The State of the Vera Address

Clearly, you've noticed that I'm posting again! Here is the State of the Vera address for May 2011.

School:

I'll be done with my biology track very shortly. I'm still loving my time at PCC. My biology instructors have been lovely. This summer I'll be taking a distance learning Human Development class. It'll be my first distance learning class, so I hope I'm capable. I still turn into a blithering mess when confronted with a term paper, but I have to write one every term and I'm getting better and better. I have probably a year left before I start to apply to Naturopathic schools.

Work:

I'm still doing inventory and database maintenance at my job, worked in to two vet tech shifts a week and one and a half reception shifts a week. I've gotten really, really efficient at keeping things together, but not being there every day, things still fall through the cracks. My shifts are long and I always come home exhausted.

Music:

About the same time I started to look for a place to make music, Kendálin found me. I've been attending two rehearsals every week and most of them have felt self-indulgent and fun, like going for a hike up a deserted mountain, or spending an hour in the hot tub. The other women I'm singing with are pretty spectacular and we're making some kickass music. I'm very much looking forward to our coming concert in Salem next month.

Home:

My apartment is still a lovely place to live, but I occasionally fail to take care of it for a week at a time. Right now, there are marauding piles of laundry that threaten to eat my cats. I keep track of what days I put effort into cleaning, but they are still few and far between. I moved my computer out into the main room and that has helped me keep things straighter. One of these days (when I have free time?) I ought to go through my stuff and get rid of things I have no use for.

Family (near and far):

My far family is all wonky. My dad moved out last November and has been living in an apartment near his work. Mom still lives at home with the cat, but travels a lot for her musical group Russian Duo. I don't talk to either of them enough. Dad visited earlier this year for a weekend and we had a great time driving around in the hills. Mom will be here for our college reunion next month.

My near family just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Since my last address, two new family members have been added since Megan and Beth both had a baby. The Monster Palace started a new tradition of family dinner on Sunday nights and it's been pretty excellent. I'm so grateful every week to have somewhere to go for a few hours where everybody supports each other and celebrates each other. And eats delicious food.

Spirituality and Sanity:

A few years ago in a State of the Vera address I declared that I had my depression licked. Right now, I find that hilarious, but I am certainly less depressed now than I was then. I can only attribute that feeling back in 2009 to some decisions that I had made about taking greater control over my destiny. I've been implementing that plan since then (with varying degrees of rigor) it's been paying off. The current form of the plan is to find things that fulfill me and do more of them, while phasing out things that don't fulfill me. It's so simple, right? And yet it's so hard to do, with all the feelings of should and should not.