My Buddy Boy

About seven months ago, our Jack Russell, Dixie, passed away. After that happened, my parents took her mate, Buddy, to care for since we were moving away. Today, I got the news that Buddy passed away early this morning. He was nearly fifteen years old and was always a sweet, silly, tenacious little dog. They are both very missed.

A Duct Tape Christmas: The Result

I think my evil plan was appreciated by all :)

A Duct Tape Christmas

Every year, my uncle Allen tapes up my Christmas present (and probably does the same for some of my cousins) with duct tape. Then, he sits by, as we open our gifts, laughing at our struggles.

This year, I get my revenge.

My mom came up with the idea of buying him a duct tape wallet for Christmas as a gag gift.



Then, I decided to be extra evil and wrap the entire present in duct tape.





I even learned how to make a duct tape bow.



I can't wait for my uncle and the rest of my family to see this tomorrow morning!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

...or am I?

Best Socks Ever!

Thank you to my workplace secret santa!

/sigh

Cats always know the most frustrating thing to do...

Brogan Playing

Pregnant Pepper?

I cut open a yellow pepper when making chow chow relish, and this is what I saw.

Chickens - 1 Month Old

I Think Our Border Collies Are Broken

What do you think?

More pictures

Sorry that there has been so much picture spam from me today. I just got a new cord for my camera so I had four months' of pictures to upload.

Here are a few more.

From Bogue Inlet Pier in Emerald Isle, NC:





And, here is the inside of our house decorated for the holidays.

Random Pet Photos

Here are some random pet photos from the last few months.

Fall 2008 "Farm" Projects

Here are some projects (compost bin, garden and chicken coop) from this fall around our "farm."

Chickens!

Here are some pics of the first day with our chicks.

Pirate Re-enactment

On August 8, 2008, we went to a pirate re-enactment in Beaufort, NC. Here are some snaps from that event.

Also, some random pics from Beaufort that day:

An old, abandoned house.


The Old Burying Grounds.

An interesting grave in the Old Burying Grounds.

Shoes Shoes Shoes

Unfortunately, my black dress shoes (both pairs) were packed up in our move and I can't find the box we put them in. So, I've been looking around for a cute pair of shoes just in case I find something reasonable that I like better before I find my box...

I came across a website for Blowfish Women's Shoes. Most of Blowfish's designer shoes are too wild for me but they do have some cute casual shoes and boots. Unfortunately, they are designer shoes and are sold at places that have designer prices so no Blowfish Shoes for this cheapskate. ;)

Questions About Your Community

A little survey, if you will indulge my curiosity.

1. Does your community have a website with local business information, a forum for local people and other local information (for example, my old community had this).
2. If so, do you use this website? For what?
3. What would make this site better for you or make you more likely to use it?

If you wish to answer, please just leave me a comment.

Thanks :)

An Eating Out Weirdness

We went out tonight, to a local steakhouse (a local chain, even). This place isn't the nicest restaurant around but they make a perfect steak every time (at least in the four or five times we have been there). And, they have a great salad bar. We were expecting it to be a little on the expensive side because it is steak after all. We got our check, gave the waitress our card to scan and when she brought the bill and my card back...

It was suddenly $9.00 more than it was when she took it up...

It was just about the amount of tip I was going to leave. Coincidental? I think not.

We couldn't catch the waitress again to ask her about it but, needless to say, we won't be going back there.

Changing Eating Habits Is Hard

This morning, I had two solid hours of stressful dreams, in which I was either weeping or wrathful, and woke up frustrated so I didn't get up and exercise. I figured I'd do my hour-long yoga DVD when I got home from work.

I got home from work and dinner was already ready so I decided not to delay it by exercising. I told Matthew we'd go to the mall after dinner and walk around it as exercise. So, that's what we did after dinner.

Little did I realize that we would get very very hungry while we were out and little did I remember that Red Robin had just opened in the mall. Oops.

It's a falling off the wagon type of thing but I'm not going to beat myself up about it...it happens.

You Are What You Eat

I've become a big fan of the BBC show, You Are What You Eat, that is hosted by the holistic nutritionist, Gillian McKeith. I bought two of her books, You Are What You Eat and Slim for Life, and read through them both to get an idea of what the plans looked like and what the grocery list would look like.

The grocery list was quite long and included a ton of produce (39 celery stalks, 53 carrots, 12 cucumbers...just for one week) and it included a lot of produce that is only available in the organic section, here. Organic isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's just more expensive and we are trying to cut costs right now until we can get rid of our mortgage.

