Endings and Beginnings

Inspired by the recent blog post of a friend, I have decided I will take the time to sit and update about some stuff that has been happening over the course of the past week.

Let's start out by saying, it's been a lot. A lot of decisions and a lot of stress. This week, as I continued with my training at a certain coffee establishment as a barista (hooray for staying true to my degree), I made the decision to quit my job at Apartment Savvy. Now, this is something I had been pondering for a while, though I was trying to keep the job, knowing how much Andy and I need the money. Since I started the job, I have absolutely hated it. At times, I have tried to convince myself that it was something that would do nicely for a while or that I could deal with because it was easy and relatively mind numbing. The more I worked, however, in an office that is poorly managed, with two bosses who don't know how to communicate effectively with employees other than to send out passive aggressive e-mails to everyone when there is an issue, the more I realized that this job was not what I thought it was going to be at the time I was hired. When I was hired for a job as an "administrative assistant," I did not think my title would be interchangeable with 8 other girls, all working part time so that the owners did not have to pay anyone the benefits of a full-time employee.
Anyway. I have a lot of complaints about the place; the work, the bosses, the other employees...but I guess there is something to be said for a job that shows you what you DO NOT want to do. I know that I want to be doing something where I am making even the smallest difference in someone's day (even if that is just serving them coffee).
So I handed in a letter of resignation (can it even be called such a thing at a job like that?) and now must wait to hear back during this work week on whether they want me to work for the next two weeks or if yesterday was my last day. Although it wouldn't hurt to have the extra bit of money from working there a little more, it would be SO nice to never go to work there again.

On the flipside, I am (and I say this hesitantly, for I would hate to have to eat my words) enjoying my cafe work--to the degree that cafe work can be enjoyed. Although it is very close to my previous job and involves, at times, interacting with individuals from that office (awkward...for them!), the people there seem, well, just that: PEOPLE. They are humans and they like to talk and interact with others, which is just GREAT. I am still training training training (I should finish up this Thursday), but that does involve FINALLY learning to make (and taste!) all of the drinks we make in the store. I really like working in fast-paced environments where there is always something for me to make or clean or do in some fashion, so I think this will serve that purpose nicely for at least a little bit.
Also, things MIGHT be looking up in terms of hours there, as another employee, who works almost full time, recently gave his two weeks' notice, and so more hours shall be opening up for me to gobble away!!!!!

In the realm of trying to make something of my life...I am going to be flying home for the last weekend of August so that I can take my written EMT exam. Since today is the first day of the month when I will take the exam (AHHHH!), I am going to TRY very hard to force myself to start studying just a little bit every day. Hopefully I have not forgotten everything. Hopefully.

In improv news, things have been going well with my class. I really like it a lot and we are now coming to three classes left in this level. This means soon (this week), I will be signing up for Level 2. I am excited for that, although I am still hoping to be able to eventually take more than one class at a time. I am interested in taking the writing classes they offer at iO, but one session is $300 and I just can't afford that right now in addition to the improv class. There is an Improvised Shakespeare workshop that I really want to take, though I will not be able to take it during the next session, as it begins when I will be in Massachusetts. Luckily (?), the class is only 4 weeks long and so I should be able (if it is offered again in 4 weeks' time) to take the class when I am halfway through Level 2. This will also give me a chance to try to save up the $125 it will cost me to take that class.
UGH. This is endlessly frustrating, as I want to be taking several classes (since I have the time), but simply cannot afford to do so.

In the world of Andy, things seem to be going well. Last night he told me he has been promoted to "dough boy," whatever that means. I think it means he just makes all the dough for the pizza. How exciting. But really, he loves it. He is starting to make friends with his co-workers and he likes going to work. Things are still hard with our schedules being so opposite, but we are working on trying to coordinate our days so that we see each other as much as possible.
It's weird to think that sometimes we don't speak to each other really for days and I will realize that so much has happened that I haven't gotten to tell him about yet.

This week has been stressful, but we will be able to manage and soon we will have things better figured out, I hope.
Overall, I am glad I quit that terrible job. To me, it is not worth it to be so unhappy for so many hours of the day when you are barely making minimum wage.