When It Rains, It Pours

For weeks nothing, nothing, nothing. Hardly any call backs. Maybe one interview. But no job.

But this week I had 5 interviews (plus one more on Saturday and a phone interview scheduled for Monday!). Crazy. The result: (1) two temp jobs to decide between, (2) a highly possible part-time pet-sitting position, (3) a back-up position as a substitute teacher, (4) a second interview at a place I really don't want to work at, (5) a potential part-time job at a law firm in Carrboro, and (6) two positions that (presumably) decided against me. So now it seems is decision time. I have to just take some time to really look into the different positions and see which one looks like the best fit for me. It is a bit overwhelming, but exciting nonetheless!

Good Feeling Affirmed

I got the temp job. It should keep me working through most of December. I will start either tomorrow afternoon or Friday. Yay!
The substitute teacher interview also went well. I need to get a TB test and have my college transcript sent to them and I'm in.
I also got another call back from a law office in Carrboro. I will have a phone interview with them on Monday morning. The position is only part-time, but the location is good and I'm more than qualified for it. So here's hoping it goes well and that by part-time they mean 25-30 hrs/wk, as opposed to 15-20 hrs/wk.

A Good Feeling

I don't know why or even if it means anything at all, but I have a good feeling about this week. Like maybe I'll get a job this week or at least move a step closer to getting a job. And I actually do have some real possibilities too. There was the interview on Monday. I have two interviews today (one for substitute teaching and the other for temporary admin work). I have one interview tomorrow (for another admin position). I also have been playing phone tag with a lady who runs a pet sitting agency.

So between all of those possibilities, I am bound to get something. Granted what I get may only be part-time or temporary or a longer commute than I would like, but it will still be something. Oh yeah, and I may have guitar student too. So we shall see.

Post-Thanksgiving Post

Thanksgiving and my time at home were lovely. Here are some highlights for me in no particular order:

1. Long talks and prayer with Shelley.
2. Playing Apples to Apples with Shelly and her girls.
3. Taking James to see a movie.
4. Decorating the tree with Julie and her crew.
5. Listening to James talk about the moon (he is obsessed with it now).
6. Playing Dance, Dance Revolution.
7. Watching 5 other adults play Dance, Dance Revolution.
8. Catching up with the elusive Lisa Pendlebury.
9. Having coffee with my mom.
10. Listening to the Shaun Piazza Band.
__________________________________

In other news, I had one interview yesterday morning. I felt that it went well. However this is another one that will be a heck of a commute. It took nearly an hour with no traffic problems and this is a commute that there will be plenty of traffic problems on. But at this point. . . if they offer it, I'm taking it.

I was supposed to have a second interview. This was supposed to be a group interview. I showed up. I was the only one who showed up (which works for me), but the girl at the desk said that there was some scheduling problems and they just wanted me to fill out an application and leave my resume. That was slightly disappointing, but I didn't have high hopes for this one anyhow. But I would very much like it if they did show interest in me. This one is in Durham, so it is much closer to home.

Outside of that, no news.

Last night I had some wonderful friend therapy with my good friend Shelley. Ah the beauty of friendship. We carry each others joys and sorrows around with us. When my good friend struggles, I stuggle. When my good friend is given good things, I enjoy those good things too. Luckily Shelley is going through a fair amount of good things in life these days, so talking to her got me to smiling and laughing so much that I could forget all my stress and worries for awhile. Friendship truly is a beautiful thing. On this Thanksgiving day, I am here to give thanks for it.

I am also going to say that Shelley mentioned a dream I had back at the end of August. So I searched my blogs this morning to reread my dream. I am not someone who believes that every dream I have is prophetic or God's voice speaking into my life, but this dream in particular did seem to give me a picture of how this whole Chapel Hill experience is going thus far. Unfortunately, the dream did not come to any sort of ending, happy or sad. It was one of those ones that seems to stop in the middle and you never see the ending, like it took a commercial break at the pivotal moment and never came back or like there should have been a "to be continued" sign that appeared after the last scene. Maybe I should pray for God to give me part II of the driving dream. Here are my imagined endings for this dream: (1)my car dies, a handsome stranger stops to fix it or give me a ride, and we end up taking a trip to the Red Sea to go scuba diving; (2) my car stops, I restart it, it suddenly starts working properly, and I go forward as I intended to from the beginning; or (3) a driver taken off guard smashes into my car, ambulances rush me to the hospital, but the best modern medicine can do for me is leave me as a vegetable for the remainder of my time here on earth.

