I GOT IT

Today I received a voicemail and an email of congratulations that I had got the job at the insurance company!  I tried calling them when I got off work, but the office had shut down at three, and hour before our store closed.  The human resources lady won't be in until Thursday, the third, but that's okay. 

So that was definitely a boost in my day and my ego.  They want me to start work on Monday the 14th, so I can give my current employer my two weeks notice. 

So there it is, folks!  I'll let ya know how it all plays out. 

Well, I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve!  I know I am going to have a great start to the new year!

Blogged with Flock

Big blog, comin' through!

Alright. I've been meaning to post pictures of all the yummy things that Aaron has been cooking since we've turned semi-vegetarian. I cannot say that we are truly veggies because of the fact that whenever we go out to eat somewhere, there is always meat involved. But whenever Aaron cooks a meal at home (and I help sometimes), we try to nix the meat.

First up, I have our Winter Veggie Pot Pie. It was HUGE, but very tasty. Aaron put parsnips, squash, potatoes, onions, garlic, and pastry bread together for this yummy treat. He even decorated the top with extra pastry bread and seasonings. However, the pictures of that are on the OTHER computer, so those will have to wait until this weekend, I believe. I didn't even load them onto Photobucket, so I can't access them here. Sorry.

Next up were pizzas. Aaron made the sauce with some organic tomato sauce, garlic, and other stuff (I don't remember), and simmered it in a pot for a bit. Then we used some crumbly cheese (not sure what kind it was), onions, and he put olives on his. He was using olives normally reserved for Bloody Marys.

Here's the bread he grilled up on the stove before adding the goodies and baking.


Here's the pizzas, all ready for a toasty ride in the oven.


I forgot to take an "after" picture because I was hungry and they looked so tasty, I couldn't wait!

Tonight, he made something very interesting. I don't remember what it is called, but it came from a cookbook that Aaron has called "How To Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman. He made a dough with flour, water, and salt. Then boiled sweet potatoes, parsnips, and carrots. Add in a chopped onion, some garlic, and some lime sauce, then mash up like mashed potatoes.



Fill up the dough with the filling:


Make a pouch, twist together, and fold over:


Now, roll flat again.


Next, add butter to the pan (the lime is there for tartness).


Now, fry 'em up!


Mmm Mmm good!

So that's what we've been up to as far as food goes lately. It has been interesting, and I have eaten many things I have never had, nor had the desire to try before in my life, including many different kinds of beans, sweet potatoes, and squash. But I am trying it, and liking most of it. Just something new to get used to, I guess.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas break. Aaron and I both managed to snag Monday and Tuesday off for the holidays, so that was really nice. We spent Monday re-arranging the furniture in the apartment, as you saw in the last post, and Tuesday we went over to Jamie and Karlie's place for lunch. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, and brought over a coffee cake. I have some pictures from over there, as well.

Aaron and Steve chit-chatting as we were waiting for dinner to be ready.


The boys laughing at me because I turned the flash off earlier, then was mad that the flash wasn't working. They are holding fancy pirate flag cups, getting ready to drink some local booze.


Lots and lots of snow. It started snowing (again) as soon as we showed up.


Jamie shoveling the new snow off the sidewalk in his kilt. At least I wear pantyhose when I'm outside in a skirt!


Jamie and Steve in the snow bank in their kilts. Steve is originally from Texas, so he thought that would be a good picture to send home to his friends.


Icicle!


Aaron hates it when I take his picture. I followed him around the house the other day, snapping pictures at the back of his head (because he kept running away).


Fun snow picture


Alright, I guess that's about it for now. More pictures to come when I have some free time. I'll have to post pictures of Henry's scarf that I finally finished, and of Aaron blessing the scarf before it heads out to South Dakota. Very entertaining.

Until next time!

Happy Holidays!

Alright, it is about time for an update! I have just finished my six days in a row at work in order to get two days in a row off from work. I don't think my feet could have handled much more.

The other day we received a package from Aaron's folks, with some gifts from them and Aaron's aunt and uncle. This is what was included:






A knife and fork set for roasts, an origami page a day calendar, an oven mitt, embroidered toilet paper, and a Kleenex holder


Then we got a package from Aaron's folks back in October that we weren't allowed to open until now. We opened it today, and it was a f slice toaster oven. Unfortunately, we already have a toaster oven. So we tried to take it to Wal*Mart to get some in store credit, but it did not exist in their system. Mostly because it was from Pamida, but we thought we'd take a shot at Wal*Mart, since they take back anything.

After that, we did a big deep clean of the apartment and moved some furniture around. We were busy bees today.
Here is the bedroom before:


And now here's the bedroom after today:



The kitchen before:

And today:


That's really all I have right now as far as good pictures go. I have been taking lots of pictures with my new camera that Aaron got me last month, but none of them are great (because of the photographer, not the equipment) and I have just been goofing around.

We got 3-4 inches of snow yesterday while I was at work, which was exciting (or terrifying, depending on your situation), but I managed to make it home all in one piece, despite the plows putting all the snow on the exit ramp I needed to use and making me burst through the snow drift. Scary.

I am still waiting to hear back from the insurance company about the background checks and such. They have started calling the references that I supplied to them, and also my previous employers for the last five years. I have never had a company call back my previous employers before that I know of. Or at least so quickly if they did. So we're making progress. I'm sure I won't hear back from them until after the New Year. Oh well. I have steady employment for the time being, and that is all that matters.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, we have been invited over to Jamie and Karlie's place for a ham dinner, which sounds excellent. It will be nice to get out of the newly cleaned apartment and spend time with friends. It's weird being away from family for the first time during the holidays. We will have an orphan's Christmas, just like we had an orphan's Thanksgiving last month.

