So, as you may or may not know, me (Joe) and Meesha broke up a few months ago. We are still continuing the book challenge.

Farewell

Well, I started my job at Hotel Nauvoo; it's not as bad as I thought it would be.  In fact, other than the emotionally draining aspect of my job, I actually quite like it.  I still have plenty of room for improvement, but I think I'm doing a pretty good job, considering tomorrow will be my 4th night of being a waitress, and only my 2nd night of doing it by myself.

Emma and I went ahead and bought our plane tickets on Friday; I'm so excited that the official countdown has begun!  I felt like, until the tickets were purchased, the trip was always going to be an "if," rather than a "when."  Now it's a "when," and the saving for the trip can begin as well.  I love having something to work toward.

I also learned how to knit on Thursday.  Well, I learned the basics.  I'm still getting the hang of the basics, but I think I'm doing a pretty good job, all things considered.  And I'm making a scarf.  It's black.  And it's too skinny to be a decent scarf, but I'm tired of starting over again, I've done that like 3 times already.

My jaw is painfully stuck shut; I can barely eat because I can't open my mouth wide enough to take a decently sized bite of food, without being in intense pain.  I've tried heat, I've tried an ice pack, and nothing seems to make it feel better.  I wonder if I did something to it, though I can't imagine what I might have done.  I wish I could go see a doctor for it. =/

I'm participating in NaPoWriMo, 30 poems in 30 days during the month of April. =D  I started today, so I had to write 5 poems to catch up.  It wasn't too hard, I love poetry.  Here's what I wrote today: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/blog/11/entry-53-napowrimo-day-5-5-poems-written-today/

The Random Blog Topic Generator says I should talk about writing my own music.  Okay, I'll do that.  Writing music is really hard for me.  It doesn't come naturally.  I love singing, and listening to music, and sometimes even writing lyrics, but music?  I have no idea how to do that.  Oh, theoretically I know where all the notes go on each of the clefs and all that, I can READ music just fine, but the creativity, the inspiration to create something totally new?  It just isn't there.  I'd love to be able to do that, though, I really would.

I got a job at Hotel Nauvoo, I'm going to be a waitress!  I'm kind of nervous about that, I've never done waitressing before, but hey, it's a job, and it'll pay more than I was making at McDonald's back home.

Also, we're probably going to be able to purchase plane tickets this weekend, so the official countdown to our visit can begin!  Super-excited about that!

And I just wanted to say I really love Joe.  And he's corrupting my Americanism with his crazy contagious Britishness!  Aaah!  I've been noticing myself occasionally eliminating the double-spaces between sentences, I found myself saying such silly things as "film" and "maths," and sometimes I even catch myself adding a "u" to "honor" or replacing a "z" with an "s!"  It's outrageous! >.>

I'm not giving in on the lego issue, though.  No way, no how. =P

In all seriousness, though, Joe completes me.  He makes me happy.  He reminds me how special I am, and I am eternally indebted to him for making me see my own worth.  I aim, every day, to return the favor.  He is so wonderful, and handsome, and smart, and clever, and funny, and sweet, and though he makes claims to being a terrible person, I don't buy it.  Someday I hope he'll believe me when I tell him he's amazing. =)

I gave up on using Mozilla Firefox, for the time being, because it always ends up unresponsive when my computer decides it wants to be a poophead and slows everything down.  I already had Google Chrome on my computer, and it works a lot better than Firefox has been.  I still prefer Firefox to Google Chrome, but for now, I'm not going to be stubborn and stick with something that isn't working for me. xD

So, to other updates!

1) My tax return.  UGH.  Still no sight of it.  I had an issue with the wrong bank account number being given to the IRS and yada yada yada, but I got in touch with the folks who filed my taxes in the first place and gave them the CORRECT number (again, though they better get it right this time).  So hopefully, and this is a huge "hopefully," I shall have my money within a week or so.  I sure hope I do.  Not having a job the past month has brought my situation to such a place where I NEED my tax refund money.  I have bills to pay.

2) Jobs.  I have heard nothing from Casey's and the Nauvoo Family Inn & Suites.  No surprises, they probably won't hire anyone for another month yet.  I did apply at the Hotel Nauvoo, because their famous buffet just opened a week ago and they'll need more employees to help them take care of the business that they'll be getting....  And I had a job interview yesterday! ^^  I think the interview went well; then again, I thought my last interview went okay and look how THAT turned out. *rolls eyes*  Regardless, I hope to find out fairly soon whether or not I'll get the job.  If I don't get it, I'll probably end up moving back in with my parents and working at McDonald's again.  Hotel Nauvoo was my last resort. >.<

