Pre-Sunday Quote Blogging

"Joel, I'm not a concept. Too many guys think I'm a concept or I complete them or I'm going to make them alive, but I'm just a fucked up girl who is looking for my own peace of mind. Don't assign me yours."

"I remember that speech really well. "

"I had you pegged, didn't I?"

"You had the whole human race pegged. "

"Probably."

"I still thought you were going to save me. Even after that."

~Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind


Have a great 5 days everyone! I'll blog at ya more when I get back into town.

Turkey Day & Mini-Vacations

So tomorrow is Turkey Day. Randy & I will only be attending 2 family functions so it should be a somewhat relaxed holiday compared to what we're used to. I plan on fully stuffing my belly at both family dinners...and yes, having dessert at both places as well. After all, it's winter - I need to gain some weight so I can stay warmer this season...I'm freakin' freezing!!!!!

On that note - first snow of the season came down today here! While I hate being cold all the time (which I am the entire winter, every winter), every year when it snows for the first time of the year, it just puts me in a really great mood. Regardless of the cold, the drivers who forget how to drive in snow, and the impending doom of a horribly long cold winter that lurks just ahead of me, the first snow is always an awesome thing in my book. And I got to spend it at work sitting at my office "desk" (if you've ever seen my work office, you'll understand the comedy in that word "desk") overlooking the Maumee River. It was really gorgeous!

Oh...and I saw a Bald Eagle fly just outside my window today at work! It was awesome! This was the second time I'd seen it fly past my window in the past 2 weeks!!!! How many people can go to work and randomly see something like that?! Days like today make me actually enjoy and appreciate what I do & where I work (not necessarily who I work for, but the location of my office.) It was pretty sweet.

Last night I watched an awesome movie with an actor I really can't stand. The movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The actor: Jim Carey. Jim Carey has pretty much always annoyed me. It's all the annoying facial expression. Ick. But this movie was anything but a typical Jim Carey role. It was an awesome movie!!! I strongely recommend it if you haven't seen it already! A great way to spend a couple of hours.

What else? Well, I'm leaving for New Jersey on Friday to visit my friend I worked with in CA. I'll be gone for 5 days (2 of those will be spent traveling). We may spend a day in NYC! Neither of us have ever been before, so it should be interesting if we end up going. I sort of hope we go because I'd like to experience NYC at some point in my life. But at the same time - it scares hell out of me! Little country girl in NYC? Damn....kinda intimidating ya know. And I don't think that a day trip to the city would come anywhere near really experiencing New York City. But it's a start anyways.

Hopefully I'll be able to stop and have some lunch with Shannon on the way - any hopefully on the way back too. I barely get to see her anymore, and I'm always up for something to break up the driving. (Call me Shannon...or I'll call you...whichever.)

Anywho, I should go clean my apartment. Tomorrow will be busy all day, and I'd like to come home from my trip to a clean apartment. Coming home to a dirty apartment after being away just tends to stress me out. It's the anal retentiveness coming through I guess.

So I'll be away from Blogging for a bit. But mid-week I'll be back with all the juicy details of my holiday & time away! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!! Eat up folks!

Ah Life!

I guess it's been a bit longer than usual since my last update. I guess that's probably because there hasn't really been much out of the ordinary to tell lately. Work has been kinda weird this month. My schedule has not rhyme or reason to it. Even though our season is over, I've only really had 1 weekend off so far. Next month through March should hopefully more Monday through Friday - for a change! There just hasn't been any sort of routine to work this month. It's sort of tiring, but I think after Turkey Day things will finally seem to routine...then I'll be talking about how bored it is. ;-)

Thanksgiving coming up this week means more craziness of scheduling. Although I think Randy & I will only be doing his side of the family this time so that will cut down on Holiday craziness as well as mass holiday overeating. Friday I'll be heading to New jersey to visit a friend for a long weekend. I'm excited! Should be a good time. I'll be on my way back next Tuesday so Randy will have to find ways to keep himself occupied while I'm gone (not exactly too much of a challenge...probably more of a relief actually to be away from my constant chatter.)

Still no news about the job. I'm not holding my breathe, but am keeping fingers crossed all the same. When I find out anything I'll let ya know.

Oh, and Congrats April!!!!! (you know what for.)