Aaron and I have been sticking to our "Game Night" and playing cards or Scrabble at least once a week every week since I suggested it over a month ago. It's something nice for us to do so we can sit and talk with each other instead of being on our computers, right next to each other, ignoring the other person. Not that we ignore each other on purpose, it just happens when you get engrossed in what you are doing on the internet.

Anyway, I am just rambling now. Happy Holidays to everyone out there who is reading this!

Work

Work has been quite hectic lately.  There's less than one week until Christmas, and parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are feeling that.  You can tell because they come in looking for one sort of specific item, such as, "I need to know what's 'in' with the nine year olds this year."  Okay...do you want clothing?  Accessories?  Toys?  "Oh, anything, I guess."  Well that doesn't help me.  Does she like Hannah Montana or High School Musical?  "What're those?"  Never mind.  What colors does she like?  "I don't know."

Then why the hell did you come in here?  Go to Gap, damnit.

I am getting closer and closer to knowing about the insurance position; I have submitted my information for a background check (which I will easily clear), and submitted more information online that I already submitted when I applied for the position.  Who knows.  I think since we've made it this far, I have a really good shot, but who knows how many other people are applying for the job, too?

Aaron and I don't have any plans for Christmas; we don't have enough time off in a row to go home and visit, nor do we have the money.  So it's just going to be a day like any other day, I suppose.  But that's okay.  It will be nice to just sit down and relax for a couple of days (for the first time in a month), instead of always mucking about and having to do something.

Anyway, that's about it for me now.  Just a quick update before I head off to work.

Blogged with Flock

Step Two

Okay, we are getting closer and closer to knowing more about the insurance job. I got a voicemail and a bunch of emails from them yesterday. I returned the voicemail with another voicemail (because they never just answer their phone at this place, apparently), and have to start working on the emails. See, the next step is to do background checks and another type of application with references and what not. I have to also call my references ahead of time to make sure that they will be able to reply within a timely fashion.

I already know who I am picking for my references. My manager from Kmart because he told me to use him as a reference when I was leaving the store, and I always liked him, and the HR gal from Caddy's because she was kind enough to write me a wonderful letter of recommendation, and I didn't even ask her to do that! Now I just need to get in contact with them.

Work at Von Maur is busy busy busy. Every item that comes through the registers seems to be a gift. Our store does free gift wrapping upstairs, but before they can do that, we at the registers have to get it looking purdy in tissue paper and a box. And if it doesn't look perfect, the folks at gift wrapping call down and gripe at you about it. So I'll be glad when the holidays are over and I don't have to box every item that I see. But I know the commission on that stuff is going to be nice, for sure.

Well, that's about it for now, I think. I have a little bit of Christmas shopping to finish up, and then I can relax.

Dream

Aaron and I were driving through a town we hadn't meant to go to, trying to get out.  We drove through a neighborhood with really weird trees in all the yards.  Some looked like giant yellow pine trees-slash-cacti.   Then as we rounded a bend, the highway was blocked off at a bridge; the entire road that went under the overpass was filled with cement and wood, completely blocking the road.

Then, my car was in a field, and six feet deep in a hole.  There was no way we were going to get it out, so we took our things, and crawled out of the hole.  We walked towards a house, but there were people in the house that didn't want us to leave that town at all.  They were going to keep us there.  I beat one of them up pretty badly with my purse (it's made of license plates), and Aaron was worried that "Now you've done it" and we were never going to get out of there. 

We left that house and went into the back yard, and it was filled with a long, narrow building with several doors.  Aaron wanted to check it out, but I just wanted to leave.  We went around to the front yard, passed by the car in the ground, and found a couple of trailers to hide between, because we knew someone was after us.  Aaron insisted in going inside one of the trailers.  I tried to stop him, but he'd already knocked and entered.  It was filled with dogs sleeping, but no human was there.  In the trailer next to us, a man started to get out of it.  He was very tall, but wanted to help us escape.

We all climbed on the top of the trailers and hid from the men chasing us.  Then they spotted us, as we jumped down and ran into another house.  There was another guy in there, walking towards me.  I started running at him, jumped, and kicked him in the chest with both of my feet.  He was knocked down and was not going to get back up.  In the next room was another guy, smaller, but faster. 

Then the alarm clock went off and I couldn't get the dream back again.

Blogged with Flock

test

flocky

Blogged with Flock

shooting

This afternoon when I was at work, I had a customer tell me that there had been a shooting at one of our Von Maur stores, the one in Nebraska. Must've been on the news. Then my manager got pulled away with all the other managers, and they were told about the incident. I guess nine people (including the shooter) were killed, but so far, they have not linked the shooting to the store; it seemed premeditated, but not having to do with anyone or anything specific. Here's a link to some local news on the situation.

I never felt ill at ease or worried about the incident while I was at work. But it's still disconcerting all the same.

On a different note, my parents are coming back from Australia today, I discovered a sty in my eye that is causing quite a bit of discomfort every time I blink, and I have my second interview at the insurance place tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

new stuff

Well, I have a second interview at the insurance place this Thursday at 10am, so I am quite excited about that. They have an opening in short term disability, and although I have no idea what it's all about, I'm a quick learner. I feel a little bad about Von Maur and only being there for a short period of time, and leaving during the holiday season when the Girls' department is so short, but I have to do what's best for me.

