The Random Dilettante

The job interview went well, although it was more like a orientation, because it was with 2 other women. Basically it was a speech letting you know what you were up against. The lady that ran the interview was very out-spoken and told it like it was. One of the first things she said was “If you’re a introverted, quiet, shy type person, this probably isn’t the job for you” - which made me smile, because…well…that’s me! BUT, when I get around kids I am the exact opposite, and usually come out of my shell. You can’t be shy around kids, no matter the age or they will walk all over you.

So even though she said that, I still feel pretty confident in the job. What’s crazy is that there’s 5 stages to go through before you even know if you’ve been hired! There’s the interview I went to yesterday, and then tonight I have to go to a 3 hour “observation” in one of the cottage’s where I have to introduce myself to the kids and meanwhile am evaluated on my interaction with them, among other things. The day after the observation I call the lady from human resources and let her know I’m still interested, and at that time they check my references, my driving record, and all that stuff. When all that clears, and they read my evaluation from my observation & they call me in for an individual interview and they decide if they want me to continue to training. The training program is 120 hours, and lasts 3 weeks. What’s funny is that if at any time during the training I feel that the job isn’t for me..and I stop going..I don’t get paid. You don’t get paid until you complete the training. Plus, even after you complete the training, you still may not be selected for the job!

So all of that has got me somewhat anxious, but I’m just holding on to the fact that I have a lot to offer to a job like this, and hopefully they will see that.

The hours weren’t as bad as I thought either, because they have all sorts of different shifts, and the only one I don’t like is midnight to 8 am. They also have 5:30am to 1:30pm - 8:00am to 4:00pm (the one I really want!) and a few others that go a little later into the night.

The best thing I liked about the job so far is that I’d have a lot of free reign when it comes to the activities with the teens. So if a few wanted to join me in the arts and recreation center for some crazy art stuff..off we go. And the same goes for the computer lab, and all sorts of other things. I’ll even get to drive a company van and take them to the movies and a lot of other things like, skiing, camping, white water rafting..you name it. Which is awesome to me, because I’ll be getting paid to do some pretty cool stuff. Sure, it won’t always be a walk in the park, but as long as you keep an upper hand on the kids, and they respect you, it won’t be too hard.

All in all, I’m excited! I hope I like the job as much as I think I will, and that I get it! I won’t really know until around April though..which sucks.

Last night, in celebration of my new found job prospect, Andrew and I went out to dinner without the kiddies and then went and got a fishie!! I’ve been wanting one ever since we’ve been baby sitting my neighbors beta fish “cheddar” - mainly because his little fish bowl sits in my kitchen and I get used to him being there, and after hes gone I kinda miss having him to look at and stuff. Plus, usually I am what is known as a “fish killer” because aquariums and I don’t get a long, and the few times I’ve tried to start one, the fish always died - but I’ve learned Beta fish are hardy and you can’t kill them as easily as you can others..so this is a plus for me.

Last night after dinner, we went to Petco and I got a female Beta..she is so cute. I will take pics later on so everyone can see! We named her “Brie” because we wanted to name her a cheese like Cheddar was, because if it wasn’t for him…I wouldn’t have wanted a fish. Silly I know. But so am I sometimes! She’s got a cute little corner aquaruim in the kitchen and she loves it in there..she’s so active. Much more active than Cheddar ever was. I read up on Beta’s though and saw that they like warmer water, so I’m wondering if that was Cheddars problem, because he just has a little fish bowl that isn’t easy to stay warm and he didn’t move around a lot. I’ll have to bring that to my neighbors attention! I can’t have Brie’s boyfriend getting sick on her..hehe.

Saturday I finally got called back on the job application I submitted in December for the Children’s Home! Took long enough huh? If it’s anything like my last job working with kids, they do a pretty good background check before they even interview you, which can take forever, so maybe that’s why it took so long? I have an interview tomorrow and I can’t wait to see exactly what hours are entailed and all that stuff. They could very well be looking for someone to work nights or every weekend, and I’m not sure I want to do that. Midnight to 8am shifts suck total ass, and having to work every weekend does too. I’d be willing to do every other weekend, and some nights…so I’m a little flexible, right?

