ArtisticallyChill

…when she asks you to brush her hair and put it in a ponytail or two while catching up on your favorite shows. It’s also good practice should you have a daughter one of these days!

~ LoneWolf

UPDATE: Her name is Jenevieve Pearl!

Yesterday morning, just two days after my cousin, Fred, and his girlfriend, Noola, blessed us all with baby Nicholas, my brother, John and his wife, Jackie brought into this world a beautiful baby girl! Juliet, their firstborn, is now a big sister! Earlier this morning, Serena and I got a chance to see her for the first time!

Her name is yet to be determined and our whole family is waiting in anticipation!

~ LoneWolf

Hey! Remember me? Though the majority of my summer has been lack luster, our recent trip to San Diego was definitely best highlight of our summer and probably the most memorable experience of 2010. (Hopefully I’ll be able to blog about it sometime before Chicago Comic Con.) We geeked out, hardcore. I met one of my idols (Wil Wheaton) and Serena got so many great portfolio reviews. The most important one being a one-on-one review with one of the senior editors of DC Comics. She definitely has her foot in the door. Who knows, a year from now, she might be pencilling a DC title like Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman!

For me, these last two weeks have yielded an unexpected freelance opportunity, getting closer to taking a whole new career path, and the possibility of leaving for greener pastures.

All is ‘keeping my head above water’ right now. I just landed a freelance gig and it will keep me busy for a while, at least a month maybe more if their deadline gets pushed back based on their schedules.

My WIA Training Application got submitted for approval yesterday. It only took me 3 months to get into the program and another month to get my application packet completed. So hopefully I’ll be hearing some good news next week that I’ll be getting some grant money to go back to school.

I’m taking the beginning steps in setting up two contingency plans should I not get the grant money and the freelance work finishes up sooner than expected.

Contingency 1 – Go back into management at GameStop. It’s not ideal but at least I’ll have money to pay off more of my debt while trying to save money to put myself through the IT classes.

Contingency 2 – Get a job in the Federal Government. My friend in San Diego says there are spots opening up in the VA and I should check the Chicago office for Veteran’s Service Representative positions. They are admin/clerical but require little on the job training. I could work this for a while maybe a year or 2 just to get to the GS9 pay grade. It will definitely pay more so I will have enough money for my bills and still go to classes. Afterwards, I could do a lateral move into an IT position once I finish schooling. Again, not the ideal job but it does offer the chance to move on after getting my certificates.

If no Chicago office positions are available, my friend says I should definitely apply for the San Diego office. He’s been working there since he got out of the Army and says they will be expanding and spots will open quickly. It does make more sense they would expand since San Diego is a military town with the Naval base and Marine Corps depot.

I’ve already filled out all the necessary forms to apply. I just need to get copies of my college transcripts and write an essay of sorts. But my friend says I shouldn’t have a problem getting in since I am a Veteran.

So I’ve got a lot keeping me busy both in body and mind. As much as I wanna stay close to home, I gotta think about the bigger picture. I hate that I’ve never had the time and money (mostly the money) to hang out with my family and especially the very few individuals I consider friends. I feel like I’ve become so detached from my family and those few friends that I made in high school, college, and whatever this existence is that I’m currently maintaining. Even having a Facebook page doesn’t help because I’m barely on there long enough to really feel like I’m making a connection with those on my friends list.

But enough of my self-loathing. How are you?

~ LoneWolf