My Program Specialist job went well last semester and thus continued into the Summer. Finals also went well. I finished the semester with a perfect 4.0 for all my classes. *Beams with pride* I was most proud of myself. It took a great deal of effort so you can see why I put things like the blog on the back-burner again. Seems to be a running theme...
In any case, summer didn't slow much since all my homework time was replaced with GRE studying. More on that later. So I went on working and studying.
I also made the big leap and finally moved into my own place!!
I have to say, that while it's tiny as shit and in a 100+ year old building, I absolutely love my apartment and am so happy and proud of myself for being able to do this. It's so nice to not have to worry about anyone else but myself now.
Despite working and studying, I did devote some more free time to things I enjoyed doing. The only problem was finding the time to fit it all in and the ability to focus long enough to do any of it. ADHD has started to become a major problem. It made last semester a huge struggle and things aren't looking too promising this semester either.
I thought about it over the summer and decided to get re-tested so I could apply for medication again. This wasn't an easy decision and it's taken a while to accept the reality that I just can't function on anything that requires me to focus, unless it's something I'm really passionate about. Sadly, while my studies in Psychology fascinate me, they're not what I'm most passionate about. Same goes for some day-to-day activities too. So in 2 weeks I'll be seeing the school psychiatrist and hopefully will receive something to fix my lack of focus. The problem, we found (therapist and I), wasn't really a lack of motivation. Turns out I have that in spades. We're hoping the medication will take all that motivation and provide a means of focus to channel it and take care of the things I need to do as well as help me pay attention to some of the more daily things I do. I'd like to think that if I can focus I'd become the world's most productive ADHD person ever...
Not many people know this about me, but being a sculpture/plush artist, and also being passionate about making things in general, makes me very good at something else I've always loved doing. Baking! I finally found time this summer to get back into it and started consistently bringing in goodies to my coworkers. I even scored some really great equipment from my local Goodwill store.
This was until my office attended a catering showcase, put on by my college's culinary cafe. I had the chance to talk with the head chef there and his director. Of course I had a lot of questions and expressed my love for baking and decorating. When asked, I explained that it helped having a 4yr Art degree and that while I hadn't gone to any baking program, I'd been baking since I was 9yrs (thanks Mom!). We chatted quite a bit about various techniques and recipes. I also showed off a few pictures of the more recent creations I'd made for my office and friends. Some of them were cool, decorated fondant cakes. The head chef gave me his contact and told me to follow up (they were getting busy at the event) and so later that day I did. Then the next day I received a call from his hiring department, offering me a position in his bakery. They had a start date and hours already lined up.
You read that right. I landed a job doing something I love, without having to apply or submit a resume. I of course put the breaks on and explained that I needed to speak with my current boss and put in a 2 weeks before agreeing. Since everyone in the office knew how much I liked to bake and sew it was an easy talk. My boss was thrilled for me and later that day I called back and accepted the position.
Even though I have no free time during the week I've never been happier. I wake up happy, bust my ass at work doing things I love, come home and ride that happiness through some homework, and then go to bed happy knowing I'll get to wake up and do it again the next day. Then on weekends I see the guy I love and do activities with him that I love, as well as sneak in some artwork time that, again, I love. It's the weirdest feeling in the world to be so insanely busy and yet still happy.
That was my Monday-Thursday routine, as far as the bakery was concerned. Fridays I did my second job, as well as Monday mornings I did it as well. Yes, I continued holding 2 jobs and went to school. I kept this up for a whole month and enjoyed every bit of it.
As I said, the excitement didn't stop at just getting a great job. After a month into it, which was last week, my supervisor (the Head Baker) was fired for incompetence. Believe me, it took talent to be that bad. I was constantly finding myself fixing her mistakes.
That same day I was called into the office and informed that I was being promoted to Head Baker, effective immediately, and would receive a substantial raise and about 40hrs a week.
'Holy shit' were not the only words that flew through my head that day. I was given the maroon chef coat, marking my promoted position, signed some paperwork to indicate my acknowledgment for my pay-raise, and was sent back to the bakery in a bit of shock. I got over it.
So that was a week ago and it's been a bit of a learning curve. Being head came with extra challenges, one of which has been serious time management. This is like jumping through hoops of fire, for an ADHD person. It just doesn't happen without getting burnt a bit. Luckily one of my best bakers has been able to keep up when I need him and hasn't been afraid to tell me when I'm doing something wrong so that I can do better next time.
