To quote Paula Abdul

Two steps forward, two steps back.

I decided today that I would start looking at jobs for summer camp counselors-- I loved summer camp as a kid, and I love kids, I think it would be a lot of fun! I started by e-mailing First Baptist, where I went to pre-school and summer camp and was a junior counselor to see if they still had openings, and then went on to check out a lot of the Girl Scout camps since that was my other experience. I remember hating a couple of my counselors, but I loved the rest-- the ones that actually cared about us and weren't there (we found out later) just to steal all the a/v equipment... apparently they didn't do such great background checks 15 years ago!

Well, I got fantastic news-- First Baptist (which is right up the street) hasn't filled all their positions yet!! I'm going in probably Thursday morning for an interview, and I'm hoping that I'll totally ace it and they'll hire me straight up. I know you don't make tons of money as a counselor, but since most camps generally pay $7-10/hr I'm sure FBC will meet that standard and it'll land me $250-400 a week depending. I'm really excited, it would be a challenge since I've had a pretty sedentary life for the last nine months or so, but it would be a good challenge. There would be a good chance to get some physical activity in and make some new friends, and try to make summer camp as awesome for some of these kids as it was for me.

Of course, after this great news, I went out aaaand my car won't start. The starter is dead. Now, it's something David thinks he can fix, but it's still something else that I have to buy and even though I'm not quite rolling in it, I was getting to a point where I was managing things quite well! I shake my fist at you universe!

Work was actually good, even though I only made $1. Derek stopped by, who is really quite awesome. He works at Palate right now, but he's had a pretty varied history. Got his BA in English, went through and got his Masters and PhD as well, so we talked a lot about literature and different classes-- it was really awesome. When he taught, he did a class on literature and film, and he specialized in American Lit, specifically Faulkner who is one of my favorite American authors ever. Most nights that pull so low don't have such great company, but I really loved just hanging out with Jon and Derek.

Anyway, I'm off to try to go to bed. I have to get up and clean the stove, do some room stuff, dress up my resume, and get some festive socks for work....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!! Erin Go Bragh!

Final Cylon!

I'm starting the first half of season 4 today, so I'm generally on schedule to get all caught up by tomorrow night and then by Friday night! For those of you just joining the geek party, this would be Battlestar Galactica.

Finally slept well last night, it always takes me a couple days to adjust after Jeremy leaves. I'm glad I thought to move the mattress on to the floor this time, it was way more comfortable than my pilates mat-- though I'm not sure how Jeremy could stand to sleep on the futon mattress, it was super hard! Anyway, got up about 10 and have had a pretty decent morning-- talked to Jeremy, got out the strawberries, waited for the mail to come, and now I'm watching some BSG! I think once I see who the final Cylon is, I'll get some cream and sugar and do berries and cream.

Work the last couple night's been alright, no six dollar nights but no really amazing nights, either. Enough to squeeze by, I suppose. I find it really hard to go to work these days, I'm just really tired of being a waitress I guess. At least at the airline, when I was at the counter or the gate there was a solid routine and I felt like I was getting something done-- waiting on tables, I just bring food out, take empty plates away, open the patio, lock up the patio. A little pointless; I'm not really doing anything or making a difference or using anything I've learned in any real way.

But I'll stop moping; I'm trying to tell myself it'll only be for a few more months, or that maybe I'll land a better job, just to stick it out. Hopefully Jeremy will get an idea of where he'll be and I can start trying to find a job-- though it is a little hard doing it six months out... gotta start somewhere, right?

OK, I'm gonna go ahead and get the cream and sugar since I've almost eaten all of my strawberries! That would be almost two pounds, for the record.

And again and again

Another slow night at work, but I used my time fairly wisely and applied for a job with the Thrashers, an office coordinator position for their practice rink, and looked at a couple other jobs at Georgia State including the Greek Adviser position which has some pretty heinous turnover. It would be a total 180 from what I'm used to at Rhodes, so I'm a little bit uncomfortable because I know E. Berry did a BAD job at Rhodes coming from a big state school, but the difference between us is not only in the pounds per square inch of makeup on our faces, but also that I recognize that there are major differences in the two systems. It also pays between $30-40k per year. Could definitely live on that one.

