Future Plans

I've gotten about a million e-mails over the past two weeks from friends asking me the obvious question in light of my upcoming graduation: "So... what are you doing next? When are you moving back to D.C.? Are you moving back to D.C.?"

So here's your answer... I haven't a clue.

Isn't that sad? Or maybe it's not. Maybe it's liberating. Maybe it's good not to have a plan for a change.

Even here, back in the days of total hedonistic tomfoolery (which frankly doesn't look that much different from my last year here, except that I look -- sigh -- a bit older now)...

... I had at least some semblance of a plan. And I'm not talking about a short-term plan, which is obvious from this photo (idiocy & debauchery)... I'm talking about a life plan.

(Sidenote: Holy shit! This picture is 14 years old! OMG! Where does time go?)

I was 19 in that photo. I'm pretty sure I assumed I'd be settled down, married, and probably with a kid or two by now.*

And look at me in real life... in what appears to be a clear cut case of arrested development, I'm drinking "Sexy Blue Jesus Pants" cocktails on weeknights, babysitting to earn some cash, eating Cheerios for dinner, and am sleeping on a futon bed.

I think this is what I will be doing in the coming months as well. At least till I get a job. I have applications in to several government and private sector jobs, most of which are in DC, and one of which is in NYC. (I got the NATO rejection e-mail last week... boo hoo!). And I'm waiting to hear from one of them, some of them, any of them.

To be honest, I'm kind of happy to have this mini-break. And I'm not just saying that to make myself feel better. Really! No school, no real work. Just chilling out for a couple of months. But it will be nice to have some money again. And not babysitting money, but a real paycheck.

I'm going back to DC for ten days in May and hope to meet up with some people and get the word out that I'm back on the job market. I also plan to spend the next month here in AZ doing some serious job searching and application filling-out. I've just been way too busy with my thesis this past month to do it earlier.

Oh, and I'm staying in AZ till I find a job because the cost of living is ridiculous here, and I already have my place set up and it's just way less disruptive. Have I mentioned that after moving seven times in the past 11 years, I am exhausted from it? My dad even told me that he has an entire page in his address book devoted just to my changing homes of record.

And that's my story. I will be babysitting in the mornings M-F, may get a retail or secretarial job in the afternoons, and I will be job searching the rest of the time.

So, what am I doing next? Good question, friends. I ask myself that on a daily basis.
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* = This reminds me that my brother called me this Saturday morning at 8am. I heard his ringer and knew it was him. I thought, "Why on God's green earth would he call me at 8am on a weekend morning?"

I didn't get the phone but continued to lay there pretending to sleep, even though it totally woke me up for good.

I called him back later in the day and said, "You know, I was hoping to get eight hours of sleep for a change, and thanks to you, I didn't get it because you woke me up at the ridiculous hour of 8am on a Saturday."

He replied, "I can't wait till you have kids."

My response: "This is exactly why I don't."