Wow, I can't believe it's August. School starts 3 weeks from today! This is the last week of camp and next week we're going to see Grandma and Pop in Fort Lauderdale. It will be the first time we go to their new place! The kids are excited for the beach, and so am I!
Sooooo, still job hunting. I got one call from the staffing agency, where they submitted me as a candidate and the client chose someone else, and have not heard from them since then! I did go on an interview last week that I think went really well, so we shall see. Afterwards I realized that I haven't actually been on a real job interview since about 1998. Glad I didn't realize that before!
I'm about to take Dominic to the doctor for the 3rd time in 10 days. He sounds horrible. I understand docs not wanting to overprescribe meds, but for God's sake, can we please get something?! Did I mention he hasn't slept through the night in those last 10 days!! Maybe they could prescribe something for me!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Job Search Continues
Ooh, it's been too long between posts! So I completed the Strengthsfinder assessment, and my top 5 strengths are:
Learner - has a great desire to learn and wants to continuously improve.
Harmony - looks for consensus, doesn't enjoy conflict, seeks areas of agreement.
Input - has a craving to know more, likes to collect and archive all kinds of information.
Individualization - intrigued with the unique qualities in each person, has a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.
Intellection - characterized by their intellectual activity, introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.
I think those are pretty accurate. I highly recommend Strengthsfinder 2.0 if you're trying to figure out what makes you tick!
So right after I last wrote, I went to a staffing company and had a great meeting with them. They have many connections at the hotels and said they could definitely use me for high-level admin work. I haven't had any work from them yet, but I think they might be my best bet. I have filled out probably 10 online applications and have not heard a thing on any one of them! It's frustrating! At least with a recruiter, some one is somewhat advocating for me rather than just being one of hundreds applying online. Unemployment is higher here than the national average so I know it will take time. In the meantime, I'm trying to "let go" and enjoy the summer. I'm certainly keeping up on my TV shows! Well, I'm off to watch a recorded Royal Pains while Dominic naps!
Learner - has a great desire to learn and wants to continuously improve.
Harmony - looks for consensus, doesn't enjoy conflict, seeks areas of agreement.
Input - has a craving to know more, likes to collect and archive all kinds of information.
Individualization - intrigued with the unique qualities in each person, has a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.
Intellection - characterized by their intellectual activity, introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.
I think those are pretty accurate. I highly recommend Strengthsfinder 2.0 if you're trying to figure out what makes you tick!
So right after I last wrote, I went to a staffing company and had a great meeting with them. They have many connections at the hotels and said they could definitely use me for high-level admin work. I haven't had any work from them yet, but I think they might be my best bet. I have filled out probably 10 online applications and have not heard a thing on any one of them! It's frustrating! At least with a recruiter, some one is somewhat advocating for me rather than just being one of hundreds applying online. Unemployment is higher here than the national average so I know it will take time. In the meantime, I'm trying to "let go" and enjoy the summer. I'm certainly keeping up on my TV shows! Well, I'm off to watch a recorded Royal Pains while Dominic naps!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
What are my Strengths?
Recently, I've heard several people recommend Strengths Finder. Since I'm job hunting, I thought it would be the perfect time to figure out or reassure myself what my strengths actually are. I was not sure if this was a book, a website, or what exactly. I found out is is a book, and went to look for it in Borders. I typed Strengths Finder in to the computer and kept getting a book on Frieda Kahlo, the painter. This was puzzling. So I went over to the business section and just happened up on it. It is called Strengthsfinder 2.0 - one word - which is why it didn't show up! The book breaks down 34 Strengths and what they mean, and contains a code to use online to take an assessment to uncover your 5 strengths. I'm going to read the book some more before I do the assessment and will let you know how I come out!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
At Least Someone in the Family Remembers Things
So when the kids got in the car that day when I picked them up from school, I asked my 8 year old, Elizabeth, if she knew where I had put that shirt. She replied, yes, she did. I asked....where...did...I....put....it? as I clenched the steering wheel. She said, she wanted it to be a surprise. I told her it surely would be. When we got home, she climbed up on a kitchen chair to the top of the wall hanging Pottery Barn mail organizer, reached in to the top bin, and voila! Of course, I remembered putting it in there, once she climbed up there. Where Dominic of course, wouldn't reach it!! When I relayed this story to my mother she reminded my that Elizabeth's kindergarten teacher had told her she stopped looking for things in her room, she just asked Elizabeth. I love that kid!
Since my last post, I have been job hunting at a very minimal level. I have a few things in the works, and I am going to be picky. It certainly is a dragged out prospect. I have been in touch with two companies since May 11 regarding jobs, and neither have had me interview yet. Yeesh! I have been reading What Color is Your Parachute? (2009) It is a great book for job seekers and career changers. One of the sites recommended for self assessment was www.truecolorscareer.com It classified me as Gold, and I thought the description was pretty accurate. Golds are organized, detail-oriented, responsible, and self-motivated. Jobs suited to Golds include administrative assistant, budget analyst, teacher, financial planner, hotel/restaurant manager, and statistician. I have held several of those jobs! I am not in too much of a hurry on the job search, since summer vacation is now upon us! The last day of school was June 4. Camp starts tomorrow! I hope the kids like it.
