A month of updates

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 -- Started blog break. Husband brought me 'crazy daisy' flowers :)

Wednesday, August 27 - - Husband had been promising to wash dishes for a few days. I was just giving him time, as I knew he would get around to it, not to mention I didn't have the time to bother with it. We were in the middle of watching "Scrubs". It was around midnight, and he decided he would start washing dishes. Suddenly, I heard "Oh my God, Oh my God". I turned to look, and said "What!?". Husband made a quick turn toward me and blood spattered on the counter! I guess a glass had broke in the sink and slit his hand open. We quickly wrapped his hand and made our way to the ER. Two hours, and eight stitches later we were finally driving out of the ER parking lot.

(Husband's wound... click the photo if you want to see...)

It was a PAY PARKING LOT! Seriously. Who ever heard of having to pay to park at the ER? We dug around the car floor long enough to find enough change to pay the meter so we could leave.

August 29 - - We go to the State Fair each August 29, for our monthly anniversary celebration!



I LOVE the MN State Fair! The food, the music, the parade... it is all great!



Husband and I don't "do" rides at the fair, except one per year. This year, it was the "Big Slide"!



As I was sitting on the slide -- I got a call... about my future job! She left a message asking me to call back, After situating myself in a 'quiet' area of the fair (the pig barn) I called back and was offered a position! I was SO excited! What a perfect day!

August 30 -- Went to a friend's House warming party.

August 31 -- Husbands family came to visit. We decided to visit the zoo for the afternoon.




September 8 -- Started at my Job! I am working at a community college as an advisor/coordinator for a group of at risk students. I was so nervous, however it was (and still is) great. I love every minute of it!

September 12 -- Left for NE Wedding. Spent the night somewhere near Omaha.

September 13 -- Met our puppy! Husband's family is looking after him until we get a house!

September 18 --Met with mortgage broker! We are pre-approved for a house! :-)
September 19 -- Met with our Realtor!
September 21 --Husband went to first Vikings football game. I worked on conference planning.
September 27 -- Went house hunting! We had been searching on the internet ever since I graduated in May, thus we have had a few picked out, not to mention a favorite or 2. After narrowing them down to our ultimate favs, we ended up seeing 3. We are kind of in love with one of the homes, and thinking about making an offer... I am so nervous about this process. I really like this house, and don't want to loose it...
September 28 -- I did a bunch of cleaning. I'm trying to not think about the house, however I'm so anxious. Husband is going to call the Realtor tomorrow...


So that I my month in a nutshell! It was a busy month, however I wasn't able to work on my blog. I really need to update my blog roll, graphic changes, and a few behind the scenes stuff, such as backing up my blog! Hopefully those things will soon happen! However, one step at a time! :)

Holy Cow!

Has it really been nearly a month!? GEEZ! I didn't intend on taking that kind of break. however I must admit it was good to relax and take care of life.

I plan to have a full update and be back full steam into blogging on Friday September 26. I decided if I am this close to having a full month off, might as well finish it off.

However, I wanted to let you all know I'm here, still reading your blogs, and still planning a come back. :-)




AND




I wanted to let you all know





thank you for your kind words of encouragement and understanding!



Oh



AND . . .

I GOT A JOB!!!!

Friday Fill In #84

Friday Fill-Ins #84

1. You know you're old when you remember your mom turning the age you are turning and the kids you used to babysit are having kids (at least for me... I'm experiencing both of these...)

2. My heart is divided between working and staying at home.

3. However, a job is what I need RIGHT NOW!

4. I have felt the joy of not working for the summer, however I have known the depths of frustration when finding a job I really want and love and then not getting it!

5. Gah, won't these people hire me already!

6. Relax and enjoy as soon as you can!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to "finishing" cleaning out my mini pantry, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with Husband and Sunday, I want to completely relax!

It seems I have finding a job on the brain! :- )

If you haven't already, answer my question of the day here... What is your dream job?

If you could be anything...

My job searching has gotten me thinking about finding my passion in life, what I'm really supposed to be doing, and what job will truly make me happy.

Thus, I'm now asking you...

What is your dream job?
...common now... I'm asking you :) This is your chance to dream big!

Tuesday Updates!

Wow! My life has been crazy lately. Here is a bit of what is going on!

• I am in the process of applying to another position. It would be a super position... keeping my fingers crossed!
  
