which was a little scary but also kind of exciting. So I left that meeting, talked to my Mom on the phone quickly telling her I had accepted the position at Sylvan, texted my boss at Mathnasium just telling her I needed to leave early the next day and that I would need to speak with her at some point before I did, and then I walked into my first grad class of the semester. Talk about crazy!! 3 hours of class was broken down into an hour and a half of logic/reasoning puzzles and questions and the other hour and a half was discussions about how we reason through things and how that relates to learning, and other class business stuff. It's going to be a really good class. Plus we played the Green Glass Room (a camp riddle) which is always a plus! Then I went home, wrote my letter of resignation, tried to process what the heck had happened in the course of the day, and then went to bed.
Wednesday was also long, and emotional. I walked into Mathnasium knowing that my bosses had no clue I was going to resign. I went about my day as usual, had the conversation with one of my bosses who was there and gave her my letter, which was difficult. She took it hard and honestly looked like she was about to cry but I immediately felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I taught a few students and then left early so that I could go to training for the after school program for Sylvan. That was the real reason that everything needed to happen so quickly. I needed to be trained and start working pretty immediately. The training was interesting and the people I'll be working with all seem nice. After I left there I spoke with a coworker from Mathnasium and my parents and another friend on the phone and then just tried to get some sleep since that was lacking all week!
Thursday was long because of the amount of work. School and Mathnasium is a normal work day, but knowing I would be leaving there meant that I had a lot to do. My bosses responded with an email requesting a very long list of items get done before I leave. It was between 10-20 hours worth of work on top of my teaching responsibilities there. It was a little ridiculous but I said I would get it done.
Friday was significantly less stressful! Just work at school, and then coffee with a good friend so that we could catch up and talk about life. I was running on very little sleep all week and ended up just going to bed early that night. It was kind of a lame Friday night but my body wanted sleep for sure.
Saturday I worked at Mathnasium for 10 hours. I taught for 4, trained the person taking my job for another 2 and then worked on other things for another 4 hours. It was a very, very long day. I was not thrilled with it at all, and by the end of the day I was very glad to be leaving and only having 2 more days there. That night was another early bed time.
Sunday was a lot of fun for me. I worked 8-12 at Old Navy and then went out to lunch with a friend. I then spent the afternoon getting my homework done and then watching a movie with a friend. It was nice to have time to be social but also be productive on things that I actually enjoyed!
Monday was school and Mathnasium again. Just a lovely passive aggressive work environment! It was hard to say goodbye to a few of my students that day. I didn't get as much time as I would have liked to train the person taking my job during our shift so we had to stay late, which just made for an even later night. My body is getting used to very little sleep, and it isn't happy.
Tuesday was pleasant! School went well and then I had my first day at School #20 working with Sylvan. They were just testing so I'm not sure which kids I'll be working with yet but it was nice to get in with some of the kids. They are really cute and it's a different feel but I think it'll be a lot of fun. Then we had an extended grad class so I was there 5-9. Then I went home and worked on the list of things I wanted to give to my bosses during my exit interview outlining why I was leaving and just general suggestions for their future. Another late night.
Wednesday was really long, and really emotionally difficult. School was great! Mathnasium was hell! They weren't going to even speak to me at all, but eventually changed the schedule around enough so that we could have half an hour at the end for an "exit interview," which turned into them lecturing me for 25 minutes. It was really horrible. I held it together until I left the building but they turned it all around on me and it was all my fault. I was kind of shocked, but almost expected it. I got out of there as quickly as possible, said my goodbyes, got in my car and called my parents. Ended up crying a little bit just to get it out but then had to tutor for an hour, which was probably good because I had to keep it out of my mind. Plus the family I tutor for is amazing! They are super supportive of me and honestly speak very highly of everything I do so it was a good place for me to be. Plus he's a super easy student to work with! Then I went home, had some wine and peanut butter cups and went to bed!
