Working My Way to Chicago!

So I've made a couple of decisions the past few days.

Decision number one - I am setting up a stand at the New Columbia Apple Butter Festival. I'm not doing anything productive with my time, so why not crochet and bake to earn a little extra cash? I'm going to be selling...

Crocheted goods:
Scarves - $5
Hats - $4
Kitchen Towels - $3
Dishcloths - $1
Snowflakes - $3
Christmas Wall Decorations - $2

Baked goods:
Peanut Butter Banana Bread - $5
Chai Tea Bread - $5
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies - $1
S'mores Rice Krispie Treats - $1

I'm also toying with the idea of getting some waterfall, beach, and/or lake pics printed and matted to sell for $10. We'll see.... But the Festival is October 15th at the community center in New Columbia. You should all come buy things from me!

Decision number two is that I am going to Chicago. Since I started thinking about it, my unemployment kicked in, and now I'll hopefully make some cash from selling stuff, so I totally have the bank to go on an adventure. It's probably going to be for three nights, the third week of October. I'm going to stay in an awesome-looking but dirt-cheap hostel, see some shows, see the sights, and have a Chicago-style hot dog, and some Chicago deep dish pizza.

Another exciting thing in my life is that I may have a job! It's only a few hours a week, but it's in a theatre, 15 minutes from my house, and something to put on my resume. So going to Chicago is dependent on what my potential new boss says, but I don't think it will be a problem. It's actually in a movie theatre that does live shows sometimes, so I would be helping with lights/tech whenever they have a show. Sometimes I would work 10 hours a week, sometimes I'd work an hour a week. That's fine for me, though. It gives me flexibility for "real job" interviews and to do fun things, but it'll keep me from getting rusty and bored.

All-in-all, things are looking up, and I have a purpose in life again! You can look forward to a Chai Tea Bread recipe post, cuz I haven't made it yet, and I have to try it before trying to sell it to strangers!

Going Home

So I only have two days of work left at the Brooks Center. I'm honestly still not sure how I feel. I've made some amazing friends here, I love my house (sans giant mutant bugs), I love the Brooks and finally feel semi-competent at technical theatre, I love the hiking and abundance of waterfalls.... I've finally established a life here. I do miss Pennsylvania, though. Not the state, necessarily... just being close to my friends and family, and the familiarity that goes along with being closer than 12 hours away from where you grew up.

I'm starting to realize that it takes me about a year to establish any kind of lifestyle. In college, I wasn't really comfortable and happy until sophomore year. After graduation, it took about a year for me to start to accept working at Penney's, and thinking about finding an apartment around there. Here in South Carolina, it's taken almost a year to start going out and doing things with people, finding new hobbies and places to go.... It seems like I keep establishing myself in these short-term situations and then mixing everything up when I finally get settled. I know it's not completely my fault. If I could get a REAL FREAKING JOB, I would be perfectly happy to settle down somewhere for good, or at least for longer than a year. (SOMEONE HIREEEE MEEEEEEE. hint, hint) :-P

I am excited to see my friends and family. It's been about four months since I've seen my parents - the longest we've ever gone apart. I'm sure a few weeks into living with them again I'll complain mercilessly, but I have missed them! I've seen my high school friends during breaks, and at the beach a couple of months ago, but it's been a year since I've seen anyone from college.

What I really need is a month or two at home to reconnect with everyone, experience the things I've been missing, and figure out what I'm doing with my life. It's not necessarily the job or house that I'll miss here in SC, but the friends I've made and the independence I've had, away from everyone I know and alone in my 6-room house. (Dear God, I have to go back to just a bedroom....) I have to box up all the things I love and put my huge, comfy bed in storage. With any luck, it will just be a few months (or less) until someone somewhere realizes I'm awesome and they need me at their theatre.

So in a perfect world, my plan is this: Move home for a maximum of three months. Send out lots of resumes and start volunteering at theatres and doing overhire work. At the end of September, if I'm still unemployed, I'll come work the In the Heights pre-tour tech at the Brooks. At the end of three months, hopefully someone will have hired me permanently. If not, I will get a pay-the-rent job somewhere like Lancaster or Philly just so I'll have my own place again and be in an area where professional theatre actually exists.

I found this quote online: "To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward." ~Margaret Fairless Barber, The Roadmender

I feel like this is what I'm about to do. I'm regressing a bit - moving back in with my parents, re-bonding with my old friends - just for awhile to recharge and reconnect. When I'm ready, and when the universe decides to cut me a break, I can move on with my life - get a new house and job that I love even more.