• Our apartment lease was going to be up in October. We had been planning to move out at this time, as we had figured I would have a job, or be starting one soon, and we would be able to have a new place...With this not being the case, we signed on for an additional six months. I'm sad. I really wanted a house, however I know it will come. What is six more month?
• If you were following my Twitter last week, you most likely noticed my conference planning is in full force! It is crazy and I'm overwhelmed. It is a great experience to be involved, but I'll be happy when it is over!
• I went to Office Max yesterday to pick up a couple new dry erase markers. I have been saving my ink cartridges per my discovery, and thought this was the perfect time to use them. I went to Office Max only because of the $3.00 off. Well. in order to redeem the $3. off purchase in exchange for each ink cartridge, they now require one to sign up for their 'rewards' program which now and then sends out a newsletter, in which may have a coupon for one to use with recycling ink cartridges, allowing the $3.00 off. I ended up going to Target for the markers. I need another rewards card like I need more clutter. Ugh. Now I'm torn and frustrated. I still would like to recycle the cartridges. However whether Office Max gives me a discount on my purchase or not, I wonder if they are getting money for recycling them ? (wow...did that make sense? I re-read it, and it almost made my head explode) :-)
  
• Today, I'm in the process of cleaning out our mini pantry. It seems though we have several food items, very few of the items go together to make a meal. Thus, I'm reorganizing and writing a grocery list to compliment what we already have!

Have a great day!

Where has the summer gone?

I have been so busy with weddings, showers, conference planning and job hunting I have nearly forgotten to enjoy my summer 'off'. Huh. Summer off, yeah right. It seems like regardless of my employment status, I have put in at least 40 hours a week all summer (maybe even overtime)!

This last weekend I was at a cousin's wedding.




Monday I spent the day with my bff K for her birthday! We had lunch at Dave and Buster's and then drove to Stillwater to walk through the cute shops and go on the trolley tour. The tour was full, so instead of basking in the sun on a trolley full of hot sweaty people, we hunted out some ice cream. We had ice cream and french fries... It turned out to be perfect!




Monday night I applied for another job! This one required me to create a username and password and entire application on their site. I had to retype all my resume into their forms. Plus they asked for way more information than I was prepared for! I was so nervous about hitting "submit".

Today I spent the day organizing conference materials and then going to a prep meeting. Honestly, I am so ready for this conference to be over. However I do enjoy meeting at Caribou Coffee. It gives the the excuse I need to have one of these! Yes, even when it is 90 degrees outside...

On my way home from the meeting, I stopped at Costco to pick up a pizza for our monthly anniversary! :-) A 16 inch pizza, already cooked pizza for $9.95. Yummy! However they only take cash or checks at the food counter and of course neither of which was in my bag, SO I went to the food section and just grabbed one to cook at home. Same pizza, uncooked, but cost $9.99. What... back up. Strange. Plus, they take debit at the regular check outs, just not the food court. Whatever!

So Husband and I celebrated our July 08 anniversary with costco pizza and tv. We are getting a little not so creative with these monthly deals. Hmm. (Honey,we need to work on that!). It is getting somewhat repetitive of eating out and tv watching.

Tomorrow, I have another conference meeting (as I do all day on Friday as well!). Ugh.

Plus! There is the Bloggy giveaways going on. These are always so much fun however I'm saddened by the fact that I have been only able to visit a couple other participant blogs with all the craziness going on! Hopefully I'll have a few down moments between now and Friday!

Then next week, I'm hoping to get back on a regular posting schedule! I had been doing so well...

Excited doesn't cover it!

I just got home from my interview! OMG! IT WAS AWESOME! The program, the people, the campus... The more we talked, the more we all connected, the more excited we ALL got! I'm so, so, so... Man, words even escape me!

I need to pack to get moving for my weekend away at the scrapbook event!


What are your weekend plans?

On my mind

• I have an interview on Thursday for a really great position and opportunity. I'm so excited, however nervous and trying not to get my hopes up!
  
• I'll be helping with a scrapbook retreat this weekend! I'm assigned to the photo printing station! :-)
• I haven't packed for the scrapbook retreat. I'll squeeze that in between the interview and leaving for the retreat!
• The apartment is a mess! Before getting the call for the interview, I was sorting some of our treasures to be taken to Good Will, or the dumpster. I guess the mess will have to wait.
• I finally gave in and turned on the air conditioner. I was avoiding it, however today, as of now, it is 86 degrees. The fan wasn't cutting it.
• Speaking of it being super hot outside. I have nothing cool and comfortable to wear to the interview! I'm not looking forward to my suit. :(

Feeling overwhelmed and unispired

I have spent the last couple days dealing with spiders. It all started when I noticed one crawling on my ceiling. However one turned to six and I panicked. Apartment living dosen't allow me to do much other than squish the things and wipe down their webs. I would love to be able to wash the webs off the outside of my windows and maybe do a little spraying around the place, however I guess this forces me to look for less toxic solutions. In searching the internet, it seemed there were many opinions and ideas, however I ended up getting a few sticky traps (typically used for mice) to put in the middle of spider highway, and some orange pine sol to wipe down around the windows and where I find webs. I keep trying to tell myself they keep away all the other creepy crawlies, however I feel itchy and icky just thinking about it.

