RouletteWeekend

Happy Monday! It’s 5 am and I didn’t hit snooze. This is probably the first time in since November that has happened. In November I got a job at a hotel working second shift. It was only part-time but it was still four days a week and as it turns out, four days a week is enough to throw off any sort of schedule that I may have had. I only did it for a month before I got my dream job downtown that is full time Monday through Friday. So last week was my official first full week. I officially started on January 2nd, which was a Thursday so I didn’t really count that.

I spent last week getting acclimated to waking up early again. First at 7, then at 5, then finally at 5. I am still working the hotel job two Saturdays per month, but that’s mostly to keep the perks of getting a discount at the hotel chain. Although, I feel like the joke may be on me because now I’m not sure when I’ll have a chance to travel unless it’s just a weekend voyage which is totally possible.

So what’s this new dream job? Well, I should probably start at the beginning. In March maybe April of last year, Will and I went to this community input meeting put on by this non-profit organization downtown that is pretty much in charge of creating events and bringing people out of their comfort zone and into the downtown area that has seen a lot of negative press over the years for being “a bad part of town.” Having moved here from “a bad part of town” myself, I wanted to be involved so in June, I started volunteering my time to the organization, not without motive. I was hoping that eventually I would be able to get a job there.

Then winter hit and real estate started slowing down for Will and I had to go get a paying job and stop volunteering as much, which is how I ended up at the hotel. And then a position opened up at the place I was volunteering and, of course, I applied and finally landed the job.

And I know I’m being kind of vague, but I have a real issue with “identifying” as the thing I do to pay rent as my personal identity. I actually hate the question “what do you do?” Rarely do I feel compelled to answer it with “I’m an ‘administrative assistant’ or ‘I work front desk at a hotel.’ Usually, I say something more along the lines of ‘I’m a writer,’ ‘I’m a poet,’ ‘I’m a creative.” That’s how I identify.

Who really cares what kind of work I clock in to do? That doesn’t identify who I am. I know that so many people have an emotional tie to their profession. I’m just not one of them. It’s funny because Will loves tying me to a profession. He can never bring himself to say, “she’s an artist,” or “she’s a writer,” when people ask him what I do. He’s much more comfortable saying, “she works downtown at such and such place that makes me look distinguished and professional.” And I gotta be honest, sometimes it rubs me the wrong way. Most times, though, I just let it slide because that’s how he was raised. He was raised being tied to a profession that is respectable like “realtor” even though “realtor” and “car salesman” sometimes fall into the same category with people, but he likes identifying that way so that’s how I describe him.

I don’t know how I got off on that tangent, but moving on. I’m getting back to my normal workout routine today…with weights. I’ve been doing yoga since before the first of the year. And while I do like yoga, I may even love it, I miss lifting weights. I’ve been using an app called Asana Rebel and it’s great in that you can weigh in every day if you want, you can track your water, they have amazing recipes that are mostly vegan and some vegetarian, you can meditate, you can listen to focus music, you get a little health trivia question each day, it’s really nice, but there are no weights. So I’m going back to my “home” app that I love using because it has my favorite trainer Amoila Caesar on it. He is a huge advocate for functional movement and he has this newer program that is all about primal movement which is the way we used to move when we were babies and even further back when we were evolving. That’s the program I’m getting back to.

I’ve also been processed food and sugar free since before the new year. I didn’t want to “start” something on New Year’s day. I am not a fan of resolutions because as you may or may not know, this upcoming Friday is National Quitters Day. And as a resolution maker, I was always inclined to participate. This year, I decided I would just make a permanent change and do it before the new year and so far it has stuck. I’ve lost a few pounds, but more importantly, I feel better.

I guess I’ll talk more about that tomorrow. My pre-workout just kicked in and I can feel my face tingling so I think that’s a sign that I should go workout now!

Have a great Monday! And remember, you don’t have to identify as “what you do” if that’s not the thing that brings you joy!

~ A.