"This could really be a good life..."

What a week! The past five days have been filled with blessings: a new professional opportunity and two social outings. The title of this blog is in honor of my dear friend, Stephanie. For whatever reason, whenever I hear the song “Good Life” by OneRepublic, I think of her. And as I close in on nearly two full months here in Arizona, I truly do feel that “this could really be a good life” after all.

First update: I was offered another job...and it's something I've never done before. :-) Through some unexpected networking with a mother of a friend, I was “recruited” to meet with a doctor at St. Joseph’s Hospital in downtown Phoenix (not only the best hospital in the state, but some will argue the best in the five-state area). He and a couple of his colleagues are looking for someone with writing skills to help prepare some fellowship and grant applications, as well as potentially edit their articles prior to submission to medical journals. There would also likely be some other minor administrative duties, yet to be fully explained… Anyway, the primary doctor with whom I would be working was extremely kind and approachable, even telling me that he was looking for a “partner” in these tasks (whereas I would imagine most doctors referring to such an employee as a mere “assistant”). For now, it is a three-month, part-time position with the possibility of becoming a full-time, salaried position with benefits. (Whether or not I’d want to continue this type of work long-term is yet to be determined…) So, anyway, they are still working out the final details, but it looks like this will be my new morning job within a week or so…and it does not conflict with my afternoon/night tutoring schedule (on which I now have seven regular students, each having two-hour weekly sessions), so I can continue both jobs and hopefully feel a little more financially secure. Yay!

 

Part of the hospital complex where I will be working and outside of the tutoring and test preparation center.

In other news, I met my blind date on Saturday at a wonderful restaurant called the Village Tavern. As you can imagine, it felt a bit awkward meeting someone I knew little about, but I’m a pretty easy-going, extroverted person, so we eased into conversation fairly smoothly, considering the circumstances. All in all, he has many qualities that I desire, was a perfect gentleman all night, and clearly expressed his interest in me. I, however, am still trying to figure out how I feel about him, despite these factors—I'm just not sure I feel that “spark” yet. I won’t include all of the specific details of my thought process in a public domain like this, but if you want more info, message me privately. :-) Anyway, we’re giving Date #2 a shot this Saturday, and I will be able to better assess my feelings after hopefully spending some time in a less pressured environment, outside the understandable awkwardness of a first date.

 

 

On Sunday night, two awesome people that my aforementioned friend Stephanie and I met at the top of Camelback Mountain last October insisted on treating me to dinner to “welcome me to the neighborhood.” They chose a place called Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse in which they literally come to your table with skewers of any meat you could imagine: pork tenderloin, filet mignon, chicken, spicy sausage, lamb, etc. It’s all-you-can-eat. Basically, you have a coaster that is red on one side and green on the other. When you show the green side, someone comes to your table to offer whatever type of meat he’s carrying around. After you feel satisfied with your full plate, you turn the coaster to the red side, indicating that you’d like to be left alone to eat. You can turn your coaster to green as many times as you’d like to fill up. This fabulously prepared meat is also accompanied by a salad bar, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and fried plantains. Although I was stuffed, my wonderfully persuasive hosts insisted on our desserts: crème brulee, papaya cream, and strawberry cheesecake. All I can say is WOW. The food was awesome (and quite pricy…I’m floored by the tremendous generosity of these new friends), the experience was unique, and the company was extremely entertaining.

 

 

I’ve never been fond of change—and I miss my Milwaukee friends tremendously because I have an irreplaceable community of loved ones back home—but this week has made me feel like things are going to fall into place for me as time goes on.  After turning my life completely upside down to be in Arizona, it's a comforting feeling.

Random observation #11: The landscapers were planting new annuals—pansies, petunias, marigolds, geraniums, etc.—around the complex today. Yes, planting FRESH annuals in October, just around the time those plants are dying in Wisconsin.