The people on the television show, who are from the UK, always say that the food they buy for this plan saves them money. However, it was almost 3 times what we normally spend.

So, we'll stick to the plan mostly to the letter this week and when I plan for next week, I'll include more of the items that are cheaper, yet still healthy, like lentils and split peas.

The Stupidest Person Alive?

Let me preface this story by saying that today is my second day of not having any caffeine at all since we are starting a new healthy eating plan tomorrow (more about that, later) and I'm not thinking entirely clearly without the caffeine buzz (I won't give in. I won't give in...)

My mom came over with my grandmother (her mother) today and brought some leftovers (chicken and pastry) from our family dinner last night. We sat around and talked for a while and got hungry so I decided I'd pop the casserole dish with the chicken and pastry into the oven. She had aluminum foil on top of the glass casserole dish with the plastic traveling cover. I peeled the plastic cover off, then the aluminum foil and then put the plastic cover on and popped it all into the oven.

A sane person would see the problem here. However, I did not.

A few minutes later, my mom went to check on the oven and found that the plastic cover had melted (doh!). She put on my oven mitt and peeled the plastic off the glass as best she could and we threw the plastic lid away.

Luckily, we caught it before it touched the food at all.

/sigh

A Cat Story

This morning, I got out of the shower and go into the kitchen to put my lunch together and get breakfast where Matthew is making tuna salad. I hear Mischief whining like crazy.

Matthew says, “He's mad because I won’t give him tuna"
“Why?” I respond
“If you want him to have some, you give it to him."
So, i grab a small piece of tuna and look around…no cat. Then, I realize the whining is muffled which is somewhat confusing so I look around some more and realize that it sounds like Mischief is outside.

I mention that to Matthew.

Before we can check the door, we hear something leap up and scratch the door. We had ignored his whining so long, Mischief jumped up and hung onto where he could see in the window.

Matthew opened the door and he flew inside and down the hall.

A Quiz (Thanks, Meg!)

Here is the new 2008 edition of getting to know your family and friends. Here is what you are supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. Some of you may get this several times; that means you have lots of friends. Have fun and be truthful!

1. What is your occupation right now? Benefits Specialist for a local government

2. What color are your socks right now? clear ;)

3. What are you listening to right now? The 3rd season premier of Heroes

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Ginger Lemon Cremes

5. Can you drive a stick shift? no

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? A retiree about her insurance

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? of course

8. How old are you today? 31

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? none

10. What is your favorite drink? diet mountain dew

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? many times

12. Favorite food? fries

13. What is the last movie you watched? Baby Mama with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

14. Favorite day of the year? Christmas

15. How do you vent anger? I cry

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? my swing set

17. What is your favorite season? autumn

18. Cherries or Blueberries? cherries

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Comment here so I know if you put it on your blogs!

20. Who is the most likely to respond? dunno

21. Who is least likely to respond? dunno

22. Living arrangements: just moved back to my childhood home that is next door to my paternal grandmother

23. When was the last time you cried? a week or so ago

24. What is on the floor of your closet? clothes and shoes

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to? /shrug

26. What did you do last night? went to wal-mart then played WoW

27. What are you most afraid of? spiders

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Cheese

29. Favorite dog breed? border collie

30. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

31. How many states have you lived in? 1

32. Diamonds or pearls? metal

33. What is your favorite flower? stargazer lilies

Update

Starting my fifth week of my new job. Man, has this month flown by! I'm loving my job and loving my new 30-minute drive to work. Instead of filling my gas tank every other day, I can, ideally, fill it up every ten days or so.

We visited our old house in Clayton for the first time in a month, yesterday. Everything was as it was left except for the grass which was very very tall...We tried to mow it all but our lawnmower was giving us trouble so we did what we could in the time we had and decided we'd just have to leave it.

That's all for now. Happy Autumn Equinox to everyone.

White Oak River Bistro

Tonight, we finally went out and celebrated my new job and we went to a local place in Swansboro named White Oak River Bistro. I'd only seen it from the outside and it looked like a nice enough place and the word bistro just seemed to be what my brain wanted tonight.

When we got inside, my first impression of the place was that the decor was very nice. It was a pine-clad interior with a brick fireplace in the corner. There were beams and columns in the center that were wrapped in faux ivy, white strand lights and gauze. That feature made the decor. There were two seating options: inside and out on their deck overlooking (unsurprisingly) the White Oak River.

