Interviews, again...

Well, did another round of interviews today for the position I'm temping for.

I've felt good about how I did with previous interviews and didn't get the job. I'm hoping that my not feeling so good about today's interviews means I got the job.

Yes, I kept my stories straight and consistent and truthful. Yet I feel like I missed something, that I somehow missed an opportunity. After the first of the four, I felt really iffy about things. The second went better, since it was with the HR gal I talked to a couple weeks ago. The third round was with two of the engineering managers, which went well, I thought. I'd brought up my farm background to one while we waited for the other. Even though neither had ever set foot on a farm, they respected the farm work ethic, and one of them told me he liked how I answered the questions (I had occasion to use the phrase "your opinion of me is none of my business"). Fourth round was with two of the admins who know what the job actually entails.

This one I'm scared about. Maybe I want it too much. Can I live up to what I said? Do I retain enough integrity to do this job? Ugh. I hate doubting myself.
They expect to get through the other interviews and make a decision by the end of the week. Patience until then. If I get it, those of you who live in MN may very well hear my whoop.

I was exhausted by the time 4:30 came. I couldn't wait to get out of there and get out of the monkey suit. I did stop at B&N on the way home to pick up Intrepid, the latest in the Kris Longknife series. I've gotten a few pages into it. Would have gotten farther, but NCIS was pretty interesting tonight.

So, I do believe I will take my copy of Intrepid and go crawl into bed early. Toodles

Snow...

Ugh. It's snowing. Not the cute, big fluffy lazy fluttering flakes, but the cold, wet pellets. Life in Minnesota.

So, where have I been since Tuesday? Working. Watching S&T. Finally got my copywriting stuff, so I've been reading that.

Went to my godson's football game yesterday. The game, which was supposed to start at 2 pm, didn't start until after 3. It was almost 5 by the time I stopped to put gas in Chael to get home. Then I turned around and went to Walmart to get yarn and a few things, by the time I got home the second time it was almost 7. Yikes.

Today has been washing 5 loads of laundry, doing some crocheting, washing dishes. Meals are in the freezer, so I don't have to worry about cooking this week. Yeah. Next weekend is another platelet donation on Saturday and Sunday I have my next language class for coaching.

It's been a week of dealing with the fears that are surfacing. For a couple days I was seriously wondering if I'm even cut out for success in any venue. Am I good enough to be a great coach, or a great copywriter, or am I just fooling myself? Is being an admin the rest of my life the best I can do? Is this all there is to my life?

I'm blaming that on hormones.

My interview is on Tuesday. Talked to the boss on Friday when he called in. On his calendar his entire Monday is blocked off, so he said once he gets through his emails and that we'll go talk and see what I think of the position. The job in and of itself is easy, the work is easy. The people are easy to get along with. I want this.

By getting this job, it gives me the stability to get the copywriting going, get letters written for myself, start offering my services to others. It gives me time to work through the security issues that are coming up in my body as I let go of the weight and wait. I can put away what I earn and give myself a cushion.

There are other things brewing in my head, they will have to wait for now.

Things I'm thankful about

Today, it’s competent IT people, the internal TV that allows me to watch the S&T conference and being alive.

I’ve been on the phone a couple times with IT today. First time I had someone who doesn’t know her head from a hole in the wall. I ended up hanging up on her because I had no patience to deal with her.

Then I had to call back to get access to the internal TV station and to see why Word wouldn’t save. This gal knew what she was doing. She was able to remotely access my machine (first one couldn’t figure it out), get me permission to save documents, escalated my issue with not being able to open documents on a drive and got the internal TV going.

At least I have something to do besides sitting here and twiddling my thumbs. I can watch and learn more about where the company has been since I was here last, where they want to go, and what role I will play in the future when I’m hired.

My copywriting kit shipped yesterday, so I’ll have to track that as it wanders across from Florida to here. Give me something new to expand my mind with, a new skill to play with.

Since I’ve got time on my hands, I created a tracking sheet for my exercise program. I know where I’ve been, where I’m going. I also figured out some percentages of fat to lean muscle weight, given what my scale said I have for a body fat percentage. Looks like all of my weight loss so far has been fat only, while gaining about a half pound of muscle.

