Why not take another crack at it...

Hello it's a gorgeous, sunny day on Long Island and I just went out for a very long walk through town and along the water. It always amazes me how beautiful the town I live in is and I'm so lucky that I can call this place home. I stopped at the library and picked up some books and then got an ice coffee from 7-11. It's been a great day so far!

So why start up this blog again? Why not, is what I say! I always like reading what other people are up to in their lives, and truthfully I get kinda bored on the internet waiting for my BF to come online so here's a little something for me to do.

It's been one year since graduating college. Was in China for 2 months, Ireland for 4 months, came back to New York, interviewed, got a job, and have been waiting ever since for it to start. June 21 is the big day and I've been home since April 1st. However, living at home and knowing you have a job really takes the pressure off and I've seriously been enjoying just exercising, reading books, tanning, and playing homemaker to my Mom.

Thankfully I have had some adventure thrown in. Being out here in this secluded little nook of Long Island can definitely get boring and I've been fortunate enough to have little distractions from myself when living at home becomes, well, living at home. Last weekend I bartended at a wedding which was very fun and made a little getting around cash as well. A couple of weeks ago I went down to Florida for my brother's graduation from Law School. It was more family time than necessary but it was a fun change of pace nonetheless. Now for my big finale of my 2 months of unemployment and worry free lifestyle, a medical mission trip to Ecuador! I leave tomorrow afternoon and head down south to provide free healthcare through the organization Blanca's House. After our stint in Salinas, we're heading to the Galapagos. Something I feel so incredibly happy to be doing since I missed out on it the first time I went to Ecuador (just the simple fact that this is my 2nd time to South America is humbling enough). I'm excited and nervous and not sure what to expect, but happy that I'm headed out on a new and different adventure.

So it seems pretty silly to start a blog and then leave it for a week but it's a little introduction to what my next post will be!

xx

Laura

When it rains it pours...

I graduated college, I had no idea what I wanted to do afterwords, just working at a restaurant and saving money. Sure, I sent out my resume here and there but I didn't know when or if I would ever truly get a job. Two months of silence, and now, I need to make a decision and fast.

One job, in the city that I love, near the people I love, part of everything I have ever known. It's a low level desk job, paying the minimum, but that's all I feel capable enough to do. Full benefits, the perfect option for a kid straight out of university.

The other job...it provides a world of unknown. An associate instructor in China. The job description is a bit fuzzy, doesn't seem like much work and what there is doesn't seem too hard. Plus it's in CHINA! A year in China, see the world, have adventures. When I look back on my life, I can say that I spent a year in China.

But now I'm sick to my stomach because option number 1 has already made an offer, China has yet to come through. I can't say yes to number 1 and give up on China, but I can't let number 1 slip away in case I don't get China. It's a terrible waiting game and I do not count myself as special enough to think job number 1 will wait for me any longer than today.

This is what we aim for, to land a job. Especially in this economy. But we want a good job, with the best experiences, to provide the most money and to start a life we are proud of. What do I want my life to be, where do I want it to go...

Drinking and Cleaning

This little apartment that Andy and I share is perfect for us. We have a couch, chair, little kitchen, and a small hallway that leads to our bed. TV, cable, internet, it's really all we need. We both are pretty clean but every now and then things need a good tidying, well, a better-than-usual tidying. My spur of the moment clean down came from the inspiration of Miller Lite. That nice light headedness you get from your first beer got me on my hands and knees cloroxing the floor. I got the dishes done and vacuumed a little. I should have made the bed but my feet are dirty and I didn't want to get all over it...I know, excuses excuses.

Pseudo-employed - Amazing Summer

So if I want to be a writer, I have to write. No more excuses, I just need to take a few moments to reflect and put my thoughts on paper. It's been a long time since I've been completely bankrupt and have been doing well to pull in a couple hundred a week, but no steady job yet. Just the menial labor of the service industry, however this job presented me with a rare opportunity.

So I blew all my money on a spring break trip to Europe to visit some friends. It came about haphazardly when I missed out on the chance to book a cruise with my friends. Yet it turned out to be the most life changing decisions and has led me to where I am now.