The waitress took our drink order and gave us some bread. The bread was what appeared to be one normal slice of bread cut into long strips and was served with a cup of olive oil (garnished with red pepper (I think), peppercorns and rosemary). The dipping sauce was very good because the rosemary was so fragrant but Matthew and I were both looking askance at each other over the bread service (we were offered more later on during the service).

As we were reading over the menu and deciding what we wanted for our entrees, we were slightly surprised by the prices. This restaurant is a little more pricey than I was expecting but it is in line with the type of restaurant that it is, in my opinion. This is a nice, local eatery that would be great for a special, romantic night out.

I decided to get one of the specials, salmon wellington served with hollandaise, sauteed vegetables and my choice of pasta (bowtie or linguine) with my choice of sauce (marinara, alfredo, pesto, white wine or pesce). I chose bowtie pasta with alfredo sauce and their parmesan peppercorn for the salad that came with the meal.

The salad came very promptly. It was a small salad of romaine lettuce with two slices of a ripe roma tomato. The parmesan peppercorn salad dressing appeared to be homemade from the taste and texture and it was very good.

The entree came and was presented very nicely. The salmon wellington was a single serving portion all wrapped neatly in puff pastry which was a nice golden brown. Inside the puff pastry was the salmon which was slightly overdone but still very flavorful topped with a medley of cheeses that I don't quite remember (one of them, I'm fairly certain, was ricotta judging from the texture of the dish). Overall the wellington was very nice. The lemon of the hollandaise clashed a bit with the cheese mixture but was very good on the sauteed vegetables. The sauteed vegetables turned out to be zucchini and squash that were perfectly cooked (They were still crunchy! Yum!) and finished with a basil-infused olive oil. That finishing touch really made the vegetables special. The bowtie pasta was cooked nice and al dente and the alfredo sauce was thick and rich. The entree overall was just the right amount of food and it allowed us to try dessert.

For dessert, we had tiramisu. The espresso-soaked lady fingers and mascarpone filling were traditional and very tasty. In addition to this, the chef had included a thin chocolate cake layer on the bottom and a chocolate ganache on top. The chocolate was not overly sweet and was not enough to overpower the espresso flavor. Overall, the flavor of this dish was very balanced and was very delicious.

I would recommend the White Oak River Bistro to anyone who comes into the area that is looking for a place to have a special dinner. The restaurant is kind of pricey for everyday eating and the food can be somewhat fancy but it would definitely be a place to keep in mind for special occasions.

First Week is Over

And, I think I'm really going to like this job. I feel like I'm doing more to actually make a contribution. (I'll probably feel more like this once I'm fully trained). I've always wanted my job to have more meaning than just making money for someone else and now, at least, I'm supporting those law enforcement officers and social workers and other government workers that are out there helping people and that thought makes me really happy.

Also, I've used 5/8 a tank of gas in five days of work and a quick run to the grocery store. I used to use 3/8 a tank a day. 'Nuff said.

What a Whirlwind!

Well, we finally have the majority of our stuff shoved into the house in Stella. Most of it is still in boxes but we are slowly organizing and putting things away. We ended up moving everything by ourselves and boy was that a job.

We loaded up everything onto the truck on Friday and drove during the night (from 9 - 11PM) and unloaded our chest freezer and the cat's stuff.

Speaking of the cat, Matthew had to grab Mischief by the scruff of his neck (after I tried to gently put him in there and he scratched me...think a small version of Wolverine...*snkt*) and I had to pry his feet away from the sides of the carrier to get him ready to travel and then he meowed all the way home.

Saturday, we spent unloading the truck onto the carport, taking the truck back and then put everything into the house or the building outside where it now mostly resides.

Sunday, we unpacked clothes and made sure I had everything ready for my first day of work.

Monday was my first day of work. It was all a blur. New faces, new responsibilities, new things to learn. I went home with a massive headache (I forgot my glasses) and went to bed around 8PM. The woman that is training me (who has been doing this job since it was vacant) is my age and she told me that she looked me up on Myspace (she said she looks everyone up there) before I started. I have a feeling we're going to get along well given my proclivity for looking everyone I've ever known up on Myspace or Facebook...

Tuesday was better. I got a little more hands-on experience and I'm picking things up.

Today was good. I had quite a bit to do and I got to sit in on several exit interviews. The woman that is training me is out starting tomorrow through September 8 so, I will be jumping right in, I think.

Everyone at my new job is really nice. It seems like a very close knit group, and, I'm glad about that because I just left a really tight-knit group. I also have my own office (WOOT!) so no more cube farm.

