So Little to Say

I'm posting out of principle. It's nearing two weeks since I've typed anything here--and the last was just a link to a web article.

But sometimes it's best to remain silent when there is nothing to say. I don't know much, but I know when to keep my yap shut.

So for the few people that look to this to keep tabs on me, here's what is going on.

I passed a milestone of note recently. A couple weeks ago my three-year anniversary at Cardinal transpired. Since graduation I worked at Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space for just over a year and Chiquita for three years. As I'm not leaving Cardinal anytime soon this has been my longest stint at full-time employment.

And that's significant because I always find myself itching for change after three years. And so I am. That's probably more due to my current assignment than my relationship with Cardinal. My current project started in early February and was supposed to end in June. But I'm still here. I've got one more week to go. Just getting back into the Cardinal office for a bit will probably help rejuvenate me. But for the past few weeks it's been a drag--I hate driving downtown, I hate the slow elevators in my building (and their musty air), I hate the construction on 275, I hate having lunch by myself every day. I'm just ready for change.

And school isn't much better. A couple weeks ago I had my first cycle of tests. When you have class on subsequent nights (Wednesday and Thursday in my case) it's even worse when the tests are on the same schedule. So I studied Monday and Tuesday night for my two tests. But I must have lacked focus. I got a solid "C" on one and a "B-" on the other. This does not please me. Now I must do better the rest of the semester, but I hate having that kind of pressure on me.

What it really all comes down to is that I've just been too busy. My weekdays are so busy from start to finish that I really count on weekends to relax, do housework, just to reorganize and recharge. But I've had plans and commitments nearly every weekend since mid-August. There has been very little time spent just laying around, or cleaning, or hanging with my friends in Indiana. I've done zero reading that isn't assigned for class (and really, Finance and Management textbooks aren't all that enjoyable of reading fare). Fortunately my schedule starts to let up a bit. This weekend I'm busy Saturday, but the rest is free. The following weekend I've got a close friend's wedding--but that's it.

It's not all bad, though. I've been flying regularly. I passed by Flight Review a couple weeks ago, and I've managed to go up solo once a week since. It's hard to describe, but the whole scenario is so important to me that it seems surreal. When I'm driving out to the little airport I get nervous. Not nervous about flying--I'm quite confident with that. It's more of a haunting nervous, like I can't believe I'm really doing it, or I'd better enjoy it because it's a privilege that could easily disappear. It's hard to describe.

But it's fun and I grin just thinking about it. I have some friends who I've promised to take flying for years and I'm looking forward to start fulfilling some of those promises. And then next summer I hope to really go somewhere. I've drawn a mental circle around Cincinnati with a radius of about 400 miles: that'd be about 4 hours flying (and about all I could stand in a little plane). Sometime next summer hopefully I'll take a little weekend jaunt. Maybe Mackinac (a place I've never been). I've got friends I could visit, or all kinds of basebally parks I'd like to get to. Expensive? Yes. Difficult to plan because of weather? Yes. But a fun goal nonetheless.

One more thing that really excites me is that an important end is in sight. I don't talk about this much, but my friends know that me getting out of debt is an important priority of mine. It was a struggle post-college to manage all the opportunities, but one of the benefits of my (relatively) newfound singleness is the freedom to make my own choices--and stick to them. And I'm six months away. The credit cards have long been paid off. My school loans are gone. And my car should be mine in about April (it depends a bit on tax return timing, but about then).

It really can be done. Any of you out there working on it--stick to it.

I'm not much of a cheerleader, am I? :-)

So that's it. Not too exciting, eh? No exciting or entertaining dating stories. No significant traveling. No deep thoughts, or gut-wrenching situations, or heartwarming stories. Really, not much is going on at all. Work and school. Sticking to plans. Wondering where September went? Looking forward to vacations in December and February and pretty much just trying to survive until then...That's about it.