Some say the glass is half empty, some say the glass is half full, I say, are you going to drink that? —Lisa Claymen

Everything you have to overcome in life has the 12-Step, 5-Step, or n^th-Step program.  They are all pretty much the same motivational gibberish that supposedly helps one through their tough time.  The first step is usually something like denial, and then admittance and the ultimate goal is acceptance or helping others through their difficult life. 

Denial and Isolation-I don’t deny I have a problem, but the isolation thing could be happening, but hey that is not something I planned on.  I mean I live in a town of a thousand people, the closest “big” town is 35 miles away and with the outrageous price of petrol and the total of 27 buckeroos in my bank account, I am some what stuck.  So I keep myself busy with important work like watching my Irish documentaries, listening to Irish music, reading Irish books, writing my blogs, “facebook researching,” organizing my library of books for the n^th time, and occasionally looking at jobs and working on applications.  Don’t forget my shower and getting dressed about 5p.m.

Admit you have a problem- Well it doesn’t take a genius to see that I have a problem.  Normal people don’t mope around the house in their PJs all day saying that they miss everything about Dublin.  They also don’t usually cry at their graduation ceremony because they are graduating.  Nor do they “facebook research” all the people they know from Dublin or International students they lived with to see what they are up to.  They probably also don’t talk about themselves like there are parallel worlds (e.g. 3a.m. California time- “I’m going over the maths homework right now.”  Not, “I would be going over the maths homework right now if I were still in Dublin”).  Admitting I have a problem—tick that off.

Recognize that a higher power can give you strength- Well hello, that is also easy.  The higher strength that starts with a “G” is not up to par in the states though.  Guinness is only good in Dublin.  They try to sell it to unsuspecting, unknowledgeable Americans, but once you’ve had the real deal, you can’t pretend that it’s good here.    Recognizing that a higher power can give you strength-tick that off  (Hey it literally does give you strength—that’s how I got my daily iron intake)

So then there are other steps that I could bore you with, but for your sanity and mine, I’ll just skip over a few to helping others who are suffering like you.

Helping others -Not to this step yet because I feel like being selfish for once in my life.  I think I’m going to help myself here.  Yep, I’m going to help myself get back to Ireland, which means I have to accept being back in California.

Acceptance-So I accept that I am back in California.  Tick this off.  I’m back to my old routine of a whole lot of nothingness.  I accept that to be able to go back to Dublin, I must get a job.  Unfortunately, $27 dollars won’t get me very close to Dublin.  Heck that can’t even get me to Dublin, California.  So now, after a week of being home, I am ready to get cracking (not craicing) on job applications. 

Only three hours and forty minutes until I can download Henrietta Game’s single off of iTunes =)