The best thing, though? My drive. I was driving about 1 1/2 hours (around 55 miles) each way to work each day. Now, I drive about 18-20 miles and it takes me roughly 30 minutes. Even with traffic (which my relatives complain about but is laughable to me coming from an RTP commute).

Moving...

We're finally moving since I start my new job on Monday. I knew it was going to be hard work but, man alive, has it been hard work.

This week we've packed and cleaned and packed some more. We've taken six trips to the dump to dump trash (with the car full) and one trip to Goodwill to donate (another car full of stuff).

Tomorrow we get our 26 foot U-Haul truck and we get to load all our furniture and all the boxes that we've packed and move it down to Stella. Right now, I'm so tired I can't even think about it.

The bad news? We still have to pack the kitchen and the living room...

We've also changed our address with the post office and I'm working on doing that for all of our bills (credit card companies, Netflix, etc.).

I suppose that's enough loafing around for now...gotta get those dishes packed!

Update!

A job! I has it! I start August 25th!

Update

Not too much to report. We moved a load of stuff (with Matthew's truck and my car) to the house in Stella over the weekend and we are currently in the process of unpacking it. We have all of our books unpacked and all of our movies and still have CDs, Liquor and Bar Glasses to go. Oy!

I also have an interview today for a Human Resources position. Please wish me luck. I need all that I can get!

Found in my mom's attic...

We were up in my mom's attic today getting some boxes to pack in and I found some paintings that I had done in high school (probably 10th or 11th grade so 15 years ago).

I was a big fan of the Bob Ross TV show on PBS and my parents bought me one of his painting kits for Christmas that year.

These were the only two paintings I did:

This was the first painting.


This was the second and my favorite.

Weeeeeeee. Another Diet!

My mom saw this program on television and decided to order it for herself. When she ordered, they gave her 50% off of another kit for a friend or family member so she ordered it for me. Over the last week, I've read through the information and have decided to try it and I started yesterday (though I didn't do very well). The program isn't too terrible. I get lots to eat and it's normal food. I just don't get dairy, bread or sweets (other than fruit which I get loads of).

In the interest of telling just about everything on this blog, I have about 120 pounds to lose (I'm not going to tell you how much I weigh but my before picture (taken today) is here). No, I don't plan to do it in six weeks but you can continue with this program for as long as you need it. According to the plan, I have a very slow metabolism and have hypoglycemic tendencies. I should be eating mostly poultry and fish and making sure I have carbohydrates and/or fruit at every meal to keep my blood sugar balanced. I also have to drink 100 ounces of water (approximately 3 liters) a day, at least, which is proving to be quite hard (especially if I have to drive anywhere more than 10 minutes away...hehe).

I am doing okay so far even though we visited family and had dinner at Matthew's parents' yesterday and went out for lunch today. Monday, I start doing the body sculpting exercises in addition to the cardio (right now, just walking around the neighborhood) and eating programs.

I'm trying to blog about the diet itself but am doing it here to spare everyone who isn't interested all the gory details. I'll check back on this in a couple of weeks to let you all know how it is going.

OMG Pictures!

07/27/08
Brogan playing in the water after his bath. (Click here)

07/28/08
Visit to Fort Macon with my mom and her mom. (Click here)

07/31/08
Spending the day with my in-laws' miniature livestock. (Click here)

A Job Hunting Funny

Received an email from a recruiter today asking if I would be willing to relocate to another town in Eastern NC for an HR position. I responded, saying that I had just relocated and had done so to be closer to family so that was not an option, unfortunately.

The recruiter's response: Well it is only a 62 mile commute.

Is he serious? My commute to my last job was 52-55 miles one way down the interstate and it took me about an hour and a half each way with traffic. I can't imagine how long 62 miles with no interstate would take.

Not to mention that gas is still hovering at $4.00 a gallon and I'd have to fill up my tank once a day...

How do you respond to something like this?

Update

I finally got a response to the last interview I went for. Unfortunately, they've turned me down as well. I guess it's good that I at least got a response back but this is becoming very disheartening.

I have another application in for an HR position and another HR position that I need to apply for this week. My grandmother also told me about an HR opening at an assisted living facility in her community and I've sent in an inquiry on that as well.

Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me. I need it.

Dogs at Play

Instead of uploading the 50+ pictures I took of the dogs playing, I'll just link you here.

Dogs at the Beach

Last weekend, we took Brogan and Angus to the beach. Brogan, who generally likes water, was scared throughout the whole experience and Angus enjoyed the walk on the sand but hated getting wet.

