Sorry to leave several questions hanging and not post for a while... it's been a bit of a bumpy ride.
The place with the woman I mentioned who was open to living with a child ended up going to another candidate. She was open, but it wasn't her first choice to share a fairly small home with a child and all the necessary equipment.
For the last couple weeks I've been living with the friend I mentioned in the last post; the one I've dated. I knew it would be challenging navigating the feelings of attraction I still have for him, and sure enough, it has been. The first week, we ended up making out a couple times (intense! intimate! fun!), which made me feel "mushy" and more attached; not so with him. At the end of the day, I can be sad and frustrated with him, but it is my job to protect myself. He does not make it easy.
I leave his place in a week and head to Tahoe to be with family and spread my mother's ashes. When I come back, I will live in the house-sitting situation... yup, the flea-ridden one, but I guess I can't be picky if I don't want to pay a large sum. She said she will have cleaners come before I get there (I did mention being concerned about the fleas), so fingers crossed. A neighbor of hers will be staying in the main house, and I will be in my own studio room with a half bath in the back but sharing the kitchen and full bath, as needed. She described the neighbor as a bit "innocent" and young for his age, which I'm thinking means a bit slow? We shall see. This could lead to some awesome stories later...
I'm engaged in focused searching for a home for August. I have met two times now with my potential housemate, who is actually having her IVF transfer today, the second time an overnight slumber party visit last Friday. We ate dinner, watched a movie, and hung out the next day running some errands. I like her and feel comfortable enough to move forward. She's a bit more self-contained and less emotionally expressive than me, but that's okay. We share values, not to mention our ttc journeys. She actually asked me to give her the first PIO shot! Crazy, right? But it was easier than expected.
I'll share more soon, but wanted to give an update. Some of my life seems in suspension for now, as I just have so much energy and mental space, and not a lot of room to work. I will come back to it when I can.
6/13/2015
Cliff Hanger
If my life was a show, it would be cliffhanger... I'm about to go meet with a woman who is open to living with an infant/child to see how we get along. If it were a good match, then I would need to apply with the landlord, have the credit check done, etc. If for whatever reason, we are not a match, then I may stay with another friend for two weeks OR hit the road and travel for a couple weeks.
The friend I am staying with now has been crystal clear that for her own reasons - which include wanting to get her own dog which relates to her taking a year-long road trip next year which relates to her coping and moving on from the loss of her beloved husband, and just being done with sharing her space in a cramped way with me and the nephew that lives here, which I understand but wish she could tolerate another week or two - she needs me to leave by Monday.
I'm not sure which decision above I prefer or which one is best for me. There are pros and cons of both. It would be great to see my family and see friends down on the Central Coast, but I would need to miss work which means losing money. And because my job is so important to me, I don't want to jeopardize it in anyway. I'm pretty sure I could find another Counselor to cover for the few summer shifts I would miss, but I would feel flaky. Staying with the friend would allow me to work, but to be honest the friend is someone I have dated - we are not dating now - and I still have feelings for him. Things have the potential to get a little bit messy, but don't necessarily have to with the right emotional boundaries. Sooo, today is a big day, and by the end of it, I will know my fate for the next couple weeks.
Oh, and please think good thoughts for me to find a place - the one I see today or another one - by July so I don't have to stay (or don't have to stay long) in the flea-ridden, dirty house that is my house sitting alternative for July. I just saw it last week and was pretty disgusted. This is a friend who is very "earthy," but I don't know how she lives that way. I would need to get it cleaned beforehand or right away. Poor Zoey had to have a flea treatment a few days ago after just spending an hour there. :( I have looked for other house sitting or subletting alternatives, of course, and inquired about a couple of them, but nothing has worked out yet. Most subletting options demand the equivalent of full rent, which would prevent me from saving more money for my down payment.
One bit of happy news, as I feel much of this is negative! I know two fraudulent items have cleared or will be cleared very soon from my credit report, and one was the charged off C@pital 1 credit card, which was one of the worst. I stayed on the phone with them for over a half hour the other day, but it was worth it! Yay!
