The Story of a Blazer

For many a year, my friend Sarah and I enjoyed chatting at length about professional development and how to comfortably pull off business casual. Sarah wins at professionalism, hands down, being that she's been with the same company at which we met oh-so-many years ago and has gone from a lowly CSR to a certified trainer in a mere five or so years. Maybe longer. But anyway, she always did business casual much better and I did... I know the principles but am unwilling to fork over the dollars for the nicer clothes, and/or what I'm attracted to isn't necessarily the things I should be wearing. I also tend to be rather simple and repetitive. At one point, Sarah's mom was offering to make me skirts because they always saw me wearing the same one (I got rid of it a long time ago though I admit I still think of it now and then) so often. Anyway, with Sarah's influence from afar, my mother's suggestions, and my own wherewithal, I've crafted a professional wardrobe that's maybe 80% ok: modest skirts in black and grey, 3/4 and full sleeve blouses in muted colours, grey sweaters (I have FOUR!), stuff like that. I have a nice pair of black boots and a sparkly pair of black Toms. On casual Fridays and weekends we can wear denim and t-shirts. And then we have the kicker that is the black. knit. blazer.

I probably acquired my black knit blazer sometime last year while I was job hunting. I got a pair of black trousers (at my mother's insistence despite the fact that I don't wear pants) and this nicely cut, multi-buttoned knit blazer. Both of these items sat in the back of my car for probably 6 months or more. Even after I started working, it just didn't occur to me to wear the darn thing. And then I got a new job and moved into a part of the building that needs to be kept cool 24/7 because the servers are there. I needed something nicer than a stained navy blue sweatshirt to keep bundled up in my cube. And though I'm a swaddler in terms of scarves, I don't believe in wearing blankets at work. Enter the wonder that is the black knit blazer.

It's perfect. It keeps me warm. It makes me look professional and pulled together when really I'm a good-natured scatterbrained mess. I can add a touch of personality to the ensemble with a colourful or sparkly scarf, whimsical brooch or rhinestone barrette. It's shocking to me that I let my blazer hang in my closet for so long. Now I'd like to get a couple more blazers (in grey, of course!) to keep it company. I feel silly going on for so long about a jacket but it really was a case of duh.

Perhaps next time we can analyze why I like grey so much and why I felt like 2 grey sweaters was too few while 5 may be too many but for some reason 4 is just right. Does it matter that they're different shades of grey?

Six Word Saturday: Tailored

A fine blazer sharpens you up!

(post forthcoming)

Busy, busy

Currently, Possibly, Futurish, Eventually

I've been participating in a 30 Day Reinvention Project since 10 January. The project has posed many questions that've taken a lot of thought, and provided me with some new healthy information to integrate into my life. One of the lessons posed was about crafting your "ideal day" and "ideal life." I was a touch stumped by the exercise. I'm not entirely sure what my ideal day would look like but I think I have an idea of what I'd like my life to be. But does the exercise mean my ideal day in my current life? Or my ideal day ideally, without restrictions? Either way, I'm having a hard time differentiating between what I think I'd like to do and what I think I should do. Hmmm.

To be honest, I feel sort of limited in what I can "craft" because I have family to consider. If it was just me (no husband, no pets), my crafted life would be a lot different. But because I have responsibilities (let's call them blessings), a certain amount of realism is required.

Currently, we're full time squatters with family, all our possessions in storage. My husband is gone 99% of the time, out on the road with his truck. I work down the freeway in the OC. I am unhealthy, poor and have a bad hair-twirling habit. Everything needs fixing.*

If I could tweak my current situation, I'd like to live within blocks of Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling, in a little breezy (affordable) cottage with lots of windows. I'd work from home and putter around with my pets. My husband would be home whenever possible, and we'd do little home improvement projects and visit my family on the east side on Saturdays. Every once in a while, we'd have family and friends over for supper and conversation. I would walk regularly (circuambulating the gompa) and home-cook all our meals. My health would improve, my 401K would grow, and everything would be on-track.

Monkey wrench: My husband's place of work is in San Gabriel Valley. That's about 30 minutes north of where we are now. He wants to live near his workplace. It's an hour from my work. Though I just started the job, I know I have a goal of working from home. Once I qualify, living in SGV won't be a problem. It's more affordable than staying in the South Bay and it's more likely we'll be able to find a place to rent that'll accept my dog.

What'll probably happen for the time being: We'll stay bunkered down here while I work to qualify to work from home. Then we'll find a small house to rent in SGV somewhere that'll accept us and my pets. I'll work from home, my husband will continue to work and be home maybe 1 week a month. I'll come down to the south bay about once a month to attend teachings at GSTDL (I'll also try to attend at LCB) and see the family.