I'm working Wed and Thu night, and then Saturday, but if we don't get more reservations I might just ask off. There's no reason for us to have extra people there if there isn't money to be made, and since my fiance is coming in to town and I don't work Saturdays... I'm so out first.

Also, I'm not usually about commercials, but these two are crackin' me up-- Hulu Commercial) people are working WITH Alec Baldwin's crazy instead of against it, and Hyundai Commercial) as a Hyundai owner for 11 years... yeah, I totally love it. I do not own a Honda, they are not even made in the same country!

Aaanyway, that's about all for now, just thought I'd let y'all know I'm back in the job search. I'm nervous about it since this may or may not come back like I need it to, and because I don't know if I'll be here 9 months from now. I don't want to not move with Jeremy, wherever he ends up if it isn't in Georgia, it's been long enough already and we still have six months left. The state of the economy is rough, and getting rougher. I'm not saying the new stimulus bill is perfect, but House and Senate opposition needs to suck up that bitter stuff they've left in their mouths and pass it-- the demise of the country is not worth their pride.

I GOT A JOB!!!

Thanks for all your happy thoughts-- I'm the newest server at Palate Cafe and Wine Bar in Oakhurst area, so come see me!

I start tomorrow at 5 and train tomorrow and Monday, then work M-W from 5 to close. Yay!

Blurgh

Prayers said, fingers crossed, lucky rabbit's feet rubbed and all that jazz...

I had an interview last night (good lord have mercy, is it really nearly 3?! I need to be careful about this finishing a book in one day deal...) at a restaurant called Palate. It's really cute, kinda trendy-- very Decatur. The owner was really sweet, she liked my experience and my ability to take care of the place on my own. There were, I think, two other people to speak with and she'll e-mail us today. Do all of the above and anything else you can think of for me because I would love to work at this place. It's close by, I'd make at least $100 a week with the option to pick up shifts, and it would mean I could get the time off to see Jeremy at Christmas and New Year's which is all I want right now.

I miss Jeremy so much, and it hasn't been that long since I last saw him... the next eight months are going to be rough. Hopefully, though, with a job I can afford to go down there once a month after this and my Christmas/birthday present is to be a ticket down there. It will be nice, even though not as cold in Florida as Mississippi, to cuddle up and watch movies like we did last year. We've chided everyone for starting Christmas before Thanksgiving this year, and here I am talking about it! I blame Valerie for putting up adorable Christmas decorating photos of little Ana. For anyone who doesn't know who Ana is (who are you, where have you been, and do you really ever talk to me?), she's the best little (un)niece I could ever hope to have and just about the cutest little girl I've ever met (and yes, I've seen my share-- goooooo daycare workers!).

They put up her Christmas tree this weekend and she got to wander around with garland on her. I really miss working at the daycare sometimes-- kids can wear on your nerves, but the moment they make you smile it's all forgivable. Just remind me I still need to wait a few years before really wanting one of my own! At least to the point of being able to afford one... though maybe I'll have a girl and snag some hand me downs! ;)

I suppose I should go to bed now. I've ended my election commentary on my other blog, so tomorrow I'll go back to reviewing literature and movies like a good little elitist and included will be Philippa Gregory's novels The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool, both about the Tudor reign in to the rise of Queen Elizabeth I. I gotta tell you, those Tudors were frickin' nutters. Not just the flip flopping of religions, but Henry VIII bedded like half the Howard/Boleyn family, and after beheading the one Boleyn girl (Anne), he went off and relieved another of her caput (Catherine Howard)! I think the only reason Catherine Pharr survived the Queenship was because she happened to outlive him... And they say Americans are debauched...

Anyway, save it for the reviews. Hopefully in the next 12 hours I'll have a celebratory post up, but I'll try not to jinx myself...

Get Smart

If I fill out 5 job applications (and I've already filled out one at Parker's), I can watch "Get Smart" which I borrowed from Emily. If I fill out two more, I can watch the little followup they did on Bruce and Lloyd (<3 Masi Oka), and speaking of Masi Oka, if I fill out two more I can watch Heroes on TV tonight instead of online tomorrow.