Whenever I am thinking about this, I start thinking about Pizza Hut, for some reason. Getting a job just for the money and not planning on staying. I had another dream about Pizza Hut, that I had come back for just a day to deliver pizzas, and didn't show up for anything else. It's a guilt thing, I know it. I feel guilty about just leaving and not giving two weeks notice. But that won't be the case with VM; I will give a two week notice.

Anyway. Today is my day off, so I am patiently waiting for my new Nokia 6120 Classic phone to come by way of the UPS truck. He's only about an hour later than he said he would be, and I can't go anywhere until he shows up, because I have to be there to sign for it. It's a fancy smart phone with internet browsing and a pretty fast processor.

We got a ton of snow here on Saturday, and driving to and from work was slightly terrifying, but by Sunday they had the roads clear, and it was much less scary. Brushing off my car in a skirt and nylons was definitely no fun at all. Thank goodness for a garage, though, that saved me some time in the morning on Sunday before I had to go to work.

Well, Aaron and I are becoming vegetarians, I guess, because we need to lose weight and are apparently incapable of working out. So far, so good, but it's only been three days. We will still eat fish and eggs, so that's not such a big deal. Also, organic food is big out here, so we've been getting a lot of organic foods here, too. Hopefully this will help us lose some weight and be healthier, more energetic people.

Well, that's about it for me. Until next time!

what a hassle

So I need to get new plates for my car in MN since the old ones expire this month. I'm trying to find the title of the car; nowhere to be seen, and I tore apart the entire apartment. I get a hold of Dad (who's in Australia), and he says Mom thinks they're in the safe deposit box. In Wyoming. That does me no good. So he can fax me power of attorney to put MN plates on the car. That should be fun.

Work has been crazy, but only because the season is upon us. I'm already sick and tired of Christmas music because we have been playing it non stop at the store since the first day of November. Fortunately, it's just piano music and there are no words to get stuck in my head for most of the songs.

I just got a call back from the insurance place; they have a position open in short term disability and are wondering if I'm still interested (duh, of course I am), and would like to set up a time next week to interview with the short term disability supervisor. Yay!

So, we'll see how all of this goes, and hopefully the tabs on my car don't expire before I can get new plates. Yikes.

weekend update

Alright! It's time for an update, finally! Not that there hasn't been anything going on; that's the complete opposite. Just that I haven't had the time or energy to post something new. Work is going pretty well. I've caught on to everything pretty quickly, and am finally getting used to being on my feet in dress shoes all day long. I finally found the right pair of shoes that are going to keep me from being in pain all day, and that's 99% of the battle.

I interviewed at the insurance place last Friday, and I think that it went really well. I haven't heard back from them yet, but hopefully within this week I will hear from them. I really really really want to get this job. Especially before the holiday season gets in full swing. They've already started playing Christmas music at the store, and I'm sick of it. Blech.

The weather is cooling off quite a bit around here, and all the leaves have fallen off the trees, but the grass is still green. So it doesn't look QUITE like barren winter yet, but I'm sure after we add a little snow to the ground, that will be the case. Still no snow that's stuck to anything yet, but a couple of flurries in the air over the last week.

My parents have left for their Australia trip and I talked to them over Skype this afternoon (which was actually Saturday morning for them) as they were getting ready to go out to the Great Barrier Reef for some SCUBA diving and a submerging boat trip. Then tomorrow is the rain forest. I'm so jealous. They are 18 hours ahead of us, so finding a good time to talk is hard, but they don't need to be spending all their free time talkin' to me, anyway.

I finally got my first paycheck from work today, so thank goodness for that. Anyway, that's about it for me now. I'll try to update more frequently!

Halloween pictures!

Sorry this took so long to get up! The party was a week ago, but since I started work, I haven't really had much time on the desktop computer on which I loaded the pictures. It's in the bedroom, and when I'm getting ready in the morning for work, I don't want to bother Aaron because he's still asleep, so I've been using the laptop in the living room in the mornings to check the weather and traffic reports, and haven't really turned this computer on most of the week.

Anyway, here they are, in all their glory. Aaron was a lumberjack, the only thing needed for his costume were the suspenders that I found at Wal*Mart, and then I was a bear. There's a before the party picture, and some party pictures. Enjoy!









The costumes were a hit, everyone liked them, and we had a lot of fun. We didn't leave the house until 4am because Aaron and Bret were showing the few people who were left over and awake videos on YouTube for about an hour. We had a really good time, but I was ready to go home and sleep in my own bed, and had to practically drag Aaron out of the house to go home.

Well, there ya have it.

I'll tell ya about work later. Adios!

Work, work, work

Alright. I have been through two days of training so far on the new job. Things are going really well so far. There's a lot of information to absorb, but I think I'm sponging it all up. Most of it, anyway. I'm in the Girls' section, which is toddlers to 16 year olds. I think they put me in that section because of my degree. Which strikes me as odd, as I said that I didn't WANT to work with kids. Oh well. No big deal at all, really.

On my first day back from work, I left around 5:15pm and got home a little after 6:00pm. Wow, rush hour traffic is horrible. It should only take half an hour from the time i get into my car, to the time I get out of it. Well, tonight, I left right at 6:00pm (after buying some new shoes) and I didn't have to slow down once on the freeway. That was great. Not saying that I will hang around work for an hour after I get off the clock to avoid the traffic...but if I can spend half the time in the car, that might help.

We'll see how the rest of the week goes. Until then!

Next post - Halloween party pictures.

