Long time, no update...

So it occurs to me that it's been quite some time since I've bothered to update here. Whole lot of changes, huge lack of free time. I got married several weeks ago, so there has certainly been all of that adjustment and chaos. At the end of June, I interviewed for a job and was offered the position later that day. It's a paycut, but it's less than 1/10 the miles I've been driving for my current position. It was a tough decision to make, but it is time to move on from where I currently am. I've spent the last two years working in the field of child abuse and neglect, and believe me, it's a field with a great deal of opportunity for burnout. I'm not quite burned out yet, but I can see it on the horizon and I didn't want to sit around waiting for it to happen. On Monday, I started training to be a pharmacy technician, and while it will mean several hours a day on my feet, it's a welcome change of pace. The new employer seems good to work for - decent benefits, good people, and so far, I like the work. It's difficult to leave the place I work now. I'm going to miss the people I work with like crazy, but I'm ready to have a job where "when is my grant going to run out?" is not constantly looping through the back of my mind. I still get to help people, which I've always enjoyed, just in a very different (and more stable) way.

As of just recently, I'm also another year older. The birthday was no big deal this year, I guess I've had bigger things going on. :) The husband and I had a wonderful dinner with some family, other than that we spent the entire weekend lounging around in the sun (or in my case, outdoors in the shade), playing cards, playing board games, reading, and just generally not being on any type of schedule whatsoever. That was the best birthday gift of all. I'm tired of constantly having somewhere to be and something to do.

I had an interesting experience on my way in this morning. I drive through a neighborhood every day on my way to work which is known in my community for being predominantly black, low-income, and a high-crime area. I generally don't give it a second thought when I'm headed out of town, because to drive through, one may notice that the houses in the neighborhood are a little older and not as well-kept, but beyond that, I've never seen anything on my morning commute to cause me any concern. This morning, however, as I was driving through, I noticed some thick black smoke coming from the street. As I got closer, I realized it would be necessary to change lanes, as there was a flatbed truck on the right side of the road with a fire underneath it on the street. There were two white males by the truck. One was leaning up against the tree, and I can't be certain, but he appeared to possibly have his pants around his ankles. There was another fire in the street in front of the truck, in a paper bag or some similar sort of container. This struck me as odd. I could not invent a rational explanation for what I had seen, so I grabbed my cell phone and called it in. The dispatcher I talked to apparently felt this was a bit suspicious as well, and said he would send someone to look into it. I'll be watching the news this evening to see if it was anything newsworthy or worthwhile, and I'll update if I find anything out... though I somehow doubt I'll ever know what exactly I witnessed this morning on the way to work. When you're already dealing with the police prior to 9 a.m., the best you can really do is hope that it's not some sort of omen.

I've been in a bit of a writing dry spell lately, so if anyone actually reads this and would like to see me weigh in on any particular topic, feel free to make a suggestion.