I RULE!

I got a new job!

I'm now a Director of Communications for a fantastic non profit organization. And yes, this is the place the turned me down a few weeks ago.

Apparently the other person they went with was really trying to wheel and deal on the salary then took forever to give them an answer. Then the CEO decided that he would go with me because my writing is a lot stronger and I am was the more aggressive and better connected person in terms of media, which is what they want anyway. Soooo, woohoo!

I will be starting work on Monday. Awesoooome. I am so excited. Not only did I get a nice raise, I got a great title to add to my career. How awesome is that?!

Aaron and I already started figuring out our new budget and worked out how much we want to sock away per month to save up for a down payment on a house. With what we worked out, we should be able to have more than enough to get a house by the new year. So hopefully by this time next year, we'll be closing on a house.

Sigh... that's really the most exciting part. Finally being able to get back to building our lives. For the last year, although we've been able to accomplish a lot, like pay off our school loans, paying off his car and eliminating the balances on our credit cards, we had to put off the house hunting and starting a family. Now we can actually get on those. Woohoo! I feel like doing a tap dance.

The Power of Prayer

As many of you who have read anything of mine for a little while know that despite my problems, I always keep an open and almost constant communication with God. And although I know it always pays off, even if it's just to clear my thoughts, sort things out, or to help me become aware of the things I have to be thankful for in my life, sometimes the big man has a way of dropping off little gifts and leaving them nicely perched on my lap.

Yesterday's interview went, well, interestingly. It went well, but it was kind of unnerving. I couldn't get a read on the guy to save my life. he gave me almost nothing to work with in terms of a conversation and he seemed distracted (he kept looking over at his computer and the thing kept dinging (e-mails). At one point, towards the end of the thing, I was so rattled that I blanked out entirely on a few names. I recovered pretty quickly, but still, I didn't like it. So although I did the best I could, I was really bothered by the guy's behavior. I even called my old boss to see if she knew the guy and to ask if this is normal behavior for him. She sadly didn't know the guy.

This morning, I got an e-mail from a headhunter about a communications specialist position at Reuter's. I told him I would call him in the morning about it. So he sent me the job description. Then genius me, I left my cell behind so when I got home there were a ton of voice mails. The last one, however, made me grin and happy that I left it home. It was from the job that turned me down two weeks ago. They reopened the position and wanted to know if I could come in either tomorrow or Thursday. Now the reason I'm thankful I left the phone behind is because had I gotten the call, I know I would have taken the interview tomorrow. But since I got some time to think about it, I decided to go for Thursday. I can prepare a bit more, I can talk to the headhunter and I am allowing the people from Time to have more time to get back to me. Hopefully, this way, I will have two offers and a potential interview on deck. Not a bad position to be in.

Now here's the part about the power of prayer and why I know the Big man looks out for me. Since I got turned down, I have been pretty depressed. I've been trying of course to keep a positive attitude and remain thankful for all the great things I have in my life. But still, most of my time praying has been spent asking for a miracle and asking why I feel like I'm being punished. I know that's not the case, but I still felt like it. Between him and I, I think we're cool enough for me to ask that. Especially after yesterday's interview. And now here I sit, not 24 hours later, somewhat spoiled for choices in job opportunities. Thank you LORD!

"Gonna Make It. Gonna Make It. Gonna Maaake It. Gonna Maaaaake Iiiiiit..."

I have the coffee brewing. I've had time to think about what I will say in response to questions and I have my outfit all ready to go. Once again I'm ready for the interview. I just hope to God today's interview goes according to plan.

I still can't believe how quickly this is going. I mean this is the fastest I have ever seen this process go. They aren't effing around. They want someone in there and fast. Which is really fine by me. I just hope that after all the work and effort that has gone into getting a new job, this one won't be a letdown. I mean, I'm close. I know I am. I can taste it, damn it.

So here's hoping I land this job and have great news to report when I get back. If today ends up really well, I may just tweet it or something.

Little Sleep, Yet Wide Awake

Don't ask me why I am wide awake this morning. I couldn't get to sleep till about 1:30ish and I have been completely awake since about 5:45am. Aaron was up all night fiddling around online (playing poker, luckily he won) and ended up finally coming to bed at that time. It woke me up. Grr.

But yeah, I am pretty damn excited this morning. Last night I got some pretty good news. I have a second interview at Time on Monday. So I've been really jazzed about this. What's funny is that I'm not even annoyed at Aaron for waking me up. I tried my hardest to go back to sleep but to no avail. I think I may go to the gym and then run a few errands.

