Well. Here I am again...several months later, as per my usual course of action. And, as is also the norm, everything in my life has completely changed. Again. Well, not completely, John's still around. But, for instance, my job is different now. Because the Fund for the Public Interest was probably the biggest load of horse sh*t ever. Shockingly so. Lies and dissimulation through and through; an apple with a maggot infested core. So I blew that popsicle stand and rejoined the ranks of the unemployed. For all of two weeks that were simultaneously the best two weeks of my life as well as perhaps the most stressful (you know, having to worry about paying bills and for groceries and all of that while not having an actual income...).

I've come so far over the past two months. I am positively convinced that the combined chaos that was my living situation and my work/general life situation has taught me to be more confident in myself and in my abilities, and to cause me to really understand that concentrated effort pays off in real results. I'm really liking the universe right now - it's teaching me the ropes. However, at the same time, I can't help but wonder what exploded somewhere to cause my life to blow-up the way it did. It was sort of like being a mole in the whack-a-mole game. Except in a whack-a-mole game where there is only one mole. And I was the mole. And every time I popped my head up, hoping for relief and greener pastures, an enormous mallet came whistling down to thud on my head. Life went along like that for a good month and a half, from just about the exact moment that I moved into my new apartment.

1) We were risking being tossed out on our heads because one roommate's mother had cosigned for the entire apartment and said roommate was (intelligently so) taking her mother off the lease. This of course meant that anyone in the apartment who couldn't get approved/find a cosigner, would have to leave. If that happened, we'd be left with yawning holes to fill and very high rent.

2) Our apartment kept flooding and maintenance didn't do anything about it.

3) Thanks to said flooding, walls were coming down. I once poked the damp spot on the wall in my closet and my finger went right in. And when it came out, chunks of drywall fell down.

4) Flooding was determined to be due to a rusted shower pan (that probably should have been replaced 20 years ago) and all 5 of us were made to use one bathroom. This of course resulted in extreme crowding and accumulation of dirt.

5) When people finally came to fix things, they put in a new shower, patched up the walls, and painted (no action taken against the ruined and soggy carpet). Then they told us to go back to using the newly replaced shower.

6) The afternoon on which this occurred, I was so excited that I was energetically pacing around the apartment on my phone while regaling John with the happy details of the day. I was on my way into my room to admire my newly repaired and painted closet when, SQUISH, my foot sank into a wet spot on the carpet.

7) Long story short, turns out that they fixed everything but failed to actually REPLACE THE SHOWER PAN THAT WAS THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. So they came back and busted holes in the walls again.

8) We're all back in one bathroom again and eagerly awaiting the completion of repairs.

And all of that has been going on from day one. I've gotten very good at complaining and making phone calls and chasing after people. It's a good skill to have. Additionally, we've had to fight with leasing every month because they keep charging us the wrong amount for rent/utilities/other fees. It's been like having a full-time job that I don't get paid for.

Meanwhile, the Fund for the Public Interest turned out to be little better than slave labor. The only difference between me and the canvassers was that I worked about twice as long and, when all was said and done, got paid less than minimum wage. It was hell. However, dabbling in canvassing taught me valuable interpersonal skills and I no longer have any fear or concern about approaching absolute strangers. Asking people for money pretty much guarantees that you can ask people for just about anything else later on.

I've lost almost all of my cautiousness about life. I'm ready to go and I'm ready to try just about anything and everything. Because, hey, why not? I've worked a shitty job, I've been unemployed, I've risked homelessness.

Now I am the Private Events Manager at City Food Tours Philadelphia. It's awesome. I do things like draft proposals and contracts, budget, and learn about Philadelphia restaurants. Kickass.

I'm also getting very good at going for what I want. I've sort of internalized the idea that life is way too short to spend time sacrificing at your own expense. There's no point. And that's bleeding over into how I handle relationships. Which is also kickass because it's making me exponentially happier.