Babbling Baby & other news

How awesome is this baby, talking her little heart out?! I remembered it while reading this great article about baby babbling, via A CUP OF JO.

Hi guys! Sorry for being MIA for the past week. Guess why... I started my new job! I'm working at Whole Foods Market in the Specialty Department (cheese, chocolate, beer, wine, tea, coffee, housewares). My position is a new one, sort of created with me in mind. I will be the department's demo specialist, meaning I'm in charge of samples & talking to people about our featured items. At the moment, it's only a seasonal job, so I'm trying to be awesome so WFM will want to keep me! The past week has been crazy (8 hour workdays, on my feet the whole time, 5 days straight), but I think I've started to get the hang of it.

I have today & tomorrow off, & I don't think I've ever enjoyed a day off more than I enjoyed today. OH & it's a ridiculously beautiful week here in Sacramento. It was almost 80 degrees today! Jonty & I cycled downtown/midtown, went thrift shopping (Jonty bought me a super cute shirt at Freestyle Clothing Exchange, my new fave shop!), & drank iced coffee & read in the garden at Weatherstone. It was fantastic.

Then we hit the gym, where I ran 3 miles, yay! For dinner, we made swordfish tacos with homemade mango salsa (my new obsession!), cabbage, & avocado. Our dessert was roasted marshmallows on a fire in our chiminea out back :.)

Well, I hope you enjoyed the sweet little babbling baby! I'll try to keep up with my blog more this week. Oh, is anyone else excited for the opening of...

via

I am. I've heard that critics aren't loving it, but it will still be fun to wait in line with friends & see it opening night.

Anyway, have a great night! It is suddenly much later than it should be, & I'm plumb tuckered!

<3

Something Awesome: Considering Careers

The other day, I was stressing thinking wondering about my (near!) future. I turned to Jonty & asked, "What am I going to be when I grow up?"
He replied, "Something awesome."

Being a philosophy major (and master, degree to be conferred in December) that has decided, for the moment, not to continue on to a PhD program, there is no straight answer as to what my next move is. While some people are under the impression that philosophy is next to worthless in the real world, barring law school, it actually is the opposite. Philosophy requires analysis, attention to detail, and knowledge of many subject areas (depending on your concentration - from environment to education to physics to mathematics to ancient history). Good writing skills, ability to work individually with little supervision, and interpersonal skills also help in a big way. These are broad and important skills that could apply to so many careers.

But I'm still searching for mine.

At the moment, I'm looking into teaching at the (junior) college level - preferably online, so I can be flexible if Jonty finds a job elsewhere. I've also checked out some Office/Admin/HR Assistant positions, since they could possibly allow me to understand the company's setup better and lead to entrance into a higher up position, but at minimum I will get paid while I search for other opportunities.

I've also been checking out positions with the UN & other international organizations, & so many require a master's in a related field (Is philosophy related? My bachelor's is also in government...), some really specific knowledge, or, like, 10 years' experience in, for example, international mediation in areas of conflict. Gah.

Having "so many" options, right now, is seeming more like not having many options. I think one major obstacle is not knowing how to get into a field. Perhaps I need to get my network on.

A chat with my sister, while visiting her in Portland last weekend (photos coming soon), made me think about the different things I've wanted to be "when I grew up." Here are just a few:

* editor
* writer
* fire fighter
* singer/actress/model
* teacher
* astronaut
* FBI/CIA staff (not an agent - too dangerous)
* humanitarian
* psychiatrist
* doctor

While some of these options can be abandoned, barring further eduction (perhaps an option later...), I've still got some possible "dream jobs" on my list.

Even though it seems like a long shot right now, I have a feeling that I'm on the path to "something awesome."

<3