So it’s three weeks into my Plan B life – and I’m feeling a little lost.  Due to the 330% increase in tuition costs for out-of-state students, I’m not going back to school until August.  Which means I’m gonna have some time on my hands once I leave my current position.

I’m in the middle of hiring my replacement.  One of my co-workers asked me if that was weird, finding the new me, and I told them that it wasn’t at all.  It’s actually the easiest position to hire for, one that you’ve done.  You know exactly what to look for.  But maybe that’s not what he meant 🙂

I’ll be staying on to train my successor, for about 3 or 4 weeks – which means that I’m looking towards the end of April for my last day.  And then it’s three months of….well, I’m not really sure what.  I’ve been throwing around ideas of what to do for income 1) before I start school and 2) once I’m in school.

I had thought of  bartending, but my good friend Patrick is pretty adamant that I shouldn’t do it.  He’s done it for 7 years now and says that the best (and most successful) women bartenders  have something in common – they are bitches.  They don’t take shit from anyone.  Apparently I’m too nice.  I’d say Patrick doesn’t know me that well to come to that conclusion, but the truth is that he knows me way too well.  I think he’s onto something.

My ideal job is something that doesn’t require a lot of brainpower on my part, I won’t have to take work home with me, and offers healthcare benefits.  I think I’ll do some temping for awhile – that will leave me with a flexible schedule and perhaps one of the clients will work out and I’ll remain with them.

It’s times like this that I wish I was motivated enough with my creative side to make some real money from it.  I mean, I love writing, so I am hoping one day to write one or more of the following:

a.  A book of my mother’s witticisms.  I shall call it “Tongue Thai’d.”  Someone please copyright that for me right now.

b. A serious book about my mom’s life.  She’s led such an amazing one, considering where she started out, and I’d love to take the time to delve into who she is and where she came from.  That’s going to be titled “Call me Anna.”  Why?  My mom often tells people to call her Anna, whenever they ask her name.  Her Thai name is hard to pronounce and instead of trying to tell that to people, she just says “Call me Anna.”  Where’d she get Anna from?  “General Hospital” of course!  Her favorite character from the 80s was Anna Devane; she was pretty badass on the show 😉

c. A short story/article on the dognapping of Toby.  Many of you know the story, but for those who do not: my dog was kidnapped while I was living in DC in 2007 by my (then) landlord – who was arrested on the Patriot Act and thrown in jail – and her neighbor, an elderly animal rights activist.  They stole Toby and adopted him out to a family in Maine.  I hired a private eye (Pet Detective!) to track Toby down and bring him home.  Then a legal battle began.  Yes, this is a 100% true story, and one of the best that you’ll ever hear.  It’s perhaps the only thing I can guarantee in life – best. story. ever.

d. To follow-up on the success of my Toby Terrorist Kidnapping story, I will write a series of children stories, told from Toby’s point of view.  The first will be his “vacation” to Maine 🙂

So yeah, I have dreams!  I’ve got a plan!  I’m not sure how much money I could actually get out of those ideas, but I know I’ll do at least one of them in my lifetime.

My other creative side is very Suzy Homemaker.  I like to sew.  And crochet.  And quilt.  Hmm, quilt is both a verb and a noun.  Very convenient.  Anyways, when I put effort into it, I’m good at these things:

I made this dress for my friends’ daughter, Hailey.  I was taking a sewing class at the time, and this was my project.  I’ve been sewing since I was a teenager, but I never had any formal training until then.

I actually finished the dress, unlike this lovely project:

I’ve made about 20 of these squares…I think I only need 36 of them.  My problem with this, and so many projects, is that I lose steam/interest after awhile and stop.

I can’t tell you how many blankets I’ve started…

Oh!  I did finish something!  This quilt was made for a family friend.  It was finished because 1) I had to, it was a present and 2) I took a class to help me make it, so again, I had no other choice 😉

 

Perhaps I need to turn everything into a class project?

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Let me guess: New York third-wave feminist, college-educated, single-and-pretending-to-be-happy-about-it, overscheduled, undersexed, you buy any magazine that says ‘healthy body image’ on the cover and every two years you take up knitting for…a week.

-Jack, Season 1, Episode 1.