"How 'bout a raise?"

It’s been two weeks and I’ve adjusted a little too well to this solo act. I have been sleeping sprawled out on our queen bed, with the windows cracked open for fresh air (even though the temps can dip to the low-40s in the mornings). The TV has been completely off and I’ve been reading myself to sleep every night. Bubba returns to me tomorrow night and I’ll have to get use to sharing our space again.
I have been meaning to blog, but between the semi-new job and projects for my mother, my personal time has evaporated.
My mother has enlisted all my weekends helping her. In the process, I am learning the basics of starting a business, from the infrastructure all the way to trade and commerce. It could be more interesting if I were more passionate about it. I am also distracted by my full-time job, which, has been trying. I watched as a few of the staff made their exit recently prompting me to question the company’s culture. I, myself, am quite overworked and I believe, underpaid. If it weren’t for the positive challenges of the position (i.e.: foreign language exposure) I think I may find myself less committed. Since we are understaffed, the work has been piling up for me but my training has been less than adequate. Unfortunately, I did not seize the opportunity to push for more during the initial job offer. At this point, I have to contemplate the right time and right verbiage to use to negotiate a higher salary and the etiquette involved. I have never been one to demand but it has been suggested that the loudest wheel gets the oil. Bubba made a poignant statement during my initial job interview: “Remember they need you more than you need them,” he said.
Well, in my case, I do have the option to suspend work at anytime. I can count on Bubba’s support. I have a fistful of manageable monthly bills. I don’t have outrageous spending habits. I can curtail my minor consumerist ways to further survive. Work is what I seek out for personal spending and saving power. But work can also be a healthy, social medium. And of course, if we love what we do, we won’t work a day in our lives.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

My favorite tapioca shop of all time closed its doors Sunday night. I greedily ordered two cups of my ‘regular.’ I love their green milk tea with lychee pieces and soft, sweet, chewy tapioca pearls. The delightfully fragrant and floral jasmine tea is blended with cool refreshing milk, a few spoons of their homemade caramelized brown sugar syrup, crushed ice and then shook up by hand.
The incredible taste is but a memory now.
Bubba joked that I am coping with a tragedy. I truly am. I have frequented this mom and pop shop for quite a few years, ever since they opened their doors. They lost their lease and decided not to relocate nor work anymore. What a great loss.
I have come to know the owners well (a middle-aged couple) as I’ve frequented their shop, sometimes daily, severely addicted to the taste of that tea. They’d make my regular drink as soon as I’d walk into the store, greeting them with a big smile and a loud hello.
This morning I felt like that critic in that cartoon Ratatouille. Stoic and stern in his food critiques, it was his bite into that dish of ‘ratatouille,’ that his humanistic side was suddenly revived. He was instantly transported into his past, a downtrodden, adolescent boy, and it took his momma’s ratatouille recipe to make everything better. I envision myself one day reinvigorated, too, when I haphazardly encounter this magnificent taste again.
Luckily, with a big smile and kind words, I courted the tapioca couple into agreeing to stay in touch and they gave me their phone number. My next plan of action: to try and convince them to have a tea party at their house and maybe even give me a tapioca cooking lesson.

All In A Day's Work

My arms, neck, body are sore and my wrists are hurting from my painting marathon, yesterday. I'm going to spend today rehabilitating these wrists.
I stuck with the orange and white walls for my mother's shop as planned. It has a nice cream-sicle effect. I happily found usage for the sky blue by painting the exterior of her shop door this color.
Not wanting to see the gallon of cherry red paint go to waste, I tested it inside the shop's bathroom walls (got creative and painted one side blue). The cherry red color has a cozy and velvety effect, but it also casts a darker and tighter feel to the space. I feel like I'm inside a plush room. The red color was hard to paint. It got splotchy. My mother said that in order to attain that even-ness, I may have to paint about 15 layers or start out with a primer-base, I quit after the third layer. She pitched in and painted half of the shop's walls white so I was able to wrap up my day after 12-hours. Gonna go rest these hands now....

