Oatmeal, Careers, and Blind Dates

I'd like to shout out to Jes, whose BetterOats giveaway has provided me with a month of free oatmeal. I'm on my third flavor now, and it's certainly appreciated, since the winter doesn't seem to want to let go of us. We had snow - snow! - two days last week. So thanks, Jes! My quick review of BetterOats (since you can't participate in a promotion without reviewing the product, can you?) is good overall. I like the flavors; they've interesting enough to encourage me to branch out from tried and true maple-and-brown-sugar. (Actually, that's this morning's flavor, so we'll see how they stack up to Quaker and Sturm's soon. The oats in this one are smaller than in the previous two flavors - Cinnamon Plum and Blueberry Muffin - which makes me feel somehow like it won't be as good.) I dislike that they are best made in the microwave, since at work, I have an electric kettle but no microwave, although I think the measuring cup pouches are an adorable idea. And re Blueberry Muffin - the at-home microwave method is definitely better than the at-work kettle method. Decide for yourself if the difference is due to preparation or locale. It works okay with the kettle, as long as I let it sit a while to absorb all the liquid. (Note to Jes: I haven't been able to comment on your blog anymore; the comment link has gone missing. I have a feeling it's just me, since other people are commenting. I hope winning a giveaway doesn't forever deny me access to your blog.)

Work has gotten stressful, more stressful than any oatmeal can make better. I got reassigned to a nice, simple, straightforward project with a single client, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase my skills to upper management as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Turns out, the thing was a ticking time bomb. The old project manager got out just in time: just a few short weeks after I got "full responsibility during this transition period" (whatever that means), the budget blew all to hell, which means the schedule is shot, since we have to fix the budget before we can go on. But despite my newness to the project and the fact that it's not my fault, it's still my responsibility. Joy. So we do our best and try to focus on other exciting things.

Like midterms, which are coming soon to a classroom near me. More joy. But I chose to do this, and I'm happy I'm doing it. And one day in the not-too-distant-future, I'll have my Master's degree and I'll be happy I have it. I've started tentatively reaching out to see if I can maybe get a trial teaching job at a college near where I live, and if that works out, I'd be really happy. If it works out really well, I can think about a whole career change, but for now, I'd settle for one night class, just to try it out. If nothing else, teaching will introduce me to a whole new social scene, and my social life could certainly use some improvement. I wouldn't say I'm a shut-in, but between early mornings at the office and late nights at college, I wouldn't say my social life is particularly rich or meaningful. Sure, I interact with people at both those places, but I need to have a social life that involves fun things, not just necessary things. I'd love to get involved at a college near where I live, because I think that the faculty and students likely also live nearby, and that would give me more of an investment in the neighborhood. And since I like where I live, I'd like to actually meet people locally. (I know, I know, just sign up for local yoga or pottery making or something. But I need a push to do any of those things, and I'm always so *tired*. Ugh, I'm boring myself.)

So to expand my social life and hopefully integrate some fun into it, I'm starting to think about dating again. My divorce should be coming through fairly soon, no thanks to the painfully slow legal system or my not-particularly-confidence-inspiring lawyer, but even more importantly, I think I may finally be at the emotional stage where getting back in the game would do more good than harm. I'm not 100% recovered emotionally, but I'm not sure how I'll get to that point, other than trial and error.

I read an article last week on blind dates - something about how it's insane that otherwise intelligent, independent people are willing to go on them, and something about "triumph of hope over experience". Now, I'm not sure I agree with the first half of that, since it seems that matchmaking services are at least as popular with intelligent, independent people as any other type of dating service, but the second half is probably true. What is humanity other than hope? We're constantly hoping against logic and experience that things will be better than we deserve or expect - and sometime, they are! And I know plenty of people who married people they met on blind dates. Even if you include my own failed marriage, I know plenty of successful marriages that started from blind dates. Anyhow, they also said that all blind dates should be limited to 45 minutes, just in case. Now that's a concept I've been trying to get people to agree to for a while. You want me to meet this guy who's just perfect for me? That's lovely; thanks for thinking of me. I'd be delighted to meet him for lunch or after work for a cup of something at Starbucks. I'm not so thrilled about having to get all dolled up and give up an entire evening on a gamble - what if turns out to be a very bad idea? Even if he's not a jerk, those are three or four hours I'll never get back. If he turns out to be incredible, we'll make a second date and go from there. If I never want to see him again, why waste both of our time? So here's to hope and to Starbucks. And to finding myself in a better place.

Note to self: for maple-and-brown-sugar, stick to Sturm's or Quaker. So far, for BetterOats, Blueberry Muffin rules!