I met Matt's parents over Memorial Day weekend and had a great time getting to know them. Later in May, since I received my MFA, Matt kept his promise to take me on a celebration trip and we went to San Francisco for a week. We had an incredible time together and I found the trip to be romantic, relaxing, and gorgeous. I loved the area's tons of pink flowers, heart sculptures, sweeping views, rose gardens, and old, shady redwoods. Right after getting back into town, my summer job at The Alley started. In the back of my head, I'd always thought I'd end up starting a full-time job in Austin by then but as no offers were made, to Houston for seven weeks I went.
June and July represented a whirlwind of activity! I threw myself back into teaching drama full-time to 1st through 4th graders and loved being back at The Alley. My students were fun to work with and I enjoyed the two productions my students and I developed. My first group adapted Scaredy Squirrel in the Dark and the second group created The Wizard of Candy Oz Land. Each weekend, I went to Austin or Matt drove to Houston but during the week we were apart.
Whenever I was in Austin, we looked at houses with a realtor, something we had loosely talked about and started towards the end of May. The next thing we knew, we were finding houses we liked and making or contemplating offers. Finally, we found the perfect house. Both of us loved it from pretty much the moment we set foot in it, so much so that we made an offer that day! One thing led to another and we closed on the house July 20. I finished my summer position on July 25, our five month anniversary, and Matt came in town to see my students' performance and a show at The Alley on a double date with good friends. Then Sunday, my parents, Matt, and I all drove to Austin to move things into the new house.
We are all moved in now, just moving furniture around and getting settled together. The house is beautiful and I am still getting used to the fact that we live there. (As in, getting used to the house and garage and watering plants part...and getting used to the privilege of cuddling up to Matt every night.) The only catch to what feels like an everyday fairy tale to me is that I am now unemployed. Granted, I was a full-time graduate student through part of May then full-time teaching artist at The Alley for two months so it's not as dire as it sounds. I've applied over the past few weeks to around 30 positions in Austin, yet nothing has worked out yet for full-time. I did land a very part-time teaching position that I am quite excited about, so that's something worth grinning about, but it doesn't pay off my loans nor offer benefits.
The past two weeks were busy with unpacking and getting settled and gearing up to present my thesis research at a nationally attended presentation as part of a professional development debut panel session for emerging scholars. Tuesday morning, I'll read a six-page paper as part of the largest organization in the country for Theatre Education's conference. I am writing this entry, in fact, from New York City at my friend Helene's apartment.
When I return home to Austin later this week I am trying to decide what to do with my time. Certainly, part of that time will go to cover letters for job applications and searching openings on the Internet. I'll do house stuff to keep it nice and hope to [learn how to] cook some meals for Matt. Even when I get a full-time job, this thoughtfulness on outside of work next steps still applies because I am finally settling down, spreading my roots in a permanent address, and no longer in school. I am VERY eager to reclaim having a life, and I'm curious about what to fill it with--what would be the most satisfying, that is to say.
Helene and I watched Julie & Julia today and the movie inspired inward thinking about sense of purpose and partaking in hobbies for pleasure and passion. I certainly want to try cooking more and stop being afraid I'll screw it up since-honestly-who cares if I do, scrapbooking and gardening are other must-haves, but what else? I am toying with getting back into theatre, whether it is auditioning for plays or developing myself at improv. I also am realizing how much I need to throw myself back into going to the gym and attending gym classes. I've strayed away from that for too long and it's starting to get to me. So these are some of the next steps I am thinking about...this is not rocket science and most of what I'm saying is obvious, but it's still occupying my thoughts and worth writing about to me. I want to be intentional with my time.
Last week, I started diving into improv theory books I'd been meaning to read and I've found that to be really satisfying so far. I want to do more reading in general as well. When I do these activities and how it will all fit in to day-to-day and short-term and long-term goals, and life in a house with Matt (eeee!), that is a mystery I look forward to watching fall into place. I can feel my momentum picking up and my energy poised to spring into action now that I'm recharged and excited for life back in Austin, after my short stint in Houston.
I seek focus, optimism, perseverance, and centeredness to keep me going as I figure out the little pieces and work to get a solid job in Austin. And appreciation. I have so much to be happy about!
We'll see what the next update brings...
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