Life in Nashville

First of all, it has been so long since I have logged into my account that I don't even know how to use blogger anymore.  What happened to the list of blogs I read and follow?  Somebody help me.

Second, I have moved from Chicago to Nashville.  We moved about two months ago.  As to be expected, the move was stressful.  Leland started working in September so he commuted during the week while I was home packing up the house.  It was not a fun month.  Naturally, being the neurotic person I am, there were a lot of highs and lows.  It was hard for me to be away from Leland during the weeks, it was hard for me to pack the house by myself, it was hard to say goodbye to my family.  Tears were everywhere.  But then I had times when I was so excited, there were times I loved packing my house and throwing things away.  There were times I couldn't wait to get out of town.  I was a hot mess. 

I lived in Woodstock my whole life.  It was home in every possible way.  I love that town.  But moving on was just something I needed to do.  It was something we needed to do.  So we left on October 11th.  I didn't cry. 

Now I live in the south.  It is so weird.  People ask me how I like it and I think the only honest response I can give them is it's too soon to tell.  But so far I love the weather (though I haven't been through a summer yet) and I love my house.  And Nashville seems like a cool city.  But that's all I know right now.  Leland is happy with his job and I am unemployed. 

I love being unemployed.

But I really need to figure out what to do with my time.  Should I work on my stand-up comedy even though there really isn't much of a comedy scene in Nashville?  Should I work on my writing?  Should I start knitting?  I'm a bit lost here.  Even this post is choppy and distracted and I don't know what to do with it to make it flow.  I am still trying to figure out life in  a new town and I am still trying to figure out what I want my new life to look like.

Yankee Bitch to Southern Belle?

I started this blog 5 years ago (I think, I just don't want to look through my archives to confirm) because Leland and I were planning on moving to Austin, TX.  Well Austin never panned out and I kept the blog going anyway, writing various nonsense about anything from private emotional issues I was having to the crazy sexcapades I was having with Leland.  And then I stopped blogging because my life was becoming pretty damn perfect, which in my case equaled boring.

Which brings me to this morning and this post. 

I am sitting in an office that is decorated in Ole Miss swag in Nashville, TN.  Leland is on a pseudo interview.  I say 'pseudo' because it's really not much of an interview at all.  Leland has done some work for this company in the past year and now they want to bring him on full time, which would lead to one hell of an adventure for me: moving out of my beloved city of Chicago and on to Nashville, TN.

I've been here for exactly 51 minutes and I am already experiencing culture shock.  I think it is fair to say that my life will be far from boring for the next few months as we will be moving to a new state and getting settled in.  I will have to find a new job (which I could not be more excited about as I loathe the job I have now), find a new favorite restaurant, find my way around town, make new friends, find new doctors, etc.

Welcome back to my crazy life!

So far....

.... It has been a hell of a year.

I'm back in school which sucks. I'm glad I'm doing it but it's hard to adjust. The whole not having free time thing is killing me. Leland has picked up all of the slack though, making things much easier. But it's hard and I'm frustrated.

The winter weather is really getting to me, even though we haven't had a bad winter at all. I'm not myself and I'm not quite sure what to do about it.

I'm on weight watchers and I love it. I have lost 14 pounds so far and instead of being happy about my success I am kicking myself for not doing it sooner. Why do I do that?

But enough about me, how are all of you?

Well Hello!

You know, I never intend to take these breaks, they just
sort of seem to happen.

It has been a long time.
And really, I have no excuses and no lame reasons for being gone. Life has been rather simple and boring
lately. But I am going to try this again.

Right now.

When the timing is oh so bad.

You see, in two weeks I will be starting school again and my
life will actually be busy. I should
have been blogging when everything was quiet and easy, but apparently that just
isn’t how I do things. I actually like
chaos. I thrive in chaos. So maybe having too much stuff to do will
actually be better for me. Maybe, just
maybe, I will start to get more things done.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in English, and as you probably
suspect, that degree hasn’t really been doing much for me lately. Or ever.
I am thirty years old and I am still working at what was supposed to
just be a college job. For the past TEN
YEARS, I have been making myself feel better about staying at a job I loathe by
saying things like “Oh, but it’s only 15 minutes from home and it’s so
convenient.” Or sometimes I’ll tell
myself that the four weeks of vacation I get make up for being miserable the
other 48 weeks of the year. But my all
time favorite excuse is that I can leave work at work, so in the evenings and
on the weekends I have all the time in the world to pursue things that actually
interest me. But no, I have not been
using my time wisely.

I have been thinking about nursing for quite some time. I actually thought about it before I decided
to get my ever so helpful degree in English.
I don’t know why I never followed through. But in October I had a breakthrough.

I sell bolts and nuts for a living. Yes, it is as glamorous as it sounds.

Every year my two bosses go to the fastener convention in
Vegas. When they came back, the boss I
like had all sorts of stories to tell me.
But the story that pushed me over the edge was this one:

The boss I like came in the office, all geared up and exited
after the convention. He had some
paperwork for me that he picked up in Vegas.
Apparently there is a new organization forming for women in the fastener
industry and he wanted me to join and be a part of it. And then he went on to tell me that when they
were talking to the person about me joining the women in the fastener industry
organization, the boss I do not like said, “why would you want Aly to be part
of it? All she does is answer the phones.”

