I Could Be Walking

Today my tripod and I decided to go out to the back porch and experiment with some night photography. I ended up using the foliage setting on my camera, which is by far the setting I use most, because it makes the colors richer and stranger. The most challenging part was trying to work with the lighting on my face. I usually ended up completely in shadow, or looking like my skin was weirdly glowy.

It's a bummer the detail of my shoes is obscured, cause they're awesome. They are my trusty old man shoes, and I worked them with the librarian sweater/blouse combo in honor of my last day of working the desk at the library. Actually, I just got dressed with no agenda except to wear jeans for casual Friday, and later on realized the possible symbolism of my attire.

I still have three more days of work at the library, but all those will be spent doing secret behind-the-scenes things. Meaning, I work in Technical Services part time and put labels on magazines and other such things. All the days I have left of work there will be in the non-public aspects of my job, and training my coworkers who will be taking on my responsibilities. So, in a sense, a big part of what I have been doing the last three years ended today. I am sad to leave. More than anything, this feeling is akin to the end of school emotions I used to get each summer. I have moved so much since graduating college, but had only a couple of jobs, and I have worked at the library longer than anywhere else. I am grateful to get away from the few frustrations I had to deal with there, but overwhelmingly it will be hard to leave my fantastic coworkers, some of the best people I have ever worked with. And I will miss being able to tell people I work at the library when they ask what I do. To hold such a position elicits instant respect, and often jealousy, from others.

But the good news is, I am set to start a whole new job on Tuesday, and I will be working full-time with benefits for the first time ever. I know it will be a big adjustment, and a part of me is whining about the fact that I'm putting on my big-girl pants and growing up. But I am excited to be able to afford life again, maybe even throw a bit into my long-neglected savings account. And the job is a step up for sure, as I will be Advertising Coordinator at a small local publishing company that puts out four newspapers. I'm not exactly sure what my job is going to entail, so I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. Everyone at the library has been super encouraging and supportive, especially my bosses, though they are of course devastated to lose me.

Look out adulthood, here I come. I promise to keep reading Harry Potter and Mo Willems and shopping in the children's section and eating frosting straight out of the container and...okay, so maybe I'm not ready for adulthood. But here I go anyway.