Thursday school was super slow because it was the end of the marking period so most of the kids were just making up tests which made my job really easy/boring. Then I had day 2 of testing with Sylvan which was fun. The kids were pretty good and we played 4 corners at the end which was a blast! Then I came home and made dinner for a friend and we just relaxed and caught up!
Friday was amazing!! My body let me sleep in until 7, but I laid in bed watching tv shows until 9:30. Then I got up and made breakfast and was a bum for a little while. I made brownies and just relaxed for the morning. Then I treated myself to a mani-pedi! I spent the majority of the day watching tv shows online and then I went out and celebrated with friends! 16 of us went out to dinner and then went and just hung out and played games!! It was so nice to not have to worry about getting up in the morning to work and to just be able to relax and hang out.
Today was also glorious! I slept until 10:45!! I went to bed around 1 which is really late for me but then slept in later than I have since Christmas break!! It was amazing. My body has been exhausted for a while now, and I haven't been sleeping well all week, some mornings waking up at 4 and not being able to fall back asleep, so to get 10 hours of sleep was wonderful. I had a lazy morning and then got my homework done, which was interrupted by a half hour nap (because my reading put me to sleep and I just couldn't fight it). And my plan for tonight is to go play games with friends! I'm looking forward to it for sure. I do have to work in the morning so it can't be a late night but I'll live.
Tomorrow I've got work 9-1 and then hope to relax during the day and possibly hang out with a friend or two. The rest of the week is just work and adjusting to the new job. We'll see how it all works out. So many changes all at once.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Long week, Fun Weekend!!
There was always a lot going on this week. Each day had its own challenges as always.For some reason my headache pain was worse than normal Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday which made functioning more difficult than I'd like to admit. I got through the days but getting through work at night was a challenge for sure.
Work at school was as always the bright spot. Even with kids giving me a hard time it was enjoyable. I had to write a few referrals because kids were breaking the rules and I needed to show them I was serious, but for the most part it was an easy week. The math and the kids are enjoyable so I really can't complain!
Work was less than pleasant. With my coworker leaving soon we need to fill the position which means we need to get someone hired and trained. So I had a lot of phone interviews to do and then we had a lot of in-person interviews to do throughout the week. This is of course on top of my already long to do list and teaching responsibilities. Let's just say it made for a stressful week. We might be closer to filling the position but I'm not really sure.
Friday was interesting for sure, but fun. Winter finally showed up. I woke up and didn't think to look outside until 2 minutes before I had to leave, and then realized my car was covered in snow. Luckily I had planned to leave a few minutes early anyways so I still got to school on time but wow do people forget how to drive the minute it starts to snow!! After school I ran a few errands (carefully), did some laundry, and then got ready for friends to come over for dinner. When I came home over Christmas break my parents had given me some of the pulled pork that my Dad made in the smoker they have. It's super good so I figured I would share with a few friends. I didn't have a lot so I had to limit my numbers which was hard, but probably good for my sanity in the long wrong. It was an interesting night because I ended up with 6 friends coming over for dinner, we had the pulled pork with homemade bbq sauce (the recipe is bellow) and pan fried potatoes and then a few friends brought dessert to share. The friends that came are wonderful people many of whom I hadn't seen since before Christmas so it was wonderful to see them again and catch up. I just kind of felt out of the loop and had one of those nights where you are surrounded by people and yet feel alone. It was odd to be in my head. Don't get me wrong I had a lot of fun playing a game, eating good food, and just hanging out with friends, but it was an odd feeling.