Here are some pictures:










Angus in the sand











Wet Brogan











Boat











Waves

Two more rooms painted

We finally finished painting our new office:









And, our new guest bedroom:









We are going to paint the hall once we move in and we have painted the trim everywhere except in the hall and the kitchen and the hall bathroom (the wallpaper in this room is coming away from the wall and will probably have to be fixed soon so we will trim it, then).

Almost done, yay!

Dieting

Since we seem to have a lot of time on our hands right now, I'm trying to get into an exercise and diet regime but my natural laziness keeps taking over. I am trying to both lose weight and become a healthier person.

I figured it would be better to first try to get into the habit of exercising daily and then work some changes to our diet in. I picked up a DVD from The Biggest Loser the other day and I have a yoga DVD for larger women that I'm trying to do but it is really hard to motivate myself to actually take time to do it when there are so many other fun things to do (WoW).

Losing weight is such a slow process that I often find myself wondering if diet pills really work. My mind tells me that even if they do work for a while, as soon as you stop taking them, the weight will come right back. Even so, it remains a temptation for a quick fix. Consumerpricewatch.net has a list of diet pills that work (a top-ten list of diet pills and reviews for the most popular diet pills out there). Even with this information at my fingertips, I don't think this is a proper solution to my problem nor is it worth the money I'd have to pay for the pills. Thanks to Consumerpricewatch.net for trying, though. ;)

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I last posted. Time goes by so quickly when you are unemployed, it seems. I still haven't heard back from any of my job leads and haven't really found anything much to apply for in the last week or so.

For the last week, we've been working on finishing the painting in our new house and we are finally finished except for the kitchen and the hall bathroom and the hall. Those rooms we will tackle once we have moved in.

We are planning to go back to Clayton today to start packing and are not really planning to come back home until we come with a U-Haul full of all of our stuff. I'm hoping it won't take too terribly long because I am anxious to be down here full time. It's amazing how much fonder of this area I am, now.

I hope to post some pictures of our last two major painting projects later tonight or tomorrow and some pictures of our doggies at play.

Avon Calling

As some of you know, I became an Avon Independent Sales Representative last month. If any of my readers are interested in buying Avon products, please visit my online store at http://www.youravon.com/krystalbennett

If you register as a customer on my site, I will be able to send you information about new products and specials.

Mailboxes

The house we are moving into has a mailbox that is fairly new but it seems to have been somewhat mistreated and it doesn't close properly without some forcefulness.Right now, it's functional and we don't really have to buy a new one (especially since we are both now unemployed and don't need to spend the extra money).

Normally when we need mailboxes or house numbers, we would just go to the local home improvement store and buy one. I had never even considered looking at one online until I came across Mailbox and Beyond a couple of days ago. Not only do they have mailboxes, they have address plaques, Whitehall products, birdbaths and other things for your house and lawn.

I'm not sure if we would buy such products online but it is certainly something to think about.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yesterday was my birthday. I had a really good day. Had the usual family dinner with cards and gifts afterwards (I won $5 in scratch-off lottery tix! Go me!) A couple of friends of my brothers who I had not seen for a long time came over to surprise me with cake and a gift because he could not be there. They were very sweet to do this and I thank them from the very nether regions of my heart! <3

I went to lunch with my boss and a vendor, yesterday. My boss is starting to realize now that our 10 years together (this month) is at an end and she's still a bit sad that she couldn't keep me around for longer. I'll still make myself available to her if she has questions or anything but I'm sure things won't be the same. She did tell me that one of my interviewers finally called her for an employment verification on me. I'm really excited about that and have my fingers crossed so hard I'm not sure if I'll ever get them untangled again.

A coworker of mine has been bugging us for two years, almost, to get her a Barbie doll cake for her birthday. Well, she got married, in secret, on Friday and we all decided that we'd make her a wedding cake. I made this for her on Monday evening after work. She was very excited about it yesterday and couldn't believe I'd done this for her on what was, essentially, my birthday. The bad thing is, she wouldn't let us eat it because she wanted to take it home and show her husband. I think she also wanted to freeze it and save it for her first anniversary.

Anyway, I have today and tomorrow left at work and then we start moving to Jacksonville. We're going to go down this weekend on Thursday and stay until Tuesday or Wednesday and then come back to Clayton and start some more hardcore packing. There's an Avon meeting I want to go to on Monday so that I can hopefully meet some people in that area.

Speaking of Avon, I have my own online Avon store now. Check it out if you are interested. They have some nifty stuff (not just makeup) like clothes and skin care stuff.

Updates

We have internet and phone at our house in Stella, now. Woo! I also have a new cell number for those that are supposed to have that.

