A Little More Excited

I received an e-mail back from the recruiter on Friday afternoon. She said she has forward all of my info. to the hiring manager for the salaried job and will "let me know once a decision for next steps is made."

So that's some exciting news! At least now I actually have a shot at the salaried job too! I guess my initiative to go after what I want and ask the question paid off?

If all continues to go well, then I'm hoping whomever the hiring manager is will end up reviewing my resume and recommendations and call me to set up another interview sometime next week. Of course next week is really busy for them, so maybe it won't be until the first week of March, but hopefully soon. Even though it would be entry level salaried it still beats an hourly position.

I also found out my friend who is FB friends with one of the managers I interviewed with sent over a recommendation for me on Friday, so I'm really doing everything I can to get myself back into this company.

And in the meantime, while I'm trying not to let all the anticipation and wondering/waiting drive me nuts, I put in a few more applications at other companies yesterday.

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In other news, the weather lately seriously couldn't be more awful. I had plans all week to run with a friend on Friday afternoon. On Wed. we had ridiculous, cold snow, then Thursday as I was taking the kids to an appointment the weather was warm and sunny, all the stupid snow was gone and it would've been a perfect time to run (if my schedule wasn't busy), and then Friday switched back to extremely cold and ridiculously windy.

Now today it's dark, cloudy, still really windy, and rainy...simply awful! I'm SOOOOOO ready for spring! Bring on the warm, sunny days with bright blue skies already!

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$10,760!!!!! That's the total cost of braces for IK and EJ....holy crap! If I didn't get completely disgusted at the idea of reaching my hands into other people's mouths, I totally should have been an orthodontist!

I knew it was expensive, but sheesh!!! IK has needed braces for a few years now, but we've been putting it off because SD's insurance doesn't cover braces at all. But the initial consultation is free, and since he's in high school now I thought we should at least go in and see what kind of payment plan options they might offer?

Well, the good news that the $5,380 total bill for him covers ALL of the charges, supplies, office visits, dr.'s fees, etc. for the entire time he wears braces, as well as the costs of the retainers he would wear for the 1 1/2 years after the braces come off and all the office visits during that time. They also promise these rates and total, all inclusive charges will not go up later.

And because IK's teeth aren't nearly as crooked & awful as mine were, his estimate was that he would only need braces for a total of 18 months, which is really a short time! I wore them for 3 years, complete with a full headgear that wrapped around my head, rubber bands, etc. and then 2 full years of top and bottom retainers after that.

If IK and EJ both get braces at the same time we would also receive a $200 discount off EJ's total bill, and if we put up any sort of down payment they also offer some discounts.

Of course the bad news is the total cost...$5,380 each, or a grand total of $10,760, which has to be paid in full during the amount of time they wear braces. So in this case we're talking over that 18 months, which translates to $300/mth...EACH!!!!

So...yeah, unless we all of a sudden win the lotto, or I get this job, it looks like no one will be getting the braces they really need anytime soon. Because we certainly don't have an extra $600/mth just lying around.

One more reason for me to return to work...hopefully with better dental insurance than SD's job, because it would be really awesome if my new job came with some kind of insurance coverage to offset even a little of this enormous cost!

It's probably a really good thing it's not nice outside today, because I seriously need to do some housework! I've been putting off scrubbing my bathrooms (seriously, the worst chore of all!) but really have to get to it today. Along with buying some groceries and baking in prep for tomorrow's big dinner with the jr. high youth group. Where are we going to fit 25 people in my itty bitty home?

Love Cake

Seriously adorable little song and video. How cute! Fun for any bakers.

Freezer Paper Stencils

A few weeks ago I had some fun playing with freezer paper stenciling. I hadn't heard of it before, but after seeing several tutorials and people talking about how fun and easy these projects are, I thought I'd give it a try.

The first step is figuring out what designs to use, or maybe it's deciding what project you're going to make, but for me I can figure out that part later, and started with the designs. There's lots and lots of free stencils out there on the web you can download for personal use, or you can draw your own.

This was back when I was still mulling over the idea of trying to sell my crafty stuff, so I decided to draw my own designs to avoid any copyright issues. I came up with several I really liked and drew them out with pencil first and then later with black marker (there's a lot more designs than these that I came up with, maybe I'll use them someday).

Next I bought a giant roll of freezer paper at W*l-m*rt, which will end up lasting me forever, and traced the designs onto the freezer paper.

Then very slowly and carefully I used a sharp exacto knife to cut out the images. EJ had a lot of fun helping me with this project.

Next you choose your fabric and heat up your iron. Position the pieces onto the fabric and iron them directly on. If you decide to move something, no problem, the pieces will easily pick back up and you can move them around again. Make sure they are ironed on flat and firm, otherwise you'll have paint seeping through.

For our first attempt I chose a large piece of scrap fabric to work with. I didn't want to ruin any nice fabrics if this didn't work. With this piece I spaced out several stencils so I could cut them out later and use it for several projects, but doing them all at once saved a lot of time.

What's nice about freezer paper stencils is that you end up with two designs from every stencil, as shown above, which is great because it takes some time to cut them out and it's almost impossible to reuse the same stencils a second time (so be sure to draw out your stencils first like I did if you plan to make more than one).

We laid out our fabric on an old rag in an open space in the garage and made sure to open the garage door for ventilation (it was too cold to do this outside). Then I grabbed a cheap 96 cent can of black spray paint and evenly covered the whole section of fabric.

You want to be careful not to use too much paint or it will end up seeping through your design and you won't have nice crisp lines.

As you can see the first coat of paint left my fabric a light gray color where I could still see the fabric color through it, so I went back and did a second coat of paint after the first one dried.

EJ did a couple of designs in red paint too.

And we even repurposed this old t-shirt of hers that had a giant tear in the front collar and a big stain in front that wouldn't come out. We ironed on the stencil and painted the whole shirt.

When the fabric was dry we ended up with this. You can see some blurry sections on these red designs...that's what happens when your stencils aren't ironed on enough, or you use too much paint, or you're not patient enough to wait to spray on the second coat of paint before the first one dries.

The black ones turned out a little better with less blurry spots. We threw these fabrics in the washer & dryer to get rid of the yucky paint smells and heat sink in the designs.

[NOTE: when I washed another project where I painted onto muslin half of my paint washed away, leaving a very faded design. I think my paint stayed on this fabric better because it was a higher thread count than the cheap muslin.]

