Patience

The past few months at work have become incredibly frustrating for me. I had mistakingly believed that the challenges provided by this new role and the increased responsibility would make me more excited about working, but it's been the complete opposite. Whereas before I had no clue what I was doing, now I am becoming an expert on something which holds no interest for me. At the end of the day I am left questioning whether my desire to move to alternative energy is due to interest in it or just a complete lack of interest in natural gas liquids. Don't get me wrong, understanding how the oil and gas market works is critical to understanding how alternative sources of energy can be most effective, but helping a huge oil company maximize profits was not my ideal job.

And here is why patience comes into play. I came here because their AE division was the best of all the super majors. They spent the most money, invested the most resources, and wanted to be leaders in the field. I came knowing that it would be at least a year before I would have the opportunity to move into that area of the company. But with the reorg that year is turning into three. Managers who were fully supportive before are now telling me that I will most likely have to wait, and that even at the end of three years it might still be difficult to move. This waiting game, with no clear end in sight, and not even a clear path to follow is frustrating. I don't mind working hard for something that is far off in the future. I don't mind working hard for something that is so far off in the future that it cannot even be seen. What I don't like is working hard for something I can't see without knowing if I'm even on the right path. Unfortunately that's how things feel right now. I know where I want to be and what I want to do. Is what I am doing right now going to get me there?

Trash

Do you ever stop to think about the amount of trash that you generate in a single day? Or week? Or year? After living in Samoa for a semester and seeing the negative impacts of trash build-ups I have tried to become a more conscientious recycler. But even recycling does not completely eliminate waste, it just extends it's life cycle. There is a real problem with the way things are packaged today. It's a plastic overload. Sure it's convenient and cheaper in the short run but plastic does not biodegrade so we'll be living with it for a long time to come.

Two interesting stories I read recently. One is about the 3.5 million tons of trash floating around in the dead zone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The second is about a man who saved every single piece of trash he accumulated for a whole year. Disgusting yeah? I agree. But it does make you think about your own lifestyle and things you can do to minimize your own "trash footprint."

• Continent-size toxis stew of plastic trash fouling swath of Pacific Ocean


• California man saves year's-worth of trash

A Little R&R

It's not often that I find myself at my apartment on a Saturday evening, but since I am recovering from a rather nasty cold I decided it was a good idea. Definitely a change of pace for me. I sleep a lot when I go back to visit family, but not necessarily here. Rather nice to sleep away the afternoon, and I even managed to get some stuff done. Ok maybe not that much but I did write a few thank you letters. That should count for something. :) I also got to spend time with my roommates. Doesn't happen as often as it should. It was a movie marathon evening: Love Actually, and then the first two Bourne movies. But now it's one in the morning and I need to be up in a few hours for church. I think I'll probably spend most of tomorrow sleeping as well. haha

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Christmas! I am once again back with my family enjoying an unexpected week off from work. Unexpected because until two weeks ago I did not know that I had this vacation time. I love happy unexpectedness. :)

I had a wonderful Christmas. Right now all my younger siblings are running around the house playing with their new toys. It seems like the game of the moment is some sort of laser tag.

For the first time in several years all of us went to the same Mass on Christmas day. Normally half of us go to midnight and the other half go in the morning, but this year everyone went in the morning. I actually went to the vigil as well to accompany the soloists on the organ. Exciting but also a little scary as it's been about five years since I've played the organ in church and it was very last minute. Three of the pieces I received two days beforehand, and the final piece I received when I arrived at the church for a brief rehearsal. The organ is in need of some desperate repairs, and I had a few problems with stops the first two pieces, but the Communion pieces turned out much better, at least in my opinion. Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to play more often. I'm planning to take a few lessons to brush up on technique, pedaling, and the stops. The biggest determining factor in how much time I spend will be whether or not I can obtain a key. My ultimate goal is to start playing for weddings again. Music took a huge backseat in college, but I don't think it could ever stop being a part of my life. One of these days I will get a piano as well, but for the time being it would be in competition with the TV and I don't think my roommates would approve. :-P Aside from the organ I am also playing a few times a month with a couple of friends. Right now we are working on Bach's Double and I cannot wait to have it done. It's going to sound awesome. I'm really enjoying having more difficult pieces to learn, because otherwise I am tempted to just stick with music that I already know or that is fairly easy to sight read. The challenge of having to practice difficult passages is exciting. And yes, I know that I have now managed to sound like a complete dork. :)

Thanksgiving

For the first time ever all ten kids were home for Thanksgiving. That may seem surprising, but when the baby was born my older brother was already in college, and he always spent Thanksgiving with family on the East coast. Last year, his first year out of school, I was in Samoa. I must admit it was nice to have everyone home for the holidays. It's amazing how easy it is to slip into old routines with family. If you know me, you know that as a rule I don't watch much TV. Yet over the course of the past few days I watched quite a bit of football. Part of it is a feeling of wasting time whenever I "veg in front of the box." But with family, it never feels like that.

Thanksgiving will most likely end up being the one holiday that brings us all together again. Christmas will as well, but it's harder to coordinate with Mass. Christmas is more of a religious holiday and so church is a priority. Plus it can fall anytime during the week. Thanksgiving is always a four day weekend, making it easy to predict and plan.

Wet puppy

That's pretty much how I felt by the time I made it back to my car after today's game of ultimate. Yet despite all of that, if I had the chance I would be out there again right now. I miss playing ultimate. I don't care if I was soaking wet from the incessant drizzle and covered in grass and mud...I had fun today! One of my roommates doesn't like to break a sweat and so refuses to play spots. I just don't understand that. I love the tired feeling you get after a hard workout; digging deep and pushing yourself. What I hate is feeling is feeling out of shape so that my body doesn't want to respond the way that I want it to. I think I might have to start running occasionally in addition to swimming. Or maybe a track workout. For some odd reason I'd much rather do sprints than run distance.

Rain

It's not that I don't like the rain. It's more that it's very inconvenient for it to be raining so much right now. I bought a new mountain bike earlier this week and was really looking forward to trying it out on some of the trails around Houston but no. The rain has put a quick stop to that. It's not that it has been raining non-stop, but it's been raining enough to keep the trails muddy, and riding muddy trails equals ruts which equals not good. So instead I've had to keep busy in other ways; like hanging out with my sisters, watching the new Bourne movie (finally!!!), attempting to go to a Rice football game only to have the rain postpone it near the end of the first quarter, catching up with friends I haven't seen in a while, and curling up with a good book on the couch. Being grown-up still scares me, but I am also beginning to appreciate just how much fun it can be.