Details, Details...

I hate shopping, hate it so much that I will get bread and eggs from wok and skip grocery shopping for up to three months at a time (hey, you can do that when you don't have kids). Then when it gets to the point where it can be avoided no longer (what, the family doesn't want pb&j for Thanksgiving dinner?) I shop for four our five hours and find that it really isn't as bad as I think it is. In fact, today I almost enjoyed myself.

So part of running around today included a much needed trip to the bank. While there, I mentioned to our banker that I had applied at the branch by our house and was pretty sure I had bombed the interview. He says "Hang on," and comes back to tell me that they want me at that branch. I had an impromptu interview on the spot, during which my phone wouldn't stop ringing and was told to email my resume. We shall see, I suppose.

After running my errands I get home and notice in our quest to make sure there aren't holes in the walls and that all the rooms have doors, we have neglected to tackle the office. Let me preface this by saying that you cannot walk through our office. There are two places to step and if you can't get to where you need to be by hitting those two steps, you are out of luck. I debated for about thirty seconds about whether to make a half-hearted attempt to straighten up or to just push everything in and shut the door. I think that it will have to be a project for another day. The rest of the house looks awesome though, and I am really looking forward to seeing my family. I will try and post some pictures after Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Tuesday Mornings

My goal on Tuesdays is to get out of bed in time to take the trash down. Why I can't remember to take it down Monday night is beyond me, but this is a typical scenario. I crawl into bed and remember that tomorrow is trash day. At this juncture the question is do I want to wake up early to get it down in the morning or get out of bed right then, put shoes and a coat on, and take it down that night? At the point where I am already horizontal, do it in the morning always wins. I usually nudge Rob at this point and ask if he can do it, but as he goes to bed before me, he talks in his sleep and says yes. Inevitably, that doesn't happen. We go a couple weeks between trash pickups a lot...

So this particular Tuesday morning, I was up at eleven, but didn't remember to check the trash situation until I heard the garbage truck down the street. I let Bob out with me when I went out, but my fierce hunter-killer cat turned into a 20lb. projectile when the garbage truck pulled up. Apparently doors will open magically if you launch yourself into the door repeatedly and howl. Bob, your ancestors would be ashamed of you.

Middle of the Night Rambling

I am in heaven. My favorite pizza place in the whole world, which was formerly confined to Muncie has expanded and now has a location 20 minutes from my house. I am meeting a dear friend for lunch tomorrow and I will be eating Greek's pizza for the first time in almost four years. I don't know how I am going to sleep, I am so excited. Silly isn't it?

Chaos Studies

We are studying work methods in my project management class and the discussion question this week asked if working in chaos was an acceptable practice. Hmmm... Looking around, I would say in home practice yes, business practice, no. The question is: If you manage your life in chaos at home is it possible to work the opposite way at work? Can your desk at home look like an evil twin of your professional workspace? And if you do function that way, is it like having split personalities? What is the problem exactly with working in chaos? Nothing...if you can function well in it except, no one else can understand your system without you. So my new question is: Is working is chaos some sort of control mechanism, a way to ensure that your are needed? One thing is for sure, my husband would need help navigating my filing system...guess he is stuck with me!

Job Interviews

Synopsis of my job interview on Friday:

Thoughts are in parentheses. In case I actually get the job, I will reveal only that it is a repetitive, part time job that requires constant interaction with customers. I applied because it is in the field I would like to work in, and I don't intend to actually stay at the bottom very long.