The friend I am staying with now has been crystal clear that for her own reasons - which include wanting to get her own dog which relates to her taking a year-long road trip next year which relates to her coping and moving on from the loss of her beloved husband, and just being done with sharing her space in a cramped way with me and the nephew that lives here, which I understand but wish she could tolerate another week or two - she needs me to leave by Monday.
I'm not sure which decision above I prefer or which one is best for me. There are pros and cons of both. It would be great to see my family and see friends down on the Central Coast, but I would need to miss work which means losing money. And because my job is so important to me, I don't want to jeopardize it in anyway. I'm pretty sure I could find another Counselor to cover for the few summer shifts I would miss, but I would feel flaky. Staying with the friend would allow me to work, but to be honest the friend is someone I have dated - we are not dating now - and I still have feelings for him. Things have the potential to get a little bit messy, but don't necessarily have to with the right emotional boundaries. Sooo, today is a big day, and by the end of it, I will know my fate for the next couple weeks.
Oh, and please think good thoughts for me to find a place - the one I see today or another one - by July so I don't have to stay (or don't have to stay long) in the flea-ridden, dirty house that is my house sitting alternative for July. I just saw it last week and was pretty disgusted. This is a friend who is very "earthy," but I don't know how she lives that way. I would need to get it cleaned beforehand or right away. Poor Zoey had to have a flea treatment a few days ago after just spending an hour there. :( I have looked for other house sitting or subletting alternatives, of course, and inquired about a couple of them, but nothing has worked out yet. Most subletting options demand the equivalent of full rent, which would prevent me from saving more money for my down payment.
One bit of happy news, as I feel much of this is negative! I know two fraudulent items have cleared or will be cleared very soon from my credit report, and one was the charged off C@pital 1 credit card, which was one of the worst. I stayed on the phone with them for over a half hour the other day, but it was worth it! Yay!
6/07/2015
A Rough Day
After gearing up for my workshop yesterday on "Career Building as an Introvert," using information from the book, "Quiet," unfortunately no one showed up. :( Last time I did a workshop at this bookstore, I got about 9-10 people but the workshop was more general on career exploration and resumes and the bookstore was at it's old location. Now, it's downtown, bigger and nicer, but I thought that would be a plus not a minus? And I assumed they had the same mailing list as before, which they said they did when I asked.
I don't think it was promoted well - I saw the poster on the outside and it was handwritten and not very clear. There was a typed one inside but for some reason there were no pictures, when all the other promotional speaker posters had nice pictures. Maybe that's something I'm supposed to do myself, but I don't think so because the guy who made the posters said something about the owner saying not to put a picture on it because she wanted the title bigger or something (?). Anyway, it was very blase looking compared to the others.
But one of my main questions is does the word "Introvert" speak to people? Will you give me feedback on that for yourselves? In my workshop context, it's taken from the MBTI personality assessment definition of introvert, and that's what the book is referring to, as well. Introversion and the needs of introverts can be undervalued and sometimes we need to advocate for and take care of ourselves around work. Also, needing to choose careers that don't completely wipe us out and to network, if we are job searching, in a way that works for us - focusing on finding like-minded people or quality connections versus a fist full of business cards. So that's a taste of what I was going to talk about and since something like 35-40% of all people are introverts, I know there are plenty of people who could benefit. But I need to find the language that speaks to their problems and concerns. Is it exhaustion and overwhelm? Do I need to say, "people who are more reflective and deep thinking/analytical and need time alone to recharge" or "more low-key, reflective, quiet types" instead of introvert? I would love to work with this niche, so any thoughts and feedback welcome.
A couple good things did come out of the experience. One woman came to the bookstore who didn't know about the workshop so had other plans, but she said she definitely was interested. We had a nice conversation, and she took my card and said she would like to talk about individual career counseling. I hope she follows up! Also, just connecting to the space and the staff at the bookstore was good. I have another workshop coming up on the 27th that will be more general career exploration, "do what you love" kind of focus, so it was good to talk about promoting that and realizing I need to get them some copy about it, as well. I mentioned needing a way for them to sign up for it online, and it sounds like that might be possible. This all feels like a big experimentation/learning process!