Do you have any certain way of ridding your living space of spiders?

My husband's grandparents are coming up tonight, and staying until Thursday. We are all going to Walking With Dinosaurs! I'm super excited, but have so much going on this week, I feel that I might not enjoy it like I should.

My sister's bridal shower is this weekend. I'm running around trying to prep for that. Plus, it is an 8 hour drive away, so it isn't like I can forget anything! In addition, I'm also going to hang out in my home town for it's centennial celebration! Yeah, maybe a little cheesy, especially for a town of 300, but it has potential.

I have gotten in one more application, and am working on another. I'm still nervous about not having a job, but haven't had a lot of time to think about it.

With all of the above I feel like I'm way behind in blogging. I know this isn't good. I should blog for myself, however I have a couple blog posts in the works that I really excited about and want to hit "publish" (such as the long awaited, much promised review of wii fit). Even more than feeling behind, I'm almost feeling uninspired. I have this daily stuff I write about, I complain a lot, and tend to favor the "this and that" posts, however I also want to make this meaningful, for myself and for anyone that happens to read this!

How do you find your blogging balance?

Random thoughts

• Our wedding anniversary is coming up next week! We are going on a road trip to Niagara Falls! I've been trying to clean, pack, organize all this week, and it is starting to come down to the wire! Any advise for the must see in the area?
• When going on vacation, I struggle with packing/getting ready for the trip and also trying to clean my apartment. I hate coming home to a mess.
• I'll try to blog some from our vacation, however we will be camping 1/2 of the time, and not sure if I'll have internet access.
  
• I had my dentist check up/cleaning today. I hate going to the dentist.
• I love wii fit! It is amazingly fun!
• "I need to play Guitar Hero, I'm going through withdrawal" came out of my husbands mouth yesterday, after we had played wii fit for hours the day before!
• Being done with school hasn't hit me completely. I think once summer session classes start without me I'll have to sit and reflect.
• I'm missing some of my friends, even friends (like K!) that aren't from school. I just haven't been able to hang out with them for awhile!
• I have a 3 person tent set up in my living room. We wanted to make sure all the pieces were there! :-)
• My TMJ is acting up. I haven't blogged about it before as It is an on going issue I could complain about every day.
• I didn't get the "dream job" that I was ambivalent about and have been going on and on about for months. I was one of 2 finalists and I received a call yesterday letting me know they had offered it (and it was accepted by) the other finalist. I have mixed feelings. I'm happy that I don't have to decide, as I don't know what I would have done. It was part time and the drive would have been frustrating with gas prices. However, it would have been an income. Plus in the kind of office I would LOVE to work in.
• I hate spiders.
  

Ridiculously Ambivalent

Remember this dream job I have been ogling now for months, and interviewed for just last week? Well now the reasons it may not work are starting to out weigh the reason it would be perfect. However, Even after pondering it, talking to my husband about it, explaining the situation to my friends and co-workers, I have no idea what to do.

To put even more weight on deciding, I have a 2nd round meeting coming up! I was called today to meet in the next 2 days with the President of the College! I felt excited, yet wanted to run the other way. I still feel strong about the job and how it would provide me with many great opportunities, however some things have come up that I'm not sure the good outweigh the not so good.

I don't want to go through with the next meeting (on Wednesday!) if I'm sure I don't want the position. However, I don't want to back out at this point, as 1. I'm a people pleaser. So many people have given me good references, and put in a good word for me. I don't want them to feel it was all for nothing; 2. I really did want this job. However, maybe others will just look at me as an ambivalent mess, and not be as supportive next time.; 3. What if I am really supposed to have this job, take the risk, and become a stronger person through this, and I back out? How do I know? Sure, meditate, pray, talk to others... done all that. Still haven't a clue what to do.

Any other ideas? HELP!!!

Thursday Thirteen #3

Thirteen things to NOT do before an interview... 1.... Do not plant flowers the night before. No matter how hard you try, there will still be dirt in your finger nails. 2... Do not wait until the night before to pick out what to wear. What you want to wear will be dirty and you will have to stay up late to wash it. 3... Do not stay up late the evening before your interview (if you missed it, refer to #2). 4... Do no think about the other job you want to apply to. It becomes very confusing. 5... Do not do anything crafty. If you do, you will end up with marker/paint, or some other random blotch of purple on your palm. 6... Do not get there an hour and a half early. You will be bored and become more anxious. 7... Do not wait to use the bathroom. Go plenty ahead of time (no - no problems here today, I'm just sayin'). 8... Do not plan anything else for the day. You will be tired after and want to rest. 9... Do not convince yourself you are to nervous to eat. Yes, you are nervous. However, I assume you do not want your stomach to answer the questions for you. 10... Do not assume you will want to wear your interview clothes the rest of the day. Do pack something else! 11... Do not attempt to eat yogurt while driving to the interview. This will only end badly. 12... Do not practice questions on the way to the interview. 13... Do not be nervous. Sure a little is okay, but find your happy place. :-) ... I cannot say I experience ALL of these today, however am embarrassed to say I did experience a few... What have been your interview hiccups?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code and visit other Thursday Thirteen Participants here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

What a day!

