Haiti.

Why Haiti’s Palace Fell

I found this to be a sad article. It summarizes what I’ve been thinking since the earthquake in Haiti on January 12th: if the buildings had been built properly, the insurmountable number of deaths could have been contained to, say, 100. (Click on the article, and they will compare the earthquake to several in Cali where the death toll was below 100).

I know they are a poor nation, but I also felt that a big part of the destruction when Hurricane Katrina hit was largely in part due to poor building practices. And we, in the United States, have standards that have to be followed, but people take shortcuts.

There’s a reason we, as designers and builders, are trained in these areas – it’s so that catastrophes, like these, do not happen.

Yes, sometimes we make mistakes. But we are trained how to design buildings that can withstand an earthquake. We are trained how to design buildings that can take hurricanes with powerful wind gusts off the ocean. We are trained to do this, and yet people still take it upon themselves to take shortcuts, cut corners, and build buildings that will end up hurting people when a natural disaster happens.

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My thoughts go out to the people of Haiti. I cannot even fathom what they are going through right now. I only hope that people can learn from this and make better choices in the future to ensure that this does not happen again.

 

Love Harder 2.0

Thanks to the ladies who worked so hard to get this project done.

The quandary: We feel terrible. Just horrible. And oh so helpless… if only there was something we could DO for them.

The answer: Ummmm. Did you forget that WE ARE THE INTERNET?!?!!??! And also, Yes We Can!!!

The result: Brandy and your Hot Awesome Dude… this one’s for you. Love, The Internet.

Our Plea

Our friend Brandy is a brilliant writer, a wonderful teacher, and a generous friend.  And she is in love with a man who has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

We are raising money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Fund in his name.  For the price of a Venti, non-fat, no whip, white hot chocolate (Brandy’s drink of choice), you can be part of an effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide.

What You Can Do

• Give. Be part of a worldwide effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide.  Every dollar helps.
• Pass it on. Forward this story to five people.  Share this blog post.  Become our fan on Facebook.
• Love harder. Life is short, love is unbending, and no one knows what could happen next. Tell someone you love them today.

Where Your Money Goes

• The American Institute of Philanthropy recently named The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation one of the best organizations to give to in terms of their accountability and use of resources.
• By working closely with researchers, clinicians and partners in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, the MMRF has helped bring multiple myeloma patients four new treatments that are extending lives around the globe.
• The MMRF has advanced twenty Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. They need your support to advance these clinical research programs and accelerate the development of better, more effective treatments.
• The MMRF’s Multiple Myeloma Genomics Initiative recently became the first to sequence the multiple myeloma whole genome in its entirety.
• A whopping 98% of your donation to the MMRF will be used immediately to support high-priority multiple myeloma research.
• With diminishing funding for early stage drug development and the next myeloma treatments not expected to be approved until 2011, the MMRF desperately needs your help.

DONATE: http://www.loveharder.org
CONTACT: theloveharderfund@gmail.com
FACEBOOK: http://facebook.loveharder.org
MORE INFO: http://www.themmrf.org

 

The One With The New Apartment.

I took the job. I gave my notice. I also gave my notice on my apartment, and found a cute little one bedroom in the center of town, in the same building as a good friend of mine. She’s got the killer corner view, I’ve got the roof deck overlooking the harbor!

I’ll post some pics when I move in and get everything settled. Then it’s Martinis on the roof deck! And I’m not talking about ANY roof deck… this deck sits off of my bedroom, which has a sliding glass door and eastern views, so I can watch the sun rise over the ocean from my cozy bed.

I’ve filled out the application (and with no other interest, I’m sure I’ll get it), have called the movers, have requested my cable/internet be switched over, and now I have to finish my two weeks here, and pack up my ENTIRE apartment. Plus some side work for The Emperor. Start a new job, and have my first client meeting where I’m running the show. All in THREE WEEKS.