Overall, for our first try we were very pleased with the results! This project was so fun to make! Now we had several designs we could cut from this fabric and turn into other items.

I started by making a few little journals. For the one above I cut out the stencil design and used it as the center fabric on the cover, with pockets on the inside for a notepad, pen, etc.

We only sprayed one coat of paint on EJ's shirt, but it turned out great and was a nice shade of gray.

 

Although next time I think I'll use the inverse of this stencil and just paint the stencil area instead of the whole shirt. We've washed this t-shirt several times with no problems.

Here's another little notebook/journal I made where I just painted the stencil on, instead of painting the whole piece of fabric.

It turned out great, although I think I used too much paint on this one and would probably use a little less next time.

Next up, freezer stencil designs on pillows!

Pulling Out All the Stops

I've recently spoken with a few of my old bosses and learned that 2 of them have put in personal recommendations for me for a job with the company. And they just so happen to be from people who are in really high management positions with the same company...as in one is a Sr. manager and the other is a VP.

The day after my interview a job posting showed up for an entry level salaried position in the same department, so today I thought about that for a while.

And then I decided with all of the support and recommendations I've received, along with all my skills and qualifications, further education, and experience as a former employee,...why shouldn't I have a shot at the entry level salaried job instead of just this hourly position?

So this afternoon I sent a quick e-mail over to the recruiter who initially interviewed me by phone and politely mentioned these references with some totally deliberate name dropping and asked if it would be possible for me to also be considered for the salaried position that showed up the day after my interview?

Kind of a bold step? Yes, but we're still talking about a position that's below the level I left with this company more than 6 years ago, so again it's a stepping stone to getting back to work and on the right path...just a few more steps up the ladder with less room for me to begin climbing.

What's the worst that can happen by asking? I'm seen as too assertive? Too much initiative to go after what I want? They end up not hiring me and I remain unemployed? I'm already unemployed, so I'm already living in the worst case scenario,...which means I really have nothing to lose here by simply asking the question.

I found out from a friend today that Q/E is actually today on their company calendar, which means they have all of next week to go through crunch time to push through long hard days, long hours, in order to get everything in by quarter end.

Which tells me that this week the group of managers is trying to get through all or most of their interviews to determine which applicants they're interested in, then next week focus on Q/E work, and the following week hopefully they'll make those final decisions after Q/E is over and they have more time to devote to all of this hiring stuff.

So realistically I shouldn't expect to hear anything more on this until probably sometime in the 2nd week of March or later. Okay, it's frustrating to think of waiting & wondering that whole time, but at least that gives me a timetable, right?

I've done absolutely EVERYTHING I can possibly think of to try to get a job here, so it's all out of my hands now and I'm just waiting for a decision...and praying all of the "what if" wondering won't drive me crazy in the process!

Keeping my fingers crossed and saying a prayer that this will either be the opening I've been looking for, or that God will show me another, better option. We'll see.

P.S. - Oh, and a HUGE happy birthday to my beautiful niece, K!!!! Hope it's an awesome day!

 

Hope you and your new baby sis are having a wonderful birthday celebration. Give your mommy a big hug for me!

Sew Dang Cute

I wish I had known how to sew when my kids were babies! I mean, I really, really wish I had known. I'm sure I would've been completely obsessed with all the unbelievably amazing, totally adorable things people make for babies!

Stuff like this, that as a 19 year old mom and totally poor college student I never could've afforded to buy:

But I definitely could've bought similar fabrics, padding, etc. and made my own MUCH cheaper knock off versions to decorate my babies' cribs in style!

I just love all the coordinating sets and how they're so perfectly displayed. Like this one with the really cute giraffe quilt:

Or these cuddly brown teddy bears:

Or these absolutely adorable turtles and frogs! I'm simply drooling over that beautiful quilt!

These dark wood cribs are so totally gorgeous too, nothing like the incredibly old hand me down crib we received from a pastor who had already used it with his 4 kids, and the side door was broken and wouldn't stay up, so we had to prop it closed with a box underneath.

No, no worries that I'm suffering from any kind of baby blues wanting kid #5.....no.....NOOOOOOO!!!!! That ship has LOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG sailed away!

I seriously know the difference, because I totally went through that whole phase of life where I never would have been able to make that statement and was stuck in a gray area of I don't know feelings.

But now I'm thoroughly convinced, 200%, that I'm definitely finished with the whole having babies chapter of life! And I'm so totally anxious to have all of my kids completely potty trained, which is why I stumbled across these pictures today, because I was looking at sewing patterns for the really cute diaper stackers.

Except for the first photo, go back and look at the others and you'll see these baby sets all have really cute diaper stackers, like this one:

I'm not crazy about the design on the top of this one, but I love that yellow flower fabric used in the bottom section! It almost looks like butterflies.

I remember having one when IK was a baby, nothing fancy and stylish like these, but oh so useful when you bring home those big plastic bags full of diapers and don't have anywhere to store them.

I'm not sure what ever happened to that diaper stacker I had, in fact until this morning as I was browsing sewing tutorial blogs I had actually forgotten all about these things!

But since KW is proving to be far more difficult in the whole potty training department, and is still wearing pullups most of the time as we train (because I'm tired of washing out poopy underwear!) and will most likely continue to wear pullups at least overnight for some time, I'm thinking about sewing up a cute little diaper stacker for him instead of just piling a big stack of pullups on top of his dresser.

Then, when he's done with pullups he can still use it to store his big boy underpants, or as a little tent/hideout for his action figures.

What totally awesome gift sets these things would be if you made a little baby quilt and matching diaper stacker?! Oh, if only I had WAY more time in my life for fun sewing projects like this!

Anyway, I'm planning on trying to make a diaper catcher for KW following these instructions, and maybe modifying it a little bit because I don't really like the ruffly edge at the top of it, but if the pattern's not too difficult it would be fun to make a girl one too. Of course I have no use for baby girl items, so sis, do you have one of these things? If not, you want one?

Just Waiting

Well, I think my interview on Monday went well. I met with a group of 5 managers, all of whom were much younger than me, except for maybe one. But I know for sure that at least 3 of them are roughly 9-11 years younger than me, according to their Facebook pages that mention they graduated from high school in 2002 and 2004. 

Yeah...I graduated back in 1993, but I sort of expected this a little bit since I made the decision to quit and stay home with my kids, putting my career and advancement opportunities on hold until now.