Him: Tell us about your work history?
Me: Well, I have been a minion of Outback Steakhouse and helped people make unhealthy food choices for five years and before that I built databases to help telemarketers maximize the money they could pump from people.
Him: Why are you applying for this position?
Me: I want to have my self-respect back
Him: So you have been in food service? When did you graduate from highschool?
Me: In '01. College in '06.
Him: Oh? You have a college degree? Why are you still in food service?
Me: I hate myself. Oh! and because I enjoy the flexibility, no one cares if you work overtime when you make $2/hr.
Him: What would you say that your greatest strengths are?
Me: My eyes, my feet, and the fact that most of the time they communicate well enough to avoid major accidents.
Him: What are your greatest weaknesses?
Me: The fact that I bore easily, am way too intelligent for this position, and I really don't care for people.
Him: Tell me of a specific time you dealt with an angry customer and how you fixed the situation?
Me: (For real?) Well, I work at a restaurant so I deal with people that are unhappy on a regular basis. First we notify the kitchen, then we, etc., etc., etc...
Him: But a specific instance....
Me: Well, yesterday the lady wanted her steak medium and it was a little too red so we fixed it and she lived happily ever after, the day before that, a man wanted his steak well done, but he said it was burnt, we fixed it and he lived happily ever after. Also, sir, I am glad to report that not one of my customers has ever sued the restaurant.
Him: Yes but specifically, how were they angry?
Me: (Stare at him like my eyes have lasers!)
Him: Nevermind, I guess that will do. Moving on, where do you see yourself in five years?
Me: (It's eight o'clock in the morning, so...in bed?) Working as your boss or President of the United States if they lower the age restrictions by then.
Him: Are you fluent in any other languages?
Me: Sarcasm
Him: I see you are working on your masters, what school is that through?
Me: (and you were surprised I had a B.A.?) Kaplan
Him: The online school? Why aren't you enrolled in a real program?
Me: It is a real program, what school is your masters degree from?
Him: I don't have one
Him: Moving along, what is your availability?
Me: Completely open, but I am still working at Outback so I need some sense of when I would be working.
Him: Well, you would only be working on Monday, Friday and Saturday
Me: So I could tell Outback the other days are fine to schedule me?
Him: It is really important you have a completely open availability, if there were a schedule conflict between Outback and us which would you work?
Me: I have worked at Outback for five years and Outback pays twice as much as you do,
Him: I would need your assurance that we would come out on top in scheduling conflicts.
Me: (What?) I don't have the position yet sir...
Him: The uniform is black bottoms, could you comply with that?
Me: (Look down in disbelief as I am wearing black bottoms). I have worn black bottoms to work for the last 7 years, I don't have a problem with black.
Him: Well, we have a few other candidates to interview, but we like you and should be giving you a call soon.
Me: (Sure you will) Thank you sir.

Now obviously I didn't actually smart off to the nice rather stupid man, but the interview definitely followed along those lines although it was considerably longer and more tedious. I am left wondering if I actually want to work for him. He seemed to desire that I smile more, but I have it on good authority from my other boss that I look creepy when I smile all the time.

Hmmm

Life has no meaning except in terms of responsibility...

--Faith and History
Reinhold Nieburh

Couch Observations

Day three of being stuck on the couch:
Observation One: Turns out you can be 24 and still need a babysitter. This morning Rob called work to let them know that they could start a meeting without him because my babysitter hadn't shown up yet. I laughed and told him that I could be alone for an hour or so and it wouldn't kill me. On a positive note, the surgery went well and I am healing. Today I felt better than I have the last couple days. I can go to the bathroom all by myself and I even made my own toast this morning.
My second observation is that I am really glad that we cleaned the living room before the surgery. I am pretty sure if I were stuck on the couch in a dirty living room, I would be going a little nuts. Instead, I am able to work on homework and attempt to read The Brother's Karamazov (are you proud of me, Tom?). Amazingly it is working nearly as well as the painkillers at putting me to sleep.
Third Observation: Kyle and Ryan are really sweet. They sent me flowers that smell wonderful. They are sitting on the coffee table right next to me and they really perk up the room. If I am stuck here then it is nice to have something pretty to look at.
Fourth Observation: Thanksgiving is next week. I am really excited to see my family and to show off our awesome house. Rob and I have done a lot of work on it over the summer and fall and it is really coming together. We have a couple of minor projects left and then it is done!
Sorry I am not more interesting today but my last couple days have been spent in dreamland sans the dreams.

Us vs. The Piano

I get to host Thanksgiving this year. No problem, I was the one that proposed this arrangement. Problem #1: the way the living and dining room are laid out, we can fit our dining room table in the main area but not the chairs. Hmmm.... Problem #2: we would like to put up the Christmas tree except the only place to put it is right next to the fireplace and something tells me that is a bad idea. Problem #3: We have a very heavy piano. No problem, we will move the living roomaround...except we have one long wall and a bunch of short angled walls with things like doorways limiting their usefulness and the piano currently occupies the middle of the long wall.

So we met tonight for a strategy planning session. We have magic sliders (best invention ever) which allow you to play with your furniture arrangement without throwing out your back. Unfortunately, these wonderful disks don't work on pianos, well they would if you could lift a piano vertically, but we can't so that leaves us trying to figure out the ideal arrangement beforehand. The goal is to only move the piano once. Our options are all the way across the room or down the long wall six feet. We pick the six feet option. Conveniently, with the piano now in the dining room, the dining room light is centered on the piano, providing a very beautiful arrangement. I think it looks nice and hope we don't have to move anything the rest of the time we live here! We moved in in April and it just now starting to look and feel like a home. now if we can just avoid moving for a while...I have a feeling that is something that will have to be left up to God and the army. Happy Holidays everyone!