I’m a bit nervous. But I can’t wait.

 

The One Where Lpeg Quits.

I plan to quit my job. Today.

I hope he doesn’t decide he isn’t coming in due to the snow storm…

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Update: No head-exploding. I think he understood. Also said it would be extremely unprofessional and on my conscience if I left with less than a 30-day notice.

I can’t really help that – I have client meetings starting the week I get there, and then I go on a pre-scheduled vacation. I need to be there two weeks before I take a week off. If I don’t start till after my vacation, it’s March 1 already, and they need me, like, now.

 

The One Where They Offer Her The Job.

At 3.45 this afternoon, I received a Letter of Agreement from the company that I interviewed with on Monday.

They would like me to start February 1, with a client meeting on February 5th in which I would take the lead on this new project, with minimal supervision.

So basically, they are throwing me in, head first, without even knowing what I can really do.

Shit.

A couple things I need to think about, before I accept their offer.

• I think this would be a really great opportunity for me – throwing me in head first will allow me to design! Yay! I haven’t designed anything since college (so I’m also terrified). But I should be able to finish my internship, as the areas that I am currently lacking in will be completed with the beginnings of a new project. I will get to work on programming and schematics and contracts. I don’t get to do that where I am now – the boss hands me a design and says, “draw this.”

• The pay. To put it bluntly, I asked for 45k. I currently make 35k. Salary dot com says that for my position, the average pay in my area (yea right) is 44.6k They offered me 42.2k. – What do you think? Should I be asking for more? They did mention that they wanted to be fair, and bring me in at a pay that would be equal to those of the others in  my position. Fair enough. They also mentioned that once I get licensed, there is the possibility/probability that that comes with a nice raise, as I would be the second person in that office to be a licensed architect. It’s run by a builder who wanted to offer more to his clients. What would you do? Would you dicker? Ask for 43k? Or keep your mouth shut and take it?

• Vacation. I currently get 2 weeks paid vacation a year. They are offering 1week, starting after 6 months. Bummer.

• Full benefits: 401k, health and dental, life, etc, etc – at no cost to me, which is what I am getting now. Let’s hope their plan doesn’t suck like mine and have a $2500 deductible!

• Commute. They are 50 minutes from where I currently live. And I don’t think I really want to live down there, so then I have to cough up the money to drive 40 miles to work everyday. And back.

• Moving. I currently live above my office, so even though I was planning on moving out sometime this spring to save money – guess it’s going to have to happen sooner rather than later.

• My current job. My boss’ head is going to explode.

• Time frame for how long I’ll give for notice. It’s not as easy quitting these types of jobs as it may be in others. You can’t just give two weeks and call it good. Especially when you’re the only one producing any work, and we have a house on the boards. I need to figure out if I can get most of it done within the next two weeks, and if the part-time guy can pick up the slack for the two days he is here a week. If not, they mentioned something about working part-time with them until I finish up here. Honestly, I’d love to just have closure here. Besides, if the boss’ head explodes, I’m sure those two weeks will be hell. Also, I’ve been guaranteed that my boss will most likely call my new boss to chew him out and tell him to stop recruiting his employees.

I have so much to think about. Then again, word in the office is that things are bad, and the comptroller thinks they are going to get worse.

Maybe this is exactly what I needed. We’ll see?

 

The One With Barney’s Musical Debut.

I have been a fan of How I Met Your Mother for the longest time.

But last night’s 100th Episode?

Fantastic. Gotta love Barney’s Nothing Suits Me Like  A Suit!

 

The One Where They Ask Lpeg In For An Interview.

A call this morning came in for an old co-worker, a friend whom I had just had drinks and dinner with on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday, she had asked if I minded if some of her old co-workers (at the company before she worked with me) joined us. Of course, I said I didn’t mind.

We had a great time, laughing about how I am the last person standing at my current office, if I was happy there, did I mind working alone, etc, etc.

