As the radio ad goes, "Miss a Day, Miss a Lot!"

This is likely to be a long one since I haven't written for a couple of days. So you may want to change into something a little more comfortable, pour a glass of your favorite adult beverage, put your feet up, and settle in for a while.

First, the answer to the question everyone's been asking me: Did this company say why they didn't want to hire me? No...all they said was, "While we were impressed with our [sic] qualifications, we were faced with a difficult decision. We have selected another candidate who we believe more closely matches what we are looking for in the position." Is that a bunch of vague bullshit or what??? All my friends are saying there must have been a reason I didn't get it. Maybe it would have been too stressful? Who knows. I was really bumming & on the verge of tears this morning but I feel much better now. Planning sewing projects helps divert the mind. ‹G›
At least I'm better off than poor Stumpy, one of our fish who lived in the tank at work. That's right, I said "lived". Poor little guy bit the dust on Monday. Only reason I mention him is I got such a charge watching him. See, he was named Stumpy because he had no tail. He looked like his back half had been chopped off and all he had left was one little fin. But he got around just as well as the "normal" fish. I guess you could say he was an inspiration, flipping around the tank like there wasn't a damned thing wrong with him. Thanks for the smiles, Stumpy.
Vickie still hasn't heard from Spencer's, but Dustin keeps telling her things that make her think she's got the job. Hell, she hasn't even been interviewed yet! But she's been told her application is tacked to the "accept" part of the hiring bulletin board, and when she was described to the store manager, he apparently said, "She's just the type of person we need here". I wish they'd give her some indication of their plans - I need dynamite to blast her ass out of the house to apply to more jobs. She thinks she's got the Spencer's thing wrapped up & wants to see what happens there. Hmmm...bright idea: tell her I thought I had aced my last interview but didn't get the job. Maybe that will motivate her.
Speaking of Dustin, he got his license this week. Vickie wanted to go out joy-riding with him that same night. Uh, no. I don't care if he is 18. He just got his license, he doesn't have that much experience driving yet, and having you in the car would just distract him. That's the type of situation where kids end up dead. Needless to say she fought me over it, but I put my foot down & she finally dropped it. Still not quite done with Blade's garb. I got so frustrated the other night trying to attach the underskirt to the bodice lining. I kept breaking needles & couldn't understand why. I think I'd just broken my 4th one when it finally dawned on me: the bodice calls for stays or boning. The boning I get from the fabric store is plastic that needles can go thru. But...I had these metal stays I had picked up at Pennsic two years ago. This seemed like the perfect time to use them. Apparently not because they cost me four needles. :-( Anyway, all I have left to do is finish tacking the lining to the overdress, finish the back, then have her over for a fitting to hem it. I started to sew the lining & the dress together last night but again, kept breaking needles. I wasn't hitting any of the stays or even pins - I couldn't figure out what the hell was making them break. So have resorted to doing that part by hand.


Ok,now that I've worn everyone's eyes out. ‹G› One last note and I'll quit for tonight. To my friends who have been logging on as guests - I know that option expires after 30 days. I'm hoping by then to be able to remove the restrictions.

Brief update

Don't feel much like writing tonight. Didn't get that job I wanted so badly. Came home to find a "Thanks but no thanks" letter in the mail. So needless to say I'm feeling down in the dumps.

A frustrating night, some humor, and a kitty pool

Had a nice visit with my mother Monday evening. Actually, the visit itself was the only nice part. First we went to the repair shop to pick up her computer, where we were told they couldn't recreate (and therefore fix) the problem. My poor Mom was so frustrated because this was the second shop to tell her this. I've seen the machine act up, so I know there's some kind of issue there. But if the REAL pros who do this all day long for a living can't figure it out, I sure as hell won't be able to. Only thing I could figure is it's something at her house. I gave her a couple ideas, so we'll see what happens.


After that went to dinner. Now, this was one of my favorite little restaurants. We had found it after the smoking vote went thru but before the ban was being enforced. We loved it because we could still smoke there. So I took my mom up there last night...it was absolutely awful. It took about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to get our food, and most of that time we were serenaded by the screams of a little one in the other room. Then, after we FINALLY ate, Mom went to pay (thanks again, Mom!), and the credit card machine was messed up. Mom & I pooled our cash (which was a little less than the bill), and told the waitress that's all we were paying. I felt so bad... first, a computer with a gremlin in it, second, a less-than-enjoyable meal. THEN...stopped at the gas station, pushed the right buttons, and waited..and waited...and waited. I finally told Vickie to run in & ask them to activate the pump. I was beginning to think maybe I should have stayed home that night. Fortunately that was it for the frustrations of the evening.

Apparently there won't be any fall-out from my little faux-pas on Monday, but then again, you never know with Amy. She gets in these moods...and she was in one for most of yesterday. <shrug> I try not to let her attitudes get to me.

