Provision with a side of patience

Sticky notes and scraps of paper are littering my room, among the leftover college packing that has yet to take place. I kept telling myself that I would take care of the lists and the debris when I knew what was happening in the fall, such as if I was going to move or stay in my parents' house... Such dilemmas froze all motivation for cleanliness.
Unfortunately for the piles that have found residence for the past month, the time has come to cleanse.
Yes.
Looking back at the past 6 months, there are a few emotions that were always on the surface: anxiety, frustration, anticipation, and resignation. Rarely found clumped together in a sentence, I'm sure that I am not the only college grad who understands the relationship between them. I resigned myself to not finding a job. Slipping back into the job I held for 6 years, I lamented the backsliding motion of settling into my high school self/motions. My mother's encouragement prompted me to keep applying, but I convinced myself that there was no way I was going to find a teaching job in this market. The half-hearted attempts became full-hearted when I heard back from a middle school. An interview and a week later, I was in my car, shaking as I called the principal back and found that I had a job. Not only was my conundrum ordered into retreat but I could also, finally, tell people what I am doing with my degree!
A prime metaphor for this situation is this: I recently "inherited" quite a few household items, ones that I had not possessed before. Things like sturdy pots, pans, a blender, a mixer, a juicer, cutting boards, etc, now join the post-college clutter in my parents' house as well as my brother's. Obviously my parents don't need those things... they've been functioning in their kitchen without my help for quite some time. Possessing practical household items is as exciting for me as it is frustrating. I have no place nor opportunity to use said things. I have to wait. I have to wait to use the bittersweet blessing that God provided when I did not even ask. To a planner, this is immensely frustrating. This entire experience has, and will continue to be, a huge learning opportunity for me, myself, and I. Let's hope that it doesn't drag out for too long... otherwise I might start a household wares sales business as my other part-time job...

The girl who wore tights

Today, my sock drawer betrayed me. I was 100% sure that my dresser and I were on good terms... I don't open it to put things away unless absolutely necessary, I never allow clothes to get in the way of the drawers... You can see why I feel betrayed. I was running out the door this morning when I grabbed a dark mass from my drawer, shoved it in my purse, and drove off to have breakfast with an old friend. Already rockin' my "quick-service" restaurant uniform, I did not see the need to complete the outfit with the shoes-for-crews yet. Flip-flops were the choice and off I went. After savoring my Panera bagel and coffee, I ushered myself out of the door and into my car where I would look through my purse to find my socks... You know, just in case I was stuck at a stoplight and I had a chance to put them on...
So, I grab the dark mass and I realize that there is more fabric than I expected... My heart sinks... No... No... Nuh-uh... Sure enough, my "socks" fused together and I realized that I had three choices: 1. Work the entire day sockless 2. Call my brother and have him bring a pair of socks, while praying that I would actually have a chance to change from my tights to my socks and 3. Wear the tights for the entire day. Right. 3. Awesome.
It's moments like this where I realize that there are so many instances where people say "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Today, I would like to propose that chewing on the lemons and contorting your face in response is better than adding sugar and water. I mean, what if I had made "lemonade" with my tights? What would that have been? Not wearing my pants and buying a tutu? Yeah, the health inspector and my general manager would have loved that!
Maybe trying to cover the annoying situation robs us of our ability to laugh at the inconveniences of life... Sometimes you have to take it at face-value and embrace it, however uncomfortable.
If you approached me and asked me to translate this into my real life, it would include more than wearing tights under a pair of pants for 11 hours while working in a kitchen. I'm not happy that I reached into the drawer that is post-college graduation and came up with a handful of things that I am not excited about putting on. I have to put them on, though... at least until something else comes along. Waiting is the name of the game and I am a notorious loser of this game. Maybe the reminder that sharp twangs do not need to be watered-down or sugared-up. Maybe the things in our lives are there because we were supposed to look at each facet and learn. It's easier to say that when thinking about tights...not so easy when I think about employment or living arrangements...