Back to this morning. I mentioned to the caller that she no longer worked here, and he goes, “Oh, right, I dialed the wrong number. Actually, is Lpeg there?”

Come to find out, it was one of the guys I had met on Tuesday night. He mentioned that the owner of his company had asked him to get my cell phone number from my co-worker, and when he got me instead, he just asked me directly. “We’ll be in touch later,” he told me as we said goodbye.

At noon-time, while I was out doing some sub-contracting work for The Emperor, my phone started vibrating (alright, singing loudly the tune of ‘Uptown Girl’ – hey, he rocks) – and as it was an unknown number,  I let it go to voicemail. I had already informed The Emperor about the mysterious call that morning, and we just assumed they might be looking for some help, and asking me to sub-contract with them as well, during my evenings and weekends.

Back at the office, I picked up my voicemails, and one was from the company, the owner’s assistant, asking me to call her back, which I did immediately. She mentioned that they were swamped at their office (they do the same sort of stuff we do, except they have work, and we don’t), and that instead of going through all their old resumes filed away, asked if I wanted to come in for an interview, since a few people from their office had drinks with me the other night, and thought I would be a good addition.

Hell yes! So I’ve got an interview scheduled with them for Monday morning.

A few things I’ve got to think about, as this could be a tricky move for me.

• My boss hates this company. We used to work with them, when they were just contractors (we designed the houses, they built them), but since they opened up their design office, and recruited more than one of our designers, he is a little touchy about losing his employees to them. And considering I am the last person on his production team (meaning I am the only one who produces work that we can bill for), and I would be going to work for them… ouch (kinda ballsy on their end, recruiting the last person in his office…)

• Relocation: Now, I know we’re in Maine, and everything takes a 20 minute drive to get to, but this office is located 1hr from where I am now, approximately 41 miles. Aside from the fact that I live above my current office (don’t knock me, it’s a great set up, really) – that means I need to find a new place to live. The Emperor has kindly agreed to let me move into his studio for a few months so that I can save some funds and potentially rent something nice/buy/move/etc, etc. And aside from that, while that new town is cute, I LOVE the town I live in now. Even if I traveled/moved overseas, I always wanted to come back. So do I commute the hour? And on US Route-1 in the summertime – the busiest highway in Maine?

• Travel: Originally I was thinking about traveling with Lil Sis. That will most likely not happen, as the girl never had a date for 24 years, and the first date she went on, she met Mr. Perfect, and hit the jackpot! (I know, seriously, who knew). Things are going great with them, and I doubt she’s going to want to pick up and move all over the country in a few months. I had recently decided I was going to make a huge effort to move to London, or anywhere out of the country, with no idea how I was going to accomplish that. So do I not take the job, and make that push, or do I take the job and stay in Maine?

• Money: I believe I am being severely underpaid where I am at. With Salary.com’s survey, I am making 8k less than the average. My pay barely hits the 10th percentile. And that’s for my area, not for a big city. Guaranteed, there will be a nice pay raise.

• Workload. Being the only one left where I am now leaves me in a fairly decent position. I became a Project Manager three months after I graduated, but really had no idea what I was doing. I am finally at the point in my career where I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what I am doing, and I understand so much more. That being said, I really like the challenges I am getting at my current position, and while I still have to work for my boss, the past month has actually been quite enjoyable. There has been little yelling, and while degrading at times, most of the time he blames my mistakes (or his mistakes, because, it’s totally my fault that I can’t read his mind) on the fact that I am still learning. This is part of your education, Lpeg, he tells me. Granted, it’s not ideal, but moving to a company where there are more people, I am not so sure I would get the same responsibilities and challenges.

These are all things I need to think about. But I figured it can’t hurt for me to go in and sit down with them. I mean hell, more than half of their employees are ex-my office employees. I know their drafting programs, I know how they do their drawings, I know the system.

But really, I’m flattered. I never put in a resume, or even mentioned I was looking for a job.