3) Staying in touch with my family!  Mom knows I don't have as many nice outfits as I'd like to own, so she was a sweetheart and drove all the way down here yesterday to bring me some articles of clothing that she thought might help me out in my interview.  I didn't complain about this, which is something I normally might have done, because I really was stuck for something to wear to the interview that was nice but not TOO nice (as in, I didn't want to wear a dress to the interview because it's not that kind of a job, but I couldn't wear jeans either, which was all I had).  I didn't expect anything she brought to be of any use, but, lo and behold, a pair of pants she brought me fit me and actually looked nice!  No offense to Mom; we just have very different tastes and styles when it comes to how we dress.  >.>

So that was nice, she got to my house just in time for me to change and head to the interview; the interview only took a very short time and Mom (and Chris and Mason, my two youngest brothers) and I got to hang out for a couple hours after I was done.  We went out to eat, looked at a bulk food store, sat and chatted.... I was a tad impatient to get going because I wanted to talk to Joe before he went to bed, but in the end it was nice to see my mom and some of my family members.  It reminded me of why I wanted to move out, though.  My brothers were ANNOYING. XD

I also called Chris on his birthday 2 days ago; he wasn't very excited to talk to me, though, which tells me just how much my younger siblings miss me. =D  I think they miss my laptop computer more than they miss me; in fact, Mason informed me that this is pretty much the case.  He kind of gave me a half-hearted hug when they got to my house, and was all wide-eyed and jumping around when he saw my computer. XD

Finally, in this category, I'll probably be going home Easter weekend to sing with my family in church that Sunday, if I don't have to work on Saturday evening, which I might if I get the job.  Also, Emma wants to go back and visit tomorrow after she works, and Sunday, so I'll get to see my whole family again, woohoo!

4) The Visit.  I regret to announce that I shall not be visiting England in the summer, as I had hoped.  I was really looking forward to it, and had a countdown going and everything.  Fortunately, Emma and I will be visiting in September, if all goes well.  It's a lot later than I was wanting to visit, but it's definitely better than not visiting at all.  And it'll be cheaper and save us a lot of money, which I'm coming to realize more and more is something I'm going to need to do a lot of if I plan on ever moving to England.

That's all for now, adios!

Well, the biggest bummer of all is that I still have no job.  I've been here for 2 and a half weeks now, and nothing.  I had a job interview, and apparently it didn't go so well, because they didn't want to hire me.  I'm really really hoping something comes up soon, because I don't want to have to go back home and work at McDonald's again.  That would just be another huge bummer.

I am also kind of bummed that I don't have much to do while I'm waiting to hear back from all the places I've applied; the days are really long when you don't have a job or something to keep you busy. 

My tax return hasn't cleared my bank account yet, so I'm pretty much online-broke until it does, which means that my phone bill is going longer and longer without being paid.  It's frustrating; I fully intended to have an excellent paying record when I switched to US Cellular, so I could add international calling to my plan.  But nope, that's not gonna happen now.  Ugh.

The nice thing about my tax return money is that when it does show up, I'll be halfway to having enough money to buy a plane ticket to England.  Emma will have her money on April 1st, so with any luck we'll be able to buy the tickets then.  Hopefully ticket prices won't skyrocket between now and then, otherwise we're in trouble.

There is one big downside to living in a small town--limited resources.  I can't put money into my US Bank account here, if I want to withdraw money I have to pay a fee; the only grocery store charges an arm and a leg for everything, and they don't even have half the stuff I want.  Plus I've already applied just about everywhere there is to work and I've heard nothing from anyone.  Sure, a lot of places won't start hiring until next week or the week after that, but still....  There should be SOMEplace that's willing to take on another employee.  But apparently there's not, not in this small town.

On the bright side, I AM getting my tax return money and it's a lot.  I DO get to go to England, thank goodness.  The weather is beautiful today.  I have a place to live, clothes to wear, plenty of food to eat.....  It's all good. =D

...in this Sierra Mist Natural I'm drinking.  It's burning my tongue and teeth! >.>

And why am I drinking Sierra Mist Natural, you ask?  Why, because it looked good and I figured it would go with the slice of pizza I purchased from this gas station/convenience store I'm sitting inside.

But WHY am I doing these things?  Because it's lunch time and I wanted to get on the internet.

But Meesha, I hear you say (you know you're saying it!), you have wi-fi at home, and your mommy always has SOMETHING in the fridge for you to snack on if you're not at work for the day.

AHA!  There's where you're wrong!  Well, you're not wrong about the wi-fi and the food...HOWEVER...

I no longer live with my parents.

*gasp*

Yup, it's true.  On Sunday, February 27th, I moved out of my family's house and into a nice little house in Nauvoo, Illinois, with a friend and an acquaintance (who I'm hoping will soon become a friend, she's very nice).  There's no internet at the house just yet, and for food, I have to cook it myself....

It's interesting, living away from home for the first time.  It still hasn't really sunk in, I suppose--I still feel kind of like I'm away on one of my trips.  With friends, this time.  Reality hasn't quite hit me, yet.

I think part of it's that the room I have doesn't have very much storage space for my stuff, so most of my belongings are still in the plastic tubs I brought them in--which makes it feel like a temporary place to sleep rather than a room that is my only private retreat for the next few months, at the least, and part of a house that I actually live in.

