home again, home again

Now that I'm back on US turf, I'll morph my expat blog into my...patriated blog.

I'm itching to travel again, too. I was thinking "hmmm, I still haven't gone to Mexico and Tijuana is only a few hours away..." Must stop. Must prioritize.

Right now, now that I'm back from my trip to Iowa, I'm really cracking down on finding a job. Today I did probably 15 applications, and let me tell you, it's a drag. Luckily, my cover letter can be tweaked pretty easily for a variety of jobs. Also, Spanish fluency is a huge asset in Southern California...or so I'm told. I have yet to reap the benefits of it. So far, my only Spanish speaking is at the barn where I ride. Word must've spread that hablo español, because everybody always says "hola" to me. Oh, and I've been watching a telenovela here and there. But now that I'm back in the US, I get all nervous and think my Spanish is crap and clam up. I'm thinking I need to sign up for a Spanish lit course or something along those lines so I don't get out of practice.

Another thing I'm working on is grad school applications. I was reading a NY Times article today about how just having a bachelor's degree these days is the equivalent to just having a high school diploma 20 years ago, and it's true. Talk about depressing: CareerBuilder.com has been sending me emails about my potential job matches, and among them are electrician, bartender and handyman. Yikes. And the newspaper where I interned/reported for 3 years in a row isn't accepting any applications -- they're firing not hiring. Sigh. It's such a Debbie Downer situation -- so I am going to focus on getting grad school app's out in the meantime so I can get a better job in the future.

Another problem: I have no clue what I want to study. Lately, the thought of law school seems highly appealing, possibly because I'm a Law & Order junkie (not that I would want to do criminal law). I also am in the process of signing up for a paralegal course, too. I figure I might as well do something to give me a bit of a leg up while I work on prepping for law school application. For one, I'd need to do the LSAT, which is semi-horrifying. I absolutely loathe standardized tests, it's the worst. I'm pretty good at those logic questions, though, which is one of the reasons why I am so attracted to law school. I love debate and I can be highly convincing and I like to lead other people....right now I'm just trying to decide what I want to do, because sitting at home is rapidly turning my brain into Swiss cheese and I get depressed when I can't be productive.

Other stuff I have in the works is riding again, which has always been what makes me happiest. I've been riding this little 6 year old German warmblood gelding named Cappuccino and he's adorable. Pretty different for me, after riding the ridiculously speedy thoroughbred mare last summer, too. He has the biggest stride probably of any horse I've ever ridden, even though he doesn't feel particularly fast -- he just covers a lot of ground. He is really, really sensitive, though -- I haven't been wearing spurs because he has a big motor without them. He also has a distinctive "launch," as I call it, and I usually get "left behind" (equestrian term), because he jumps before I think he'll leave the ground. He must have a really long neck, or something, because I always see another stride. Then again, that reach he has takes up a whole lot of ground. Either way -- he's really cute. Weird thing: he has been wearing a fly mask when I ride him because apparently he throws his head a lot. I'd like to get some fly spray on his face and see if he'll quit that -- I think it looks pretty weird. Small complaint, though. He's so cute and he seems to like a lot of attention, which is also different from the other horses I've ridden who have either seemed pretty indifferent or downright hostile (although they eventually all warm up to a particular person, this one is just dog-like in his eagerness to make friends). Anyway, the riding has definitely played a role in keeping me sane, here.

That's what's new here. Hopefully better updates in the future.