And they called me.

 

I figured we’d be on here… just not number one.

9 Professions That Saw The Most Job Losses in 2009. on MSN Careers.

1. Architects

A feature in BusinessWeek earlier this year asked: “How Can Architects Survive the Recession?”

Alas, many did not.

Job losses in the profession jumped 17.8 percent, bringing the total number of employed architects to 189,000 in the first three quarters of 2009, compared to 230,000 in the same period a year earlier, according to the BLS.

Clearly, tough times in the construction industry did a number on architectural jobs, but better days are expected.

The BLS’ most recent Monthly Labor Review that looks at employment projections through 2018 shows that architecture and engineering occupations will grow by about 10 percent.

2. Carpenters
The job of carpenter has many levels, from an apprentice learning the ropes to a master carpenter who heads up major projects and trains the newbies.

Unfortunately, carpenters at all levels felt the sting of economic conditions this past year, as nearly 270,000 carpenter jobs disappeared. That was a 17 percent reduction of positions to about 1.3 million, reported the BLS.

Brighter days may lie ahead. The job of carpenter made the BLS list of occupations with the largest projected job growth through 2018, as much as 13 percent.

3. Production supervisors and assembly workers
The manufacturing sector already had been decimated over the past decade as U.S. manufacturers moved more and more production overseas to cash in on low-cost labor. But the recession seemed to cut even deeper for many in the industry.

Production supervisory jobs fell nearly 16 percent to 754,000 positions by the third quarter of 2009. Jobs for rank-and-file assembly workers also dropped nearly 16 percent to 876,000 during the same period.

The future doesn’t look good for this sector. First-line supervisors and managers in production are among BLS projections for the 30 occupations with the largest forecasted employment declines through 2018, with a 5.2 percent drop predicted. For assembly workers, a 2 percent dip is projected.

4. Pilots
With all the press that hero pilots got in 2009, the bad news about the profession at large was lost in the shuffle.

Jobs for pilots and flight engineers plummeted by 30.4 percent by the third quarter of 2009 to 96,000 from 138,000 jobs in 2008, according to the BLS.

The outlook: As the economy grows, demand for air travel is expected to grow as well, and with that growth will come more jobs for pilots.

Pilots looking for positions with major airlines will face stiff competition. Opportunities with regional airlines, low-cost carriers and cargo carriers will be the most abundant, according to the BLS.

“Applicants also will have to compete with laid-off pilots for any available jobs,” the BLS reported. “Pilots who have logged the greatest number of flying hours using sophisticated equipment typically have the best prospects. For this reason, military pilots often have an advantage over other applicants.”

5. Computer software engineers
Computer software engineers continued to be impacted by the offshoring of programming jobs.

The profession saw a 10 percent decline in jobs to 970,000 by the third quarter of this year, down from more than 1 million positions in 2008.

But on the horizon, demand from businesses and government agencies to have the newesttechnology is expected to drive growth in both computer and mathematical occupations.

The BLS expects the sector to add 785,700 new jobs through 2018, growing twice as fast as the average for all professions. “It is anticipated that computer specialists will account for the vast majority of this growth, increasing by 762,700 jobs,” the agency reports.

6. Mechanical engineers
Jobs in the mechanical engineering profession plummeted by nearly 18 percent in the first nine months of this year to 247,000 jobs, compared to a little over 300,000 in the previous year.

Beyond.com, a career-networking site, reported a 73 percent decline in mechanical, civil andprocess engineering job postings this year.

“Certain industries, such as automobile and travel, took a significant hit over the last year, directly impacting the stability of many engineering jobs,” said Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com.

For the long haul, jobs for mechanical engineers will see an uptick in the years ahead, with 6 percent growth expected through 2018, according to the BLS.

7. Construction workers
Given the slump in housing, front-line construction workers saw a major shrinking of jobs this year.

