I'm in love...

...with my job!!

I started my internship this week at the Dept of Environmental Mgmt. in the Strategic Planning & Policy Division. It's awesome!

I'm finally working regular hours, and not wearing a uniform. THANK GOD.

This week I've helped with a Smoke-Free Beach initiative, done research on states with greenhouse gas reduction legislation, researched the recycling programs in cities/towns here in Rhode Island, and even attended a meeting at the State House.

I'm working on the policy side of environmental protection, exactly where I want to be right now. I'm so excited!

There is a down side though, and that is that I still have to work my other job in order to pay all the bills. So I'm super busy these days, but it's all worth it!

Fathers Be Good To Your Daughters

Taken from chapter 1 of a book I bought for my brother for Father's Day called Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters:

Men, good men: We need you. We - mothers, daughters, and sisters - need your help to raise healthy young women. We need every ounce of masculine courage and wit you own, because fathers, more than anyone else, set the course for a daughter's life.
Your daughter needs the best of who you are: your strength, your courage, your intelligence, and your fearlessness. She needs your empathy, assertiveness, and self-confidence. She needs you.
Our daughters need the support that only fathers can provide - and if you are willing to guide your daughter, to stand between her and a toxic culture, to take her to a healthier place, your rewards will be unmatched. You will experience the love and adoration that can come only from a daughter. You will feel a pride, satisfaction, and joy that you can know nowhere else.


Wow. Sure makes me wish I had a father. I suppose as a consolation gift I will accept a good father to my daughter(s) someday.

Attitude Shift

I remember the old days at Outback, right in the middle of the dinner shift, it would be crazy busy. The kind of busy that if you're not good at prioritizing all the things you have to do and asking for help when you need it, you'll cry.
Seriously.
I got good at it.
And I loved it.
I would stop, just for a micro-moment, and smile to myself. The energy, the craziness, the productivity. It was great. Exhilerating.

Things have changed.

I'm at a different restaurant, but the concept is the same. That one or two hours per night where things go insane. One spilled drink or mistake on an order can throw you over the edge. Except now, I don't like it.
I endure it.
I stop, for a micro-moment, and think about how much I can't wait for this to end so I can go home. Now it's a chore. Now I am forcing myself to smile and pretend like I love what I do.

ode to jason

unstoppable conversation.
intimate confessions.
soft affection.
silliness and debate.

our time together is too fun.

Writer's Block

I can't write.

I have started and stopped so many blogs in the past several days.

The only things on my mind these days worth writing about are the dates I've been enjoying with my new friend. They are wonderful and fun, and yet I can't write about them. Not because I'm not allowed, but because I just don't know how to convey myself in words. I'm happy and excited. It's all I can think about.

Life is good.