I picked up a TON of apps yesterday at the Forum, and only a couple here in town today, but it was a nice walk around so there ya go. The Forum is promising, Williams Sonoma and Banana Republic were hiring late because of the economy (one of the managers said she was waiting until a week after the election to start handing out applications-- she wanted to see what the stock market did) and a couple other seemed to be as well. It'd be a pain in the butt to drive all the way out there, but the scheduling sounds pretty decent, so it would be worth my while and I could get a few days off now and again to go down to see Jeremy. It would be better if I got a job in Decatur, then we wouldn't have to front the money to get new tires on the car and get it registered (not as big of a deal since I'm not driving it and, thanks to the tires, it's in obvious disrepair) because I could just walk to work. I applied at Parker's, which is where the old Mick's used to be (for the like zero people from Decatur who read this blog) and looks really super nice on the inside. I talked to the head chef who thought she recognized me from Birdi's, so hopefully she'll tell the hiring manager that I'm cute and nice and experienced and he should hire me first.

Brickstore is a possibility because of the Brickstore Biergarten (opening January at the latest, btw) and there's a new pizza place opening, Zucco, but the owner wasn't there when I stopped by and I don't think the painters spoke English so I'll probably just drop a letter of interest and a resume in the mail.

Though, let's be honest, I would die of happiness to work at WS or BR! I would spend too much money at WS, but that's ok. I'd have really nice kitchen stuff, and maybe even get some presents for people!

Anyway, I'm sure you're all thrilled with my job search updates, since that's what this has turned in to, but since there's not much else going on, I'll just bug out and start working on those apps and chopping up the butternut squash and the potatoes for the shepherd's pie (just the potatoes for the pie, not the squash).

Happy Halloween!

It's my favorite holiday (next to New Years) today! It's also my little brother's birthday... it's scary, I remember going to the hospital hours after he was born and holding him and now he's 18! Yikes!

My family has always been in to Halloween; when my parents lived at the Highland Bakeries, they used to have huge costume parties that people got completely decked out for. My mom would stand at the door with baby Meg and greet people, and I would ask them to show me their belly button (as I had apparently just discovered mine). I'm fairly certain I was some form of kitty for the first few years of my life, then I was a witch, a gogo dancer, a 50's prom queen, a 20's lady (not a flapper), and various other things. Thankfully it seems as though I've grown out of my laryngitis on Halloween habit, that was rough to go trick-or-treating with. Who doesn't love a spooky holiday where you get to be so creative!

I've been really bored lately, but with only a few books to read it hasn't gotten better. I watch new shows on Netflix, and keep up with Valerie's blog (still want to steal Ana to come play with me!), but I'd really like to do some more scrapbooking. Sad thing is, it's all in Memphis! I'm hoping I caught Jeremy in time before he left and he can bring my drawers with him, because there's so much stuff in my scrapbooking bin that I need to get started and do maybe a page a day or something. I also need to get more card stock, just plain white, so that I can work on my AOII pledge scrapbook in what used to be my pledge binder.

Anyway, that's about all that's going on here, nothing entirely interesting. Jeremy's on his way down for the night, then we're off to Daytona Beach in the morning to get him moved in and clear out a space for the bike when Marc and Jan get there tomorrow afternoon. It's really exciting, but nerve wracking, too!

Off to Norcross (where the rich people still have money) to apply for jobs! Oh, and hopefully to vote!

Oh, and in the spirit of Halloween, I leave you Gwennie (Krystal's daughter) the Bumblebee!
All the way from Hiroshima, Japan!

Drove the Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry

I just realized half of these have had song titles, I just happen to always have a song stuck in my head.

Applied at 5th Earl Market today for a counter position-- not much, but still a job! Turns out that vindictive (insert your favorite derogatory terms or curses here) who was my manager at VS said that I was fired, even though I quit because they didn't want to let me take a break after I passed out on the sales floor with a 101 fever and then scheduled me for a day I told them I couldn't work to begin with.

Yeah, that's the story in a nutshell.