Construction laborer positions dropped nearly 14 percent in the first part of this year to 1.56 million jobs, down from more than 1.8 million in the previous period.

While things look pretty dismal now for this group of workers, the promise of federal dollars and tax breaks to upgrade homes and commercial buildings to energy-efficient standards are expected to be a boon for the construction trades.

Construction laborer made the BLS list of occupations expected to have the biggest job growth through 2018, with a 20 percent jump projected.

8. Tellers
You would think the teller profession would have had few jobs left to lose given the ubiquitous nature of ATMs. But the profession is still shedding lots of jobs.

By the third quarter of this year, the banking industry saw a 12 percent drop in teller positions to 407,000.

But the future of banking does not portend only a world of automation. The employment picture for tellers is supposed to get a bit brighter in the years ahead. Job openings will rise by about 6 percent through 2018, the BLS reports.

9. Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks
Financial clerking jobs were clearly impacted by the travails in the financial sector, with a loss of 185,000 jobs by the third quarter of this year. That’s nearly a 13 percent drop in the number of positions to 1.25 million.

But the free-for-all on Wall Street that led to many of these job losses could inadvertently help bring many of those positions back.

“Increasing financial regulations and the need for greater accountability will drive demand for accountants and auditors, an occupation that is expected to add roughly 279,400 jobs from 2008 to 2018,” according to the BLS employment outlook report.

Eve Tahmincioglu writes the weekly “Your Career” column for msnbc.com and chronicles workplace issues in her blog, CareerDiva.net

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How many of you had a rough year? I know I did.

 

Love Harder.

I found this on AM’s blog, and since I’m a big fan of this particular blogger, I thought I would show this to you all. You can find her over at It’s Like I’m… mmmagic!

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My name is brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He’s recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He’s the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I’m overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren’t sure what’s happening. He’ll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what’s going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as ‘brandy’s hot awesome dude’). If you don’t pray, please keep him in your heart. This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven’t already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

 

A Review of A Decade.

Thanks to Hope…

In 2000, I dated the first boy who would ever really cheat on me. He was kind, but in the end, he went back to his ex, behind my back. We still went to prom together, but that was the end of that. My senior year of high school rolled around, and I started applying to colleges.

In 2001, I was accepted to my second choice college, with no word from my first choice. By April, I made up my mind to go to School #2, as I assumed I had not gotten in. A week after I sent in my deposit, I received my acceptance letter from School #1. I didn’t have the money for their deposit, and accepted it as my fate to go to School #2. Two of my high school classmates died one month after graduation, and that put a sombre mood on the rest of the summer. In the fall, I started my freshman year of college with a very fun, and slightly flighty, roommate.

In 2002, I wrapped up my first year of college and went back to an architectural firm I had worked at throughout high school. I worked my ass off all summer, working two jobs, and went back to college with some money in-hand. My second-year roommate fell in love with a boy, and in order to hang out with him, I had to be her wingman for his friend. I ended up dating him for 9 months, and fell in love….

…Until he broke my heart and cheated on me in 2003. That summer was painful, and his new girlfriend harassed me (phone calls, horrible AIM messages, calls from her friends, etc) for most of that fall, which led me into a depression. I also moved into a three bedroom apartment with my 2nd-year roommate and a boy from our architecture classes, D. D stood up for me with that ex, and became a hero to me. We fought constantly though, as brothers and sisters tend to do (with similar personalities), and, as a result, 2nd-year roommate and I no longer talk. My relationship with D has become stronger, and he is now considered family.

In the early days of 2004, 2nd-year roommate suggested I seek help for my depression, and I started talking with a counselor at the school. It helped to resolve some of the tension in the house, but what had been done was irreversible between 2nd-year roommate and I. That spring led to a two-week art & photography study-abroad trip to Italy. I fell down some stairs in the hotel in Florence, half way through the trip, and broke my foot (having never broken a bone in my life!) I experienced the Roman Emergency Rooms, and that was rather scary, but overall an alright experience. After I got back from Italy, I started my first summer internship at the firm I am currently employed with, and a month later got my cast off, and went to Aruba! That fall, I started my senior year of college, having finally gotten back on track, gotten my depression pretty much under control, and had Lil Sis at the same college, which was a blast.

