Life's little helpers

Yesterday I went down to John Wayne Airport to host a meeting in one of their private charter conference rooms. I arrived early waiting for the catering service to drop off lunch and for our guest of honor to show up. Shortly after my arrival my boss showed up and I must say it was nice to have company while I waited and sure beat reading all the stuff on the wall.

We soon were told that there was a short flight delay and we had about 20 minute to kill, so my bossed proposed we sit down in the lobby. We had a real good chit chat about each others lives while checking out all the planes. He told me about his past jobs, his passion for flying planes and asked me about my hobbies and life experience and the best part he was genuinely interest, he wasn’t just passing time. I must say I really enjoy working for my boss. He is surprisingly down to earth and humble for a man in his position.

Part of our conversation lead to questions about my college background. He was the second person from work to ask me about my school in the past two weeks. I told him that I had attended two years of college and due to some family circumstances I had stopped going for some time and am in my first semester back.

He told me to stick with it and that he would do anything for education. He had good advice and advised me to not get stuck in the “corporate box.” “Working will always be an option” he said. It touched a certain cord with me and made me look back at my different “working” life. Pretty much my whole life I have been working. Whether it was cleaning houses and offices with my Mom for her private cleaning business, being my Dad’s secretary & janitor for his business, a Sale Associate at my first couple jobs to Human Resources and my current job. Ahh… am I in the box??? This made me also think about a recent conversation I had with my good friend Cindy about different paths I was thinking of taking.

You see, I was thinking about uprooting and these were some of my options:

Move to New Zealand for 6 months to a year with a friend. Just a temporary escape.
Move with sister #2 to Colorado and go to school out there.
Move to Camarillo, CA just because I always wanted to live there.
Quit my current job and go to school full-time

Recently, #1 (which was hot on my list) was scratched off the list. I was planning to visit New Zealand come July with, I’ll call her Sunny. I soon learned from our same circle of friends that Sunny was planning on going with me in July but not returning with me. Since I was going spot Sunny some money for the trip, the whole thing about not returning with me left a bad taste in my mouth and I decided to veto the trip. Plus, the reason behind me going was to run away from all my drama here in CA. Even though it would be a temporary fix, it wouldn’t help me in the long run, so another good reason to cross that one off the list. In addition, my boss just informed me that New Zealand is on the British school system and if I took any course there, it would be hard to transfer them to the US School system and I might not get credit at all.

#2 & #3 on my list were all options that were helping me run away from this area and weren’t doing anything very productive. I guess I am afraid of bumping into my ex (Roommie) and seeing him with another girl. Plus, he works at the same gym that Sensei-T and my older sister do, is in one of the same circle of friends and I just didn’t want any reminders of him.

So…. (Drum roll, please) I have decided on # 4! This is my current plan. I am going to keep my job until I finish my Dad’s estate stuff, because I need to be in the area for that and want to finish up all those loose ends before starting a new life. In the mean while, I will go talk to counselor at school and make a plan and talk to the bank about student loans, look up Federal grants info, etc. I will still enroll and attend evening classes, as well. Then when everything seems good to go, I will put in my notice in at work and head off to my new life. Honestly, I am excited but nervous at the same time. I think I will even try out of the swim team! I am a little fishy and an Aquarius, so that will be something to look forward to. Plus, it will keep me in shape!


All this reminded me of an entry that I wrote not too long ago on my MySpace account:

MySpace Blog – October 12, 2006
I look back at people like my Father and my boss who came to this country and made something of themselves. My Father came here when he was 18 years old, didn't know the language and his living arrangements was sharing a room. Before he passed away he had earned a BS in engineering, own a home & business, one of the colleges he attended was the prestigious Dartmouth.... He had made it! I look at my life and wonder when I am going to "make it." Where did these people get their drive? I am blinded by the luxury of being a citizen and not having it "rough." I am just living, especially in the shadows of these two icons. I want to see the big picture! Now I have to sit down, with me, the raw me, and ask myself those life questions. What do I want to do to improve mankind? Where do I want to be? What truly makes me happy? And then accept the fact that I might need to sacrifice in the now for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Off to the starting line to make my impression on the world. . .