It seemed as if none of them had any real interviewing skills, and maybe that's why all of them were in there?  A chance to practice? They spent a lot of time blankly staring down at the copy of my resume they all had in front of them. I'm pretty sure I asked them many more questions than they asked me.

They weren't a very talkative bunch, and I couldn't quite figure out if that was because they thought I was very over qualified and really didn't have anything to ask me, or if they were all really busy with their own workloads and pressing quarter end deadlines and figured the fewer questions they ask, the faster they can get back to work.

I was a little nervous at first, but not much. Mostly I was nervous about trying my best to act like I'm actually interested in this incredibly low paying position. Overall, I think I did pretty well.

The interview lasted about 30 min., and then on my way out I had to stop over at my old dept. and say a bunch of hellos to all my old friends, which took about an hour! It was so nice to be greeted with so many warm welcomes, hugs, and smiling faces all wanting to know how I was doing and hoping along with me that I would come back to work there. Kinda cool to receive that reception after being gone for over 6 years.

The group of managers mentioned a couple of things. First, they're hiring for 2 positions and they're going through several interviews right now and will be making their hiring decisions sometime in the next 2-3 weeks. I know the quarter end deadline schedule will be right around that same time, so I'm not sure if they'll try to hurry up and make a decision before Q/E, or if all those pressing deadlines will push this back until right after Q/E when they'll have more time?

So I could be waiting to hear a decision on this job for a few weeks, which is frustrating to have to wait that long, but oh well. In the meantime, I applied for 4 more jobs since my interview. One of which is also with this company and a salaried position in the same dept. I just interviewed in, so I'm kinda hoping that by some huge miracle they'll call me and want to offer me that salaried position instead?! 

Who knows, it's so difficult to tell sometimes what the other people are thinking of you as you're in the interview. Do they really like you? Are they impressed with everything you could bring to the company? Are they just trying to be polite when they really aren't interested in hiring you? Are they just ticked off because going through all of these interviews feels like a huge waste of their time when they have tons of work to get to?

I don't know, but I'm sure I'll continue to drive myself crazy with those questions until I do hear a reply on this job. I'm also not sure if the reply comes from the managers I interviewed with, or through the recruiter I initially spoke to? Guess I'll find out soon.

For now, I'm continuing to turn in more applications, trying new GF recipes, doing some little sewing, and scrubbing my house from top to bottom to get ready to host about 25 jr. high students & youth interns from church for dinner on Sunday night. Should be fun, and it's helping to keep my mind off of all the job stuff.

Impossible?

I actually watched a movie today called "Entry Level" starring D.B. Sweeny (the guy from the old 80's ice skating movie) and it was actually a really funny movie all about being unemployable.

Unemployable...it turns out that's an actual word these days. It means that you're not only not able to land a job, but you're not even getting offers for any interviews either,...as in no one's even calling when they glance at your resume. Hmmmph.

The movie follows Sweeny who is 38 years old and has been in business for himself for many years running his own restaurants, but due to some bad circumstances his business goes under and he then goes through a series of funny interviews for lower than grunt, entry level positions and finds out in the process he's extremely unemployable. 

He's forced to completely swallow his pride, humiliate himself, and provide tons of answers mustering completely fake enthusiasm for many different jobs, only to be turned away from them all. 

I wasn't sure at first if it was really a good idea for me to watch this movie, but it turned out to be a really funny and cute movie and didn't really depress me any further on the whole job situation. If anything, it simply reminded me that:

a) I'm far from the first person in history to have to humble myself, swallow my pride, and do everything I can do to try to obtain a job I believe is well below my skills and qualifications,

b) Any job I end up obtaining is not what defines me, I'm a wife and mom first and what I end up doing for a living is only the means by which I manage to pay the bills and support my family...because they're my real job.

c) A lower level position doesn't last forever, and this is just a temporary solution while I continue to look for something much better.

I used to have a picture up on the wall in my home for many years that said, "The Impossible is Often the Untried." I really like that quote and it's been a belief I've agreed with when it comes to so many things in life.

Lately I've heard it phrased slightly different as, "Impossible isn't a real word,...it's just an excuse not to try."

The concept applies to so many, many things...not just the job situation, but all my fitness goals are another great example. Last year at this time running a 5k seemed to me to be physically impossible. Now, I run them several times per week. The whole job situation will not be impossible for me either...it might not start out the way I want it to, but it's not impossible.

Speaking of fitness, since I'm strangely unmotivated to spring clean any more areas of my home, I decided to take out some aggression on my treadmill earlier today. And while the run was still very difficult, I managed to knock another 45 seconds off my time and run at faster speeds through some of it, so I'm still making progress.

Treadmill 5k (3.1 miles) = 31:15 min., 10:05 min./mile pace

It's getting just a little bit better every time I run. The sun finally came out today (thank you!!!!) and I'm actually considering going outside and running another 5k while I have the chance to be out in the sunshine. There's nothing like running outside.

That, or I'll get to a bunch of overdue housecleaning....meh. I'd much rather be running!

Little Improvements Each Day

Back up on the treadmill today, my overall time and pace still totally sucked in comparison to what I was capable of running just a few months ago, but it was 1:12 min. faster than last Sat.'s treadmill run, so that's progress and I'll take it.

Treadmill 5k (3.1 miles) = 32:00 min., 10:19 min./mile pace

So again, not my best run by any means, but I'm determined to get back up to the level I was at...soon! I think I've pretty well decided what my next race will be, a local half marathon in July. It should be a really good half marathon to start out with because the majority of the course is all on greenbelt bike paths in Boise, which is lined with tons of pretty trees and parks to look at, runs right next to the river, and has lots of shady spots, so it's an enjoyable area to run through.

When I asked SD if he would do it with me he very casually said sure. We haven't been working out together at all lately, but he has been playing basketball at work a couple times per week. Hopefully the stupid winter weather will quickly come to an end so we can find a lot more time to run outside again.

So now that we have a race in mind, that gives us just about 5 months to train and prepare for it. Exciting! And best of all, it's motivating!

In the meantime, I've got a roast in the oven for dinner, laundry's going, and I've been spending some time brushing up on my Excel skills (vlookups, pivot tables, really complicated formulas, etc.) in prep for my interview next week. I also need to brush up on a lot of basic accounting terms and definitions to make sure I'm fully prepared for any more of those type interview questions.

