I once melted a cup in the microwave.

I totally did. It was a plastic cup. I had gotten this soap kit-- one that had molds and soap and instructions to put the soap in the molds then microwave them to make soaps of all sorts of shapes. So, I put the mold and the hunk of soap in a cup so it wouldn't stick to the bottom of the microwave, and I commenced with the microwaving. Well. That plastic cup just didn't stand up to the intense... microwaves, and it began to bubble and eventually the side collapsed in and started running down the center of the cup. I--being nine years old-- just watched it. Because it was interesting.

Eventually, though, the smell alerted my mom, and she came in and started freaking out about it. The cup was ruined, the soap was ruined, and the house smelled like burning plastic. But I did learn not to put plastic cups in the microwave.

The reason I wrote the first point is because I'm about to make another...

I've spent the last... 6 months worrying to the extent that it's began giving me stress pimples and messing up my menstrual cycle. About not having a job, about my parents hating my boyfriend, about what we're going to do when my dad can't find a job either. And now, I have job possibilities in the (near) future, and my mom is already trying to influence me to the point where I want to say something mean.

There are two places that I have been to interviews with this week, and one said they were going to call me back for orientation. But, I thought in case that didn't work out, I should have a backup, so I also had another interview with a job in a city closer to where I live. Already my mom is telling me that, since the second job is shorter hours, I should pick it. She's always trying to drop subtle hints, like 'working 12 hours is so hard', and 'you know you don't like going over the bridge to get to Smithville'.

But I want the first job. I knew I wanted it before I even went for the interview. It pays more, it's further away, and it's in a place that I would enjoy living. Even though I know that, the doubts my mom keeps planting in my head show up, and they get me frazzled. They just stress me out more, because I never know if I'm making the best decision for me.

That's just it. I can't know unless I just do it. Like when I learned not to microwave plastic cups, I will learn something from this experience as well.