Friends part one

So as the title implies, this is a multiple parter. I thought it would be nice to introduce all of my new friends that I've made since moving out to California. Only problem is, I actually have a lot now! Which isn't really a problem, but it certainly makes it hard to draw them all in one week.

I decided to start with my work mates, since I spend about half my life with them. They really do a great job of keeping me sane, so I've got nothing but love for the lot of 'em!

The first one is MD. She's young and still a student, but shows a ton of promise. She's also really pretty.

Of course she has her faults though...

She's also got this really weird ability to find, like, ANY file I need. It's creepily awesome and I seriously want her powers.

Next up is OM. Now.... OM is one of those people where I could make a spin-off blog series of just her antics alone, and make millions. Not that I make any money off my current blog, mind you, but you know.... a girl's gotta have dreams.

Here's a list of her latest...mostly from last week alone.

However....

TV is another student in training. He's looking to head off to the wide world of law school soon, though.

Like me, he tries to eat really healthy and keep up with exercise. It's not always easy though...

MS is my direct partner in the office. She's a little older than me and really nice. She also helps keep me in line with my food addiction.

KB is a really good friend. I love to talk healthy ideas with her and go over kombucha flavors to try (since we both brew at home). She's really into crossfit and got me into it too. 

TL was my partner before I moved to the section I'm in now. She's super nice and ridiculously clever...which is good because now OM is her partner. Lol. She's also got the most badass car of the entire office, of which I won't draw because I wouldn't do it justice. 

My team lead is currently out having surgery, so we all miss her. Especially me, cause she was really good with Excel and Excel hates me. MS told me to draw her escaping with half a butt cheek hanging out of her hospital gown.

Lastly we have my boss. She's alright most days. I mean, she is a boss afterall.

I almost forgot VK. I don't really interact with her too much. She has a bad habit of constantly talking out-loud, to herself. So I usually put on headphones to concentrate on my work.

She does have some moments though...

And so that's my work crew! Well, most of the ones I interact with daily. I have a feeling OM is going to take over my blog eventually, with at least one picture every week of her craziness. Next week will be part two of my friends!

I give up

Well, I don't give up completely. But I do give up trying to post on a regular basis. I guess I started this because I needed an outlet. I was suffering from depression, I couldn't figure out why my life wasn't together the way I wanted, and had no idea what to do with myself. After the divorce I finally got control of my depression and haven't had too many episodes since. I'd finally lost all my weight, learned to enjoy life and myself again, gained so many hobbies and friends, and found a career that I'm passionate about every day. I guess now I don't really need it as an outlet anymore, but that's not to say I'll stop completely, plus I think some kind of consistent blogging is good for the soul. I still have so much to work on (of which I'll have to catch everyone up on later) and I think writing and drawing will help. I do enjoy it for the sake of getting to draw and have fun with it. So I guess for that reason I'll keep posting as much as I can, and because I know of at least a few people who enjoy reading it. :)  Just don't expect anything regular from me. It's in my calendar for Monday nights. We'll see how well that goes. I have so much going on every day that it's a freaking miracle I have time for anything. Also, seems every time I post, something major has changed in my life....aaaand of course this time is no different.

I'll try to keep it simple.

Sold my car. I'll miss that awesome little red thing, but the repairs were more than it was worth. I also just didn't need it. I lived in the city and, since I was now way more active, used the bus, biked, roller bladed, or ran/walked everywhere. It served me well for 11yrs, and now the young girl commuting to college will get to enjoy it as well.

I kept the Head Baker job throughout the school year. I loved it. Turns out, I loved it so much that I came to realize that's what I should have been doing all this damn time. Thanks for the heads up, Life. Would have been nice to have gotten that memo sooner.

I'd been baking since I was 11 years old. Hell, my first project was a jelly roll...which is impressive for 11. I remember my mom handing me the recipe and saying "This is a bit out of my realm, so here's the recipe. You remember how I taught you to follow them, so do that and good luck!" I still have the photo of my finished dessert. I guess it never dawned on me to do it as a career choice, but being artistic and very much into the 3 dimensions, as far as mediums go, it fit so perfectly. I still sew plushies. I'll never not love them, but it's very much a hobby now. I think about baking and decorating constantly. Everything I see inspires me and keeps my brain always wondering how I can make it into something delicious and pretty.

I was able to finish off my Certificate of Major after that year. I really wanted to at least get it so I could have that sense of accomplishment, and finishing what I started. And, now if I every truly want to go further into Psychology, I don't have to start over. Things were going fairly well.

Husky and I continued to date and see each other every weekend. Then, right around the beginning of the year, in my final semester, he threw an interesting wrench into the mix...

Now, as much as I've ALWAYS wanted to move to California, I didn't actually give him an answer right away. I knew how serious of a change this was going to be. It took about 2 months of thinking of all my options before I answered. Moving away meant that I'd be leaving behind everything I'd currently known: all my friends I'd made after the divorce who'd been there for me, my job that I loved so much, and my current way of life. It took some time to remind myself of how adaptable I am and that I would likely survive if I moved. It also took some time to realize I'd probably be more unhappy to loose someone who I'd felt such a strong connection with.

So I finally told him I would make the move with him....

....so long as my cats came too. :3

My friends were sad, of course, as was I. But everyone was very supportive. Even my job was really happy for me. Hell, most people were downright jealous. We'd all just gone through one of the worst winters for the area. Days at -55°F is just inhumane. As much as I love snow, I was done with the winter cold.