There are two problems with that story. The first one is glaringly obvious. I DO WAY MORE THINGS THAN JUST ANSWER THE
PHONES! Really? Is that what he thinks about me? After ten years of working my ass off he
actually thinks all I do is answer the phones?
Why the hell would he pay me so much if all I do is answer the
phones? The boss I do like often jokes
that my job title should be Saves the Day.
Because that is what I actually do.
Every day I put out fires and step up and finish jobs that other people
should be doing but don’t because they all suck and no one gets fired in my company.

So yeah, I was more than pissed off to hear that my boss
thinks to little of me. But then upon
reflection, it made me happy to hear because it is just what I needed. I hate my job and the very last thing I want
to do is join an organization for women in the fastener industry. I want to get out of the fastener industry,
not get more involved. So the following
weekend I went to the local community college and signed up for classes.

I have eleven pre-req’s I need to take before I can apply for
the nursing program. It sucks, but I am
going to do it. If I work my ass off I
can have them all finished in a year and a half. This means I will only be working at a job I
hate for another year and a half. After
I get accepted to the nursing program I plan on quitting my job and going to
school full time. I can’t wait. I have never been excited to start school
before.

The 10 Year Anniversary

The 9/11 anniversary is on Sunday. Every time I turn on the computer I am jarred by all of the photos. When I turn on the radio I cry when I hear the stories. I know the press is probably just trying to honor those who died and possibly bring some comfort to those who lost loved ones that day. I know it is a devastating day in our history.

I just can’t handle it. I am a very sensitive person and seeing the photos and reading the stories make me cry. Big, fat, elephant sized tears. Like every other human being in this country, and most human beings on this earth, I will never forget what happened that day. Seeing it all over again isn’t reminding me of anything. How can you be reminded when you never forgot?

It just makes me incredibly sad. My heart breaks all over again. And the thing is, I can’t NOT read the stories or look at the pictures. Though I try to pass over the article I see about 9/11 online, I just can’t do it. For some reason I put myself through the pain all over again. Maybe I do it because I know there are people who still suffer with real pain from that day. And really, being sad for a few days every year about it is nothing compared to what some people went through and are still going through.

But I just can’t handle it. Unlike millions of people, I will not be turning on my TV to watch coverage. I will not read articles online, I will not listen to radio programs. It doesn’t mean I don’t care, it surely doesn’t mean I am not affected. It just means my heart can’t take the pain anymore.

Show me your DORK!

No matter how cool we all may think we are on the outside, deep down a dork lives in all of us. True story.

Two weeks ago I admitted to watching High School Musical.
And High School Musical 2.
And last week I watched High School Musical: Senior Year.
And enjoyed all three of them.

I definitely think this qualifies me as a dork. Leland thinks so as well.

But I know I am not the only dork out there. Leland is pretty cool because he plays guitar in a heavy metal band….but then once you find out that he LOVES spreadsheets you realize he is just a big dork. Yes, that’s right. He loves spreadsheets. I don’t get it either. My BFF Danny is tall, dark and handsome and also a metal musician….but he is addicted to video games and often prefers sitting in front of the TV playing games to human interaction. Yes, he too is a dork.

A dork lives in all of us. Most of the time we don’t want to admit these things about ourselves. Sometimes we try and sugarcoat them. Just recently I called the stupid, teenage, girly movies I like my guilty pleasure. But really, I am a 30 year old woman. My guilty pleasure should be a glass (or bottle) of wine after work. Maybe it should be watching Cowboys and Aliens over and over again drooling over Daniel Craig. Watching stupid, teenage, girly movies is NOT a guilty pleasure. Watching those movies just proves that I am a big, fat dork.

So tell me, what makes you a dork??? I know I am not alone....

Weekend Getaway

I got home from my annual camping trip to Buckhorn State Park in Wisconsin on Sunday night. I am still so tired.

Every year Leland and I talk our friends into spending 4 days with us camping on Castle Rock Lake. We eat, drink A LOT of beer, and swim pretty much all afternoon. Though I am back at work, I am still recovering from the weekend. I usually sleep so well whenever I sleep outside, but not this weekend.



(That's one of our campsites. I love how they are right on the lake!)


I AM SO TIRED!

Plus, I think I am still bloated from all that beer.

Though I didn’t drink nearly as much as I have in the past, my age is making it harder and harder to party and rally. Unlike past years I have been camping, I managed to keep my clothes on all weekend. And I didn’t get drunk so I didn’t spend an entire day hungover. It was just a long weekend of relaxing, swimming, taking naps in the sun and doing beer bongs. Yes, I may be getting older but still don’t think I am too old for beer bongs yet.

Leland went to a concert with Danny yesterday, so when I got home from work yesterday afternoon I was all by myself. Want to know what I did with my time?

I watched High School Musical.

Yep. True story.

And when I was done with it I watched High School Musical 2. I would have kept going and watched the 3rd one, but it isn’t streaming on Netflix.

Yes, I enjoyed them. I am a dork and I don’t care who knows!

Anyway. I’m back home and back to work and all I really want to do is go back to the lake. Is that too much to ask?