what better day to slack off!

Bri had tagged me (I think!) and it's such a unique one that I think I will indulge on my last day of work. No better time to slack off then now!

The Rules:
1. Put your iTunes/ music player on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT(this is in capital letters, so it is very serious. No hiding your showtunes, folks!)

After you’ve answered all of the questions, tag 5 other people and then let them know they’ve been tagged to do the meme themselves!

**Ok, let me start off my saying that MY ipod is pretty much David's ipod. He puts anything and everything on that damn thing so most of these songs will probably not be music I would ever listen to in a million years. **

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
'Laid' James - Um, yeah, I burst out laughing when I saw this song come on. Ha!

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
'Of the Girl' Pearl Jam - I have to admit I've never heard this song before, I was tempted to go to the next song and just not tell all of you that I cheated :)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
'Everytime' Britney Spears - WHY GOD WHY IS THIS SONG ON MY IPOD!?

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
'Waltz #1 (Nunley's Carousel) Billy Joel - Somewhat appropriate lately since I've been listening to more classical music.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
'Just the Way You Are' Billy Joel - (hmm, another Joel song) Perfect!

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
'Rock Star' Nickelback - Hehe, well ok then, that's good to know.

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
'9 Teen 90 Nine' Limp Bizkit - One guess who put this on my ipod, let's just hope this is not how my friends think of me.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
'Polly' Nirvana - I just looked up the meaning to this song and it makes me want to cry. How incredibly awful and no this is not what I think of my parents.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
'Heart of Glass' Blondie - iiinnnteresting.

WHAT IS 2+2?
'Drops of Jupiter' Train - old and overplayed song but still love it.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
'Lost Horizons' Gin Blossoms - some of these are definitely making me think...I think this one is appropriate.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
'Naked' Goo Goo Dolls - ;)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
'Superman' Five for Fighting - true, very true.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
'Heart Attack Man' Beastie Boys - yeah, umm...I think I found a new project for when I have enormous amounts of time to myself...clean up ipod.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
'Long Black Veil' Dave Matthews Band - creepy

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
'Julia' Chocolate Genius - yeah, I give up.

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
'Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head' Gorillaz - I don't think it takes a genius to figure out if I danced to this at my wedding!

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
'Hero of the Day' Metallica - I cheated for this, I just couldn't put another Nirvana song down, so I skipped to the next one!

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
'Two Step' Dave Matthews Band - LOVE this song...and it's true if you count reminiscing about freshman year of college as a hobby.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
'Cold Contagious' Bush - "You have no right to calm me down, you were never that around" speaks volumes.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
'Virginia Moon' Foo Fighters - to all my VA peeps ;)

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
'Meet Virginia' Train - Umm, seriously, 2 things with Virginia and repeats of artists? What is wrong with my shuffle function! Hehe!


Thanks for the distraction Bri! I'm not sure you left me anyone in the blogosphere to tag! Hmm, how about you myfablife! :)

temptation

I made 2 batches of cookies yesterday to bring into work today. Every week during our staff meeting someone brings treats. Since this will be my last staff meeting (tear) I decided to volunteer to bring something yummy in.

Well, there are still 2 hours left until the meeting and the two trays of cookies sitting next to me won't stop begging me to eat them. It's taking all the willpower in the world to ignore those pleas.

Make time go faster!

I can feel it

Reality is starting to sink in a little bit. After Friday my routine of 4 years comes to a screeching halt.

I still have no regrets but a sadness is starting to come over me very slowly. Yesterday I started taking things home from work. I can't do it all at once because it would be incredibly overwhelming. But I don't want to take everything home with me on Friday because again, too overwhelming. So, bits and pieces are coming home slowly. Hopefully by Friday I will only have a handful of things that I need to leave with.

I keep replaying what it's going to be like when I leave at 5pm on Friday. Half the time I stop myself right before I get to the part where I leave the building for the last time. It's just too weird. I wonder what I will be like. Depressed and crying or guns blazing with the gas pedal to the floor. I'm hoping for a happy medium :)

All in all, this experience so far has really made me stronger. And it's only just begun. I am still convinced that there is something really big I need to do. I feel like in the next few weeks I'll realize what my true calling is. I can feel it. I just have no idea what it is. I keep hoping that when I go to sleep a dream will tell me what I'm supposed to be doing. No such luck. I think I'm trying too hard.

The other day I realized that there are 8 companies in the area that all have a similar "mission" and it's something that I have always felt strongly about so maybe that's it. I keep checking to see if they have a job for me but no luck on that yet. I hate the waiting game!

I'm still here...

Things are a little slow at work right now so I have some time to breathe, eat my macaroni and cheese and watch The Santa Clause.