Color Coordination Challenge

Bubba made it to Florida tonight. I booked this flight for him a few weeks back when the prices were extra reasonable. However, I overlooked one slight detail, there was a whopping 3-hour layover in North Carolina.
He had a rental car waiting for him at the airport. When he stepped out of the airport, he asked me to guess the weather over the phone.
He hinted by alluding to the nightly walks we took during our recent paradise vacation in Hawaii, when we wore nothing but flip flops and tank tops and felt the warm ocean trade winds prick our skin. "You should be here," he said.
My mind started churning, calculating the benefits, in an attempt to justify having a job versus losing my free time. After a half year of traveling, I just can’t believe I’m missing out on this latest adventure....
But everything happens for a reason. I'm busy with various projects. The latest, unfortunately, has nothing to do with the progression of www.Jetsetjuliet. Instead it is a task that severely challenges my color coordination and interior design skills. My mother recently locked in a commercial space (great landlord, unbeatable rent) in a semi-busy neighborhood. At least a commuter train runs on the block. She wants to sell novelty knick-knacks and so I have been trying to be a good daughter, though an impatient one, and help her set up shop. So far we’ve named it, filed all the necessary paperwork and Bubba put up shelving for her. At a whim, I chose a palette of colors to repaint the interior: Halloween orange, cherry red and sky blue. I don’t know what I was thinking at all. I have always liked the look of deep red walls framing a living room. Sky blue is a comfortable color to stare at...and orange, well, a web search dubbed it the color of impulse buying.
But, after getting the first layer of orange on the walls this last weekend, I felt a pang of uncertainty wash over me. I even suffered a few, anxiety-ridden nights of ‘colorful’ dreaming. I dreamt of colors like evergreen, yellow and blue...an effort by my subconscious mind, no doubt, to dismiss my original picks. Since I’ve only got the orange painted so far, I’m thinking of settling for orange and white and calling it a day.
I’m learning firsthand that interior design, color consulting, home-staging and even fashion, they’re some serious business!

Home is where the Heart Is

Where does the time go? I will be braving my second week of work, already. Training has been informal but progressive. The work involves a lot of data-processing. Luckily, I’m not having any trouble waking up early. I happily hop out of bed and make my daily commute downtown without objection. The days of roaming free are just a memory now.
As I plug away at work, I dissect and analyze each moment and wonder to myself if I find poring over excel sheets and travel reservations to be mundane or interesting. Frankly, it can be both. The repetition at times makes me feel like an experimental subject but yet it’s working in a foreign language that makes this ordinary task seem so exotic. With each project, I witness firsthand foreigners from the European continent fascinated by what our big country has to offer. They book trips to see our distinctive cities: New York, LA, Vegas, New Orleans....They brave long flights and bus rides to see our natural wonders: Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Hoover Dam...and suddenly, I am living vicariously through these travelers, buzzing internally with excitement.
It feels good to see this external force of interest in the US and I am suddenly reminded again of this great, big country I can call home.
My appreciation of this homeland is heightened when foreign friends come to this country with such admiration in their eyes. My dear friend from Denmark paid a visit to me this week. Our friendship dates back to our year as students in France, when I also discovered she was an American-phile. It was so fantastic to meet and learn firsthand the Scandinavians facility with English.
Despite her endless invitations, I never made it to her hometown of Copenhagen, even as I was departing the European continent. She wrote to me faithfully, in English, all these years, and has never failed to send along birthday and Christmas cards. This last week, she finally made it here with her new husband in tow. Like two delighted schoolgirls, we hugged and chirped and reminisced in unison our treasured memories as friends in France, while her husband and Bubba looked-on, happy for us. After eight years, she has turned into a woman. She works for the Ministry of Defense in Denmark and is looking to re-harness her French so she can participate more in projects related to the European Union, (although her country opted not to become a member of the EU.)
We dined over a meal of Thai food and I took them to see a few sights, such as the row of Victorian houses, Twin Peaks and Haight-Ashbury. When we parted ways that night, she expressed her admiration for this country, this state and city. Seeing my home through her eyes, I realized how much I've taken for granted...splaying my heart all these years, yearning for a foothold in places like Paris and Rome when home, here, is just as great.

Reviving Routines...Boo Hoo

Ahh...Renouncing Routines...I enjoyed it while it lasted. (I may have to change my title.)
It is with a most heavy heart that I have to admit I will be back on a work schedule. With my rapidly evaporating savings in mind, I made the choice to pawn my skills and labor for a steady income.
Globetrotting sure doesn’t come cheap...neither does anything else.
The bright side to this ‘routine’ is that I am excited about the company. Being ultra-selective, I recently launched into my job search with a very specific vision, to find a job in the travel industry. Many travel-related jobs nowadays are rarely entry-level and they do not provide training. But, I found this one...and I suppose, they found me. I am delighted to report that they are a France-based, growing international company, so my French skills will be fully utilized. I will also have the weekends off to spend with Bubba, to work on this XHTML project and to romp around the park with my hula-hoop.
I think this will be a good year.
As I ponder all the freedom I am trading in for this routine, I feel quite bewildered, but, conversely, this job will help me gain new skills and knowledge.
Unfortunately, I will be missing out on a lovely spring trip to Florida. Bubba will fly out there with Kat to spend some time with his mom and step-dad. I know when the time comes, I’ll wish I chose differently but I must remember that this work is part of a bigger plan.
I optimistically foresee my impaired French being replenished with constant usage.
With my steady paycheck, I could inevitably pay someone to build my "website" from scratch, with all the nifty features such as search engine optimization and flash.
I will fulfill my ambition of learning the ropes of the travel industry.
During the interview, I was introduced to my potential colleagues. The two women on the team are highly accomplished, overachievers. One is from France with a law degree. She recently became a mom and confessed she wanted to experience the work world before settling down as a practicing attorney. The other is an American with a Master’s degree in French literature. Sitting amongst them, I felt an instant connection and...I was sold.
Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best.