Just a Friendly Reminder

Recent observation:

Very, very rarely is a "friendly reminder" that friendly at all.

Am I right or am I right?

Clean.Eat.Gloat.

Busy, busy weekend ahead of me. However it is the weekend and the weather here in Atlanta is AH-MAZ-ING! Totally ready for two days of bliss...just like I am every weekend.

Does anyone else's house have a weekly tornado that runs through it? Somehow by Thursday night my house looks like an Ikean war zone. There are shoes that are MIA and dishes with casualties in the kitchen. Heaps of laundry and an empty fridge. So, lots of cleaning ahead...which I actually don't mind. I have a weird obsession with the smell of cleaning supplies...Windex & Pine-Sol are my favs (sick, I know)...and I love a clean house--but, this weekend is a little different. My parents are coming for dinner Sunday and to see the new house. I feel like the house has to be spotless...like on your knees scrubbing the baseboards clean. My house was built in 1940. I've got years of scrubbing ahead to me. To me, I feel like I have something to prove by the cleanliness of my home...like, "See, I am responsible and neat. Oh my closet??...Yeah, it IS color coded."

Nevermind, that I pay my bills and feed myself these days thank you very much.

This weekend will also leave me a March Madness widow. So thankful that I have the other "girlfriends" to commiserate with. We disguise dinner parties as basketball & beer hang outs. To be honest, I have a bracket but I'm just really not that competitive...until I have a chance of winning.

Finally, I know...I have got to stop with my dog obsession...but Ozzy and Lila became (more) famous this week and won a "Cutest Pet of the Day" contest for PeoplePets on Monday...their winning photo will be on the website this weekend. Here is the photo that swept America (some intern from PeoplePETS ) by storm.


Happy Weekend my (2) Friends!!

I do!

I'm so desperately trying to find my passion.

It's becoming increasingly clear to me that the saying "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life."

And so, it is with slow steps that I take the steps to define and nurture my passions and turn it into a career.

The economy/recession has really changed the game. Instead of landing that dream job or holding out for a position that is right...it's about grabbing the first thing that is offered to you, the first thing that will pay your bills...leaving dreams by the wayside. In a way, I kind of like the way it is making our generation think...it is a very 50's-esque mentality. "I'll do what ever it takes to keep the puggle and I fed."

But, it is also very difficult. From experience, I can attest that it's challenging to get up in the morning not particularly excited about the day. It's terrifying to imagine a life time like that.

I've begun my process. I don't want to reveal too much (to the 2 of you that read)...in case I have an epiphany or win the lottery (ha ha)...but it involves a little more schooling, a mac, perseverance, a lot of choice advertisements, sweat, volunteerism, something borrowed, something blue and (hopefully) a whole lot of different "I do's".

Wish me luck.

Quarterlife Crisis

It is so weird being a college graduate. My days are so monotonous. By Wednesday my skin is itching to do something...anything exciting. Something to cut loose...something to break the mold. I'm just not ready to accept this life. It's hard to imagine that life looks like this.

I think your twenties are about really trying to make it...figuring out that way to make a buck or make life work for you. You see people out and try to make your job sound way cooler and way more important than it is...and then bide your time in interviews desperately trying to convince someone to give you that cool opportunity that is important.

I suppose that I thought the transition would be easier. I told myself I was craving a routine. Tell you what though...6:30 am Monday morning (who am I kidding??)...7:10 am Monday morning is depressing.

"Oh god, I have to do this 4 more times this week."

I have to think that the feeling is not foreign to most recent graduates settling in their first job. Party's over.

So now what??

No Spring Break this year. No weekends that begin on Thursday. Just bills and emails, responsibility and workouts, budgets and weekends. Don't misunderstand me. Life is good. It's just an adjustment...I accept the challenge. Life is clearly what you make of it.

I'll leave you with this.

I'm certain you've never seen such a face.

Profound Thoughts...

And that's really all I have to say about that.

Sleeping to Dream

I frequently have dreams about people that I haven't seen in YEARS. I mean quite a while. Perhaps its facebook...so there is a mental image somewhere in my subconscience I've indexed cette person.

For the most part, I like to think that it is because our paths will cross again. That maybe later on in life there is a purpose for short relationships, random encounters and chance.

It makes it better to think that way.

The Chickens Across the Road

Been contemplating becoming a vegetarian recently. I've thought about it before and even gone as far as trying it out for a short while. The previous trials came from a desire to lead a healthier lifestyle.

This time it is a little different. Clearly, after I got the cutest puggle in world (Oz), I became a animal fanatic. Working for a company that has roots in the animal industry really intensifies that fanatical mindset. I read the most horrific stories about the unjust, disgusting things that people do to harmless creatures. Like sick, barbaric stuff. And ironically, my office is located right across the street from a chicken plant.

The other day, driving to work I was behind a truck of condemned chickens. I felt so badly for these poor chickens...I literally could not look at them. Stacked 15 cages deep, with no room to move, 4 chickens to a cage, raised specifically to be killed. The problem is...that my dilemma seemingly begins and ends with chicken. I love chicken. I could probably give up every meat but chicken (and sausage).

Honestly, I cannot imagine life without another Chick-fil-A biscuit or basket of hot wings.

I am just not sure that living life sans meat is the answer to the animal cruelty or inhumane conditions of meat packing. I do realize that I am talking about two different, but related issues. As it stands, I don't actually eat a lot of meat.

And where does fish fall into this whole thing?

Conflicted. Confused. Thinking about the chickens across the road.