FREEDOM!

I did it! I quit. I turned in my two weeks notice (being nice) and I'm done. My last working day will be this Sunday. It's just too exciting to think about being free again. Greg's coming home at the end of this month for R&R which will be wonderful. I'm thinking about planning a trip home soon. I really want to get into volunteering too - but I think that's going to have to wait for these vacation times to be over. It'll be filling myself up with rest and the love of family and friends before I dedicate my "career" to helping others in need.

There's going to be about 2 weeks between my last day at work and when Greg comes home. And honestly I'm kind of worried. I always thought of myself as self motivated. But after Greg and I got married I was unemployed for a number of months. And to put it mildly - I squandered that opportunity. I don't know if I fell into depression (Yes, mom mentioned that) or what. But I just didn't do much of anything... at all. Greg's the most laid back person I know, and my lack of doing anything was getting on his nerves. There's still many times on my days off when I wander around the house (which is really hard to do living in a two bedroom apartment) with no idea of what to do but wander around. It's just so strange. I'm honestly afraid that I may just squander the opportunities again of being unemployed and with so much free time on my hands. I can make a to do list of things that should be accomplished during that time - preparing for Greg's R&R and projects and so much more, and I have made a list, well... lists. But I'm still scared that I may just read endless things online and play computer games and do nothing of any value. We'll just have to wait and see what happens - no point in fretting about it any more than I have already.

In other news, I have decided to give myself permission to really dive into knitting. I know this is probably small news for most people but it's a big deal to me. I have often looked at all the fun and amazing things you can do with knitting and yarn and all. But I was always hesitant to really invest in it - time, money and all. Anywhere from $3 - $6 and way up for a pair of knitting needles, and to buy nice yarn that'll be fun to knit with and make amazing projects, the costs really add up. So I've been quite consistent in making do with the needles I have and the yarn that's good, not too rough or scratch, but not too expensive. As you can imagine, there's a whole ton of projects that I can't do or learn because I've been too stubbornly frugal to allow myself to buy the needles for it. And it's not a lot of fun to make a scarf with an intricate design on crappy yarn that not many people would really want to wear. So I've officially given up and given in and I'm going to dive into knitting. I am not going to apologize for the money that I spend on knitting. But that definately doesn't mean that I'm not going to shop around for good deals and buy in bulk when it's cost effective and I'm certainly not going to just use this as a free ticket to go hog wild in the nearest knitting store. I'm just giving myself permission to dive into this regardless of the costs. Knitting has brought me much joy, peace and entertainment over the years. It has brought together wonderful communities for me over in two different states now. Not to mention that knitting can actually make some useful things, like socks and hats and bags, scarves and mittens, towels and washclothes and on a bigger scale, blankets and sweaters. Which can all make wonderful gifts for family and friends for Christmas (yeah - heads up, you all know what you're getting next year.... Muah haha haha).

So far this year, the theme has been freedom. Freedom to quit my job, freedom do what my heart really desires with volunteering for local missions, freedom to follow my goals, freedom to really invest in my hobbies. Freedom. It's pretty cool.