Yesterday was a rough day, too, because I had a conversation with C, and he basically said he is afraid of another break up and doesn't want to go through that again. He said he is clear that he's basically not going to be ready for a relationship for a while and needs time on his own - like to go away on a solo vacation and figure some things out. I asked if it was that he saw things with us that would not work in the long run, and we would end up breaking up and he said sort of - he wasn't a clear yes on that. Of course, he would be willing to hang out and likes the "cuddling" (why do guys call it this? It's basically code for fooling around), but I'm not down with that and said as much. This all came up because as we spend more time together, attachments are naturally starting to happen and it was feeling more "serious."
I think he does have commitment issues based on past stuff, but I think a piece of it is definitely what happened around me getting "triggered" or emotional and wanting to process at times. He's just not down with that. I definitely need someone who is down with that. And who shares there own feelings, too. Not in a critical or disrespectful way, but with some consciousness and taking responsibility for our own "stuff." Anyway, I'm sad. Even though I see the logic in it, I'm sad. Because I was attracted to him, and we had a lot of playful fun when we were together. And the dancing, don't get me started on the dancing. It was so incredibly awesome. But you can't build a relationship on dancing, right? So, yeah, no way around it, I'm sad and I'm going to miss him. :(
I don't think it was promoted well - I saw the poster on the outside and it was handwritten and not very clear. There was a typed one inside but for some reason there were no pictures, when all the other promotional speaker posters had nice pictures. Maybe that's something I'm supposed to do myself, but I don't think so because the guy who made the posters said something about the owner saying not to put a picture on it because she wanted the title bigger or something (?). Anyway, it was very blase looking compared to the others.
But one of my main questions is does the word "Introvert" speak to people? Will you give me feedback on that for yourselves? In my workshop context, it's taken from the MBTI personality assessment definition of introvert, and that's what the book is referring to, as well. Introversion and the needs of introverts can be undervalued and sometimes we need to advocate for and take care of ourselves around work. Also, needing to choose careers that don't completely wipe us out and to network, if we are job searching, in a way that works for us - focusing on finding like-minded people or quality connections versus a fist full of business cards. So that's a taste of what I was going to talk about and since something like 35-40% of all people are introverts, I know there are plenty of people who could benefit. But I need to find the language that speaks to their problems and concerns. Is it exhaustion and overwhelm? Do I need to say, "people who are more reflective and deep thinking/analytical and need time alone to recharge" or "more low-key, reflective, quiet types" instead of introvert? I would love to work with this niche, so any thoughts and feedback welcome.
A couple good things did come out of the experience. One woman came to the bookstore who didn't know about the workshop so had other plans, but she said she definitely was interested. We had a nice conversation, and she took my card and said she would like to talk about individual career counseling. I hope she follows up! Also, just connecting to the space and the staff at the bookstore was good. I have another workshop coming up on the 27th that will be more general career exploration, "do what you love" kind of focus, so it was good to talk about promoting that and realizing I need to get them some copy about it, as well. I mentioned needing a way for them to sign up for it online, and it sounds like that might be possible. This all feels like a big experimentation/learning process!
Yesterday was a rough day, too, because I had a conversation with C, and he basically said he is afraid of another break up and doesn't want to go through that again. He said he is clear that he's basically not going to be ready for a relationship for a while and needs time on his own - like to go away on a solo vacation and figure some things out. I asked if it was that he saw things with us that would not work in the long run, and we would end up breaking up and he said sort of - he wasn't a clear yes on that. Of course, he would be willing to hang out and likes the "cuddling" (why do guys call it this? It's basically code for fooling around), but I'm not down with that and said as much. This all came up because as we spend more time together, attachments are naturally starting to happen and it was feeling more "serious."
I think he does have commitment issues based on past stuff, but I think a piece of it is definitely what happened around me getting "triggered" or emotional and wanting to process at times. He's just not down with that. I definitely need someone who is down with that. And who shares there own feelings, too. Not in a critical or disrespectful way, but with some consciousness and taking responsibility for our own "stuff." Anyway, I'm sad. Even though I see the logic in it, I'm sad. Because I was attracted to him, and we had a lot of playful fun when we were together. And the dancing, don't get me started on the dancing. It was so incredibly awesome. But you can't build a relationship on dancing, right? So, yeah, no way around it, I'm sad and I'm going to miss him. :(
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