The loverly Celly came up Friday night. No sooner did she drop her bags on the floor than I dragged her out shopping with me. We hit the local Wally-Mart for some pants and shirts for me and some new bedsheets. She had a cold and wasn't feeling well but went with because... well, it was SHOPPING! I also tried on some shoes but didn't find anything I liked. I don't know if it had anything to do with it but I kept hearing Keltique's high-pitched voice reciting "Let's go SHOE shopping!"

Saturday morning I got up early. Well, 8:00 AM is early for me! I called a couple U-Haul places and finally managed to secure a 10-foot truck for a few hours. My ex gave me a full sized couch because it doesn't really fit in her new townhouse. Celly was still feeling poorly so I told her to stay in bed and rest.

Then I drove out to Gainesville to pick up the truck. Someone had left the lights on so they gave me a 17-foot diesel truck instead. I drove it over to the Clanlad's mother's house and we all went to his soccer game. As soon as that was over we loaded a couch, coffee table and end table into the truck. The Clanlad was very excited to ride in a big truck like that. :-) He was a little confused though because he knew I had just gotten a new job and I think he thought I was gonna drive a truck for a living. *g*

We had fun riding back to the house but we were running late. I had to have the truck back in Gainesville by 3:00 PM and we didn't get to the house until just before 2:00 PM. With Celly's help I unloaded the couch and stuff then I made a quick couple of sandwhiches. Celly was feeling a little better so she came with me. We dropped off the truck at 2:56 PM. Am I good or what?!?

We picked up my car and started to head back east on Rt. 66. That's when my car started pinging and shaking. I pulled over and checked under the hood. The oil was low so I added some. The other fluids were all fine. After letting it sit for a half hour we tried to start it again and it shook and knocked so bad we thought it was going to explode! It was billowing white smoke all over but I figured that was just excess oil burning off. After fretting for a while, I decided to try and make it to my mechanic's garage in Springfield.

We took off down the road spewing smoke like the Batmobile trying to elude the Joker. I went slow and watched the gauges. The knocking never really stopped and the smoke continued to trail us but we finally made it. I had my mom come up us up and then Celly and I went to the grocery store to get some fixin's for dinner. This Friday is my mom's birthday so we picked up some salad stuff, salmon, pasta, bread, lobster dip, strawberries and shortcake. Okay, so Celly actually picked out everything... but I pushed the cart!

We got home and *gasp*... I was summonarily DISMISSED from MY kitchen! Ack! Celly took over and cooked a WONDERFUL meal for everyone. Afterwards we had ice cream, strawberries and shortcake. Well, the ladies did. The Clanlad had a big sundae and I had a Root Beer float. Mmmmm... frothy goodness.

On Sunday Celly and I got garbed up for VARF. The Clanlad didn't want to dress up so he went in shorts. Once in Celly fell into her Irish accent, greeting and gigging with people as we walked. I've never been much of one for accents so I mostly kept quiet. It is my idiom afterall. *g* The Clanlad was weirded out by the accent and kept telling Celly to stop "talking Irish!" Hehehehe... that just made her do it all the more of course.

We saw a bunch of people we knew, finally making it to the back where the jousting was to held. We got some lunch and sat down with Norm and Keltik. We also said "Hi" to the feathery Faith, the scrumptious Darcy and the curvaceous Sherri came by as well as Loni (my new co-worker!) and her new boyfriend. We wandered over to the tilt yard and watched the jousting demo. Then the Clanlad got to pet the horses.

On the way back to the frontgate we walked by the lake and looked off the dock at the fish. There were hundreds of brim swimming just below the surface. Everytime someone would toss a piece of bread in the water they would swarm towards it like peer-ronyas. (NCRF joke about piranhas) There were also a few large mouthed bass that came up from the depths. The Clanlad saw one of them eat a brim and one we saw was at least two-feet long and as thick as my calf.

After that we decided to head home for some relaxation (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). I love having an actual couch to sit on. ;-)

Okay. Remember how yesterday I said I got a two month contract job. Well.... I sorta bowed out of that. I know, I know, maybe not a good move to make given my current financial straits. Y'see I sorta had to bow out of that contract because...

I GOT A JOB!!