Trying this out

I'm going to try to post a video on here. Let's see if this works. I got the clip from CuteOverload dot com

This poor fellow! He doesn't know what's going on. But he does know this: whatever it is feels GREAT.

http://view.break.com/388549 - Watch more free videos

RAWR!

Oh, you're going to love this! After almost a week of driving around to textile stores, Wal*Mart, Target, and various other places, my Halloween costume is finally finished! I finished putting the claws on the feet and hands, along with making the ears and sewing them to the headband, and attaching the tail to the pants.

I'm going to be the cutest rabid bear ever. I just need to figure out how to do the face painting for a nose. Shouldn't be too hard. Here's some pics!


Okay, the costume all put together.


And these are my hands, encased in fur, with little felt claws that I painstakingly sewed on myself all afternoon today. Okay, so it probably only took an hour or so...but whatever. It was all hand crafted!

Costume

So the overall idea for Halloween this year is that I am a bear, and Aaron is a lumberjack. His costume should be easy enough; all we have to find him is some suspenders, he has the rest. I haven't been able to find a bear costume to save my life, either on the internet, or in any stores. So I will resort to making one of my own.

The plan is this:
brown track pants or sweatpants
brown hoodie
felt for bear tummy and ears
faux fur for leg and arm warmers
brown shoes
ears and a tail

I'm going to start working on this tomorrow by finding some fabric and fur and the pants and top. I'll also start looking for some suspenders for Aaron. The party is on Saturday, and should be a lot of fun.

Jill was over from Fargo to visit for the weekend. We carved pumpkins, showed Jill where Aaron works 'cause it's a pretty cool building, and that was about it. We weren't too exciting, but it was fun. That's what happens when you have no money. We have friends from Spearfish coming to visit this weekend for a concert, so that should be fun, as well. I also start working at my new job on Monday, but hopefully I will hear from the insurance company this week. I'm going to give them a call or send an email tomorrow about the resume, just to make sure they got it.

And that's about it for now.

Pumpkins!

Here's the Jack O' Lanterns that Aaron, Jill, and I made this year.


From left to right: Mine, Aaron's, Jill's.

OMG Ponies!!!!!1!!1!!!

That's how I feel right now. Like a little girl seeing ponies. I'm so happy right now. I woke up around 10am and heard my phone beeping in the living room. Someone had called me. After checking my message, which was from Von Maur saying to call them back, I was a little excited, but not terribly, especially when I talked to the lady. She just wanted to ask if I had any more questions after talking to Beth and Katie, the two girls who interviewed me over this week. I couldn't think of any, except to wonder if you HAD to wear hosiery, or if you could wear those cute socks with argyle print on them. Unfortunately, no argyle socks for me.

But then she said that Beth and Katie seemed to enjoy meeting with me, and they wanted to offer me a job in the Girls' department! WOO HOO! Of course I accepted right away. I don't start until the 29th of October because that is when they have their next training session is. I know that's over a week away, but we've been barely making it this long, what's another 10 days now, after almost two months?

So yay! I am gainfully employed! Bringing home the bacon! Now I can get my new cell phone and number, pay off those bills, and get a kitteh! Oh happy day.

stuff.

I had my second job interview at Von Maur today. I think it went well, but I can never tell. I always think it goes well, and I still don't have a job. So maybe it didn't. Who knows. She said she'd let me know within the week if I got the job. Also, on Friday, I should hopefully hear from the insurance place that Aaron's co-worker hooked me up with. And then on Monday I have my interview at Famous Footwear. I really hope that I hear from Von Maur before then, or that Famous Footwear doesn't make a decision right way. Because I know I'd be making more money at Von Maur, but I don't want to tell Famous Footwear "no" if I don't know about Von Maur. Frustrating. What I'm REALLY hoping for is the insurance place.

My birthday was less than spectacular, but not bad. Aaron didn't get home from work 'til about 6:30pm. We left the house after 7pm for Red Lobster because I was in the mood for seafood. I had a pound of crab legs for dinner. Delish. Aaron had a shrimp trio - scampi, breaded, and Alfredo. Then we went home because it was 9pm and everything closes down early in Minnesota. I got a new iPod Nano from my parents, the red one. I managed to upload my entire library to it. Which means I have less than 8Gs of music on my computer. It's quite nice and tiny. I think I will get a lot of good use out of it, just like my Mini.

I finished the baby blanket, a hat, and booties for Aaron's co-worker who helped me with my resume on Monday. I'll have Aaron take it into work tomorrow morning after I get it wrapped up with some decorative cords I need to knit up when I get done doing this.

So, that's it for now. More news when I find out about a job. Adios.

opportunities

So I went in for my interview at Von Maur this afternoon. It went well, and I was asked back for a second interview that is going to be on Wednesday. That's a pretty good thing, I think, and I am looking forward to it.

Before I went to the interview, I was emailing a co-worker of Aaron's for help on my resume. Aaron's co-worker is married to a woman who works for an insurance company, and they are looking for someone to deal with insurance claims. Experience is not necessary, and apparently, they train you really well. Also, this job usually starts people out around $40,000 per year, which is twice the amount I have made at ANY former job. If I could get that job and make that money, Aaron and I would have NO financial troubles and be able to pay off our bills.