Saturday was a long day but the night was quite enjoyable :) I tried to sleep in, meaning my alarm was set for 8:30, but my body is so used to getting up that I woke up at 5:30 and dozed until 7:20 when I finally gave up and just got out of bed. I went into work, which should have just been 10-2 but I didn't leave until 3:30 because there was a bunch of office work that my boss needed done but doesn't know how to do so I had to do it after we closed since I had to teach the whole time we were actually open. By the time I got home I was actually hungry (which doesn't usually happen because of these meds) so I took advantage of it and ate a real meal and tried to relax for a little while. That basically meant that I was a bum and didn't do anything, which felt great. Then I got ready for the winter beach party!! Yes, my friends are slightly crazy and threw a beach party, indoors of course! So most of us were in bathing suits and skirts and dresses and fun summer attire pretending it wasn't 12 degrees outside. It helped that the heat was turned up and we were enjoying some adult beverages. It was another nice night of just hanging out with friends I hadn't seen in a long time and talking with them. Played a game called Pounce which I had never played before and talked with new people and people I just hadn't seen in a while. It was really hard to leave early but I left around 11 so that I could get home and get to bed so that I'd be able to get up for work in the morning. But then I ended up talking to one of my friends on the phone for a while, which meant that I didn't get quite as much sleep as I was hoping for. Either way, it was still a good night.
Today was just 4 hours of work and time to relax. So far it has been rather enjoyable.
This week I have Monday totally off, first day since Christmas break (13 days straight I believe) and then Tuesday my next grad class starts at night and I'll be off and running with work as always. It should be another busy week as always.
Grandma's BBQ Sauce
Ingredients:
1/4 cup finely diced onions
1 bottle chili sauce
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs. A-1 sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
Directions:
1.) Brown the onions
2.) Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20-40 minutes until desired consistency is reached.
It's a super easy recipe and a sweeter, delicious bbq sauce!
Work at school was as always the bright spot. Even with kids giving me a hard time it was enjoyable. I had to write a few referrals because kids were breaking the rules and I needed to show them I was serious, but for the most part it was an easy week. The math and the kids are enjoyable so I really can't complain!
Work was less than pleasant. With my coworker leaving soon we need to fill the position which means we need to get someone hired and trained. So I had a lot of phone interviews to do and then we had a lot of in-person interviews to do throughout the week. This is of course on top of my already long to do list and teaching responsibilities. Let's just say it made for a stressful week. We might be closer to filling the position but I'm not really sure.
Friday was interesting for sure, but fun. Winter finally showed up. I woke up and didn't think to look outside until 2 minutes before I had to leave, and then realized my car was covered in snow. Luckily I had planned to leave a few minutes early anyways so I still got to school on time but wow do people forget how to drive the minute it starts to snow!! After school I ran a few errands (carefully), did some laundry, and then got ready for friends to come over for dinner. When I came home over Christmas break my parents had given me some of the pulled pork that my Dad made in the smoker they have. It's super good so I figured I would share with a few friends. I didn't have a lot so I had to limit my numbers which was hard, but probably good for my sanity in the long wrong. It was an interesting night because I ended up with 6 friends coming over for dinner, we had the pulled pork with homemade bbq sauce (the recipe is bellow) and pan fried potatoes and then a few friends brought dessert to share. The friends that came are wonderful people many of whom I hadn't seen since before Christmas so it was wonderful to see them again and catch up. I just kind of felt out of the loop and had one of those nights where you are surrounded by people and yet feel alone. It was odd to be in my head. Don't get me wrong I had a lot of fun playing a game, eating good food, and just hanging out with friends, but it was an odd feeling.
Saturday was a long day but the night was quite enjoyable :) I tried to sleep in, meaning my alarm was set for 8:30, but my body is so used to getting up that I woke up at 5:30 and dozed until 7:20 when I finally gave up and just got out of bed. I went into work, which should have just been 10-2 but I didn't leave until 3:30 because there was a bunch of office work that my boss needed done but doesn't know how to do so I had to do it after we closed since I had to teach the whole time we were actually open. By the time I got home I was actually hungry (which doesn't usually happen because of these meds) so I took advantage of it and ate a real meal and tried to relax for a little while. That basically meant that I was a bum and didn't do anything, which felt great. Then I got ready for the winter beach party!! Yes, my friends are slightly crazy and threw a beach party, indoors of course! So most of us were in bathing suits and skirts and dresses and fun summer attire pretending it wasn't 12 degrees outside. It helped that the heat was turned up and we were enjoying some adult beverages. It was another nice night of just hanging out with friends I hadn't seen in a long time and talking with them. Played a game called Pounce which I had never played before and talked with new people and people I just hadn't seen in a while. It was really hard to leave early but I left around 11 so that I could get home and get to bed so that I'd be able to get up for work in the morning. But then I ended up talking to one of my friends on the phone for a while, which meant that I didn't get quite as much sleep as I was hoping for. Either way, it was still a good night.
