This little piggy went to market

One lesson I've learned is to take better care of myself. I've spent way too much time sacrificing my own health in favor of a demanding job or some other stressful situation, ignoring my own needs and paying the price for it later. To that end, I am trying to sleep more, drink a lot of water or juice, and eat better.

Over the past few months I've watched and been somewhat inspired by someone else's regular acquisitions of produce at farmer's market.  My tiny town does have it's own little farmer's market, not of foodstuffs grown on the island, but nearby on the mainland and brought over once a week. You can watch a video and check it out for yourself here.

Unfortunately, the farmer's market takes place on Wednesday mornings and with my work schedule any additional activities can be somewhat.....errrr....challenging. But this week fortune smiled upon me (and the tourist season is winding down) so I was finally able put thought into action.

I too, at long last, Visited The Veggies.

From left to right we have green beans, carrots, and corn.  Yes, I do realize that only 1 of my 3 purchases is a green veg.  But they are all veggies and I do not believe in discrimination on the basis of color, that would be wrong. Now you will want to know what I am going to cook with these.

COOK??? Are you crazed?  Look at my poor weather girl:

She may look to you like she's smiling but trust me, that is a sweat-drenched grimace. Because it is too late in the evening to still be this hot. I am sweating like a pig and there is absolutely no way I'm turning on a stovetop or oven.

I'm sure the green beans and corn can be microwaved (if I turn off the fan to avoid blowing a fuse) sometime in the next few days. And the carrots can be eaten raw with a nice big side of ranch dip! 'Cause that's healthy, right?

Miaow Miaow does not approve

Living in a tourist destination does mean frequent interaction with a broad spectrum of the island's seasonal visitors, not just during the work day, but sometimes at home too. The house next door to mine on one side is owned by a very large family. During the fall and winter it sits vacant for months on end, and all is peaceful and quiet. But starting in the late spring and throughout the summer it's occupied for a constantly changing variety of vacationers as each branch of the family takes their turn at the house. And after almost ten years, whether or not they know me, I recognize and remember them. And not necessarily in a good way.

Today was my day off so I slept in later than usual, and then finally rose to enjoy a lovely sunny morning out on the balcony, sipping coffee and knitting, and then after a bit, slowly watering the plants while the cat mooched around nearby, purring contentedly. 

Then suddenly, in that ear-piercing, glass-shattering voice that only small girl children can produce....

"LOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!!!

MIAOW MIAOW!!!!!!!!!"

The personage so addressed took that as a cue to dive under the stairs and take refuge far behind the house. Can you blame her?

We do not approve of this sort of behavior. 

Make it go away.  Now.

You could get whiplash...

trying to keep up with my mood swings.

Seriously, one day I am just fine and dandy - logging in hours behind the cash register at the bookstore, reading chapters in textbooks or study guides and taking notes, tackling home repair projects, sending out application letters and resumes, and brainstorming ideas and making plans for the future - getting things done. 

Then the next day I am curled up in bed bawling my eyes out, thinking that quitting work to go back to school and get my degree was the biggest mistake ever, terrified and panicking that I won't be able to find a job and/or support myself in this town and will have to leave the place I love, so the choice I made that was supposed to improve my life has actually destroyed it. (Sound crazy? Hey, I never said it was rational.)

Unfortunately lately there's been more of the latter than the former. So while yeah, I guess I could use a bit of a pep talk, there's something else I could use even more.

Income ideas. Online options. Freelance work suggestions.  Something, probably multiple somethings, that I can do to bring in money after I complete my degree in December and if, just IF, none of the current leads I'm pursuing pan out and I do not have a full-time job. 

Here's my current list of ideas:

• Brush up my graphic design skills and open a Cafe Press shop.
  
• Dust off my old jewelry-making hobby and sell stuff on Etsy.
  
• Go back to school and train to be a manicurist. (No kidding - a friend owns a salon and thinks I should give this a shot.)
  
• Advertise myself as home and pet-sitter.

So - whaddaya think? Got any more thoughts? If you want to help but feel like you don't know me well enough, I'll even send you a copy of my resume so you can see what I've done in the past. At this point, I'm open to considering almost anything!

As the philosopher Jagger once said...

This appears to be my theme song lately. 

It's been in my head - now it's in yours!

*Bonus brownie points if you caught the title reference. :)