Why I LOVE being unemployed.

It was only a matter of time before this post came out of me. Now you know I'm not much of a "do nothing-er." My family might argue with me, but besides the occasional long weekend vacation, I was never much a fan of not having something to do. I mean, how many kids hated summer vacation because it meant no structure? I can count at least one and that's me. And while the list isn't very long, I have come to find some benefits of not having a job. So, in no particular order, here goes nothing:

1. I have time to read. I love reading all kinds of things. Books, magazines, short stories, articles. I spend hours online moving from one website to another looking at the news or reading up on the latest research. One of the greatest gifts my parents ever bought me was a Kindle which I get a heck a lot of use out of, especially with all the free books they offer. I'm well on my way through the Harry Potter series...again, am rereading Dante's Inferno because it's just genius, and have great plans to go through the works of Mark Twain soon. My grandma used to ask me how I could be reading so many different things at once, but it's like changing the channel on the television for me. I just find it much more enriching.

2. I exercise at least an hour a day. I never really put my health as a priority in my life, but over the last year have learned some great reasons why I should. And to tell you the truth, it's been pretty interesting. Surely, that's not easy, but the challenge is part of the fun. Let's be real. There's not much else egging me on, is there? And besides, it's autumn in North Carolina. Why wouldn't you want to be outside if you had nothing else to do?!? After my usual run (I'm up to two miles now!), I returned to my route with Daddy and the puppies just to take these pictures. Don't you wish you were unemployed, too?
  

It's blurry, but the trees know something of color gradation. ROY G. is just missing a little BIV.

3. I'm practicing in the kitchen. This is both scary and ridiculously entertaining knowing how little experience I had or ever wanted cooking, but I have to say, it's starting to grow on me. Especially after starting this healthy lifestyle kick, I've been working on "my housewife skills." Ha. Hahahahaha. Veeeeeeeeeeery funny.

4. I can schedule my time as I wish. There are no problems if I want to pick up and go visit friends or do something with my family. Earlier this week I wasn't feeling great so I moved from the bed to the couch and took a nice long nap. One of my biggest flaws is time management, but I'm definitely getting a better sense of how long it takes me to do things and how all those things pass the hours of the day. So what if I didn't get everything done as I planned? I'll just do it tomorrow. :)

Of course there are disappointments that come along with the benefits of unemployment. I wish I had something to do during the day that was productive to society and myself. And then there are days where it feels like things are never going to change. Today while applying for education loan deferment (on the grounds of unemployment, of course) I signed up for a new online job search agency. I uploaded my resume and then read this great message...

with no recommendations. It was good for a laugh, but I can't say I don't get discouraged. It's not the time to be a job snob, but for now I've just got to keep applying, waiting, and being thankful for the time I have to be unemployed.

"Love is the only gold." --Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The writer Rob Heinlein said, "Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own," and that was exactly what I witnessed this weekend. My maternal grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on November 5th and the family went down to visit.

And by family, I mean alllllllll the family. And friends. From 50 years. There was a big party with good food and drinks with fun music and great company...and everyone had a ball! And I was able to show my anniversary gift to my grandparents and the guests.

Making this video was so much fun for me! I absolutely loved looking through pictures and hearing stories while recording the video. There's nothing quite like learning about and loving your family!

But the most wonderful thing about this weekend was really seeing the love between my grandparents. These two have been through a lot, as you could imagine, living their lives together. I've been thinking recently about loyalty, respect, and love and to witness two people celebrate sharing those qualities for their 50th year together with a community of people who have supported, loved and been touched by them along the way makes me certain that those characteristics are just as important as they ever have been

I'm back in the United States for one week. Unfortunately there's not much to report. I've been doing a lot of organizing, cooking, watching decent television, and applying for jobs. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat again.

Mostly I've gotten used to moving back and forth between Italian and American cultures. But there are things that I certainly miss about living in Italy. The first thing is the walking. Or just general accessibility to other places. I'm going tomorrow to get my car which has been stored while I was away. I've driven a bit, but I hate that I can't just walk 10 minutes to the grocery store or just to look at my favorite windows.

Which brings me to numero due: window shopping. I barely spent money on non-edible items or "experiences." It's part of my travel philosophy, but then it's also just a practical case. You can't go with one suitcase and accumulate too much. Still I loved to waste time just walking around and looking at the windows. Normally you don't go into a store in Italy unless you have the intention to buy, so the merchants spend considerable time putting those windows together as bait. Just stunning.

And while I could go on about lots of things, what I notice, but don't necessarily miss, is the anxiety of speaking with strangers. Most of the time I like to talk to people I don't know just to be friendly. I get it from my momma. Or maybe I'm kind of Southern. Either way, I find talking to O.P.s, or "other people," to be a neat way to meet different kinds of people and learn things I never would have known before that conversation. The thing is that talking with O.P.s is infinitely more difficult when you have to speak your second language. What if you don't know a word? How about if you can't understand something? These are feelings you get used to with time and lots of practice, but I like being able to make jokes and to lead conversations sometimes.

I miss some parts of living in Italy, but I could get used to this.

Lessons Learned 3.0

When asked how I'd like to spend my final moments in Rome, I'll admire art.

I should always prepare for my trip to and from Italy to be at least 5 hours longer than expected. 

While traveling I should be as padded as a linebacker. Too many bruises.

No matter how old you are, you can always run into Momma Bear's arms.

A brother is the best friends a girl can have. Best friends are the sisters she never got.

I can live at home (at least for now) happily unemployed.

“There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” --Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

Homeward bound

This entry will be the shortest I will probably ever write:

I'M COMING HOME!!!!!

Sure I'm a little sad to be leaving my friends and Italy. But I miss my family and friends back home. And I'm ready for some new adventures. So stay posted for those from the domestic side of the Atlantic.

Until next time!