Today was just 4 hours of work and time to relax. So far it has been rather enjoyable.
This week I have Monday totally off, first day since Christmas break (13 days straight I believe) and then Tuesday my next grad class starts at night and I'll be off and running with work as always. It should be another busy week as always.
Grandma's BBQ Sauce
Ingredients:
1/4 cup finely diced onions
1 bottle chili sauce
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs. A-1 sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
Directions:
1.) Brown the onions
2.) Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20-40 minutes until desired consistency is reached.
It's a super easy recipe and a sweeter, delicious bbq sauce!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
What a Week!
For having a short work week, it sure felt like everything went nuts at once. Having a full week off, a real vacation was amazing, almost too good to be true. Walking back into work on Tuesday was definitely a challenge but also refreshing. I needed to get back to a routine, even if it's a crazy one.
Tuesday wasn't too bad. Work at school went fine as usual. I got to my other job early because I hadn't been there for a week and expected that there was going to be a bit of catch up to do. Boy was I right. The schedule wasn't even made! So I worked on that and talked with a few coworkers before students started showing up. One of my coworkers told me she was putting in her two weeks notice that day. Talk about a curve ball! I completely understand why she is doing it and believe me I am jealous that she can, and is! I'm just worried about what will happen in the coming weeks. My bosses are already stressing out since we haven't filled the last vacant position and now we will have another one to fill. It's just going to be interesting. I'm trying really hard not to let it get to me, but part of me wishes I could just leave too.
Wednesday was a very long day, which included a frustrating doctors appointment. School went mainly well, minus catching a few students coming to my room to try to skip classes and having to deal with that. Between jobs I went to the neurologist. I've been on the new (technically repeated) medication for 3 months now. It's been helping. On any given day the headaches aren't quite as severe, but they are still there. I walked into this doctors appointment with more hope, or faith, or relief (I'm not sure what to call it) than I ever had before, but I left just as frustrated as always. My appointment was at 1:30, I finally got to see the doctor a little after 2 and left the office at 2:20. Almost an hour to talk to the doctor for 15 minutes is annoying enough, but then to have her ask me the same questions she asked me last time just got to me. I figure if she's going to make me wait she could have at least skimmed my chart over. And then to ask about my side effects and just tell me they are normal (which I knew) but when I told her about the weird interactions I've noticed all I got was "that's weird" and nothing more. She didn't seem worried about them which I guess is good but she also didn't say she'd look into it either. It would be nice to know if these are things I need to avoid or just be aware of. Oh well. Then she tried to tell me that "From what I've read, statistically these types of headaches go away eventually for people your age." So much of me wanted to look at her and tell her that I understand how math and statistics work and that you can manipulate them a lot to make them say whatever you want them to say, but I bit my tongue and was polite and just smiled and nodded. In the end we increased the dosage of one of my medications, kept the others all the same, and made an appointment for the end of June.
After the whole debacle at the neurologist I went to work. In general it was fine, just busy. I enjoy working with kids, but 4 at a time learning all different things for 3 hours straight can turn into an interesting night. As I was leaving my boss tried to pull me aside to talk about resumes and interviewing people but I had to leave and he seemed genuinely ticked off. Granted it was 5 minutes after I was supposed to leave and I had to be on the other side of town in 25 minutes to tutor, I needed to leave and he doesn't understand that that job isn't my first priority in life. Luckily tutoring went well. The student I work with was right on the ball and it was just an easy hour. By the time I got home it was 9pm and I was ready to crash!