We packed up and drove down together. Most of it went fairly smoothly and I have to say, it's almost everything I'd ever hoped for from CA. It's not the coast, which would be awesome, but the desert has perks too. There's zero humidity, but all the sunshine. I can't tell you how much I love that. I eventually cut my hair into a short A-line, which was nice.

Then I cut it again. Lol. Cause it was still in my way.

There's so many places to rock climb and hike that we'll never, ever be bored again. We've already climbed the highest peak in the lower 48 twice (Mount Whitney).

It's also such a small town that I can continue to bike or roller blade everywhere if I want to.

I can pretty much run all year long. In fact, I spent the majority of our first February in a tank top. My goal for a marathon in Death Valley is back on track, after a few bumps and hiccups. My diet and exercise tanked during the first year and a half as I adjusted to my new life. I ended up turning to emotional eating as I have done in the past. 

I didn't really consider it a problem until it grew too big to ignore. I finally brought it up with my therapist, was referred to a specialist, and was told I had a chemical addiction to sugar that was causing me to have a food addiction and the compulsive overeating issues is been struggling with for years now. I'll have to go into this at a later time, but for now it seems like I'm back on the right path. I've been regularly attending OA meetings now, which has helped a lot with really being honest with myself about my problem. I also converted to the philosophy of Buddhism (not the religion that some do) and have been using my daily meditations to help with this as well as everything else in my life. It's improved things drastically.

Even the cats have gotten used to it. They get free reign to a nice, little fenced in back yard.....to which I was a slave to the back door for, until I recently got smart and installed a cat door....which took some time to learn. 

I also get them regularly groomed, since the heat can be a bit much for them. I think they enjoy being tiny lions.

It took about a month to find work, which turned out to be the biggest challenge. There are no bakeries here. After about 4 months I'd decided I would just start my own. It took 2 months to get all the licensing and logistics to work out of the home. I'm slowly working on ways to move to a physical location. That takes time and locations out here aren't cheap. For now the home works in the in-between phase, and I'm still treated as a real business as far as the law is concerned. I get visited every semester by the county health inspector, which is 'always' such a joy. Regardless, I've now been the proud Owner and Executive Pastry Chef of The Enchanted Whisk for 2.5 years. I do that full-time in the evenings and some weekends, while I hold another full-time job during the day to help pay off my loans. It's nothing special; just a job in accounting. But between working full-time hours in the Bakery, full-time hours in a second job, weekly get-togethers with new friends, and adventuring somewhere with Husky, I never have a single dull moment.

And I wouldn't have it any other way. Although I know Husky and my mother would say differently. They think I'm doing too much. Hah. That's for normal people.

Hoooooly hell...

So a lot happened. Obviously. And I'm only posting right now to avoid one more hour of the mountain of homework I have.

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!!

This was a decision I'd been thinking about since January, but didn't want to say anything in case I decided not to or couldn't. I was also considering rooming with my best friend, but due to other reasons we didn't choose that route. So, as it turns out, I was able to and decided that, while I enjoyed the boys' company, living with 4 other men was a bit trying sometimes and it was high time that I finally live on my own. Also, having a progressively more serious relationship with someone assisted in that decision a bit. Yes, Husky and I are still happy together. We celebrated our 1yr last month....and by that I mean we went climbing all day, came home and cooked a special dinner together, and watched anime while cuddling on the couch. There was no better way. <3
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...

So on to the next big piece of news!

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.

Since I don't have any formal training I didn't expect it to progress any more than that.
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.

Since then things have been a bit roller-coasty, because the excitement didn't quite end there. I began the job 1 week before school started back up for the Fall. After the first day they adjusted my position to assisting in creating new recipes for the bakery, as well as upping my hours. Thus, any free time I've had has all gone to homework. I have 2 extremely difficult classes this semester, one of which has a lot riding on me passing with good grades. I also have a research assistant position in a new laboratory, more focused on the work I'm interested in. I basically wake up, go to lab, go to one of my 2 jobs, come home in the evening, do homework, and sleep. I repeat until the weekends where I see Husky.  My classes are online so I can work more freely, but I have the new problem of finding time for classes that I would have had if they were more "physical".

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.

Everyone in the kitchen was really happy for me. All the cooks, student supervisors, other kitchen heads, and my bakery team all offered their congratulations and each echoed how they felt I was much better than the previous head. No pressure right? While my ego was totally stoked I was also pretty humbled. While I'd been hinting at thinking I could take the position I honestly didn't expect them to think I was good enough to take it in 1 month...especially when other people in the kitchen have taken some culinary classes.

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.

I've been slowly getting used to it and this week have actually been able to work ahead on a few days. Today we were slammed with catering orders, so I was grateful that some of our stuff had been prepped a day in advance, because stuff like this happens and I have mini heart attacks.

We did pull together and get it done. I was pretty proud of my team today. Lets hope I can keep up the pace. I'm thinking medication for my studies might also be of assistance here too. Especially in focusing on tasks at hand or keeping me from being distracted and burning myself on the damn oven one more time....that thing has it out for me, I swear.

Not dead yet

I'm not dead. I promise.

Midterms came, but then I only had 5 weeks left and Brain went "OMFFFG! SHHHHHT!" and it was pretty much balls to the wall to catch up and study and pass and...well...survive.
Of course right after school then I was balls to the wall busy because I moved (more on that later too) and had only 2 weeks to do it.
Now I've moved and I'm supposed to be studying for the GRE, which would be my excuse for lack of blogging, but where I live is very active and well, I'm being lazy and letting myself get distracted. Unmedicated ADHD is hard when everything around you is the equivalent of kittens and shiny things.

I'll try to get up a more appropriate post after my 4th of July vacation. :(