Holiday Weekend

So my holiday weekend hasn't been a super fun vacation, but I can't complain too much. I got to see some awesome friends.

I spent Saturday driving to KS. When I arrived, I had dinner with my friend Juli Anna, her mother, and her two tiny people. Juli Anna made parmesan chicken, and then I helped keep the baby happy while his momma got time to eat and talk to his daddy on Skype. Grandma managed the two year old's bath meanwhile. It was nice to see my friend, but boy she looked beat. I hope I get a job soon so that I can move closer and try to help her out until her hubby returns.

After that, I saw a whole slew of graduate school friends at a Halloween party sponsored by several of the graduate student groups. I was a bit too tired to handle so many people, but it was nice to see them all. I wore the sock monkey hat as my costume...lame I know.

Today I spent the day with Mariya for the most part. We were pretty mellow because I was tired and so was she. I also spent some time with my friend Maggie while Mariya was at a family event for a couple hours.

Now I am in a hotel several hours away. I'm pretty happy because I am showered and scrubbed clean. I have an interview in the morning. Wish me luck!

Then tomorrow after the interview, I will finally be going home. I will drive the 8 or 9 hours back to my parents' to pick up my cat and to trade my subaru for their truck (for moving purposes). Tuesday, I'll drive down to Denver to drop Dad at the airport, pick up my coat from Kerrie's, and drop my loaner laptop at the Denver office before I head back to GJ.

I'm so close to being home, and as much as the driving makes me feel tired, the idea of being home in my own bed after over a week makes me really happy.

On the Road

I've been a bit busy, traveling around the state of Colorado. On my drive through the mountains last Friday, I got to see this mountain turn orange in the sunset.

Then I visited my mom and my twin sister, and we carved a pumpkin. We designed it to be an evil zombie mouse. It has cats walking into its mouth. Molly (my sister) and I had fun designing it. The cats are hard to see in this photo (you can't see the 2nd cat at all).

Now I'm in Denver working. All the travel has worn me out, so I made a pie on Monday to help out with my stress. The crust was super flakey.

Today, I had a decently relaxing day. It was snowing pretty bad, and I am in unfamiliar territory, so I stayed at my sister's all day and VPNed into work. The snow was heavy enough to make the trees droop towards the ground quite a bit.

Moments of stress still influenced the day though. My boss is stressed out. Things are getting rougher and rougher for her. Fortunately, I think we finally found a replacement for me (after several top applicants turned down the job). I'm interviewing him tomorrow because he's here in Denver and not in GJ.

Because of his family, he'll have to work out of the Denver office, which means my boss will be a bit isolated in GJ. I hope he acts as an advocate for her in the Denver office to eliminate some of the tension she is currently experiencing. After hearing about the phone conversation she had with him today, I think we're pretty intent on hiring him. We'll see for sure after the interview.

Worrying about my boss has me stressed out too. If I don't find a job right away, I may act in a volunteer capacity to help train my replacement and perhaps chip away at some of the low priority maintenance tasks.

With all this stress, I need more crochet time. Last night I made cover for a mug Kerrie has that gets too hot. Another sock monkey. Everybody loves those.

I've also started on the eyeballs for Kerrie's frog hat. Hopefully she can wear it for Halloween then.

Saturday I will drive to Manhattan, KS to visit friends. Then Monday, I have an interview scheduled in Wichita. After that I have to make the very long drive back to GJ, but it will be nice to return home, especially because I miss my cat. She's staying with my mom right now, and I will collect her on my way home.