Check, check, check

For years I've kept what I affectionately call the "Jenny Do List". It gets moved every month and I keep track of how long shit has been on the list. Just because I really like to see just HOW lazy I am.

Being that I now seem to have a permanent job in the unemployment line (song lyric...know from where?) I figured the least, very least, I could do was get that list done.

Today I cleaned out the garage. It was the last thing on my list of things to do. I've been patiently waiting for nice-ish weather so I can have the garage door open. Today was that day. I organized, repacked, reorganized, repacked and swept the garage. It's clean!

There are still a few things I need to figure out how to get rid of (Mrs. Landlord at one point decided to hack at a tree out front that's a pain in our collective arses. The branches are in a bag that needs to be disposed of somehow. I suppose I could cut them down and put them in the garbage.

There's also now some boxes that need to be recycled. Today is trash day so the recycled bin is FULL and now I have to wait until it's empty.

So now what?

I'm done with all my scrapbooking.

I've searched for a job all week.

I've cleaned out every single cabinet in the kitchen and all the bathrooms.

I've cleaned out and organized the laundry room.

I've cleaned and organized the closets.

Ugh...what else?

I need a job. I'm starting to feel very antsy and a bit discouraged.  I'm anxious too and I hate all those feelings.

I'm taking my anxious, antsy and discouraged butt out for a wog. That's what I'm going to do.

Flash cards from the edge

Back in the day, you know, elementary school, we used flash cards for everything. Math, spelling, definitions etc. Flash forward (hahah get it?) to 2005. I used flash cards to help me study for my PMP exam.  I find them useful and I'm very good at memorizing in that way.

Tonight I was telling my friend BeagleBabe that I think I'm too late to find an Italian class for our cruise in April. I've been wanting to take a super simple, tourist Italian class and just haven't gotten around to it.

And then I became unemployed and couldn't really defend spending $$ on an Italian class.

Tonight I got home and found this site. I went through ALL the phrases and was happy to find out that some, ok very little, of the Italian I learned while at TASIS came back.

Then I read through them again. And in the second round I realized, I need flash cards. I am, after all, unemployed and so have the time to make me some flash cards. 

I simply think learning a few phrases in the language of the country you're visiting is the polite thing to do.  And I love that it's something that comes to me relatively easy.  I won't, by any means, be able to carry on a conversation, but I will be able to order a beer and find the bathroom.

And that is, after all, all I really need to know.

Buona Sera!!
AKA - Good night

February Sunday Dinner...and a few other things

This month Sunday Dinner was hosted by the Braspirs.  You may know Mrs. Braspir by her other code name of Queen PopUp.  After much deliberation - and a vote between the kittens and me - I've determined that Queen PopUp will henceforth be known as Mrs. Braspir.  They are, after all, family - sorta. In fact, I ran into someone who knew Mrs. Braspir's daughter-in-law and without skipping a beat I told the person she was my niece. So you, see, I've said it, therefore it is.

Moving on ...

Sunday dinner was out in BFE...also known as Carnation.  And those of you not from around here, yes it's THE Carnation where Carnation Dairy once (and still may) exist. It has absolutely nothing to do with the flower though. I don't think.

Anyhow, back to BFE. It's a beautiful drive out there and such a lovely place to visit. I'm not country folk and so wouldn't really like to live out there - unless the price was right.  Still, the Braspir's have a beautiful home that always makes me feel so welcomed. 

We ate 7 layer dip (and by "we" I think I mean me and Mrs. Landlord - cuz I swear I ate almost the whole platter of it), fudge, brie/crackers...and wine. That was just the starters. Oh the wine.

So remember, maybe you don't, but recently I purchased 10 bottles of wine within 2 days because all my favorite wines went on sale, and well, you can't NOT purchase your favorite wines when they go on sale, right? 4 of the bottle's were, actually, not a "favorite" wine in as much as wine's I thought would be my favorite if I had a chance to try them. So they went on sale at Cost Plus and I purchased them. ONE of those bottles, we drank last night. After two sips I debated hiding the bottle and not letting anyone else have any. Mr. Braspir poured himself a glass and I almost whimpered when I realized it was almost the end of the bottle.  I did take a photo of the bottle, and will be driving my butt to Cost Plus sometime this week and purchasing another bottle, or 2, or 3.

After I gorged myself on appetizer, we were served Baked Ziti, salad, and garlic bread that may or may not have gotten slightly burnt. No fire alarms went off, but those of us not in the kitchen helping smelled burnt toast and heard a suspicious scraping sound going on in the other room. It still tasted spectacular and it didn't stop me from having two pieces.

Dessert was a layered cake that was white cake layered with raspberry jam and topped with frosting. OMG...so good. I may have to request that again.

By the end of the evening I was stuffed, as usual, and I didn't have to do dishes. It was, for me, a win win.