Thursday was a lovely mash up of things going wrong and then being made right. After school I dropped my car off at the shop to get it looked at so that they could diagnose a few things before it was inspected, and I was told I could get a loaner car from the shop. When I got there, they told me that they had just reported the loaner stolen because the lady that had it last wasn't returning their calls and had been seen going through stops on the thruway without paying. So then I was kind of stuck. Luckily I have some great friends. I made one call and had a ride home, then to work, and again home from work. I got really lucky but it was stressful and frustrating. Work was added stress. We were very busy again, which is good to some extent, but when things are getting missed and people aren't prepared it isn't helpful. It was just not a good night. I got home and talked to my parents briefly which was semi-helpful.
Friday was a little easier to deal with. My wonderful friend picked my up in the morning and after dropping her off at her apartment I was able to borrow their car for the day. It made it significantly easier to get things done before I got my car back right before work in the afternoon. School was easy, and after making phone calls for work, I went to the shop, picked my car up where they sort of figured some stuff out, and then worked 3-7 at Old Navy. We were so slow I got out an hour early, dropped the car keys off to my friends and saw their parents which was awesome because it had been a while! Then I just had a low key night at home watching tv shows online and talking to friends on the phone.
Saturday was semi-relaxing. Work was steady all morning, but I was able to avoid my boss which was a plus. I was supposed to tutor but they canceled on me so I ran a few errands and then just relaxed for a little bit before going to the discount theater and seeing Moneyball with a few friends. It was a good movie mixing baseball with statistics!
Today I only had to work 4 hours and was done by noon, so then I relaxed the rest of the afternoon. It's weird to not have things to do every hour of the day, but also quite nice. I feel like I'm not doing something right, but then I remember that most people have two whole days like this called a weekend.
Tuesday wasn't too bad. Work at school went fine as usual. I got to my other job early because I hadn't been there for a week and expected that there was going to be a bit of catch up to do. Boy was I right. The schedule wasn't even made! So I worked on that and talked with a few coworkers before students started showing up. One of my coworkers told me she was putting in her two weeks notice that day. Talk about a curve ball! I completely understand why she is doing it and believe me I am jealous that she can, and is! I'm just worried about what will happen in the coming weeks. My bosses are already stressing out since we haven't filled the last vacant position and now we will have another one to fill. It's just going to be interesting. I'm trying really hard not to let it get to me, but part of me wishes I could just leave too.
Wednesday was a very long day, which included a frustrating doctors appointment. School went mainly well, minus catching a few students coming to my room to try to skip classes and having to deal with that. Between jobs I went to the neurologist. I've been on the new (technically repeated) medication for 3 months now. It's been helping. On any given day the headaches aren't quite as severe, but they are still there. I walked into this doctors appointment with more hope, or faith, or relief (I'm not sure what to call it) than I ever had before, but I left just as frustrated as always. My appointment was at 1:30, I finally got to see the doctor a little after 2 and left the office at 2:20. Almost an hour to talk to the doctor for 15 minutes is annoying enough, but then to have her ask me the same questions she asked me last time just got to me. I figure if she's going to make me wait she could have at least skimmed my chart over. And then to ask about my side effects and just tell me they are normal (which I knew) but when I told her about the weird interactions I've noticed all I got was "that's weird" and nothing more. She didn't seem worried about them which I guess is good but she also didn't say she'd look into it either. It would be nice to know if these are things I need to avoid or just be aware of. Oh well. Then she tried to tell me that "From what I've read, statistically these types of headaches go away eventually for people your age." So much of me wanted to look at her and tell her that I understand how math and statistics work and that you can manipulate them a lot to make them say whatever you want them to say, but I bit my tongue and was polite and just smiled and nodded. In the end we increased the dosage of one of my medications, kept the others all the same, and made an appointment for the end of June.
After the whole debacle at the neurologist I went to work. In general it was fine, just busy. I enjoy working with kids, but 4 at a time learning all different things for 3 hours straight can turn into an interesting night. As I was leaving my boss tried to pull me aside to talk about resumes and interviewing people but I had to leave and he seemed genuinely ticked off. Granted it was 5 minutes after I was supposed to leave and I had to be on the other side of town in 25 minutes to tutor, I needed to leave and he doesn't understand that that job isn't my first priority in life. Luckily tutoring went well. The student I work with was right on the ball and it was just an easy hour. By the time I got home it was 9pm and I was ready to crash!