I’m really hoping it works out well though because they pay well, and I really do enjoy working with kids..especially older ones. Most of these kids will have issues and are from broken homes, so that makes me a little nervous, but I’m pretty sure I could tackle whatever they threw at me. After all..I got stories too! And sometimes that can work to my advantage by making me a little more relatable to a stubborn teen.

I looked on their website, and they offer Art Therapy - I want to be in charge of that!! I could totally rock that position!

Just before Andrew came home, my neighbors daughter came downstairs to play with Taylor, and I gave a little “class” on letting loose while painting and just going with the flow. I gave both of them a 8×10 piece of canvas I had to spare, and let them use all the paints I had. It took a little coaxing trying to break them out of the mold, especially Taylor. She wanted to draw a simple tree and a sun scene with flowers, and I had to interject! I told her to break out of the box and just have fun with it. With a little coaching on some techniques and color choices, YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE how well they came out!! What was really funny was how each painting reflected their personalities. Taylor is kinda wild and outgoing, and so is her painting..that she titled “Crazy House” — And her friend, Heather, is very mellow and quiet, and her painting is so serene..color choice, design..you name it. She called hers “The Seasons” and it’s pretty damn awesome.

Sometime this week I will have to take some pictures of them and post them up here, cause I’m damn proud of what they both did. And of course…it says something about the “teacher” too!! hehe

So yeah..I would totally love the art therapy job! I’ll have to see if they have a particular person who supervises that type of thing…and if so, they better watch out! Cause’ I’m coming for their job!

Anyway, I’ll have to update after my interview tomorrow and let everyone know how it went! Wish me luck!!

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is Friday, this week has really flown by. Andrew’s been working half days, so maybe that has something to do with it. The first time he left for work, you should have seen poor Ms. Audrey…she was so distraught. She came up to me just crying her heart out and just said “Daddy’s gone again!” - it was so sad. She still has a little celebration every time he comes home from work, poor thing. Her little mind just can’t quite grasp where her dad goes for such long periods of time.

Anyway..I had to take Andrew to the Emergency room last night. He is so clumsy! He was trying to lend a hand in some Guadalajara Spanish Rice I was making (which is the bomb, BTW!) and went to cut an onion with one of my uber sharp knives, and somehow the knive slipped..fell…and he went to try and catch it, cause he didn’t want it dropping on his foot, and it ended up slicing up his ring finger really good. After it cut him, it hurt pretty bad, but he didn’t realize how deep it was and how much it was bleeding, so he just shook his hand and kept saying “Owww..damn it!!” and got blood ALL OVER my kitchen. It was gory. But I took him to the ER and they gave him 4 stiches, so for the most part he’s all better. Pretty soon he’s going to change his bandgage and I wanna get a picture of it…cause I’m sure you guys can’t wait to see it!! hehe

I actually watched them stitch him up, I was proud of myself, cause usally blood and cuts make me cringe. At one point Andrew did have to remind me to breath though..he told me the look on my face was priceless.

So yeah..that was our Wednesday night. Fun times.

He’s got a pass for helping out in the kitchen for a least 10 days, as well as, no dishes and no shoveling snow — makes me wonder if he had it all planned out? I told him if he didn’t want to help in the kitchen, he could have JUST TOLD ME..hehe.

So let me see..

We picked up Andrew around 3 am Friday morning, and it was a pretty sweet reunion. I think Audrey is still in dis-belief her daddy is home. Out of the blue she will come up to Andrew and just say “You came back!” — His first day back she must have said that 10 or more times. Then this weekend we were sitting in the car while Andrew was filling it with gas and Audrey said “Mommy…umm…daddy’s back”, to which I just said “Yep! Isn’t that so cool?” haha.