Also, Matthew was laid off on Friday. He's pretty excited about it because he was not happy with his job, usually. Now he'll have time to do some things around the house that need to be done (like building a chicken coop, etc.).

I had an interview for an HR position in Morehead City yesterday. I think it went really well. They told me I should hear back from them towards the end of July.

Matthew finally got a response from the store whose mass hire we went to. It was a rejection postcard. And the HR job I interviewed for in Jacksonville also sent me a rejection.

Cross your fingers for me and the interview I did in Morehead City yesterday.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

It's official. My last day on the job is July 3. I don't have another job lined up, yet, but the company doesn't feel they can justify my staying any longer. I have an interview Friday for a job I'm really interested in (wish me luck!) and I'll register at a temporary agency if I need to.

We both kind of saw this coming and have prepared for it and I am looking at it with excitement rather than worry.

This means I get to move sooner than I thought and hopefully Matthew will be able to find a job and join me soon. We both really need the change in scenery and the coastal area we are moving to has a lot more to offer us personally than the Raleigh Durham area from what we have seen so far.

A Question for You...

Would you buy Avon from me online?
I have recently become a representative and would like to know if it would be worthwhile to set up a website.
Yes
No
Maybe
Poll starter: Krystal See Results

I hate to post three times in one day but...

We just ordered telephone and internet service for the "new" house and we have a different area code than my grandmother who lives next door...Wonder if it will be long distance!

Recipe & Pictures

I just uploaded a ton of photos. Find them here.

And, a recipe.

Quick Update

I've been kind of down in the dumps this week. I feel like I've been on hundreds of interviews and have sent out thousands of resumes and applications only to be rejected over and over again. I'm not sure what the problem is. Maybe the right opportunity hasn't yet presented itself. Regardless, it's getting a little depressing.

I do have an interview next Friday that seems to be more of an HR Generalist position which is what I've pretty much been doing for the last 9-10 years. Cross your fingers for me.

In the meantime, I've decided to become an Avon Representative to make some extra money and to also get a discount on clothes, jewelry, makeup and skin products in the event I need to look more presentable at a new job. (Four years of uniform shirts, jeans, sneakers, no makeup and ponytails has become a habit that will be hard to break) I became one, officially, as of last Sunday.

I'm not sure if I'm going to set up an online store yet, though I can, because it does have a monthly cost associated with it. I think I'm going to wait to see how it goes locally, first, so that I'll have some money in my Avon account to play with so it's not yet another bill to add to our pile. However, if any of you ladies out there are (seriously) interested in buying Avon products from me over the web, I'll definitely give it some more thought ;)

That's all for now. Not much to update. Probably some changes coming soon but it's too soon to blog about it. Plus, I should have a picture post for this blog and a new recipe for my cooking blog posted sometime tonight.

Receptionist Duty

Our receptionist is out for a few days due to a death in her family. Here are some gems from the switchboard:

me: Company Name
caller: i'm looking for a city, Camp Luigi
me: ...
caller: Camp L-e-j-e-u-n-e
me: this is Company Name
caller: i'm aware of that, i'm looking for a city
me: i'm sorry, you're calling a business...

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

me: Company Name
caller: huh?



~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~



caller: are the shirts in yet?

me: no, we expect them tomorrow

caller: but i need some bad



~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~



In job hunting news, an HR position I'd applied for in Morehead City called back today and said that I was in the interview pool and should expect to hear something to set that up late next week or the week after. So, that's hopeful!

The Reason I Wanted To Move (Part 2)

About a month ago, this happened.

On Tuesday, one of my grandmother's neighbors (who rents a trailer and lot from my parents), called my dad to tell him that someone who used to work for my grandfather's business was seen skulking around the barns in my grandmother's yard. The neighbor tried to confront the man, who had his bicycle with him, but the man ran and effectively disappeared (said neighbor drove around the area after making sure that nothing looked tampered with around the barn).

Apparently, a night or so before this incident, the neighbor had been at a bar and this man had come up to him to sell him a clock for $20 so that he could get back on his feet. The neighbor bought the clock and told the man where he lived and said when he got back on his feet he could get his clock back for the $20 that was paid. Apparently, since this man had worked for my grandfather he recognized where the neighbor lived and we think this is probably what prompted him to "pay a visit."

My dad is going to call a relative of this man to let him know what happened and that my grandmother's property is being watched but I can't help but feel a little guilty because we aren't down there to take care of stuff like this for her, yet.