And not just any old job either. A permanent career type job with GREAT benefits, AWESOME people (Loni works there!) and a LARGER salary than I was making before! Wheeeeeeeee!!

I got a call from them this morning because they wanted me to come in tomorrow for a second interview. I told them that I couldn't make it tomorrow as I was starting a 2 month contract job. So they said they wanted to see me today. I took a quick shower, put on my suit and hi-tailed it over there. I met with the head of IT and we chatted about the company, the job, motorcycles, etc. He told me I was at the top of their list of candidates and they wanted me to work there. Wow. I don't think I've EVER been at the top of anyone's list before.

Well, not of a job opening anyway. ;-)

I don't start to until May 1 (next Thursday) so I've got another week to chill. Now the pressure is REALLY off. *whew* I'm so relieved.

...sorta.

I was woken up around 9:00 AM this morning by a phone call from a staffing place. This is the place that called me last Friday while I was on the road. The job initially didn't sound that interesting, but I told the guy to go ahead and submit my resume anyway. Then I had a phone interview with the clients on Monday. It was hard to tell how it went because they didn't really ask me anything. I think the whole thing took less than 20 minutes.

So today they called and said I had the job if I wanted it. I went over there and stupid me forgot my Social Security Card. I filled out all the paperwork though and went home to get my card. Most of the day driving back and forth with the end result being: a two month contract job for a lot more money per hour than my last job.

I'm still looking for a permanent home though so the search isn't quite over. I've just got a little more breathing room.

Today wasn't a good day. I could NOT sleep last night..... got up around 3:00 AM and cooked eggs cause I was starving... then stayed up reading until about 6:00 AM and then fell asleep until about noon I think. I *really* didn't feel like getting out of bed or doing anything. I guess depression hit. Still unemployed. Got turned down for one job already. Haven't heard back from another. I got no calls or emails today either.... *sigh*

The weather didn't even have the decency to cooperate. If it's gonna be all overcast and shit the least it could do is rain. Or thunderstorm. I could use a good thunderstorm.

I'm gonna try and sleep good tonight and hopefully tomorrow I'll feel more like myself.

It's been a busy week. The VA Employment Commission had a question about when my actual last day of work was so I had to go in and get that straightened out. I also told them that I haven't received my PIM yet. (In order to get a check you have to call in each week and in order to call in you have to have a PIN) So they are sending me another one. Hopefully I'll get paid for the last couple of weeks too.

I still haven't heard from the company I interviewed with last week. *sigh* I called the woman in HR that contacted me and left her a voicemail though. Hopefully I'll know something soon.

I did setup two interviews for Thursday though. The first one is with a placement agency for that helpdesk job at Ft. Belvoir. Then in the afternoon I have an intial meeting with another placement agency for a helpdesk job. I don't know any details about that one yet though. I also might get to have lunch with the loverly Marcy. Bonus!

On Friday I have an interview with the US Postal Service for a contract helpdesk job through my old company. The good part is that I'd get to keep my time-in-service and basically make my same salary or a little more. The sucky part is the hours are 11:30 AM to 8:00 PM.

Well, I've been combing the job sites and sending out my resume for the last couple of weeks. I've had a couple of phone calls (from a recruiter and a headhunter) but those haven't panned out yet. And yes, I've called them back, without luck though. I've also been trying to contact the HR re-assignment person for ACS (the company where I last worked) but I keep getting her voicemail. *sigh*

There may be light at the end of the tunnel though. The loverly, nibblely Loni gave me a lead at her company last week so I sent her my resume. This morning I talked to someone in HR and set up an interview for tomorrow morning. Yay me!

This afternoon I'll drive over there to make sure I can find the place and then tomorrow morning I'll have Celly call me to make sure I'm awake. *g* Cross all your fingers and toes for me and pray that this light isn't an oncoming train.

So while I was cooling my heels at the unemployment office today (for 3 damn hours) I read some of the literature they had laying around. One of the pamphlets was on "Surviving a Layoff". It said that to help with keeping your attitude positive you should make a list everyday of the things you accomplished. So without further ado...

• Returned my work laptop


• Picked up my box of personal effects


• Registered for unemployment


• Found three "helpdesk" jobs posted on the board


• Sent my resume to Loni (she had a lead for me)