They're Made to Absorb

I originally published this post on July 7, 2016.  Enjoy this walk down memory lane!  

 Daughter worked the register for a full shift on Saturday. I met her in the parking lot with one of those wonderful cold drinks from Starbucks when she finished. A Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher.  She's always so thirsty when she gets off work, I knew it would be appreciated. 

While I was waiting for her to finish, I had been shopping for various necessities, soap, toothpaste, deodorant, Kotex pads. 

On our way home, daughter was reluctant to drink anything for fear that she'd spill, and the bright red liquid on my tan car seats would make a huge mess. 

"Don't worry, we're stopped at a light", was my rather stupid response. 

She drank a quick sip, went to put the cup back in the cup holder when tragedy struck! The lid popped off and the bright red liquid went everywhere. Undeterred, she started grabbing receipts to sop up liquid while I looked for a safe place to pull over. 

I pulled into a parking lot, and daughter was out of her seat before I had the car completely stopped. She reached into the bag in the back, pulled out the package of Kotex, unwrapped a single pad, pulled the sticky strip off the back and attached it to the palm of her hand. 

That was a genius move!  All of the liquid was quickly absorbed into the pad. You can't even tell there was a spill of bright red on upholstery!

I tell you, from now on I'm carrying a few extra pads in the glove compartment for the next time I spill something. I know it's going to happen. They really are designed to absorb!  (Quick thinking young lady!)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

That's supposed to be part of a song.  Do you recognize it?  Even if you don't, it sums up what's coming up for us.

Middle Child graduated in May.  He spent one last summer working as the head life guard and aquatics director while he searched for employment.  He put out applications.  He went on interviews.  He went on second interviews.  And he never heard back from anyone.

He widened his search area.  He had someone look at his resume and cover letter.  He had more interviews.  He had second interviews.  And he never heard back from anyone.

I tell you, if I hadn't spent a good 6 months looking for a new job last year, I would have thought he was blowing smoke up my ass about how many job applications he had put out.  In the first six months of 2016, I put out over 150 applications, went on multiple first and second interviews, and NEVER HEARD BACK FROM ANYONE.  And I have experience. 

Middle Child has been applying for jobs since September of 2016.

In October, he finally heard back from an employer who was interested.  They had a second interview with him.  They followed up on the interview.  They asked him to fill out some paperwork.  They continued to follow up with him as he provided paperwork and did another set of interviews.

He was offered a job two weeks ago, which he accepted.  HOORAY!

The problem is, the job is in Kansas.  Kansas City, to be exact.

That's a long way from here, Dorothy.

Make no mistake - I am thrilled for him, and excited he has a job that he is so excited about.  I am happy that he has found meaningful work in his chosen field.  But why does it have to be halfway across the country?

He is out there with his Dad this week, looking for a place to live.  They're going to check out the area, and scout out walkability and churches and everything else you need to know about when you move to a new area.   He starts his new job the fist week in January.  We'll be moving him out the last week in December.

God, I am going to miss that kid!  I know he'll do great, but I am going to miss having him so close!

3 Months Later

How do I keep getting more books to read?

3 months ago, I accepted a full time job.  After 25 years of working part time, I decided to pursue full time work. 

It's been an adjustment, to say the least.

I've been struggling to get laundry done.  To get the house clean.  To get dinner on the table.  To get gas in the car (before I'm headed to work and the tank is almost empty), and to go grocery shopping.  How do women who work full time with little kids do this?  I have always been impressed by them and their superhuman ability to do it all.  I can now say that I am completely in awe of anyone who can work full time while raising kids.  You all have my complete adoration.

I've slowly been adjusting.

I've gone back to doing laundry the way I used to do it when the kids were little.  I run the clothes through the wash at night - I put it in before I go to bed.  Once I'm up and running in the morning, I move clothes over to the dryer.  If the weather is nice, I'll hang it outside before I leave for work.

I work Monday nights from 1 until 9.  I go grocery shopping on Monday mornings.  Lines are short, and while the stocking might not be all that I wish, I do manage to get most of what I need.  I've also been scheduling my appointments on Monday mornings.  It's nice, since I don't have to use my minimal leave in order to go to the dentist!

Dinner - I've gotten the hang of the Instant Pot and I've always had the Slow Cooker mojo.  I've been cooking enough for at least two meals, or enough to have left overs to take for lunch for a couple of days.  It's been years since I've done the "Cook Once Eat for a Month" thing - but I see that in my very near future.

Figuring out how to get to the gym has been my biggest challenge.  I have a tough time getting myself back out again after dinner.  It's dark and cold.  I know, that's a poor excuse.  I've tried going in the morning, but I just can't quite get myself over there and off to work, with breakfast in my stomach and lunch in my bag in a timely manner.   Figuring out how to make this consistent is going to be my "thing" for the next year!

Blogging has fallen by the wayside.  I am beginning to pick this back up again!  Having our Wi-Fi go down two weeks ago definitely put a damper on things.  Blogging isn't going to be regular again for a while, but I do intend to blog.  If you check in once a week, you'll see at least one new post! 

Interview Madness

I've been on several interviews over the past few weeks.  You know, when you wonder what can go wrong?  It turns out quite a bit.....

Let's see what all has gone off the rails this week.  Remember, all of these interviews were panel interviews.

"Here's a computer.  You've got ten minutes to create and Excel spread sheet with all of these parameters."
 Here's the rub:  My computer screen is broadcast up onto the wall in the front of the room, and the computer I've been given is a state of the art Windows 10 machine.  The computer that I use at home and at work are both Windows XP machines.  I'm used to a much older version of Excel, and you could see it in my very clumsy attempts to figure out how to work the damn software and make the spread sheets as pretty as they wanted them to be.

"Given this bag of Legos, come up with 3 programs that you could do with a group of kindergarten children.  You have ten minutes."
Okay, so the bag had 20 Lego's, only one set of wheels, and 3 hinged pieces.  I asked if I had to have this EXACT bag of Lego's.  The answer was yes.  Yeah, I came up with 3 programs, my lessons were decent, but I usually have more than 10 minutes, and a library full of books at my fingertips in order to pull together a program.

As I was following the head of HR down the hallway, I brushed up against a table and the entire table - and everything on it - fell down.

"Tell me about your experiences working with electronic resource acquisitions."
As I worked my way through what I thought were my qualifications, the interviewer looks at me and says "So, no real qualifications, then."  As I stammered and attempted to expound upon what I had been doing, she rolled her eyes "That's not really what acquisitions is all about."  Funny, that's what I've been doing for the last couple of years, and my interviewer has never worked in any library. 

And finally, this weird - very weird - encounter from one interview.  I walked into the room, shook hands with the interviewer, and sat down.  She then proceeded to tell me about how hot her last office was - the average temperature in winter, and in summer.  And how she had to wear t-shirts and flip flops even in winter because it was so hot.  She then spoke at length about her current living arrangements, and then stood up, shook my hand, and escorted me back out the door.  No idea what the heck that was all about, but it was definitely right up there with the strangest interviews I have ever had.

I really don't enjoy interviewing for jobs.  I really hate getting out there and having to prove myself over and over again, but not really ever getting a job.  Searching for new jobs is difficult.  Very, very difficult.  It's time to move on to new challenges, but I really don't enjoy the interview process. 

I'd appreciate some positive thoughts sent my way during this very frustrating job search, if you can spare them!

They're made to absorb...

Daughter worked the register for a full shift on Saturday. I met her in the parking lot with one of those wonderful cold drinks from Starbucks when she finished. A Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher.  She's always so thirsty when she gets off work, I knew it would be appreciated. 

While I was waiting for her to finish, I had been shopping for various necessities, soap, toothpaste, deodorant, Kotex pads. 

On our way home, daughter was reluctant to drink anything for fear that she'd spill, and the bright red liquid on my tan car seats would make a huge mess. 