Woohoo! Look at me go!

"The Waiting Is The Hardest Part"

Well, I appear to have rocked the interview and left the HR person sufficiently blown away. The big advantage I have is that I've done all the work before and I know what their work environment is like already. Not many people coming into a place like that really have much of an idea of what they're walking into. They pretty much just get there, get overwhelmed, perhaps cry and then bail. I survived it and was doing well in that environment for two years. The other advantage is that they need someone in there, ASAP. They want someone starting by next Monday! SO There! Well, I hope.

The next step is now to wait till either Monday or Tuesday to hear back about when they want me to come in to meet with the director and the rest of the team.

So once again good readers, fingers crossed, prayers flying, thumbs tucked, rub your luck items, do a jig and/or whatever it is that you do to summon up luck, and send it my way.

Oh yes, I was indeed listening to the Rocky theme song (the training song) on my way up from the subway into the Time Building. I had to download it onto my iPod. I almost cracked up laughing, but it helped break the tension for me.

What a Good Way To Start The Day

This morning I got a lovely call from Time. I responded to a posting they had up for a Publicist. This morning they call and asked me if I could come in today! Sweet!

So today at 4:30 I will be in the city interviewing. Wish me luck, say a prayer, cross your fingers, tuck in your thumbs, rub a rabbit's foot, do a hula or a tapdance, basically anything you feel would help me in the slightest way to get this job.

And yes, I am hearing the faint beginnings of the Rocky training song in my head. That, and "One Day" by Matisyahu.

Close But No F***ing Cigar

At the moment I feel like cursing up a storm and I know that in a few minutes, perhaps hour, I'll feel pretty damn down. I didn't get the job.

Three interviews, writing test and being a finalist but I was once again passed up. What hurts is that I don't know what else I could have done, other than standing on my head and doing a tap dance with my hands. SHIT! BALLS! PISS! FUCK!!!!

Sigh... I still don't feel better.

Not Quite The End

Today's interviews went great. The problem is that the CEO wasn't available. He got caught by the snow in Baltimore. So now I'm supposed to do one last, last interview with them before I get to hear if I got the job or not.

The way I look at it is, I get more time to prepare. Which really isn't a bad thing.

I just wish I hadn't worn my best suit today. I looked great. The hair cooperated, the makeup went on without a hitch and stayed the way I wanted it to look and the new blouse complemented everything nicely. Ah well. I suppose I'll just have to work some magic again next time. Sigh.

Skiing, The City and Having the Place to Myself

This has been one of those really good and relaxing weekends that make me just smile.

I hit the slopes with Michele on Friday and discovered the joy that is the banked turn course. So much fun. But to top it all off, I woke up blessedly almost pain free. I was expecting to be sore all over but the only thing I felt were the little spots on the insides of my ankles (where the boot was rubbing).

Then yesterday, Aaron and I spent time with our friends Tom and Marie. It was Marie's birthday so we went out to the city for dinner. We hit a really nice place called Porter House in the Time Warner Center across the street from where I used to work. It reminded me of why I liked the area so much. Ah well. For dinner I had one of the best duck dishes I have ever had. Afterwards we went out for drinks and saw a set from Aaron's old band. At the risk of sounding completely biased, I prefer Aaron's singing. I know. I know. You'd expect me to say that. But really. The new guy's voice is really high and nasally, so after a bit it really gets annoying. After a set we decided to bail adn came back to our palce for coffee and Wii.

Today, I have the place to myself. Aaron left about an hour ago to go to a Superbowl party. I would have gone, but decided to skip it. I have the interview tomorrow and I really didn't want to stay up long. Had I gone, I would have had to make Aaron leave even earlier than he has to (he has to work) or his friends would have had to get me home, but also leave really early. It's all good though. There are chili cheese dogs, a beer chips, salsa and an assortment of cheese to keep me company while I watch the game and Puppy Bowl. I'm all good.

Yeah tomorrow's the big day. The final interview. I'm pretty much ready. I've got all my notes together and I've done my reading up on the people I'm meeting with. I picked up a new blouse and I'll be touching up my nails in a little bit. All that's left is a good night's sleep.

Wish me luck.

I Did It. It's Out. Now I Wait.

First off, thank you so much to my fresh sets of eyes. I really appreciate all the help.

