Still Alive!
Wow. I cannot believe this is actually my very first post to LJ in six months. A year ago i couldn't imagine that as a possibility.
RL has been a bitch the past few months. Good news? I am still employed, I am happy and healthy, and I've come out of all this stronger.
My holidays were spent working in a temporary management assignment, which was ridiculously hectic but absolutely wonderful all at the same time. I didn't mind the ten hour days five days a week because I was having so much fun.
So then January came, and the sh*t hit the fan, you might say. I went to a new work location, and promptly went from busy ten hour days to ridiculously boring, sit-behind-a-desk eight hour days. Now, this may not sound so bad, and in retrospect I think maybe I was being a little petulant. However, in the moment it was completely miserable; I wasn't doing what I loved to do anymore, and I was (not) doing it in a completely new environment, with people I had never worked with before. So my work life went from awesome to dreary.
My personal life didn't fare much better. During the late fall I met someone, and we hung out (since dating might imply some type of physical intimacy beyond being attracted to one another) for about eight weeks. The man was SO hard to read, it really drove me nuts. See, I like things spelled out; I am not very good at hiding my emotions when it comes to personal relationships, and I have always believed that if you can't be honest with someone, you really should reconsider the success of that relationship. But he was a complete enigma to me, and what was worse was I couldn't stop thinking about him. I really think we could have had something if he hadn't been such an emotional black hole. Well, finally after almost two months of pussyfooting around (the man hadn't even made a move to KISS me yet!), I told him how I felt, but that I didn't want to freak him out. Well, that was the last conversation I had with him. He has ignored any and all of my attempts at communication.
Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, I went to the pound to try and adopt a dog. I found the perfect one -- a mutt that had been severely mistreated, who wouldn't even come up to the front of the cage he was so terrified. I can almost bet no one else was going to want him, but he seemed to get along with my roommate's dog and I really liked him, so we went up front to adopt him. My apartment complex wouldn't let me because I have a cat we rescued and my roommate already has a dog, and there is apparently a limit on how many animals' lives a person is allowed to save.
So by February, I was really starting to wonder if the powers that be were trying to give me a hint about the direction my life here was taking. Then March came, and I started to REALLY worry about my job, as my employer started talking about big labor cuts. So I started looking into going back to school, moving away from Orlando, and how bad I was going to have to screw up my credit to get my life back on track if the worst happened. Then two weeks ago, the job cuts started and didn't stop until last week. When the dust settled, I saw that many good people had lost their jobs, but that I was not one of them. I was very sad to see friends leave but very grateful to not be packing up my own office.
Fortunately, I can say all that is behind me now. I go back to my old work location a week from Monday, and now I find that those strangers I started working with in January are actually some of the nicest people I have ever had the privilege to know. So I'm glad to be going back (and to have a place to go back to), but will miss those people who made me feel so welcome.
I have also been busy stage managing downtown, working on a really awesome production of Amadeus, by the brilliant Peter Shaffer (better known, perhaps, for penning Equus). We close next weekend, and then I turn around and start rehearsals for Forbidden Broadway.
In my "spare time", I have begun pursuing more vigorously my photography interest, now that I have a pretty shiny non-point-and-shoot camera to work with. I will probably do a little pic spamming of some of my stuff before the weekend is through. And, I am waiting to hear word on whether I will be a part of the Bach Festival Singers' concert in May with the London Symphony Orchestra. We are doing Carmina Burana, and due to space restrictions there are about twenty of us who won't be able to participate. Being a first-year singer and that I have never done the piece, I am quite sure that I won't be selected, but I suppose you never know...I would LOVE to do this! I mean, Carmina? With the LSO? Who WOULDN'T?!
Well, that's about it. I have missed all of my LJ friends here, but needless to say I had enough RL drama to deal with to keep me busy almost 24/7! I will try to be less remiss about posting every once in awhile, and I am eager to do some light reading on what all of you have been up to out there. :)
RL has been a bitch the past few months. Good news? I am still employed, I am happy and healthy, and I've come out of all this stronger.
My holidays were spent working in a temporary management assignment, which was ridiculously hectic but absolutely wonderful all at the same time. I didn't mind the ten hour days five days a week because I was having so much fun.
So then January came, and the sh*t hit the fan, you might say. I went to a new work location, and promptly went from busy ten hour days to ridiculously boring, sit-behind-a-desk eight hour days. Now, this may not sound so bad, and in retrospect I think maybe I was being a little petulant. However, in the moment it was completely miserable; I wasn't doing what I loved to do anymore, and I was (not) doing it in a completely new environment, with people I had never worked with before. So my work life went from awesome to dreary.
My personal life didn't fare much better. During the late fall I met someone, and we hung out (since dating might imply some type of physical intimacy beyond being attracted to one another) for about eight weeks. The man was SO hard to read, it really drove me nuts. See, I like things spelled out; I am not very good at hiding my emotions when it comes to personal relationships, and I have always believed that if you can't be honest with someone, you really should reconsider the success of that relationship. But he was a complete enigma to me, and what was worse was I couldn't stop thinking about him. I really think we could have had something if he hadn't been such an emotional black hole. Well, finally after almost two months of pussyfooting around (the man hadn't even made a move to KISS me yet!), I told him how I felt, but that I didn't want to freak him out. Well, that was the last conversation I had with him. He has ignored any and all of my attempts at communication.
Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, I went to the pound to try and adopt a dog. I found the perfect one -- a mutt that had been severely mistreated, who wouldn't even come up to the front of the cage he was so terrified. I can almost bet no one else was going to want him, but he seemed to get along with my roommate's dog and I really liked him, so we went up front to adopt him. My apartment complex wouldn't let me because I have a cat we rescued and my roommate already has a dog, and there is apparently a limit on how many animals' lives a person is allowed to save.
So by February, I was really starting to wonder if the powers that be were trying to give me a hint about the direction my life here was taking. Then March came, and I started to REALLY worry about my job, as my employer started talking about big labor cuts. So I started looking into going back to school, moving away from Orlando, and how bad I was going to have to screw up my credit to get my life back on track if the worst happened. Then two weeks ago, the job cuts started and didn't stop until last week. When the dust settled, I saw that many good people had lost their jobs, but that I was not one of them. I was very sad to see friends leave but very grateful to not be packing up my own office.
Fortunately, I can say all that is behind me now. I go back to my old work location a week from Monday, and now I find that those strangers I started working with in January are actually some of the nicest people I have ever had the privilege to know. So I'm glad to be going back (and to have a place to go back to), but will miss those people who made me feel so welcome.
I have also been busy stage managing downtown, working on a really awesome production of Amadeus, by the brilliant Peter Shaffer (better known, perhaps, for penning Equus). We close next weekend, and then I turn around and start rehearsals for Forbidden Broadway.
In my "spare time", I have begun pursuing more vigorously my photography interest, now that I have a pretty shiny non-point-and-shoot camera to work with. I will probably do a little pic spamming of some of my stuff before the weekend is through. And, I am waiting to hear word on whether I will be a part of the Bach Festival Singers' concert in May with the London Symphony Orchestra. We are doing Carmina Burana, and due to space restrictions there are about twenty of us who won't be able to participate. Being a first-year singer and that I have never done the piece, I am quite sure that I won't be selected, but I suppose you never know...I would LOVE to do this! I mean, Carmina? With the LSO? Who WOULDN'T?!
Well, that's about it. I have missed all of my LJ friends here, but needless to say I had enough RL drama to deal with to keep me busy almost 24/7! I will try to be less remiss about posting every once in awhile, and I am eager to do some light reading on what all of you have been up to out there. :)