Day Zero

Isn't it so awkward when you have this blog you haven't written in forever, and you feel like you maybe want to write in it but it's been so long that you feel like you have to have this epic comeback post, and there's nothing in either your external or internal life that warrants that at all? No, I think, I'd rather just delete the damn blog than have to contend with that.

Unfortunately, or not, I can't abandon or delete the blog just because I'm in a bit of a mental funk right now. I can't do it because I anticipated this very compulsion some weeks back when I was in a better mood, and I plotted against my future avoidant self. When several members of my acquaintance and I were formulating lists of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days, via Day Zero Project, I added Write a blog entry for every goal completed to my list. And now that my list is 5% completed, I have some catching up to do.

So hi! This is not a comeback. It's just another day.


* Initiate a conversation with someone at a bus stop.

Said conversation lasted approximately thirty seconds and largely revolved around the weather and frustration regarding late buses. I considered making this more difficult -- initiate twenty conversations! initiate a conversation every month for a year! -- because really, as written, it's absurd that a thirty-year-old woman should find the goal a challenge. But I did. So it stands.


* Mail the three books I've owed forever.

Okay, some goals are going to be better topics of discussion than others. I used to swap books online pretty heavily but have become less interested in doing this, and as a result of decreased interest + financial issues had owned a few books for months. And now, I don't. The End.


* Visit my sister in Chicago.

My parents were in town for my niece's second birthday and Mother's Day, and I desperately wanted to go but couldn't get time off work and couldn't justify purchasing a plane ticket just for a short weekend. So... I spent Friday night on the Megabus, spent all day Saturday and Sunday morning in Chicago, and got back on the Megabus on Sunday afternoon to get back to Minneapolis at about 1am, ready for work on Monday morning.

Worth every minute. Since I moved to Minneapolis in April 2012, I've managed to visit my sister in Chicago four times. The visit I made in May will be the last, because she will be moving to Los Angeles next month, so it felt very important that I go one last time, sixteen hours on the Megabus be damned!


* Complete a Sunday crossword.

I downloaded the New York Times Crossword app onto my phone, and I can't stop doing the damn things somewhat compulsively. The Sunday Puzzle felt like the obvious goal... but as it turns out, the Saturday one is harder. Who knew! Coincidentally, I've just completed my first Saturday puzzle today, so now I have won crosswords and can stop doing them. (But won't.)


* Dry clean my suit.

... I had my suit cleaned.


* Obtain a permanent job.

And I didn't even wear my suit to the interview!

I've been debating how much I want to say about this. On one hand, I had some thoughts about it that I would like to voice, but on the other, I had decided when I started this blog that I wasn't going to get into specifics about my job. It too easily leads to venting and venting online gets dangerous. Also, I have a tendency to obsess over whatever job I have and tie it too strongly into the image I have of myself, when really, I think I need to go the opposite direction and try to focus more on accomplishments outside of work.

So, for now, I'm just going to say... hooray, I'm employed full-time again! This will be the first time since we moved that my husband and I will both be holding down full-time work consistently, and I am looking forward to worrying about money less and giving ourselves the opportunity to experience this still-new-to-us city more fully.

That's all.

Since this isn't a comeback, I don't suppose a proper closing is terribly important.