Aaron's co-worker and I emailed ideas and my resume back and forth, and Aaron says he spent quite a bit of time helping me today. He also came up with a brilliant idea. His co-worker is expecting a baby tomorrow (on my birthday, no less), and Aaron thought it would be a good idea if I could do something nice for them as a thanks for all the help. I instantly thought of making a blanket, and I think that's what Aaron was thinking, too, because he agreed right away. So tomorrow I am going to find a Wal*Mart (as the Targets around here don't carry yarn) and get some yarn for the baby blanket. Aaron's going to try to find out if they know if it's a girl or a boy, so I can buy accordingly. If they're not sure or he can't find out, I'll go with greens and yellows, I think. Maybe some orange, too, since the baby will be born in the fall, and that's a nice autumny color.

Also, another friend has a friend who works for corporate Target, and this friend is going to put in a referral for me tomorrow. So it looks like I might have a lot of options coming up soon. Which is better than having no options coming up at all. Better, but more confusing.

Even though it's my birthday tomorrow, I have no idea what we're going to do. I've been trying to find something in the theater area of Minneapolis, but nothing interesting seems to be playing. We might just end up going out to dinner or something. Who knows. I'll be 25 tomorrow; a quarter of a century! I don't feel that old, that's for sure. Actually, it doesn't even feel like tomorrow is going to be my birthday. Hmmm. I wonder if that's a bad thing?

Well...by the time I've finished this, is has turned into Tuesday, my birthday. Although, technically, I wasn't born 'til 9am, so I have a little bit of time left. Goodnight!

at last?

Last night, Aaron and I went to hang out with Nathan and Natalie because Nathan's birthday is coming up, and he had a little party with all his friends. Natalie and I got to talking, and she asked how the job hunt was going. I told her it was looking dismal, and she told me about this place called Von Maur that was hiring seasonal employees to get ready for the holidays, and that they pay $11.00 per hour to start off. She also had an application for the store with her, and said that I could have it if I wanted. She wasn't going to use it herself, and knew that I might like to apply.

So I filled out the application this morning, and Aaron and I went off to do our Saturday ritual; lunch, kitties, and picking up his car from downtown. Along with all that, we stopped at the mall where the Von Maur is and dropped off the application. They asked if I had time to speak to a manager, so I did, and I now have an interview set up for this Monday the 15th.

I'm really hoping that I get the job. Not because I think I will like it, but because of the obvious. We're broke as hell. Von Maur is a super fancy store like JC Penney or Macys, only higher end. In the mall this one is in, there are two floors to the store, a piano player on the main floor, and it looks pretty nice. Things are expensive and high quality, but basically, it'd be like working at a Penneys store. No big deal, I can handle that.

So thanks to Natalie I have that to look forward to on Monday. I also have an interview set up the next Monday, the 22nd, at Famous Footwear. It's closer to home, but I doubt pays near as much. Also, I put in the application on Tuesday, the manager looked at it on Wednesday, but I never heard from her. So I called on Friday, and she said that she wanted to set up an interview, but that it would have to wait until the 22nd because she was going on vacation. Why couldn't she have called earlier, then? Who knows.

My birthday is coming up on Tuesday the 16th. The big two five for me. Woooo! Maybe my car insurance rates will go down now. I'll give 'em a call. Plus, Jill is coming over next weekend to visit, and Brandon and Austin are coming over the weekend after that to visit, AND we're going to a Halloween party. Sounds like a good time to me!

postal service

This is a letter I received in the mail today (I blurred out the address, so that's not why I'm surprised I got it).




There was nothing in it. It looks like it was dropped in a puddle and then ran over a few times with a car. Not to mention it was completely opened (only two of the four sides were sealed still), and there was nothing in it. Wonderful.

I called the bank, because I think it's the same handwriting that was on the envelope for the letter that told me I didn't get the job at the bank I interviewed at a couple weeks ago. The lady who interviewed me wasn't there, so I left a message on her voicemail. She'll be back on Monday.

frustration

I am feeling so frustrated when it comes to finding a job. I've been searching for a month and a half of employment, have had a total of two interviews, and I wasn't accepted for either job. I have been wandering around to local businesses, picking up applications, filling them out, and bringing them back, but most of them aren't hiring right now. I have been to career websites. I made up a resume, and have posted it to so many jobs, I can't even count. Not even a nibble.

I don't want to go into teaching. I don't really want to go into retail (but I will for the time being, just because I need the money). But honestly, I don't know what I want to do. Do I want to be a manager? A receptionist? Work in a call center? I have no idea. I took a career test. It said I was "realistic" and "conventional" but didn't really tell me what kinds of jobs I should look for.

Most of the problem that I'm running into is I'm either not interested in the job at all, or I'm not qualified for a job I am interested in. I've been thinking about waiting tables, just to make some money, but I remember the last time I went out to search for a waitressing job; I wasn't experienced, so I couldn't get a job. How do you get experience, then?

So, if anyone has any bright ideas that I haven't thought of yet, or knows of some kind of job I could start looking for, please let me know. I can't be jobless much longer.

*Moment of the Day*
Aaron got a raise after only two months!

school dream

I had a dream this morning right before I woke up. I was going back to the dorms, or something similar, for school to start up again after a fall break. It was snowy outside, and I was wearing Crocs. One red, one green. I absolutely hate Crocs, and was trying to find something else to wear, when I realized there just wasn't anything. I think I got on a bus with some other people that took us to the campus. When I got off the bus, I had a bike, and used it to get to the dorms, and almost up the stairs, but I gave it up, and walked the rest of the way up.

