The State of Me
I moved to LA two years ago. June 11. I've changed so much since then, I can barely recognize myself from when I updated this thing regularly.
Two years ago I was a fresh graduate with a shiny, new big-girl job. $16.30/hr seemed like an exorbitant sum of money after the $2.13 I was making as a waitress. Brand-new car, amazing apartment on the beach (...at $1500/mo). The people at work seemed nice enough. There was a whole group of fresh grads hired at the same time. Money was tight, but I assumed that would go away quickly.
One year ago I was dead broke. I nearly got fired from work (for good reason, though I didn't understand it at the time). My mom was moving in with her new boyfriend. Life was sucking a bit.
This year, I'm doing okay for myself. I am finally relatively stable, financially speaking. Next month I can afford to start karate again and open up a retirement savings account. Both are things I've been desperately wanting to do for a long time. At work, I've gone from nearly fired to invaluable, thanks to my apparently unusual ability to switch easily between wildly different positions.
Still can't handle my mother having a boyfriend. Considering the nightmare I had last night about just seeing him, I don't think I ever will.
My youngest sister starts college this year. She's going into dance and international relations. I feel so old. My middle sister may never graduate, but she's doing good work along the way. If she ever does look for a real job, solar decathlon will be very helpful.
My closest friend is Thai. I'm teaching her how to bake. She's teaching me how to be a good friend, even if she doesn't know that. She's also been teaching me the ins and outs of getting a green card. I had no idea it was so complicated and expensive.
I've tried all sorts of interesting new foods - more than if I had moved to China, I think. I'm addicted to ramen, and pho is my new favorite comfort food when sick. Lumpia is amazing. Still can't pay me to try chocolate meat or balut. Milk tea boba is oddly delicious. Real Mexican food has too much cilantro to be tasty. Asian markets are...interesting, but the bakery is so good. Papaya tastes like moldy rotten socks. I don't care how good it is for you. I know the difference between spring rolls and egg rolls now.
And to think, to my Asian friends, I'm a picky eater. Most of the people I knew in the midwest would starve to death out here.
For lunch today, I'm going down to the pier for empanadas. After that, it's IKEA to see if there is anything interesting on sale, and Disneyland to pick up a present for my boyfriend's best friend, who is expecting their first child.
I have two friends married with kids. As time goes by, I want that more and more. Now that is scary.
Two years ago I was a fresh graduate with a shiny, new big-girl job. $16.30/hr seemed like an exorbitant sum of money after the $2.13 I was making as a waitress. Brand-new car, amazing apartment on the beach (...at $1500/mo). The people at work seemed nice enough. There was a whole group of fresh grads hired at the same time. Money was tight, but I assumed that would go away quickly.
One year ago I was dead broke. I nearly got fired from work (for good reason, though I didn't understand it at the time). My mom was moving in with her new boyfriend. Life was sucking a bit.
This year, I'm doing okay for myself. I am finally relatively stable, financially speaking. Next month I can afford to start karate again and open up a retirement savings account. Both are things I've been desperately wanting to do for a long time. At work, I've gone from nearly fired to invaluable, thanks to my apparently unusual ability to switch easily between wildly different positions.
Still can't handle my mother having a boyfriend. Considering the nightmare I had last night about just seeing him, I don't think I ever will.
My youngest sister starts college this year. She's going into dance and international relations. I feel so old. My middle sister may never graduate, but she's doing good work along the way. If she ever does look for a real job, solar decathlon will be very helpful.
My closest friend is Thai. I'm teaching her how to bake. She's teaching me how to be a good friend, even if she doesn't know that. She's also been teaching me the ins and outs of getting a green card. I had no idea it was so complicated and expensive.
I've tried all sorts of interesting new foods - more than if I had moved to China, I think. I'm addicted to ramen, and pho is my new favorite comfort food when sick. Lumpia is amazing. Still can't pay me to try chocolate meat or balut. Milk tea boba is oddly delicious. Real Mexican food has too much cilantro to be tasty. Asian markets are...interesting, but the bakery is so good. Papaya tastes like moldy rotten socks. I don't care how good it is for you. I know the difference between spring rolls and egg rolls now.
And to think, to my Asian friends, I'm a picky eater. Most of the people I knew in the midwest would starve to death out here.
For lunch today, I'm going down to the pier for empanadas. After that, it's IKEA to see if there is anything interesting on sale, and Disneyland to pick up a present for my boyfriend's best friend, who is expecting their first child.
I have two friends married with kids. As time goes by, I want that more and more. Now that is scary.