Summer
I need to get into the habit of writing in here on a more frequent basis, not only for myself but also in preparation for my Aussie blog. I hope to reuse my old Texas blog to write about my experiences living in Australia. It will be nice for everyone back home (Livejournal is for me).
It's Sunday, at the end of the 4th of July weekend. Nathan and I went with Annie and Dan up to Dan's parents house in New Buffalo, Michigan. Nathan and I needed a vacation bad, but our lack of funds have prevented us from it. Luckily this mostly free option presented itself. The weather was perfect on Friday, so we spent all day at the beach and the pool. Saturday was rainy and cold, so we did nothing. That was kind of boring. At night we went to a bar in town and got in a dance fight with some lame girls. That's right, a dance fight.
I felt a little guilty not spending the day with my aunt and uncle as it's my cousin Lauren's birthday. I called them though. She would have been 27, and I miss her so much. I hate to sound like a broken record on that topic, but it's how I feel.
Today the weather was beautiful, but we had to hit the road by 10 a.m. to get back to Chicago. Dan and I came up with a harebrained scheme to go swimming at six in the morning, which we postponed to 7:30 when we got up at six and it was freezing. Annie and Nathan had no interest in coming so Dan and I went alone. There was no one on the beach, and the water was actually pretty warm. The water was crystal clear; we could see our feet even standing in chest-high water. I've never seen Lake Michigan that clear.
We had to leave early that day so Annie could pop by the outlet mall to get some gifts for a family birthday party this afternoon. I stopped by the Carter's and made the first baby clothes purchase of my life. I could have gone nuts buying tons of stuff, but I refrained. I bought two onesies (one featuring dinosaurs and one with dogs, both with their respective creature on the butt) and some tiny socks for my yet-to-be-born nephew, Kevin Roman Potter. My sister-in-law is due in October, and I won't get to meet my nephew until next July since we'll be in Australia until then. I'm so excited to be an aunt that I can hardly stand it. I can't imagine my brother as a father though; that blows my mind.
I don't have to work tomorrow, and I don't know when I will next. My job as a canvasser with the U.S. Census Bureau ended early, and I was unemployed again for all of May and most of June. I did a sleep study, which was rough but paid me $2000. I also got an extremely shitty once-a-week job working at the Chicago Sport and Social Club beach volleyball leagues. I'm only still doing it because I get tan and it gets me out of the house. But what do I mean by "I don't have to work tomorrow?"
Well, back in the beginning of June, the Census Bureau called me again and offered me a really great job. They just created this position with the Obama stimulus money they got. See, it did create jobs. I trained the week of the 22nd of June, and thought I would start the following week. I didn't, and I still don't know when I do. I'm not afraid that there is no job any longer, it's just I only have a few weeks to work, so I'd like to try and make as much money as possible in that time.
Since there's no word on work tomorrow, I'm just going to workout and go to the beach to work on my tan. I have the most intense tan I've had in years because of the volleyball job. Of course I'd rather work; we need the money for Australia. Oh well, at least I'm also getting closer to my weight loss goal of 20 pounds, after the recent minor set back. I've got seven to go, and surprisingly enough, I think it's going to be pretty easy. I'm looking forward to it.