I know that when work picks up again it's going to be non-stop so I am taking full advantage of this little break. Aaaaah, feels nice to be able to do whatever I want.

Although, it is a little creepy being one of only a few left here and actually being at my desk when the night cleaning crew empties the trash. I'm pretty sure I scared the crap out of the guy when he turned the corner into my cube. Haha, wasn't expecting me were you?

Yeah, I'm loopy. Only an hour and a half to go!

must...stay...awake...

So, I'm sitting here watching some mindless TV, desperately trying to keep my eyes open. Tomorrow I have to work from 1pm until 10pm so I'm trying to change my sleep schedule a bit so that I'm not asleep at my desk at 9:30 tomorrow night.

It's very lonely though. The house is quiet and I'm finding it very hard to fight the urge to cover myself in a blanket and fall asleep in the recliner.

I've run out of things to do to keep me occupied. I'm hoping the TV will be enough for the next couple of hours.

Anyone have any ideas on what to do tomorrow or Tuesday night? I have a feeling this TV thing is going to get old :)

Happy Thanksgiving

First off, thank you to everyone who's been sending good vibes. I have some pretty great friends! :)

So, I just recently got back from my interview. I think it went well and I totally feel qualified for the position but I'm feeling a little deflated because there are a LOT of people interviewing for this. I should have figured based on the company (sorry I have to be cryptic again) but I just wasn't thinking. So here comes the same old same old about me doubting myself.

Either way, I will hear something by the second week in December. And if I make it through this round, there is another one, so it's not over yet! It's going to be a long couple of weeks!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

One down, one to go

Whew, halfway there! I had my first interview this morning and I think it went pretty well. I have some reservations about the place after hearing about it this morning but we'll see how things play out.

More importantly, I got all the nerves out of my system with this one and am nothing but excited for tomorrow. This is the one I really want to kick ass on so it was nice to have today as a warm up.

I have a few things jotted down that I make sure I say tomorrow and I'm just going to try be myself as much as possible. Tomorrow is the one that I REALLY want. So, keep those good vibes coming! :)

It's almost here...

So, by this time tomorrow I will be finished with my first interview of the week. I can't wait until that point. I've worked myself up so much over these interviews that I'm not really sleeping anymore. Not good. I need to find a way to make sure I get a decent amount of sleep tonight. Any suggestions??

And by this time on Wednesday I will be starting my next interview. This is the one that I'm truly nervous about. But I spoke with an ex-coworker that works there now and she gave me some insight into the company and the woman I will be meeting with and I feel a million times better about it. Still nervous as hell but a little confidence is peeking through. Finally :)

So, I still need all the good vibes I can get. Just thinking about these interviews nearly sends me into a panic attack!

pinch me!

So, my life is starting to feel a little bizarre right now. I've always had a problem with my confidence level, especially professionally. I never think I'm that good and when people tell me I am I just sort of brush it off like it's just them trying to be nice. I know, I know....I shouldn't act like that but I do.

The reason I'm writing about this is because I just received an e-mail from the company of my dreams and they want me to come in for an interview. I was totally not expecting this. And again, thoughts of me not being good enough have entered my brain. I am definitely more confident about the first company I am interviewing with. The second one intimidates the hell out of me. Honestly, when I saw the e-mail the first emotion was fear, not excitement. I feel like I'm going to go in there and they'll laugh at me. Why can't I just be excited?! They saw my resume, they wouldn't have called if they weren't interested. No one is holding a gun to their heads telling them to contact me.

I think it's more of a coping mechanism. This way if they pass on hiring me it won't sting as bad. But if I do get it, it will be that much sweeter. Although, I can tell you right now, if I get either of these jobs I'm going to think that they hired the wrong person for at least the first two months.

Quite a scary time in my life but I am so incredibly grateful that the two companies I would LOVE to work at have asked me to come in to meet them within the past 2 days.

And here comes the shaking again!

!!!!

I have an interview next week! I can't stop shaking!!

trying to hold it together

I'm really not trying to get my hopes up but thanks to recommendations from the director of my department and my manager there is a woman at a very large company that wants to meet with me.

Uhh, yeah...trying to hold in my excitement but it's not working. Please keep your fingers and everything crossed for me. This would be fantastic if it worked out!!!

Just waiting to hear back about when and where. The refresh button is my friend today :)


**And I just wanted to thank everyone for their support through this. It means the world to me to have friends like you. Thanks!!**

I did it.

So, remember that other big news I vaguely talked about in previous posts? Well, here it is. I decided to give my notice at work today.

