I didn't forget about this blog...I promise

Ever since the culmination of spring semester, my life has been nothing short of chaotic.  But that's all coming to a  low point now, which is fine by me because anymore stress or drama would have put me in a mental hospital.  Not really, but you get the gist.  My baby brother (although I only say that to kid, he's not a baby anymore) graduated high school a couple weeks ago and I'll be traveling back to my parent's to celebrate that along with my dad's birthday and my parent's 25th wedding anniversary.  Pretty big amount of celebrating, but it'll be short-lived with the new position at work I've been given, as well as focusing on getting on top of all the crap following being broke and never having time for anything.

I think honestly what the biggest lesson I've learned is that although I miss the friends who have fallen away in the past year, I can't revert to this person people seem to want me to be.  I've changed drastically all through 2010 and it's only continuing in 2011.  I've finally reached the beginning stages of adulthood and have taken giant leaps away from being a college student depending on all sorts of ways to survive.  But it's a slow process.  I've outgrown so many habits, yet am anticipating going back to doing certain things that have had to take a backseat to the things I need to straighten out.  I can finally have a life that's both fulfilling and busy-not just busy.

Some big news though, I adopted a dog!  My newest addition to my life is a Siberian Husky/Australian Shepherd mutt I've dubbed Atreyu (not after that pathetic band, but after the hero in Neverending Story for those of you who don't get the reference).  My sister is unable to pronounce his name.  Which makes her the only one, but also typical.  I'll have to post pictures later, when I'm on a computer that allows me to upload them.  But he's beautifully blond with almost white blue eyes.  He's probably the best spontaneous decision of my life at the moment.

So aside from getting a big promotion, adding a new member of the family and passing this semester (such a shock to the system), things are getting better.  I'm looking to move into a better, cheaper place back in Uptown since I miss it so much, as well as purchase a different vehicle.  I know I was obsessing about the new lancer, but for the past few months I've been looking at Jeep Wranglers.  Now that I have a big dog, something bigger and beefier seems more appropriate.  I just abhor SUV's or any pick up truck.  YUCK!  I figure a little jeep is sporty and small enough to drive in the city.  Plus people get out of your way when you drive.  But that's for when I'm no longer scrambling to get on top of things.

So life is somewhat good now, looking up, but always there to slap me in the face when I get overly confident in myself.  I'll post more later.

It's so HOTTTTT!!!!

I woke up this morning and instead of it being kind of chilly and rainy or sunny and breezy...it was humid as a motherf*****.  I have all this ambition to go out, get a job, work on making my apartment fresh and pretty-but if this weather doesn't become nice and spring-like, I'm just gonna have to find some other way of coping with life. I'm glad that I got a little glimpse of summer, but not having air conditioning in my house is bounds for not okay-ness with me.  Seriously.

But I'm excited to clean out my crap and organize my shit this summer.  Having a new laptop (yay!!!) to do all my work and stuff on is soooo much nicer and more enjoyable too!  I have all these things I want to change about my home now that I have time to think and organize and do things that don't require myself outside of the home.  That's like the one plus side to being unemployed.  Everything else sucks.  Like having no money.  That problem encompasses all my other little problems I've got going on.  I'm seriously considering getting a night/weekend job if I can't land something decent during the day.

But back to this whole goal of getting back to myself and the basics...I am definitely the type of person whose environment totally effects everything.  If it's gross outside and rainy, I don't get up in the morning.  I also tend to be crabbier than usual or more on edge.  If it's nice, my ass is up at like 7:30 bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to go.  Even if it's a Saturday!  But aside from that, I'm really sick of feeling lazy and unmotivated, which is how I've been feeling all school year.  I'm not really sure why, but that needs to change, IMMEDIATELY.  Well, not really, but soon enough.  I'm just sick of eating fast food, processed food, going out to eat, not exercising (I miss living in Uptown for this reason alone.  I have no lakes to walk around!), having only black and gray clothing (what happened?  Like, for real?), hardly ever getting done up, not reading (my reading list is almost to 100, why has this not been completed yet?!)-just having a real lack of living and enjoyment going on.  I feel so bored and tired of my life right now.  I feel like it would all be so much better if I had a job, but then having a job means I wouldn't have any time to really change the things I'd really appreciate (like redecorating!).

But I'm hoping that I can get all that done this summer.  I'm not boggled down by obligations I had last summer, as well as no summer school (that was quite possibly the worst idea EVER).  When I have nothing to do, I get bombarded with ambition and ideas and it all comes into my brain in like 2 days of doing nothing and feeling like I have nothing to do.  It's pretty cool.  But also not so great because I shouldn't ever be that bored.

Finals week and summer hopes

So I'm halfway through finals, the conclusion of this messed up semester I've got going on, and I am just so mentally exhausted.  BUT, I have a newfound inspiration to get shit done and better myself this summer.  I realize that during this semester I just got so freaking bored and stuck in a complete rut.  I didn't have any fun, plus I have like zero friends.  Also my job was so boring and not going anywhere; it was kinda sad.

