Day 1, all over again. September 15, 2009

Today will be yet another first day of work for me. I put in my last day at American Equity Mortgage last week, took off for Chicago for the weekend and am now ready to rumble.

I accepted an offer from the Belleville News-Democrat about two weeks ago. I’ll be designing and editing primarily, but it sounds like there is room to branch out a little into other areas as well.

I’m really excited to be getting back to what I love doing. It’s been hard to bide my time and take bill-paying jobs over the last few months, but hopefully it’ll pay off. I never thought that I’d get the chance to work at a paper again without having to make a major move to another state or something. I’ve been hesitant to write about it, because it just seems too good to be true.

I had a terrible dream last night that the whole thing was a heartless practical joke orchestrated by my brother. I showed up to my first day of work at BND, and nobody looked familiar. My brother had hired people to pretend to interview me and extend a fake job offer. I was so disappointed and upset; mortified that I’d been so foolish. I think some of this apprehension comes comes from my layoff last year. No matter how many assurances you get from a company or other employees, nobody can 100% guarantee that your job will exist in a year, or even six months for that matter. I’ve been in the work force since December 2007, and I have yet to hold down a job for longer than eight months. It’s frustrating.

I am hoping that things will turn out a little better this time around. If they don’t, then whatever. At least I’ll have worked a job that I actually enjoy for a little bit before starting over again. And at this point, I know I’m capable of regrouping and finding something else to pay the bills.

At any rate, I’m ready.

A mixed bag August 10, 2009

Last weekend was my birthday, and it was awesome. My parents and brother came in for a visit, and we planned to hit up the winery. The weather, however, had other ideas. It rained all day, so we had a delicious dinner on The Hill and watched movies instead.

We also acquired a new kitten.

We’d seen her around the neighborhood about a week earlier, skinny, dirty and lovable as could be. We spotted her again on my birthday, and because it was my birthday, I got to keep her.

I was so excited. I’d had my eye on her for over a week and regretted not scooping her up sooner. Needless to say, I was elated to have a second chance.

We brought her into our home, planning to get her into the vet as soon as we could, but office hours are the same everywhere. We opted to wait a week so we wouldn’t have to take off work.

During that week, we fell in love. When we finally got her into the vet, the news wasn’t good. She was pregnant. She was positive for feline leukemia. She was contagious.

In five minutes, the entire weekend was ruined. We had no real choice but to put her down; feline leukemia is a highly fatal and painful disease. There is no real treatment or cure.

I never imagined that the loss of a pet I barely knew and hadn’t even named yet would be so hard on me. I feel devastated. I know many people wouldn’t understand, but I’ve never lost anyone or anything close to me before. People who don’t have animals in their homes would thing she was ‘only’ a pet, so why don’t we just get another? But it wasn’t like that. I didn’t bring her into my home simply because I wanted a third cat. I didn’t. I wanted her. And she obviously needed us.

It was an incredibly hard decision to make, but I know that we probably gave her the best week of her life. And I know she went peacefully and painlessly.

The first time we saw her, she was wearing a collar. That was one of the main reasons we didn’t pick her up then; we though someone was caring for her. That obviously wasn’t the case, given the state we found her in. So, I say this: Please, people. Love your pets enough to get them spayed/neutered and vaccinated. Not doing so can cause more heartbreak that you know.

Rage-inducing heat June 28, 2009

The past few weeks have been so incredibly hot and humid here that I don’t feel like doing anything but taking a cold shower and sitting around in my underwear after work. Hence the lack of updates.

I started my new job as a loan processor at American Equity Mortgage about two weeks ago. Aside from the commute (30 minutes or more one way, depending on traffic), I enjoy it. I’m learning a ton about the mortgage industry and how one goes about buying a house. I’ve still got about two weeks of training before I’ll be doing the entirety of my job unsupervised, but I have been able to do some of my work independently.

My job basically consists of looking through people’s loan applications/refinancing paperwork to make sure that they’ve got everything they need and they’re making as much money as they say they do. It’s really interesting to have access to people’s financial lives. Even the best of friends don’t know the details of each other’s finances, but I get to look into complete strangers’ records  and see that Jane Smith, age 32, is a single woman working as a senior VP for a publishing company making $30,000 a month (yes, a month) who uses 4 credit cards and still owes$7,300 on her student loans, but has no other debt. Not too bad.