I do like it so far.  I like the town, I like the weather, I like the house, I like having condensed all my belongings down to just a few tubs full of stuff.  I like being in charge of myself--though I miss having a job, already.  There hasn't been much for me to do except read and sit around doing nothing to pass the time.  I've taken a lot of naps in the past couple of days.

I should have a job within a week, though, so that's good.  I can start saving up money for the trip to England this summer, and for school, after that.  And I'll also have things to do to pass the time.

One nice thing about not having a job is that it's forcing me to be creative.  I've taken the time to cook food for myself, as opposed to just scrounging something up that's fast and easy.  I'm going to bake brownies today, I walked around town to pick up job applications (which was a mostly-fruitless task, not many places that are hiring, are open right now.  They're seasonal businesses.), and I've made phone calls that I might otherwise not have made, or would have put off, if not for the threat of boredom hanging over my head.

I really should write, but I'm not getting inspiration for any new stories right now, and I left the book I started for NaNo at home by mistake, so I can't do too much with that until I get my hands on it again.  I can still work on it to some degree, but it's tough.

I've been thinking about money, and a few things are known:

1) My last 2 paychecks from McDonald's are going toward bills, rent, internet, and food, in that order.

2) I'm getting over $600 back from tax returns and that is going in my savings account for a plane ticket.

3) I'm going to get 2 part-time jobs if possible so that I can save money on gas (I'd have to pay Emma a weekly fee for the rides to work she'd be giving me if I worked full-time at her place of employment), so that I don't go crazy working a full-time telemarketing job, and so that I can hopefully earn money a little faster.  We'll see if that works or not.

I'm hoping I'll be spending less money every month than I was spending at home, since rent and utilities should be less than the rent I paid my parents.  That should help me save faster, plus any job I get here will pay me more than I was making at McDonald's.

I am just BEYOND excited for the trip to England.  I have a countdown on my calendar, I've done research on things that probably could wait till closer to when the trip's actually happening....  I do a little crazy-happy-dance every time I think about it! ^^

Anyway.... I'm tired, I don't sleep well in new places so I have been tossing and turning all night since I moved down here.  I can't wait till the breakthrough happens and I feel like I'm in a familiar place sleeping.  Like I'm in my own bed.

On Friday, Emma doesn't work, and she gets paid, so she's making homemade tortillas in the morning, we're going to Keokuk to go shopping for me and to pick up her check, and then we're coming home and she's making chocolate-covered strawberries, we're going to eat popcorn and watch movies.....  Woohoo!

We had our first date on Monday :D. True we weren't together for it, but we both dressed up and watched a film whilst skyping together. It was brilliant. Meesha was so very pretty.

As is customary on Valentines Day, we sent each other gifts. Meesha had sent me a diary full of letters and I'm now filling it with letters of my own to send back. The diary also had some coupons in it, for things like 'a love letter' and 'a back rub'. I cant wait to use them :D. I also received some cute posters, and a wristband that says 'Love knows no distance' which I've been wearing ever since XD.

I made a little origami squirrel, which didnt look much like a squirrel really >.>, hehehe. I bought her a red rose for each week we've been together. She also received a letter I'd sent way back before chrsitmas. 

I'm like soooo in love right now, *squeeee*.

Joe xxx

So meh at the pictures thing, I have really not had much time for photography.  Mebbe someday I shall, but for now it's not really something I consider important enough to have as a priority.

I got all four of my wisdom teeth extracted on Thursday, and while I am recovering, it's going VERY slowly and I'm still in a lot of pain.  Which isn't surprising, really, just irritating.  Since I have to go back to work tomorrow to start making more money for my trip to England with my good friend.

I'm really excited about being able to start saving money for that, by the way.  Before, all my money was going towards getting the wisdom teeth out.  Now I can start saving for the good stuff.  Hopefully the income will be enough that I can get a plane ticket by the beginning of March.

I'm cleaning my hugely messy room out so I can move in with Emma, so I can save money faster and get a better-paying job than the one I have.  The room-cleaning is slow-going, but I'm making progress, so I'm not too discouraged about it.  Yet.  I may have to get angry with it if it takes me too much longer.  Rooms should never be allowed to get so messy!!!

Thank the Lord for Skype, it is fantastic and even though my computer can barely handle it, it works great for its purpose and I love it to death.  I love being able to see Joe's face and hear his voice and almost be able to meet his eyes, as much as anyone can when you're looking through webcams.  Yeah, it's hard not being able to reach through the screen to touch him, but if I pretend hard enough it feels, for just a moment, like he's right there in front of me.  I can't wait till that dream becomes a reality.

-Meesha-

Yeah.......

Joe here, it's been pretty hectic over this side of the pond (as a shabby apology) with uni restarting, and coursework deadlines coming up. At least I'm here now :)

Unfortunately I have little to add to that, so goodbye for now. Hope to blog soon, maybe.