Tuesday Mind Dump

* I am rocking the hippie look today. Colorful scarf in my hair, long white flowy skirt, and bangles. I love it!!!

* I have a surfing date with a friend on Wednesday and Friday! I'm super excited about it. I love surfing so much I've been dreaming about it. Did I mention that Sky and I plan on getting surf boards for Christmas?! Super excited!! We plan on getting boards that we can both ride so Sky has suggested getting a pink and blue board that says His & Hers. How cute?!

* I was doing so well reading real books the last few months! You know biographies, self-help, educational books, NYT Best Sellers, and whatnot. But the last two weeks I find myself devouring trashy romance novels at a very rapid pace. It makes me feel a little guilty, but reading is reading, right?!

* It seems like everything online is constantly changing! New Facebook, new Blogger, new 20 Something, new Yahoo... I never realized how much I am annoyed by change until all of my favorite sites started updating. The positive side to this? Every time something new does change, I bitch a little less about it. I figure the internet is helping to make me a better, less irritable person in a roundabout way.

* I am happy (finally!) on the work front here on St John. During the day I work as a receptionist at a catering company, and I work in a little gift shop on nights and weekends. This means I work 7 days a week, but I love it! I'm busy and it helps to relieve my boredom, since I have something to do every day. I think I'll eventually get burned out so I don't plan on doing this schedule for long, but for now it's awesome. And my bosses are great, and so is the pay! Love my jobs!

* Life is sooooo slow on island these days. It's slow season here, which means that about half of the restaurants have closed for about a month, very few tourists are visiting, lots of the locals are on summer vacation and there seems to be NOTHING going on event-wise. If it weren't for work, I would be stir crazy. I am so glad October is almost here.

* Speaking of October, WHERE has this year gone?! I swear I was just celebrating my birthday (February) and now it's the end of September. I feel like life is flying by and I'm in slow motion or something. Crazy!

* Almost finished with work for the day. I have a date with the beach this afternoon:)

Happy Tuesday!!!
xoxo

Work, Work, Work

I have accumulated dozens of work horror stories since living here on St John. And to be fair (and not bad mouth anyone) I will just say this:

I would LOVE to find a job where I actually work, get paid, get the hours I'm promised, not have to do anything illegal and get treated like a human being. I don't think any of these are too much to ask of a job. But it's been hard to find a job fitting these standards.

Back to job hunting, again. Oh the joys of island life:)

Happy Sunday!

I'm determined to be a happy girl! Before I got out of bed this morning I thought of all the things in life that I'm happy and grateful for. I'm still feeling blue, but I'm resolving to keep thinking positively. Isn't that what the saying "Fake it, til you make it!" means?! I'm not always the best at it, but I'm just going to keep trying!

I'm happy to be winding down my work morning. It has been a bit hectic at the Inn here today! In a few minutes I'll be heading towards a much needed counseling session. And if this pretty weather holds up, I'll be heading to the beach after that. I'm really looking forward to that since it's been weeks since my toes have been in the ocean!!!

Happy Sunday all!!!!

First Day Back

It's my first day back to work since the surgery. I've cried four times already. And that's even after I've taken four pain pills this morning! I know that's way too many, but I'm just trying to make it through this shift. Sky was sweet enough to come with me to work and help me on his day off. The owner of the hotel has been around and has helped a lot too. I'm thankful everyone is being so nice, but I'm still in crazy amounts of pain! I'm doing my best to try to take it easy. For the last hour and a half I've just been sitting here. Even so, I haven't sat for this long in weeks! I'm exhausted and I am counting the minutes until I can be back in bed!

So as I was very slowly making my way around the hotel this morning, several people asked if I was okay. I told one of the women who asked that it was my first day back after surgery. It turns out that she and her girlfriends staying here are nurses! They were shocked when I told them my surgery was only a week and a half ago. They were very concerned and asked lots of questions about the procedure, my hospital stay and how I was recovering. Several of them told me repeatedly that what I had undergone was considered a very serious surgery, and that I should still be at home in bed! They said that people are usually on bed rest for the first 2 to 3 weeks, and most are not advised to be climbing stairs or lifting anything before the 4 week mark. It was nice to hear their concern and feel validated and to know I'm not being a (complete) baby about this whole thing.

Yet here I am at work because I was worried about losing my job. Right after the surgery I called my manager to explain about the bed rest and everything else that was going on. And once I got home from the hospital I sent Sky to talk to her again, just to make sure she new I wanted to come back and that I didn't want to lose my job. She was very nice and accommodating when she spoke with Sky so I was relieved thinking I could take my time with recuperating. But she called me two days later and her demeanor was very different. She didn't say it directly, but she strongly urged me to return to work, hinting around that if I didn't I would no longer have a job.

I know everyone keeps saying I can just get a new job. But Season is winding down here very quickly, and if you don't have a job once Slow Season hits, then it's extremely difficult to find anything. I don't want to take my chances!

Anyway I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!! Only 54 more minutes til I'm out of here and back in my sweet, comfy bed!!! It can't come soon enough!!!

Happy Saturday!!

Two Jobs

I'm working two jobs now. I wanted the first one, but the second one just fell into my lap. I'm working part-time retail because a friend's store was short staffed when her only employee left without any notice. And I belatedly realized after working this past week that it's too much! I'll be working around 55 hours and 6 days a week. And while I'm extremely grateful to even have work, it's a little overwhelming. When am I supposed to have time to cook dinner and grocery shop and clean and do laundry?! And party?!?! I did not think this through before I committed to it! And all I keep thinking is that I must be getting old! I remember the days of working 60 hour weeks and still partying like I didn't need the sleep!! I guess it's starting to catch up with me. Maybe I just need an adjustment period. At least I hope that's all it is...

Ugly

There is someone who I associate with, in a professional sense, who has an ugly habit of saying ugly things about every group of individuals you can think of that he himself does not belong to. Recently I have heard him make insulting remarks about Jewish people. And women. And Hispanics. And basically anyone who is not white, male and Christian. This makes me angry. And very uncomfortable. I just needed to vent about this.

Happy Friday

I'm feeling so good today!! I had warm, fuzzy, sweet dreams last night. I think that's why I woke up smiling and singing. I'm working today, going out tonight, working tomorrow, then shopping and a pedicure are on my agenda for Sunday! I'm looking forward to the next few days. It feels so wonderful to smile and laugh and be happy about nothing in particular!! Let's hope this feeling lasts:)

Happy Friday all!!