Sunday Quote Blogging

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

~ Ernest Hemingway

Interview Update

Well I had my interview last night. I think it went pretty well. They asked pretty typical questions & I was able to answer pretty intelligently. I think I gave a pretty clear idea of my prior experience & my qualification. I did well on my part...not it's just time to wait & see. If I'm chosen to move on, they'll give me a second phone interview. Then they'll bring in the finalist type of candidates for a 3rd interview & tour of the site, meet with the board of directors & all that jazz. They hope to have the position filled sometime the 1st week of December. So I'll have an answer either way within the near future. I'll keep you all posted. If I move on - great! If not, well I gave it a good shot & got a bit more interview practice in the process. No huge loss. I'll just have to keep looking.

Be Cool

Just like Fonzie.

"Hey!"

33 minutes until my interview & I can no longer focus on prepping for fear of overprepping. Relax! Man oh man am I obnoxious when I have something to be nervous about. Chillax for a change already!

Luck Please

So that exciting news I never got around to posting yesterday, well here it is:

I have a phone interview today for that job I applied for in Findlay! Woo Hoo! Wish me luck!

I plan on spending the day prepping for the interview and relaxing. I'm trying not to get my hopes up to much about this job. I'm pretty comfy with my interview skills so I have that going for me. But who knows how many other applicants they'll be interviewing & how my qualifications compare to theirs. So while I would take the job in a heartbeat if I were to get an offer, I'm trying not to get too excited. I mean how many interviews have I had in the past that haven't gotten me a job offer? So here's hoping I have a great interview, and we'll take whichever will come whenever it comes - a rejection letter or a job offer.

Sunday Quote Blogging...Finally

[about his marriage] "I feel like I'm running a small nursery with someone I used to date."
~Before Sunset

Random Conference Pics

So here are some pictures from my time away at the MOMCC Fall Conference. The first one just below gave me a few problems to post, but ya get the point. This outfit cracks me up every time I think about it. Ya just gotta love the puffy sleeves. Makes me think about Anne of Green Gables every time! This was my first time wearing this one too. Anyways, enjoy the pics!


Me in my 1890s School Teacher garb. Sorry about my lack of techno skill...I can't seem to make this one show up vertically even though that's the way it's saved on my pc. Urg. But I still look the part...even with my closed eyes & blushing cheeks.

Lake Shelbyville - just outside our hotel. It may have been in the middle of nowhere, but it sure was pretty. 

Yes, I actually got out on the dancefloor for some period 19th Century Dances....no alcohol involved. Shocking ey? 

The Boss & I hanging out with John Wilkes Booth 

A cool pic of the Lincoln Home (an NPS site). 

The View from my hotel room. 

Home Again Safe & Sound

And exhausted!!! Phew! What a long, and energy zapping conference! But oh the fun I had! Living History people are great! Practically everyone at these conferences arrives dedicated to have a crazy fun time...and that's exactly what we did! Man, what a great 4 days!

I began Wednesday by waking up 7 minutes after I had planned on leaving my apartment (oooopps), but still managed to get ready & out the door in a manner of 13 minutes - only making me about 10 minutes late to meet the rest of the crew. We loaded up, & got on our way for a 6 1/2 hour road trip to The Middle Of Nowhere!

Ah yes, Illinois. Land of Lincoln, Land of Corn, Land of No Cell Reception! The trip there was fun. I rode with a co-worker & we managed to talk for the entirety of the 6 1/2 hours we were trapped in her car. (Hard to believe I know.) Once we were there (which was about 2pm), we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. Which ended up being: walking around the grounds of the hotel/resort, a trip to the hot tub (such a hard life), dinner in the nearest town (about 1/2 hour away), and then down to the bar to mingle with the other early arrival conference attendee's.

Then it was up bright & early Thursday morning for a trip 1 1/2 north to Springfield, IL to visit the new Lincoln Presidential Museum & Library and tour the Lincoln Home. The Museum has only been open for 6 months so it the first visit for most of us in the group. I loved it! It was awesome! I thought it was extremely well researched, well organized, & well presented. A few people in the group thought it was a little too "Disney"ish, & I reckon it may have been. But it worked. I thought it was extremely effective at presenting the story of Lincoln's life in a way that went beyond the legend of the man we all learn about in Elementary School & never hear of again throughout our education. I loved it! If you ever get the chance to go, do it! It's well worth the trip!

Lincoln's Home was great as well, although I'd been there once before about 3 or 4 years ago.

The conference itself was great! I learned a lot that will be helpful to me in my job & I even managed to mingle with the other attendee's a bit more than when I went to the Spring Conference & had a bout with shyness. I came away with some great networking - which is really what these conferences are all about to begin with.

