The Search

My life is in a bit of a funk right now. Sometimes I feel like at the ripe old age of 31 I should have it a little more together and not feel so behind the curve. But I don't. It's frustrating to feel like you know exactly what you want and purposefully be looking for it-- with your list of perfect features, your non-negotiables, and what you just know in your heart will make you happy and content--but you can never seem to find it. More than anything I want to feel settled. I don't want to feel like I compromise too much simply because it feels like I'm running out of time and the ticking clock keeps getting louder and louder.

If you are curious, here is a short list of things I think are important to me…

*Appearance: I don't need jaw dropping, but I would like to be impressed.

*Personality: I'm a little unique and quirky, so I kind of think I need the same.

*Location: Not too close, but not too far away so it's inconvenient.

*Size: Of course that's relative.

*Respect what I do: I will be here for 9 months, and then I'm going to be gone for what I hope to be the most important summer of my life. Flexibility is the name of the game.



As with most things in life, I guess I'll just know when it's right. But in my heart I'm hoping for the fairytale…that butterfly feeling you get immediately deep in your gut when you just know that the search is finally over.

Seriously though... I really hate apartment hunting.

:)

My Summer Internship Experience

The past few weeks have been a severe departure from my normal routine. That's actually saying a lot because my normal routine is a far cry from "normal" to begin with. It's also probably true that my routine has much more in common with the average working American and this has got me seriously considering trying to long jump for at least another 20 years. I guess it's always good to have reminders that make you appreciate what you are blessed to do, and I am incredibly thankful that for the past 10 years I have had the opportunity to be an athlete. But I also know that that is soon coming to an end, and in preparation for that, I decided to spend some time this offseason doing an Internship with the marketing department at a company called D.I.S.C
. , which happens to be the medical services provider for Olympic athletes. Because I got my degree in marketing back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I thought that this would be a fairly sensible place to start tinkering to see what the working world is all about. So far, this is what I have picked up in my short time as a working woman in corporate America.


-Work days start entirely too early. While they didn't give me an exact start time and kind of let me pick my own hours, I figured it would be helpful if I showed up before the lunch break. However, I never have been a fan of mornings and it takes me a while to get going. So, even when I do wake up at a decent hour, by the time I sit around and have 2 cups of coffee, do some reading, browse the internet, and make breakfast, it basically ends up being almost lunch time and I have yet to even get ready yet--which is another hassle.


-Getting ready for work is a chore. I don't even shower in the mornings usually because all I'm doing is heading out to practice. But now my routine consists of showering, finding an outfit, doing my hair, and putting on makeup. I was thinking of asking if I could pretend to be a nurse intern and therefore just wear scrubs to work. That would be awesome.


-I own hardly any appropriate work clothes. Even though they didn't specifically say this, spandex is not appropriate for the office and neither are jeans so that takes away about 98% of my wardrobe. I usually try and throw on a skirt or dress and run down to ask my friend if it's appropriate, to which we both kind of secretly agree that it's really not but try to justify it with a string of pearls.


-It's really hard to be on a computer all day and not be on Facebook or twitter. I tried it for about 3 days before I gave in, and then I was saved when one of my tasks became setting up a twitter account for the business and doing some things with the Facebook page. Score.


-Excel spreadsheets are my enemy. I don't use excel in my everyday life, and I can't even remember if I learned how to in school because remember, that was back in the dinosaur ages. Maybe they didn't even have excel back then. But they do now and it makes me want to pull my hair out because all I really seem to accomplish is making mistakes and having things disappear when I don't mean to.


-People that work in offices don't eat enough. My first day I was starving after an hour so I went on a lunch break. But of course, that didn't keep me for the whole day. Now I just bring a whole array of snacks with me.


-In an office environment, there are a lot of meetings… and conference calls… and emails.. and brainstorming sessions… and waiting for other people to agree or disagree, and then people think about it and hold off on making decisions until a later date. I think this is called "teamwork". It's a totally new concept to me and takes some getting used to.


All in all, I still have a lot to learn about working in the real world. I don't think I'm going to figure it all out in a month, but at least I get a glimpse into what it's like and what steps I need to take to compete professionally as a Masters Athlete. I kid. If nothing else, this is a line to be added to my extensive resume, and an opportunity to increase my skill set, as well as figure out what my other interests might be. It's also an excuse to go shopping…I really do need to add to my working girl wardrobe.

Working Girl

After my season I usually take some time off to be a couch potato coupled with a professional twinkle eater--fried twinkles, preferably. This gives me ample time to get to the point where I'm so bored of being bored and can't stand to eat another sugar-ladened treat. At the end of this time I am itching to get training again. It's a cycle that has worked well for me for many, many years but this year I have decided to change it up a bit.

For the past week I have been striking with real MMA fighters. Not against them, of course--I'm not crazy--but on the same set as them while filming a crazy new workout video. It's been a real joy learning the difference between a crossover and an uppercut and I'm sure I've done enough pushups to last a lifetime. Thankfully, all the ab and core work was a piece of cake because of the steel abs I developed working out with the snazzy new gadget I helped promote on the infomercial I filmed the week prior. I kid… all that machine did was give me sore hip flexors and work my inner thighs. But it also gave me a paycheck, and for that I'm truly grateful. (and yes, this is the same infomercial I complained about NOT getting a few blogs down...turns out they came to their senses--or, they read my blog.)

These couple of jobs have filled my days with something to do besides channel surf, helped supplement my income during a time when I'm not able to compete, and kept me conscious of the dimple that I found on my thigh. Believe me, you become extremely body conscious when you have to be on set for 10 hours a day in short spandex shorts, a sports bra and a ton of bright lights poised to find any imperfection. I now firmly believe the camera really does add 10 pounds.

I'm also going to be starting a short internship this week that I will be sharing more about once I learn what I will actually be doing. All I know for now is that spandex is not appropriate attire, and that's a real bummer because it really is the only type of work clothes that I own. I am still crossing my fingers that they agree with me that 10am should be a good start time for the work day and that 3 meal breaks is normal, otherwise this might be a very grueling internship. I'm looking forward to the challenge though, and I am actually happy that I get to be a little productive this offseason.