It’s all pretty weird. I catch myself doing the same thing sometimes. We’ll be sitting next to each other or he’ll be driving and I’ll look over at him with a little disbelief that he’s actually BACK. It feels like I’ve been living as a single mother for so long, that this notion of living as a couple again, seems too good to be true!

But it is true, and it’s awesome. It’s nice to have a real adult around all the time that I can talk with, and who can help out with stuff. I love hanging out with my girls, but some serious adult time was needed too!

Anyway, he’s had the whole weekend off, plus today, so it’s been nice just hanging out. He has to go back to work tomorrow, but then I think he’s getting leave around the 25th for a few weeks. I’m thinking about planning a little mini vacation around that time…maybe to Washington DC, or even NYC…I dunno. Still have to work out the details!

So that’s the deal, for all those who may be wondering. I keep waiting to get pinched and wake up…yes…it’s that nice

Well, I really can’t think of much to confess at the moment, except that I would love to be sipping some wine about right now. I woke up tired, and then did nothing but clean the whole day..still feeling wiped out. So now I’m really tired and just ready to go to bed, and it’s only 6 pm.

Anyway, back to the wine. I want some. I haven’t been keeping any around the house lately..I don’t know what I was thinking.

Andrews flight was pushed back again. (surprise!!!) The stupid ceremony isn’t until 2:30 in the morning!!

There’s another confession for you - Sometimes I really really hate the Army.

It’s going to be a joy waking up the girls at midnight and hauling them out. There’s no way they could stay awake that long, so I figured I should just put them to bed like normal, then wake them up in 3-4 hours. At least that way they get a nap in. As for me? I could totally sleep..but I doubt I’ll be able too.

Alrighty, now I’m off to go get some wine! (not the kind in the box, Tim!! You need to repent!)

Happy Valentines Day peeps! For me it was just another day this year, mainly because of Andrew coming the next day and I have better things to focus on. I usually have lofty expectations of this day, and I’ve always had this romantic notion in my head of how I would like it to go, but this year, instead of setting myself up for disappointment I just tried to focus on all the good things that were going on in my life right at this moment. And right now, even though I didn’t get any of the typical stuff you get for Valentines Day, I know in my heart that I’m loved by Andrew, and others…so there’s really no need to prove it in a physical manifestation. I feel loved, and that’s all that matters.

So anyway, that’s what I’m telling myself to keep my spirits up!! It’s totally working.

My phone has been ringing all day, but they were all calls about when Andrew’s actually flying in. His flight was bumped, so instead of the ceremony being held at 4:30 PM, it is now estimated to be after midnight..around 12:30..possibly as late as 2 AM. Yeahhhh. That’s what I said!! And what really sucks, besides it being late as hell and the kids being walking zombies as we welcome him home, we’ve also been getting tons of snow all day, around 2-3 feet again, and I’m going to hate being on the roads. I’m going to make it happen though. Andrew said he could get a ride home if the roads are too bad, but I’m not having that…I wanna be there seeing him march his ass in the hangar and clapping for him and all the other soldiers as they are welcomed home..it’s the least I can do. So even if I have to creep down to the base at 5 miles an hour..I’ll be there.

School was canceled today because of all the snow, so I didn’t get things nears as accomplished as I would have liked too, but now I have all day tomorrow, so it’s no biggie.

And one more thing before I tuck my butt into bed for the night:

I got “The Secret” DVD in the mail yesterday, and my neighbor and I sat down and watched it this afternoon. Let me tell you…it’s some good shit. It really helps change your perspective; It’s life changing, and I highly recommend it. HIGHLY. So do yourself a favor and buy it, for a little over $30 you could seriously open up a whole other world of possibilities in your life that before, you’ve never thought possible. And trust me, you won’t want to watch it just once..it’s so inspiring, you’ll want to watch it over and over again..so it’s worth every penny.