Motivational Tools

My friend Tom and I have formed a book club. The unnamed book club functions as follows. We picked five books off our bookshelves (except neither of us could narrow it down to five) that we had purchased because they were classics or we were overly ambitious, one or the other but had not read because they were too intimidating. The premise was that we would read them together. To give you a little background, I love to read, I read all the time, I don't get anything else done because I read all the time (Hint: when you go to school full time, this is a bad thing). I start a book and can't put it down (it's a disease). Anyway, Tom and I pick for our first selection The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. We set a reasonable goal of 120 or so pages in two weeks. Almost two months later, neither of us has hit that mark. That our book club is not functioning properly is not the point. The fact that I promised not to read anything else until we finished that book is the point. I have turned in projects ahead of time, worked extra shifts, gotten around to stuff around the house I thought would never get done, run errands, etc. I think that Dostoevsky is the best thing to ever happen to me.

Boll Weevil

We lived in what is known as the Wiregrass Region during our Alabama stint. On the map we had of Alabama, it described the regions and what they were known for. For example, the plantation region is known for its beautiful mansions. The Wiregrass Region is known for overcoming the boll weevil by diversifying their crops. Of all the things for a region to put in a tourist brochure. On a positive note, to signify their triumph over the boll weevil, the town right next to the base, Enterprise, AL, had erected a statue of a woman holding a boll weevil over her head. The boll weevil monument remains the only monument of an agricultural pest. Go figure.

A Cautionary Tale

Once upon a time a little girl decided to bite off more than she could chew. She choked on her mouthful and died. Or rather, she found herself sitting in front of a half painted wall on a Friday night and thinking that it might be easier to move than finish all of her projects. She also considered that six months ago when the projects were planned out, two months seemed like a reasonable outside estimate for the completion date of said projects. Then, when life and pure undilluted laziness interfered, she set a new date for Thanksgiving when she would have a houseful of company. Thinking she had plenty of time, she put off the aforementioned projects until last night. Realizing that Thanksgiving was two weeks away, she panicked, set her alarm for very early, and went to bed. In the morning (or afternoon as it were) her subconscious decided that getting up early was not very much fun and turned the alarm off for her. Due to the rebellion of the subconscious, she logged eleven hours of sleep and didn't get anything done. And that, boys and girls, is how she came to be sitting in front of a half painted wall and daydreaming about how little stuff she would need if she were to live in her car.



Note: I am not procrastinating by playing on the blog, I am waiting for paint to dry. I do actually learn from mistakes and have been amazed at how much better painting turns out when you let it dry between coats. My mommy always told me, if you do something, do it well. Turns out, she was right. Luckily, I have matured and now have the patience for that sort of thing.

Here and Now

The leaves are changing here. I drove out in the country the other day (on a fruitless mission for cheaper gas) and ended up roaming around enjoying the scenery. I am going to try and go out on Sunday to get some pictures. We have lived in Indy for a little over two years now. Living in a big city is something I always wanted to do and it has been an awesome experience, but part of me misses the country. I miss not having neighbors, the quiet, and the stars not being dimmed by city lights. I miss the pace of small town life. Someday, hopefully, we will end up with a quiet place in the country where we can enjoy our mornings with coffee on the front porch. For now, we have our place, just outside the loop, where our morning coffee is laced with dreams, prayers, hopes and plans for the future. For now, that is enough for me.

My Children

My cats beg for release from their prison every morning (a spacious house we rent solely for their comfort). They dash outside go ten feet from the front door and eat grass for five minutes, then scratch at the door to be let in (or sooner if an airplane flies over). If I oversleep, they try to expedite the process with claws (as they can only manage sliding doors and doorknobs with lever handles on their own) which motivates me to trim their claws more frequently. I don't get it. Once they are back inside they wind around my ankles as I make breakfast, trying to kill me which makes no sense to me as I am the only one of the four of us that knows how to operate a doorknob. After getting kicked and stepped on, I settle on the couch with my darlings to work on my homework for a little bit before I go to work. Invariably this results in one of four events. 1. Thomas sticks his paw in my water, knocks it over and gets banished from the room. 2. Thomas picks a fight with one of the others or both and all three get banished from the room. 3. Thomas or Bob walks across the computer invariably deleting whatever I am working on or messing up my computer which gets them....banished from the room. 4. One of them decides that I am not paying enough attention to them and uses their claws to notify me of their presence (see consequences above). We do this every morning. I keep waiting for a learning curve to develop, but maybe they are thinking the same thing. I can't wait for real children.

New Blogger Observations

I have never blogged before, but I noticed a couple of things when setting up this account.

1. They rate your password strength. If you are sharing your thoughts with the web at large, does it matter how good your password is?
2. I hate computers
3. Webdings is a font option. Because things make sense when written in webdings. (Translation: because things make sense when written in webdings.)
4. I hate computers
5. I am up way too late tonight (this morning? It kinda all runs together after a while).
6. I hate computers
7. I have forgotten what the next three things I noticed were because it is 7:40 AM and I am irritated with my computer, although I get the distinct feeling this is one of those user-issues rather than something the computer did.

Leave me a comment if you were actually able to access this thing.