12.17.2010

december opportunities

i finished finals this week. the quarter felt very, very long. i have been unhappy with the opportunities that uw has offered to date. transferring is still one of the best decisions i have ever made in my life. however, i have become increasingly anxious about whether i will truly get the experience i need to have a career in policy right out of the graduation gate.

that MIGHT all be changing...another student left her legislative position with House Representative Eric Pettigrew. Rep. Pettigrew is a very well-respected community organizer in seattle and south king county. he was just appointed to house caucus chair. i jumped on checking into whether i could move into that vacancy. well, i shouldn't say jumped as i agonized over whether i should even ask. thanks to prodding from classmates, i asked. and then had a long sleepless night while trying to figure out the best way to tell my united way supervisor. i told her and she has been very supportive. i learned the position is open. however, there are some special conditions. i interview next week and will learn about those special conditions then. currently, i am all over the board about whether i should commit. see, the capitol is nearly 2 hours outside of seattle. this means i will need to find housing in olympia. that means we have to pay rent on two properties for 3 months. that also means anthony and i will be living apart again. and i will have to commute for class. and i will have to drop 2 of the policy classes that i have really been looking forward to. and i will have to buy a new wardrobe that is appropriate for legislation making- suits, suits and more suits. there is usually as very small stipend ($250 a month) for students, but with the severe budget deficit i am assuming one of the special conditions will be that i cannot get this stipend. that is scary. very, very scary. so, i'm going to have to get a private loan to afford all this. AND the session starts in just a few weeks. so, first i have to interview, then i have to accept. and then comes everything else- finding housing, dropping classes, figuring out how anthony and i will share 1 car while living 100 miles apart, etc. ugh. this is all very overwhelming. and then i remember that THIS is why i transferred. THIS is the opportunity of a lifetime. THIS could set my career in motion. THIS could be the ONE opportunity that puts me on the road to legislation greatness. that's right folks- legislation greatness. :)

anyway, no decision yet. i'll keep you posted.

i've been cooking a lot lately, and am loving it as usual. our csa box is getting more and more boring with the change in seasons, and i cannot imagine eating the same damn root veggies for the next 4 months. but, for now i'm using food blogs to get creative. at this moment i'm eating roasted beets with horseradish dressing and fried capers. if you've never fried capers, try it. even if you don't like capers. they are very tasty! and they puff up and open like flowers. they are really quite beautiful! i've been doing some cleaning, but am really itching to do more. i want to take everything out of every cabinet and drawer and shelf and clean out those cabinets and drawers and shelves and then throw away and re-organize. that kind of cleaning.

as for now, i'm craving brussel sprouts. let the roasting begin!

p.s. we had a great time in oregon for thanksgiving and will be in denver for xmas in less than a week. happy birthday dad and lilli and umeko!