On The Move

Go ahead. Chastise me. I deserve it. It's been well over a month since my last entry. There was a lot going on. Between getting settled in my new place, followed by a visit from Mom, then toss in some holidays and you've got one giant excuse why I haven't sat down to share what's been going on.
Mea Culpa!

The move went surprisingly well, thanks to some of the angels I call friends. They did great, and were more organized and helpful than I could have ever hoped for. I had two men and two football players loading the truck, and a very generous ex-roommate, and three generations unloading on the other end. Toss in an uncle who provided a truck and driver, and everything went without a hitch. I was the only one who was a neurotic worried mess. Will it fit? What time is it? How much is the gas? Is the Storage unit going to get damp? Everyone did their best to reassure me (aka shut me up!!) and at the end of the day, we enjoyed Chinese takeout and a few adult beverages.

That same week, I was invited to dinner by friends of the family. When they discovered I was STILL underemployed after all this time, I was introduced to a local organization that was looking for some help. The stars were aligned, and they asked me to come work for them part time (on a schedule) to help run the business office and oversee their children-with-special-needs program called HandInHand (www.hhnj.org). Since I have several friends and family members whom autism has affected, I'm happy to be helping out a group that means something to me. I'm just a little nervous because the special needs children themselves are a little outside my comfort zone. The teen-aged volunteers and event planning,I can manage - it's the autistic 6 year olds might be a bit of a challenge!

I started 3 days later and can tell that the help is very much appreciated, which is all I ever really ask for when I lend a hand (of course, a paycheck doesn't hurt!). Supposedly because the Program is run by Chabad, a spiritual organization dedicated to getting Jewish people more in touch with their religion, culture and heritage, it will bring good luck. Within the first week, I was going out to dinner with my Mom and found a necklace right outside my car door on the parking lot pavement!

I have continued my winning streak of beauty products too. Just recently I got a box full of Aveeno bath products, a new eyeliner pencil, some eye cream, and I got to be a mascara guinea pig for L'Oreal Consumer Testing. That's always fun.

But I think the most interesting part of this whole experience has been moving 'home' to the area in which I grew up. I am one zip code over from my actual hometown but it's only about 4 miles from my childhood home. I always said I would never come back here, but so far nothing bad has happened. As a matter of fact, one of my classmates from second grade found out I was coming back to the area and invited me to break the fast with her family, which I thought was very sweet.

Maybe that's a sign of things to come. I will be eternally happy if I underestimated coming back! I guess it's the
old "under-promise, over-deliver" scenario. We shall see!

Here's my new view: