Where U At?

How has an entire week passed since I blogged? Guess I've been busy. Let's see. Since we last chatted, I still haven't heard about the job I was excited about. Things are progressing, as they have called references, sent me benefits, etc. So we'll see.

To thicken the plot, however, I got a call today from what would be a very cool organization to work for. So now I'm kind of hoping the other job delays a little more so I can interview with this one! I'm so fickle.

This weekend was ok, the best part was eating out on Friday night, December 1 in Shirlington. Jeffro and I went to Guapo's and it was so warm we sat outside! Ironically, the next day I went to an oyster roast at the Old Dominion Boat Club and the Boat Parade of Lights in Old Town. A pretty nice time, but cooooold.

This week is going to be tough to get through, but then my office empties out for a convention next week, so hardly any of us will be there. The intern from hell is still from hell. I thought I would just about throttle her today with her incessant stupid questions. She just doesn't friggin get it. How is she ever going to get a real job? I feel sorry for her. Maybe I'll just kill her first, and she won't have to worry about it. I can't tell you how pissed I was at her today, and I got to the point where I nearly rolled my eyes every time she set foot in my office to jokingly remark, "You're never going to get any work done." Duh, bitch.

A Day in the Life

Well, it's been a crazy week so far. Here are the highlights:

The good:

• Today I had a second interview with a company I liked a lot. So my fingers are crossed that they make a decision soon--me!
• I launched our revamped website at work.
• The intern from hell is improving slightly.
• The boss is out the rest of the week.
• I submitted a quick little story to the Washington Post. Let's see if it gets picked.

The bad:

• The dog has diarrhea. Again.

Turkey Talk

My Thanksgiving was pretty nice and un-drama-filled, unlike a friend of Jeffro's that we had coffee with the day after Thanksgiving. We drove to New Jersey late Wednesday night, but apparently not late enough since we hit a ton of traffic. Turkey day was celebrated at a family friend's house. We visited some other relatives, and wanted to visit a friend in the hospital, but Jeffro came down with a cold so we couldn't do that and we wound up leaving earlier today instead. The highlight of the trip was going to our favorite used CD store, Tunes. I traded in some CDs, got a $5 credit and spent only $12 of my own money on this stack of great CDs that I'm working my way through:

Chicago: Greatest Hits 1982-1989

Peter Cetera: World Falling Down

Best of Corey Hart

Phil Vassar: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1

Diamond Rio: Greatest Hits, Vol 2

Since we hit tons of traffic again today, we took a nice detour through Southern MD on Route 301 instead of staying on 95. Hope everyone had a safe and happy turkey day.

Work Week from Hell--Happy Thanksgiving!

I've had the craziest week. I had a new intern start Monday and I kid you not, she is terrible. She's like 40-something years old, going back to school. She's worked on a Mac, so she barely knows how to use an IBM. I had to teach her HOW TO CUT AND PASTE BY RIGHT CLICKING! Oh my God, with that kind of help, I'm sure I'll get a lot done. Then she put some info into a template, mispelling the title of it, and lost the entire thing. Lord. She was supposed to help me with this big web update project, but I don't want her anywhere near it.

That's why I spent most of today and yesterday updating our entire website, which everyone was supposed to help with. Because sometimes help just isn't help. So I'm just wiped out. Then they decided not to let everyone go early today because they were giving us Friday off. What stupid, frigging cheap grinches! Finally at 4:00 when I thought I'd go cross eyed, they finally relented and let us have a free hour. How generous!

Anyway, thanks for listening to my vent. I gotta go pack cause we're joining the legions of people traveling today. But hopefully by the late hour we get on the road, it will all be cleared out.

I have an interview next week, and I pray I get the job, cause I'm not going to be able to handle working with this intern.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and a great long weekend.

Elvis Has Left the Building

I had the day off work on Friday for a Stephen Covey class on time management and planning. The only thing was, I wasn't expecting this workshop to be 8 hours of how to use the Covey planner. We literally all sat there for like 45 minutes putting the planner together. Except we'd gotten our planner in another class and had no planner, so I just sat there and watched everyone else. My boss thought it was a waste of time and left during the first break. She was going back to the office and gave us the option of staying in the workshop or going with her. Even though it was 8 hours of wasted time, I opted to stay. After all, a day out of the office is a day out of the office. I have to say, I did learn some stuff about time management that might be helpful, but I think an 8-hour workshop is excessive.

