Winds of Change

So it's been over two years since I've posted. Not that I haven't thought about it. Even started a post once...blahblahblah

So Where's Pi Now?

Quick sum up since March, 2010 (like, forEVER ago)

I actually don't recall much from the rest of 2010, except a few bad decisions, but hey, we all make those from time to time. 

Course they were fun (married skydiver (MSD) at the end of his marriage and a co-worker (chef)) and I only regret one (the chef).

Sometime around June/July/August, I made a Decision.

I'm moving back to Chicago in September whether I have a job or not.

I was only slightly deluded as to how complicated that would actually be...

Yeah, yeah I said it before,(Ahem, see below...) I had my epiphany in July 2009 and set out on a mission, but lost my steam...

Course I didn't move back to Chicago that September, but I told everyone I was, something about accountability.

So I pulled away from one group of friends and cut my social circle down to a few people. 

I was nearing the one year anniversary of my first skydive so decided to celebrate by doing it again!

Fantastic. That's how I met the MSD.

I told him not to get too attached, that I was planning to move back to Chi-town and it was just a good fun time...

Course, they never listen.

I ended up breaking his heart in late January.

My job search was actually going quite well by that point, I had an interview with a company in downtown Chicago the week of my birthday.

The interview was on a Thursday, my bday on Sunday, the next day Valentine's day. The restaurant was sure to be busy that Saturday. Course, silly me, just wrote in the 'Time off request book':

Will not know if back in town for Saturday the 12th, please let me know if you schedule me.

I distinctly recall texting one of my coworkers about my interview on Friday night and thinking to myself, I should ask her to check the schedule for me, just in case.

I chose not to.

As a result, I lost my restaurant job.

I loved that job.

Sigh.

Not ten days later, Friday, February 25, 2011, ~8:30am I was on my way to work when my cell phone rang.

It was a guy calling from one of the Big Five Banks in downtown Chicago. He wanted to chat about the application I had submitted.

At the time I didn't even recall what the position was!

I do have MSD to thank for this, he works for this Big Five Bank and had told me what a great company it was to work for and that I should look through their postings...well for shits and giggles I checked their site and there was one random Administrative Assistant IV position open in Chicago. I thought, hey, why not?

We setup and interview for a week from the following Monday.

Later that afternoon ~3:00pm, my phone rang.

Can you come to the Executive Conference Room?

As I walked down the hall, I had a feeling...

The engineering firm laid me off.

I wasn't surprised in the least. I could see that business was slow and they saw that I didn't have a direction.

I received 2 weeks' pay and all my vacation which was another 2 weeks...

I have a mortgage, car payment, student loans, credit cards, a few grand in the bank, and NO JOB.

Shit.

That lit a fire under my ass and gave me the push I needed to do what I had been wanting to do for almost two years.

Move back to Chicago!!

I continued to hammer the job search and put a plan in place to simplify the amount of SHIT I had accumulated over the four years I lived in my condo.

March 8, 2011

I went to that interview, nailed it, was offered the job two days later and had accepted it by Friday.

Start date, March 25.

I wasn't out of work long enough to collect Unemployment Benefits.

Time to deal with all my Stuff. I purged. I took stuff to the dumpster, Goodwill, sold it on Craigslist, my friends, and even gave a few things away.

It was LIBERATING.

After several trips back and forth, my condo nearly empty, I moved 350 miles away... to Mom's house!

More on that later...

In hindsight, the timing of my ending a relationship, losing my 2nd job, and being laid off was extremely convenient. Clearing a path for something new.

Kinda creepy too.
could be that whole 'shit happens for a reason' thing

Can't promise anything,..but it's nice to be back :)

How bout we go our separate ways now?

So update on that whole Rock Bottom Brewery thing...

Julia called and left a message...I had a feeling about what she'd say when I called her back.

Blah blah blah, limited availability, blah blah blah, too long to get through training, blah blah blah, may have bit off more than you can chew, blah blah blah, let's just go our separate ways now, and if you're availability on Friday and Saturday night open up, do give us a call.

Um. Gee. Thanks.

I was recounting this whole thing to my one adorable and effeminate co-worker (who is, amazingly, straight) and what did he say?

I was just hired there!

With a hand flourish.

Not only is he surprisingly straight, he's also a man-whore.

How does that work? (total denial)

Anyway, I went on a date last Thursday night, I was all excited about it all week.

The Black Eyed Peas were in town that night.

I kinda wanted to go but had been dragging my feet on buying a ticket....

And now I wish I had gone.

The date was weird.

He took me to this nice little tapas place in the 'trendy' East Village, the food was fantastic, as expected.

Conversation came easily, so no problems there.

The things he talked about, however, kept throwing up red flags.

He reminded me that he had been drinking all day when we met the Saturday prior at around 10:30 pm

He didn't seem like it to me...

