Oxford Goes to DC

This weekend I went down to DC to help move everything out of the apartment. It's so sad to think that I won't have a home there anymore...now I really feel stuck in New Jersey. We went down Saturday morning I took Oxford into town to swim in the fountains and walk on the Mall. It's nearly impossible to take 10 steps with a duck in a city full of tourists and not be stopped by someone wanting a picture. Its strange to think that there are about 50 complete strangers out there with my picture on their camera. I can just imagine them showing their vacation pictures to their friends...."and this is the duck lady we met on the mall..."
Saturday night I went to dinner with my parents and my mom's cousins Tom and Ruth and we visited the WWII memorial and the Pentagon memorial. It's interesting to think that the people down there had a completely different 9/11 experience than those of us closer to New York. I'm sure our media was much more focused on the World Trade Center and theirs more on the Pentagon. It's hard to believe I was only a freshman in high school when it happened...it doesn't seem like that long ago.

Sunday I went to church at NCC for the last time in a long time. I think that was the hardest thing about leaving DC, because this was the first church I'd ever been to where I would actually count down the days until the next service. Oxford came with me to church in my purse and was really well behaved. I took him down to the Lincoln memorial after the service to swim in the reflecting pool, and it took us nearly 4 hours to get there and back because so many people wanted to stop and pet him. Mom and I topped off the weekend by seeing Night at the Museum in the IMAX at the Smithsonian. Pretty cool to watch a movie in the place it was set.

I Have a Job!

A few weeks ago I was searching online for gyms in my area when I ran across New York Sports Clubs in Freehold. I didn't know if they were hiring, but I went through with the online application just in case. Turns out I applied just as their previous Fitness Services Manager was leaving and I was encouraged to go ahead and interview for that position, which I did. I had a feeling I wasn't quite qualified for it being just out of college, but Dr. Roy told us all to apply for at least one job we thought was unattainable so I figured it couldn't hurt to try. I didn't end up getting the position (which was expected), but they did offer me a personal training job which is what I was originally hoping for anyway.

To be honest I'm glad things worked out the way they did...I don't know if I would be quite comfortable being in a management position at this point in my career. I've got orientation on the 16th and I'll start working shortly after that. I've changed my volunteer times with Rein Dancer to Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings so hopefully the two schedules won't conflict. I'm really excited to get back into the fitness world and start personal training again. Working for NYSC is going to be a bit different than training for Longwood...I've got a certain amount of floor hours and I've got to recruit my own clients and do a certain amount of training sessions each quarter. I think I might even get to teach some group fitness classes, which will be great! I'm looking forward to getting some really good experience out of this position as well as making some much needed income. Wish me luck!

The Graduated Life

After graduation I did something I swore I would never do...I swallowed my pride and moved back in with my parents. Honestly its a bit embarrassing and makes me feel like a bit of a failure, especially considering I've been working and saving very hard these past four years and I could afford to be living on my own. Not the easiest decision, but the most sensible since I don't know when I'll be leaving with the Peace Corps and therefore cannot commit to leasing an apartment. Hopefully I will hear something soon, as I finished my physical exam and mailed everything in the week before graduation. So far my dental and legal records have been cleared, but my physical exam is still waiting to be reviewed.In the mean time I'm on a temporary job search.

I heard a report on CNN the other day that said only 20% of 2009 college graduates will find a job in their chosen career field within the next year. Depressing, but I suppose McDonald's is always hiring. Its tough finding a position in the fitness industry in New Egypt when the closest gym is 45 minutes away from home...still, things aren't too bad yet. I've had several interviews so far and was even offered a personal training position. Unfortunately I had to turn it down after I was told I would have to work 70 hours a week to meet my sales quota, but I would only be paid for 25. I know, I know...I should just take what I can get...but there come's a point where your own personal sanity is worth more than $350 a week. I've got two more prospects within reasonable commuting distance and if that doesn't work out I might have to think about moving someplace else and perhaps renting a room from a friend.

To the gainfully employed it might seem like a pretty sweet gig laying around all day with not much to do, but I can assure you it's absolute torture. Still I've been managing to keep fairly busy. I'm volunteering twice a week with the Rein Dancer therapeutic riding program walking horses for disabled children. So far its been really rewarding, although I was disappointed to find that I'm still hopelessly allergic to horses. I've also been taking Oxford down to Prospertown or Colliers Mill lakes almost every day for a bit of exercise. Today we spent a couple of hours with a retired gentleman who shared his sandwich with Oxford and took us for a ride in his rowboat. Ox swam along side for a while, but was really more interested in sitting in the boat than the water.

My limit for watching TV is about 2 hours before I start going nuts, so I've been doing a lot of reading. One of these days I'll go down and get myself a library card, but for now I'm enjoying re-reading some of the books I left at home while I was in college. I would say I'm averaging about 6 hours a day of reading. C.S. Lewis once said "If a book isn't worth reading multiple times then it was not worth reading even once." Here's a list of what I've read since graduation...and of course I would recommend them all, but the ones with the stars are seriously worth going out and buying:

Watership Down (Adams)*- the pages are falling out of this one I've read it so many times
The Silmarillion (Tolkien)
Ahab's Wife (Naslund)*- beautifully written, and no need to read Moby Dick to understand it...still Ahab's character is richer if you have...
Infidel (Ayaan hirsi Ali)*- memoir of an unbelievably inspiring Somali woman
Harry Potter 1-4 (working on 5 now...)
The Hiding Place (Ten Boom)
The Bookseller of Kabul (Seierstad)*-portrait of an Afghan household written by a journalist who lived with the family
Three Cups of Tea (Mortenson)*- serious inspiration for the way we should be going about this so-called "war on terror"
Redeeming Love (Rivers)
The Shia Revival (Nasr)
What is the What (Eggers)
The Zanzibar Chest (Hartley)
There are Mountains to Climb (Deeds)
A Long Way Gone (Beah)*- memoirs of a child soldier (stock up on tissues)