More on the Job Front

The position I interviewed for last Monday. . . I didn't get it.

3 More Interviews!

Last night I managed to get a very preliminary interview for a receptionist position at a wholistic health clinic in Durham. This sounds like it would be a fun job, but I'm not getting my hopes too high on it. The impression I got was that they were bringing in anyone who responded to their ad. They have four set times for people to come in for a group interview. Then they start eliminating from there. So I'm not entirely sure that I am what they are looking for. I don't think they have looked at my resume or anything. Anyhow, I am going for the group interview they have scheduled for Monday at 12:00.

This morning I got a call back for a receptionist/administrative assistant position at a financial services firm in Cary. The lady I spoke to on the phone had actually read my resume and seemed genuinely interested in having me come in to interview. That interview is scheduled for Monday at 10:00am.

While I was on the phone with the lady from the financial services firm, I got a call on my cell phone regarding another job! This lady left a message. It was for a personal assistant position. She wants me to come in for an interview. I called her back, got her voicemail, and left a message. So hopefully I will be able to get that interview scheduled for early next week too.

_________________________

In other news, I am going home tonight for the Thanksgiving holidays. It will be good to be home, even though I was there only about a week and a half ago.

Church Planting is Hard

Just in case you all had any doubts in your mind, I am here to confirm that church planting is not easy. I think I have cried more in the last three weeks than I have in the last year (due to all the job stuff, loneliness and various other issues I am dealing with). I am starting to worry that Rodger and Angela will think that I am a complete emotional basket case. I swear I am not normally this way.

But I will say this: I know I am supposed to be here, and although this whole experience is harder than I expected or was prepared for, I am still absolutely 100% committed to this. Period, end of paragaph.

The Interview Update

I had an interview this morning. It went well. They want someone to start next week, so I'll know something by the end of this week. That's good. At least I won't be sitting around wondering for weeks on end.

Running is Fun

So much fun that I jogged 10 miles this morning. It was awesome.

Speedway

I get so nervous. . . I'm shaking
Gets so I got no pride at all
Gets so bad but I just keep coming back for more
I guess I just get off on that stuff

I'm thinking about taking some time
I'm thinking about leaving soon

I got some things I can't tell anyone
I got some things I just can't say
They're the kind of things no one knows about
I just need somebody to talk to me

I'm thinking about leaving tomorrow
I'm thinking about being on my own
I think I been wasting my time
I'm thinking about getting out

In all this time,
The bottom line's you don't know how much I feel
You say you see, but I don't agree
You don't know how I feel

I'm just tryin' to get myself some gravity
You're just tryin' to get me to stay
Sometimes I sit here looking down upon Los Angeles
Sometimes I'm floating away

I'm thinking about breaking myself
I'm thinking about getting back home
I think I been waiting for way too long
I'm thinking about getting out

Interview!

I have an interview on Monday! Yay!

It looks like this job is another one that will be a 45 minute commute (if I get it). So that isn't ideal, but it would be a job. And if I get it, I can always find a place to live that is somewhere in between Chapel Hill and Cary.

Anyhow, wish me luck!

Words of "Encouragment"

Since I've been out of a job, many caring people have come to me with words of encouragment. Many of these words have actually been very encouraging. Some of them are mildly encouraging. But every so often I'll get a word of encouragment that is actually not encouraging at all. For example:

Other Person: Before I found this job I was out of work for a year and a half.

Me: What did you do during that time?

Other Person: Character building.

I literally cannot fathom being out of work for a year and a half. Please God do not let that happen to me.

A Weekend Back Home

I can't wait for Chapel Hill to feel like home, but I'm just not there yet. I must admit that Augusta is still home and Chapel Hill is this really cool place that I am staying at for the time being. I think I will eventually feel at home in Chapel Hill, but it will take some time and some change in circumstances. For example, it's hard for a place to feel like home when you really only know about five people there and only two of them do you consider close friends. It's hard for a place to feel like home when everyday is a big question mark (will I get job today?, will I get lost today?, will I meet someone new today?, will I sit around bored to death all day?), meaning that there is no real routine in my life there. It is hard for a place to feel like home when you are living in someone else's home. On top of that it's hard for a place you've lived in for one month to feel like home when you compare it to a place you lived in for over 14 years. So I am trying to patiently wait for Chapel Hill to become "home".

