Good morning everyone,
Sunny but really windy and yes, starting to get cold here again this week, with rain in the forecast. A shame because we had such mild and even warm, sunny weather the past few days (even decently-crisp nights) that a lot of buds and flowers started to emerge! Hopefully this is the last of it.
I haven't been back here in awhile, so I'll update y'all. After that Phoenix trip in October, I eventually went to Israel. While there I attended a funeral of someone from my kibbutz, who died protecting it (a year younger than me, with a pregnant wife; they married a year prior and were high school sweethearts). It was a very sad time; I know quite a few people, including some from boot camp and my first platoon commander, who have died. It's been really rough emotionally. I donated a lot of my old clothes that I still had in my old apartment, as many folks there are internally-displaced and in need--and I have needed to donate them anyways. I also packed up my remaining things and brought them home when I returned. I have a lot of survivor's guilt and mourning I still need to do, and haven't totally processed everything because the war is ongoing. The army ended up not needing me to be back, so after taking a few final additional days to decompress by the sea with friends and hike a bit, I came back to the States to work.
Then, my job promoted me to general manager at my gym, and I started teaching a few fitness classes as well while also getting certified for a power-yoga type program. The money has been decent, and I picked up a lot of extra hours filling in for people who were sick, on vacation, etc., and also for the owners when they were quarantined at home from coronavirus and the co-owner recovering from an arm sugery. However, it's a six-day per week job (also why I haven't restarted on the summaries) and as someone who is quite introverted and without previous management experience, especially with everything that just was going on while I was abroad and the continuing war, it has been incredibly difficult emotionally. And also, there is a lot of micro-managing on the part of the owners which has become overbearing--especially since they are barely at the gym, and certainly not on weekends, while also not taking advice from myself or other long-term employees on how to improve the business. So today I'm going to give my notice and help them find a new manager with more experience, and train that person so I can step down in this role. I'm still going to hopefully be teaching the fitness classes and filling in when necessary for shifts when folks are on vacation; however, I need to have more time to take care of myself and spend with my loved ones (not much time has been available for that, unfortunately, due to clashing work schedules and work trips my parents take). I have some online research work and applied to some new jobs, so that should help carry me over in the meantime, while I finish up my personal training certification, which hopefully can get me another job at my gym.
I have been in a relationship with a paramedic 4 years older than me, for five months now. He is great; I joined him and some of his family in November on a trip to Universal Orlando, then we took another trip in January to South Florida. Later this week, I'm going to meet his extended family in an Indiana suburb of Louisville, KY; sadly, part of the reason is that his grandmother has cancer and doesn't have much longer to live, and he wants me to meet her. We will be making it a road trip, and are also looking at moving in together at some point over the summer. So, lots has been going on, and I plan on being on here more often.
Hope everyone has been doing well and has a good--LAST!--day of winter.