I am currently looking for a new job, something that I can do and work well with.  Also something that pays bank like none other.  I'm trying to focus on me and not what I have to get done yet in order to be an adult.  My mental focus needs to shift back to what it was about um, 3 years ago.  Focusing back on myself.  I made a lot of friends that summer, also had like a new birth or something.  Either way, it was pretty amazing.

I have come to know that there's a lot of real crap with school happening, but I can only deal with it as it comes. Everyone has problems.  I just need to stop whining and just deal one day at a time. Which is really freaking difficult, but it's never going to be easy.  I realize that my self image just isn't making me happy and I need to change that.  So this summer will be the start of a journey going back to basics and cutting out the ugly crap I don't want or need.  A self cleansing if you will.  I've been getting too caught up with certain scenes and I just need to go back to what really matters to me.  And it's all really making me a lot happier.  I'm relearning to stop caring so much about what other people think of me.  It really doesn't matter that much.

So now it's back to clearing off all the bullshit and wiping away all the excess I don't need.  Also making room for things I've forgotten about.  I really need to get on all that too.  So here's hoping and trying to keep my mind shifted to the positive.

My life has too much in it

Gotta stick with my Alice in Wonderland theme.  Not really, I don't have rules like that in my life.  But this picture is fun and pertains to how I feel most days.  Like I've got too much going on.  Which is kind of not true because there's a lot I don't have going on.  Like friends.  And fun.  At least this kind of fun:

Or this:

Or maybe even a little bit of this:

I think everyone envies those who are on vacation.  Lots of fun and money to blow on fun.  It's an escape from reality.  I know that there is a lot going on in my life.  And although it means I have a lot, much of it is undesired and takes up room for the stuff I want in my life.  I mean, I have accepted a lot of shitty situations in my life, and although they are temporary, they aren't going away for a while yet.  And that prevents me from doing other things.  Like having fun, or hanging out with friends, or doing fun random shit like I used to.

But it's also put a lot of things in perspective about the people I've met.  90% of them are flakes.  They're not reliable, solid dependable people.  Turns out most people depend on me, and that's a really bad idea.  I don't consider myself to be that solid and reliable, mostly because I can only do so much until it starts coming back to me from the other end.  I get burnt out too easily trying to hang out with people or plan things, and most of the time it never really pays off.  So I get a lazy attitude about it.  I get the mindset of "well if people would commit and show up, I'd throw a kick ass party" and stop trying.

But it's not just friendships I miss out on.  It's also free time to actually explore my hobbies and passions, travel, grow up a little more.  I like having things to do, like going to art museums for fun, going to the movies with a group of friends, hiking, having random responsibilities besides taking care of myself.  I don't have the kind of income to support that though, and that prohibits me from really enjoying a lot of what I'd like to do.  Instead I'm stuck paying bills, working when I can afford to, and incessantly stressing out about school and the inability to graduate.  Lots of unfun, icky and boring things that require lots of my time.  And then I wonder why I'm so burnt out when I actually have free time.

I guess when I'm over throwing temper tantrums and have time to calm down and take a step back to review my life with fresh eyes, I feel motivated and upbeat to get it all done.  But when you get down to the grind, everything sucks.  Here's looking forward to May.

What horrible mess this all is

I talk the talk more than I walk the walk.  And I walk the walk begrudgingly.  I used to think I'm just lazy, but lately I think I have a strong reluctance to follow other people's expectations.  Because I think I can do it better, and I think that their schedule is asking for shit when mine gives you perfection.  Yeah, I take a lot longer to get it completed, but when it's complete, it looks amazing.

But that's only if I want to do it.  If I don't...it's complete crap either way.  Which is why I've been taking almost a decade to graduate with probably one of the shittiest undergrad degrees you can get.  Other than fighting the fact that I'm not an academic bookworm, I just don't work with other people's schedules.  I get things done on my time or they don't get done.

That doesn't mean it makes it right.  I should be able to complete projects when they are due, turn in assignments on time, turn in something that isn't a failing grade, but I simply can't.  I've tried.  I've made to-do lists, set alarms to get up on time to get it all done, cleared my schedule to make it all happen, made appointments with people-and it doesn't happen.  Instead I end up doing other things, like laundry, going to the bank, filing my taxes, cleaning my house, taking a shower, etc.  Somehow my productive mind goes haywire and I get things done, but the things that require a time period of completion are left in the dust.  The reality of it all upsets me to no end, and I take it out on myself.  I throw tantrums screaming "I'm stupid and a failure" and argue with anyone who says otherwise.

I cease to see a point in doing anything because I'm never going to get a job in this economy doing anything I love because you can't make money as an artist and you have to be a yuppy pretentious hipster to get a decent job with any design firm, not to mention anything that will give you a 401k and health insurance.  I don't know how to be an adult, and school is definitely not showing me how.  I'm surrounded by dorm room teenagers who have their parents paying for everything. I don't relate to anyone anymore because I'm not an adult and I'm not a child.  I'm some weird separate thing that has all the responsibilities of an adult but all the resources of a student.  And I hate it.