My room was at the top, and was just how I had left it. My bed was made, with knitting still waiting to be finished. My computer was on standby, so I started it up, and started Yahoo! and MSN messengers. (Which is odd, because I don't use Yahoo! messenger in real life.) Then I started thinking about a class that I was taking. Well, enrolled in - I had quit attending after the second week of school. I had decided it wasn't the right time for the class, I was too busy with other classes. Either that, or I had decided the class was not worth my time, but I had to take it. I knew I was going to fail that semester, because it was close to the Christmas holidays, and I had only turned in a couple of assignments.

So I put on a pair of Aaron's blue plaid shorts and made plans to see the guidance counselor about dropping the class this semester, and picking it up next semester. I did this because I didn't want the failing grade to show up on my report card and have to explain it to my parents. It just wouldn't be there, and they would be none the wiser.

Now, back to real life. I haven't had a "failing a class dream" since about a year ago, when I was preparing to graduate from college. This is very strange.

mass confusion

So I go to take out the garbage this afternoon, and on my way back, I check out the new garage unit that we're supposed to have, since the original one was leased out to someone before us, then to us again on accident. I just want to make sure the lock/key works, because on the other unit, it was pretty difficult to turn the key sometimes. Lock works great. I open it up, and sure as shit, there's someone else's stuff in there. What in the heck is going on around here?!

So, I wander over to the rental office to talk to them and let them know of the situation. Turns out some guy had the garage unit we were newly promised, and apparently when he moved out (left his roommates hanging), he didn't take his stuff with him.

So, the rental office called the guy's old roommates to see if they'd heard from him, and they hadn't. The rental office is going to have the ground keepers move the stuff out of the garage and into the old roommates' garage, I guess. Either way, I'm going to have a garage, finally. And it will be empty. She's also going to have the lock changed on the unit we're getting, in case the guy comes back and tries to enter the garage.

Whew. That's a lot of work just to store some old tires and stuff. Kind of a pain, but mostly I'm just tired of having Aaron's stinky tires in the back of my car.

Also, I went down to Famous Footwear and filled out an application/did a survey thing, and hopefully will hear from them tomorrow to set up an interview.

*Moment of the Day*
It's finally cooling off and feeling like Fall! I got to wear one of my new knit sweaters today.

dream

Last night I had a dream that one of my lower molars was sticking up in the back a little bit. Just like a spur on the tooth or something. It was irritating me, and I kept catching my upper teeth on it. Eventually, I ground down on the tooth, and most of it chipped away. Gross.

irritating

Aaron and I went to hang out with Jamie and Karlie this morning, ate breakfast, went antique window shopping (no need to buy anything), and grilled hamburgers and chicken for dinner. Good times, good times.

We get home, and there's not a single parking spot in our lot. There's another lot a little further on, so we went there, still no spot. I thought, well, why don't we just park the car in our garage that we're paying $35/month for? There's only a couple of bikes in there, right? Wrong. Open it, and there's the bikes, and boxes, and a cart to haul boxes on.

I called the rental office this afternoon and asked if they had accidentally given out the key to our garage, because there's stuff in it, and for them to call me back on Monday. All I can figure is that they accidentally gave out the key, or a closer garage opened up, and they're saving that for us, and gave the further one away already. I'm really hoping it's option number two, for sure.

So I'm kinda mad about the whole ordeal, because it happened over the weekend, they had the whole thing set up on the computer, so there should be no need for mistakes like that, AND we had it first, damn it! Maybe they tried to get a hold of us, but couldn't, and our phones were messing up, and they never left a message saying to bring in the old key for a new one. Who knows. It's confusing and dumb. That's all.

*Moment of the Day*
Seeing fifty cent bills from the Civil War era, half dimes, Barber dimes, and a large size silver certificate one dollar bill at the antique store. Nerding out big time with numismatics.

hangovers, kitties, and garages

Last night I met up with Aaron in downtown Minneapolis after he got off work. The plan was to go around town during Oktoberfest and sample beers with his co-workers. Even though I don't drink beer, I thought it would be fun to go, just to get out of the apartment, as I was having a bad day. We meet up, go to a friend's house to pick them up, and then realize that we cannot get into the bar we were supposed to meet Aaron's co-workers at. There was no parking within a 5 block radius. So we said, "Screw that," and went and made our OWN Oktoberfest with German beers, some Apfelkorn (kinda like Schnapps), and some ciders for me. And boy did we have a good time. We ended up spending the night on an air mattress at their place because both of us had drank too much. We made it home the next morning a little worse for wear, Aaron being in more pain than myself. And people wonder why I don't drink that much?

So after we lounged around the house and slept off our headaches and tummy aches, we left for a late lunch of Chinese food, and then off to the Humane Shelter in Golden Valley to look at kitties. This is kind of our new thing; every couple of weekends, we go down to the shelter and look at kitties, to see if any strike our fancy. We do this even though we know that we can't have a kitty until after I have had a job for a couple of months to save up some money, but we do it all the same. This weekend's kitties weren't as good as the last time we were there, but one stood out in particular. I don't know what his name was, but he only had three legs and was very lovable.

Then we bought a week's worth of groceries for dinners, lunches, and snacks because we were running low on food.

After groceries were put away, we went to take out the garbage, which is back behind another set of apartments, and near the garage that we had rented for the duration of our lease. Last week, when we got the garage, I had gone over to make sure the key worked, opened it, and had trouble getting the door to latch again, so I left it down, but unlocked. There was nothing in it, however, so that wasn't a big deal. Today, I wanted to see if Aaron could get it to latch, and to show him where it was, since he hadn't seen it yet, and we had his car's winter tires in the back of my car, and were going to put them in the garage. We get over to the garage door, and it is not only latched, but locked. Weird. Maybe the maintenance guy closed it? I couldn't get the key to work, and gave them to Aaron, who got the garage unlocked. We opened the door, and there were two bicycles in the very back against the wall. Neither of us own a bicycle (Aaron's not allowed to ride one for safety reasons, anyway), and they weren't there when I opened the garage last week. What's going on? Unfortunately, it is the weekend, and the ladies from the rental office won't be in until Monday.