When I couldn't go on the cruise, I decided to book a flight to England to visit my best friend from study abroad. From there it kind of all fit together. I would visit her for a few days, take the train down to London visit with an old friend...and then I was trying to think of something else to do, which is when I emailed Andy. My favorite mode of travel is the cheap kind, ie. stay at other people's places. Andy is from Ireland and I emailed him to see if I could crash on a couch and see the sights of the Emerald Isle all in one. Andy was living at home with his parents and four brothers and sisters at the time so me crashing on the couch might not have been the most appealing idea. However, he did offer his company if I wanted to meet up in Dublin, so that's what we did.

From the moment we saw eachother I knew it was right. I had never gotten along with someone so well, it was just so...easy. I had a great time with the friends I visited in England, but Andy made my trip. From there it was too good to give up on, so we decided to give it a go.

So I have to admit, I'm not the best when it comes to doing things on time. Waiting to the last minute is usually my method, and it usually backfires. About two weeks before my graduation from college, with no job prospects in the immediate or near future, I called the restaurant I worked at for four years asking for my job back. Apparently, two years off the job doesn't increase loyalty, and when I called and they were all staffed up, that left no job for me. So I did what any soon to be college graduate, who is strong and independent would do...I called my daddy crying that I didn't have a job.

My dad called back within the hour and told me he found me a job. It was on a small island near my hometown at a restaurant called "The Dory". I didn't know then that when I stepped foot in The Dory that my summer would be anything other than usual and mundane. I grew up my entire life here, but I didn't realize that a tiny space of water and an isolated island could change so much, and lead to so many different things.

Available amount: $51.04

Not even enough to contribute to my share of the electric bill. Although it is not entirely my fault. I went to check my account balance this morning to make sure I had enough money to pay the total electric bill of $204.91 for my apartment when I saw that the available balance was $51.04. For transactions there were five totalling around $160 to a website in California that I've never heard of. Turns out a certain "Anthony Walker" had stolen my information and had a little fun spanking the monkey to adult entertainment websites. I called my bank and called the website and now am just waiting for the money to get put back in my account.

The electric bill usually divides up evenly, but ending with 1 cent doesn't leave much room to equally be divided by 4. I settled on $51.20 because I was giving my roommates certain concedences when it came to rounding up, this was before the whole stolen credit card thing, now I don't know what's fair. Plus I already spent one of my roommates electric money so I can't even ask someone else to pay it because I don't have enough money in my bank account to cover mine and her share.

The whole thing just put a knot in my stomach and it made me re-evaluate every purchase I've ever made. I had $3.50 in cash left, which is the exact amount of a ham and cheese hero at the bodega on the corner. I've been getting those $3.50 sandwiches pretty regularly and now I wonder if I had just sucked it up and used my groceries I could have saved X amount of money over X amount of weeks. On top of that I have an internship which I pay to go to, $32 a month in subway fare. I love my internship but that's $128 for four months. I recently asked my mom for a loan of $500 so that I could go to Europe and galavant around for spring break. Well that money was gone real quick. When my plane landed at LaGuardia airport and my father was waiting there to give me a ride home, I sheepishly asked for more money and he handed over $300. Well you would think that after taking so much of my parent's money I would chill on the frivolous expenses but nope. The best way I figured to celebrate pissing away $500 was to go to the bar, go to a NJ Devils game, refill my metro card, get a haircut and continue to buy take-out and beer.

Now there is a month and a half left of school. I need to give at least $75 to my mom for my boyfriend's graduation dinner ticket, buy a dress for graduation, $240 for Senior Ball tickets for my boyfriend and I (who is visiting from Ireland to attend the dance for me), buy a new dress for Graduation and any other expenses that may come of that. Oh and the cable bill is due in April. All of this with no job, who do I think I am? This credit card fraud may have been a wake up call, but it's been too little too late and I'm beyond broke. Oh and I probably owe $50 in library fees that I have to pay in order to graduate.

I believe this is a low point for the unemployed girl.

Thought...

While walking behind a "gangsta" when leaving the Subway, I couldn't help but notice his "swagger" and wondering if it takes him longer to reach point B from point A with all the dipping and gliding he's doing. He sure was holding me up.

Movie Quote of the Day

"Stop right there Marine, put that barrell back."

"Sir, it's already full of diesel fuel."

"Well I already had my coffee and I'm not walking to the other side of base for my morning glory, so put it back."