Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Before I forget or get distracted, here is what I've been waiting to "announce".

In about a week I am going back to school.
I will be attending Atlantic Technical College 100% online, studying stenography/court reporting.
It is a two year program, after which I will need to pass some tests to become certified.

There it is. Said it out loud, so it's really happening.

Part of the reason I waited so long to say anything was because there was a possibility of going out on tour with Networks Presentations.
They were supposed to do a year-long run of Chicago. The money would have been really good.
Sadly, the tour was cancelled. I was just notified a few days ago.

This is why, you guys.

The deadline to pay for the first semester was mid-December.
If I had relied on the tour happening as advertised, I'd be up shit creek right now.

But instead I paid for school and went ahead as though nothing was happening.
And as it turns out, nothing IS happening.

Music was never reliable to begin with. But I do feel like there used to be a lot more opportunity, and a lot less chance of shows closing a week after they're announced. I think it's really sad, and every day I feel sad about the things I've dreamed of doing, that I'll never get to do. But that's life, isn't it. And there are other things in life that I've always wanted to do, like have a garden and learn to cook well and travel to various countries. And the only way I'm going to be able to accomplish that is to move on to something else.

So I'm going to school. I'm very nervous about it...while this field is in demand, it's also difficult to get certified, with only 10% of applicants actually making it through certification. The school I'm attending has a 50% dropout rate. Who knows what will happen. But I've got to do something. I can't just keep applying for gigs and music-based jobs and getting nothing but silence in return. If I'm not wanted, I need to make myself useful elsewhere.

All of that said, I am the tiniest bit excited to learn something new. I hope that I'll really come to enjoy this work.

Alright, that's done. In other news, like everyone else we've entered the post-holiday phase. We had a really nice New Year's celebration at one of Jameson's friend's house, and despite only getting a few hours of sleep afterward the fun we had was totally worth being tired the next day! Jameson and I KILLED at the trivia games we played. Maybe we should sign up for a game show :P

Jameson took down the Christmas lights, and I'll probably get the tree down once I've Skype-Christmased with my family this coming Sunday. Everyone was busy this year so we ended up putting off gifts until we could all "be together". It's weird to still have gifts to open!

On Thursday I got some much-needed sleep, then after a nice chill morning Jameson took me to Lowe's to get dirt and plants for my planter!! I was so excited to pick out the plants, although I felt a little scatterbrained...I really have NO idea what I'm doing! But I think I got a good start and a nice variety that will allow me to learn, possibly without killing everything I touch. Goals!

Back at home Jameson filled the planter for me, then I got to work planting! It was very fun, and when I was finished I was pretty happy with how it looked :)


Now before any of you experienced gardeners freak out, I've since been informed what I've done wrong and spent a little time on Friday correcting my errors. I've given the lettuce and strawberries more space, and removed the crotons to their own pot. Once my carrot and radish seeds arrive and germinate I'll likely remove all the decorative flowers. It's still probably not quite right, but the whole point of this is to learn as I go. I do not have time to research as much as I should, so there will be mistakes. But hopefully over time I will learn enough to have a good garden. Over time y'all, not this very minute :P

Anyway, Jameson had a gig in the evening so I spent my night relaxing and doing a little organizing in parts of the house.
On Friday after fixing my little garden, Jameson and I went to the gym. I picked up a reserved book from the library. We went to Lowe's for a few things: a storage box for the pool area, a hose coil, a tiller, and some planters. We got ingredients for a nice dinner, cooked and ate it, and just hung out for the rest of the night.

From Dude Diet Dinnertime: coconut chicken patties with mango tomato salsa and quinoa rice on the side.

So let's see. On Sunday I've got Late Christmas with my family. On Wednesday I've got my first day of online class. And I've got my usual work. I hope it'll be a good week. I hope 2020 will be ok.