The Pantry Goat thought it'd be a great idea to reverse the photo from below. I cropped out my fat butt...

In other none Sunday dinner related news, the job search continues. I had another interview today and three "outstanding" interviews - meaning the recruiters have my resume in front of people who want to bring me in for an interview, but we just need to nail down availability. Ugh.

My screwdriver

So here I am in the 3rd week of unemployment. I'm bored. I've managed to get most everything on my list done. The things that remain require purchasing of some objects so I'm not going to do them now (read: not spending any $$).

Did you ever see Sleeping with the Enemy with Julia Roberts? In the film she's a kept woman abused by her OCD husband.  Controlled is putting it mildly.

Anyhow, there's a part in the beginning where they are sitting at the breakfast table. He asks her what she's going to do today and she replies "I'm going into town to buy a screwdriver."  He asks why and she responds, "Because we don't have one." Basically telling the viewer that she's bored and has nothing better to do but make up things to do.

I am going into town to buy a screwdriver. 

My "screwdriver" is wiping down all the light switches.

My "screwdriver" is wiping out all the cabinets.

My "screwdriver" is buying a plastic container (cheap) to organize the paint brushes.

My "screwdriver" is moving, rearranging, moving back my entire scrapbook room. (At least I got to vacuum under things.)

And the list goes on. 

I admit, I've enjoyed this time off. I've gotten to read a lot...a LOT and get caught up on all  my TV shows I've taped.  Now, well now I'm bored.

Yesterday I laced up the shoes and started the Couch to 5K process again - just for something to do (and well yes it's good for me). Today I would go out but I'm super sore so am resting a day.

Tomorrow I plan on doing some re-organizing of my recipes (they're all pretty organized already). Scrapbook stuff is organized. Receipts are organized (not too many cuz I'm not buying anything). Went through my file cabinet and tossed 7 year old taxes, old manuals, old stuff in general. 

Now I'm bored.

On the job front, I have a few irons in the fire, but nothing solid yet. I'm still trying to keep a positive feeling about one potential job, but as each day passes and I don't hear, I just assume it's a no. I've emailed them and have heard nothing. So moving on.

Project Life 2013 - Done!

I've been a scrapbooker since 1998. I have 47 scrapbooks to prove it and could easily have bought 2 houses with the amount of $$ I've put into this little hobby. But I love it. I go back and forth with wanting to quit at times, and soon realize that it is my creative outlet and I'm going to keep going. I really scrapbook for myself. No one really looks at them. Only on a rare occasion.

This last year I jumped in both feet first with this "newer" scrapbook craze called Project Life. Long time Queen of Scrapbook Becky Higgins developed this system. The basic concept is to get your daily life scrapped with minimal effort.

The "layouts" are pages with pre-defined slots for your photos. Thing very old school photo albums - minus the gross glue adhesive background.  My good friend BeagleBabe started it and is an expert at it. She's not a scrapbooker (she says) and so found Project Life to really fit her. The simplicity in just putting photos in slots (with some fun embellishments) was just for her.  So I thought I'd give it a try.

I've gotta say, it's not simple for me. You would think it would be, but I found it more difficult to be "limited" to a pre-defined slot for my photos. Still, I pushed on and completed the entire year.  I'm happy with the output but will probably not be doing this for 2014 - most likely not that is. I think I'll stick to traditional scrapbooking - which seems easier to me.

I chose to do this Project Life thing with the project 365 (one photo every day for a year) photos.  I, obviously, didn't use every photo.  One of the concepts with Project Life is to capture your daily lives - including journaling.  Because I used project 365 there wasn't much of a need to journal. So I made lists of the photos.


Here's my 2013 Project Life. 

Interviewing

So I'm in week two of the Great Unemployment Adventure 2.0. While I'm "enjoying" the time off, I'm ready to get back to work. The interviews are happening and are being scheduled, though I'm still waiting for that one job offer.

I have a couple of friends who are also looking for jobs. Some for over a year. It surprises to me that it takes so long to find a job, but I also realize that being willing to take contract jobs really ups the possibility.  I was having a conversation with an unemployed friend and was a bit surprised she really didn't know, or understand how to find a job.  Her "process", for lack of a better word, is to keep checking with some of the same companies sites over and over. She's very focused on wanting to work for these companies.  But doesn't look any further. She's also put her resume up on Monster and is "stunned" nothing is happening.

Here's the thing, looking for a job is a job. There are ways to make it easier, but at the end of the day, you have to be creative in your job hunting.  You need to know what type of job you want, what type of company you want, and be willing to say no to a job offer that you know in your heart isn't the right job.

