Weekend Update

This past weekend was a lot of fun, and once again it has come and gone a little too quickly. But before we get to the fun stuff, how about a few thoughts about my second interview?

I arrived at the office precisely on time, only to find out that neither the nurse manager nor either of the doctors that I was supposed to be meeting/ interviewing with were there. It turned out that one of the doctors was doing emergency surgery at Grady, the other doctor was getting ready for emergency surgery at Kennestone, but would be by as soon as possible to meet with me, and the nurse manager had to run an errand for one of the cardiothoracic surgeons who share the office with the neurosurgeons. All were excusable absences of course, but it made for a bit of an awkward start. While I was waiting for everyone to arrive, I spoke briefly with the neurosurgery nurse practitioner and at length with the one nurse that currently works for all four of the doctors. Finally, the nurse manager arrived, whom I spoke briefly with, and shortly thereafter, the doctor arrived, who spent at least a good twenty minutes talking to me (which I felt was quite generous, since he still had a brain abscess to remove later that Friday afternoon).

All in all, the office itself seemed very nice, as it was new, clean, and well laid out. In addition to meeting the medical staff, I also met the secretaries and receptionists, and everyone that I met that day was very nice and friendly. The overall atmosphere of the office was friendly and laidback. I talked with the current nurse for a long time, and she gave some good insight as to the job responsibilites, the pace, and the general workflow. I really like her, and I was disappointed to find out that she would be leaving in mid-October to return to working twelve hour shifts in the hospital. I also enjoyed my meeting with the neurosurgeon, as he was easy to talk to and seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me better.

I could see myself fitting in well there, and I just really hope that I presented myself well enough to them that they would also see me as a good fit. There was also another candidate for the job there at the same time I was, and that really caught me off guard. We didn't have to interact or anything, but it was just kind of weird to actually see my competition as we passed each other in the hallway. Not only was it awkward, but I had to suppress the urge to stick my foot out and "accidentally" trip her as she walked by. (I'm not competitive at all, or catty for that matter... haha!) Before I left, I reiterated my interest in the job and my eagerness to begin working. The nurse manager said I should hear something within the next 1-2 weeks. (One or two weeks?! Really?! Does it really take that freaking long to make a decision?!! Ugh, why oh why must they torture me like this?)

So Friday night we met up with RS and ES to catch up and have a few drinks in downtown Roswell. This time, E and I went to have wine and girl talk at Nine, while DD and RS went to have boy talk and beer at Diesel. Nine was a great little wine bar where we sat outside and enjoyed the people watching. Their wine list was like a book, and although our server had only been working there a few months and eventually admitted that he still had quite a bit to learn about wine, I give him a B+ for effort. (I think he got a little busy towards the end and we had to track him down to get our check.) We were able to get as many free wine samples as we wanted until we found one that we liked, and although I thought it was a little overpriced, at least each glass was a nice sized serving. We also were very entertained by the scantily dressed, luxury car driving, drunk, middle-aged trophy wives who seemed to make up the majority of the people walking or driving along the sidewalk. If I ever end up like that, someone please shoot me.

Saturday night I attended a bachelorette party for a friend of mine who is getting married on the beach this weekend (which I'm really looking forward to!) We had a great time having girl talk at LW's midtown condo while snacking and drinking her lethal party punch (beer + vodka + pink lemonade... who ever knew it would be so tasty?) Then he headed out to CosmoLava, where we all drank and danced the night away. I think we ended up passing out around 4 am after taking some hilarious video footage of the bachelorette talking absolute nonsense. I can't wait to head to the beach this weekend!

Things that Cheer me Up

• Today is Hump Day... nuff said!
  
• Tonight is movie night! Because there are only a few things we watch on TV anymore, and because we do have a Netflix subscription that we've been neglecting, we've been having a movie night once a week. Last week we watched "Walk the Line" and it was so good! I was very impressed with Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix. This week we are watching "The Bucket List." I've seen it before, and it's kind of a tearjerker, but it was really good and DD needs to watch it.
  
• This weather is gorgeous!! We have had windows open throughout the house for about the past week straight. It has been so nice to have a fresh breeze blowing through the house, and it has been just the right temperature... aaaah.
• Cake! We made our favorite kind of cake last night-- yellow cake with chocolate frosting. We had it for dessert with some fresh, organic raspberries... Delicious! Sometimes you just have to treat yourself for no reason.
  
