Optimist Under Siege

I killed a mosquito last night and it was really plump and squished all over my hands in a seriously gross, smeary way. I washed my hands A LOT after that.

So why did I kill it when I knew, based on its lovely plumpness, that by killing the mosquito I was going to create a nausea-inducing mess all over my hands? Well, I’ll tell you.

It was a matter of self-preservation. You see, a few nights ago, my husband and I were both literally kept up most of the night by one single, freakin’ obnoxious, lowly mosquito. Just one mosquito was all it took. I kid you not.

I’m not sure either of us were even bitten by it, but it kept doing that obnoxious anti-Darwinian (wouldn’t you think?) behavior where it buzzes in your ear. And when you’re half-asleep and you hear this, you tend to reflexively swat at it (ineffectually, mind you). But in swatting at the mosquito you wake yourself back up. And the mosquito, one single mosquito, managed to do this enough to keep us both awake most of the night!

We actually resorted to leaving the bathroom light on (hoping the mosquito would be drawn to the light) and spraying bug spray randomly on our dressers and other places (my memory is a little hazy as I was half asleep!).

So I killed the bug last night because I had to. And that’s that.

The good thing is that I FINALLY got myself to go clothes shopping yesterday. Otherwise, I might soon have been walking around au naturel! Somehow all of my fall/winter clothes seem to have worn out at the exact same time. How does that happen?

Well, I guess you could argue that it’s partially the fact that I never go shopping until I absolutely have to. I’m not a big fan of shopping, but I do quite enjoy the result (clothes to wear!).

Of course, I still haven’t gotten around to buying jeans. The ones I wear most often have some holes in unfortunate intimate places…yikes! But I’m sure I’ll get around to it soon. Of course I will. I probably will.

Oh let’s face it. I may be wearing holey jeans for some time…!

I have the first of my official “informational interviews” today, research for my potential new career as a career counselor. In fact, I’m already waiting at one of my favorite places, Starbucks, as my interviewee is due in about half an hour. I will say that I’ve been quite surprised and happily pleased at the responses I’ve gotten from people regarding setting up informational interviews, especially considering the fact that I’m asking for free interviews with career counselors. It could look to them like I’m trying to get them to work for me (ie. counsel me) for free. But I really am interested in hearing what THEY do.

I suppose I could also look at the general helpfulness and good will of the career counselors I have contacted as an indication that yes, career counseling might be a good field for me. I would definitely like to be surrounded by helpful, nice people! I mean, who wouldn’t?

The other happy thing so far is that the Starbucks I’m meeting this person at turns out to be a really nice one. If I were ever studying or working at Northeastern University, I might just spend some time here!

(Yes, Hello, My name is Holly…and I’m a Starbucks addict.)

(Which is funny considering that I still only order a “tall.” That’s just denial I guess!)

Last night we threw a “get to know your neighbors” party for the 15 apartments in our building. We’ve lived here for a little over two years now and we barely know, heck we’ve barely seen, anyone. So I figured it was time to make a stand and throw a party!

We bought some wine and cheese. I even made some spiced cider and rum. By 7:00 pm last night the brie was baked, the candles were lit, and the door was left ajar.

By the time 7:20 rolled around and my husband and I were still sitting around by ourselves in a sad looking party room with way too much cheese and bread laying out, we finally had our first guest. Phew!

All told, we had three other apartments come join us and had a rather fun, pleasant evening. We chatted, we watched the Red Sox (who lost…oh well), and we compared apartments. It wasn’t the raging crowd we might have had, but it was a good time and I think was a very good step toward becoming friendlier with our neighbors.

Of course now we have enough food and cider left to throw about four more of those parties…I guess it’s bread and cheese for dinner tonight!

As I continue my career path introspection it’s hard to ignore the fact that I’d be a really amazing pastor. Except for that whole believing in god thing. I suppose that’s probably a deal breaker!

But I’d give awesome, dramatic sermons and I’d be so encouraging of everyone. And I would deliver weddings that would have people looking forward to the ceremony, not just the booze awaiting them afterward.

Maybe I’ll have to start my own non-god focused cult because, damn, I’d be an awesome spiritual figurehead.

This is my politically incorrect career thought for the day!

With the weather as nice as it’s been for the last week or so I have of late gotten this incredible urge to do something quintessentially fall-like, but am not really sure what that is. I’m really just looking for an excuse to be outside, crunch through piles of leaves, smell the trees and enjoy the colorful landscape. And yes, I’d like to also throw in some apple cider drinking and perhaps pumpkin pie eating.

