Merry Christmas To All and To All a Good Night!

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, everyone was sleeping, except for my mother downstairs... and me. 

I have to say it feels damn good to be back down in the South for Christmas. I wore flip-flops today and I think the high was about 65 or so. Glorious. Especially after trudging around in the snow for the past week. It is a change of scenery and I love it. I am starting to think that Seasonal Affective Disorder truly does exist and truly does affect me, and it is SAD. 

But Christmas is a great time of year and I am so happy that my whole family can be together. It's a great feeling! All my nieces and nephews running around crazy and playing with them reminds me that life is so special. They remind me how important it is to not take life or yourself too seriously. 

So, I'm staying up to wait for Santa and his reindeer. I asked a friend at Mass today if he was going to leave cookies for Santa, and he said no because Santa is a diabetic. Don't worry though, solution: sugar-free gum! 

Ho, HO, Ho

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

SNOW!

IT'S SNOWING! I can even go as far to say, it's a blizzard. It's crazy outside. I went to work and left before lunch because the storm was expected to come in around noon. It didn't start snowing here until about 1:30. But when it started it didn't stop even in the least bit and it's been falling hard ever since. 

Seeing as I was raised in South Carolina, I am not used to this type of weather. I got really freaked out when people were telling me to go home because you don't want to get stuck in traffic. Apparently, there was a storm last year and people were stuck in traffic for up to 8 hours and they were traveling 15-20 minutes away. Crazy huh? 

Speaking of South Carolina, I will be back in the state in 4 days! I'm really excited. I can't wait for Christmas at HOME. It really is the greatest time of the year and I am so blessed to have the family I have! 

So today I leave you with a little joke. 

Q- If Santa and Mrs. Claus had a child, what would he be called?

A- A subordinate claus

Seriously how hilarious is that!

Merry Christmas!

Seriously?

I read something very disturbing a few minutes ago. A kid in Miami committed suicide on a Web cam while people watched him. Seriously? How F*d up is society? How could no one immediately notify the police? I don't understand how these viewers could be so callous and heartless. How could you live with that for the rest of your life? Some of the viewers said they thought he was kidding because he had threatened it before... well, hello, there is a clue right there that this kid needs help. I feel there is a social responsibility with situations like that. I am so shocked by this. It makes me sick.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtO167ywBhMURgOmp4ScpR7rBdvgD94KC5HG0 

Life as a big girl.

Is weird. I found a job. My blog didn't really go as planned. I was going to blog about the trials and tribulations of trying to find a job. And though it was hard and I went through a lot, I found a job rather quickly, or the job found me. It all sort of fell into my lap and now here I am working a 9 to 5, wondering where 22 years of my life went. Where did my childhood go, and high school and college? It's all memories, conveniently bundled and stored into different parts of my brain. 

That brings me to say... I hope that those of you who are still working towards that degree, enjoy every single second of the college life you have left. I had a wonderful time in college, but if I knew how much I would miss it now, I would have lived it up so much more. It kills me when I hear people complain about studying for a test, or read a Facebook status about not wanting to write a paper. I would give almost anything to write a 10-page interpretation of what I think the dot on the blank page means, or create a document in Quark that takes 5 hours, or develop a hypothetical campaign for a client I know nothing about. I guess bitter is the word. Jealousy works too. 

I am excited with what the future holds, but there is so much more responsibility and it just seems weird to be out in this world that is way more competitive than school ever was. Now, I have to actually apply myself and know what I am doing in order to succeed. But what is success? Before, I could get by studying for a test the night before. Now, you have to be on your A-game all the time. It's truly just a weird feeling. Being a perpetual napper, you don't get to take random three-hour naps. However, I am thinking of starting the WFSC, (Workers for Siestas Coalition, let me know if you are interested. Also in this 'real' world, you become a habitual coffee drinker in order to keep your eyes open and you have to listen to that woman with the annoying, phlegmy hack all day, and all you want to do is hand her a new lung. 

I am making my job sound really bad. I love my job. It is actually going great. I just started last week, but it is awesome. I was busy all week and everyone is super nice. Every Friday there are bagels from Panera Bread and at the end of the day my row of cubicles had a dance party. No lie. I turned around in my chair, and the girl next to me was doing the Moonwalk down the aisle. I knew right then and there, I would fit in perfectly. So, the real world isn't all that bad. But it's still weird and taking some time to transition into. Change is good, but it takes time.

Oh, the company is a Internet security software company. They actually refer to themselves as an anti-malware company. So I am learning everything and anything I need to know about anti-virus protection, and anti-virus software, and all that awesome stuff. It's actually pretty interesting. So, I am officially a NERD. A cool one though. 

Welcome to My World! (Though many of you are probably in the same place)

As I served my one and only table at work today, I wondered to myself, “Self, what is the point in being here anyways?” 

Self said back, “Katie, you are here because you are scared. You are scared to move to Boston. You are scared to begin the new chapter.” I immediately replied to Self, “That’s bullshit. I am ready to move on. I am ready to start my life. You don’t know what I want.” Wait, this is my self, she knows me. 

I apologized to myself and thought about what she said. Maybe I am scared. Maybe I am not prepared to start this new chapter. Sure I want to move to Boston. Is that the best idea right now? Sure I am ready to make new friends and begin a new life, but am I ready to leave all this behind once again? I thought I was and I think I am, but when I think hard about it, I come close to crapping my pants. I do not know what it is that is making me scared. I guess it’s the unknown, the fact that I don’t have a job, and the fact that I don’t know anyone. 

“Oh Self, help me out here. What am I supposed to do?” Self replied, “Get your ass out of here. Go to Boston and start anew. Augustana wrote that song about you. You are supposed to be there. Boston and you are supposed to be together.” 

I told Self, “Of course.  So Boston is the place for me? Boston is the place I will find a job? Alright, Self, I will go and I will love and I will be happy and accomplished. Alright Self, I will leave in a couple weeks…”

I graduated from the University of South Carolina in May of this year. With a degree in Public Relations, I moved to Boston thinking there would be a better job market. Then all went to hell with this recent economic disaster and I am thinking I may have been better free-loading off my parents for a little while longer. However, I am in an ideal situation. I am living with my sister (for free, except for the occasional babysitting service, which I don't mind in the least bit) and I recently returned to my serving job I had last summer at a local restaurant. Serving food to people, however, is not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life (even though I do enjoy it. At times). 

So, I am started this blog because one day I was searching for blogs by recent college graduates, and well there weren't too many. This is also in attempt to reach out to those of you who may be in the same position as me. Jobless, searching, and feeling overwhelmed. I hope this will help others and I hope others can help me. 

I never thought I would be in this position. Throughout college, I did everything the way my advisors, teachers and mentors told me to. I was involved in a number of organizations and groups on campus. I completed three solid internships that I thought were the ticket to getting a great job. I loved my internships! The people I worked for were awesome and I knew this was what I wanted to do. Now that I am searching for a job, I have realized that maybe I didn't do enough. I didn't meet as many people as I should have. Maybe I was too lazy. 

Through many informational interviews, I realized this is the way that I am going to find a job. I've always heard it but never really believed the saying, but it truly is all about who you know. Of course you have to be qualified, but if you have someone that can help you get your foot in the door, it's a huge help. Through these interviews, I have been encouraged to keep up the search and to bear with the economy right now. Many times I have heard, "it is very unfortunate that you are looking for a job at this time, but I promise the job will come." I realize it will, however, when I am the one in the situation, it is a little different. 

I look forward to posting more about my adventures of looking for a job, which is a job in and of itself.