It was an incredibly hard decision but it's what's best for me. I have some leads, and I have some good ones thanks to the people in my department. I was overwhelmed when my manager said she would contact someone at a very big company on my behalf and that she would definitely like to be reference when I apply to other jobs.

Honestly, this couldn't have gone better. I did not expect the level of respect I am getting. Just goes to show you that I really did work at a fantastic company with incredible people. The reason I'm leaving such a great place is that it's changing, and not in the direction that everyone wants it to. And no one can stop it. I can't do the work I did for 4 years anymore and I can't do the work that I was told I needed to do moving forward.

So, there you have it. My only option was to move on. And I have no regrets. Something in my gut is telling me now is the time for the next step. So, I'm listening.

Should be an interesting journey ahead. I'm sure I'll have some stories, or at least a few venting posts soon :)

Wish me luck!

sorry

I'm sorry about the teaser. I really didn't want to make it seem like I was holding out. Things just got to a point today where I felt like I was going to scream and I needed to post a quick vent. I didn't want to get into details because technically nothing has happened yet but last night two VERY important decisions were made in our house. Two very hard decisions.

Our beloved rescue, Chewy, will be headed back to his foster home tomorrow. It was a truly heartbreaking decision but it's what's best. What's best for him. I'm going to be a wreck tomorrow but he needs a better fit of a home. I could go on and on but I won't because it hurts.

The other decision is in regards to my job. But since things are still developing I'll hold off on talking about it until after Monday.

I just figured I should leave those who read this blog with a little more info so you aren't scratching your heads.

So, stay tuned still. There is definitely more to come. In the meantime, back to watching The W.izard of O.z, I need to get lost in a little fantasy for a while.

stay tuned

EVERYTHING is about to change.


PS: Since I got a frantic e-mail from Supermom I will clear something up, no, I am not pregnant ;)

a teeny tiny vent: update!

I feel like my entire life is revolving around one thing lately. In fact, I know it's revolving around one thing. Chewy has taken over our lives. And I'm really not complaining, I just wish his transition into our house was smoother.

The poor thing gets so anxious when we leave the room, and it's exponentially worse when we leave the house. I feel like I've read every article on separation anxiety and have contemplated buying every pill, drop, collar, etc. I just want the little guy to get better.

He honestly is the sweetest, most loving dog in the world. And I guess you could say that's his problem. He's too needy. All he wants to do is please you and when you leave, his whole world crumbles. It's heartbreaking.

We still have a few tricks up our sleeves to try and alleviate his anxiety so we aren't giving up. Although, I have to admit, there have been a few times I've broken down thinking that we just can't do this. My driving force is David right now. He's my strength. He's the one that keeps reminding me that we can in fact do it and it hasn't even been 2 weeks with him yet.

So, I'm trying my best to be optimistic because the last thing I want to do is give up this dog. He deserves the world and we are going to do whatever it takes to make sure he knows that this is in fact his home forever.

I just think things would be much easier if my work and home routines weren't flipped upside down at the same time! Just trying to roll with it as best I can.

Update!

So, I spoke with one of Chewy's former fosters on the phone tonight and she had some very encouraging things to say. We discussed him and his antics for about 20 minutes and I really got a sense of how much this dog is loved by so many people. There are a ton of people at the rescue that would love to have Chewy in their family. It really makes me feel blessed that he's with us. It really could be worse, he's the sweetest most loveable dog, just gets a little upset when we leave. Hopefully in time he will realize that we always come back. I'm a million times more optimistic than I was earlier today!

I'm going to be...

This weekend was very interesting. David and I headed up to Delaware for his cousin's wedding. We ended up getting there a little late on Friday so we missed the ceremony but made it to the reception. There was TONS of family drama but it's too complex to get into. Let's just say it was a bizarre wedding. However, it was entertaining.

The fabulous news from the weekend though is that I'm going to be an aunt next year! David's sister is pregnant. I am so thrilled for them. They've had too many negative things to deal with lately. I'm happy that they will finally have something positive to look forward to.

Oh, one last thing. Of course since everyone found out that she was pregnant at the wedding, that meant that numerous family members came up to us asking when we were going to have a baby. Fabulous. The highlight of this was when David's grandmother came over to us during the reception and proceeded to tell David (numerous times) to 'get busy!!' Oh and the famous grandparent guilt of 'we won't be around for too much longer'.

David kept trying to convince them (unsuccessfully) that we already have two babies :)

want some candy?

So, we may not have had a pumpkin this year for Halloween but at least I did something festive for Halloween.


I made these goodie bags for the trick or treaters in our neighborhood and they were a hit! Not a lot of effort or money but totally worth it.

Now of course, I made over 50 of these and we had like 15 trick or treaters. So, if you want some candy in a cute little bag, come on over!