Friday, September 24, 2010

One Year Ago Today...

I was moving into a new apartment in a strange, new city. I only knew one person in Seattle, my now ex-roommate (though definitely not ex-friend) Sarah, and I was scared silly but crazy excited about the year ahead of me.

Now, 12 months, 2 leases, 2 internships, hundreds of cups of coffee, and countless raindrops, tears, and laughs later, I'm as terrified and thrilled as ever about the path ahead of me.

Things are different, to be sure. This time last year I had no idea who my friends would be here, or how I'd get around the city, or even where I'd buy groceries, but I had an internship to go to every day and a guaranteed (albeit tiny) paycheck to count on at the end of every week.

Now, as I embark on the daunting journey that is the life of a freelance teaching artist/actor/director/badass, those questions of friends and traffic and groceries are less daunting. I have my crew, I don't need the GPS most days, and I even have a favorite check-out guy at the Queen Anne Trader Joe's. What requires my trust and prayer now are those bigger questions of how exactly I'll get by month to month. Where will work come from? Am I always going to have to scrape pennies together to pay my rent? Am I going to burn out on juggling so many jobs that I won't have energy left to actually enjoy the thing I'm working so hard to practice? It's definitely a scary and difficult place to be in right now, but somehow I know It's exactly right for me in this time and place... and someday all the growing pains will pay off.

I've always joked that I won't be a grown up until I start sleeping in something other than a twin bed. How fitting, then, that today of all days I should trade in my exactly one-year-old Ikea twin bed for a full mattress and boxspring, left behind for me by a generous friend who had to leave Seattle a few weeks ago.

Hi, Adulthood, I'm Sarah. Nice to meet you.

Monday, September 13, 2010

I think my grandma wants me to become a hooker...

So, I was going to write a lengthy, depressing post about my job hunt and how ready I am to have financial stability and long-term employment. And then I checked my inbox to find this suggestion from my Granny (In all caps, of course, because to get a message all the way from Florida to Seattle requires some yelling.)


HI. SARAH,

FIRST OF ALL, I HEARD ON TV THAT JMU BEAT VA TECH IN FOOTBALL….RAH!!! AN UPSET!

NEXT, I HAVE BEEN THINKING THAT YOU WOULD BE GOOD IN ANOTHER CAREER…….AS A NEWS PERSON, REPORTER, ETC.

FIRST ALL, YOU WOULD NEED TO BLEACH YOUR HAIR TO A VERY LIGHT BLOND…..NEXT, BUY A “RED” DRESS…..MAYBE SLEEVELESS….BUT AT LEAST LOW CUT ENOUGH TO SHOW YOUR CLEAVAGE.

THEN, WHEN OR IF YOU ARE ON TV …AND SITTING….BE SURE TO CROSS YOUR LEGS AND LET THE DRESS CREEP UP PRETTY “FAR”.

YOU HAVE THE OTHER ABILITIES NEEDED….JUST HAVE TO FOLLOW THE ABOVE….LIKE ALL OF THE CURRENT WOMEN WHO ARE REPORTERS, ETC.

GUESS I’M NOT UP ON THE LATEST….BUT NOT SURE WHY SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE DRESSED LIKE THEY’RE GOING TO A BALL. ONE LADY ON FOX IS GOOD.

WE MAY GET TO SEE YOU IN NOVEMBER IF AND WHEN YOU COME .

LOVE YA

GRANNY

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Changes.

This week:
-I finished my internship at the Seattle Children's Theatre drama school.
-I started my new (temporary-- don't get too excited) job, in the Seattle Children's Theatre phone room. (anyone want to buy a subscription to the upcoming season??)
-I moved out of my old apartment.
-I moved into a new house.
-I painted my bedroom.
-I bought a new dresser at a garage sale (and painted that, too).

Next week:
-I will start looking for a real job (or at least one that will guarantee that I can pay my rent every month).
-I will reapply for food stamps.
-I will find a dentist in Seattle (and pray, pray, PRAY I don't have cavities because I waited this long).
-I will find an eye doctor in Seattle.
-I will finish nesting and acknowledge to the world that I am a real-life resident of Seattle, Washington.