There are a bunch of sites out there to help you find job posting. I use Indeed.com to help. Essentially Indeed does half the work. It goes out and searches job postings all  over the Internet with key words - in my case project manager.  I get a daily email with brand new job posting. I look through them ALL - this is important.  You have to read them all cuz you never know when the title of a job description isn't accurate and the job description might have more details. You just gotta take the time to read them.

I also think you have to keep your applications organized. I have a, wait for it, excel spreadsheet of my applications. I keep all the information there to remind me of the  job posting should I get a call. I not only keep the URL of the job description, but I also copy and paste the job description information into OneNote - because the URL has, and will, be useless once they take the job posting down.

Places I've found useful to look for jobs besides Indeed.com are LinkedIn and Craig's List. All are good places to start, but you really do need to make a job out of finding a job.

I've had some good interviews and feel after each on the same. I've done the best I can and now it's just a wait and see. So far nothing has worked out. I'm convinced the right job will come along and I'm ready to do what I need to find that job.

In other exciting news, the Seahawks won the Superbowl.  If you live in Seattle you certainly couldn't have missed that.  I have never seen the city get so hyped up over a team. But man everywhere you look you see the number 12 for the12th man.

Celebrate

I've been meaning to write this blog for a week now, and I just haven't had it in me. I've come down with a nice little cold and for some reason it has wiped out all my energy. There are things I've wanted to do, and should have been doing, and I just haven't had the energy.

Even now as I sit here typing away I'm feeling a bit sleepy. I'm debating between continuing to write and taking a nap. I figure the nap is eventual, so might as way write my thoughts.

BigBro's Celebration of Life was something to marvel at. At least 300 people were there to tell stories and to celebrate a man that was so loved by so many people. It was a bit overwhelming to see so many people from all the different aspects of BigBro's life.

I got a chance to chat with his friends from Boeing. It put me to tears to listen to a woman who still swung by BigBro's desk every day to say hi, only to remember too late that he won't be back.

Another Boeing friend told me about how BigBro would answer his phone and would be all about helping whomever was calling and never really complained about it. I know for a fact he complained about his job, but I love that his co-workers see him as someone willing to help in any situation. He was, mostly like that after all.

I spoke with some high school friends who had stories about his "antics" - all innocent enough, but still he was a talker and never stopped telling a story or chatting someone up.

Then there were the friends from Demolay.  Demolay is a dying society it seems, but the brothers were all part of this in the 70's.  So many friends told me stories of BigBro's dedication to the fraternity (for lack of a better word for it). One gentlemen retold a story of the first time he met BigBro and how welcomed he felt into the fold.

Then there was the 3Day gang. I was not surprised to see so many of them there to celebrate his passion for the cause. The stories this group had were nothing short of tear jerkers. Each had a special story of when they first met BigBro and how big his hugs were. In fact, the big, all embracing hugs were a common theme throughout all the groups of friends.

A gathering of young women caught my attention too. I stopped and chatted with two of them and they told me that Coach Ric was one of their favorite coaches. Turns out these girls all were part of a soccer team and coached by BigBro. It was a mini reunion for these girls and each one seemed to have taken something from their days of being coached by BigBro with them in their current lives.

Family, of course, was there.  A Celebration of Life wouldn't be complete without the clan there.  Brothers, sisters, cousins, daughters, mothers, in-laws were all on hand to recount the man and his life.  BiggerBro (the oldest) said a few words to the crowd and I smiled when he said he could talk all day about BigBro and say anything - and for once not be interrupted.  I then broke down in tears with BiggerBro choked up a little in his closing. For some reason him, and my MiddleBro, crying just causes a gush of tears.

The Buckhorn crew was there too. One of the wives of one of the Buckhorn crew made ribbons for everyone to wear. The Buckhorn guys all got ribbons that had camo, pink, and orange ribbons. It was very special to me and I was so thrilled that these people who loved BigBro and his love for hunting were there to say goodbye and tell some stories I'm sure BigBro would have preferred to not be told.

The last group was of friends. People who wasn't part of any of the other groups of his life, but was fond of the big guy and knew him through me or through other avenues of his life. Neighbors who lived next to him for years. Teachers who knew him years ago.  Family friends who lived in the old neighborhood - so many stories and not enough time.

We had a beautiful photo movie playing non stop throughout. So many people stopped me to tell me how wonderful it was to see his life played out before them. And how really blessed his life was.  We had a bunch of stories people sent me that we displayed.  Every time I walked by it someone was standing there crying.  The stories all had a common theme...his love for life, his big hugs, and his passion for what he believed in.

It was a bittersweet day for me.  I was tired and overwhelmed just by the putting it all together, and then I was tired and overwhelmed by all the people there. When I got home I had a "moment" to reflect and I had a small melt down.  I spent the day hearing stories, seeing so many old friends/family, and by the end of the day I had to smile a bit. He was loved and he touched so many lives.  I'm proud to have called him brother.