This weekend has been fairly productive. I got some much-needed things done around the house. Last night was fun, we went to the Old Dominon Boat Club to see Elvis impersonator Michael Hoover. He puts on a good show, if you like Elvis music. The whole thing is a little silly, but it was a fun time and I even got one of the scarves that he gives to the ladies.

Today is mostly errands and drudgery, but I have a bookclub meeting tonight to discuss The Painted Drum, which was pretty interesting. I can't believe I have to go back to work tomorrow. I have an intern starting and we're kicking off a huge project, so I'm really NOT looking forward to it, even though this is going to be a short week.

I Love Short Weeks

Well, I had an interview yesterday, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and an out-of-office training on Friday. Gotta love these short weeks. Next week our office decided to close on Friday, which means I don't have to continue digging into the vacation hole that I'm in. Despite all this, however, I have been incredibly busy at work and have gotten almost as much work done this week as a normal week.

My interview yesterday went ok, but I'm not sure I like the organization/position. We'll have to see. I continue to send out resumes, but things are definitely slowing down as the holidays approach. The job interview I loved last week is trying to find a time for me to come back, but it might not be until after Thanksgiving.

Not much else new and exciting to report this week.

It's a No

Well, I heard back from one of my job possibilities--the one I had two interviews with. The answer was no thank you. I was upset in a way because the job was 5 minutes from my house, I really liked the person who would have been my supervisor, and well, quite frankly I would rather have been the one to say no to them. So that really sucked and made me doubt myself now. Maybe yesterday's interview didn't go as well as I thought? But they did ask for my reference list, and today I did get a positive email back from one of the women I met with, so who knows. She "looked forward to talking with me more in the coming weeks." I have to say I am getting really sick of all this interviewing crap and just want a resolution in the way of gainful new employment.

Busy weekend ahead, looking forward to having tomorrow off even though I have to be at the allergist by 9. I think I have a phone interview, I might go visit my friend MJ who is working, and I have tons of errands to run, like buying birthday gifts for my niece and my mom. This weekend we're visiting friends on Saturday night for dinner and I have my first drum lesson in weeks on Sunday.

Country Gone Wild and Life in General

Well, I'm sure you've all heard the controversy over Monday night's CMA Awards, where Faith Hill was caught on tape getting mad that she didn't win--and rightly so. She should have won instead of first time out, undeserving, American Idol Barbie doll. But trying to play off that she was just joking instead of owning up to being human and being upset that she didn't win isn't flying with anyone . . . overall, the CMA awards were very disappointing. Brooks & Dunn won every friggin thing and I got so sick of seeing them at the end of the night. If you're up for 20 million awards, you shouldn't be the host. Isn't that a conflict of interest or something?

This week I have had two interviews, one that was just so-so and one today that was just phenomenal. If only I could get lucky enough to work for this company--provided the pay and benefits are right. They have a very laid back attitude, come in whenever you want, work through lunch if you want to leave earlier, work from home if you need to, whatever. I just love it. Most of the people have been there 5+ years, which can be a good or bad thing, but they seem open to new ideas and creativity. So keep your fingers crossed, as I had a very good vibe about them. Plus they are like 20-30 min commute.

Tonight I'm waiting for the next Lost episode to begin and will finally do a little much-needed housework. Just need to live through tomorrow then the long weekend begins!

Gone Country

This is a huge week for country music fans. I'm sure there are tons of y'all out there. Tomorrow night, Monday, November 6 at 8 p.m., ABC presents the 40th Annual Country Music Awards. It is THE award to win if you're a country singer. Not so coincidentally, two of my favorite acts and CMA nominees are releasing new albums on Tuesday. Sugarland releases their second album, Enjoy the Ride and Keith Urban (who will miss the awards cause he's in rehab) releases his fourth album, Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing. So you won't catch me blogging tomorrow cause I'll be glued to the TV. And Tuesday night I'll be at Best Buy spending a giftcard I got a couple months ago for my birthday that I have been saving for just this occasion.

Colonial Weekend

This weekend Jeffro and I visited my alma mater, William & Mary. It was the first time I'd been back in probably five or so years, and a lot has changed. There is a lot of new construction on "new campus." I got to show Jeffro my campus (far superior to his alma mater), where I lived, took classes, all my old haunts. It was a pretty decent time, except for the frigid weather on Saturday.

Sunday the weather was prettier, and we spent part of the day walking around DOG Street, as we students liked to call Duke of Gloucester Street, the main drag there. We had lunch both days at The Cheese Shop, which is absolutely the best sandwich place in the world. Just ask Jeffro, he agreed that it was pretty amazing. It's moved to a new, larger location since my college days, and seems to be just flourishing. We bought some colonial souvenirs and spent way too much time at the bookstore on Sat, but all in all it was a good trip. I just wish we'd had more time to spend there.