It was a crazy day today! I woke up late and rushed around the apartment trying to get ready for work. I hurried to leave only to find a moving semi parked behind my car! I kind of gave the moving people a look, and put my bag in the back seat of my car, opened the front door, and stood there, watching the moving people, thinking they would get the idea. Nope. They looked back and me, and kept on doing their thing. Eventually, I sat in my car, and started it. No response. Eventually, I got out, and hollered over to them, "how long are you going to be parked here, I need to go to work!" They looked at one another, strugged and said " don't you have enough room to back out little lady?"

Excuse me!? "Little Lady" ?

I responded, "not really".

Three of them, taking their time, came over, looked around my car, and decided between themselves I indead did have enough room and they would be kind enough to guide me out of the tiny spot.

So as I went back and forth, and back and forth I went. Now and then one would holler, "ooh, that is about far enough back little lady, pull it forward" So, with two men in my rear view mirror and one in the front of my car, I eventually got out of my tiny spot.

By the time I was off to work, I was not happy. Sure, I don't look 25, however I'm obviously old enough to drive a car and rent an apartment. Additionally, I'm married. I did not appreciate them calling me "little lady" and treating me like I was 12.

So I was late to work. I did A LOT of paper work today at work. I have only one week left and it sure did sneak up on me. This job is an internship position that ends with my graduation. While at work, I received a message from the HR at Dream job!! I was starting to think they just were not going to call! They offered me an interview. I excitedly called back, accepted and scheduled an interview for next Thursday! I am so excited, but very nervous. I get so anxious about new people and being on the spot. It just isn't my thing.

Any interview tips? I'm interviewing to work with college students at a 2 year institution...

After I called HR back, I shut my office door and did a little happy dance! :-) I'm SO excited about this!

After work I met my husband to go out for the 29th and to meet a few of his friends from work. After, we walked around the mall, trying to walk off all the food!

We came home, checked emails, did dishes, laundry, sent a graduation email with directions, times, etc, and I'm working to get together stuff to prep for my interview next week!

Let the job search begin!

For the last year, I have had my eye on job openings, watching for trends, job requirements, and preferred qualifications. I can’t say I used all of this information to my benefit. I could have volunteered more, or tried to find more experiences to be able to fit myself into a wide variety of positions. Yet, here I am, still sitting on a handful of experiences, many similar to my peers. Sure, there are a few things that set me apart from others, but will it be enough?

I have many interests in student affairs, yet I of course have in mind a 'dream job'. I have had experience in it and singularly, enjoy it the most out of all the others. My only concern is, Can I get this job!? How long should I wait for my dream job? I graduate in May, what do I do if I’m not employed by June... July... August...? In addition, there are other students in my cohort interested in this type of job.

Yesterday my dream job came open! I was super excited! I was reading through the post, and it seems items on my resume would cover all of the requirements, and many of the preferred qualifications. I was nearly dancing around the room. And then, I saw it. "50% time" UGH! You've got to be kidding me!

Now, I'm stuck in a rock and a hard place. I really want this job, however really need a full time job (need is a strong word... maybe "want, prefer, financially would be easier" would be a better way to put it). I don't know what to do. I could at least apply, but if I'm not serious about the job, shouldn't bother.

Let's work on a list...

Pros of this job opportunity:

• It really is my dream job - as far as position. I cannot speak for the institution, or office environment...
• It involves teaching! With my master's degree this is hard to come by, but would LOVE it!
• From what I can find, the job would provide me with opportunities to be innovative, start new projects and build on old ones.
  
• It is at a small school. I really didn't want to work for a campus that was more populated than the county I grew up in. :)
• It might be the only position in this exact field that opens up in the next few months (or longer).
  
• My schedule would possibly be more flexible to visit family, take a long weekend with my husband, etc.
• If my husband and I decided to have children, I would be able to be a 1/2 time stay at home mom :)
• Even having 1/2 time experience in this would give me leverage when/if I applied for a full time job.
  
• I could use the other time to do many other things: Professional development, a 2nd 'fun' job (I always have wanted to be a professional crafter, or photographer...), catch up on my 'to do' list.
  

Reasons this job may not work:

• It is only a 50% time job, which is of course 50% pay.
  
• It is exactly 62 miles from my husband's work place. We could move somewhere between and it wouldn't be terrible, but still.
• What if another dream job opens up, that is 100%, but I have already accepted the 50% job?
• There is an April start date. I'm not sure how flexible this is, and I do not graduate until early May.