I’m also going to bring in the strength training into the mix next week. I’m thinking I’ll start with two days a week of strength, four days of PACE for a couple weeks, then move to three day of each.

Got an appointment with Dr. R on Friday. Just want to make sure everything is working correctly, so he’s aware of what’s going on as my body changes. Give him a paper copy of the PACE program so he’s aware of it, knows what it’s talking about.

Other than that, not much doing. Evenings I’m working on the new afghan design. Trying to figure out how to lengthen and widen it out by making some unconventionally sized blocks to go between the four block squares. I’ll put up a photo when I get it all figured out.

Oh, and have I said anything about how much I appreciate working for this company? I may be bored to tears right now because I don't have much to do. What gets me is the smiles, people being friendly and open. It is SUCH a change from the last job. It's easy to be happy in the building I'm working in.
Granted, given the building has been occupied for about a year, so it doesn't have a lot of history or low vibrational energy yet. I don't think it will, because the company's mission permeates everything.

Now I just need to get Taez's high pressure power steering fixed.

Been a good day

Been a busy day. Took my Shun Ken Onion Chef's knife and three others down to Kitchen Window to get them sharpened for free. Well, I had to pay $3 to get the Shun sharpened - since it's a Japanese blade, it has a 16 degree cutting edge, which means it has to be hand sharpened. It can't be run through a knife sharpener like other blades can.

I came out of Kitchen Window with a knife bag, and push measuring cup and four really wicked sharp knives. I picked up the knife bag because I want a safe way to travel with my knives, be it just to get sharpened on a yearly basis or if I take them with me when I go out to J clan for the holidays, or when I get the call to come teach McK how to cook.

On the way home I stopped at Whole Foods for groceries. Picked up stew meat, hamburger, potatoes, carrots, the rice crackers I like, beef broth, tomato and chicken garlic soup, some cream and arborio rice. Got out of there for $80, which I consider a win. Normally it's $100 or more.

Came home and started cooking. Browned the ground beef with onions and garlic, half for the risotto, half to vacuum pack and freeze for later. Then I cut up the stew meat, cause 2" cubes are too big in my book. Browned that down while I started cutting up the carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes I had. Drained off the juice from the browned meat to add back in later. Once the meat was done, I added in a quart of beef stock and a quart of french onion soup to the meat and started adding the veggies as I cut them up. Moved the pot to a back burner so I could start on the risotto.

Risotto is easy. Heat up the liquid you're going to use, olive oil in the pan you're going to make the risotto in, add minced garlic and onions, saute for a bit, then add your rice and let it roast for a bit. Then start adding the liquid to the pan of hot rice one ladle at a time until the rice is al dente.

So now both pans are sitting on the stove cooling off enough so I can start putting them in containers. If I made enough, I will be able to eat lunch for two weeks. I've got plenty of yogurt to get me through the next couple weeks as well.

Haven't made the yucca buns yet. I needed to sit for a bit after standing for four solid hours cooking. Need to wash dishes, again. I may chop up the other sweet potatoes I have and either roast them or have them handy for making supper this week. At least sweet potatoes don't turn color when you cut them up ahead of time, like regular potatoes will.

I love having wicked sharp knives. They cut through the toughest stuff like it was butter. Now they are good for another year, until Kitchen Window's next free (almost) sharpening event.

10 things I'm happy about right now

Bohemianbanshee had a meme on 10 things that make you happy right now. Here goes:

1. I'm working
2. Mortgage is paid for October
3. Got to see my godson play football today (his team lost, 13-0)
4. Got to spend some time with part of my created family after the football game
5. I'm still alive and breathing
6. Kitchen Window is having a knife sale and sharpening event this weekend
7. When I come home from Kitchen Window tomorrow, I'm making my version of beef stew, tomato risotto and yucca buns.
8. My cats are both still alive and going somewhat strong.
9. My friends are recovering from their various maladies
10. I have hope for the future.

