This sums up the last two months of my life pretty accurately. As one of my friends recently pointed out, it's hard to keep track of my life right now. I haven't bothered blogging too much about it because, well, everything was so up in the air I figured I'd wait til there was something a little more stable and concrete. Which it still isn't at that point now, even, but it's pretty entertaining with this collection of ridiculousness.
Job and House Confusion
I'm not sure I even remember the sequence of all the events since I've been home, AKA America. To somewhat start from the beginning, I had that job at the coffee shop for a day. Quit that due to crazy boss lady. Moved back to Ocala searching for jobs and babysat for several families in the meantime. Didn't find any substantial jobs here so when I had (what I thought was) a solid living situation and potential job, I headed back to Jacksonville. I got one sales job opportunity and continued the search for a more fulfilling job. I ALMOST got the super senior programs assistant job I was really wanting but I didn't have the prior experience like the other girl. Otherwise I was in. So the whole "I can't get experience unless someone gives me the chance" frustrations continued. I did find a great family to babysit for in Jacksonville which was and would've been helpful. So I started my training for the sales job at a sports and outdoors store, while trying to figure out my housing situation and finding a part time job to make it all possible.
All of this was while trying to figure out my mess of a living situation. I went to Jacksonville planning on occupying a friends' apartment with her sister (Leslie), while she was in Costa Rica. That fell through when our timing overlapped. So Leslie and I started considering other options of living together. When another friend, Lindsay, (I apparently only have groups of friends with all the same initials... AAAA, LLL...) had a dilemma with her rent going up, we thought we'd all search for a place together. So the house search went from 3 bedroom searches to 2, back to 3, then to 1, a temporary stay with Lindsay in the mix, back to one bedroom searching, and a range from really nice apartments, more affordable but still nice places, and super shady places. Living in a tent was a thought at one point too. If it wasn't in Florida... Needless to say, I didn't have the money for a security deposit, proof I'd have money, or any money leftover to you know, feed me.
So after much debate, anxiety, stress, discouragement, and reality, I'm back in Ocala. Although I was really eager to get out there, learn to be independent, budget, and struggle, I realized the extent of this struggling was not worth it. I wouldn't be able to save, which is one of my main concerns right now so I can get to somewhere I actually want to be, and I'd like to get more on a path to a career.
During one of my most recent breakdowns while talking to Mom, trying to figure out what to do, if I could do it, and what I even wanted to do, she conveniently got a text about my old school needing a substitute middle school teacher. Long story short, I took it. I had to quit my job at Academy and disappoint some really great employers I was looking forward to working with.
Although I'm not living on my own and doing the whole independent thing, I'm hoping my plans to find a more substantial job, save, and have a better chance of getting on the right path will do me good. Working my bum off to live and not even save wasn't exactly sounding like the best option right now.
As if all of this wasn't enough stress, it was all accompanied by sharing my struggles with a friend that was going through some really difficult, stressful changes as well, and the heartache of two amazing friends. Through it all, we, of course, had some great laughs, this Sarasota vacation, and good times, but it was a difficult time for both of us. I'm so incredibly grateful for her and Steve for basically housing and feeding me when I didn't have much to offer in return.
Three Nights of Fright
I can't leave out these nights. The first of this scary sequence was the Night of the Most Disturbing Movie Ever. After watching... I'm not even sure I should mention the title out of fear you will watch it "just to see," or the name will sound familiar in the future, swaying your decision on an innocent movie night. I think I'll choose to allude to this detail to spare you. But basically, Les and I were traumatized, researched the REAL GUY the movie was based on who inconveniently moved to Florida! Of course. Florida is the place for the crazies. So extra freaking proceeded. This said freaking prevented poor Juno (the pup) from having a peaceful pee that night, when some extraneous sound in the bushes sent us running back into the apartment screaming. "We just did that," was a good last note on that spectacle.
The Night of the Sketch Car, involved me laying in bed at 1:30am and hearing super loud Hispanic music blaring nearby. Now, we were living in an office too far off the road to be able to hear loud cars driving by. So after a while, when it didn't go away, I looked out the window to see a dang car sitting right outside our windows! After a couple more minutes of them not moving, I reluctantly woke up sleeping Les even though she had a test in the morning. Luckily, they left after peaking out again.
Last scare? Not quite. The Night of the Heartache and Cops, I headed home before the couple, and as I was putting the sheets on their bed, someone bangs on the window, when my head is in the corner right next to the window. I freaked a little, ran to my phone to see if it was Les trying to get in. Thankfully, it was, so I let her in and we proceeded to talk on the couch for a while.
Then we heard another banging on the door! Leslie had just gotten off the phone with Steve... who was still at the restaurant... So she went and answered the door to four policemen alerting us of the robbery by men in ski masks upstairs! As a side note, it's funny how your conscious works; When I saw the police, my thoughts went something like, "Cops?! I have wine! It's ok! I'm 23!"
Anyway, we grabbed the dog, threw a leash on her, and were about to head outside while the men did their official police searching business. Pretty intimidating in itself. They advised us to go back in and they'd lock us in while they searched around. So there we were, two scared girls and our pup, sitting on the floor, hoping the cops would soon come and assure us we were safe. After a couple minutes of sitting there, we figured we'd at least go sit back on the couch. Steve finally returned, passing through the cop ridden entrance, and reassured us we were actually in a super safe building so we felt a little relief. So we survived all of these scary nights. As if we all needed just a little more stress in our lives. What doesn't kill you... ?
So that's that.
Meryl Time
Ending this blog as well as this time on more positive notes, I had one of the least stressful, most fun days in a while the day before coming back to Ocala. I met up with Meryl for a planned beach day on Saturday. The super wind and cloudiness led us to a different plan that was equally as good or maybe better. Instead, we biked on over to Grom for some subs with her man, Chad. We tried to go to a softball game a friend was coaching but went to the wrong school. Woops. So we did some dreamy window shopping before heading home for a night of baking, girl talk, (humorous) jealousy over people's dreamy blogs and instagram facades, trying to be artsy, and a quick walk to the beach for our obligatory admiration of the stars. I can't be that close to the beach and pass that up. Following this with a delicious breakfast at a cafe nearby was just more than I could've asked for.
Substituting
Lastly, today was my first day of substitute teaching and it was a super success. My classes were tiny, the students were great, and it was such a cozy, friendly environment. I went to K-6th grade here, and several of my former teachers are still here, now as my lovely coworkers! I'm not sure how long I'll be subbing for this school, but I'll be applying for the county too and seeing where this goes.
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