However, I also get to see really depressing applications. Joe and Jane Smith, ages 68 and 64, both retired and earning combined social security and pensions of about $2,400 a month. Jane works at Wal-Mart and earns a lousy $7.00 an hour to net another $400 a month for the two of them.  They have 17 credit cards, all near their limits.  They’re refinancing because Joe needs a root canal and they want to consolidate some credit card debt. I flip through their paperwork, knowing they will most likely die hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

Most of the time, applications don’t fall into either extreme, but they’re still interesting. I guess it’s just the nosy journalist/real estate hound in me constantly wanting to learn about people and the places they live.

Ladies and gentlemen, enter career path #3 June 11, 2009

So life has been a little hectic lately, and I could write loads and loads about all the craziness pertaining to my work situation, but I’ll spare you some of the details to avoid sounding petty.

Basically, the company I worked for as a software tester decided to randomly cancel all of the workers’ contracts and give us the option to re-apply and interview. Really long story really short, they chose not to bring me back for who knows what reasons.  Me and one other girl had our contracts permanently canceled. Everyone else was rehired.

So, for the second time in less than 12 months, I was jobless. Until today.

Truth be told, I was already looking around for other work. I had probably a dozen resumes out in the jobosphere, which isn’t very many by today’s standards.  I was just hoping to quit my job on my own terms and have other employment lined up before taking the plunge. God apparently had other plans.

I lost my contract on Monday, had a first interview with American Equity Mortgage on Tuesday, had an interview with the VP on Wednesday and got a call offering me a job today (Thursday). And, it’s a “real” job– one that actually has the potential to be a viable career path. In 90 days –assuming all goes well– Dan and I will have medical insurance and benefits again for the first time in a year.

I have to give my best friend, Lacy, a huge shout out here, as I probably wouldn’t have gotten an interview had she not passed my info along to the HR person.

So, starting Monday at 8:30 a.m., I will begin my journey down yet another career path…as a loan processor. It’ll be my job to help people get the money they need to buy a house, a car, etc., and make sure that they filled all their paperwork out correctly. I know that sounds a little dry to a lot of people out there, but it requires the attention to detail and working on deadline that I thrive on. Also, I’ll be helping people get the money they need to accomplish what they want to accomplish.

Last time I lost my job, I felt like a loser and I was a really unpleasant person to be around. I took it personally and wallowed in my own misery. God has given me the opportunity to handle a similar situation with grace and optimism, and I’m thankful that all seems be working out for the best.

A fair warning: May 14, 2009

If you uninvitedly come into my house and look anything like this, I will most likely systematically kill you and your entire family.  Especially if you sneak up on me.

Pounding the pavement May 7, 2009

I didn’t do much running during the winter months of this year, which is unusual. I typically enjoy running in the cooler/cold weather, but I guess living in South Carolina for the short time that I did changed that a little. Not to mention that we were insane busy during the holidays and work was out of control.

Instead, I started doing workout videos to keep in shape, and it definitely worked. I’ve picked my running routine back up over the past few weeks, and I feel stronger and less susceptible to injury than ever. My knees feel stable, my core is strong and my hips feel flexible and relaxed. I’ve only been back in the game for about two weeks, and I’ve already got my 3-mile run down to a 9:30/minute mile. I think much of this progress can be credited to Jillian Michaels and her 30 Day Shred video.  It’ll kick your butt and boost your strength and endurance in no time, if you take it seriously.

I also got my new running shoes in the mail last week.  I didn’t realize how broken down my old ones were until I took my new pair out for a run.  You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better pair of trainers for the price than the Saucony Cohesion NX. A perfect balance of stability and cushion for less than $60.

All that being said, here’s to logging the miles this summer!

