Breakfast with Amber

June 2023: DOES IT HAVE A WASHER AND DRYER?

You thought that was the end of the book, didn't you? Well, I might have graduated college, but it's only been 46 months. I want to do the full 48, so let's find out what happened to Daphne after she graduated.

Like I said before, I moved back in with my parents with the intent to move out once I found a job, and when I say find a job, I mean find a job. My job search would no longer be something I did in the evening. As my dad put it, finding a job would become my job, by which I mean I'd spend six hours a day every weekday researching companies, looking through job postings, and applying. I had a spreadsheet where I'd lay out my daily schedule for each week telling me when I'd do different tasks both work-related and non-work-related because I still needed time to write, play Animal Crossing, and make videos. (Okay, maybe not need, but these were still things I wanted to keep up with.)

I spent the first week after graduating relaxing, but after that, it was time to hit the bricks. The first two companies I wanted to apply to were Fox 26 in Houston and KRIS, another news station all the way in Corpus Christi that was run by the Scripps Media Company, which I discovered was also the people who run the Scripps National Spelling Bee every year. I made it my homework to watch the Spelling Bee, which was on the very next week on May 31 and June 1.

As I began my new job-finding-a-job, I realized that completing these tasks took faster than the time I allotted for them, so I drummed up a list of things I could do if I didn't have anything else, and one of them was searching for an apartment because not only would I need a job, I needed a place to live, so I'd start browsing Apartments.com for apartment listings in Houston, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio in case any of the jobs I applied to there got back to me.

That week, Dad and I also decided to take a trip to my grandparents' lake house on Lake Livingston. It was just me and Dad because Mom was probably off in Virginia helping Aunt Margaret and Brad take care of Zoe. I don't remember if I only scheduled work for myself in the morning or if I took the whole day off on the 25th because we spent the afternoon driving down to Lake Livingston and getting our stuff unpacked. On the 26th, I got back to work.

I decided to set up shop in the study at the front of the house. It had an echo, and the fan didn't work, which is why in episode 27 of my Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope playthrough, there's an echo, and I complain that it's warm and the fan doesn't work. The morning was dedicated to researching the Scripps Media Company, and in the afternoon, I'd finally fill out some applications. For my background noise, I put on a video the Game Grumps uploaded of The Black Cauldron for the NES. I distinctly remember Dan saying, "Arin, I have never come this close to kissing another man." It was all a good time.

I had lunch and returned to my work-hole. I got the pre-application jitters and decided to check my e-mail for funsies, and what do I find but an e-mail from City Year saying, "Hi Daphne,

"It is with great pleasure that we offer you an AmeriCorps member position with City Year San Antonio for the 2023-2024 service year!"

I was free! I had employment! (Technically, it's "paid volunteer service," but I'm working and getting paid. What else do you call that?) I grabbed my laptop and ran into the kitchen where Dad was still eating lunch to show him the offer. We both celebrated and shared the news with Mom. They gave me a week to accept or decline the offer. Mom and Dad suggested I get some more information before making the offer, but I was just thinking, "What else is there to learn about? Let's go, baby!"

I finally accepted the offer on May 31, and even though I didn't need to apply to jobs anymore, there was still a whole checklist of things to do, again including finding housing, but at least I knew I was living in San Antonio, and one of the handy resources City Year gave me was a list on Google Maps of apartment complexes that City Year members had previously stayed at, so they should be within my price range, right?