Thursday was a lovely mash up of things going wrong and then being made right. After school I dropped my car off at the shop to get it looked at so that they could diagnose a few things before it was inspected, and I was told I could get a loaner car from the shop. When I got there, they told me that they had just reported the loaner stolen because the lady that had it last wasn't returning their calls and had been seen going through stops on the thruway without paying. So then I was kind of stuck. Luckily I have some great friends. I made one call and had a ride home, then to work, and again home from work. I got really lucky but it was stressful and frustrating. Work was added stress. We were very busy again, which is good to some extent, but when things are getting missed and people aren't prepared it isn't helpful. It was just not a good night. I got home and talked to my parents briefly which was semi-helpful.
Friday was a little easier to deal with. My wonderful friend picked my up in the morning and after dropping her off at her apartment I was able to borrow their car for the day. It made it significantly easier to get things done before I got my car back right before work in the afternoon. School was easy, and after making phone calls for work, I went to the shop, picked my car up where they sort of figured some stuff out, and then worked 3-7 at Old Navy. We were so slow I got out an hour early, dropped the car keys off to my friends and saw their parents which was awesome because it had been a while! Then I just had a low key night at home watching tv shows online and talking to friends on the phone.
Saturday was semi-relaxing. Work was steady all morning, but I was able to avoid my boss which was a plus. I was supposed to tutor but they canceled on me so I ran a few errands and then just relaxed for a little bit before going to the discount theater and seeing Moneyball with a few friends. It was a good movie mixing baseball with statistics!
Today I only had to work 4 hours and was done by noon, so then I relaxed the rest of the afternoon. It's weird to not have things to do every hour of the day, but also quite nice. I feel like I'm not doing something right, but then I remember that most people have two whole days like this called a weekend.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
New Years!
Since getting back to Rochester on Thursday I've seen some good friends, driven to and from Albany, and celebrated the New Year!
I got back to Rochester around 7pm Thursday. The drive went well, not a lot of traffic and the weather was good the whole way. That night I met one of my good friends for a drink out. I hadn't seen him since August so it was awesome to catch up with him. We've known each other since we were little, probably elementary school, so being able to see each other in person instead of talking online is always a plus! What was really funny was that we went to Applebee's which had Karaoke and some of my students were there. Luckily one of them was one that I also work with at Old Navy so it was less awkward than it could have been, and they were seniors so it wasn't too weird, but still an odd occurrence. I wasn't expecting to see my high school students when I went out for a drink, but now I know where not to go, especially during school breaks.
Friday was a whole whirlwind of events! I slept in again which was glorious! Then I went over to a friends house a borrowed some awesome board games for the weekend. After that two other friends stopped at my place before leaving town. I saw the two of them quickly over Thanksgiving for about 20 minutes and before that I had seen them in August. It was great to catch up with them even though it was only a short time again. Then I spent some time unpacking and relaxing during the afternoon before my brother stopped over to get all of the stuff I brought back for him from NJ. Not all of it fit in his carry on for the plane, plus Mom sent food! Then I went out for drinks with another friend from high school. Technically we went to elementary, middle, and high school together. We hadn't been in touch for a while and hadn't seen each other in a few years but she was in town and it just worked out which was awesome! I had a lot of fun!
Saturday I slept in for a little bit, packed some stuff up and then headed to Albany. It's only a 3 1/2 hour drive, but I feel like I've been living in my car. I got to my friends place and we grabbed dinner and then had a low key night in. We played Blokus and Munchkin Booty (2 awesome games) and watched Big Bang Theory until midnight. Had a few drinks and just caught up on life. One of her other friends came over for a while and played one of the games with us. It was nice to just lay low, get tipsy, and play fun games.