Other than that, I've been re-reading Every Woman's Guide to Personal Power. It's a way to build muscle without having to use any equipment, or very little.
Wendie is based here in the Cities, and I actually met with her for a session 18 months ago. That's when I tried exercising on a regular basis, then had problems with my knees. Now that I've done the PACE program for 5 weeks, I'm thinking after this coming week I'll start doing the PACE three days a week and doing strength exercises the other three days a week. Start building some muscle to help my body use up even more fat.
According to Wendie, a pound of muscle uses 35 calories an day, fat only 2. Add 10 pounds of muscle and you burn off a pound of fat every 10 days. Cut calories or add exercise to move another 500, and it starts adding up quickly.

I pulled the book out because my godson wants to add some muscle to his small frame. If I can point him to a method that doesn't need equipment, he can start now and be that much better come baseball next spring and football next fall.

One step at a time.

1:42 am

...was the time I woke up this morning and could not get back to sleep. Grrr. Finally around 3 I put batteries in my CD player, grabbed the studio headphones and laid down with my Gamma Compassion CD. That at least shut down the commentary in my head for an hour. Finally got up before 4, did my hour of meditation and then started the day.

So yes, I'm tired and evidently a bit crabby. Both cats were crabbing at me so I screamed at them to shut up. My voice reverberated around the room for a couple of seconds, so I may have had the volume on high...

I did learn one new thing today, how to Velobind. Pretty easy, actually.
I learned how to do it because I was absolutely bored today. The gal I took over for didn't leave me any instructions. My boss is on vacation until the 27th. So I asked the other admins if they had any projects they needed done. Hence the binding project.

Other than that, I spent my afternoon reading web pages. Joy. Of course, fanfiction.net is blocked by the company, so I went back to some other old favorites. At least next week I've got the option of watching the S&T conference on intercompany TV if the admins don't have stuff for me to do.

Went ahead and ordered the copywriting kit when I got home tonight. I did confirm that you can order the class on monthly payments and later on pay off the class in full to get the rest of the course. They even give you the $50 discount.
I want to get this moving. It's like I'm being driven to do it. I'm tired of the financial insecurity. I want this to be something that relies on my efforts only. No MLM, no 'selling' per se, just me and the talent I have to write a great letter.

Mortgage is paid for the month, need to pay phone, cable and electricity. I'll get to the association dues when I can. If the tax refund is big enough, I'll use that to pay them off.

And hope I get this job permanently. Then start raking in the bucks with the copywriting.

Oops...

No, I didn't flub anything at work.

What I did forget to do yesterday was give you my one-month exercise update. As of yesterday I have let go of 5 pounds and my BMI is down from 46.93 to 46.69. My overall body fat percentage is also down 1/10%.

No, those aren't huge losses. Considering the self-sabotage of several hundred extra calories in chocolate and ice cream bars I had during the month, I'm glad I let go of any weight.

Self-sabotage... grocery shopping when hungry can lead to buying about $15 worth of stuff I didn't need and that are not good for me. So what's at the heart of the sabotage? Well, I suspect it has something to do with some old tapes still running in my head about not being good enough, who do I think I am in trying to change myself? I would also suspect there is some underlying fear as well about what changes in my life as I let go of the weight.

For me, my weight has been armor, a protection from unwanted attention. So now that my sub and unconscious minds are noticing that I'm serious about letting go of the armor, they are throwing up every reason they can to stop me. Need to work on that in a non-meditative manner, cause it's too easy for my head to lose track of where I'm going with my thought process as I sink through the beta, delta and theta brain waves.
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On another note, came across a website some of you might find interesting. It's called Changing Course. The coach behind the website actually recommends the copywriting course I want to take. So, I need to call them during the day tomorrow and confirm that you can start out with the monthly payment, and if you get some extra money in you can pay off the rest and get the rest of the course. If that's the case, I'm so doing it.

The copywriting course is supposed to be 10 months long. I intend to rip through it as fast as I can. The sooner I get through it, the sooner I'm earning money. And yes, I'll keep you updated on how things actually go, so if you're ready to quit the j-o-b or want to do it part time to make some extra cash, you know if it's worth it or not.
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BTW, my interview for the position I'm temping for is October 28, to take most of the day. I'm sending lots of good energy to that day for me already.

