Here comes the sun...

To tell you the truth, I miss blogging. I don’t have many readers, but it can be so cathartic to get all the jumble out of your head and out into the world. Even if no one else is paying attention, writing has always been a relief for me.

I can’t say that a lot has been going on in my life, but when I think about everything that's happening, it certainly is quite a chunk of action! First thing's first though: THE SUN IS SHINING!!! After the cloudy meed Los Angeles has been recently, it's so nice to see sunlight! Gotta get me some sun viatims!

Sunlight aside, I'm happy to report that I got a promotion at work. I’m in a new position, one that is challenging and comes with its own schedule change and higher pay scale (THANK GOD). A full-time schedule has allowed me to quit my second job and not have to wake up at 4:30am. That means more sleep and hopefully less stress.

I’ll still be living paycheck to paycheck for a while, but perhaps if I stick to “poverty mode” (been there for a long time), I may be able to actually afford a plane ticket home to see my family (FINALLY!). I have so many loose ends to wrap up with them, graves to visit of family who died while I was away, old high school ties to finish up, and I need to see my parents!!! There is such a void inside of me, and it grows every day I leave things in my life unfinished and every day I spend away from my real home.

Luckily, my bosses helped by being very considerate with the position and the schedule change. They worked around my hula and yoga classes so I didn’t have to give those things up. (Side note: I wasn’t willing to give them up actually, I would rather have stayed at my old lower-pay position in able to do the things that I love.) Turns out that sticking to your guns can pay off in the working world.

I also got the OK from Mr. Stiles to move back in together just in time for our 5 year anniversary. (FYI to catch you up, we used to live together but it was a disaster… well let’s just say it was not perfect at all. With no car and only a part-time job, I was more of a part-time partner too. I used Evan for everything, he was quite a crutch for me, and our relationship suffered terribly. When we moved out, I was really upset with him. We didn’t break up because neither of us wanted to, we just knew that we couldn’t live together at that time. Turns out that moving separately again was the BEST decision that was ever made in our relationship. We both got space, room to think, room to make new friends and I gained a lot of independence. I was able to meet my wonderful roommie, who has made my life so exciting and rich. And I feel more complete as a person than I have since I first started battling depression.) Now that I have a slightly higher wage, we can look for a nicer place that where we have been living, and have started having fun talking about where we want to look, what we want out of a new place, how we might decorate it, etc. It’s too much fun making plans with that man, I love him so!

On the downside, I haven’t been training as much as I should have for the triathlon that’s 1 MONTH AWAY!!! But, I do have a month, and I can hone my skills as much as I can during that time. The skies are clearing up so hopefully the rain will hold off until I can get out my running shoes and bicycle helmet.

Those huge things combined with:
- trying to get to the art gallery for a show I really want to see
- checking out my favorite used book stores for free crappy paperback novels
- cooking simply (because I can’t really spend a lot on groceries this month)
- playing with my cat and getting him the exercise he needs
- grabbing a new couch in off the street from the neighbors who are moving out
- spending time with my roommie
- launching a new business prospect

= me having a full (and bountiful) plate.

I suppose happiness is a lot easier when you have other things to distract you from the negativities in life. It’s easy to wallow when you’re sitting still, but much harder when you’re running all over the place trying to accomplish something meaningful.

I feel like this is a ‘get stuff done’ week. I’ve already got clean laundry and a clean house thanks to this weekend. Now it’s time to start crossing off other things on my list. It’s funny that as I do it, I seem to also be crossing off the “growing up” item as well. It’s an unspoken to-do, but a very important one. After all, growing up does not mean growing old.