Sadly, there is no news on the job hunting front. Matthew had another interview, yesterday, with the store whose mass-hire session we went to last week and they said they would call him back that afternoon but, as far as I know, they have not contacted him.

Want to get away...

Maybe I'll go to Munich and drink some German beer to drown my sorrows...hehe

It has just been a horrible week so far and I want to just disappear and hide until everything calms down, including my horrible mood.

To make things worse, there is a huge wildfire on the coast of NC and apparently the wind has changed so that the smoke is blowing our way and there was a fire at a tire factory about 30 miles away from our house, yesterday, so everything smells smoky. This morning, when I got to work in Durham (nearly 60 miles away from home, mind you), I could still smell the smoke in the parking lot. Now, I can not only smell it inside the building but I can taste it (and it's making me want to cough). So, now I really want to run away and hide for a while!

I wonder if the smoke reaches all the way to Orlando (Disney World is a good place to escape, right?) or maybe I'll play it safe and go to Paris to take in the sights and eat some tasty French food.

It's been a rough week...

...and it's only Wednesday.

I've not gotten a huge amount of sleep this week. Some of which is self-imposed due to attending my first WoW raid in weeks last night. I'm hoping I can get to bed at a more reasonable hour tonight and get rid of some of the grumpiness (not to mention the under-eye bags and dark circles) that sleep deprivation is causing.

I'm also getting a little tired of having interviews in the middle of the week. One day per week that feels like a Monday is quite enough, thank you very much...

My interview yesterday went okay, I think. The man who interviewed me was pretty hard to read and it really was a preliminary thing to see who is going to make the cut to panel interview fun house. The position seems interesting and the HR department there does a lot of the same things that the HR department here does. I just can't help feeling that I'm out of my league, though. I really think they want someone with management experience and I have none. Maybe they just won't get anyone else with nearly 10 years of HR experience in that area.

Matthew got a call back for another interview at the store whose mass hire we went to last week. It really is starting to look like he's going to get a job down there first even though he's only been seriously looking for a month (and I've been looking for three).

On the pet front, my dad has been freaking out the last couple of weeks because of how old Buddy has gotten. Buddy is 14 and isn't as spry as he once was but is still a very healthy little boy (except for some heat-induced itchy and dry skin that is going to get fixed today, hopefully) but my dad hadn't really seen him up close and personal for probably five years or so until a couple weekends before Dixie died. We're all also concerned that Buddy may be lonely without his mate because he hasn't been separated from her for very long since he was two.

So, my parents are taking him for a while until this heat wave breaks and so my mom can keep him company during the day (she's at home all day). (Brogan and Angus sure missed seeing him last night). After that, I'm not sure what we'll do. I'd like to bring him inside full-time but he has to be house trained (both pottying and chewing on stuff!) from step one. I'm not sure if I have the mental fortitude right now to deal with training an old stubborn doggy and I'm not sure we have the room with two bigger dogs and the cat...

(Sorry for the rant. I have a lot on my mind.)

A Heavy Heart

My little girl, Dixie, got very sick Saturday while we were out of town. My mom and brother took her and put her in their garage to keep her cooler in the blazing heat that we are having this week but she wouldn't eat (she had eaten Friday). She did this a few weeks ago and we changed her food and she literally came back to life and had more energy than I'd seen in her in a long time.

We went to see her last night when we got home and she could barely move. I forced two tablespoons or so of chicken broth down her mouth with a syringe but she wouldn't eat anything else.

Sometime after 3:30AM, after my brother came home from work, she passed away. She was 12 years old.

I am glad that she did not have to suffer long but I will miss my silly little prissy dog and I'm sure her mate, Buddy, will miss her very much as well. I think I'll even miss her loud, sharp yapping when she wanted something. ;_;

Interview Update

My interviews on Wednesday went ok.

The first one was a little daunting. It was a panel interview with me sitting at the front of what looked like a classroom with four people sitting across from me and questioning me. I was way more nervous than normal but I think it went ok other than that. I always feel bad when I don't have any questions to ask because I know I think the interviewers think that I don't care about the job or the organization. It's just that I go into an interview trying to anticipate the questions that will be asked and there's little room left in my brain to think of any questions for me to ask.

The second thing we went to was a mass hire event for a store that is opening soon in Jacksonville. Both Matthew and I went to complete applications and we were there for 2 hours. We both went through multiple interviews and were drug tested and we felt pretty positive about the experience over all (especially Matthew). Now, it's just wait and see.