I did most of the driving yesterday on the trip home, which made for a long & tiring day. But I made up for it by sleeping in until 10am this morning. :-)

More to blog about later. I have some other news that is fun & exciting. Pictures from the conference to post. And of course, this weeks edition of Sunday Quote Blogging!

Blogging Absence

Tomorrow morning I'll be off bright & early for a little road trip. I'm heading to Illinois for a conference for work. I'm looking forward to a good time. I went to the Spring Conference for this same organization & it was a blast! So here's hoping that I'll have just as much fun this time around. And this time there will be more people from work there with me so it might be a little easier to do some networking and get to know some people since I'll have some other people I know to help take me out of my shyness.

All is packed that can be packed tonight. I'll be up & about somewhere around 5:45am tomorrow so coffee will be my best friend and will send me on my way for a 7 hour drive!

It was a busy day today. I had the day off work, but boy was I busy! I did 3 loads of laundry, housework here & there, turned in Autumn Adventure stuff for Randy & I & got our T-Shirts. Went to dinner with Randy. And I voted. First time I've voted here in Ohio, although this is only my 2nd election. What a political slacker I once was.

Well anyways, I'm off to get ready for bed so I can roll out of bed early! I'll blog more when I get back from my trip. Have fun moving in Elizabeth & David. Enjoy your new home!!!!!

Sunday Quote Blogging

"If they had learned anything together, it was that wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good."
~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez
from his novel Love in the Time of Cholera

Home Body Friday Night

I had an unexpected day off today. Had I actually paid closer attention to the work schedule, I would have known it was coming. But work this week was busy with loads of post season work & clean up to be done, & I was kinda sorta in a go-to person role since I'm the only one on the crew with experience doing any of this...the boss included. Although it was a busy week, it wasn't a stressful one so that was good. My arms are still sore, but on the road to recovery. And to be honest, I like the feeling of sore muscles...it makes me feel like I actually accomplished something.

I had an enjoyable day off today. I got some stuff taken care of at the insurance agents (good news is that my car insurance is now significantly cheaper than I was paying in MI, bad news is that I just paid 6 months worth of it so I now have less money to my name.) I returned home from my errands with grand intentions of cleaning my now disastrous apartment, but my plans were foiled when I found out that my cheap movie theater actually has Friday afternoon showings (Mon-Thus their earliest showings don't start until 4ish in the afternoon.) Pleasantly surprised, I decided to go spend even more money at the movies.

I saw Shop Girl. Claire Danes was awesome! I expect nothing less of her. Great movie! I strongly recommend it. It had it's weird, awkward moments, but so do a lot of movies that I love. I won't say much more about it, I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone wanting to see it. All I'll say is this - if you're a Claire Danes fan (or Steve Martin fan for that matter) this is one you wouldn't want to pass up!

Not a whole lot else to tell. Randy & I went to dinner & I stuffed myself silly...big surprise there. (Bigger surprise is that I'm thinking about a bowl of pumpkin Ice Cream right about now.) I was in PJs by 8pm on this exciting Friday night & I love it! It's a good thing Randy & I are too damn broke to go out...I kinda like this home body thing for the moment.

Caffeine...Ice Cream?

Pumpkin Ice Cream is the greatest thing since Hot Apple Cider! Yum!!! So now it's 10:30 at night, I've just consumed a rather sizable dish of yummy ice cream, and I'm hyper as hell. What the crap?!

There is finally an end in sight to craziness at work. Our last day of the season was Sunday, and we spent the day today taking the boat out of the water. (Sure, it sounds like a simple task, but don't be fooled. It's a very long, hurry up & wait, then hurry up again process that involve the use of numerous muscles that don't get used that often & will therefore be sore tomorrow.) This month at work will be kinda weird as far as scheduling goes...but next month I'll finally be back to a Monday-Friday schedule! Woo Hoo!!!

And who can argue with this warm fall weather?! Sunday was absolutely gorgeous! Randy & I took advantage of the great weather by heading out to Oak Openings and getting in some good hiking. Apparently we weren't the only ones with this idea...it seems it was family picture day at the park.

Nothing yet about the other job I applied for (but I have a feeling it'll be a few weeks).

Anywho, not a whole lot specific to tell. Lots of upcoming plans (& possible plans) for the rest of this month. More later when there's more exciting news.