And I've received 5 more rejection letters in the past 2 days and turned in 2 more new applications, so the job hunt continues. Today I'm off to buy something to wear to my interview on Monday.

Phase 2???

I have some fun Valentine's posts to update on, but haven't managed to get to them yet since some of it was actually a last minute surprise. So I'll try to get that posted soon, but in the meantime, I have more job news.

Last night I came home and had a message from the recruiter regarding the hourly job we discussed on the phone last week. Apparently, despite my high over-qualifications, they are actually interested in bringing me in for an in person interview next week with a panel of 4 of their managers.

My initial reaction was rather surprised, because I assumed my over qualifications would actually work against me here, although from their perspective they're probably trying to take advantage of finding someone with far more skills than needed to fill a position and being able to utilize those extra skills while paying a lower wage. 

Of course if I was in management I would assume that someone like me would be highly likely to jump at the first chance to get out of there and move up and onward, causing them the hassle to spend more time and money to rehire and train a new employee all over again.

On the one hand, it's nice to be continuing with the interview process as they narrow down applicants, at least I still have a chance at a job offer. 

But on the other hand, it also kind of feels really insulting to receive numerous rejection letters for positions I'm very qualified for and only receive some employer interest for such a much lower hourly position,...especially when considering all my qualifications and previous work experience with this same company.

Then again, it's still better than the alternatives of working at W*l-m*rt on the weekends, or SD trying to take a second job because I still can't get hired.

I'm also feeling some discouragement over the type of work I'd be doing,...very basic stuff in an area of emphasis I really don't like...at all. Nothing to do with management responsibilities, no special projects, no high level exposure to executives, no cross coordination on projects with other departments,...nothing. It's like starting all over at the bottom...at least 3 positions lower than where I was when I quit working there 6 years ago!

This whole time I've been job searching I seriously thought I would eventually find a position that at a bare minimum would begin at something at least lateral to the position level I left back in 2004,...I never imagined I'd be interviewing for something far beneath that. If anything I was hoping to interview for an even higher position than what I left. After all, the job I interviewed for a year ago was like that and now I've actually completed my MBA.

Surprise and confusion are certainly the words to express how I'm feeling about all of this. I'm excited and thankful for the interview opportunity,...but I just can't stop thinking it's all for the wrong job. But then, how do I say that without coming across sounding like some kind of spoiled/conceited type of person who thinks they're too good for it? 

I'm getting to the point where I won't have the luxury of being picky on what kind of job I want or believe I deserve (as I call it: beggars can't be choosers), and am getting closer to the point where I simply HAVE to find something that pays the bills, whether or not I actually like the job at all.

What if they end up offering me the job? What if the hourly wage is incredibly low? What if it's actually a decent wage? Should I decline the offer and keep hoping for something better, or take it? Would accepting such a low position hurt my chances of obtaining a better position later, or make it take MUCH longer to advance to the level where I want to start now?

Do I accept an offer for a low paying job I don't want at all simply to pay the bills and get my foot in the door in the extreme hopes that it'll only be a VERY short-term situation that MIGHT be a positive stepping stone toward picking up my career where I left off and hopefully leading to much better things soon, like maybe in 6 months? What if nothing else comes up in 6 months and I'm still stuck there?

Do I turn down an offer and just keep hoping and praying something far better will miraculously show up in the next 4 months I have left before we have to start paying our student loans each month? What if another offer doesn't happen?

My follow up, in person interview is scheduled for next week, which means I now have a week to brush up on all my Excel skills, old accounting terms, and other potential interview questions...

...and I have a week to keep chewing on what to do here???

Isaiah 41:10

"Fear not, for I am with you. 

Do not be dismayed. I am your God. 

I will strengthen you; I will help you; 

I will uphold you with My victorious right hand."

Starting All Over

Or at least that's what it feels like. Yep, it's finally a fitness update!

Despite our best efforts and strong determination to keep going, SD and I finally gave up on P90X after week seven. I really, really, REALLY did not want to be just another person who's tried and given up on that program!

But when we reached that part of the program we had come to a point where we had gone through every video at least once, so there were no more exciting new videos to look forward to, and then it just became a ton of boring repetition.

That combined with all the winter blues that cold, cloudy, gloomy skies, yucky winter weather naturally brings, and all the frustration over the whole depressing job situation, has made it all that more difficult to find any motivation to work out at all lately.

I've thought about working out many, many times, but not doing it of course leads to more depressing, de-motivated thoughts,...

...which of course leads to feeling like I have less and less energy to get up and move at all,...

...which has led me back to gaining a solid 5 lbs., which means most days I'm back up to 130 lbs., which leads to even more depressing thoughts as I'm pretty sure I can actually feel myself getting fatter and much more out of shape each day,...

...so then when I do try to workout, everything of course feels SO much harder to do than it used to, I feel tired more quickly, I feel more worn out than I used to, I can't run as fast as I KNOW I can run, and then of course I get really mad at myself and discouraged when I see those much slower run times because I know I can do all of this better than what my body is telling me,...AAARRRGGGGG!!!!!

So that explains why it feels like in some ways I'm starting ALL OVER again,...and I hate that feeling!

I think part of my lack of motivation has been because of my lack of accountability...I'm not logging or recording anything as far as foods I eat, run times, exercises, etc. plus I still haven't decided what race(s) I want to try to run this year.

And for me, as someone who's extremely goal oriented and highly motivated by pressing deadlines, I really need to have that race goal off in the distance...something that I know is coming and I need to be in shape for,...something I actually paid good money to register for,...coming so I can force myself to get my lazy bum up and moving.

So today I'm doing my best to pick up where I left off and get back in shape once again. Here I go!

I just finished running on my treadmill, which felt ridiculously hard like I was about to die! I ran 5k in 33:12 min., 10:43 min./mile pace.

That time sounds totally awful to me, esp. since I know I can run MUCH faster than that! Or at least, I should be able to if I hadn't stopped working out. UGH!!!!

I seriously have NO interest in going back to the days in the beginning where I had to keep a spreadsheet of every single little thing I ate, because I know how to eat healthy now. But I have stopped drinking tons of water, and I really need to get back in that habit, so that's item #1.

I also need to get back into logging and recording my run times, that way I can encourage and motivate myself more by seeing those time improvements. So I'm going to start recording my run times again and posting them though LogYourRun on my sidebar.

