Finding my footing

Wow! It has been a while since I´ve posted. Last time I did, I was in Spain.
Now I am not.
It makes me sad.

In my bathroom I have this collection of quotes on a stand, flip-chart style and when I remember to, I flip to a new page. Today's made me smile and I had to post it here:

Hope for the best.
Plan for the worst.
Snack in between.

In the last few months, there has been a lot of hoping and praying and an eternal mantra running through my head of "something good has got to come my way soon". I have been trying to find my way through the market in an economy where everyone is over-qualified and employers can treat potential candidates like yesterday's garbage. Even still, I am incredibly thankful and mindful of all that I have that keeps me strong and centered. Thank goodness for friends and family (and wine)!

Big changes include:

• Moving into my own new place
• Getting all of my things out of storage after over a year of being inaccessible 
• Moving next-door to my sister and brother-in-law
• Filing for unemployment
• Filing for food stamps
• Joining the Supper Club (thanks guys!) and making fantastic meals
• Reuniting with friends of the East Bay
• Registering as a resident of Oakland and changing all of my documentation to reflect my new address.

Still waiting to change:

• Full-time employment status
• Finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
• Figuring out how to cook in my kitchen without having to clean my whole home afterward
• Making new friend in my new 'hood.
• Finding my niche

I love my new neighborhood and have been enjoying exploring things in and around the area. Because I have been trying to keep my spending down and I have had some time in between job searches, I have started cooking again. My skills were a little rusty as I did virtually no cooking in Spain (unless pouring gazpacho out of its container into a bowl counts as "cooking") and I hadn't been cooking much at my mom's place when I was living with her.

Thus, I have come to realize that I really like it. I lack for counter space in my house (see waiting to change item 3) so it takes some ingenuity to pull it off. I have also been fortunate to have moved into a culinary mecca where there are plenty of awesome stores with quality produce and foodstuffs nearby so I can grocery shop without using my car. 

I will start posting some of the things that I have been making if anything because it gives me a reason to post pics I've taken of the food (which I really enjoy doing). 

Until then, happily expecting good news,

~Cath