As a side note to that event, I've never taken an oral drug test before. Normally, I've had to submit to a urinalysis, but this place gave you a little swab to hold inside your mouth, against your cheek, for a couple of minutes and then you put it into a liquid-filled vial and that was that. Much more pleasant for the HR person that was doing the collections than a urinalysis, I'm sure.

Anyway, yesterday, I got a call from a place I had applied to in Jacksonville for an HR job that I felt was way out of my league (based on the pay scale and the title). I'd only applied because my grandmother had seen it in the newspaper and I knew I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't apply. Well, I now have an interview with them on Tuesday afternoon and I'm still a little stunned by it. I'm refusing to let myself get excited about it or think about it too hard but...whoa!

Pets

Woke up this morning to a Brogan that had been very sick overnight. The smell was so bad that I had to make Matthew do much of the cleanup so that I wouldn't get sick myself. Matthew had to bathe him right away before we could let him go through the house to go outside so I kept Angus with me in the living room. Angus is very attached to Brogan and can't stand for Brogan to be out of his sight. Even though he was playing with me and snuggling with me, he would moan or whine every minute or so because he couldn't see Brogan.

We've been trying to figure out what to do with the dogs in the event that I get a job and move to Jacksonville by myself, temporarily. I know that I'll take the cat with me and probably Buddy and Dixie so that grass can grow where their kennel is now. But, I'm not sure what to do about Brogan and Angus. They can't both stay with Matthew because he can't transport them both in his pickup truck when he comes down to Jacksonville on the weekends. Brogan is Matthew's dog and Matthew refuses to be separated from his dog. Angus is, technically, my dog (really Brogan's dog) and I could take him with me but I'm afraid about separating them. I think that may be our only option, though.

In other news, I have an interview in Jacksonville tomorrow and there is also a job fair that Matthew and I were going to look into. Wish us luck!

Planning for the Future

You never realize when you are young how much planning and responsibility goes along with becoming an adult and beginning your own family. Suddenly, you must plan meals for yourself, buy your own food, pay bills and plan for your own future. One thing that I personally don't like to think about is what would happen to me if something happened to Matthew (or vice versa). If he passed away, how on earth would I pay for his funeral expenses or how could I afford to live without our incomes being combined. LifeInsure.com has an interesting write-up about why it's a good idea to have life insurance for the situation I just described.

We have thought about getting life insurance before but have never seriously pursued it. We both have insurance policies through our employers but that may change given the fact that we are both looking for new jobs because of the move. A site like this could really help us find out what type of life insurance would be best for us (through the use of their education center) and help us find the most affordable coverage.

Update to the Update

Apparently, I'm a tad forgetful today and forgot to add some of the most important news that I was going to report (No, I don't have a job offer, yet).

A few weeks ago, I sent in an application to Fayetteville State University to enroll in their online psychology degree completion program. Yesterday, when we got home from Jacksonville, I had an email from them talking about what to do now that I was accepted and my credits were transferred. So, I am on my way to a second bachelor's in Psychology and, then, hopefully, I will complete my master's degree in this field at East Carolina (also online).

Update

This past Thursday, I went down to Jacksonville to take two pre-employment tests at two different places. I think I did well on the first one and know that I aced the second one because I saw the scores for that one before I left (I type 86 wpm, apparently...). Hopefully, I'll hear something back from one of those.

We went down to Jacksonville again on Saturday but got there a lot later than we planned because the brakes on my car were grinding so badly when we left in the morning that Matthew felt we should turn around. I was so afraid that we would be stuck in Clayton all weekend (combined with some work stress from Friday) that I had quite the fit of rage (which, in me, means a weepfest, yay!). Luckily, we found somewhere to fix them and got to leave by 2:30PM. We didn't get any painting done this weekend (or any photography...) but we (mostly Matthew) did get the yard mowed with a push mower (probably 1 1/2 to 2 acres, I think).

Promised Recipe + Pictures

As promised, here is the post on my cooking blog about homemade fried shrimp.

Pictures from this past weekend:

Angus laying right outside Lizzie's pen while she is asleep under her pillowcase. For those of you that don't know, Lizzie has never tolerated other dogs and she terrorizes Brogan. We decided to try seeing what would happen if they all stayed together (Brogan, Angus, Lizzie and Bunny) when my mom rode with us down to Jacksonville. Lizzie was surprisingly calm, especially with Angus. She still kept Brogan on the run, though...Baby steps.

Boat on the horizon. Too far away to be able to tell what kind of boat it was, even with my zoom lens.

Parasurfers and kites in the distance. It was so windy on the beach Sunday that my camera wouldn't focus well.