The possibilities ahead of me.

My dad loves to tell the story of his first job in a new city, which began on the Monday immediately following a weekend graduation. He was replacing someone - a hard and excellent worker, he had heard - who had recently made a transfer to a different location of the company. Thus, the position needed to be filled quickly.

The apartment my dad rented wasn't ready to move into, though, so he checked into a motel Sunday evening. Unfortunately, he forgot to bring dress shoes to the motel. And since it was Sunday night, the department stores were closed. His only option? Cowboy boots.

So that Monday morning my dad met his new supervisor. As they were shaking hands, the supervisor glanced down at my dad's cowboy boots and said, "Well, you've got some big shoes to fill."

In less-than-one-hundred short days, I'll be graduating. And I don't have a job lined up. Because, honestly?

I have no idea what I want to do.

With the stress of perfecting my résumé, building a folder full of articles about interviewing, etc., and frantically scanning the classifieds, I've developed knots in my shoulder. And a fever blister. I've never had a fever blister before, and the fact that it has taken up residency on my lip is stressing me out even more. The blister itself is small, but the puffiness is unreal. It looks like an unlicensed, underground gypsy-doctor injected my lips with an illegal amount of collagen. Let's go with that story instead. More interesting.

All this to say:

I need to learn to manage my time - a cup of coffee with a friend here, an hour of job research there. I need to remind myself how capable I am, nerves be damned. I need to soak up these last less-than-one-hundred bittersweet days.

And yes, I have some big shoes to fill, but I'm overwhelmingly-happy with the possibilities and opportunities ahead of me. Wish me luck!