So, I have to check in with them about that, because we're not paying $35 a month for someone else to have keys to our garage. It's a good thing that we never put anything in there!

*Moment of the Day*
Playing with a three-legged cat, who every time he turned around to rub on me, he almost fell over, due to his lack of a hind leg. So cute.

*sigh*

Got a letter in the mail today from the bank where I interviewed last week. Needless to say, all it said was that they had found someone else to fill the position, and wished me good luck in my job quest. Gee. Thanks. Oh, and it was hand-addressed and signed. How fancy.

Ashley calls me to "rub it in my face" that she got a job today after only filling out two applications. She picked up the application, dropped it off later in the day, interviewed that day, and heard back an hour or so later that she got the job. Wonderful. And she's asking me if I've dropped off more applications today. No, I haven't. I haven't left the apartment yet because I'm in a bad mood.

Also got a letter from my credit card company that I am late on a payment. I doubt it; I always pay online every month BEFORE it's due. I haven't been charged, but that was just more salt in the wounds, I guess.

Aaron's cousin who lives close to us is going to ask her friend who works for corporate Target about referring me for a job. For that, I am very thankful, and I hope it works out.

*Moment of the Day*
Realizing they had changed the scent that is pumped into the hallways of our apartment building. Very nice!

on the prowl

Well, I am STILL hunting for a job. I never heard back from the bank. Nice of them to call me and let me know that I didn't get it, so I can sit here and wait and think that maybe I did. You know, how hard is it to call a person and let them know either way? Not too hard.

So I went out and picked up job applications at some local places, and then found some places online that were looking for positions as well. The first one was at a car dealership, but he said, "I appreciate you coming down and seeing, but they were supposed to take that position off the website." Pfft. The next place had a cashier / teller position, so I went down there, filled out the application, interviewed, AND did an assessment test based on attitude and opinions about the field. The lady entered it all in. Unsatisfactory. Pfft. She said she would call her boss and see what kind of leeway he allows for situations like this. She also said that most policemen and military folks don't pass the test, but that doesn't mean they're "bad" people.

I took it to mean that I am "too" honest. If that's even possible. I grew up with the Ten Commandments. Thous shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not lie...things like that. I also grew up very afraid of getting in trouble. I still feel that way. So why would I do anything wrong? Did I answer the questions in a way that would make them think I'm just "saying the right things?" Who knows. I hope she calls me back either way, because it seemed like an interesting job. I don't think I answered the questions in a way that put me in a bad light, just in a way that might seem like it's what they want to hear. I'm hoping that's the case, anyway.

Who knows. I'll work on filling out the other applications, and hope I hear back from this place.

On a lighter note; on my way to finding this place, I ended up getting on the wrong part of the Interstate...I was supposed to get off exit 37...Here's exit 35, and then all of the sudden, I94 split to I694, and I was looking at exit 230. Whoops. Fortunately, I was heading straight for downtown and the Metrodome, which is two blocks from where Aaron works. So I just followed the signs for the stadium, and found my way to his work. I called him from the parking lot of his building and said, "Yeah, so I got really turned around and can't find where I'm going." Aaron asked where I was, and I told him I was outside his building and he should let me in. *Smile* Then we re-routed where I should go based on my current position, went to lunch with one of his co-workers, and sent me on my merry way. And we got me directions to back home from where I was headed as well.

Whew. That was a crisis averted. Sometimes I just get lost and frustrated, and back home, it's easy to turn around and find your way again. Not on the freeways. Yikes.

So, that's what's going on right now.

grrr.

I just got an email from my mom saying that my cell phone bill had been charged to my bank account back home, instead of being charged to my new bank account here in Minneapolis. I could have sworn that I had changed the bank account information on it. I went through all of my accounts (especially the ones that are automatic withdrawal), and changed them. When I went to the website, sure enough, there was my new Minneapolis bank account information, NOT my Gillette information. What gives?

So I call them up and talk to the customer service lady. She was very nice about everything and apologized for the inconvenience. Her information was only showing the Gillette bank account, and my Spearfish address, which I had also changed to Minneapolis on the website. So I had her update everything for me, and that won't happen again. I have no idea why the information didn't go through from the website when I did it almost a month ago, because that's exactly what I was trying to prevent from happening.

Oh well, crisis averted, sort of. Mom had to transfer some money into my account so I didn't overdraft. I'll have to pay her back because she doesn't need to pay my cell phone bill for me.

I'm still hoping to hear from the bank about the job interview today; no phone call yet.

Fall Foliage!

Alright! I am too pooped from trekking all over northern Minnesota and Wisconsin today to add each and every one of my 43 photos that I took today to this site. So, instead, you can see them here, where I could add them all at one, instead of individually. This is my Flickr page. I have also loaded them onto my MySpace and Facebook pages, which is why I'm not going to add them here.

Anywho, the day started out nice and cool and cloudy. This is apparently the best lighting to have while taking pictures of trees, otherwise the Sun washes out all the colors. Not only did it get more cloudy, it also got more wet as the day progressed, and we got rained on a few times.