Long day. May 6, 2009

So, my productivity is at an all-time high as of late.  Here is all the ridiculous junk I did today:

• Called to hassle the credit card company that’s making us insane.
• Called the cable company to cancel our cable (the promotion ran out and we don’t ever use it)
• Called Ticketmaster to get them to resend the concert tickets we ordered back in March but never received.
• Got a renters’ insurance quote and activated our policy
• Made an appointment to get our oil changed
• Hassled various people at work via phone and e-mail to get things done so we can release a new version of our software
• Spent two hours and $420 getting the oil changed…and three new tires

Needless to say, it’s been a long, long day. On the to-do list for tonight:

• Drink a bottle of wine.

Sorry, Jillian.  We’ll resume tomorrow.

A hint of organization May 5, 2009

In case you haven’t noticed, Dan and I are constantly booked. I realized, after inadvertantly double-booking us on multiple occasions, that the month-by-month dry erase board on the kitchen wall wasn’t gonna cut it.

Enter: Moleskine Weekly Planner

I’ve always had an affinity for fancy notebooks and snazzy writing implements. For some reason, I ignored the fact that this obsession might mean I should work with words –  not fabric — for the first three semesters of my college career, but never mind that.

I’m of the school of thought that having the proper writing supplies can make or break a wordsmith. If you have that perfectly weighted pen that seems to meld with your hand and a sharp notebook with smooth, supple paper, you’re gonna want to find an excuse to use them both. Before you know it, the words will be pouring out of your brain and onto the page.

So, being a believer of this ideology, I thought the same principles could apply to organizing my time and life.

It seems to be working. Call me — I’ll pencil you in.

Weekend Warriors April 13, 2009

Dan and I have had a crazy couple of weekends.  With all of the traveling, company coming into town and catching up we have to do from the aforementioned, we’ve hardly had time to breathe.

Last weekend, my sister came into town so we could take her to her first “real” concerts.  Friday night we hit up the Ting Tings, who were spectacular.  They played a nonstop, hour-plus set of booty-shaking, jazz-hand-inducing music.  I would highly suggest their music to anyone who likes Of Montreal and  Rilo Kiley.

Here’s a sampling:

Saturday, we went to the Art Museum to see the Ming Dynasty exhibit with my parents.  Dan and I are members at the Saint Louis Art Museum, which is a great deal. The museum is free, but the special exhibits cost to see. Our membership got all five of us in for free, which saved $50.  The exhibit was pretty cool– my favorite items were the jewelry and enamelware — but I’m glad that I didn’t have to pay the extra money to get in. I thought the exhibit was a little small when compared with previous ones, but it was a good cultural experience nonetheless.

Sunday, we hit the Pageant up for a second night to see Blue October. Dan said all there is to say about that experience here.

This weekend, Dan and I took Friday off to catch up on some shopping, etc.  We went on a minispree with some of our rebate money and finally got some stuff that we wanted/needed (underwear, t-shirts, shoes, glasses, etc.).

Saturday, we hit up Rolla for my grandma’s birthday/Easter. It was a short, but sweet visit, as all of us had to scurry off to other engagements later in the afternoon. We had some people over from Dan’s work to play Dungeons & Dragons (yeah, I know), then Mom, Dad, my brother and sister all showed up to watch “Band of Brothers,” etc. Sunday, of course, was church and lunch with my family, then dinner in St. Charles with Dan’s.

Basically, what I’m saying is: We’re not doing anything next weekend.

My life as of late March 20, 2009

For those of you who care:

-Dan and I started working similar schedules and no longer have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to work.

-I got a wicked raise.

-We went to Louisville and surprised our friends Zak and Sean so hard that their heads about fell off. While we were there, we: stayed up way too late because bar time in the ‘ville is 4 a.m.; ate some awesome local food; grilled; played and cuddled with Olive, the wonderpuppy; were overcharged to look at creepy dead bodies in a museum; played Apples to Apples; watched SNL; got food poisoning/the flu.

OK, to be fair, I was the only to get food poisoning, the flu, or something, Sunday. I felt like death and didn’t feel much better until Tuesday night. I’m all better now, though.

In other news, the shelf/bar in our closet fell down last night, causing complete disorganization of clothes, shoes and bags that were being held therein.

Guess what we’re doing THIS weekend. (There will be before and after photos)