Despite having woken up this morning with a migraine, feeling like death, and having oddly seemingly doubled in size overnight... today was a spectacular day! (It was such a Monday on the metro, that a toddler wouldn't stop fussing and his family said even he was having a hard day!) A few lovely and spectacular things happened along the way. The first, though in no particular order, is that I have managed to find a place to live once I move out of the Avodah house! I move out and move in on August 9th which means I will not need transitional or halfway housing. Hurray!
Job: Check. Place to live: Check. Now I just need bedroom furniture, since I've decided to askew the hassle of bringing up my bed from North Carolina. Though I do miss it so! This was actually one of the things that made me happy today. I remembered how readily yesterday Mike N. offered to help me move, and I think it's simply marvelous to have lovely lovely friends who offer such generous things. Susanna has also been incredible through this entire house hunt process. I am quite fortunate!
But I digress. The other things happened mostly surrounding work. One was that my direct supervisor at my new job expressly said, "Oh no. I don't expect you to know what you're doing the first few weeks on the job." I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to hear those words! The second was when she insisted I stay and eat ice cream cake rather than hurrying back to make more phone calls. Her reiterating that well being comes before work makes my entire body relax with relief. It's been a very crazy few weeks in the world of working two jobs. The client services department has sent out a few emails about client feedback which is also totally rewarding and inspiring. I feel more and more like I can do this job. Something else random happened today at F & F that amused me, but now I can't think of what it was. Hm. Friday the kitchen smelled of fresh delicious basil. That was something.
At MTA things also seemed to fall into place. I wrote my farewell email to the staff which was agonizingly difficult. I was teary eyed more than once, but I got through it. I miss Anne W., Alecia, Gorkie, Jason, and Allison. Maybe it's just my time at last. Tonight as I walked through the office, the peers were doing a training, and one of them was shouting, "No! Herpes is a virus!" I'm going to miss that!
Ok, I've teased you long enough. You might be wondering just where am I going to live?! It's a two bedroom in Columbia Heights. Close to the metro but also near 16th Street. I'm basically living behind the Mexican embassy. It has hardwood floors, and my room has two big windows and a large closet. A major plus in DC.
My roommate is a 27 year old male. We'll see how that goes, but he seems very nice and down to earth. He did Peace Corps in Peru and has a 2 year old rescued cat named Mishi. I'm not one for cats usually, but she's very sweet. I'm going to call her Mishmish which is one of my favorite Hebrew words.
Stay tuned for pictures and updates! August 9th will be the big move. This weekend is our final retreat. Working, cleaning, packing... can't wait to be settled again!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Fireflies, Sprinklers, and the Literate Possum
I don't often pay attention to cycles of the moon. I happened to pick up a paper today though and happened to glance at the weather section where such things are chronicled. Of course this was after looking at my horoscope which was once again eerily accurate.
Today is a new moon. Today I began working for Food & Friends part time. August 4th the moon will be full... and it will be my first full day there following my last official day at MTA. So symbolic! I have one difficult cycle to weather and will hopefully have found a place to live by the end of it. I can't imagine the alternative which a number of people from Avodah are facing looking for places to live with no guarantee of income once their AmeriCorps contracts end.
I had an absolutely incredible first day. Some of the highlights were walking into the building with my close acquaintance Adam who is also now my trainer as I am taking over his position when he leaves for grad school. "Tell Me Something Good" was playing in the kitchen, and there was a tray of cookies that said "Help Yourself." Once again, I have fallen down the rabbit hole.
The entire organization is so efficient that on my first part time day, I already met with HR and filled out paperwork, AND my very official looking nameplate already hangs next to Adam's on the cubicle we currently share. Everyone was so warm and welcoming throughout the day. One of the chefs made a special meal for a meeting, and Adam and I got plates of this delicious food. I am in heaven. Have I mentioned how much good free coffee there is everywhere in the place? It's like they know me!
After running around with volunteers at a pretty hectic pace for most of the morning, Adam surprised me when he suddenly jumped up again and began to say there was somewhere he needed to be. I assumed it was going to be back upstairs with a task he had forgotten. He appeared very serious about this mission. That's when he announced his team was playing bocce ball outside, and we needed to go join them! I can't begin to relate to you the hilarity of this moment. As hard as he was working, he took those twenty or so minutes with everyone else on his and the opposing team to break away. It's so reassuring as to the work environment I have just committed myself.
Throughout our five hours together, Adam told me no less than eight times how glad he was that I am there. It's such a fabulous feeling! I can't wait to see what day two holds in store. I'm a little nervous for the day he leaves, and I'm on my own. Though I know that I can handle this position after my learning curve at MTA, and it's helpful that obviously he thinks I can handle this. I keep thinking of Stacy's phrases from Thailand... same same. Same same but different. Same same but better!
Everyone has such fun and personable things decorating their work spaces, and part of me is thrilled to move in and make the space my own. The first item will be the Foodie magnetic poetry from Mom along with an old cookie sheet. It tickles me to think of it. A reminder of a wonderful time at home... from which I really did not want to come back this week. I've pulled into life here already after just two days. I did not think I would get over NC so fast. Such is life.
More (maybe) soon!
Today is a new moon. Today I began working for Food & Friends part time. August 4th the moon will be full... and it will be my first full day there following my last official day at MTA. So symbolic! I have one difficult cycle to weather and will hopefully have found a place to live by the end of it. I can't imagine the alternative which a number of people from Avodah are facing looking for places to live with no guarantee of income once their AmeriCorps contracts end.
I had an absolutely incredible first day. Some of the highlights were walking into the building with my close acquaintance Adam who is also now my trainer as I am taking over his position when he leaves for grad school. "Tell Me Something Good" was playing in the kitchen, and there was a tray of cookies that said "Help Yourself." Once again, I have fallen down the rabbit hole.
The entire organization is so efficient that on my first part time day, I already met with HR and filled out paperwork, AND my very official looking nameplate already hangs next to Adam's on the cubicle we currently share. Everyone was so warm and welcoming throughout the day. One of the chefs made a special meal for a meeting, and Adam and I got plates of this delicious food. I am in heaven. Have I mentioned how much good free coffee there is everywhere in the place? It's like they know me!
After running around with volunteers at a pretty hectic pace for most of the morning, Adam surprised me when he suddenly jumped up again and began to say there was somewhere he needed to be. I assumed it was going to be back upstairs with a task he had forgotten. He appeared very serious about this mission. That's when he announced his team was playing bocce ball outside, and we needed to go join them! I can't begin to relate to you the hilarity of this moment. As hard as he was working, he took those twenty or so minutes with everyone else on his and the opposing team to break away. It's so reassuring as to the work environment I have just committed myself.
Throughout our five hours together, Adam told me no less than eight times how glad he was that I am there. It's such a fabulous feeling! I can't wait to see what day two holds in store. I'm a little nervous for the day he leaves, and I'm on my own. Though I know that I can handle this position after my learning curve at MTA, and it's helpful that obviously he thinks I can handle this. I keep thinking of Stacy's phrases from Thailand... same same. Same same but different. Same same but better!
Everyone has such fun and personable things decorating their work spaces, and part of me is thrilled to move in and make the space my own. The first item will be the Foodie magnetic poetry from Mom along with an old cookie sheet. It tickles me to think of it. A reminder of a wonderful time at home... from which I really did not want to come back this week. I've pulled into life here already after just two days. I did not think I would get over NC so fast. Such is life.
More (maybe) soon!
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