Wednesday, January 23, 2008

funny how far the sunshine goes

so...with work (and/or lack thereof) on all of our minds, i started to think about the different jobs i've had over the years, and realized that in each one, there is a high point and a low point. and remembering most of them make me fairly content and thankful with my present occupation. here goes:

person who worked with her dad at baratta & associates. I guess I was the associate.
High Point: Dad bought lunch each day.
Low Point: There really wasn't a low point.

person who worked in the dishpit in the college cafeteria:
High Point: One day we sort of had a food fight, and threw sodden cookies against the plaster walls and watched them splatter.
Low Point: I was taking an exam after my daily hour working in the dishpit, and was surprised to find a yellow smear on my test paper. I lifted up my left arm to discover a quite substantial amount of mustard and ham chunks on my forearm.

person who called potential students for my college:
High Point: I got to call a student who lived in Papua New Guinea. I was terribly awkward on the phone because - really - who expects a call to Papua New Guinea to actually go through?
Low Point: So....apparently you're not supposed to make calls outside of the US, let alone to Papua New Guinea. I got in a bit of trouble.

person who worked for a mortgage company in virginia:
High Point: The office was right next to the Appalachian Trail.
Low Point: I once lost a check for $60,000.

person who worked for a credit union:
High Point: Cool coworkers
Low Point: Slightly-out-of-sorts people who would make their hands look like a gun and mime shooting you when you told them that unfortunately their account was negative. ha. yeah I get it, right, that's funny.

person who worked for a mortgage company in oregon:
High Point: Once they brought in lunch for us, and I had a fairly decent caesar salad.
Low Point: Absolutely everything else except for that one salad.

person who works for a commercial furnishings company:
High Point: I got to go on an oil tanker and have a meeting in the captain's quarters. They gave me a free pair of steel-toed boots.
Low Point: I sometimes read brochures entitled "Don't Hate Me Because I'm A Cubicle", and receive corporate Christmas cards stating "Wishing You Holiday Chair".

Friday, January 18, 2008

crozet

a grey friday. cold front coming in from the arctic this weekend, and i'm excited to see what the north has to show us. we're headed up to the mountain (cross country skis on hand) and hopefully we'll see trillium in a different light.

Friday, January 04, 2008

third conference call of the day

You just have to sound like you know what you're talking about.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

faded for the winter

So 2007 was supposed to be a year when I tried to be settled - settled with relationships, locale, employment, etc. But, looking back, I think I was wanting to be "settled" due to the high levels of anxiety I felt throughout the beginning part of the year. And maybe what I really needed, long-term, was to shoot for contentment. Not wanting to be somewhere else, doing something else, anything else. But is that even possible? If there ever was a place for stability, Portland would be the place for it. Volatile Town.

When I left Virginia, I took one last drive and told the Blue Ridge that though I sometimes hated them in their mediocrity, I knew - knew - I would end up on the West Coast, missing them terribly. And I hoped they would forgive me.

Not really the best way to enter 2008. But, here goes: Try, try, try to be content. And - above all else - learn to pray again. Post-midnight conversations remind me how far I've come. Or rather - gone.

The thing is….2007 was a good year. An exceptionally good year. Things are coming together, friendships are solid, good things are on the horizon. So why the unrest? You tell me.