Blessed is the flame

I haven’t blogged in a long time but frankly I haven’t really had much to blog about. I mean my last year of graduate school was pretty much a blur of boxed wine, long talks, new folks and working every day to make it through to graduation. This that and the other thing and now I’m here in Seattle. A friend gave me an amazing opportunity and I couldn’t pass up the chance to start a new life. That is exactly what has happened. In the short time that I’ve been here I have started to change. I am learning to trust. The main thing I need to trust is that what I believe matters. I know what I need, want, deserve and I’m ready to expect that from the people in my life. I feel like there was a flame in me that I had let die. I smothered it to protect myself. It has been lit and I’m going to work every day to make sure it never goes out again.Keeping it lit means opening myself up to trust, believing in what I deserve and reconnecting with my body. 

 Lighting my flame led me to a new job which I will begin in December. I am going to put my degree to work and be a case manager at an agency downtown. It’s more social work than is my "wheelhouse" but I know I’m going to learn a ton. Lighting my flame lead me to find a new place to live which was sorrowful but necessary and no not because I was sad to leave that fucking huskerwiener (please tell me about the drug induced doggie key party where a husky and wiener dog created that little allergen producing, shit machine with a whine that sounded like something climbing out of a well in a horror movie.)

Lighting my flame gave me the courage to reach out to everyone I knew and post an ad on Craigslist to see if anyone would let me live with them for free. I had a few offers for short tern space from friends and acquaintances but go figure there was a family that saw my add on CL and called me up. Now I live with them as their housekeeper in exchange for room and board. It’s a pretty sweet room actually and the food is delicious.

Love the chalkboard walls

I was nervous at first because the mom described the family as conservative Christians and I am a liberal socialist queermo who loves to drink and say fuck like it is an integral part of every sentence. It turns out we get along just fine I wouldn’t say we are going to be besties but it’s good. Mom is a stay at home mom and Dad is a police officer. They have 6 children (5 months, 3, 4, 6, 8, 14) and an exchange student from China. That is a phenomenal amount of laundry, dishes and general cleaning. On Tuesday nights I watch “our” 6 children plus about 10- 15 more depending on how many show while the adults are upstairs having bible study. Thankfully I was a camp counselor and have an endless knowledge of games and tasks to keep them busy.

Today I used my day to clean and organize the laundry room which is where I spend the majority of my life so it only makes sense that it isn’t full of cobwebs, mouse poop and clutter. CLUTTER!!!!  My space can be chock full o’ tchotchkes the more the better gnomes, Pez dispensers, rocks from important places love it all..but I fecking hate clutter. So I cleaned…. This may sound like hell for the average person but it is something that I love. Take a bunch of crap and make it useful again amazing. Who says anxiety isn’t can’t be useful?  I had 10 solid hours organization therapy and I am tired enough to hopefully sleep through the night, I need a back rub and am very pleased with myself. 

Before

After

Before

After

Goodwill = Craftastic

Now that I'm in a city I am able to experience the joy that is Goodwill. Though I admit some of the prices are ridiculous when they have a half price or tag sale it is worth the couple of hours it takes to sift through the racks to find some goodies. I had been looking for something to store my jewelry in but I knew I wanted something a bit quirky. While perusing the kitchen section I found a couple of things that work perfectly. I know that used goods aren't for everyone but this is a neat way to display my jewelry while keeping it neat and organized. I'm still working on an easy way to hang necklaces. Maybe next week....

A muffin tin to sort out rings, watches, pendents and such

A strainer to hang earrings, hair clips and pins

An up close shot

 At the food truck rodeo last week Lucky Devil Food truck sold a number of great doughnut flavor combinations. One was a maple frosted doughnut with two strips of bacon on top. The yummy one pictured above was a delicious combination of chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate glaze and ghost pepper crystals. Yes, that is correct little pink gems made from the hottest pepper on earth. I have put hot sauce on chocolate cake before and I've had mole and always felt that the heat was worth the taste enhancement. The heat from just two bites of this doughnut stayed with me for over an hour but I didn't feel that it enhanced the taste of the doughnut at all.

Life in the Emerald City

Well I’ve been in Seattle a little over a week and I have been pretty active so far. Looking for jobs is a bummer and I have been sending out at least one cover letter and resume a day which may not seems like a big deal but it’s a full time job in itself. I wish that I could just talk to the people that are hiring because I know that I can sell myself so well in person. It will happen and right now I’m not freaking out about it I’m just learning about my new home.

I am living with one of my oldest friends from Amahami and her family which includes her partner who is awesome and can put my potty mouth to shame any day of the week and their son who is like a tiny Godzilla. I didn’t think that I would enjoy living with a toddler at all but so far we are pretty good buddies. I am learning about farting dogs, kids music that does't suck, snack traps and stomp rockets from an expert!

My second day here I attended the SlutWalk which is an international campaign to end slut shaming and victim blaming. Basically it doesn’t matter how one acts or looks there is no excuse for violence ever. I was happy that my good buddy Carl that I met in Korea decided to join me. He jumped right in and volunteered to be a chant leader for the march. His megaphone didn’t work which is pretty on par for Carl’s luck but we were louder without it to be honest. I met up with a new friend I’d met online and the three of us went to Pike Place market for some Greek food and people watching. A lovely little Sunday of sluts and souvlaki.

We blame the victim not the perpetrator 

I have decided that a great way to get involved and learn about my new city is to volunteer as much as possible. I have signed up to help with the Fremont Oktoberfest, The North West Chocolate Festival and this past weekend I volunteered at the Food Truck Rodeo. 45 food trucks got together for an awesome display of food goodness. My favorite was Off the Rez which made tacos on Native American fry bread. The pulled pork was perfectly cooked and the beans and veg in the veggie were seasoned well. The show stopper was by far the sweet fry bread which was drenched in a thick lemon curd. I had a food orgasm in my mouth and I will be tracking that truck down all over this city!

I went out dancing on Saturday night with my new friend Avery. The event is held bimonthly and is called Hot Flash: a night for seasoned lesbians and their admirers. So basically older Lesbos rockin’ out in their mom jeans and socks with birks mullets not required but welcomed. It was one of the best people watching events I’ve attended in a long time and I can’t wait to go back. Any place that I can drink ice cold Magners, belt out cheesy pop music and watch gorgeous go-go dancers...I’m in.