So, is drinking all day on a Saturday a normal thing for you or ??

Well, I don't drink during the week blah blah blah something about an addictive personality, but I really enjoy drinking because I start to think about things that I normally don't think about.

Like what?

Well, I just notice stuff, like little things, I'm more focused on what's going on around me and I start to ask myself questions about it, and then I discover how I feel about certain things and what my true opinions are on various topics.

So, you're saying you're more focused when you're drunk than when you're sober? You don't relax and just let go of all that stuff when you're drinking (like normal people)?

No, you mean that's what it's like for you when you're sober or drinking?

Yeah, I think most people use alcohol as an escape or way to relax. I always feel the tension in my shoulders melt away with my first drink.

Wow, it takes me quite a few to feel anything.

Even though you only binge-drink on the weekend?

Yep.

Ok, enough said.

Oh, then there was his highly annoying habit of telling me how different he is from everyone else.

No, really, like he totally IS a unique snowflake. And he doesn't do things like other people.

Finally I just snapped.

OK. I GET it. You're Different. Now quit talking about it and do something! Give me an example!

He shut up for a little bit.

Sigh.

Shoulda gone to BEP.

Yeah it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged, but I’m going to go ahead and ignore that fact - - just act like I’ve been at it all along…

The restaurant for which I worked closed February 28^th, so after four months of being a server, I was out of a (second) job.

I kinda-sorta had something lined up, so I checked in with them and found out they had already hired someone.

But I have good sense on people. I let you know next week if she working out. (read with a Russian accent)

No biggie, right, I wouldn’t mind a weekend or two to myself.

Or so I thought.

After a few weeks of going nutso, with too much time on my hands and not enough to do (holy crap, like my day-job!) I started applying for server positions all over the place.

One of those places was Macaroni Grill.

Not the kind of place I patronize, I prefer to stay away from the big chains and go to local places instead.

But lots of people go there and there’s big $ potential.

I filled out the application, had a chat with a manager, then had to complete an Evaluation.

See they way it works is you fill out the Evaluation, they fax it to Headquarters, which runs it through a computer and it either comes back ‘Continue’ or ‘Discontinue’

No other information is given to the manager, just ‘Continue’ or ‘Discontinue’

The Evaluation was 200 fill-in-the-bubble questions, the first 30 of which were math related.

No calculator allowed.

Long division pretty much fried my brain.

The second set, about 70 questions, on reading and word comprehension.

The third, and most important set, 100 questions designed to determine how ‘service oriented’ you are.

It was obvious to me which answers to choose, but I think my brains were all worn out and some honesty creeped through.

One particular question I remember is True or False, I would rather be alone than do something I don’t want to do with others.

What the hell kind of question is that?!

If ‘others’ are gouging out each other’s eyes with soup spoons, then, yes, I’d rather be alone.

True or False: There are types of people I find difficult to get along with.

Only a brown-noser would answer False, cuz really, who doesn’t have difficulty with at least ONE type of person?

Anyway, the Evaluation took me an hour to complete and I was ready for a nap afterwards.

A few days later I call to get my results: Discontinue.

Macaroni Grill gave me an F.

Total Fail.

Wow.

Guess I’m not Macaroni Grill Material.

I didn’t want to go through five days of intensive training anyway.

I filled out a similar questionnaire for Rock Bottom Brewery, and was called for an interview!

Twice.

I have orientation at Rock Bottom this weekend.

They’re next door to each other.

So every time I go to work, my Epic FAIL is right there, staring me in the face.

Screw you, Macaroni Grill!

New Stuff!!

I've been MIA for awhile, like 10ish weeks MIA, well lots to share...

Let's start with today.

I went Skydiving.

Friday morning, 8:00 a.m., Hyvee, breakfast, co-workers...

The conversation turns to a story about a guy that was bungee jumping when the cord came off of his foot or something like that, I wasn't paying attention until C.J. said something about skydiving.

I've always wanted to do that!

My boss has done it and says she regrets not getting a camera guy, so be sure to take that option...

Hey, how about we do it? Next weekend maybe? Anyone interested?

A few people express interest, but they weren't all-in.

Aaron said he'd maybe jump out of plane... if it were on fire...

Geez, first breakfast, then skydiving? Where are we gonna be at day's end?!

I invited some of my friends, but alas, no one took us up on the offer.

So it was just us two.

A little drive out to the Winterset Municipal Airport and the home of the Des Moines Skydivers known also as the Couch Freaks

They chill in a hangar littered with old couches and picnic tables, an old dog wandering around, people getting ready for jumps, people returning from jumps, music going...

Very laid-back and informal, it has the feel of a late-night landing place for those in an altered state

After waiving all kinds of legal rights and signing our lives away to participate in an 'Ultra High-Risk Activity' we pick out jumpsuits.

I borrow a long-sleeve shirt from my Tandem Instructor, John, since my fleece would be too much...

Then stuff myself into the bright blue jumpsuit...I felt like a sausage!



He put the harness on and tightened it up, kinda makes you walk funny, a sort of waddle.

I did a little interview with my camera guy Andrew...

So do you have anything to say to people that might be watching this?

Ummm, Nope!

Out we went to the airstrip, took a group photo, then crammed into a little Cessna, all six of us

The ride up to 11,500 feet takes like 25 minutes, which is F O R E V E R when you want to jump out....

Shortest ride I've ever taken in a plane!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.....

Before/After

My Farrell's eXtreme BodyShaping Before and After pictures:



































Not as big or sharp as I was hoping but you get the idea!









10 Week Results:

Weight............161.....................151 (makes a difference on my 5'7" frame)
Body fat % ......29.0...................26.1
Left arm..........11.5"...................10.5"
Chest...............41......................37
Waist...............35......................33
Hips...............44.5....................41.5
Left thigh.........22.....................20
Push-ups.........20.....................49
Sit-ups.............21......................33 (I can already do more, only two weeks later)
Mile run........11:03..................9:31 (and I ran the whole thing!)

I signed up for three months of 'maintenance' so I can continue to improve my fitness level.

I'm very pleased with my results, my clothes fit better, some are too loose, and others that haven't fit for over a year have made their way back into rotation.

Since I hate running, I've decided to add it to my Tuesday/Thursday workouts (which are resistance bands) until I start waitressing again...

I never thought I would like working out!

My coach shared my before pictures with me during week six of the program, I was horrified. I had no idea I looked so terrible.

I actually thought I looked good?!

Never. Again.

A new Pi has emerged.

And she starts her new job tomorrow!

Progress!

Yes, a lull in the blogging, in the whole online-life in general, as I've been out living Real Life

I've found a new job!

My boss wasn't surprised, hah, he'll probably use my departure to be even lazier.

The announcement was made yesterday, a nice two paragrapher mentioning the things I've done for the company...

A few congratulations and you're leaving us?!

I know, isn't it great!?

Jumping off a sinking ship huh?

Well, when you put it that way, wouldn't you?

I'm excited for the challenge of a new industry, new co-workers, new boss, new everything!

What will my new cube-theme be?

Everyone has asked me if I'm taking time off between jobs...

No, what would I do with time off?

Think about starting my new job?

Mourn my 'loss'?

Time to 'switch gears'?

I checked out long ago and I'm ready to move on.

My boss offered to set up an outing to see me off...

The offer was not appealing in the least.

Plus, I don't really drink during the week...I'm in the whole work-out after work mode.

Results from Farrell's eXtreme Body Shaping next! (pictures too)

DSM, we need to talk...

I'm taking ballroom dance classes at the moment.

I love it.

I've learned basics for the waltz, tango, rumba, and cha-cha.

rumba and cha-cha are my faves so far...

So every Monday I rush around from work to work-out to home, shower, eat, speed to dance class

I live near the largest consumption mecca in the metro in a disgustingly suburban neighborhood full of identical looking condo and town-home developments.

Barf.

Dance class is on the north side of the city of Des Moines. There's no quick way to get there.

I end up driving through a few different neighborhoods on my way there, most notably, Beaverdale.

Beaverdale is an older 'hood with mature trees, brick houses set closely together and back from the street, and is generally a nice place.

It reminds me of parts of Chicago.

It has more of a city feel. It's quite a bit more inviting than where I live.

I love that part of my Monday.

It makes me miss living in a large city.

While visiting Mom this past weekend for the July Fourth festivities, I got a good talkin' to.

By Mom's business partner.

I've heard this speech a few times over the past few years, but I'm only it getting now.

Like, REALLY getting it.

I'm grossly under-paid.

My company is in shambles and the outlook is grim-to-uncertain.

I have a handful of (mostly crappy) friends.

I hate where I live.

I'm single.

I have a college education.

I grew up in a big city.

I live in the suburbs of Des Moines, Iowa.

What The Fuck.

I've never felt like Des Moines was Home, not really a good fit.

Young, single, educated people should live in large bustling cities with lots of other young, single, educated people, in my mind anyway!

and make enough money so a second job is unnecessary. savings are a reality. travel occurs often.

There's plenty of time to waste away in a suburb if/when I have that whole husband/kids/dog scenario going on...

What's holding me back?

Nothing, really.

There's no good reason to stay where I am.

Time to move.

Des Moines, you're fired!

Plan: complete all unfinished home improvement projects, then de-clutter and simplify, talk to realtors, pick one and list condo, also, look for job in Chicago

Scary...

Exciting...