One of my running buddies asked me last week if I had been running lately & I said no. He said he hadn't been running much either and he could feel how out of shape he was starting to feel, so he got outside and has started running between 3-5 miles each day for a week,...and now 1 week later he already feels so much stronger.

So that sounded awesome and for now I'm just going to try to see if I can get through 1 little week and go from here, after I hopefully see how much better I feel then.

And I need to spend some time looking around more to figure out what my next race will be? No idea yet. I'm not sure if I want to start with another 10k and then build myself up with a few more months of training before I attempt my first half marathon?

With as out of shape as I feel these days that sounds like a good plan for now. We'll see. For today, I ran 3.1 miles in what my mind says is an awful time, but hey, I got back up and started moving around, and that's good enough for now. Next time will be better, and each time will get a little bit easier, right?

Psalms 37:7

"Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him to act."

Doubtful and Moving On

Well, I had my prelim phone interview on Friday morning and it went very well. I was fully prepared for all the questions about my previous work experiences, strengths, short and long-term goals, etc. I was just a little caught by surprise with a few more technical, old school accounting questions I didn't expect to hear, but nothing I couldn't answer.

But I'm not very optimistic about the position itself. It turns out it's an hourly position, and something I've over qualified for...way, WAY over qualified for! As in, there's not even a requirement for any college degree needed for this job, which means I was already over qualified for the job more than 10 years ago.

Looking back at the job posting, I noticed this issue and realized in my rush to apply for any openings I must've overlooked this, because it would have been my first clue to realizing it was an hourly position and if I had known, I never would've applied.

It's not that I have anything against working in an hourly job at all, it's just kind of like the equivalent of a school principal applying for a teacher's aid position when they're clearly far more qualified for a higher paying job. 

And unfortunately, I believe I'm not going to be considered much for this position because of my qualifications...because they'll rightfully assume that I'll be looking to get out of there as soon as I have a chance to move on to something better, and no employer wants to hire someone and go through all the trouble to train them if they know they'll just have rehire someone else in 6 mths or so and go through all that training expense again.

So the recruiter said she would be passing my info. along to the hiring managers and they would be making a decision by the end of next week on which applicants they want to bring in for in person interviews,...at which point I highly doubt I'll be called.

So I'm looking at it as a great chance to brush up on my interviewing skills and at least I got my name out there. And in the meantime I've applied for 3 other positions at 3 different companies to keep trying to find a job.

Of course, on the off chance I actually do receive a call for an interview, what should I do? While the recruiter wouldn't give me an exact salary range, she did provide some indications and it basically sounds like the starting wage would be really low and not enough for what we need. But if it could help me get my foot in the door so that I could try to move into another job in 6 mths - 1 year from now, then it might be worth it?

I'm not at all above the idea of starting from the bottom and working my way up if it helps me pay my bills. But in this case I'm not sure that I'll actually see that happen, because I think my over qualifications for this position will actually end up working against me.

So with those doubts in mind, I'll just keep moving on...

I Got a Bite!

We all know I've been "fishing" for a job for a very long time now. Well, today I finally received a different message,...an exciting one, with potential.

Honestly, when the e-mail arrived in my inbox I immediately assumed it was another rejection letter that would go on to say the same old, "thank you for applying but after careful consideration we're not interested in you, blah blah blah."

But instead I received a message telling me they'd like to schedule a prelim phone interview and to let them know the best times to reach me and a phone number.

The prelim phone interview is pretty standard, followed by an invitation for an in person interview if I do well. The process is expected to take about 30 min. to answer the interview questions on the phone,...during which I'm praying KW will be asleep or playing REALLY quietly in another room!

It's a good sign,...first response to an application I've had in over a YEAR (other than rejection notices). 

I'm not entirely sure how much hope to hold out there. I'm not even sure if the job is actually a salaried position? It might be a much lower salary than I'm looking for? And while it's in accounting, it's in an area I'm really not interested in...tax.

So it's not exactly the kind of project management work I really want to do and have been looking for, but it is with my former employer and that means I have a ton of inside connections that could help me out here. And who knows, maybe the job will end up including a bunch of special projects work I don't know about yet?

Plus, it's better than no paycheck at all and continuing to worry over how on earth to pay my student loans in July. So if it can help me get my foot back in the door, then in might be worth it, right? 

And then maybe in 6 months or a year from now after I've proven my worth I'll have an insider's shot at applying for a different position with far better pay and much more enjoyable work.

That's the hope anyway, but for now I'm really not planning to get my hopes up too high. It's hard not to become at least a little bit excited after waiting for SUCH a long time to have ANY employer interest, but I don't want to set myself up to become enormously disappointed if they determine I'm not the best candidate for the position,...esp. since it's not exactly what I'm looking for and instead much more of what I'd consider a stepping stone to get somewhere else.

The phone interview is on Friday morning,...we'll see what happens.

Babbling

6:00am - Wake up, wake up IK and EJ for school.

7:00am - IK leaves for school, wake up LA.

7:10am - After an hour of yelling at EJ to get ready, her arguing back, drive EJ to school.

7:30am - Arrive home and see EJ has called twice. She forgot her USB key and MUST have it to turn in an assignment or she'll received a zero.

7:45am - Get LA and KW ready to go, drive back to EJ's school and drop off USB key, then drive LA to school and put gas in car.

8:30am - Arrive home, fix breakfast for me and KW.

9:00am - IK calls, he forgot his gym clothes and needs them asap, search all over house and finally find them in the dryer.

9:10am - Drive to IK's school and drop off gym clothes. While I'm there, engage in conversation with really stupid person:

I hand IK's gym clothes to the person at the desk in the attendance office and she hands them to a student who is asked to walk the clothes down to the gym to give to IK. Since it's been almost a month since I wrote a check to pay for those gym clothes and it still hasn't cleared the bank yet, I ask the woman who I would speak to about an outstanding check for P.E. clothes.

Woman: "We don't sell P.E. clothes here."

Me: "I'm talking about the money I paid for the gym clothes for P.E. that I just handed to you and you sent them down to the gym."

Woman: "Well, we don't have P.E. here, we have fitness."

---Really, really????!!!! You're seriously going to argue with me over the words "P.E" vs "fitness" when it's so clearly obvious what I'm referring to????

Woman: "I'm not sure who you would talk to about that (acting as if no other parent has EVER asked any such question), maybe the bookkeeper or the gym teacher? Hold on, let me call the bookkeeper."

