A future I don't want

Today's post is going to sound like I'm a jerk or worse. But, I'm writing this out because I need to put my thoughts to "paper" and I know it won't sound nice. Bear with me...

Last night, my husband and I went to a local baseball game. There are two groups of people who go - families with kids (who really get into the game, the kids not so much the parents) and grandparent aged people (some with their grandkids, most just by themselves or friends). Oddly enough, we don't fit into either category!

This second group of people is who I focused. So many of the older people at the game were overweight and I don't mean by 10 pounds. They were probably 50-60 pounds overweight. One older woman had to use a cane. I know that her use of a cane may not have been strictly due to her weight, she may have had other conditions that necessitated it, but...

What I realized as I saw these older people is that I don't want to be that way when I'm their age. I don't want to need a cane to walk. I don't want to be 50-60 pounds overweight. I don't want to not fit in my seat at a sporting event/concert/airplane.

I know this sounds like I'm a jerk. I shouldn't look at these older people who are able to get around and get out on their own as something I don't want to be, but I don't. I don't want to be that big when I'm in my 60s, 70s, 80s, and hopefully 90s. I want to be at a healthy weight so I can avoid some of the health problems that tend to come up as you get older.

These people are a reminder to myself that I need to get my ass in gear. I need to clean up my diet (those two ice cream helmets of Goldfish crackers last night aren't helpful) and I need to get back to the gym. I also see I need a trainer. I need to stop my "I don't know what I'm doing in searching for a running coach" and just do it. I have a couple people in mind I want to contact, I just haven't done it.

I ask you, my friends (because that's who you are) help me. I'll will need all the encouragement I can get and if you have any advice, I could sure use it! And if you know a good running coach, please let me know!


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First Day

Today, I headed to the State Archives to start volunteering.  I worked in the non-profit fund raising world for 9 years before having my position eliminated in 2009.  At that time, I was a thesis away from a Master's Degree in American Studies, which the goal of switching fields and working in a museum in some capacity.

So, I spoke with the head researcher at the State Museum last week and today was my first day.  I only spent a couple hours there today, learning the basics, meeting people, and "helping" with my first project.  I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to heading back tomorrow to start on my own project.  One of the offered projects for research was to determine what information the archives has on the 1918 flu pandemic that swept across the country, basically did the state mandate or do anything during that time to help with it.  When I saw that option on the suggested project sheet, I was excited.  I'm a bit macabre, but I love pandemics and such.  I had already read The Great Influenze: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History and thought this project would be perfect to start with.  They suspect very little information is located at the archives, but I'm all excited to see what's there and bring it to light.

I'll be hitting up the museum Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays for the foreseeable future.  So looking forward to getting started and seeing what it's all about!

Future

A few years ago (well...maybe more than a few) I headed off to college to a small, liberal arts school in Central PA.  I enrolled as a Communications major to gain a degree to go into radio.  I wanted to be a DJ.  Which was just one of several career aspirations I had growing up.  I had also wanted to be veterinarian and a singer.  I realized I'm not a math or science person, so the veterinarian quickly fell by the wayside.  I then wanted to be a singer (country), but then I realized I would have to go to Nashville all by myself and I didn't think I could do it.  So, I figured the next best thing would be to work in radio.  Logical, right?

Well, I hit college and started taking classes in Communications.  Then I realized I wasn't all that into the radio thing and I started hearing it is a really hard field to work in.  So, I switched concentrations to Public Relations and graduated with a major in Communications, concentrating in Public Relations.  Oh, and a minor in History.  Which is a passion, but the only thing I could think to do with it was teach and I just wasn't into that.

After graduating, I decided I wanted to go back to school to obtain a MA in history.  I was working full-time in non-profit fund raising, but I really just enjoyed my history classes.  Then I got engaged and money was diverted. No more school.  Then in 2005, I went back to school in the hopes of finishing the degree I started at a new school, as we moved to Central PA from Southern NJ.  I took one class and again withdrew for monetary reasons.  Ugh.

Then in Jan. 2008, I applied to a new school and entered into another program.  This time for American Studies and 2 years later I graduated with an MA.  Yea!  I decided on this journey that I no longer wanted to work in fund raising.  I wanted to work in a museum setting.  So, I worked my tail off (while working full-time) and graduated in December '09 with a 3.93 GPA (yup, bragging a bit).

So, today, I met with several people at the State Archives to see if I could start volunteering there.  I had a great meeting with them and got a tour of the archives.  And it looks like next week, I AM VOLUNTEERING AT THE ARCHIVES!!  There is a group of interns coming in next week for their summer internships and I'll be treated like an intern more than a volunteer, which is nice.  This means I'll be doing more than just photocopying and filing.  I'll get to work with documents, answer inquiries, make documents that will be put on the website.  I am sooo excited!  This is what I've been wanting to do for the last several years and all I kept saying in our discussion this morning was, "that sounds fun."  It seemed they do not often get people "interviewing" who responds to their suggested projects as fun.  :-)  But, for the first time in a long time, I think I will enjoy getting up in the morning to go to "work."