But I’m not really sure what to *do*. There is, in fact, a corn maze a couple of hours west of Boston that sort of fits the bill, but it seems awfully silly to rent a zipcar for a day just to walk a corn maze.

Hmmm…I guess I’ll just have to keep brainstorming fabulous fall activities. In the mean time, I did have a pretty tasty locally made pumpkin ale last night. That’s on the fall side of things!

One of the coolest things ever is to know someone who is going to school for massage therapy. Because you know what that means? They need to practice! And what’s more, they act as if you’re doing THEM a favor by volunteering to be massaged. It’s the best scam ever!

So this happened on Saturday evening. A friend’s girlfriend came by with her table and massage oil and everything and gave me a massage. And when she was leaving she wholeheartedly thanked me for letting her practice.

Oh my goodness…”YOU’RE WELCOME!!!” (No, really, you’re welcome anytime…day or night…I’m here for you!)

How can you be sure, or at least 95% sure, of what you want to do for a career before you do it? I had a great talk with a fabulous career counselor from my alma mater, Bates College, and feel like I’m making progress on finding the right career for me.

But what if my chosen career requires a masters degree? Now, as you may or may not know, I have NO problem with going back to school. I love being a student and learning and everything. If I could find a patron, like artists used to have during the renaissance era, who would sponsor me to be a career student for life, I’d probably do it! But considering that that particular path isn’t a realistic (or reasonable) option, I’m trying to find the right actual career.

And in fact, I already have a masters in French literature from back when I thought I wanted to be a French professor. But here’s the problem.

I promised myself that I would NOT go back to school unless I had a clear plan, intention, and career goal in mind. So I don’t want to go back to school until I’m as certain as possible that I have found a compatible career. Aggravating the situation further is the fact that people who know me know that I like school, know that I’ve switched careers a lot, and that in and of itself creates even more pressure for me NOT to go back to school.

I don’t want to mention my new plans and have my friends and family internally rolling their eyes that I’m going back to school AGAIN!

So I’m left with the question of how to get to know a career without actually doing it. My current plan is to do as much research as possible through books, the internet, professional associations, and talking to alumni who are actually in the careers I’m considering.

But will that actually help me to really know? I’m doing my best to make it so.

I went out with a friend last night for Manicures and Martinis (it seemed epic enough to capitalize!). It was basically the perfect girly event. As you can see, we had our lovely fingers made even lovelier before heading out to grab some girly martinis. The fabulous martini in the picture is a key lime pie martini with a graham cracker rim and whipped cream garnish. It’s really one of the best things ever! The hand you see is actually hers, not mine, and is quite pretty, no?

As I recall, I rebelled against girliness somewhat while I was growing up. I was by no means a tomboy, but didn’t wear much pink, had never had a manicure, and didn’t really know how to apply makeup (I can’t really say I’m ALL that good at it now, to be honest!). In recent years, however, I have learned to embrace my girly side, to revel in the pink, sweet cocktail, cool clothing, mascara, frilliness of it all! I will drink my girly beer (ie. blue moon or wachusett blueberry), wear my girly high heels (thank you DSW), do my yoga (my husband claims this is a typical girl thing to like…so be it!), and read my cheesy Laurell K. Hamilton books (hey, I like them…back off!).

I would say that I am, at least mostly, at home with my girliness. Pink is not such a bad color after all. And manicures and martinis is just about the best thing to spend a Tuesday evening doing!

It’s funny. As I explore various possible new career paths I seem to have moments of complete clarity, knowing exactly which job is right for me. And then the next day comes and I have an equally enlightening flash of clarity, but unfortunately it tends to tell me something different from the previous day’s epiphany. It’s a funny process!

So here’s what I’m currently considering. Basically everything with the word “trainer” in the title seems about right. The theory is that one of my strongest talents (as well as one I quite enjoy exercising) is being a facilitator and a motivator (I’ll refrain from using the word “enabler” which sounds bad!). I’m good at cheering other people on. Rah Rah, Go Team! (And NO, I was NOT a cheerleader, thank you very much! No offense to any cheerleaders out there!)

The current “trainer” careers I’m researching and mulling over are: Corporate Trainer (gotta train those business execs!), Personal Fitness Trainer (just 200 more reps…yeah!), and Career Counselor (aka: career TRAINER…rah rah shish boom bah…get a job!).

And of course, I still think I’d be a kick ass flight attendant (the exits are located at the back of the plane).

Any other “trainer” career suggestions would be much appreciated, silly or serious. Hey, maybe I’ll give a prize to the person who correctly predicts my career choice (or who comes up with the funniest, semi-realistic one!). One in 50 may win…!