Taste of Home

I wonder which little hooligan from Clear Lake wrote this up on Wikipedia - and has updated it since Hot Dog Days last weekend... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Lake,_South_Dakota As a resident - past/present/and immediate future - I can vouch for the accuracy.

Cha-ching.

I put in my first 10-hour-day of anything other than reading/watching TV since I don't know how long. Workin' some O-T at the J-O-B. Pretty much everything hurts from being on my feet all day and twisting to reach stuff, but it will pass. That bi-weekly paycheck will almost make up for it.

I think one of the ladies I work with is on speed. She excuses herself to go to the "bathroom" every afternoon around 4 p.m. Maybe I'm just jealous of how much energy she has after working for 8 hours.

Putting in 9 hours tomorrow. Wish me luck.

New Slang

Just finished helping my oldest and dearest friend pack up all of her worldy possessions this side of the Mississippi into the back of a U-Haul bound for Connecticut. She'll be starting graduate school this semester for a master's degree in Public Policy Management. I'm really happy for her! It's clearly what she wants and she's been able to lay all the groundwork to achieve her goals.

As for me, I start a job at one of the factories in town on Monday. My hometown is a two-ironic-factory town. The factory on the north end makes ordinances/munitions and the factory on the south end makes medical supplies. I'll be pulling a shipping shift at the south end. The pay doesn't suck and the company shouldn't be that bad either. I've got a plan for saving money and leaving a little left to have fun. I'm finally realizing the importance of balance in my life.

I feel like I'm making the most of my situation. I'm done shedding tears over all the things I can't have right now and all the things I had, but lost. I'm looking forward to being my own best friend again. As for the past, while I wish things would have happened differently, I wouldn't change the way things are now. I'm trying to learn from every situation, even if that means just learning how to do things wrong.

XOXO, Readers.

So, news flash: I'm back in South Dakota. I've been back for about a month and a half actually, but I didn't update my blog. I guess I just didn't want it to be over? That's the cheesy answer. The real answer is that I wrote a good final blog post while I was waiting for my plane to board in Tallinn and then I tried to access the free wifi, but I couldn't log on. Estonia: 2,052; Amy: 0.

The flight from Tallinn to Warsaw (Vassavi) was uneventful. LOT Polish serves terrible food. Then I raced through Frederic Chopin International airport only to wait for an hour and a half at my terminal. Sucky. I boarded the plane at last and found I had a window seat - bonus! So I settled in for the flight - next to a cute Polish (?) dude and dug into that month's Foreign Affairs that my buddy gave me as a going away gift. After dinner, I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, I found that I had creases from the window implanted in my face so I rolled the other direction - towards cute Polish guy. That must be European for "make out with me" because he said something in his Slavic tongue, then put his arm around me, and tried to put said tongue in my mouth. Whoa, buddy! I don't know if you know, but that's just kind of rude. I'm just trying to get some sleep here. So, needless to say, the rest of my flight was a bit awkward.

I got to Chicago and had to race through the airport again to get to my terminal. I got aboard that plane - exhausted - and started to get excited to see my mom and big sister for the first time in over a year! My heart started beating faster and faster as I headed towards the baggage carousel. There was no one there! So I gathered my bags and headed outside. I watched as other happy families were reunited. Then I saw my mom and sister pull up! Woo hoo! Man was I happy to see them.

Since then, I've moved back to my parents' farm. I'm living in my old room, sleeping in my old bed. I've been looking for a job since day 1. The closest thing I've found to gainful employment is a job on the shipping line at the factory in town. It's not the most challenging work, but it'll do until I can save up enough money to fund my next big break. Grad school at times is both in and out. I want the degree, but the timeline is screwy. I want a job more. I really should work for awhile before I go back to the school environment. I will be much happier and that in turn will make me much liklier to succeed in grad school. Things in my life have a tendency to snowball, but I'm trying not to take it personally.

Oh, and I got my haircut! I LOVE it! Better than Tallinn and for half the cost. I can actually afford to maintain it.