First day

This is going to be an interesting group to work with. It's not only the 12 engineers I was told about, there's about 50 of them in the group.

To make things even more interesting, IT couldn't spell my name correctly. Instead of being kopitb1, my login was koptib1, and they spelled my last name wrong in email as well. Had to call the Helpless desk to get that fixed. Possibly tomorrow I'll have a correct login and email name.
And I thought my previous job's help desk was a disaster, except for field tech and KG.

Everyone was very happy to see me. The manager was amazed I was already there today, and he's asked me to set up a 1:1 when he gets back from vacation the 24th so we can talk more about the position.

The gal I'm replacing is staying with the company. She moved to one of the other positions I had applied for six weeks ago, so now her position is up for grabs. What's good for her is good for me.

So, that's my first day with the engineers. See how tomorrow goes.

Now things get interesting...

Now things are definitely getting interesting.

Got a call from the gal I replaced for the last two weeks. Brought her up to speed on the done interview, one to be scheduled and the e-screen, plus the possibility of a year assignment.

Not too long later I get a call from Dolphin. Turns out the e-screen I did caught someone's attention. They want me to temp in the position for four weeks while they do interviews. If they like the work I'm doing, it could go full time permanent. Since it's at my going rate, I said yes, so I start tomorrow morning.

Which is a really good thing, means I can pay the November bills.

It also gives me today to work through whatever is going on with my body. I knew something was up when I didn't move when my meditation ended - I sat there for another half hour because I didn't have the energy to move. Worked up enough steam to do my exercise, when I sat down to stretch out afterwards I didn't have the energy to get up. Thought breakfast might help, get some sugar into the system. No joy there, either. I'm just flat out of go juice today.

So I'm just going to take it easy today. Do some reading, play with the new afghan pattern I came up with, and make some meals for the rest of the week and into next week.

I'm feeling like a tomato risotto with lots of veggies and some amaranth and possibly some kind of soup. Something rich and hearty, lots of veggies. Maybe a beef barley. Have to dig through what I've got for frozen veggies, maybe pick up some more when I go buy stamps and power steering fluid. Something for the crock pot or that I can throw in the oven and let cook.

Ugh, 11 am already. Time for a nap. Maybe then I can get thine behind moving.

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Edit 2:42 pm

Oh how funny. The position I start tomorrow is actually for the group of engineers that I will be interviewing with in two weeks. If they like how I do things, they will just convert me to full time permanent.

And when it rains, it pours. Got a call from the other agency today offering me an interview for a temp to hire office manager/admin here in Plymouth. I turned her down since I have the month long to integrate myself into the other position.

I think I'll do better with the engineers. Do the geek speak, maybe even get to attend S&T for a bit while it's at the campus I'll be at.

And yes, I've kind of woken up. Still so-so. Make the risotto for supper tonight, make soup this weekend.

More job info

As I'm working on writing my e-screen for one job, I get an email from the HR gal I interviewed with last week. The job with the engineering group will be interviewing the week of the 28th, so I'll be setting that up sometime this week. Sweetness.

Then my primary temp agency calls. One of the year-long positions they put me up for, the hiring manager accidently deleted me from the list, so they wanted to know if I wanted back on the list. Sure, why not? I can interview for all of them and take whatever comes up. One way or another, I'm getting in to that company.

I did get my thank you notes hand written out today. Then I discovered the stamps I have on hand are still 39 cent stamps... I don't have any 42 cent stamps at home. Tells you how often I mail stuff, doesn't it? So I'll go buy only what I need for sending out the cash rent contract, the instructor contract back to QT and the three thank you's tomorrow.

When I went to check my mail, I discovered a couple checks in there. One was from the government, from overpaying my 2006 taxes. The other three were from a settlement with a financial company I used to have some money with. Nice to see the law of attraction working and pulling in some money for me.

Other than that, my usual plugging away at stuff that needs to be done.

I did catch a bit of Oprah today. Suze Orman was on again, going over whether or not people could afford to retire early, stay home with the kids, etc. Her new rule is that you need eight months to a year of income in cash. She's saying that most job searches are now taking that long, so you need that much of a reserve to CYA.

