I Am a Rockstar Chapter 1: In which nothing is said about being a rockstar

K, here's my exciting news:

I quit my job.

However, in my line of work, "giving notice" does not mean two weeks. More like eight. But because my boss was worried that she couldn't get someone to start right before the holidays and I'm such a nice person (no comments from the peanut gallery, please), I gave 11-1/2 weeks notice.

I can sense you doing rapid mathematical calculations in your head and realizing that this means it took me 2-1/2 weeks to share my news with you, my faithful readers.

But don't look at it that way - I'm letting you know nine weeks in advance! Wow! Don't you feel privileged?!...

Technically, though, I have more than 9 weeks left. In 9 weeks, I start my Christmas vacation. I'll have 2-1/2 weeks off, then I come back for 1-1/2 weeks to train the next person. But I'm calling it 9 weeks for a few reasons:

1. Nine weeks is easier to digest than thirteen weeks*, or in a word - sanity.

2. I'll only be working eight days in January. Following a 2-1/2 week vacation and preceding...the end of my job...it will go quickly and should be easy.

3. I'm moving home at Christmas; so I'll be packing a bag to come back out here in January. This lends to the notion that I'm really quitting in December. Rather than taking a trip home for Christmas before coming back to work, I'll be moving home for Christmas and taking a trip back out here for work. See the difference?

One of my weeks at Christmas is unpaid time off, but the rest is vacation. So I'll be paid for my last 3 weeks here, but only working half of it. Cool, right? I think so.

Then I'm back in the good old Northwest for a month. I'm not going to work, either. For a whole month. I'm pretty excited about it. But I hope I don't go crazy. I don't think I will. I should have plenty to keep me busy. Between catching up with friends and family, getting rid of as much of my stuff as I can part with (it's tough to be a nomad and a packrat at the same time - not practical), and preparing to move to South Korea, I shouldn't get bored.

That's right, I said I'm moving to South Korea. Seoul, to be specific. I'm hoping to go in mid-February, right after the Lunar New Year. This has led to all kinds of ideas for a new blog name. Here are my favorites:

"Life through my eyes: your window into Seoul"

"For those about to ROK,** we Seoul-ute you."

Too cheesy? Any other ideas?

I'm sure that some of you are wondering what happened to my dreams of becoming a US diplomat. Oh, they're still firmly in place. But they're also still dreams and I have to have a backup plan. To be honest, I'm not very optimistic about the exam I took last month. I'll find out how I did sometime over the next few weeks, but I'm not holding my breath (mostly because that would be stupid - holding one's breath for a few weeks could not end well).

However, if I do pass, I will be invited to take the oral assessment. I could take that in DC in December and I would find out at the end of the day how I did.

Were I to pass the written exam and pass the oral assessment with a high score, there would be a good chance of getting hired within the next few months. In this case, I would not go to Korea. In any other case, it is off to Korea for me!

If anybody*** wants to come with me, let me know soon and we can probably be roommates and get jobs at the same school! All that is required is that you have a passport from an English-speaking country, a Bachelor's Degree in any major, and the ability/willingness to commit to a year.

Stay tuned for Chapter 2, in which I reveal details of my secret life as a rockstar.

*If you recognize that I actually have 13 weeks left, that means I gave 15-1/2 weeks notice! Wow! I'm a really nice person!

**ROK = Republic of Korea aka South Korea. All the cool kids use this abbreviation. Admittedly, the phrase doesn't make sense if you understand what ROK means, but I still think it's mildly clever...

***By "anybody," I don't really mean anybody. For example, if you randomly stumbled onto this blog and we've never met, this doesn't include you. Sorry.

The Relativity of Time

It has been a loooooong week. I technically work just over 70 hours/week, but that's just technically speaking. My work day starts at 5:15 am and ends at 7:30 pm. However, I don't even get up until 6:30. Then the kids are off to school by 8:30 and don't get home until 3:15. While they're at school, I do laundry, grocery shopping and other errands. But I usually have some time to myself, too.

It still makes for long days, but the break that I have in the morning while they're at school is definitely good for my sanity. Even if I spend the whole morning running errands, the fact that I don't have a couple of kids in tow makes it feel like a break.

Naturally, whenever the kids' schedule changes, so does mine. I now understand why my mom would get frustrated when we had lots of time off from school (then again, halfway through she decided to homeschool us...). Fortunately, the kids have all-day summer camp during the summer. But I am not particularly looking forward to the last week of June, where they will be off for the entire week and it will be up to me to keep them occupied.

Anyway, the 6-yr-old had her tonsils out last Thursday. She has been doing very well, considering the circumstances. But not only have I had her all day every day this week, but her discomfort has meant that she's been whiny and clingy, as well. Yesterday, I felt like anytime I walked out of the room, she would either follow me or call me to come back because she suddenly "needed something." Add to this the fact that I worked until 10:00 last night instead of 7:30.

She has definitely been improving, though, and she has been anxious to get back to school. So, we were both excited that she was going to go for half a day today. I let her sleep until she woke up on her own, then took her to school at around 11. I kind of felt like someone just busted open the prison gates and I was breathing fresh air for the first time in a very long time. That sounds kind of mean - I really do like her, this week has just been a little much.

But now I've finally got a few hours during the day without the kids and I spent a portion of this coveted time blogging. That was silly. I've got a bunch of errands to run and 3 1/2 hours! Yikes! I'm looking forward to it, though. It's 80 degrees out and I'm going to go drive around with the windows rolled down.

Yes, the worst is definitely over. The kids have an early dismissal tomorrow, then I'm taking them to meet their dad and I'll be off work by about 1:00, making my 3-day weekend more like 3 1/2 days. *contented sigh* I think I've earned it.

Feast or famine

When it rains, it pours, folks. I am currently blogging from Starbucks; I start work in half an hour. I signed up with T-mobile last night so that I can use the internet here before work. I did this because: 1) I'm tired of not being connected to the internet at home and accessing it from work is the next best thing. 2) Since I work for Starbucks, it only costs me half of what it costs The Average Joe. 3) I have about two hours between work at my second job and work at Starbucks, and I hate to waste time going home.

My second job? Oh yes, that's right, I haven't told you about my second job because I haven't had time. heh heh heh

I've been struggling to get enough hours at Starbucks for the last couple of months, and finally I decided maybe I should just get a second job. So, I stopped in at Thorbecke's to find out if there were any opportunities for me there. I figured that since they all know me and I worked there for almost 2 years, if they had any openings, they would hire me back. I was right. The Chehalis Thorbecke's has a little café which delivers lunch to local businesses every morning during the week. It's really nice for doctor's offices and places where they can't really get away. So the lunch run shift is from 9:30-12:30 every day. Fifteen hours a week sounded just right for me since I tend to be scheduled for about 25 hours per week at Starbucks. So we planned on me starting when I got back from New Jersey. I started last Thursday and everything is going well so far except for the fact that while I was in NJ, a bunch of people at Sbux quit. So now I'm working 40 hours a week at Sbux and 15 hours a week at Thorbecke's. Ironic, yes? If we get out of work on time, I'm home around 11:30 at night, then I leave the next morning shortly after 9:00. I hope this doesn't last long. Anyone looking for a job at Starbucks?

P.S. Clearly I am experiencing a time of feasting now, rather than famine. In more ways than one- in addition to getting free coffee at Starbucks all the time, I get a free meal every day at the restaraunt...