• Grey's Anatomy! I am so excited for the 2 hour season premiere tomorrow night!
• And last but not least... I finally got my second interview set up for this Friday! This time I will be meeting the doctors at their office to make sure they also think I would be a good addition to the practice. I am excited and nervous again, but hopefully this meeting will be a little more laid back. I'm just going to try to relax and be myself, and hopefully they will like me. Keep your fingers crossed! (And I'm also going to try very hard not to have another nervous breakdown the night before, but there are no guarantees... brace yourself honey!)
  

Why I Hate Mondays

This was one of those mornings when I laid in bed with the alarm going off for an hour. I knew it was Monday morning, which meant the beginning of yet another week where I can only assume I'll be hanging out by myself every day, being bored and trying to force myself to do "house stuff," while everyone else in the world is being a responsible and productive member of society. If there is one thing this unemployment saga has taught me, it is that I would never make it as a housewife. It's just not for me.

My current prospective employer is still moving at the rate of molasses on a 15 degree day in Vermont. The second interview/meeting was supposed to be set up within 5 business days (by last Friday). However, on Friday when I checked in with the nurse recruiter, after not hearing a single peep out of them all week, he said they were still waiting to get the schedule from the nurse manager. Schedule, schmedule, just let me work for crying out loud!!

The other bad thing about Mondays is that our weekends always seem to be full of fun and excitement, and then Monday comes and it is the ultimate low compared to the previous days. Friday night we had a great time in the downtown Roswell area, which we actually hadn't ever checked out before. We had a delicious dinner at Ceviche, where we enjoyed authentic Mexican tacos and margaritas. And then we went across the street to a new bar/ restaurant that just opened, called Red Salt. I enjoyed the publike atmosphere there, and they had a decent wine selection with a fairly diverse (but short) beer list. And although we didn't stay quite that late, they stay open until 2 am (impressive for a suburban bar)! I could definitely see us making friends with the bartender there.

After leaving the bar around 1 am, we headed home, where I promptly got ready to pass out. However, somebody actually dragged me back out of bed to play a game of Scrabble until 4:30am. (Usually it's the other way around!) And here's what drunk Scrabble looks like:


Saturday we waged war with the yard, and made some major progress! I trimmed the hedges, picked up 8 million more pine cones, and pulled up a bunch of weeds. My better half was the hero of the day, and successfully sawed up the tree that had fallen down in our yard shortly after we bought the place back in the spring. Thankfully, no (human) limbs were lost in the process. Here's the proud stack of wood:


Sunday we went to the Roswell Arts Festival, where we browsed through a large assortment of different booths of paintings, photographs, pottery, jewelry, and a handful of other different crafts. It was a beautiful day to be outside, and we discovered some really talented artists! (We were most impressed by Robert Griffis Rodenberger, Bill Turner, and Doug and Leah Cavanah.)

After the festival, we headed to Canton, GA, to visit DD's rents and to eat a delicious, home cooked meal. It was so nice to sit on their back porch with a glass of wine, watching all of their cute birds around the bird feeders and enjoying their nicely landscaped backyard. Hopefully one day our backyard will be that nice too...

Anyway, I'm really glad that we had a fun weekend... I just hate that it's over now. I suppose it's time to do some laundry or vacuum or some other mundane chore. I'm trying very hard to stay positive right now, but there is just a lot to be frustrated about.

This Explains A Lot

more music charts

Why I'm Bipolar and How my Interview Went

This is one of those stories that may or may not be funny depending on how well you know me and how well I tell this story.

So last Thursday was the day before my big interview, that was scheduled for Friday morning. (In my mind, "big" in this case is also known as "important" or "the only interview I've had in seven weeks of applying for jobs and endlessly calling nurse recruiters" or "if I don't get this job, maybe it's time for a career change" or "if this doesn't work out, I will probably spontaneously combust." No pressure.) All day long there was a lump in my throat and what felt like a rock in the pit of my stomach, and both seemed to be growing exponentially throughout the day.