Today we slept in for a while, had a lazy morning, played Blokus again and watched Serenity! Then I went and visited my aunt and uncle who live in town. It was good to see them, it had been quite a while. They aren't too much older than me and have 2 cute pugs so hanging out with them is enjoyable. The drive home was dark and rainy but went well.
Tomorrow I need to do some grocery shopping and write a few letters to friends out of town. I'm hoping to sleep in for one last day and get a little bit more relaxing in before the craziness of work starts back up on Tuesday.
I've been thinking about new year's resolutions and things I'd like the change. I had a lot of things on my 25 before 25 list that kind of fall under this category. I'm still working on a lot of those things, and I've got 8 months and 6 days to go!
A few general resolutions:
-surround myself with people and in activities that increase my happiness and not my stress level. I've noticed lately that some of the social situations I've been putting myself in have actually been stressing me out more, which is pretty counterproductive in the long wrong, so I am going to work to find the people and the types of activities that will make me happy.
-let work bother me less, and bring less of my work (and feelings about work) home with me. One of my jobs really gets under my skin and makes me really unhappy and stressed which impacts other aspects of my life. Hopefully I can learn to leave that at work.
I got back to Rochester around 7pm Thursday. The drive went well, not a lot of traffic and the weather was good the whole way. That night I met one of my good friends for a drink out. I hadn't seen him since August so it was awesome to catch up with him. We've known each other since we were little, probably elementary school, so being able to see each other in person instead of talking online is always a plus! What was really funny was that we went to Applebee's which had Karaoke and some of my students were there. Luckily one of them was one that I also work with at Old Navy so it was less awkward than it could have been, and they were seniors so it wasn't too weird, but still an odd occurrence. I wasn't expecting to see my high school students when I went out for a drink, but now I know where not to go, especially during school breaks.
Friday was a whole whirlwind of events! I slept in again which was glorious! Then I went over to a friends house a borrowed some awesome board games for the weekend. After that two other friends stopped at my place before leaving town. I saw the two of them quickly over Thanksgiving for about 20 minutes and before that I had seen them in August. It was great to catch up with them even though it was only a short time again. Then I spent some time unpacking and relaxing during the afternoon before my brother stopped over to get all of the stuff I brought back for him from NJ. Not all of it fit in his carry on for the plane, plus Mom sent food! Then I went out for drinks with another friend from high school. Technically we went to elementary, middle, and high school together. We hadn't been in touch for a while and hadn't seen each other in a few years but she was in town and it just worked out which was awesome! I had a lot of fun!
Saturday I slept in for a little bit, packed some stuff up and then headed to Albany. It's only a 3 1/2 hour drive, but I feel like I've been living in my car. I got to my friends place and we grabbed dinner and then had a low key night in. We played Blokus and Munchkin Booty (2 awesome games) and watched Big Bang Theory until midnight. Had a few drinks and just caught up on life. One of her other friends came over for a while and played one of the games with us. It was nice to just lay low, get tipsy, and play fun games.
Today we slept in for a while, had a lazy morning, played Blokus again and watched Serenity! Then I went and visited my aunt and uncle who live in town. It was good to see them, it had been quite a while. They aren't too much older than me and have 2 cute pugs so hanging out with them is enjoyable. The drive home was dark and rainy but went well.
Tomorrow I need to do some grocery shopping and write a few letters to friends out of town. I'm hoping to sleep in for one last day and get a little bit more relaxing in before the craziness of work starts back up on Tuesday.
I've been thinking about new year's resolutions and things I'd like the change. I had a lot of things on my 25 before 25 list that kind of fall under this category. I'm still working on a lot of those things, and I've got 8 months and 6 days to go!
A few general resolutions:
-surround myself with people and in activities that increase my happiness and not my stress level. I've noticed lately that some of the social situations I've been putting myself in have actually been stressing me out more, which is pretty counterproductive in the long wrong, so I am going to work to find the people and the types of activities that will make me happy.
-let work bother me less, and bring less of my work (and feelings about work) home with me. One of my jobs really gets under my skin and makes me really unhappy and stressed which impacts other aspects of my life. Hopefully I can learn to leave that at work.
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