I woke

...feeling comfortably refreshed and I woke early. 5:30 am. Since moving to Portland I have been sleeping till at least 8:30 and usually longer so it seems just a bit strange to get up this early even tough it was pretty normal while I was living in Tucson. Ive been wanting to get back to this schedule and I think it has happened now because I am preparing myself  for employment, hopefully at the Chinese Garden. I felt good about the interview I had there on wednesday, and after being interviewed by Jane and Sam I felt I wanted to work there even more. It truly seems like it would be a great place to work. We'll see.

    So today is the first of May. Yay  (:   The first of May and I feel fresh and gay. It does seem like a special day in some way. It's also my official one year anniversary of being in Portland. What an interesting year it has been. I came here with incredibly high hopes and things did indeed start off quite sunny. I got here at 9:40 pm on the last day of April. On the 1st of May I answered and add for a room in Sellwood. On the 2nd I met Sandy, the owner of the house. On the 3rd I moved in. It was, and still is Im sure, a great place to live which was full of peace and light. Maybe just a bit to quiet but not really. I had a quiet upstairs room with a sunny, south facing window. Oddly enough this is exactly what I had wanted. A room exactly as such in a house near the Springwater Corridor which is an extensive bike path part of which passes along the Willamette. Shortly after moving in I bought myself a new bike and timed my trip from the house to downtown. Yeah, I was pretty excited and hopeful.

    The first shadow that was cast was in relation to relationships. The idea that there would be a lot of fresh faces to date, and that there would be a lot of guys with similar values as myself to meet and get to know, added to my excitement and while it was true it soon became apparent that it was more of the same old. I'll save the details for another day but I still had plenty to learn and realize. The big setback though, was when I fell and broke my wrist while skating. It was a pretty heinous break too and of course on my right arm. It was on monday and I had just started working for Marcia that friday. Needless to say I could not continue work so the cash which I had been spending rather carelessly was not being replaced and I had to find another living situation to make it go farther. I found that situation just in time and after some prep work I moved in to this room in a drab, cluttered house in the middle of sunny september. Unfortunately a rash that I got from exposure to Stinging Nettle moved in with me and grew quite bad before subsiding. It is still with me a bit today, 7 months later. 

    I have to say that I was pretty naive about coming here and how things would unfold. I did think I would find satisfying work right away and that I would even have a boyfriend. You know, I pretty much thought I was all of a sudden going to have this wonderful new life. Everything that has happened to me though, has helped me to see what is really important to me, and has helped me to be more sure and strong in myself. It kind of reined me in and gave me a reality check. Kind of. Reality... Ha! 

    So today, the first day of May, I feel refreshed and new. It's literally going to be a sunny day and Im going to get myself out side and see what I can find.

Cheers!