By the time my Favie got home from work, I was a nervous wreck of a time bomb, just waiting to explode. I'm pretty sure I greeted him quite grumpily, and so what does he do? He goes straight to the office and gets on the computer. I don't blame him--he was just getting out of the way of my wrath and letting me have some space. About an hour later it was getting to be dinner time, so I went in the office to ask him what he was doing. What I really meant to ask was "Could you please make dinner so I can work on writing down some notes of what I want to say in my interview tomorrow?" But it didn't quite come out like that, and I'm pretty sure he just answered whatever question I asked.

Well now, on top of my anxiety that had already been building up, I was getting even more nervous because it was getting late, and there were things that I still wanted to do to get myself ready before going to bed. So somehow we get through dinner--he ended up making it and cleaning it up--without too many more grumpy, stress-induced snaps from myself. Afterwards, he offered to help me type up a references page (which I didn't even know existed until he mentioned it.) I agreed and tried to calm down a little while I ironed my clothes.

When he finished, he had printed it out on the nice paper, which I had reserved only for the final draft. I looked it over, and there was a misplaced comma and a word which had accidentally been omitted. I thought to myself, "Why the hell did you print this out on the nice paper when it was not the final draft?" I pointed out the corrections, and then went to check on the paper situation. Just as I had suspected, there was now not enough paper to make enough nice copies of each document that I wanted to bring with me.

"Honey! Why did you print that out on the nice paper?! There's not enough of it to make copies of everything now!!" And I threw the paper down on the desk and ran into the other room where I started ironing furiously.

"Well, I didn't know there wasn't enough paper."

Silence from me. Still ironing furiously. Got...to...get...this...wrinkle...out...

"So what do you want me to do? Can't we just print out the cover letter on regular paper?"

"I don't know what to do!! I don't know anything about this fucking kind of thing!! Just do whatever the hell you want!! I...don't...care!!" And I'm ironing and ironing my poor pants to death all the while.

Next thing I know, he comes into the bedroom and says in the sweetest voice, "Honey? I don't think anyone will notice that wrinkle." He takes the pants away, and encloses me into the tightest, safest hug in the world. I try very hard not to cry, and we just hug for a few minutes, until things start to feel a little better. I apologize for being a bitch, and he says it's OK, he knows I am stressed out, and he tells me to go and write down my notes for the next morning.

So I think everything is going to be OK, and I'm trying to stay calm and write down my notes, when all of a sudden, the biggest, fattest, ugliest roach comes trotting across the middle of the floor in broad daylight, like he owns this fucking place. Oh hell no, not tonight. This is not a good time buddy.

I call my big, strong man into the room to save me from the roach, but when he walks in, I realize he has no shoes on, but I do. I reluctantly tell him not to worry about it, and that I'll do it, while I go to get the paper towel. I put the paper towel over Mr. Nasty Roach, and get ready to release all of my stress by squishing his freaking guts out.

Just as I am about to squish him as hard as I can, he runs out from under the paper towel, at lightning speed, straight for me! I immediately jump to the other side of the room, letting out the loudest, most blood curdling of all screams--like the kind from a dramatic death scene just before the brave heroine collapses to her untimely death and all the lights go out and the curtain closes.

"Goddammit honey!!!!" He yells, in such a tone that signifies "that was so entirely unnecessary, you just blew my ears out, and why the hell are you acting like a total psycho?!"

And he goes off to finish killing Mr. Nasty Roach, and I just cover my face with my hands, all the while crumpling inside. I'm embarrassed at my behavior and stressed out beyond belief, and all that's left to do is cry it all out. And for the second time in a span of maybe fifteen minutes, he's hugging me again, in the tightest of all hugs, and telling me it's all going to be OK. And then I'm laughing at how ridiculous I've been acting, and then I'm crying again because I'm scared I'm going to screw up tomorrow, and then we're both laughing together, and everything is better in a few minutes. Soon after, I'm so exhausted from the emotional stress of the day, I finish my notes and go to bed, hoping that tomorrow morning goes by quick, so I can just hurry up and get it over with.

