Interview Scheduled

The final interview has been scheduled for next Tuesday at 2:30pm. Hopefully I will know if I have a job by the end of next week.

We also discussed the benefits provided by the company over the phone--may I just say, not too shabby.

I still didn't ask about the pay because, well, I don't really care that much. I want a job that keeps me mentally engaged with people who seem fun and human. They are aware of the minimum I would take for the position, so if this interview shows that I'm a cultural fit for the company, then I can't imagine why I wouldn't accept the job.

I really like this company. I haven't been excited by very many of the others, so I really hope I can beat out the other person, but if I don't, I'm trying to imagine what I have to look forward too. Not much. The not much is motivating me to continue applying for other jobs. I'm working on that right now.

If the other person does get the job, let me just say, that other person is a pretty smart, talented, and genuine person because this hiring process has been thorough. Anyone who has made it this far deserves this position. If it's not me, there is no doubt that the other person is positively amazing. I'll be sad, but I won't feel like I didn't get it because they aren't realizing what potential I offer. I'll know the other person had more to offer.

I do wish they had scheduled the interview via email. I am soooooo awkward on the phone. Phones are weird.

Shopping Bug

I have the shopping bug. Of course, I have to tightly hold on to my money, so I can't do anything but window shop right now.

My usual stops are Modcloth.com and shopruche.com (thanks to Brigit for sharing the second one).

However, today I am perusing far, far outside of my budget land...to capture ideas: millyny.com. I'm not thrilled by everything on the site (like purses or child swimsuit models), but there are some things I absolutely love. My most favorite things are under Look > Uptown Glam. The dresses in general are pretty nifty.

Also, they don't sell shoes, but check out the these awesome shoes. The dress isn't bad either.

I love chic retro clothing, though I tend to feel more myself when dressed a bit more bohemian.

I will have to take photos of the awesome pink tweed skirt my mom made me with budget retro cardigan from Target. It's a cool outfit that cost me nearly nothing. My mom is awesome.

Oh material vices--I am such a sucker for clothes.

My Bologna Has a First Name

I have been singing the Oscar Mayer bologna song a lot lately...and the Armour hot dog song. My family can be pretty negative sometimes, so I like to break into random jingle singing. Mom generally joins me in singing.

Most of the rest of the family thinks that I'm weird. Yesterday, Dad grabbed some napkins out of the side of the car and tried to shove them in my mouth as I sang. He thinks he's pretty funny.

Focusing on the positive would be a good goal for my family. As a family we can kind of turn into a vortex of negativity spiralling out of control. This has a great deal to do with why I want to move further away again. I hope my stay with my parents can be very, very brief. I love them, but I can only take so much.

I've decided to think as if I have this job. I'm still applying for other jobs, but I'm also looking for apartments close to the job. I have my little heart set on it. I'm ready. This job sounds great--small company, intellectually challenging, learning opportunities, collaborative and respectful work environment. I really can't imagine anything better.

I'm also ready to have enough money to put some in my savings account and my retirement plan, to not have to move in 6 months or a year, to be able to afford the environmentally friendly lifestyle I believe in. I'm also ready to be able to garage my car. I have a nice car; it deserves a garage.

Best yet, I'm excited to be able to visit my dear Kansas friends on weekends. I only have one friend in the city of the potential job, but I have several within 2-3 hours, 3 different cities to choose from for visiting friends.

...on a random note, I'm watching a movie with my mom, and the person giving background of the movie during the commercials said one of the actors chose to be in this movie, cancelling his contract to be in another movie because he was "allergic to people who take themselves too seriously." Awesome.

I'd Like to be Thankful for a Job

...except, I don't have a job just yet.

In fact, this company hasn't actually contacted me to set up the final interview. That makes me a bit nervous.

I do know that they have contacted some of my references, so that's good.

Hopefully on Monday they will be calling. I better just head to hang with friends in Manhattan, so that I can make the interview scheduling easier.

I think I will leave my parents' on Sunday to do so. I will miss cat again, but hopefully soon I will have a job and we can be reuinted as cat and cat lady.

I am still waiting to hear back on a handful of jobs, and I have plans to put more applications out.

And back to my cat...she is currently pacing across the desk, right in front of the computer screen. Cats are awesome.

A Place to Live

I've been looking at some living options for if I get this job, and I find my priorities are very different than they used to be.

While I have always been drawn to older homes with wood floors and big back yards, I have decided not to look at anything like that for my next housing environment. I'm a single girl; I don't need that yet.

Most of the places I am finding are a 15-20 minute commute to work. These places (often for not much more than I have been paying) include swimming pools, fitness centers, and tennis courts. Many of them have options to have a fireplace and a garage. Some of them even include wifi and free movie rentals.

Of course, there is one where I could live a 2-3 minute commute to work (13 minute walk, which I think would be nice with parking in mind). I don't believe it has a garage option, so that's a major drawback. I would also have to find a gym nearby, and I keep finding all these militaristic gyms and martial arts places--no thank you. Although I did find a yoga studio near where work would be. I could become comitted to yoga. There's also one center that looks promising but that doesn't have a web site--it looks like they have pilates, which I love. If they have a kickboxing class, I'm sold.

Of course, if I can get a ground level apartment, I could also invest in a few Wii fitness games.

Not sure the place close to work is worth it. Although, I might be tempted to join the yoga place even if I live further away.

Shanksgiving

For some reason, I say "shanks" instead of "thanks," so I figure the holiday should be called Shanksgiving, even though that kind of sounds like I plan to stab people for the holiday. I do not.

Instead, Mom and I are going to the grocery store today to pick up everything we need. Mom is responsible for salad, which she is making at Kerrie's on Wednesday.

I am responsible for pies and potatoes.

The most important and uncompromising requirement is sour cream apple pie--a traditional dish in our very German family. Then of course, I'm making pumpkin pie too (after insane efforts to coordinate preferences--I had requests for pecan, some weird crustless pumpkin pie, etc).

Instead of standard mashed potatoes and a sweet potato casserole, I'm doing twice-baked sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. I'm going to do the sweet potatoes in a super-healthy way since Kerrie has to avoid fat right now.

Beej is making green chili to go on the turkey and on the potatoes for those that want it. He's a good brother-in-law.

Kerrie is smoking a turkey and making our grandmother's stuffing.

It's the tastiest stuffing ever. Except I usually can't eat the leftovers because somehow the rosemary makes me want to gag when it has been in the microwave. I have the same problem with my own lamb dish. Rosemary reheated just does weird things to my senses.

Whelp, I best get off to the grocery store. Then Mom and I are headed to Target for some light shopping.

Job Update (part 5)

So I was a bit confused. I wasn't top 2 for the job before. I was top 2 for that round of interviews. There were 4 rounds, so 8 people were asked to do the writing test portion. Still not too shabby. I'm pretty much a rockstar.

Even more rockstar worthy is the fact that now that they've reviewed the writing test, I'm actually in the top 2. I've got a 50% chance of getting this job.

Of course, I have to do another interview--with the bosses. That's what decides who gets the job. It's a casual interview to see who fits best with the company culture. I can do this. I'm pretty loveable, right?

*Fingers crossed*