1. Last Monday I started a job. It’s a temp-to-hire job. I’ve only been there 2 weeks, but I’m enjoying it so far. The company makes protective head equipment for military and law enforcement, primarily helmets and accessories for helmet gear. We also sell to individuals and companies, both domestically and internationally. I appreciate what they do, and I’m learning a lot, especially just how innovative a lot of their products are. It’s very interesting.

I do admin work for the company, but come Tuesday I’ll be doing that and web orders. The woman who’s in charge of web orders is going on vacation until the end of the month, so I’ve been training with her so I can take over her responsibilities while she’s gone. I like learning, so I’m glad for the opportunity, though I’m somewhat concerned that I’ll mess up even though I took down notes and wrote an in-depth 4-page tutorial. Oh well, what’s a couple hundred thousand dollars between strangers? Surely that’s at least tax deductible.

2. I’m still making my way through Possession. I love the book, but I’m reading slowly to savor it and give it the attention it deserves. Well, I always read slowly, but I’m reading slower than usual, which is to say I might finish this book in another couple of months. Maybe.

3. I’m also reading When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. I’m finding this to be much funnier than Me Talk Pretty One Day. Reading Sedaris reminds me all too much of my own family, and he has the ability to make me laugh hysterically at inopportune times and places. As it turns out, fellow commuters do not appreciate my laughter on the subway at 8 in the morning when they’re only half-awake. Similarly, the mother who told her cautious child that the “turnstile” gates at the subways are like Platform 9 ¾–you just go toward them and they open!—did not appreciate my ill-timed laughter when her child took her at her word and ran into the gates too quickly and slammed into them face first before they opened. While the situation would have both concerned and amused me, I had been reading my book rather than watching the scene. It seemed pointless to try to explain that to her, though.

4. I rarely wear glasses, preferring to wear contacts instead. When I do wear glasses, I feel like I’m drunk. I don’t have the same visual acuity that I do with contacts, being that the lenses are off my eye and I have to physically turn my head to see to the side. It’s dizzying. Beyond that, though, these particular glasses are defective and slide off my face if I so much as look down or quickly turn my head. I can get them tightened, but they’ll loosen within 5 minutes of wear. I’m on my last pair of contacts, but things have worked out that I’m actually entirely out of contact lenses for my right eye, so I’m currently wearing two contact lens prescriptions for my left eye. This is also sort of dizzying, though not as much as wearing glasses. I need to find an optometrist so I can get a new prescription and order new contacts. On the bright side, at least I don’t drive.

5. Lent is coming up this Wednesday. You probably already know this. I’m still trying to figure out what my Lenten resolutions will be. The one I’m leaning towards at present—not buying food out—while good in that I usually end up having to do so for at least one meal a week and so would tempt me on a regular basis, also proves problematic in that I usually have to at least once a week. Being in a city doesn’t help, especially when nearly every social outing usually involves eating out. Plus, there’s the grocery store issue—I don’t have a car, and my roommates are now on a polar opposite work schedule from me, working 4 to midnight. So, should I run out of food before we can go to the grocery store at a convenient time for us all, I would have to either go without or I’d have to go out on my own, which would involve a lot of time and effort, as I’d be severely limited in how much I could get since I’d be walking. This would result in more trips and more time that I don’t exactly have in excess already. Also, a lot of planning. It would be a perfect Lenten resolution, though. So, I’m torn. I don’t really know what to do. Thoughts, opinions? I will be going to Bible Study on Monday evenings, though. What are you going to be doing for Lent? Have any ideas for me?

6. Other than helping out with RCIA, I haven’t really done any regular volunteering since high school. I really enjoyed it, though most likely for selfish reasons, and I realized how much I miss it. I’m more or less finally at a point in my life where I have some sort of consistency (well, I will should I officially be hired in 10 or so weeks) and volunteering would actually be feasible. I know I don’t have a lot of free time, so I don’t know how smart of an idea it is, but I’m considering volunteering at the Home for Little Wanderers. I’d like to be a mentor. It would require 2-4 hours a week with a mentee (in “at-risk circumstances”) for a year or longer. You have to go to an orientation meeting (the next one is 29 March), fill out an application and references, and have an interview. I know it’s a lot of effort, but it’s a cause that’s very close to my heart.

7. Speaking of Bible study, each week it starts off with everyone introducing themselves and answering a question. We were asked what we would choose to do if we were 10 again for a full day, neither retaining the experiences or knowledge we’ve gained since then, and being allowed to do anything at all (within reason, of course). I said that I’d like a large white room, furniture completely removed, and 10 paint cans so I could go at it. I suppose I’d like rollers and paintbrushes, but I think that pouring paint and using my hands would be even more fun. What about you? What would you choose?

As always, more quick takes can be found over at Conversion Diary.