---Trying my best to remain calm and polite...

Woman: "The bookkeeper doesn't know anything about it. Can you wait here for just a minute?"

She walks out of the office and down the hall to speak with the gym teacher. When she comes back a few minutes later I'm told the check is still sitting on the gym teacher's desk, he hasn't turned it in to the bookkeeper yet.

Me: "So do you know how much longer it's going to take him to walk the check down the hall and turn it in to the bookkeeper?"

Woman: "I don't know."

---Fighting the urge to also say things like, "well could he get a student to walk the check down the hall? Or maybe he can give me the check and I'll walk it down the hall on my way out? Seriously, people, it's been almost a whole month, and in that entire time of going to work every single day, walking past the bookkeeper's desk every morning & afternoon on your way in and out of work, you can't find the time to drop it off???!!!"

Despite the extremely tempting thoughts inside my head to strangle this person, I do my best to take the high road and put on a happy face, politely smile and walk out...all the while grumbling thoughts continue inside my head about how much I despise incompetent people.

Seriously, questions related to the purchases of gym, or P.E., or fitness clothes for freshman at the high school are by NO means way out there, uncommon questions to expect from a parent. And how stupid do you have to be to not only have no idea how to answer such a simple question,...but to sit there with a puzzled look and act like I'm the one from Mars while you debate the words P.E. and fitness???!!!

Really Monday? All this and it was only 9:30am.

Add to all of this mess some majorly out of control cramps that felt as if a giant wooden spear was being thrust through my stomach, because yeah, Monday decided to add that to my week too.

Why didn't I just send cash? Well, for one thing, my son kept forgetting to tell me how much the "fitness" clothes cost for several days despite my constant questions about it each afternoon when he came home,...only to call me one morning from school to tell me he needed $22.00 immediately for these clothes and I needed to drive up to the school to give him the money. Gotta love kids, huh?

So I drive up to the school that afternoon and with no cash on me I decide to write a check. Done. And if by some chance there's any question as to whether we paid for the clothes, I can always show proof through the cleared check (if it ever gets to the bank) rather than the risk of the cash getting lost.

I e-mailed the gym teacher directly when I came home to ask him how much longer he thought it might take to turn in my check and he responded right away that it would be turned in this week. Stupid people, psshhhh!

I need to go back to work! Somewhere that's filled with hard core big corporate business people, who understand and relate to the extreme frustrations of dealing with such idiocy and not putting up with such garbage. Oh yeah, that's right, this SAHM seriously needs to get out of the house more, esp. if little stuff like this is irritating me this much!

Fortunately, the rest of my Monday went MUCH better, and proved to be a rather pleasant day. Except for the part where I accidentally mixed up the baking powder vs. the baking soda in the waffles I made (breakfast for dinner night)...turns out, it actually does make a difference...hmmm, who knew? 

The difference being that after they rose nice and fluffy while cooking in my waffle iron, they immediately deflated into wrinkled up former versions of pretty waffles...still taste fine, but not nearly as nice to look at.

I've now applied for 30,...thir---TEE, different jobs in the last 6 weeks. With 9 rejection notices so far, and many others still out there I'll most likely here nothing about.

I'm at the point where I don't even become the slightest bit excited about any of the applications I turn in, because my assumption is that they mean nothing, and nothing will come out of any of them. After all, that's been the case for the past 15 months, so there's really nothing to make me think any differently.

KW has become so totally independent these days that I'm really seeing fewer and fewer reasons for me to stay home with him anymore, other than the fact that I'd simply prefer it. 

He's grown out of the stage where he used to cuddle with me EVERY morning, laying in my lap sometimes for hours each day. Now he's content to be on his own, playing, watching TV, coloring, just checking in with me whenever he needs something to eat that he can't reach by himself.

This morning I baked some amazing GF chocolate crinkle cookies (tastes just like a brownie) to give to a friend as I returned her book. It was fun to finally meet her in person. We've been friends through a mutual friend and until now had only spoken through e-mail and Facebook, so it was really fun to get to see her face to face.

I only stopped by quickly at the door to drop off the book, since I knew she had company. Her house is enormous,...and gorgeous,...and of course I'm seriously jealous.

It doesn't help that she happens to live in a neighborhood near the dream home we fell in love with in 2008 and tried to buy (but the bank wouldn't accept our offer contingent upon the sale of our current home because the new home was in a short sale situation).

So naturally I couldn't resist the urge to drive past the dream home to see who's living in it now. Turns out it's empty! There's a lock box on the door with a sign that says the home has been winterized.

It's seriously torturing me!!!! It's not fair to find the home of your dreams, seriously more perfect than any of the millions of homes I've ever looked at, or thought of,...a home that literally has EVERY single wish list item I would sit down and write out for the house I would buy if I won the lotto,...the home that is also the dream home of my spouse,...the home we can easily see ourselves growing old in,...just sitting there...empty.

And then I did something stupid. I looked up the home on-line and found a couple of sites where the list price is now only $139,800!!!! This home was valued at over $300,000 and when we tried to make an offer on it a year ago the offer was for $230,000....now it's listed for less than $140,000?????!!!!!!!

I couldn't decide if I was going to be sick, or cry.

The dreaming all floods back to my mind as I imagine us living in that beautiful home,...having birthday parties and sleepovers, baking in that gorgeous kitchen, family dinners in the separate dining room, a huge basement for the kids to play in (NONE of the homes around here are built with basements anymore!), tons of entertaining space (over 3,300 sq. ft.!), a gorgeous and enormous back porch, no back neighbors, huge mature trees in the backyard, with plenty of room to host the entire youth group at church, Bible studies, and more. The house has everything, including an entire mini gym with a hot tub built into the middle of it....it has a frickin' hot tub room people!!!! What house has that??!!!

I know none of it matters. I know, I really do. I know I'm already blessed beyond measure to have the tiny little cramped home I have now, and that to many other people I would sound like such a spoiled little brat to complain so much about the blessings I have that to them would seem like a dream home.

But how often do you come so close to the things you dream of providing for your family? It seems more attainable than ever to try to buy our dream home, if only I had a stupid job! We could rent out our current home for a while until the market EVER turns around and then sell it at a profit, all the while enjoying our beautiful new home with a mortgage loan that's less than half the home's worth.

***As I'm sitting here rambling, SD just sent me an e-mail. He found another site that says the dream home was just sold.