So I know what I'll be doing with my copy writing checks - putting them away. First to cover a year's worth of expenses, second to get a hybrid Tahoe, third to put away money for the plastic surgery I'll need when I get down to my goal weight.

I've already planned it out in my head that I'll probably need to do three surgeries to get rid of the excess skin. Start at the top, do the arms, neck and breasts. Second surgery will be an abdominoplasty, to take off the excess skin around my waist. Third will be to deal with my butt and legs. Spread them out over at least six months so I have plenty of time to heal and regain my strength before the next one.

I'm figuring I'll need about $100k for all three surgeries. My current health insurance won't cover 'elective' plastic surgery due to weight loss, so this will have to be cash out of pocket. I'm not going to take out a loan, so I'll need to save up for it.

See how much I can get done before my 25th class reunion in 2010.

Funny note

Here it is, 9:14 pm by the Mac's clock, and I just checked email.

What should show up in my inbox but an e-screen for a different admin position I applied for over a month ago at the same company I just interviewed at.

Gotta love it. The company is starting to wake up and realize that some department there better hire me while I'm still available.
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Here's another little thing that's been running through my head lately. Couple things, actually, that end up blending together.

During my meditations I've been envisioning how I would know things have changed if I woke up to the perfect life. First off, I'd wake up next to the man I love and just watch him sleep for a bit before I kiss him on the shoulder to let him know I'm getting up to meditate. I'd go do my 90 minutes of meditation, then exercise, shower and get ready for the day. We'll chat over breakfast, then we're both off to work.

My work is going to an office that a couple of girlfriends and I have. I have introduced McK and AS to the copy writing, so they are doing that as a living, and P has joined us in the office doing coaching work. All of us were working from home and needed the office environment to connect to others with. I found an office that's equal distance away from all of us, so it's an easy commute in. We set up the space using feng shui, with the business office in the wealth corner, the conference room in the fame and reputation area and the kitchen in the love and marriage area. If people walk in and want our services, we all work together on it, otherwise we're doing our own projects. There's a daycare not too far away, so McK can bring the babies in or drop them off if she really needs to concentrate. P brings in her puppy Finnegan, so it's a fun, friendly office.
(Now, free will works in here somewhere. Not saying per se that it would be McK, AS and P, that's who came to mind. Those are the three that if I had unlimited wealth, they are among those I'd help first. Along with a certain field tech to help wire up the office for computers, etc.)

After work I head home. The cook has already made supper for my man and I, so we can sit back and enjoy. We go for a walk after supper and chat about the day's happenings. We're both involved in different clubs, so once or twice a week we're off to those meetings.
Friday or Saturday night, depending on when we're both home, is date night. We head out, sometimes high end, sometimes fast food, depends on who's craving what the most. Every 4-8 weeks we take a long weekend and go somewhere within a day's drive, learn about the area, soak up the culture. Otherwise we spend time with friends and family.

This is a really short version of what goes through my head because I make it as real as I can. The time line goes on as well, from when McK's kids are babies up through their teen years and off to college.

Fantasy? Yes, for now. It's my reality at some point in the space time continuum.
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I noticed the other night that I can now feel the ridge on my shoulder blade on both sides. If you look at a drawing or photo of the scapula, there is a ridge along the top where the muscles attach on either side. For the first time in my adult life, I can feel that ridge.

The scale may not show that I'm losing fat. Touching my body, I can feel a difference. The skin is looser and easier to 'pinch an inch' as the old Special K commercials used to tout.

Now I need to work on shopping when I'm full and have taken my supplements so I'm not tempted to buy stuff that's not good for me. Not in the house, can't easily reach out and eat it.
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Don't know about the rest of you, I'm liking the below $3 a gallon for gas. Since Holiday has the coupon thing running with Cub Foods, I paid $2.61 for 12 of the 16 gallons I put in Taez today. Total was $53.
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Gotta find the to do list for tomorrow. Need to write up the e-screen I got, write thank you notes to the three people I interviewed with on Friday, send in the updated Quantum Touch Instructor agreement and update the cash rent contract I have with my renter. On top of calling in to the temp agencies and continuing to look for work.