Tomorrow it's back to the grind, and I have an interview first thing in the morning. I'm pretty psyched cause it's a great organization. Wish me luck.

Victory is Mine!

Tonight was the board meeting to address the parking issue and I won! I can't tell you how ecstatic I am after all the hard work and agony that I have gone through. It passed unanimously, as it did with the parking committee. I found out tonight that this was the first parking petition to ever pass the parking committee unanimously. Wow. I must say, the arguments I presented were pretty impossible to refute, and we had several other homeowners show up to support it. It takes effect December 1 (they wanted to make it Jan 1 initially but then some board members argued and decided to make it earlier!) and I can't wait to tow the first violator. I am so thrilled after all the stress of this week.

What stress, you ask:
1. I feel like I'm coming down with a cold. Woke up this morning feeling miserable, still feel that way. So it's lots of echinacea for me and maybe calling in sick tomorrow or Friday.
2. I had my second interview yesterday. It went pretty well, not earth-shatteringly well, but good enough. They say they'll make a decision by the 17th, which is weeks away, but that is probably good because . . .
3. I had a phone interview today (not a good fit), I have two other interviews scheduled for next week and one other interview pending for a job I was really interested in. What is up with that? I'm totally a hot commodity right now. Hopefully I can use all this to my advantage to negotiate a fabulous salary and benefits.
4. Took my dog to the vet for various problems and was told he might need a root canal (they do root canals on dogs?) and they want to biopsy this weird thing on his nose.

To end on a good note, how amazing is this weather? I wish it could be like this all year long. Well, I guess it could if I moved to CA. I hope the weather lasts through the weekend, when I am supposed to go to Williamsburg for a tiny bit of R&R. That's all I got.

Sunday Night

It's Sunday and I'm being lazy and staying home instead of going out to see Jeffro's friend playing music in Cleveland Park. I just hate going out on Sunday night then waking up tired on Monday and starting the week at a deficit. Plus I just didn't feel like fixing myself up to look cute to go out. Why is it that guys can just go out with no preparation and that is fine, but I would have had to reapply makeup, fix hair, find something to wear, change purses, etc. before being able to go? I just couldn't muster the needed energy.

Things have been so busy lately and will continue to stay busy this week. I have a tentative phone interview set up for tomorrow, a reschedule of the interview I missed on Tuesday, and the board meeting where my parking issue will get decided on Wednesday. I will, yet again, be happy when the week is over, although we are supposed to head to Williamsburg Saturday and Sunday if Jeffro can get off work. When will the madness end?

The Stories

Well, you knew I had to have some. So here's a recap of my trip to Phoenix.

Travels from Hell. This was probably the worst travel I have ever had. Of course, we took NWA again--No Worse Airline. And they did not disappoint. On the trip out, they took off late and we almost missed our connection. Literally running through the airport to get on the plane about 2 mins before they closed the doors.

The way back was even worse. We were due to take off at 12:20, so we're taxi-ing (how do you spell that anyway?) on the runway and hear this awful noise. The girl next to me and I just look at each other and say, that can't be good. And sure enough the plane comes to a halt and we are told that the hydraulic system--minor things like brakes and steering--has failed. So they leave us sitting on the runway for 2 hours before they decide it can't be fixed and have to tow us back to the terminal. Consequently, we missed the next flight to DC that would have gotten us back on Monday as planned. We waited in line for another 2-1/2 hours for some worthless vouchers (looking back, we shouldn't have waited) and an upgrade to first class for part of the flight. Our options were 1) take a red eye putting us in Baltimore by 5:00 a.m. and then having to spend $50+ in cab fare to come back, 2) take a red eye putting us back in DC at 8:00 a.m. or 3) leave on the rescheduled flight at 5:30 a.m. Great options. This all meant that I would miss my interview, which was scheduled for this morning. Luckily they are being very understanding and letting me reschedule but what an ordeal!

Wedding recap. We went to AZ for a wedding, and while it was very nice, Jeffro and I had the same issues we always have when going to weddings, which I won't get into here. However, it did take place outside on the grounds of a gorgeous country club at sunset, I mean who can beat that?

The great parts. The great parts of the trip were getting to see and spend time with my friend, getting to see one of my best friends I haven't seen forever, and enjoying Phoenix's 80+ degree, brilliant sunny weather. I have to say, Phoenix is undergoing a lot of change right now--they are installing a light rail system downtown and it's all torn up. That made it very difficult to get around and show Jeffro where I used to live, etc.