And just like that, dreaming's over. Blessings and all, it still feels so unfair.

I think I've discovered why I have so little motivation to do much of anything lately (nothing crafty, no exercise, etc.). I think my brain has reached the point where I seriously can't take any more of this living life in a constant state of limbo...waiting to find a job...hoping some sort of miracle will finally happen and end this state of continuous wondering and wandering as I don't know where I'm headed.

I don't see the point to starting anything when I don't know for certain if it's something I'll have the time to continue. If it's only temporary, and tomorrow or next week I'll finally get that phone call for an interview, then why bother diving into anything today?

Which most days leaves me with very little motivation to do anything more beyond what I absolutely have to do,...and sometimes not even that much. Most of the time I want to find the motivation to move and get myself wrapped up and excited about something new, but instead I feel like I'm stuck in this funk I can't quite describe or explain, and I think any attempts at trying to explain it all make me sound like a spoiled little housewife.

I'm ready life, let's do this (haha, "let's do this," funny!), let's get this ball rolling and move me out of this limbo land I'm sick of living in! I'm so very tired of this same old set of circumstances I've found myself stuck in for a YEAR AND A HALF!!!

This is why I'm not blogging very much lately,...because it's no fun to read a bunch of "stuck in the funk" posts, regardless of how life is these days. 

I have done a couple of crafty things lately, there's pictures, and SD even built a really awesome and huge work bench in the garage yesterday. I still have lots of awesome pictures and things to post from Dec., its just more work and motivation to go through it all than I tend to have these days.

Spring can't seem to come fast enough.

Coupon Deals: Feb. 5, 2010

I'm so happy to report my enormous success with coupon grocery shopping yesterday! I spent a bunch of time collecting and organizing my coupons, matching them up with store sales this week, figuring out my meal planning for the next 2 weeks, and also writing a list of the items I needed to buy that were not part of any coupon deals.

I typed out my shopping list and prepared for a long day of shopping deals. After getting all 3 of my older kids out the door to school in the morning, as I was getting KW ready to go I received a call from the school nurse telling me EJ was sick and had to come home. Lovely.

She's been fighting the beginnings of a winter cold (so have LA and KW) and I seriously doubt she was sick enough to come home, but I still had to pick her up. In the end she turned out to be an enormous help to me in all the stores as KW through numerous fits at different times of the day. 

[Side note: EJ had really wanted to go grocery shopping with me that day, and since she only had some mild nose congestion, and based on how perfectly fine she felt at each store, I seriously think she really didn't need to come home from school at all. If she had been really sick I probably would have been forced to wait another day to grocery shop or head out that evening after SD got home, because I'm not a fan of leaving my kids home alone for long periods of time, even though she's 12. A really quick trip down the street to grab something is one thing, but several hours home alone is something else.]

So around 8:30am after picking EJ up we headed to the first store on my list, Albertsons. With all my coupons in order, one of the biggest deals I was planning to take advantage of was on cereal,...but they only had 10 boxes of Trix cereal left. 

The other cereals on sale weren't GF,...which is frustrating because they're all made by the exact same company, General Mills, and we can eat Kix, Honey Kix, and several varieties of Chex cereal. While the ad listed several different kinds of cereal, the only one we could buy was Trix. With all my coupons I was planning to purchase a total of 23,...yes 23 boxes of Trix cereal. Since there were only 10 left that meant I had to go to 2 different Albertsons to get all the cereal I wanted.

So we left the first Albertsons and headed across the street to Walgreens to grab a couple of items before driving a little further to the second Albertsons. After those 3 stores I drove home and put everything that needed to be in the fridge and freezer.

Next we drove to the other side of town and made stops at Winco and Fred Meyer, and finally at Wal-mart on the way home. With 2 kids in tow it took me just under an hour at each store, and with total driving time the whole process of shopping at 6 different stores took about 7 1/2 hours.

It was a really long day, I managed to finish about 20 min. before the kids came home from school. So in the amount of time my kids were at school one day I managed to get all of my shopping totally done, and now I won't have to go to the store again for 2 weeks.

Not bad, a long and exhausting day, but if I only have to do that 2 days per month, instead of constant little trips to the store throughout each week, then it's worth it.

So let's see how well I managed to do. I thought it would be easier to break it down by store and show you the savings that way. I'm not planning to list out every single item I bought, because several items were on my "needed to buy" list and not part of my couponing deals.

First up, Albertsons deals:

 

As I mentioned, the cereal was on sale so I bought 23 boxes, which means if my kids eat 2 boxes per week we'll have enough cereal to last 3 months. Of course it's more realistic that they'll go through at least 3 boxes per week, but that still means we'll have cereal to last for 2 months!

Albertsons Coupon Deals:

Trix cereal, on sale for $1.88 per box

---5 coupons for $1.00 off each box, final price $0.88 each

---6 coupons for $0.55 off each box, final price $1.33 each

---6 coupons for $1.00 off two boxes, final price $1.38 each

---ttl avg. price = $1.20 per box, with avg. savings 69%

Bar S Hotdogs, 8 count pkg, on sale for $0.88

---with in-store coupon, limit 4

---2 coupons for $1.00 off 2, final price $0.38 each

---ttl savings 83%

Albertsons Brand Yogurt, on sale for $0.50 each

---5 coupons for $0.75 off of 4 any brand yogurts, final price $0.31 each

---ttl savings 47%

Kraft Cheese, on sale $1.88 each when you buy 2 with in-store coupon

---ttl savings 56%

Bounty Paper Towels 8pk, on sale $3.99

---normally I like to buy the 2 pk select-a-size smaller paper towels, but they're $2.84, which makes them $1.42 each roll, and this sale made them $0.50 per roll instead!

---ttl savings 65%

Dove Mens Body Wash, on sale $3.99

---with coupon for $1.25 off

---ttl savings 45%

Roast, on sale buy 1 get 1 free

---first roast was $15.52, second one at $10.73 was free

---ttl savings 40%

Total Albertsons Savings:

$175.48 = Total regular retail prices

$  69.52 = Total OOP (out of pocket) expenses, not including tax

$105.96 = Total savings

Next up, Walgreens:

 

Several items I took advantage of last week were still on sale this week, so I stocked up even more.With 8 cans of Comet cleaner I'm pretty sure I won't have to buy it again for 2 years!