What's the most frustrating is having people tell me that many other students go through what I'm going through.  And that's a load of bullshit.  Everyone is younger than me, everyone has their parents to help, they aren't living in a situation that legally is so scary and stressful and limiting that I have to be careful about everything.  I can't be honest with anyone because they'll judge me, they're unable to relate, or they can't help even if I do tell them what's up.  The last thing I want to do is be honest with someone and it not make a damn bit of a difference in the end.  If I open up about my life, I should get some kind of help or leeway or compassion, but that's not realistic.  I'm not here for sympathy or a handout.  I'm here because I have nothing else to do.  I feel trapped in my own life a lot of the time because I'm not where I want to be, but I can't get there either.  It's like it doesn't exist.

Spring is in the air, even if snow is falling in it too

This picture makes me laugh.

Although I live in a place that holds onto winter with a death grip, spring comes through eventually, and this year it seems to want to come with a vengeance despite the weather being so uncooperative.  Spring means filing my taxes, cleaning out my car (this is probably the messiest it's ever been on record), cleaning out clutter, purging myself of junk and unhealthy things.  Time to get fresh!

Except I don't have enough motivation to really be gung-ho about spring.  All the above just means I have to do more stuff, add onto my never-ending to-do list, and spend more time doing work than actually enjoying myself.  Am I complaining?  Of course!!  Why?  Because I'm still a kid at heart and all I ever want is play time, shopping trips, travels, sleep overs, toys, and relaxation.

But that's for summer.

I do have a couple of things to look forward to that will make this pay off of busting my butt so much sweeter.   My family is coming up to visit me for almost a WHOLE WEEK!!  They all get to formally meet the boy, and I get to have social interaction that doesn't involve missing class.  Also, in the next couple of weeks, the boy will have more time to spend with me, which means more free time and more adventures.  No more cabin fever!!

But the reality of my life is always right there to bite me as well.  Since the economy is going to shit very quickly, I'm left with having to find a new job.  One that pays more and gives me more hours.  I'm not sure if it will be with retail, but I need something solid going for me, and what's going on right now just honestly isn't cutting it.  It'd be great if I could talk to my boss about all this, but all she's ever told me is that it's out of her power and that this is affecting everyone at the store (and I call bullshit).  No need to get into it on here, but I know that I can't afford to just be sympathetic while my paycheck drops to half the amount it used to be.  A girl's gotta eat, and pay bills, and be able to put gas in her car (and now that gas is creeping back up to $4 a gallon, that's bogus).  I should get out while I'm ahead anyway instead of seeing the store go under, because that's what's about to happen if I go.  Maybe not, but it's not gonna look good.

Anyway, enough rambling and more doing.  Time to go and do schoolwork, laundry, grocery shopping, and whatever else I can think of.

Oh, hello middle of the semester; gonna stay a couple of weeks, yeah?

This would be me, if I wasn't a redhead or obsessed with ugly pink thermal button downs.

The best thing I've learned on how to deal with midterms is that if you bomb them, you still have a whole HALF of the semester to make up for it!  So I may have blown off my ceramics project this week, but next week I plan on not only finishing that and starting my third one, but to formally file a complaint with the University about having grad students teach studio art courses.  Why?  Because a monkey could do a better job teaching than these two bitches in my ceramics studio.  "Hey, so btw, now that school has started for a week but this is our first class, we're *just* now informing you that you have a required 2 hour lab and ALL of you must be able to meet for it.  Oh, and we're just gonna take a vote.  P.S. we hate having to stay on campus longer than the absolute bare minimum, so don't try and pick some crazy ass hours that only work for  you.  We're just trying to be fair."  Really??  I'm paying 20 grand a year for this shit?  Omg, that's so hilarious, because if that's the case I'm going to make your life a LIVING HELL.

This is the exact same reason I dropped my sculpture class last semester.  My first project for that class was to create a mask made out recyclable materials.  Wow, I can bet good money I made one of those in 4th grade.  I can also bet good money my mom still has that mask in storage somewhere with all my other school projects.  What's more frustrating than anything is that there are other students who are more blessed who did end up with a professor teaching their studio course, but because of how my schedule works out, I get stuck with the shaft.

And then people wonder why I'm still in school.  Well, it's because I keep dropping a class the minute I find out it's total bullshit and then retake it again the following semester with a MUCH more qualified professor.  And then I learn 10x as much as I would have the first semester and actually feel spending so much money spent on tuition was worth it.  I'd rather be in so many thousands of dollars in debt than have minimal debt but still be a dumb ass in my field.  And what's so sad is that my field is probably one of the most vast fields anyone can get into.  That's saying a lot if you're a dumb ass with an art degree.

Anyway, aside from that horrible kink in my semester, I'm excited to see a light at the end of this tunnel.  That light is a false hope called student debt.  But I figure that student debt is better than being an eternal undergrad.  I'm finally in stride to finishing that part of my life and moving on to the next one.  Being a grown up is expensive and exhausting, so I figure at least I'm doing my best to prepare with finishing school.