I Love My Neighborhood, Part II

I am sorry I haven't updated my blog in a while. I will start off with the recent incident in my neighborhood. I know y'all were worried that my neighborhood might be calming down but no!!!!! There was an arrest at the place across the street my sister and I affectionately call the Crack House. Forgive me if I repeat myself, but I want you to understand the Crack House in all of it's glory for this place is the reason my sister and I's rent is so low. There are weekly rentals available in the 3 story apartment building. According to my neighbor, it is disgustingly dirty in there (hmmmmm, why was she in the Crack House?) and my sister and I are pretty sure there is some drug dealing going on, although we haven't actually seen it go down (in the legal world, this is what is called heresay). If you were to see and observe this place as we have you would come to the same conclusion. So this lady is so f*cked up she can't even stand up, then she is sitting outside, no doubt trying to convince the cops she is not as f*cked up as she seems. Meanwhile there is a man on the 2nd story porch in a wife beater watching this all go down and I know once the cops take their suspect away, he is going to go inside and get a 40 to drink on the porch. Ahhh, nothing like a Sunday morning arrest!
I am sure you are wanting a job update as well. So it is just me, my boss and another paralegal working what 8 or 9 people used to do. The stress level is high and I definitely dreamt about work last night. Isn't that sad?? But it is good too because if we can keep this ship afloat, yours truly has a real chance at having a leadership position for a while. This past week, I almost lost it though, with the stress of work, my Gramma having surgery, and the recent death of the Congressman who appointed me Page to the US Congress, my nerves were shot. It isn't just the workload; it is the stress level of everyone, including clients, in the office. But this can't maintain itself forever. I hope.

I Love My Neighborhood

Apparently, I signed off too soon. I just heard a lovely screaming match about some girl shooting up heroin and the guy yelling at her is, of course, shirtless. He kept yelling about her track marks and she's hanging out with some guy who can't even be a man. Unfortunately I couldn't see them very well, but maybe next time. Don't you want to come visit me?

And then there were two...

My boss let go the other person in my office yesterday. Now, my co-workers include my boss and that is it. The other paralegal is coming back on Wednesday and I leave for Florida on Thursday. I am glad my boss has such faith in my work and my product and am grateful for the opportunity. I hope I can move into a leadership position, assuming we can pull through this time. In the meanwhile, my life will be work, lots of late hours and weekends (I went in today for about 4 hours). I am zapped, must sign off for now.

Ti Amo

The title of this blog entry is the Italian phrase on my April calendar page from the Buff Gondoliers. This month's man is named Giampaolo and his favorite color is emerald green. There is a big gold wedding ring on him as well, ruining whatever fantasy there could be. I must say I am a bit disappointed in "ti amo" as the phrase this month. I knew that before my calendar. I think I can get over it. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this month's picture definitely makes my calendar look like a beefcake calendar and not a calendar of Venice or something.

In other news, I leave for sunny Florida in a little over a week and am quite ready for my trip. It still does not feel like a reality to me and I do envision late night packing on the 12th. My flight is at the b*tt crack of dawn, which is actually good because I get almost half a day then with Cruz.

IT'S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR! Figures the one year I don't fill out my brackets is the one year Florida, the team I always pick to go all the way, goes all the way. Not that I know anything about college basketball.

Welcome April!

I am so glad March has passed. It had been quite a difficult month for me and for those of you who are wondering, I did get paid on time so I am not desparately seeking a new job. I had the most wonderful evening last night with my friends and I realized that all the people I was with are going to move away. So I really need to figure out what and where I want to be. I love living in my apartment, by myself with loads of space, with my crazy cat and even more interesting neighbors. There is a whole world out there though and I need to just go and explore. 4 years in one place is almost a record for me. One part of me says that I need to know what my options are, but there is this little voice that says I already do know what my options are - anywhere and everywhere! I think I want to move to the Eastern time zone and have narrowed down the possibilities. Thankfully, I have the beautiful hot summer to figure things out with lots of memories to make and many events to look forward to. My friend yesterday suggested I visit places and think about where I would really be able to meet people and be all around happiest. Good plan. I am going to Florida in 11 mere days to see Cruz and explore that possibility with her. Who knows where I will travel to next.