Walgreens Coupon Deals:  

Gallon 2% milk, on sale $1.99 each, limit 2

---ttl savings 15%

Royal Jello, on sale 5/$1.00, with coupon

---ttl savings 70%

Comet cleaner, on sale 2/$1.00 with coupon, limit 4

---ttl savings 58%

Lady Speed Stick deodorant, on sale $1.99 each, limit 3

---ttl savings 41%

Mens Right Guard deodorant, on sale $1.99 each

---ttl savings 33%

Sensodyne Toothpaste, on sale buy 1 get 1 50% off

---final price $3.74 each

---ttl savings 25%

Glad trash bags, 45 ct on sale $5.99

---ttl savings 14%

Angelsoft Toilet Paper, double rolls 9pk, on sale $4.00

---ttl savings 11%

Total Walgreens Savings:

$ 50.35 = Total regular retail prices

$ 34.40 = Total OOP (out of pocket) expenses, not including tax

$ 15.95 = Total savings 


On to Winco:

 

Winco Coupon Deals:

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, 10pk on sale $1.78 each

---with 4 coupons for $0.40 each box, final price $1.38 each box

---with 1 coupon for $1.00 off 2 boxes, final price $1.28 each box

---ttl savings 25% 

Gogurts, $1.98 per box

---with 3 coupons for $0.80 off 2 boxes, final price $1.58 each box

---ttl savings 43%

Jimmy Dean Sausage, $1.98

---with 2 coupons $1.00 off, final price $0.98 each box

---ttl savings 58%

Total Winco Coupon Savings:

$ 31.92 = Total regular retail prices

$ 19.52 = Total OOP (out of pocket) expenses, not including tax

$ 12.40 = Total coupon savings

Many of the deals I managed to get at Winco weren't from coupons, but rather discovering that they're regular retail prices compared to where I normally purchase these exact same items at Wal-mart were MUCH cheaper here!

Winco NON-Coupon Deals:

Purex Laundry detergent, 150 fl. oz., reg. 

---Walmart price $9.00, at Winco for $5.98

---ttl savings 34%

Bouce dryer sheets, 40 ct

---WM price $2.24, Winco $1.99

---ttl savings 11%

Bar S Bacon strips 

---WM price $2.12, Winco $1.78

---ttl savings 16%

Hamburger

---WM $2.38/lb., Winco $1.98/lb.

---ttl savings 17%

Frozen Chicken Breasts

---WM price $6.97, Winco $5.98

---ttl savings 14%

Aluminum foil, 25ft 

---WM price $1.12, Winco $0.68

---ttl savings 39%

Tuna

---WM price $0.62 on sale, Winco $0.48 per can

---ttl savings 23%

Lays Potato Chips

---on sale at Winco 3/$5.00

---ttl savings 34%

Half & Half cream

---WM price $1.32, Winco $1.28

---ttl savings 3%

I bought a couple of other needed items at Winco, but I'll include those totals at the end.

Now on to Fred Meyer:

Fred Meyer Coupon Deals: 

Lays Potato Chips, on sale with coupon 3/$5.00

---ttl savings 33% 

Suave shampoo/conditioner, on sale $0.99
---ttl savings 50%
***Since we normally buy Aussie brand at $3.67 this is a HUGE deal!

1/2 gallon 2% Milk, on sale 4/$5.00
---ttl savings 21%

1/2 gallon OJ,  on sale 4/$5.00
---ttl savings 37%

1/2 gallon Chocolate Milk,  on sale 4/$5.00
---ttl savings 43%

FM brand soda 12pk,  on sale 5/$10.00
---ttl savings 31%

Special K cereal,  (for Steve to take to work), on sale 2/$5.00
---ttl savings 10%

FM brand pudding 4pks, on sale with coupon $0.79 each
---ttl savings 14%

FM Salad Dressing, on sale $1.25 each
---ttl savings 41%

Total Fred Meyer Savings:

$ 72.10 = Total regular retail prices

$ 46.82 = Total OOP (out of pocket) expenses, not including tax

$ 25.28 = Total coupon savings 


And finally, Walmart:

 

Walmart Coupon Deals: 

Yoplait Delights 4pk

---with 3 coupons for $1.00 off each pk

---ttl savings 43%

Yoplait 6 oz. yogurts

---with 3 coupons for $0.50 off 6

---ttl savings 17%

Betty Crocker Frosting

---with 4 coupons for $0.50 off each 

---ttl savings 30%

16 oz. Daisy sour cream

---with coupon $0.50 off

---ttl savings 33%

28 oz. Minute Rice, 14 oz. Minute Rice

---with 1 coupon for $1.00 off any 2 Minute Rice

---ttl savings 16% off lg box, 29% off sm box

Total Walmart Savings:

$ 28.72 = Total regular retail prices

$ 20.72 = Total OOP (out of pocket) expenses, not including tax

$   8.00 = Total coupon savings

So here's my grand total recap:

$467.86 = Total regular retail prices

$282.61 = Total OOP (out of pocket) expenses, not including tax

$185.26 = Total savings, 40% 

 

The best part of all of these savings is:

1 - I managed to save 40% off of my total purchases.

2 - I bought everything we need for the next 2 whole weeks.

3 - My stock piling of extra foods has begun so I won't have to buy many of these items again for a very long time.

4 - I managed to TREMENDOUSLY reduce the amount of money I typically spend on groceries!

With tax included, here are my grand totals. These are the amounts that came out of my checkbook:

$75.17   Albertsons

$36.47   Walgreens

$60.88   Fred Meyer

$78.95   Winco

$49.03   Walmart

$300.50   Total grocery spending for 2wks!

Compared to our typical avg. grocery bill of $970 per month, or $224 per week, I managed to save $73.60 per week...or a whopping $3,827 per year!!!

And when I look at it like that, it makes the amount of organization and preparation to sort through and clip coupons totally worth it!!!

Don't worry, this is the only time I'm planning to detail out this whole thing. Next time I'll just mention my grand total savings and keep track of my monthly savings...because that's ultimately what I'm the most interest in, is how much I can save on our regular monthly grocery expenses.

I can't tell you how great it feels not only to save so much money on my grocery bill, but also the reassurance in building a stock pile of food we don't need yet.

Normally we buy exactly what we need for 1 week at a time and by the end of the week there's literally NO food left in the house. What a comforting feeling to know if that happens we now have a big stock pile that's growing each time I shop with tons of extra food to fall back on. Awesome!