Autumn Aspirations

It's 6:28pm EST and I am finally starting my day. I'm sitting on my balcony in a not very comfortable chair (which has been rescued and put to re-use by my roommate- it was originally mine, but it's old, ugly, and stained, so I acquired a better, prettier, more comfortable chair that actually leans back from my mother when we moved into this place six or seven months ago) with my phone, laptop, nook, and latte. I wish our balcony was more comfortable (and less ugly). there are mysterious stains on the concrete, there's sawdust on the ground and a piece of wood from when Jessie and I built our bookshelf (we were true DIY lesbians that day), and I'm using a block of concrete as a footrest (not to mention this ugly chair I keep mentioning).

My footrest and nook

But life is perfect right now. It really is. You can always find something to complain about, but happiness is truly about perspective. The glass is half empty, yes, but it's also half full. I lost my job two days before my surprise trip to Las Vegas with my girlfriend to celebrate our 1 year anniversary (our anniversary is actually October 16th, but this was the only week off she had from school). I had gotten my first real credit card for the occasion (not counting my Lowes card we got so we could get a discount on a washer), because my job was purely tips based, which meant I didn't have enough for our trip at the moment, but would no doubt be able to easily pay off my credit card within a month or two. That was the plan anyways.

The trip was worth every penny. Jessie says it was the best trip of her life, and that in itself is enough for me. But as Jessie says, we could be sleeping on someone's floor and as long as we're together, it would be a fantastic vacation. But I'll do a post all about our trip later. This is going to be purely a thoughts that cross my mind in this moment post.

I really want to learn to do latte art.

 

Unfortunately I've not figured it out yet. I think I heated my milk too fast, and probably did not tamp my espresso enough. So I put cinnamon on top. Ta-da, still looks pretty. And tastes fantastic. My current favorite latte is this honey cinnamon latte. I discovered it in Asheville while visiting Carrie. I stopped in the World Coffee Shop (or whatever it was called) and the man in front of me got a honey latte with cinnamon on top. So I swore to try it next go round. It's perfect for having an espresso machine at home, because you don't have to buy coffee syrups- all you need is honey. Not to mention it's really delicious, and cinnamon is perfect for this wonderful season of fall.

I'm so happy it's finally autumn. I feel as though I could make it through anything in this season. Pumpkin spice everything, pumpkin beers, a crispness in the air, no need for AC or heat, the crunch of colorful leaves under your boots... There's so much to love. And that's not even considering all my favorite holidays- Halloween, my birthday, our anniversary, Thanksgiving, the Christmas season... So how can I be scared or despair when there's so much to look forward to? A small part of me nags that this is also the start of the most expensive season, and nothing causes despair and stress quite like financial worries, but I know things will work out. God has always been looking out for me, even though I'm still figuring out who He is exactly. Just yesterday, when I was tired from our red eye flight back and reality was starting to rear its ugly head, Jessie got an email from the photo studio she applied to about an interview. She would be getting paid more and be working in her field. I rarely talk about religion, but autumn also gives me a spiritual feeling that can show up when I'm feeling reflective or philosophical. I'm not sure "religion" is the word though, it's more on the level of a spiritual reflection perhaps.

I'm afraid our basil is dying. Our cilantro kicked the bucket ages ago, but our basil was doing great for a while. Jessie is definitely the green thumb of the two of us. I'm entirely too forgetful to care for plants (or animals or humans really), out of site out of mind has always been a problem of mine. I think I just live in my head too much. But Jessie loves plants and wishes we had a garden, or at least an herb garden. I would love that too, an herb garden surrounding a comfortable chair and footrest and maybe even a little table. I would write out here everyday. But I'll let Jessie be the gardener.

I hope that stink bug creature doesn't eat the leaves... 

They say writing every day extends your life, or something like that. Now that I'm unemployed, maybe I can start developing positive habits. I want to cook more (must become the proper housewife for my sweetie), I want to make our home into a comfortable, beautiful living space, and I want to write every day. So I'm going to try and blog every day. I doubt there will be any sort of theme. I might talk about books, I might talk about movies, maybe one day it'll be a food blog, one day it'll be a writing blog, but I guess in general it will be all of these things. My weird lesbian life blog. (I put lesbian in there because if I talk about anything consistently, you can bet it'll be Jessie.) I also want to work out more, I want to get both my mind and body in shape. I've got plenty of time, I want to make use of it. 

The most important thing in my near future is trying to find a job, I suppose. I don't want to end up destitute, kicked out on the streets. (How would I blog then?) I'm not sure what I want to do though. I know I want to go back to Japan, but that can't happen until Jessie graduates. As much as I loved only working three days a week, I really want a day job. It was hard working opposite hours from Jessie, and I look forward to coming home before 4am on my next job. I had been planning on quitting anyways, but I was hoping to have my next job first... I would rather not work retail again, especially not right before the holidays. I know booksamillion would hire me back, as long as I'm at a different location from Jessie. But I wouldn't enjoy going back to that pay... I guess I'll just have to keep my chin up and my eyes peeled for opportunities. 

One thing I will say about my trip is that I started reading Odd Thomas (by Dean Koontz) again. It's such an excellent series and Odd is such an excellent character. The second go round reading this first book is a different experience though, since I know what happens in the end, it makes it quite sad. I dreaded reading it almost, but I wanted to reread so I can read the others in the series that have recently come out. I really recommend everyone read this book though, it's just so excellent. I find myself making Jessie listen to random quotes from the book. I'm trying to start keeping a list of quotes from the book in Evernote, but I was a little slow to start this, so I'm sure I missed some good ones from the beginning of the book. Here's one I did get though:

"Most people desperately desire to believe they are part of a great mystery, that Creation is a work of grace and glory, not merely the result of random forces colliding. Yet each time they are given but one reason to doubt, a worm in the apple of the heart makes them turn away from a thousand proofs of the miraculous, whereupon they have a drunkard's thirst for cynicism, and they feed upon despair as a starving man upon a loaf of bread."

It's a great quote, no matter what you believe. Rather than being a commentary on religion, I'd say it says more about humans. I'll try and collect more good ones and share them when I find them. 

My project for the next few days (other than blogging) is this:

I'm going to make MEAD.

We got the bottles ages ago (thankfully since I can't afford them now) and it's officially AUTUMN (my favorite season, have I mentioned that yet?) so MEAD! Jessie introduced me to mead last year, being the rennie she is (someone that works in the Renaissance Faire in case you're not familiar with the slang), and it's so strong and sweet and excellent, and I'm looking forward to this adventure! Maybe if it turns out well, I can sell it! At the very least it would make a great gift for the holidays. (I'll have to come up with more bottles though....) Another reason I'm so detirmed to make this happen is that alcohol is not covered by my food stamps, and I am an appreciator of delicious booze. (My goal of drink all the pumpkin beers might have to be put on hold until I get a job...)

I think that's all the random thoughts I had in my head for now. I should probably unpack or clean... but I think I'll save that for tomorrow. Today I have friends to skype with and a great book to read. If you would like to skype with me as well, please just tell me your username and I will message you! I used to have a very vibrant social life on the internet, so another goal is going to be rekindling that! 

Thanks for reading my ridiculously long post (if anyone did). Tomorrow I'll tell all my adventures in VEGAS! (including the butter incident)

À demain!