I honestly forgot this existed.

About a month after that last post, pretty much everything in my life was in complete upheaval and very little settled down until about a month ago. I wish I could say that the plans I made were the anchor that kept me safe and sane, but I let go of just about everything that wasn't a requirement (and a few things that were) in order to keep hold of the things most important to me. A few therapy sessions, a new job, a job loss, one massive job hunt, a month of unemployment, many nights and days of worry, and I'm here, at Nov. 1, 2009. It's turned out to be the kind of year I'd like to sleep through and wake up to a new start, but life doesn't work like that.
I'm taking an online class on developmental psychology, working in a new school district, with a completely different student body and a new (baffling) curriculum. I'm supposed to start volunteering at the museum my friend is curator of, but my new job has me so tired out that I haven't yet found the time. My new students are, by and large, delightful, but some of them are a whole new world of behavioral and cognitive issues I've never dealt with and it is exhausting work. I know that volunteering at the museum will be good for me on a few fronts, so I really do want to set up a time with W and get a better look at the job ahead and plan some time weekly, accordingly.
Things at home are starting to settle back into a comfortable routine and I've gotten the living room into a much cozier state and the layout is far better than anything we've tried before. The dining room is starting to fall into place, but I have some issues of rearranging to deal with, not least of which is switching up the shelving with the stereo and records, as the latter have recently become a scratching post for the hateful one. My folks were kind enough to buy us a file cabinet last month, so I'm trying to dedicate an hour or two a week to sorting through boxes, reorganizing files, and shredding unnecessary paperwork. Ideally, I'd like to save the shredding and use it as cushion when I have to pack fragile items. The office/guest room will actually be a usable space once I get through all the boxes of papers. I'm going to have to step it up this month, because Morgan offered to help me organize the house and trash old stuff over Thanksgiving. I'm such a sentimental person that being ruthless with clutter doesn't happen unless I have ruthless supervision.
I've been looking at lots of design blogs the last few days and I'm hoping to start posting some of my ideas and favorites on here, as well as keeping up with some of the reading I'm doing and reflections on that.

Shifts and Swings

You'd probably never know it from the outside, but my life is in upheaval at the moment. I'm trying to make some monumental decisions and plan out the next five years of my life. There are so many directions that I feel myself pulled in, but I'm trying to pick one or two, for the time being. It's hard because I feel so curious and passionate about following all these winding little paths of wonder, but I won't be able to successfully follow any of them if I don't have any preparation.

So, the phone calls start tomorrow. Asking for information, hunting down old accomplishments and the proof thereof, updating the résumé, asking for some fancy formatting help with said résumé from friends, and then organizing my home life to accommodate all these new changes.

On top of all this, I need to plan a meeting for the league's charity committee, which I am heading up this year. I have a number of ideas and I want to be as successful in their realization as I can. I know how to do this, but I need to surround myself with the right people and tools to make these events really amazing.

In less hectic news, I'm also going to see about starting this summer's seedlings this weekend. As for the indoors, I want to start looking at paint colors. The bedrooms, dining room, and living room have this really gross, fleshy color and sheen, but it doesn't look like real skin; it looks much more like I applied theatrical liquid latex to the walls. I actually held up the bottle of liquid latex I have and it matches almost exactly. If you're wondering why I have liquid latex, you obviously don't know how excited I get to play with makeup when it comes to zombies and other tricks.

For this spring and summer, I'm working on what I am calling a "happier me" plan. This involves doing artsy or cultural or healthy, feel-good stuff for no other reason than because it makes me smile. I'm hoping to see more live music, make more art, read more books, take more walks, cook more new foods, and restart my yoga practice. These are all things that have made me giddy with excitement in the past and I want to rekindle some of that joy in things that are just being done for me. I'm hoping to share them, but they aren't for anyone else, if that makes any sense.