In 2005, I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies (a worthless degree in my field), and went back to the same firm, for my final internship, and the start of graduate school. In December of 2005, my college apartment burned down, one Saturday night, after I had gotten home from work. I saw smoke coming up through my bathroom floor, as I lived on the second floor, and the room  below me was on fire. I went downstairs to see what they were doing (fellow architecture students, and so I assumed they had burnt something they were cooking), and a mass of smoke came hurling at me when I opened the door. Smart as I am, I ran back upstairs to call 911, collect my purse and my laptop (grad student, remember!), and ran back out the front door, only I couldn’t get out, as the fire had spread to the porch. I ran down to the back entry, and found that the boys in the apartment out back had chain locked our door (from the outside), so that no one would walk in on them while they were growing pot. I banged on the door, trying to break it down, and finally one of them heard me. We all got out, and watched as our home burned. It was the hit of the night, too, as party after party got word of  ’those crazy architects who probably burned their home for fun’, and came to watch the action. Lil Sis freaked, I called my parents, and they drove through the night to come see me.

Over winter break of 2005, I was offered a position as a Resident Advisor, so in January of 2006, I began that post, and moved back on campus for the last semester of my college career. I finished my thesis, threw what survived from the fire into storage, and went to Europe for six weeks after graduation. I blogged about my trip here, here, here, and here (sorry, no pictures). I moved into my new apartment, started working full-time, and met another boy, dated for three months, saw Patrick Dempsey in town, and hosted my first Thanksgiving.

2007 was rather slow, and I worked two jobs, fell head over heels in love with The Ex, and he, too, broke my heart. Had a quick rebound boy,  slightly fell for him, he went back to college, and that ended. Saw Oliver Platt at the grocery store, looked into moving to London, thought about living in Dublin, realized both were going to be nearly impossible, and decided to stick around for a bit. Tried my hand at online dating, and had a few e-dates. Made it thought NaBloPoMo in November, got a tattoo with Lil Sis, and moved out of my cozy apartment and into a new one with a roommate at the end of the year….

.. whom was decidedly not such a bad roommate, and we lived together quite peacefully for the next year. In January of 2008, someone found my blog via a google search with an inappropriate title, considering I am not one of these! Heath Ledger died. I got stuck in a rut with my job that spring, and decided to give looking for a new job another try. I went on a date and later found out that all the boy wanted was a housewife, so that didn’t work out too well, got stood up by another guy who was much younger, and much more immature, went on a cruise to the Western Caribbean and had some super cute waiters, got a new second job driving film makers and photographers around, and found out that the new tenants in my old apartment committed a murder. The Emperor gave me my Bitch-O-Meter in April, and in August I went to Asheville, NC for a few job interviews, realized I couldn’t picture myself living there, and so mom and I went to Nashville for the rest of our trip, instead. My first house was completed in November, and I must say, the owners were quite pleased, as was I! I then booked a trip to Los Angeles…

… which was at the start of 2009, for a job interview as a tour guide for Contiki. Sadly, I did not make the cut (nerves, I suppose), and came back to Maine empty-handed. Got laid off in February, traveled to NYC, Boston, and Florida. Dated E for a bit, applied for jobs in Nebraska, then realized we weren’t going to work out, and went back to work in July. Started looking at houses, met The Boy in July, and most of you know how that ended. Got laid off again for the month of September, and in December, Lil Sis suggested that I quit my job and join her while she travels as a nurse.

And that takes me to 2010. I have higher hopes for this year, with a year’s worth of excitement and travel ahead of us!