It means she flagged me as ineligible for rehire and that I can't get the job at BBW with Em. Otherwise known as the only job I could find. I'm kind of stuck in the doldrums (yeah, 5th grade throwbacks), I know I need to keep applying for jobs and keep on truckin' but it's just so hard when I've applied for over 75 jobs and there's no response to speak of.

Needless to say, today was exhausting mentally, so now I'm sitting here watching (more) HGTV and eating some ramen because I can't bring myself to actually cook. I'll have to get on it tomorrow, though, before some of it goes bad.

I'll leave you on a high note and a recipe for an amazing potato and leek soup! (original recipe, Emeril Lagasse, modified by me)

1lb russett potatoes (about four or five) diced
1lb leeks (about three decent sized leeks) sliced longways, rinsed, and then cut crosswise
1tbsp minced or dried garlic
2 pieces bacon (pref with black peppercorns on, if not, 1 tbsp rough ground black pepper)
2tbsp butter
5 cups chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream

in a large stock pot, melt down butter and put in chopped bacon. heat over low flame until the fat in the bacon has rendered. drop in chopped leeks and cook for about 5 minutes, until the leeks have wilted. pour in chicken stock, tomatoes, and garlic and let cook for about thirty minutes, or until potatoes are soft to fork. pour soup in portions in to a blender and blend to a slightly chunky consistency, then add in heavy cream to taste per portion. you can mix it all together again, and reheat easily.

Workin' my way back to you, babe

I play 50's music in my head. No, really, on my way back from Memphis the radio didn't work, so I ended up singing "Don't Stop Believin", "Jesse's Girl", and various oldies including "Fill Me Up (Buttercup)" and "Stop (In The Name of Love)". It would appear that the oldies have a corner on the parenthetical song titles.

Today was low-key enough. Accidentally overslept; I'm still not used to having to wake up without light queues, so Jeremy's going to give me a wakeup call tomorrow since he gets up at 8a which is 9a my time. I got some stuff over to the storage unit today, but not nearly enough, and it's almost all the way full so we're gonna go over tomorrow and re-organize some things, and I'm going to ask her if she wants me to maybe get things set up for a yard sale this weekend and put up an ad on Craigslist to try and kick out as much crap as possible. She says she can donate it, but it'd be really nice if we could make a few dollars, especially since I can't find a job to save my life and we're trying to find a new place to live. I'm putting in more applications tomorrow, some for seasonal work, some for temp work, some for part time work. I really hope I get something. At this point, even $50 a week would at least help me pay down my phone bill and send a few bucks to the GI and Rhodes.

As for the future, Jeremy said that WyoTech indicated they would start trying to place them about three months prior to graduation, which means I'll have more than a few days of scrambling to find a job and find us a place to live. I'm really glad he's doing this, he sounds excited, and his roommate found them a 2 BR apartment close to campus that is totally reasonable, so maybe he'll be able to sleep at night now. If you have any suggestions on fairly temperate climates where people might be inclined to ride bikes year round, let me know-- we're starting our list of possible places so that both of us have a better chance of getting a job. I think we're aiming towards Austin or Atlanta areas, still, but you gotta go where the jobs are, right?

Keep your fingers crossed for me over the next few days-- I'm putting in at PierOne, Starbucks, Best Buy, several restaurants, Grassroots Campaigns (I applied for a job with them in Austin, but couldn't accept for financial reasons), and a couple of box office positions with theatres in Atlanta. I guess I should also get mom to print off a bagful of my resume; could get pricey since I'm so desperate I'm handing out the whole CV!

For now, though, I'll be thankful to be back in the real South. Inside the Perimeter, the real Atlanta, life is calm and happy. People might be in a bit of a hurry, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying a beautiful day, walking to work, or honking and waving to someone you know on the street. The weather is beautiful, and the people are nice-- if I get too bored, right up the street is the square with trees, picnic tables, and people I know. I know I sound a little bit like the Cheers theme song, but it's true. Big city feel, small town heart. It would be really nice if Jeremy could find a job around here-- I think he likes Decatur a lot, and since everything's pretty accessible through MARTA, he wouldn't have to deal with the traffic.

Here's to home, the place where you feel comfortable enough to take your shoes off and stay a while.