Wordless Wednesdays

Muddy Buddy

Mike (my husband) and one of his friends recently partook in the "Muddy Buddy". It was an event in which I had to get to up at 4:30 in the f-ing morning to drive up to Gilberts, IL to cheer on Mike and take pictures. Termed an "adventure race", your team of two alternates between running/completing obstacles and biking over the five leg race. Once you finish the run/bike you and your partner must crawl through the mud pit, and in this case a nice mix of cow shit, to the finish line. Despite the obvious athleticism, the participants also get to consume free redhook beer and tailgate after the race. This particular muddy buddy (and maybe others, I wouldn't know) took place on a huge farm out in the country. The rain the previous few days had made conditions difficult even for those not participating. I somehow managed to get quite muddy, although I did not have a buddy.

Can anyone guess their team name?

P.S. my shoes still haven't recovered

Netbook

After receiving some much appreciated graduation gift money (and after paying for my nursing prereqs of course) I had a little bit left over to be able to buy a netbook for school. I figured it would be easier for my online course, as well as taking notes in Microbio. An added bonus, of course, is my new found ability to blog with ease from the comfort of my couch or bed. My brother Eric, who knows more about computers than any IT nerd you know, advised me to go with the HP Mini 110 XP. The price was right, it has everything I need, I can carry it to and from school and it also has a chic black swirls design on the top.

Now that I can blog with ease, I hope to be able to start posting on a regular basis.

Waiting

I feel the need to write something. I’ve been going so fast for the past few months that I need to slow down and reassess. Life as a twenty something isn’t the same as it used to be. When my mother was my age she had two children and stayed at home. She never went to college and instead partook in a myriad of part time jobs as we began to get older. She cleaned houses; she worked as a bank teller, water aerobics instructor, and most recently as an office receptionist at my former high school. At this point in time I know very few people my age that have children or are even considering them in the near future. It seems all the twenty somethings close to me are going through a mini existential crisis. We are not where we thought we would be at this age. I always thought I would be married (well, I got that part down) and have children by now. One of my closest and most talented friends thought she would have hit it big by now. We all went in to college thinking things just went full speed from there only to find out that life after college is just a lot of aimless job searching and waiting. Waiting for what? I don’t really know and I don’t think most of them do either.

Job Interview

I had to drag myself out of bed this morning. It was one of those mornings where you open your eyes and think “ok, I’m awake” but the next thing you know you’re eyes are closed. Even with the excitement of a pending new job. I was able to grudgingly get out of bed, promising myself I would get back in when I got home. I haven’t had a job interview in years, and I was not particularly excited about the uncomfortable attempts to impress my possible employer. I headed to the interview confident. I’ve always been able to impress people with my maturity (although that gets harder the older you get). The office is in a large building right off the highway, similar to the office building I worked at it in high school. It is simply and cleanly designed, with the elevator opening right onto the modern reception area. On either side of the reception desk, were two glass doors with security keypads off the right. Similarly, the adjoining walls each had a secured glass doors. Today all the doors were open revealing numerous employees, milling around on this casual Friday. I greeted the receptionist and sat down to wait patiently. Being perpetually early, I heard the receptionist tell my unseen interviewer that “her ten o’clock” was here. That made me wonder how many other interviews she had that day….

The interview was typical, I tried my best to give a firm handshake and maintain eye contact. There were two interviewers, one, a middle aged women named { }, the other, a 30 something women named { }. Both were friendly and slightly formal. This was just as well for me as I prefer the bureaucratic hiring process. Last time I got hired sight unseen over the phone my boss turned out to be a nightmare. I immediately found out it was for two different openings, both with the same title “temporary student help”, which is apparently the only job a 24 year old college graduate can be considered for, They both began perusing my cover letter and resume, which surprised me as I assumed they choose the interview candidates. I think however, that HR, narrowed down the applicants for them and set up the interviews. Each woman went over the specifics of the position in their respective departments. They seemed impressed with my resume and found me to be qualified for the position. We talked basics; hours: 40 hours a week, 8-4:30; vacations: Fourth of July, my niece’s birthday (Of course I forgot to ask about pay). I was informed there was one more interview scheduled that day and that a decision would be made by the end of the day. Now I sit anxiously waiting for my phone to ring. I know the office closes in 10 minutes and I assumed I would be informed today, after all, the job starts on Monday…

When I got home a rambled on about the interview to my sleep deprived husband and although I planned on lying in bed and reading. Olive was full of it, so I got her and myself ready and set off to run errands. I went to the bank and headed to McDonalds for one of my favorite treats, an unsweetened iced tea full of splenda. The parking lost was a clusterfuck and it took me almost 15 minutes but I got my drink and headed home. I always feel a little smug when I go to McDonalds and only get a drink. I try to avoid fastfood. Olive rooted around the patio while I read and had lunch, We went for a walk and I’ve attempted to entertain myself while I wait anxiously to hear if I got the job. I’ve been facebooking, texting and writing to keep my mind moving and to keep the anxious knots out of my stomach…