On the Cusp

Today, while I was using the building restroom, a woman and her young son were in the stall next to me. This boy took one look at my shoes under the stall and somehow concluded that another guy was using the restroom ( I was wearing fairly masculine looking shoes today ) and he insisted on waiting until I came out of the stall to make sure I wasn't, in fact, a guy. His mother, a timid Muslim woman, was absolutely mortified. I have never been so amused by work antics.....

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I worked my third shift today, at an interpreter services company that provides all kinds of transcription, interpreting, and language assistance for the greater Minnesota region. I was hired one week ago today as an Interpreter Admin Assistant - basically this means I get to assist the administration team in whatever they need, primarily scanning and handling interpreter documents, making sure people stay current on the Minnesota Department of Health interpreter roster, and sending out lots of emails to peop…

Over the holiday weekend Tyler and I didn't really have much planned. We'd already decided that driving out to Wisconsin on the 24th was a bust, but his mom did stop over that morning with some gifts for us. Apparently, she'd gone to the Dominican Republic recently and brought back some souvenirs - like fridge magnets, knick-knacks, rum and a bottle of Mama Juana herbs/bark. We'll probably never actually make the stuff, but it was pretty interesting nonetheless. She also left us with some cash.

That afternoon, we decided to go back to Chaska to have Christmas Eve with Tyler's dad, who was attempting to roast a turkey. I'm pretty sure he got it in the oven around 3 pm, but the darn thing wasn't finished until closer to eight o'clock. The potatoes turned out okay but I am of the firm opinion that Stove Top brand stuffing should NEVER be baked under any circumstances. That's why it's called Stove Top, y'know?

So while we waited on food, Tyler a…

My holiday decor, filters courtesy of Pixlr

The holidays have always been kind of bittersweet for me. As a child they're great, because you get to celebrate with family and open gifts and have lots of food, but there are downsides there too - such as seeing relatives you can't stand, watching your cousins open up bigger and better gifts that anything you received, and your mom forcing you to eat grandma's nasty green bean casserole.

That was my experience growing up celebrating Christmas. It was the only night of the year (save for Easter) that I had to go to church and once I had reached thirteen or so, I no longer wanted to and was never made to again. But even as a child, the bustling noise of the holidays and the influx of people EVERYWHERE was always very jarring to me. I was always relieved after family gatherings to climb into the quiet car or close the door on a quiet house, and just breathe.

But I'm an introvert and so that's a given.

The holidays are a tr…

In January of 2016, I was facing eviction. So it didn't start out well - tensions were high between my partner and his father - they were always screaming at each other. We were both jobless and struggling to make ends meet at that time.

Oh yeah. Bowie died that month. Let's not forget that.


In February, my partner got a job as a dishwasher at a local co-op grocery store and things were okay for a bit. I was still jobless but looking at various different things - like hotel laundy attendant and child care assistant. None of that panned out. My anxiety was at an all time high.

In April, Prince kicked it too - less than ten miles from us while were parked at a Kwik Trip.



Fast forward to May of that year and we faced the finale ultimatum - leave the house on our own or get kicked out. To faciliate our peaceful vamos-ing of the premises, my partner's dad signed over his pick-up truck so we'd have a vehicle. This also meant we absolutely had to move out - the house was on t…

This lovely blogger, SEE HERE, posted this awesome questionnaire and answer combo on her blog, so I'm going to follow suit and do one of my own!

1. How did you discover your path?
~ That's a long and convoluted story that dates back more then ten years ago to early high school and a silly Ravenwolf book called Solitary Witch. It was really my first introduction into witchcraft as a real thing and while I Wicca ended up not sitting well with me, it was my first foray into uncharted waters....

2. How long have you been practicing witchcraft?
~ On and off for about ten years now.

3. What kind of witch are you?
~ I don't really define myself in that way, I simply AM a witch.

4. What specific path/tradition do you follow?
~ None, specifically, but I would say that I do align more closely with secular (no religious dogma) witchcraft than anything else.

5. Do you have any ethics or moral codes that you follow?
~ Yes, don't fuck with me or what's mine and nothing bad will …

So when we first moved in, we noticed something curious about the corners near the window - there were two oddly fitted vent plates just shoved into the corners of the floor. Our landlord informed us that they were just to cover up "holes" in the floor. No biggie, it would get fixed if it was a problem and since we had our bed on top of that area for the longest time, we sort of forgot about it.

Then it started getting cold. Really cold. And we noticed that there was some cold air blowing up from those holes in the floor. So we went and got some cheap floor mats from Walmart to drop in there to keep out the draft. Worked well enough then.

Here's the thing - it's 3 degrees F outside right now. That's -16 C for those of you around the world. Despite the fact that we have shoved our small couch into that window corner, stuffed blankets underneath it and pretty much piled ALL of our extra junk into those nooks and crannies - it's still only about 40 F ( 4 C ) in…

So it's been a hot minute since my last update regarding Target and lack of funds. I'm starting to get the impression that this blog is a lot of me complaining about shitty jobs and no money. Sorry for that. 

There is SOME good news though: I got a new job. Last week I had an interview with The Liffey, which is an Irish pub here in St. Paul just a stone's throw from my apartment so the location couldn't be better. They hired me on as a line cook, which is something I've never done before and am admittedly nervous about, but they're also starting me at $11.50 an hour, so I can't really scoff at that.

I was supposed to start this Wednesday. To my absolutely dismay, I woke up that morning with a head full of static, a nose full of snot, and a nasty sore throat. Tyler had been sick since the previous week and I'd been hoping that I would not contract whatever he'd brought home. Alas, the morning of my first day I started exhibiting the nast symptoms of …