Been thinking...

Yeah, yeah, I know, too much time to think leads to interesting things for me.

So, what have I been thinking about? Resiliency.

We as individuals, communities, nations and the world are in the middle of what is, for our generation, our version of what my mom called the Dirty Thirties. She lived through the stock market crash of 1929 and the aftermath. What we're going through now is the latest round of this cycle.

Here's the thing: I'm not worried about it. Even though I technically don't have a job, I have little in the way of savings or any type of back up, I am not worried about how things are going to turn out. "Reality" out there may look pretty bleak to a whole lot of people right now. In my 'reality' things are looking very well indeed.

Part of it is resilience and looking at history. The cliche is that those who don't know their history are bound to repeat it. How true that is. Right now, the only way to change how this country and the world looks at things is through an absolutely crushing crash that shows the current way were are doing things can not continue.

Think of it as a world wide wake up call. Personally we've all had times when we've been hit with the proverbial baseball bat, 2" x 4", semi truck, when we've been down so far that the only way out is up. On the way up we each have to re-build the foundations that we base our life on. Our values and beliefs get looked at with a fine tooth comb - what works, what doesn't, what's mine, what's not. Throw out what doesn't work, find or create something that does. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back to work.

Here's the challenge: If you could start all over again, clean slate, no history or ties to hold you back, what would you be doing differently? Who would you be? What would you be doing? Where would you be and do?

So, what's stopping you NOW from making that your reality NOW? We get a clean slate every day we wake up. If I can get off my duff and exercise and have hope, what's holding you back from doing the same?

What causes you to buy into what the news is saying? It's all FEAR - False Evidence Appearing Real. This, too, shall pass, and we as individuals, as communities, as nations and as a world will come out the better for this. The Establishment running things won't like how things look, because they no longer have the power. They never did, we just gave it to them because we thought they knew best. Look at what their knowing best got us all into.

If I can do this, there isn't any reason why the rest of you can't as well.

Interview update

Turns out that I'm the first one they interviewed for the position, the rest they are interviewing next week. I like that, it means everyone else will be compared to me.

I think I've got what they want. They need someone who can document how they are rolling out products on a global basis. The marketing director was very happy to hear that I've done it practically everywhere I've been. As he said, the company has a habit of not documenting processes. I think I can fix that, at least for this department.

I also met with one of the product managers and the other admin in the group. The product manager is a young guy not long out of college, primarily engineering. Turns out his parents see someone who does Reiki on them, so we talked about energy work and that it would be nice to somehow combine energy work and what the company does. The admin I'd met previously on my first interview over there. She already knew my work so we just chatted for a while.

I'm thinking this is a group I could easily fit in to. The product manager is relatively new to the group, only joined them in June, and he thought it was a group that was easy to fit into, everyone respects the rest of the group. Cool, that's what I'm looking for.

Other than that, the rest of the day was pretty quiet. I haven't heard from the gal I'm replacing since Wednesday, so I hope she's OK. I sent her an email at home and a voice mail telling her what was going on, no word.
Seeing that, I left my business card with the conference chairman, told him to call me if he needed me to come in. He also said he'd welcome a link on Linked In, so I sent that off while I was there.

So... tonight I get to watch Sanctuary, even though I haven't watched last week's opening episode yet. Oops.

Tomorrow is clean and cook and do day. Taez needs an oil change, as he's over 3k miles. He needs gas, which is down to $2.79 a gallon in my neck of the woods. While I'm out and about, time for another drop off at ARC. Need to make yogurt. Have another platelet donation on Sunday. So, yeah, busy weekend to finish up a busy week.

More interviews

Tomorrow I have three HOURS of interviews for one of the jobs I talked about yesterday.

Got an email this morning from HR that the marketing position, the director decided last night after looking at my resume that he wanted to see me, along with four other candidates tomorrow. YIKES! So I meet for an hour with two of the people from 9-10, I meet with the man himself from 10:30-11:30, then I meet with one of the other admins from 11:30-12:30. So my morning is booked.

