Dear Dual tuner TiVo,

I understand that you are an amazing machine. I generally NEVER doubt your ability to perform your main function. But I apparently did not make it clear that there are only 5 shows that you are to record no matter what. The Office. New episodes of CSI: Las Vegas. Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. Good Eats. Lost. This letter is to remedy your lack of consciousness as to what is truly important to me.

THE OFFICE. Over reruns of CSI.

Lost. Over ANYTHING ELSE.

And please, Please, PLEASE DON’T EVER DELETE THESE!

How can I get this through your thick hard drive?!? Please tell me so that you don’t ever miss another episode of the Office.

I love you TiVo. I just wish you understood me better. I will give it one more chance. Don’t mess it up.

Love,
Michie

When I finally have time to log onto the site and write… I generally let out a sigh. Mostly because there isn’t anything terribly exciting going on here… or maybe it is just that the exciting things are also bummers and I am tired of sounding like a broken record. I am getting ready to file taxes this year and found that my yearly salary is dismally low… I bet you are thinking, “How could she not know!?!” But in reality, I worked four different jobs last year and none of them paid particularly well. At least I know why I have such a hard time meeting my budget!

This has brought on the catacalismic thought that I have to join the work force. In a way that I never have before. I know that I am not going to continue to be a teacher… if not sheerly because I need to have a way to make ends meet and then some. The thought of joining the corporate world and working 40 hour weeks with only 2 weeks paid vacation makes me miserable, but I know that it might not be so bad. Working 8 hours a day… not bringing home with you… Now I just gotta get myself out there.

I had wanted to take some time off this summer, while I am still getting paid my teaching salary, but now I think this might be my only chance to get ahead. Double what I make in a month for just a few months… then maybe I will be able to get back on my feet. We will see what the future holds.

All and all I get the feeling that 2007 will be the year that I get my footing. Generally these feelings aren’t reliable. I think I might have posted about how I thought the end of 2006 was going to be spectacular and really all that happened was that my grandma passed away. I am blowing things out of proportion. I spent some worderful time my family both out here in CA and back in Pennsylvania. But ultimately, I didn’t finish my dissertation, I didn’t get the job, and Winemonkey didn’t propose. All things that I thought would happen.

So how does my 2007 prediction check out? Well, I have a stack of papers to reconcile tomorrow before I go into work. And that is the beginning of making things work. We’ll see.

Yesterday was my annual review. I have been at my current job for nine months. To me that is unbelievable. Mostly because I still feel as though I don’t know alot of things. The review went really well. My boss was very supportive of all of my ideas - including taking more design classes and trying to become more involved with the design community. She also said that I am way too hard on myself - it is true though - I am my worst critic. It was just the boost of confidence that I needed.

Also, I played racquetball yesterday for the first time in almost a year. It felt so good to be back in the court. I played with my co-worker, who told me today that he was impressed with how good I am. funny considering I haven’t played in a year.

On another good note, people are beginning to notice the weight loss. Like alot of people. It makes me feel good to know that I am making progress. I have about three pairs of pants right now that just look ridiculous because they are not even close to fitting anymore. The other pants I have are “presentable”, but soon will also have to be taken in. The benefits of my new lifestyle are that my skin is clearer, I have waaay more energy than normal, I am tremendously happy all the time (not as many mood swings), and I look better. Amazing what eating healthy and exercising can do for you.

Things with Lam are still fantastic. He is staying with his folks for the next couple of days and being away from him is hard - although not doable. He is the best boyfriend I have ever had. Each day he does something that makes me fall more in love with him. I am amazed. There have been talks….talks of moving in together….but being the rational adults that we are - we have decided to revisit the topic again in three months (that will be our six month mark).

How did I become such a lucky person? I mean I know I had to work really hard at being happy and I had to be really miserable for awhile, but still. Everything just seems to be coming so easily for me.