Are we on the same page? Yeah? Awesome

Whooo hooo! It’s Monday! Usually Mondays aren’t my thing, but it’s one day closer till Andrew comes home, so this Monday is a little different. You understand

He should be here late Thursday afternoon if all goes as scheduled. It really can’t get here fast enough, I can’t wait to see him again, and hug & kiss him. Oh boy! You have no idea. hehe

This weekend was filled with a lot of nothing, I purposely did very little around the house, cause I knew that would force me into a busy week and then the time would pass a little faster. Taylor is home sick today though, both the girls have horrible coughs that never seem to stop. It’s driving me crazy actually. Part of me wants to just tell them to STOP COUGHING already!!! The sound of it’s getting on my nerves. Now I sound like a bad mom, but I’m not…I promise. I’ve been faithfully at their side pampering them, and hoping they get better soon. The constant hacking just grates on my nerves. Even as I type this it’s hard to really gain any concentration because all I hear around me is coughing…

In other news I have a DVD in the mail that I can’t wait to get. It’s called “The Secret” and sounds really interesting. Just a few weeks ago I was thinking about my neighbor and how lucky she seems to be. When we go to bingo, I’ll be damned if she doesn’t win every time. She’ll sit at our table and tell us she can “just feel it” that somebody’s going to win at our table, and we all kind of growl back at her. But you know what’s funny? Somebody does win at our table, but it’s always her! So it got me thinking about how her positive attitude may be working for her. I’ve always thought that thoughts are powerful…on a deep deep level, but this is one of the few times I’ve seen it so apparent. I credit a lot of the things that come along in our life, to what we’ve asked for…what we believe deep down, most of the time sub-consciously - those thoughts always seem to form our reality.

So here I was a few weeks ago, wondering what it’s all about, and how to get a better grasp into making my thoughts work for me, and then out of no where I heard about “The Secret” and how it’s all about the “Law of Attraction”, so it sounds very interesting to me. It’s another example of the way stuff comes along..sometimes you can really think about something, and ask questions, and then before you know it the answer comes to you in all sorts of different avenues. Anyway, I feel that I have a clue..or a slight idea of how things are run, but it will be nice to see it explained from people that have studied it and made it work to their advantage in their own life.

Basically because I always run into a little problem; I can tell myself I want something until I’m blue in the face, but I don’t think it’s until you truly believe your going to get what you want, down to your core, that it’s going to come to fruition. So my question is, how do you make yourself believe something and get rid of those deep down thoughts inside your head telling you that it’s not possible? We’ve all heard of self-defeating thoughts, and that’s what I’m talking about. I am very self defeating for one reason or another, and it always seems that as much as I want something there’s always this little voice in the back of my head telling me I’ll never get there.

But anyways…you can go HERE to watch the trailer for the DVD - take a minute and check it out and let me know what you think! Personally, I can’t wait to watch it, it may not have all the answers, but more than anything I will enjoy the philosophical nature of it…cause I’m always a sucker for philosophy!

(I think I’m going to start doing this every Thursday..it’s fun!)

It’s nothing new to Andrew…but for all of you who don’t know out there…

I have a “thing” for cute bald guys with goatees. Sit me next to one, and I can’t keep my hands to myself..hehe. Ok maybe it’s not that bad, but it always gets my head turning.

So now I’m about to sound like I’m 13, and I don’t care what any of you think!

Chris Daughtry is so damn H-O-T with a capital H (and O&T) he’s got that nice smooth bald head, a wicked goatee and eyes that melt right through to my heart. Plus he can sing his ass off. I’m so enamored…

Well the snow kept falling all day Sunday and finally quit around 7pm - school was canceled Monday because of it all. Today everything was almost back to normal, although the roads are still crappy. Tonight we have another Lake Effect snow warning and as I type this it’s snowing pretty good outside..so we’ll see! I was just watching the news and there was a guy on there talking about how they just got the snow from Sunday under control and they are running out of room to put new snow so he hoped it wasn’t too much tonight. Haha…it’s true though, the piles around here are so tall that if someone is walking on the sidewalk, you can’t see them from the street because the snow on the curb and around driveways is way over their head.