"Don't worry, we're stopped at a light", was my rather stupid response. 

She drank a quick sip, went to put the cup back in the cup holder when tragedy struck! The lid popped off and the bright red liquid went everywhere. Undeterred, she started grabbing receipts to sop up liquid while I looked for a safe place to pull over. 

I pulled into a parking lot, and daughter was out of her seat before I had the car completely stopped. She reached into the bag in the back, pulled out the package of Kotex, unwrapped a single pad, pulled the sticky strip off the back and attached it to the palm of her hand. 

That was a genius move!  All of the liquid was quickly absorbed into the pad. You can't even tell there was a spill of bright red on upholstery!

I tell you, from now on I'm carrying a few extra pads in the glove compartment for the next time I spill something. I know it's going to happen. They really are designed to absorb!  (Quick thinking young lady!)

My College Bucket List

I have my recent bucket list posted on the side of my blog.  I've been slowly chipping away at it over the years.  I knew I had another bucket list that I had written when I was in college.  I had been searching for it half-heartedly for the last few months, and I found it last week.  It was in a spiral notebook, filled with stuff from my college days.  Musings about school, future plans, current events, and this list.

Talk about a trip down memory lane.  Looking back through that notebook was a wonderful walk back in time.  I enjoyed remembering who I was 30 years ago and seeing the direction that I wanted my life to take.  You know, it's funny, but life happens in the midst of all your plans.

I wanted to share this list with you...  I enjoyed remembering where I was and what I wanted to do.  It's nowhere near where I am and what I'm doing now!

This list was written when I was in college during the 80's.  Looking at the things I had written before and after - most of which was dated - I'm thinking it was written in '86.

1) Hang out with Martin Short
Hello, this man is amazing.  I adore him, and would love to spend time just chatting with him.  I'd love to hear his world view!  Martin, if you're ever in the Baltimore area, I'd love to treat you to lunch somewhere and just chat for a while about life, the universe, and everything!  I've had a wild crush on you since 1985.)

2) Go Hot Air Ballooning
This would be so cool... Maybe for an anniversary I can talk my husband into it.

3) To bicycle/train ride around Europe
I still haven't been to Europe, but I would still love to ride the train around Europe and see the countryside, getting off at various points of interest all over the continent.  Even better, since I set this as a bucket list item back in 1986, the Berlin wall is gone, and Eastern Europe isn't quite the same as it used to be.  Oh,wait - could I ride on the Oriental Express? 

4) Go to Canada
Still haven't been, still want to go.  I've got a list of places I want to see: Novia Scotia, Prince Edward Island, The Canadian Rockies, Banff, Vancouver British Columbia, and the area around Niagra Falls.

5) Go to Australia
Need to get there.

6) Get my PhD before I'm 30.
Wow - talk about optimistic!  I'm 50 now, and earned my Master's Degree 3 years ago.  That took a lot longer than I thought it would, and NOW I really don't want a PhD.  I'm content with my Master's Degree, and I really do enjoy my job!

7) Go see Baryshnikov dance.

8) Get back into my music.
This was actually a new year's resolution back in 2013.   I used to play bassoon & flute back in high school, and I sang in college. When I wrote this goal back in the day, I intended that to mean my bassoon or flute.   I don't ever see picking up a bassoon or flute again, but I do love to sing.  Singing is so much more portable!  I've been singing in the church choir since 2013... I'm an alto, and I'm always thrilled when I come in on Wednesday nights for practice and Sunday morning to sing.

9) San Francisco
I went with my husband for our 10th anniversary.  It was awesome!  What a beautiful city!

10) Learn to Dance
Husband and I have taken dance lessons in the past.  I love my husband dearly, but he has no sense of rhythm and two left feet.  Swing dance lessons are absolutely painful with him.  We keep trying, though.  We have three kids who will eventually get married, and if any of them decide to have dancing at their reception, we will dance!


Isn't that a wonderful list full of optimism from a 21 year old?