The Life (Not Aquatic) Update

Hey all, so while I like to sometimes post about just about anything, I also as you have likely noticed, like to use this space for personal stuff. So here's a quick catch up on things going on for me, for those that care to read about ;)

For starters at work, while I'm no closer to enjoying what I do, I am appreciated for it it seems. Come early March, I'll have a pay raise for an extra $15,000, which will bring me up to $60,000 annual salary. Yes this is the most money I've ever made and is for now the reason I'm sticking with this job. Also, since the job works for me for now (in the sense that while I don't enjoy it, I am good at it), I've already mentioned that I only plan to leave for a better reason such as a job that would definitely pique my interest. I'm not in a rush like I was before.

This also likely means I'll renew my lease here, finally not having to move a year later. It'll be a breath of fresh air sticking in one place for a bit. I don't know how long that will last, but I see no reason to move. It's convenient, price isn't too bad and it's rather big for a one bedroom apartment. Community is also simple, usually quiet, and very safe. College age kids are pretty rare, which is both good and bad.

Hey speaking of social stuff, I've joined the Or Hadash, which is a Jewish young professionals association. This means Jewish people from the surrounding Orlando area from ages 21 to 40 get together for all kinds of social events. I went to my first one on Thursday, so yes I was actually out of the house for once on Valentine's Day, just not on a date. This was a Happy Hour at Urban Flats, a neat little place (even though I don't drink) where 20-30 people showed up (this is apparently only half of what normally shows up due to the holiday). Basically it lasted for 3 hours and I got there before anyone else did, which felt very awkward. There were several times where I thought I might run out the door and get out of there. If you don't know, I do in fact have a form of social anxiety, which of course wouldn't really manifest itself around those I'm comfortable or familiar with. Things were awkward at first, but eventually I got to meeting some cool people and some pretty cute girls. It went so well at the end that 8 of us went out to dinner afterwards. I got a chance to chat it up with a pair of Asian Jewish sisters (how neat is that right?), one of which worked at Disney (sweet!), so we talked up a storm about that. Another girl I talked to for much of the dinner was completely awesome and sadly taken; her boyfriend wasn't in town or something but I could easily see why she had one, one of the nicest people I've ever met.

I did also go to a dinner and Shabbat last night but I left before the service because things just weren't going well. Almost no one from the group showed up, those that did were boring and anti-social, the food was bad, and it was basically a really tiny temple which just had a lot of much older people who all knew each other. Maybe I'm not really looking for that kind of religious experience right now, just social stuff. I want to meet people my age, make some great friends, and if I'm incredibly lucky, meet a great Jewish girl and start a relationship. One can only hope. I'm saddened enough that I'll be reaching 25 and never had a girlfriend before, I certainly plan to change this. Oh and Ultimate Frisbee is tomorrow, weee!

What else, what else... Alright not to brag or anything, but I've made several commitments in my life, including the above social outreaching, to overall improve myself. I'm sure most of you know I had joined a gym months ago and started personal training. Now I find myself at the gym every free night that I have, this is sometimes 6 times a week depending on what I have going on. Thanks to this, I've no shame admitting that I'm finally losing weight at a good pace. Since I started a change to my diet well over a year ago and added more exercise, I've dropped over 20 pounds in that time. I won't say what my weight is unless you're really curious to know. Suffice to say I have a long way to go before I'm satisfied with the results, but I'm very happy that I'm making this commitment. I'm also doing my best to change my attitude towards both life and people in general, trying to become a "nicer" person. Not a doormat mind you, but I feel I could be far better rounded in the way I interact and express myself.

It is, as sappily as I can put it, some of the first steps on my road back to a state of happiness. It is one I don't plan to deter myself from. Clearly I've been doing a lot of thinking and reevaluating of my life in the past few months. Finally I'm taking some action to ensure some of these things. Hell, I even started up the story that Sean suggested to me. I don't know when I'll get that done, but it is a short story so it's something I feel is far more manageable than trying to put together an entire novel.

Well I guess that's about it for now. Thanks for reading this far if you did, I enjoyed writing it. Have a kickass day, my friends.