I was surprised to see that the marketing manager wanted to see me. I think I'd fit in better with the engineers just because geeks are more my style. Hey, at this point, we'll see what they have to say and what they think of me.

So, wish me luck, clear thinking and clear speaking. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow night.

Interview day

Been busy with work and somewhat incoherent at night, so there. ;-p

Had two interviews today. One was an hour with a gal from HR at the company I'm at. I emailed her last week and left her a voice mail on Monday saying hey, I want to work here, what do I need to do to get in? She voicemailed back to find time on her schedule and we'd talk.

So I found time on her schedule and we talked. For an hour. About all the things I've done, things I want to do, what I love to do, who I like to work with. She has two positions open right now, one that is already booked with four interviews in marketing, another that has not yet started the pre-interview meetings yet.

The second one is with a group of engineers. They want someone who can see the big picture, remind the group when they need to have things done, be able to stay a couple steps ahead of them, have fun, in essence be the department mom. I can do that with a group of engineers. Geek speak is a second language for me. I may have to dig into what they are doing to have a better understanding, at least I get it.

Salary wise, I'd be right in the same ball park as I was at my last job. That's OK, I can deal with that. As long as gas prices keep coming down, I can deal with the drive.

Second interview I had was a phone interview for a temp job in Brooklyn Center for 2-3 weeks. It would start next Thursday as a backup to two exec admins for the corporate offices of a national auto body chain. They were hinting that it could be a temp to perm. I told them I would consider it after being there a few days to see if it was what I wanted or not. I also told them I had other interviews I was doing, so they know they would have to compete for me, long term. The pay isn't what I want, but it will pay the phone, cable and electric bills, and put some towards the association dues I'm behind on.

See how things shake out. The internal interview took me out of the running for a long term temp job at another location for the same company. Boo. When the short term came up from the other agency, that's why I looked at that one. Not gonna worry about it.

The right job is coming, just need to be patient.

I'm also at this temp job for another day or two. The gal I'm replacing isn't healing as fast as she thought, so the conference chair has extended me for sure through tomorrow, possibly Friday as well. More money to pay the bills.

Just about time to go home. Toodles!

Class

Cool class I was in this weekend. Quantum Touch's Core Transformation 1 class. Instead of being very active, like the basic and SuperCharging are, this is more passive, quieting of the system that I create and the client entrains to.

It's some interesting stuff. Once I got the hang of finding the core spot in my head and the really slow breath, the rest was easy. Well, the healing exercises were easy. Some of the exercises to open the flow in my body were not. I'm going to have the brown bruises on my back tomorrow from having a tennis ball stuck between my shoulder blade and spine on both sides. The idea was to melt my body around the ball, to loosen the tension in my body. Yes, it loosened the tension in my body and showed me where the pain originated from.

Still, it's a great class. I've learned a better way to deal with scoliosis. I've learned how to help Raini with her hyperthyroid and Shadow with her cranky hips. I've learned how to work on me better, which is always appreciated.

And I'm tired. I've moved a lot of stuff this weekend, opened up stuff that hasn't been touched in a long time. I've also been touched a lot this weekend, so I need time to absorb that and sort it out.

Perhaps when I'm a bit more coherent tomorrow night I'll write more about the class. For now, off to bed.

Friday

Tis Friday again. A chilly morning, no frost thankfully.

Not much doing at the moment. Been doing odds and ends here at work. Leaves me time to go through the Quantum Touch website and the message boards.

One item on the message boards caught my attention, about doing the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) by surrogate or intention only, no direct tapping. Interesting information, especially when followed up with the founder's comments on getting permission.

Honestly, I haven't been drawn to EFT previously. In part, it may have been the person who was trying to teach it to me. I understand she's had great success teaching it to others, she gets on my nerves quite quickly. This, however, intrigues me, so I'll take another look at it.

Especially in light of something that happened yesterday. Those of you who know me in person know I LOVE and adore chocolate. Have for many years, which is part of my weight issue.

Yesterday someone left a dark chocolate cake in one of the galley kitchens. I cut a slice off for myself and left it for after lunch. I had about half of it and it no longer appealed to me. I threw the rest of it in the trash.