We picked Aaron's parents up from a KOA nearby and headed to Osceola, Wisconsin. By the time we got there, it was lunch time, and we stopped in a nice little place and had lunch. Then we headed down 150-some stairs to the falls (which is accessible right from downtown Osceola). After that, we headed to Stillwater, Minnesota to find Taylor's Falls and the pot holes that had been formed by glacial waters carving out stones. That is where we ended our day, and we never actually got to see the falls of Taylor's Falls, because we were on the Minnesota side of the St. Croix River, and the falls were on the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix River, and it was getting on into the afternoon and Buffy and Jasmine had to be let back outside of the camper, or Aaron's parents were going to have some mess to clean up!

We stopped by the campground to take care of the pets, then headed to Plymouth to eat dinner at the Old Chicago, went to the Lund's winery right next door, then headed to Wal*Mart for a few things. After that, we dropped off his parents, picked up some stuff that they brought us from Spearfish, SD, and headed home. And here I am now.

Tomorrow, we are going to IKEA, then to Aaron's workplace so he can show it off to his parents (and I haven't been in there since June when we first came out to visit), then True Thai, apparently the best Thai place in the Twin Cities for lunch, and who knows where else. We're also going to give his parents back the microwave and some other random things that we don't need here in this apartment so they can take it back to Spearfish with them. That will get a lot of things out of our hair that we don't have room for.

All in all, it was a very good day.

Head Wounds

Okay, so we're just getting over the kidney stone thing, as I said in my last post. Fine and dandy.

Tonight, Aaron and I go out to dinner, enjoy a good meal, and are walking back out to the car. I was walking ahead of Aaron, and giving a wide berth to the ladder that was sticking out of the back of a pick up truck. Aaron, however, was using his phone to find the location of the nearest booze store, as his supplies had been depleted over the weekend.

All of the sudden: SMASH!

I turn around, and Aaron is stumbling backwards, dropping his phone, and clutching his head. Oh shit. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't too bad, just swollen right around the cut (thankfully the ladder moved when Aaron hit it, instead of being a stationary object), and some of his skin was missing. Nothing too horrible. And it wasn't bleeding, thank God. We went to the nearest grocery store/booze store, where Aaron got his booze, and I got antibiotic cream and large band-aids for his forehead. Yeesh. I was being blamed for the incident, as I was not watching out where he was going (even though he was behind me). However, I blame him for dinking around on his fancy phone and not looking where he was going.




I'd look a little sheepish, too. Poor guy.

stuff and things

Well, I have a job interview on Thursday, the 27th for the TCF (Twin Cities Financial) branch in Coon Rapids, which is about 20 minutes from here, so not too far at all. This particular branch is actually inside a grocery store, but hey, it's a job, and I hope I get it. I should be okay, with all my experience in cashiering, and especially working in the cashier's cage at the casino.

Aaron's kidney stone finally passed. I think it was on Friday while he was at work. It's much different than I thought it would look; almost like crystals. I was thinking of an actual little stone, I guess, having never seen one before. Now he just has to take it in to have it examined, I guess.

Aaron's parents are going to be visiting us this weekend to see the leaves change colors. Some of the trees have already started to change. Some have lost all of their leaves. Some are still quite green. I'll try to remember to bring my camera with me when we go anywhere so I can post some fall foliage pictures.

I just finished the Harry Potter series. I had the seventh and final book finished before I came out to Minnesota, and then once I was here, and jobless and bored, I started the whole thing over, from book one. It took me a little over two weeks to finish the whole series, but it was kinda cool to read it in its entirety, instead of waiting a year for the next one to come out.

Well, I can't think of much else to say. Just thought I'd let you know what's going on for now.

Storm

Tonight there was a severe thunderstorm that came through the area, although it moved away fairly quickly. I took some pictures of the back yard during the storm, before Aaron had come home from work. He was stuck on the highway because traffic was moving rather slow due to the rain, hail, and standing water.

The first pictures are at the beginning of the storm.



Then the view from the porch.


Then the flooded back yard about 30 minutes into the storm.



During the storm, which had almost blown itself out by this point, we started making dinner, potato leek soup, which was delicious. Around 6:30pm, however, we lost power. The electric range stayed hot for a while, and with a lid on, the soup kept cooking, until about 8pm, by which point we were getting hungry. After making sure the chicken was cooked all the way through, we poured ourselves a bowl, ate, and then put the remaining soup in the freezer (which was cooler than the fridge, seeing as there was still no power in the house. We lost power for about three hours total, not getting it back until a little after 9pm. The power had threatened to come on, but flickered off shortly a couple of times during this three hours. When the power finally came on for the last time a little after nine (and STAYED on), we remained in the bedroom, reading our books that we had been earlier by candle light.

About twenty minutes into this, I get up, smelling something, and ask, "Did you leave the burner on?" I knew the answer, but just wanted to be sure. I could smell something not quite burning, but getting close, and went into the kitchen. Sure enough, one of the kitchen towels was laying on the burner that, for three hours, hadn't been on. But for the last twenty minutes, it HAD been on. No harm done, just scraping some burnt plastic off the burners, and running the poor towel under water.



Only three weeks at the apartment, and we've almost set it on fire. Thank goodness I have a good nose (Aaron hadn't smelled it because his nose was stuffy). The towel had been placed on the stove when the power was out, and the heat was off, and neither of us had thought to turn the electric burner off after we took the pot of soup off. We will have to be more careful from now one. I hate electric ranges, they are dangerous and remain hot long after they've been turned off. Grr.