So yes, the two writing assignments have been submitted. I'm not sure if I could have done anything else different. I mean sure I could have tweaked things to hell, but by that point I would have made me eyes bleed. I spent so much time researching things and writing things that I actually have had to wear my reading glasses. I don't normally have to resort to them. I normally use them when I do needlework or when I've spent more time than usual reading.

But anyhoo, those are out and now all I have to do is wait for Monday.

Till then, I'm planning on getting myself a new suit for the interview and hit the slopes with my friends Michele tomorrow. I think that'll make a world of difference.

I Think I Can. I Think I Can. I Think I Can...

Okay cue the "Rocky," workout music and imagine any of the big workout routines before one of his big fights and throw me in there, hunched over a computer keyboard, papers kind of haphazardly strewn about, and you have my day today.

I'm working on my writing assignment for the job interview. They gave me two assignments and hopefully by tomorrow I can have two good drafts. Read them over one last time on Wednesday. Tweak what needs to be tweaked and send it in on Thursday. I can do this. No sweat.

And Now I Wait

Well the interview went as well as possible. I hit all the points I wanted to get to; I was lively and impressive, placing emphasis on my strongest qualities; I kept her interested and didn't let the conversations lapse for more than a second or two; She seemed impressed by my experience and even gave me some pretty good compliments. We even got to speaking about salary. She told me what the salary was and if I would have a problem with a salary in that range. I told her that it was actually what I was aiming for. She seemed very delighted and said that the salary had been a deterrent for some people coming up from the city. No surprise.

So who knows. I hope it went well. She said she'd call me by next week when she comes back from the holiday. Round two is to meet up with some of the executives and round three would be to meet with the CEO. And if all goes very well I'll be starting by the end of January/ beginning of February. The place is actually really great and does work I can honestly get behind. I think I'd really like working there. So I'm hoping I get the job. Here's hoping.

Preparing for The Interview

Inhale and release, inhale and release. In a few hours I have an interview. I prepared for it most of yesterday. I have my notes, questions, my resume, printout of the job description with notes on that, references and driving directions. I have an idea of what I'm going to say and what I'm going to focus on, so why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?

Grrr... I hate this feeling. I know I'm not really forgetting anything, I'm just getting anxious. I mean it's been a while since I've worked and it's killing me that I'm still not working. Perhaps that's it. It's just my nervous energy effing with me.

Cough. Cough. Hack. Cough. Groovy.

With some firm (forced) persuading I decided (given no choice) to finally go to the doctor's and see what the hell is going on with my persistent (and highly annoying) cough. My head seems to have cleared but the coughing refuses to go away and has been waking me (and everyone else within a three mile radius) up in the middle of the night.

So as it turns out it was pretty much a bad cold. He gave me a cough syrup with Codine. Nice. I should have gone sooner. Ah well. He said if the coughing persists for another week, to come back and see what the hell I've got. I didn't like the sound of that.

Since I was there so early I decided I'd finally let them draw blood. My doctor has been asking me to come in to get blood work done. It's been a while since he did a full checkup. I did the standard stuff a few weeks ago but he really wanted to do the rest. While I understand the importance of knowing what the hell is going on in your body and understand that he doesn't really want to cause me pain, my irrational fear of needles has pretty much been the inspiration for the litany of excuses I've come up with for not going.

I'm not the kind of person that passes out at the sight of needles or blood or anything like that. I actually give blood every year and have done so since I was 17. I just really despise the thought of needles going into my skin; hence, I have no tattoos. But yes, I did my little breathing exercise, even faster talking and even asked the nurse to give me a countdown. I warned her that I'm a big baby. She laughed. I couldn't blame her. I'm well aware that from the outside it's pretty funny. And I'll be the first to admit when it comes to getting shots, I'm not much braver than little kid. Hell, if it were socially acceptable, I'd demand a lollipop afterwards. I'm not kidding getting my regular allergy shot as well as flu shot (teeny as those needles are) still involves me squeezing my eyes shut and "eeeek-ing." Ah well, at least I'm good with knowing that my arm is not due to be impaled with anything until the spring.

The good thing is that the cough syrup seems to be working really nicely. I'm relaxed as can be, I haven't been coughing a whole lot and I'm getting kinda sleepy. This is great. Like I said, I should have gone sooner. I just hope this works. I have an interview on Monday afternoon. I'd hate to go in there trying to make a good impression and then start hacking away.

So sleepy... time for a nap.