I also got to look at new homes in a development that I really love. The prices have really skyrocketed in the three years since I've been back. It's always hard for me to leave Phoenix, and I always wonder what would have happened if I hadn't moved back to DC all those years ago. Of course, my friend was trying to convince me to move back, but I'm not sure that's in the cards either.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. Hope you enjoyed the stories.

Headed to Sunny AZ

Well, I can only hope that it's freezing here this weekend as Jeffro and I are headed to AZ for yet another wedding. I'm really looking forward to this, as I used to live there for a couple of years, and we're staying with a good friend of mine that I haven't seen now in like two years. She has the cutest little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Mystic that I absolutely adore.

I get to show Jeffro all my old haunts, where I used to live, and the house that I would love to own that I actually could afford if I sold this place. I also get to see my very best friend ever whom I haven't seen in about 8 years. We were best friends growing up and I can't wait to see him again.

In other news, I do have that second interview next Tuesday, and I've been playing phone tag for two days with someone about another job. So I guess I'll know more what is going on after Tuesday.

Have a good weekend, ya'll and maybe we'll have some interesting photos when I get back.

I Win!

For those of you waiting with baited breath for the decision of the parking committee . . . they voted in favor of my petition! It was unanimous, and I am so excited! However, that is only the first of two hurdles, the next will be getting the board to vote the same, otherwise we're back to square one. That meeting will be Nov 1, so mark your calendar!

In other interesting news, I got called back for a second interview with the company I interviewed with last week and told my boss that I am looking for a job and will not be making the move to Herndon. Good for me! I know this seems like a risky move, but she took it well and I don't seem to be in danger of losing my job. Hopefully.

I'm a Rock Star!

This has been a crazy week, culminating with a show for my drum/band class yesterday. The class has been going on for a couple of months, and I think I've really learned a lot. We did ok, much better than I anticipated cause our "dress rehearsal" was terrible. We even through in an extra song that we had only really played once. After the show, I went to a neighbor's housewarming party and had a nice time and couple of much-needed glasses of wine.

I had an interview this week that went very well and they want me to come back for a second interview. The best part about the job? It's literally 5 minutes from my house.

Your Parking Update

I know you've all been dying to know what's going on with the parking saga in my neighborhood. Well, I was unable to go before our parking committee last month cause I hadn't given them enough time to notify the residents. So this time I apparently gave them too much time cause they lost my damn petition and it took a visit to the office, an email, and a phone call to get this figured out. However, it looks like all's well and I will be on the committee agenda next week. If that passes, it will then go to the board. So I'm one step closer and so excited. I'm trying to rally the troops to come to the meeting with me to argue our case. I'll give you an update next Tuesday.

Another Job Call

As much as I hate job hunting, I have done it so much over the years that I have extremely good luck at getting interviews. It's actually exciting to get that call or email asking for an interview. You get that rush of adrenaline when you find you've snagged another. Matter of fact, I had another call today from a company I have been trying to get into for a couple of years now. So needless to say, I'm majorly psyched and can't wait to call them back tomorrow.

BTW, at work today everyone decided to call in "sick" and make the holiday weekend a really long one. I was the only schlump in my department who was there. Unreal. And I'm the only one who's admitted might not be making the move to Herndon. I must be nuts.

Well, it's another federal holiday, i.e., an excuse to have a day off work. I must say I'm enjoying it very much and using it to search for jobs, get together with a friend, and get some things done around the house.

Here's a little update about the job situation. I had a phone interview Friday, which was just ok. My current employer announced Friday that it will offer flextime and telecommuting 3 days a week after the move to Herndon. How tempting and ideal is that? I would hardly have to deal with psycho boss, could work at my own pace, get other things done during the day. That is really hard to pass up. On the other hand, I would still be doing the schlock work that I don't want to be doing. So it's really a toss up. I have to really think about what I want to do. Obviously I'm still interviewing to see what else is out there, but at the very least if I don't find anything, my job situation will undoubtedly improve after my office moves.

Improved Mood

It's amazing how knowing that you're really leaving a job you dislike can improve your mood. I felt much better going in to work today knowing my time there truly is limited. Then I found out my boss was going to be out sick today and tomorrow, plus I have doctor's appointments lined up tomorrow and Weds, and we're out of the office Friday for a 1/2 day staff retreat, then going home early. It's a great week!

Start planning your weekend early. This Saturday is Del Ray's Art on the Avenue, an annual arts and crafts event in Alexandria that's tons of fun. If the weather is nice I'll be going.