The plus side? I have a little plowed square in my back yard so that the dogs can go out to the bathroom, and it acts like a fence, so we don’t even have to walk them out there anymore..we just open the door and they do their stuff. They know theres no way in hell they are getting through all that snow! So yes, that’s a definite plus side!! We aren’t allowed to install a fence here, so it sucks having to walk them all the time.

Hmm, what else has been going on? Oh! Thursday I went to Sams Club to pick up some of my Red Machine Naked Fruit Juice and found out they CANCELED it!!!!! I freaked out when I didn’t see it on the shelf and went to customer service to see what was going on. Eventually they found it in their little book of UPC’s and saw that it was canceled. I was heart-broken. You have no idea how much I was craving some of this stuff. They even checked with other semi-local (up to 3 hrs away) Sams Club’s and none of them were carrying it either. I walked away with a pout and put in a request sheet in their little box begging them to bring it back. Then I stopped in at a health food store that I thought had it, but they didn’t. They told me to leave a note for the manager to see if she could order a case for me. So I did, but I had pretty much given up, I didn’t expect it to pan out.

Miracles do happen though!! The manager actually called me Friday and said she could order a case for me!! Whoo hoo!! They are only 15 ounces, instead of the 30oz bottles I get at Sams, but she said a case would run about $30 for 15 of them, and I get a discount for buying a whole case, so it doesn’t work out to bad considering what I was paying before. I’d do the math to see if it’s cheaper but I’m too lazy..I wanna say it is though, cause before I was paying $5 for a 30oz bottle. But like I said..haven’t done the math. Feel free to do it for me!! hehe. I am just so relieved that she could order it and I don’t have to live without my Red Machine!!

I’m supposed to be able to pick it up tomorrow, so hopefully I don’t get snowed in! Cross your fingers for me!

For any of you that are looking for “Red Machine” and haven’t found it, I suggest doing what I did and going to your local health food store and seeing if they could order it for you. Invest in a case, cause I promise you’ll like it..and hey, if you don’t, just keep it chilled for me when I come visit!!

And I almost forgot, Sams now has “Gold Machine” and I bought 6 bottles of it without even tasting it cause I knew it couldn’t be bad, and it wasn’t, it’s yummy as hell too. It has golden kiwi, passion fruit, mango’s, and alot of other stuff. It’s seasonal so they won’t have it long though…the bastards.

Real quick — back to the snow, it was funny as hell watching all the people who had snowmobiles cruise and race down the streets..they were having a blast..I was totally jealous. My neighbor ventured out Sunday cause they have a truck and 4WD (unlike me) and they said they passed McDonald’s and there was nothing but snowmobiles in the parking lot! Tell me thats not funny. You know Northern NY gets a lot of snow when a 3rd of the population own snow mobiles and there’s lanes just for it, as well as marked trails for them. Like I said..I want one!!! That would be so much fun!! To bad they are so damn expensive.

Ok, so that’s all for now. It’s getting late and my bed is calling me!

P.S. - Andrew won’t be here on Valentines Day..his flight got pushed back again. He said it might get bumped up again, but not to count on it. BLAHHHHHHH.

Oh MY GOD…

Yesterday I took pictures of all the snow we’ve been getting..cause it’s quite a bit in my definition. We got at least a foot and a half yesterday.

So here are the pics of that:

But all that was NOTHING!!! Cause look what we woke up too!! Trying to take some of these pictures, as I was standing in it, it was past my waist! And I am not a short person..at 5′6 I’m pretty average. You can barly even see across the street, and even as I snapped the pics, it’s was still snowing away….the weather man said 5-6 inches an hour for MOST OF THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Now this is what I call SNOW!!! I am speechless!!

**UPDATE** It’s about 4 pm and it’s still snowing. I think we’re up to about 3 1/2 FT now, with a possibility of 5 FT by morning..It’s a good thing Andrew’s not flying in anytime soon, cause I wouldn’t be able to go get him! I heard last night a flight came in around 11pm and after the ceremony and everything it was almost 1am and a lot of the people couldn’t get off post. That would suck big time. Anyway, check out my PHOTO ALBUM for some more pics of the snow!