Fortunately, I don't have kids, so I can pretty much fake it most of the time, but as of Friday, I do have a new mortgage. I'm just mystified about where the past 21 years went.
Here's a brief chronological history of everything that has happened to me since the summer of 1987.
Went to the University of Idaho and had a great time. Made some great friends, partied a bit, got bad grades (in fact, they lost me a job offer a couple of years ago), did a bunch of community service, dated a cute but clueless guy for a year, worked for housing as an RA and AC and RHA Adviser and finally got married to a much less clueless guy a week after graduation in 1992.
I got a degree in Journalism and still love to write, although I'm still searching for the story I can actually finish. Since I'd grown accustomed to eating, I got a job selling dresses at the Bon Marche and discovered that I was actually pretty good at it and making more money than an entry level journalism position in Idaho. So 16 years later, that's what I'm still doing, though I moved from selling to buying after I got my Masters degree in marketing in 1997 (where I got good grades. Redemption! :)).
After graduation Rob and I stayed in Moscow for a year until he got a position at Seattle University. We lived on campus there for 4 1/2 years. Living in downtown Seattle was great, but eventually Rob decided he needed a real job. We were both armed with Masters degrees, so we headed to Detroit so Rob could work with his college roommate at a small software development firm. He continues to have a charmed work life, but this is about me, not about him. :)
I went to work for a small retailer called 1/2 Off Card Shop, who went bankrupt about 2 and a half years after I started there. Then I got a position in the seasonal department (I've bought everything from Easter grass to Halloween costumes to Christmas trees. Even those tacky inflatable things.) at Kmart which turned out to be a blessing and a curse. The work was brutal, I also survived their bankruptcy while my friends and colleagues were getting let go left and right. But I learned so much and got to travel to Hong Kong and China and really did love the work.
When Kmart and Sears merged in 2005, we moved from the Detroit suburbs to the Chicago suburbs. I thought I was going to love Chicago, and I did (and do) but I lived 40 miles and basically a world away from downtown Chicago. My work life got worse and worse so last January, I started the processes of GETTING THE HELL OUT. I got a message from HR at Garden Ridge in Houston and had been hearing about their impressive seasonal department from vendors for years. So in March, I packed my bags, we put our expensive Illinois house on the market and I headed south. A couple of months later, the house sold and on Friday, I bought a new place in Katy, TX. Get this, my mortgage went from 30 years to 15 and my payment is LESS.
It's a lot like Idaho in Texas. Except it's a jillion degrees. But, the people are nice, and there are a lot of pickups.
My life hasn't been all work, but I must admit that since we don't have kids, I'm probably more defined by my job than I should be. And it's actually fine, I do like the work. I've met so many truly wonderful people, it's been very enriching.
And I've done some fun stuff, too.
Big vacations included London, Cancun and Alaska.
Little vacations mostly indulge whatever my current obsession happens to be. I went through a stint in the late '90s/early 00's when I couldn't get enough of the band Barenaked Ladies. I think we saw them live more than 50 times in locations including North Bay Ontario (in February. My Canadian friends told me that Canadians don't even go to North Bay in February), Charlotte, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Columbus, Toronto, and Detroit, the best trip was the 4 cities in 4 nights surrounding New Years Eve 2002.
I also have a minor baseball obsession, we're not close to having hit all the major league parks, but we've been to both the Kingdome and Safeco in Seattle, Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park in Detroit, Oakland, San Francisco, LA Angels, St. Louis, Wrigley and the Cell in Chicago, Minute Maid in Houston, Miller in Milwaukee and we have plans this summer to go to Yankee Stadium and Cooperstown.
We have a great 6 year old Labrador (Ellie) who was an awful puppy. We got pretty involved in dog training for the Michigan Humane Society while we were there and I'd like to get involved again. Houston has a very strong dog community and we're going to look into adopting a puppy when we get back from New York.
We also have 2 cute kitties, one is a tiny grey tabby named Page (she'll be 9 in November) and the other is a fluffy tuxedo kitty named Stewart (who will be 8 on 8/8/08!!). Both named after members of the band Barenaked Ladies. I just read in Entertainment Weekly that Steven Page (who we obviously named Page after) was arrested in New York a few weeks ago on cocaine charges. Great, I've named my cat after a criminal. I'm a bit freaked out and have been listening to BNL for the last several hours. Yes, I'm often disturbed by things that don't really affect me.
This being an adult thing can be very tricky at times.
Hope you are all well and I look forward to hearing about your adventures since ISU. And I apologize for not having even 1/4 of the exciting tales that Brock has, but a post that 5 times as long. I'm obviously much more into the writing than the editing. . . .
janetdenton@comcast.net, 847-715-6875
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