Discovered one of the guys I work with in Columbus actually has a sense of humor. He sent me an email regarding a problem someone down here was having. It went kinda like this:

Juli, here are some steps you can take to try fixing [the problem]:

1. First try [some inexplicable Windows routine]

2. If Step 1 doesn't fix the issue, try repairing the registry... Reboot the PC afterwards.

3. If Step 2 doesn't fix the issue, try doing a physical boot of the computer:
Place PC on floor
Take a few steps back
Run full-speed towards the PC and kick it as hard as you can (note: do not attempt this while wearing open-toed shoes)

Apparently he was quite frustrated with trying to get around this obstacle. Personally, I like this method:

Am almost done making the last of Blade's garb. Just need to put the sleeves in, finish off the back opening & have a fitting. I will be SO glad to be done with this. The diamond-patterned fabric is upholstery fabric that's REALLY heavy & bulky so it took up a lot of space. (Please keep in mind I did NOT choose the fabric for this! I only put it together).

I have to mention the blog for Raptor's education director, Susan Williams, only because this post is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

Also want to put in a plug for another blog. This one belongs to my friend, Sorcha, and she's got pictures from this year's Pennsic posted.

One last smile for the day:

Sometimes I have to ask myself, "What the hell were you thinking?!?"

The reason the invites went out for my blog is I was an idiot & showed it to my boss. To be more specific, I was showing her the pictures of Sherbert in the sewing machine. I got back to my desk and thought, "OH, SHIT!" I have info about the job I'm trying to get all over this thing.

I really shouldn't be allowed out of my house before my brain is working.

I need more days like this

I had the house to myself most of the day & it was wonderful! Vickie went to her friend Erin's house (the "Eat the Biscuit!" girl). Jake & Megan stopped by for a little while. I got a ton of sewing done, as well as laundry & the dishes. As I was putting my clean clothes away I started thinking how nice it is not to have a man in the house anymore. I only have one load of laundry a week (Vickie does her own), my house stays picked up and there's no big wads of hair in the shower drain. The more I think about it, the less appealing the idea of living with someone ever again sounds. I even told my Aunt Bea, "If I ever talk about having some one move in again, please smack me upside the head!"

I had some help sewing today.


Even though I'm more than happy to teach little Sherbert how to sew, I don't think he'll be very good at it. His claws catch on the material & he keeps wanting to play with the pins.

I have to say this is the best I've felt in a long time. Legs don't hurt, I'm not tired, and I was actually able to accomplish a lot today. Even got my "Sugar T*ts" pins made.

I cannot wait to see Kane's face when he sees me wearing these. ‹VBG›

Like I said, I need more days like this.

Can you help me? I seem to have lost a Saturday

Did so much yesterday that it just flew by & now I feel like I missed it. Got a little bit of sewing done, took Vickie to drop off applications, and had a friend over. Wow...when I write it down like that it sure doesn't seem like much. Maybe it went so quickly because it was so enjoyable?

Vickie may have a job at Spencer's. Her friend Dustin started working there recently and has been talking her up to his manager. She filled out an application yesterday & from what Dustin has told her the assistant manager really liked her. As you can imagine she's really excited - next to Hot Topic I think Spencer's is her favorite store.

Oh, and she's quit color guard. We had a long talk about it before she did so it's not something she did on the spur of the moment. It was turning into more of a chore than something fun and some of the things they were doing were making her hurt. Like - the instructors would say, "Don't lock your knees" when taking a dance pose. But then she'd get into that pose with her knees slightly bent and they'd tell her, "That looks sloppy, lock your knees." She's been complaining (to me) for a while that her knees hurt. We've even had our chiropractor work on them for her. So... when she locked them pain would shoot up & down her legs. Another reason she quit is she felt the instructors were being way too hard on the guard this year. During one practice she jammed her finger so hard it brought it to her knees & made her cry. Now, if you know Vickie at all, you know she has a very high tolerance for pain & very rarely cries. Yet the instructor told her to get up & keep spinning her flag. Another girl banged her elbow, the instructor told her to keep going, and the next day she came in with her arm in a sling - she'd fractured her elbow. Finally, her last reason for quitting was she felt the instructors were picking favorites & she wasn't one of them. Because of that she felt they were coming down super hard on her. (Like I said, we had long talks about this before she went thru with it). As we talked, she kept asking me what I thought she should do. I told her, "I don't want you to do what you think *I* want you to do. I don't want you to do what you think *your friends* want you to do. I want you to do what YOU want to do." I sincerely hope that message got thru to her. There were so many times in my life that I did what I thought my friends or parents wanted me to do and now I'm regretting it. I don't want that to happen to her.

This morning there are posts on the Baronial email list from people saying they made it home safely from Pennsic. Most are only a few words but I'm getting the impression that this year's war was very rainy. Now I don't feel quite so bad about not being able to make it.

No news on the job yet. Exchanged emails with Fred on Friday asking if he'd heard anything & when he thought it would be good to follow up with the lady who inteviewed me. They haven't given him any indication on who they're going to hire & he said it couldn't hurt to call & check in. I wrote him back to say thanks for responding (cuz I *know* he's been buried at work) & told him hopefully I'd be there soon to help him. His response? "Me too, it's genuinely crazy here...."

Shout outs for today: Lynne - thanks for coming over! I really enjoyed your company; Thanks to Rhonda & Suzie for making me feel loved; Suzie: nope, not going to Summerset; Sorcha - I see you're online which tells me you guys made it home safely. Can't wait to hear your war stories!