My interview ended up starting out a little awkward. I interviewed with both the nurse recruiter and the hiring nurse manager, and for me, talking with two new people that I am trying to impress is way harder than just talking to one. When I was telling about my background and about what point I am at in my career, I fumbled over my words and couldn't quite get out my thoughts the way I would've liked. I've never really been good at speaking on the spot. My brain closes up and locks itself off and doesn't want me to get into all of the juicy thoughts and ideas that are always swirling around in there.

The middle portion of the interview was still awkward and spotty at times, but things seemed a little better. They asked me ten situational questions, which I had to give a three part answer to by describing 1) the specific situation, 2) what action I took, and 3) what the outcome was. For most of the questions, I could think of a pretty good example, but there were a few when I just couldn't think of anything specific right away, and I had to sit there in silence, trying to think of something while they were both just staring at me.

The conclusion of the interview was a little easier: I was given an opportunity to ask them questions about the position, and then I just had to tell them why I wanted this job and what I could offer to them. The last thing I said was, "I'm ready to start working...Let the healing begin!"

I then was asked to wait in the lobby, while they scored my interview. (Yeah... they scored that shit... And that didn't make me more nervous at all.) I waited somewhere around 25 leg-shaking, tooth-grinding minutes, during which I thought of at least 20 better answers that I wish I would've given instead. Finally, the nurse recruiter came back out and told me that I would be asked back for a second interview, where I would go to the doctor's office and meet and interview with all the other staff, mainly to make sure the doctors also think I would be a good fit for the position. I then heartily shaked his hand with a big, cheesy smile and enthusiastically thanked him for his time.

I then walked to my car, collapsing into it, and thanking somebody up there that it was finally over.

If You Really Want to Piss me Off...

Don't return my phone calls or emails. This is one of those things that I think causes people to randomly roll up into a school or a church with a machine gun. It is by far my biggest pet peeve of all time. Especially if you take my money first without giving me anything in return.

You see, two weeks ago I paid CPR Training Academy $65 so that I could renew my certification. It seemed like a very simple procedure. In fact, I have renewed with them before and didn't have any problems. I registered and paid online, and they were supposed to send me a code via email that I could use to access the study material and take the test online. Once completed, I would then print out a certificate saying that I had passed the written test, and take this with me to the testing center. At the testing center, I would perform the skills part of the test, and after promptly passing that portion, I would receive my certification card. Voila! Easy, right? Especially since I have had to do the same exact thing multiple times and practically have the entire test memorized.

Well I don't know what the hell kind of operation they are trying to run now, because even though I have registered and $65 have been deducted from my checking account, I got nothing! No access code, no test, and no certification. I have called and emailed these people endlessly with no response. At this point, the only thing left to do is go over there and see if anyone knows what the hell is going on. Otherwise, I'm doomed.

And did I mention that I need this certification in order to be hired anywhere as a RN?!?!

Did I also mention that I finally got called for an interview?! At least that is one person that did call me back..... Thank God! Finally!! I must have done at least a 5 minute happy dance around the house with my cat after I got that phone call. Somehow, she was not as amused as I was. Maybe I just need to sic my cat on those CPR buffoons... she'll show 'em!

This Message was Brought to you by Urban Dictionary

I have officially become a PITA in the eyes of my nurse recruiter. I can almost hear an audible sigh after I identify myself every time I call. And yesterday he thanked me for my persistence at the end of our phone call...nice. (Although it sounded sincere, I'm almost positive it was at least a little sarcastic.) He has assured me that there is no obvious reason as to why none of the managers have picked me for an interview. He says that it rarely takes this long. And still, I have not been called for one single interview. Frustrating does not even begin to describe it.

Besides being unemployed with no source of income or health insurance, life is good. We had a fabulous weekend in Athens, hanging out with friends and cheering on the Dawgs for the season opener. My muscle strain is almost completely resolved after taking matters into my own hands and seeing a chiropractor. We had my boo's family over for a successful Labor Day dinner on Monday, and I'm pretty sure I passed the test of being a good hostess. We were both sick with a sore throat, a hideous cough, and nasal congestion over the past few days, but we're both feeling a lot better now. And I've thoroughly been enjoying the beautiful weather outside this week. Yesterday evening I lounged on my deck with a glass of wine, and it was so wonderful and relaxing. Now, if only I could do that after a satisfying day of work, life would be great.