What'll probably eventually happen: I predict we'll end up in a trailer in San Gabriel Valley. Me, him, the pets. Me working from home, him on the road. I'll do my best to make a trailer a home, knowing its value will never appreciate. It'll have a little patch of grass in the back for Lala's potty, and an astro-turf covered deck that I'll fill with houseplants and plastic patio furniture. There'll probably be a Yuban can ashtray filled with sand and incense sticks.

What I'd prefer: I'd like to have a nice, sturdy house with a secure yard in West Covina, near Land of Compassion Buddha. I'd work from home (somehow miraculously making a good living), and my husband could sell the trucks and retire. I'd like him to return to doing art. We'd have a guest room and I'd have an office where I'd do all my high-tech, eagle-eye auditing.

What I dream: We'd own the little cottage near GSTDL, and we'd be independently wealthy. I would work full-time on the behalf of the Tibetan Nuns Project and other Buddhist monastic support groups, rescue and foster rabbits & guinea pigs and generally do whatever I could to help other folks.

So... where's the middle ground?


*Don't misunderstand these statements for ingratitude. I'm VERY grateful for everything I have.

Year of the Dragon!

How nice of the USPS to recognize that the Lunar New Year doesn't belong solely to the Chinese! The new Lunar New Year stamp is quite the looker! It's the year of the Dragon. May it be prosperous and filled with growth for each and every one of you! There'll be more info on Losar, or Tibetan New Year, coming up in the next couple of weeks both here and over at The Buddhist Home. Losar falls on February 22nd this year.

Dear letter writer friends, do you like pens and pencils and other office supply stuff?
The Well-Appointed Desk is offering a give-away for a $25 Jet Pens gift certificate!

And hey, Melissa over at Craftgasm has coined a word for us lovers of mail:

Phil*e*pist*list (fil-ih-pis-list)
noun
One who enjoys writing and receiving letters & postal mail.

January Update

Hello, friends.

I survived my first week at work and successfully graduated with a certificate in Quality Auditing. It's just the beginning! Today's my first real day of work following training. It's a Sunday so I imagine things will be pretty laid back. I'm bringing a few personal items for my desk... not much, just a few things that make me smile and will make being there more comfortable. Like a big orange plush flower for my pencil cup. And a rabbit-shaped calendar. And a popcorn-scented air freshener. And a mini Tara thangkha. You know, just the essentials.

I work from noon to nine with Thursdays and Saturdays off. I prefer the later shift since the earliest available one didn't start early enough for me. The shifts have to do with when reports come in that need to be worked.

I learned that working from home is definitely an option with this position. Huzzah! So besides focusing on just generally kicking ass and getting good numbers, I'll be learning about what it'll take to qualify to work from home. After that, we can look into finally moving. We are interested in moving north of our current location. The area's a bit more affordable and we could possibly rent a small house for what we could get an apartment for nearer to the beach. We're not beach people, anyway.

I also learned this week that through my employer I could request a free membership with the National Bone Marrow Donors registry, and get a free kit to send in a donation sample. So I did that. But there's a catch. I'm too heavy. I'm over the maximum weight for my height to qualify as a donor. This really disappointed me. So I now have a firm goal to qualify as a donor. I would be horrified to learn that I was someone's match but couldn't donate because I'm too heavy/not healthy enough. Can you imagine the heartbreak? So there's that. I'm jumping back into My Fitness Pal this week. Come join me!

Monday's outgoing

Six Word Saturday: All the Facts are In

Facts in hand: Time to plan

Six Word Saturday: Time to Set my Alarm

My new job starts next Tuesday!

Can I Schedule my Way Out of a Rut?

I'm in a little bit of a rut. And while I'm not enjoying said rut, I'm thankful for some quiet time before the storm that begins next week.

I'm in my last week of being unemployed and I've reached a boredom threshold I didn't expect. An impasse, if you will. That is, I've done all the planning I can do with the facts that are available. There are more things in the air than I can possibly juggle and yet for some reason my mind just won't set them down. They are future things, things on which other things hinge, but being future things, there's little I could do with the information but write it down somewhere until its time comes. I seem to think that having them written down would assuage my anxiety about them but I know from experience that it isn't so. I have lots of things written down in my planner but they're future things that have no immediate relevance to whatever it is I'm doing now. Which is not much. Until Friday. Friday I'm going to go rescue some guinea pigs from a high-kill shelter and deliver them to a foster home up north. Priorities, people.

But for right now I'm just enjoying the quiet, watching the birds, watching a little tv, staying hydrated, looking forward to the mail arriving each day. I'm a little old lady and a big-rig widow.

Taking a cue from my friend Cate at Show My Face, I decided to institute a posting schedule. Thing is, the specifics are up in the air (see the trend?!) until I learn my schedule at work. Could be that I have Wednesdays and Sundays off. Or Tuesdays and Sundays (at any rate, I'll be doing my darnedest to make sure I get Sundays off). I'll be posting here on my days off and Saturdays, and probably over at my other blog two days a week at random.

We'll see.
We'll see.