Me, throw chocolate in the trash? Previously I would have thought I was extremely sick to not want or throw away chocolate. I didn't want any more, even though it was really good.

Here's the funky part. I have a block of dark chocolate sitting on my table next to my recliner. I've gone with the block chocolate because I have to work at it to get the chocolate - I'm scraping off bits with my teeth. I've been gnawing on this block for over a month and haven't made much of a dent in it. Don't need much when you have to work for it, opposed to popping a piece in your mouth which is easy, no effort.

Something to think about, no?

And yes, still exercizing. Switched to a minute of warm up, minute of higher intensity, minute of slow down, repeat intensity and slow down for a total of 5 intensity cycles, the cool down and stretch. So far my knees are not complaining about this. Using the rebounder takes the jolt out of it, althought it does force me to keep my eyes open so I keep my balance. Have to work on that.

Core transformation tonight. That's why I was on the QT website, seeing what's going on since they revamped the site. I need to update my QT bio to include that I've taken the Super Charging and Core classes.

As much as I want to take Chael down, tonight is not the night to do it. Part of the class requirements are having a blanket and a towel with you. I've got my sleeping bag and a towel in the truck, so I'll take Taez. I'm not real familiar with the area, which to me is another reason to drive. I can take Chael tomorrow if the frost is off the roads by 8:45 am.

Back to creating an HTML email to the VP's for the upcoming conference.

Brrr...

Yeah, been quiet for a few days. Work has kept me busy. That and blood sugar crashes at night.

I'm amazed how fast I fit right back into here, like I hadn't left. Picked up and ran with what needs to be done. Sat in a three hour meeting on the conference coming up in 3 weeks. Contributed some ideas, made them aware of some things the planners didn't think about, offered to come up with a master schedule of things.

The master schedule is getting to be a monster. There are multiple rooms at two locations that have people presenting and moderating, people viewing, A/V, facilities, catering and more going on. I've pulled together on an Excel spreadsheet that I think covers what's going on from what I remember. Each day is it's own spreadsheet, otherwise it would be complicated mess to figure out.

The logistics committee wants the schedule so they can up it up on a wall in the war room, look at it, know when someone needs to be ready to speak, when the trash has to be taken care of, when the food needs to be set up or taken down. Good thing the company has plotters to print this out with, cause 11 x 17 ain't gonna be big enough.

Ren Fest was a nice change. Wandered through there for a couple hours. I did find the hair clip I was looking for, so I bought it. While I was there, a couple of people were looking at the one I already have. I had it in my hair, so I showed it to them. It was gone by the time I paid for mine.

As for the blood sugar crashes... That's me not thinking about what I'm eating. Monday night I wasn't really hungry when I got home, so I had a nectarine and a granola bar. All sugar, no protien, ka-rash. I was falling asleep in my chair by 8, could barely keep my eyes open to watch Heroes.
Last night I thought I made a better choice of a large handfull of almonds with a nectarine. I did a little better, still was nodding off before 9.

It could be that getting up at 4 am to meditate, then exercise before getting into the shower could be part of the issue. Didn't sleep well Monday night, last night wasn't much better.
Cold house doesn't help much. The building heat hasn't been turned on yet, so it's maybe 55-60 degrees inside at night, colder in the morning. I don't sleep well when I'm cold, hence the electric mattress pad to warm my bed before I crawl in to sleep.

Been cold on Chael, too. Yesterday was chilly coming in, took me until noon to get warm again. Today I put on sweatpants under my motorcycle pants and a polar fleece jacket under my motorcycle jacket, plus a scarf around my neck. Had so much stuff on I couldn't turn my head, oops. Even had another pair of gloves on the outside of my supposedly winter weight gloves. Today I'm sitting with the fleece jacket on my legs to get them warmed up.

As long as there is no snow or frost on the roads, I'll keep riding.

I'm looking forward to my Quantum Touch Core Transformation I class this weekend. It's down in Bloomington, runs Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. This is the one that is supposed to help with allergies and such. I'll be asking lots of questions. Especially if it can help with Raini's hyperthyroidism and Shad's hurting hips.