But for right now Augusta still feels like home and home is where I am for the weekend. After my disappointing week, my darling little sister told me to come home and she would foot the bill for gas and a ticket to go see the Avett Brothers (one of our favorite bands). It's good to be home and be among family and friends. It's good to have days so filled up with activity that I have no idea how I will get everything accomplished that I want to get accomplished and how I will have time to see all the people I want to see. But the best part is HUGS and lots of them.

Back to Square One

I did not get hired on. He decided in favor of another girl he interviewed. She starts today. I was told yesterday at 4:50 pm that they didn't need me anymore. He tried to be nice about it and complemented this, that, and the other about my work. He said he would be happy to give me a reference if I needed it. But somehow all the compliments smell like manure, because HE DIDN'T WANT ME SO CLEARLY ALL MY GOOD TRAITS WEREN'T ENOUGH FOR HIM SO WHAT MAKES HIM THINK THEY'LL BE ENOUGH FOR ANYBODY ELSE.

The rejection from not getting a job after you temp there for two and a half weeks is slightly different than the rejection you feel when you don't get a job after interviewing. Not everyone interviews well, even people who are great at their job. And even people who normally interview well can have a bad one from time to time. So rejection after an interview can be justified by saying that "oh if he had only seen me in an actual work environment, then he would have hired me." But at this moment I can't even say that to make myself feel better.

Rejection after temping is more like the rejection after being dumped. Okay, I will give you that being dumped is decidedly worse. You all know that stinging feeling when your past significant other(s) sat you down and gave you the talk. The whole "you're so great, but. . . ", "you're one of the coolest, smartest, best-looking, best-kissing, kindest, most-loving, (insert superlative of choice here), but. . ." Sigh. Then I want to restate what I said earlier: HE DIDN'T WANT ME SO CLEARLY ALL MY GOOD TRAITS WEREN'T ENOUGH FOR HIM SO WHAT MAKES HIM THINK THEY'LL BE ENOUGH FOR ANYBODY ELSE.

So maybe I'm melodramatic. I don't care. I'm entitled to be melodramatic for at least one day after not getting this job.

The Job Update

Well, things at the temp job are okay, but not as perfectly wonderful as they could be.

The good parts are as follows:
-money in my bank account
-99% of the people in the office are great and so easy to get along with

The not-so-good parts are as follows:
-the job is boring with a capital B
-the guy I'm working under is still interviewing people for the position, so I'm thinking he doesn't even want to hire me

So like I said, I might not even be offered the job. If that is the case, I am of the opinion that not getting this job isn't the end of the world. If I am offered the job, I am honestly not sure I will take it. I might. I might not. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

In the meantime I am keeping my eyes open for other employment opportunities.

Friday Night

. . . and no where to go and no one to go out with.

This whole being in a new town and knowing only two people is not really all that fun for me sometimes. Don't get me wrong, this move was a good thing but it is quite an adjustment.

I'm home alone on a Friday night. So here is the plan. My own private wine and cheese party, but not just any wine and cheese party, this is a wine and cheese and 80s movies party. Food Lion was selling VHS tapes for $1.99, so I got See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Midnight Madness.

By Popular Demand

Rubiks Cube Rodger

Suggestion Box Angela

Ellie as a dalmation

James as a hound dog

Halloween

Last night Rodger, Angela, and I went out to Chapel Hill's big Halloween event downtown. It was fun. There were about 70,000 people there and most of them were all decked out with their halloween spirit (there were a small percentage of creepy men who came out with the obvious purpose of gawking at all the scantily clad females, and make no mistake there were plenty to be gawked at). But there were lots of really fun, creative costumes. Rodger dressed up as a rubiks cube. Angela was a suggestion box. There was a group of girls who dressed up as manetic poetry. There was one couple who dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2. My favorite costume choice was a group of about 6 college age guys who dressed up as tetris. They each picked a shape and it was awesome. I dressed up as Cindy Lauper, since I had no money to buy the makings of a new costume and I already had a great 80s outfit from my regular visits to the Soul Bar for their monthly 80s night. Not to mention, I have great 80s hair. It is one of my super powers.