time to ruffle some feathers-where do you stand?

i know i'm a little late to jump on the band wagon, but since i've only been in california since january, please forgive me. i was watching the news, and apparently a school in itawamba county in mississippi is canceling their prom because a girl wants to be able to bring her 'partner' as her date. members of the local school board claim that "Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year". you can read more about it for yourself here.

now to bring things back to where i started from, i was reading one of my all time favorite blogs, written by the wonderfully talented jason mraz, whose most recent entry is entitled: '10 Ways to Start Conversations About The Freedom To Marry'. i have to say that i agree with everything he had to day. unfortunately, in light of certain recent events, i feel that we are a LONG way away from achieving 'equality for all'.

here's hoping we get there one day...

working for a living...

well now that i've started working full time again, i've found myself becoming delinquent on my blogging...not a big deal considering most of the people who read this thing have my phone number and if they found themselves truly concerned with my whereabouts, they could just call.

but anyways, for those of you out in the blogospehere-here's what i've been up to...

monday, tuesday, and thursday i work at a cute little dr.'s office in orinda, which is about 15 minutes from where i live, but it usually takes around 30-45 minutes to get there in the morning due to all the morning traffic..one thing i definitely envy about living in hawaii...oh well, at least the road i take has more than two lanes. luckily, the traffic is only bad on mondays and thurdays, since don't have to go into the office until 10am on tuesdays.

my second job has taken over my weekends, from friday night to sunday morning-i work 36 hours straight. it sounds like a lot, but i just have to stay at the client's apartment and i even get to sleep. the wage isn't the greatest, but then again, i am getting paid to sleep 2/3 of the time i'm there. during the day on saturday, i take my client around the community to run errands and take care of anything else he may want to do that day.

i also got a chance to volunteer at the district attorney's office in our town, last wednesday, for the give a day, get a day project. it was mostly office related work, but i did get a chance to sit in on some of the murder trials that were going on.

other than that, life has been pretty mellow. i think i might have a break coming up the first week of april, any takers for a mini getaway? i was thinking of either going to portland to see all the apparatus, disneyland (cause i've never been), or vegas (again cause i've never been)...or perhaps going down to big sur/monterey to finally retrieve the stuff i sent myself from hawaii...who knows...i might just lounge around at home and play with the fur children.

hope you had a lovely weekend!

gainfully employed...

as of this friday, i begin my foray back into the active work force, and let me tell you it's about damn time. most people in my position would have been thrilled to lounge around for the past few months, i.e. not working and collecting unemployment, but i swear i was dying a little inside each day as i sat around feeling anxious that i wouldn't find a job before my benefits ran out. but i am pleased to report that my days of sending out hundreds of resumes into cyberspace are done...for now at least.

job #1- an on call position with the company that was the main reason for my choosing the bay area to re-locate to...but it's on call, so it's not dependable work, but it is related to what i'd like to go back to school for, so i'm happy to do it. plus they said that they could offer me a full time position once one becomes available.

job #2- i'll be a medical receptionist for this cute little doctor's office about 15 minutes from where i live. the doctor is super cool, and really nice. this will also provide me with some steady hours, but it's only three days a week. thus...

job #3- working for california autistic foundation. i'll be the equivalent to a skills trainer either in a residential treatment center or i'll be working the graveyard shift.

i can't wait to be a normal person again!!!!!

the wrong em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LA-ble

i'm not normally one to talk about finances openly, but this scared the shit out of me today, in that 'mini panic attack, i'll laugh at it later' kind of way, so please indulge me. i was at the bank, which by the way sucks-so if you ever move to northern california, i do NOT recommend westamerica bank. i've been here a month, and i still haven't received my debit card, which they assured me would only take 8-10 business days to arrive. however, since it has yet to be seen, i have to resort to going inside the bank anytime i need money to buy anything. this would not be so much of an annoyance if the tellers did not act as though i was wearing a red wings jersey to an avalanche game. i swear, they roll their eyes every time they see me, even though, all the time, in my head i'm thinking, 'if you would just get me my damn bank card, you wouldn't have to deal with me...' i also have to ask for a balance each time i make a withdrawal, because they actually charge a monthly fee to have access to view your account online.

**like i said, i DO NOT recommend this bank to anyone!!!! but it's the only bank that is within walking distance to my house, and i opened the account before i had a car, so i guess i'll just have to deal with it for now. **

but i digress

asking for my balance was what caused my little freak out today. i kindly asked the teller for my balance, to which she replied, "eleven sixty four". now i'm used to being a poor college student, and not having much money to spare, and i'll admit to the occasional miscalculation, resulting in my funds being lower than i expected, but this was VERY WONG. on the drive home i was going over in my head what could have caused such a monetary oversight. usually my money mismanagement was the result of careless use of my debit card, but since i don't have one, and have had to use cash anytime i want to buy something, that didn't make sense. then i thought that i might have double paid one of my credit card bills (they do warn you if you click the 'submit' button twice, it can result in a double submission of your payment) or perhaps a wayward check i wrote that just cleared...but nothing was coming to mind.

so i finally broke down and called the bank, explaining that i had just been in there making a withdrawal, and needed to confirm my account balance, to which i was told, "one thousand, one hundred sixty-four". ugh. westamerica-you will be the death of me.

dear hawaii...

it's not that i don't miss you...

it's just that there are other beautiful places i want to explore, too...

hope you had a lovely president's day!

pending drug and tb clearance...

i will be bhr corportation's newest per diem mental health specialist (which is very similar to being a case manager). miracle, upon miracles, this job was the original reason i decided to move to california. their h.r. manager had emailed me while i was sending out mass resumes to three locations: portland, hawaii, and the bay area-which were the three places i was mulling over for the next phase of my life. i told her that i would not be relocating until the end of the year, still not knowing for sure what my plans were going to be, so she told me to contact her once i was in california.

so with that as my main job prospect, some hope, and a prayer, i set off for california in the middle of january. now, two interviews and several references (thanks jonathan and seth) later, so long as i pass their drug screening and am tb free, february 15th will be my first official day on call.

wish me luck!

the horse is beginning to smell...

i'm not saying that i won't go and see it, cause we all know that would be a big fib...but i also read that they might be considering a third movie?

yeesh.