I Have Never Been Happier to Make Second Place...

So, the job I interviewed called me tonight and made my heart stop a little bit before I was told that I didn't get it.

I was then debriefed on my interview, which I appreciated to no end because the questions are all fairly standard and I really feel that next time, I'll be ready to knock some socks off.

At the end of our nearly half-hour phone call, the woman said "Now, I don't know if you want to hear this next part or not." I laughed politely and said that of course I would love to hear the next part. (In my mind, however, I was wondering wildly if I had something sticking in my teeth or was emanating a noxious odor and perhaps she was going to tell me that I smelled like Beagle that had rolled in something that had died a number of months ago).

But no. She told me that she had interviewed eight people and that my scores left me second in line to get the position.

Second! Second out of eight!

I'm actually happy with this news because A) it means that I'm not a blathering idiot who no one will ever take seriously and B) IT MEANS I AM ON MY WAY.

In other news, I have now done three consecutive days at a school that I like very, very much. Like, I really look forward to going in every day, I've been welcomed with open arms by the other staff, and I feel like I have really found my element with the special needs students there.

At the end of my second day, the section head took me aside and told me that a position would be opening up on Monday, he had heard good things about me since I started, and urged me to apply for the position.

I just really feel right now that at least something is going right in my life. I may still be the single, beagle-cuddling poor person who lives in a Clifford-clad bedroom, BUT HEY. Someone thinks I'm good at something and right now, I'm going to take all the ego-stroking I can get.

I'm Making Changes...

The new job I got accepted to is a casual/on-call position.

Nothing is more frustrating than working casual/on-call.

Because of the nature of this work, I have to keep my current full time job while making myself known as a casual employee while I apply to all the full time positions. I've had a number of interviews and they all go swimmingly: I show up wearing pants, with my hair brushed, looking like a sane and rational member of this society.

The problem is that I haven't had enough casual experience and I can't get enough casual experience due to the demands of my current job.

Like everything else, there is a viscious cycle going on here and I DON'T LIKE IT.

I told myself when I started that I would give it six months and then start going in another direction, whatever that direction may be.

I have another interview tomorrow and I am just so sad that I am not at Mal's to have her dress me in her attire before giving me a pep talk and a breakfast of Eggs Benedict and sending me on my way. My couch and I have been bonding quite a bit of late, and this, too, needs to change.

Welcome to the World, Little One...

Dylan's Darq Trooper was born tonight between six p.m. and ten twenty p.m. He weighs in at between 40 and sixty pounds (Weight currently in dispute) and is around three feet tall. He has one sock, one whorl, and no star. His mother seems completely at ease with herself in her new role. His uncle Zydeco seems a little spun to find himself living beside a new being.



It's cold outside and your uncle Zydeco might try to kick you, but you're here and you're wonderful.



There is a lot to learn about living in this world. Like, you have to stand on your own two feet and people aren't always going to be there to help you. But because you're so cute and new, we don't mind lending a helping hand for the time being.



Social constructions exist: Just because you are a boy does not mean that we won't clad you in pink and send you out to play with the others. But don't worry, your good ol' Uncle Zydo won't make fun of you because he, too, is clad in an effeminate color.



YOU LIVE WITH CRAZY PEOPLE. Accept that little tidbit right now.

I'm sure that we will be off to Apple in the morning to pick out a thousand expesive items that you don't need but that we think are cute. That's just how we role here at The Ranch, we make excuses to buy things for horses because we just love horses that much.

Welcome to the crew, little fellow. We hope you enjoy your stay, and if you don't, we'll just feed you sweet feed and carrots until you change your mind.

Something's Gotta Give...

No, really.

Like, something, somewhere needs to GIVE.

Preferably, that something, somewhere, needs to GIVE me a new job and a new lease on life. But at this point I'll just take whatever I can get.

I bought myself new shampoo the other day, with a matching conditioner from the expensive shampoo section at Shopper's. I felt all classy-like, with my fancy bottles that have funky lids and interesting ingredients that I can't pronounce.

And I thought, you know, I deserve this, I deserve to have pretty-smelling hair because so very little in my life right now is reminding me of anything pretty.

So I've washed my hair with my new shampoo and conditioned it with the new conditioner and oddly enough?

It didn't really make me feel any better.

If nothing else, my hair smells good.

I suppose this is one of those days where life is all about the small things.

A New Development...

So, my family went on vacation the first week of January as we always do. Only, this year, my Dad couldn't come because SOMEONE needed to stay home in case Tia popped out a baby while we were gone. And Lord knows, that someone would not be me. Can you imagine? Me, walking into the barn and seeing three perky sets of eyes looking at me instead of two? No, thanks.

So off we went, into the world of Babies and Snow and OH MY WORD THE SNOW. We went North, and believe it or not, it is possible to get more snow there than it is to get here.

So, there was skiing. Not for me. I prefer to drink pitchers of beer on the mountain village over skiing. But every day my mother went cross-country skiing with my uncle and I was a little envious because I, too, desired to ski.

We returned home and life was grand and the other day I came in from work to find a pair of ski boots at the kitchen table. I was all like, Sweet! Ski boots! And my mother informed me that they were for my nephew because he is an avid skier who has outgrown last year's skis. And I was all like, Oh, well, you know, they look a little small.

And then my nephew, that dashing young lad, tried on the boots and complained that they were too small.

Rewind: Over the last few months he has basked in the fact that my barn boots fit him. And every time he said it, I figured it was just an exaggeration and that if he were to run from the path of a charging horse, the boots would fly off his feet. Because, you know, he is only NINE and he can't possibly be the same size as me.

So he complained about the ski boots and I p'shawed him and put them on my own feet.

And then they fit me.

And then I made him sit down on the floor in front of me and press his feet to mine. You know those feet: The teeny, tiny feet that used to pitter-patter across the kitchen? The itsy-bitsy feet that I used to rub Johnson's Pink Lotion on after a bath? The little feet that would climb the ladder of my bunk bed and crawl in next to me while I slumbered? Those feet? Do you remember those feet?

Because those feet, the ones I just mentioned in the paragraph above, HAVE CEASED TO EXIST. In their place are a set of monstrous boy-feet that are the same size as mine.

And you know, you never think of these things. Time just passes by and one day you wake up and where there used to be a small, innocent, wonderful little being is someone who is large and in charge, full of ideas and thoughts and questions that stop you in your tracks. And as much as I want those tiny little feet to carry a tiny little child into the room, I enjoy looking at the person this child is becoming. Because he is just too much fun.

What's That? Its A New Year?

Right, that whole bit.

I rang in the new year in style, as per usual: I was sitting at home doing nothing but playing farmville with my sister in law and received an invite to go snowplowing with an individual, so I went.

And a plow-y good time was had by all.

I have some ideas swirling in my mind for the new year: Not so much resolutions, but things I want to do. First and foremost is my job situation, which needs to be remedied in some fashion. I just wish I knew what that fashion was. I'm perusing things, wondering what I want to do, wondering what would be right for me.

I have a new car now, and every time I see a Jeep on the road, I no longer contemplate stopping its owner and asking if their Jeep would like to be my Jee's boyfriend. I just look at it wistfully and carry on with what I was doing. I actually kind of like it, I think it is an OK thing to be seen in, and I don't hate it, so I suppose that I made the right decision for me.

I'd really like to take up things like crocheting and reading good books again, but paperwork from work and school take up too much of my time for outside hobbies. The unfortunate thing here is that I often feel overwhelmed by my need to do both and then rather than doing them, I sit around fretting about the fact that I'm not doing them.

We are still waiting for Tia's baby to be born. That stubborn little character seems quite content where he or she is, and to hom or her I say, good planning because it's frickin' cold out here in the real world. Also, your mother might bite you.

There aren't many updates to post about life and for that I'm a little bit sad. I wish I could say that there were wild and wonderful things going on but the fact remains that things are just going as they always are.