Since my last post, I have been job hunting at a very minimal level. I have a few things in the works, and I am going to be picky. It certainly is a dragged out prospect. I have been in touch with two companies since May 11 regarding jobs, and neither have had me interview yet. Yeesh! I have been reading What Color is Your Parachute? (2009) It is a great book for job seekers and career changers. One of the sites recommended for self assessment was www.truecolorscareer.com It classified me as Gold, and I thought the description was pretty accurate. Golds are organized, detail-oriented, responsible, and self-motivated. Jobs suited to Golds include administrative assistant, budget analyst, teacher, financial planner, hotel/restaurant manager, and statistician. I have held several of those jobs! I am not in too much of a hurry on the job search, since summer vacation is now upon us! The last day of school was June 4. Camp starts tomorrow! I hope the kids like it.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
On the Verge of Hysteria
So, my house guests have departed. We had a great week with my in-laws, my cousin and her husband, and other friends and family who came for Elizabeth's First Communion. It really was fun.
In my last post I mentioned www.sixfigureblogging.com. This takes you to a very well done sales page. It held my interest and had the usual smattering of testimonials and what value you get. I finally scrolled down to see the price and it was....$97. My first thought was, "That's it?!" I think that's good value. I have seen numerous, numerous online products that sound great and that I think would be valuable, but they are hundreds and hundreds of dollars! I think I will order it. I will keep you posted.
I also downloaded www.freebloggingcourse.com. This was pretty good value too - after all, it was free! It had 5 one-page lessons and basically pointed to the Blogwild book. I think I will wait on the book, as it seems to be more for people that have a small business and want to use a blog to promote that business, not people who's blog is their business.
I am having a bit of a meltdown today because I can't find a shirt I bought for Dominic that I want to exchange. We bought him a Steelers jersey but it was a little small, so it was sitting in the bag with the receipt for 3 weeks now on the dining room table. And today, when I can finally return it, I can't find it. D. kept getting a hold of the bag and taking the shirt out. I was afraid he would rip the tag off, so I think I put the bag in a safe place, and I can't find it!!! St. Anthony please help me!
In my last post I mentioned www.sixfigureblogging.com. This takes you to a very well done sales page. It held my interest and had the usual smattering of testimonials and what value you get. I finally scrolled down to see the price and it was....$97. My first thought was, "That's it?!" I think that's good value. I have seen numerous, numerous online products that sound great and that I think would be valuable, but they are hundreds and hundreds of dollars! I think I will order it. I will keep you posted.
I also downloaded www.freebloggingcourse.com. This was pretty good value too - after all, it was free! It had 5 one-page lessons and basically pointed to the Blogwild book. I think I will wait on the book, as it seems to be more for people that have a small business and want to use a blog to promote that business, not people who's blog is their business.
I am having a bit of a meltdown today because I can't find a shirt I bought for Dominic that I want to exchange. We bought him a Steelers jersey but it was a little small, so it was sitting in the bag with the receipt for 3 weeks now on the dining room table. And today, when I can finally return it, I can't find it. D. kept getting a hold of the bag and taking the shirt out. I was afraid he would rip the tag off, so I think I put the bag in a safe place, and I can't find it!!! St. Anthony please help me!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Day 2 - Another Post!
I just started blogging yesterday and I have one follower! Wow, thank you! Yesterday was the first annual (I hope!) Mom's Nite Out, started by a woman of whom I am a fan, Maria Bailey.
{Whoops, my 2 year old just escaped from the crib. I replaced him in there and I'm back!}
Anyway, Maria has several websites, including www.bluesuitmom.com, www.momtalkradio.com, and one that just launched, www.momtv.com. I haven't checked out the latest one yet but will soon and report back.
I did not find any local events for MNO, but I did attend the Twitter party - which really was more fun than one might think! A topic can be set up on Twitter, although I'm not sure how to do that yet, and given a hash-tag. I believe that is the right term. So, the hash-tag for this event was #MNO-09, so if you make a post on twitter, and include that code in your post, it appears on that topic page. Then you can track all the posts regarding that topic. I found that there are so many great women and moms out there in cyberspace! Actually, I knew this already, but this really drove it home!
So, while Dominic (the 2 year old escape artist) is supposedly napping behind me, I took a few minutes to do some "how to start blogging" searching. I remembered from my virtual assistance days, there was someone who was huge in blogging, Andy Wibbels, www.andywibbels.com. How I remembered that, I have no idea. But, he's still out there! So on his site, I see a course called www.sixfigureblogging.com. Love the name, sounds good to me! I will check that out and see what the price is. Also, I saw a link to a site called www.freebloggingcourse.com. This makes me immediately skeptical, but I'm a very skeptical person. I will check that out too and let you know what I find.
{Ack, I had to zip D. into the crib tent! A little back story: Dominic is my 3rd child, and I never used a crib tent with the older two. However, my cousin who has twin boys 3 months older than him, really saves her sanity with her crib tents. Well, D. has never been a great sleeper, and had been jumping out of the crib, sometimes getting hurt, plus coming in and waking us up. So, around February, I ordered the crib tent. My cousin had sent me the link https://www.totsinmind.com/products/crib2.html This is funny too - I had envisioned the crib tent as being solid, that is, not see through, so I was thinking this would probably freak a child out. So when I saw the picture, I had a "duh" moment - it is mesh, and of course it is see-through! So, I waited until I had a coupon for Babies R Us and went and got it. I had read numerous online reviews of it, and the comments ranged from "totally easy to set up" to "I don't know what everyone else it talking about, but I can't put this thing together!" I was determined to do it myself, so I did, reading the directions very carefully. My experience was somewhere in between the two comments above, but leaning toward the latter! The tent consists of two rods that make a curved X through the netting. These rods are about 8 feet long when you start, so I'm knocking things over, trying not to poke my child, or inflict harm on myself. They have to be bent so they fit inside the netting. The first one - hey, no problem - the second one - OMG, was I frustrated! The rod bruised my thigh...then it occurred to me I could use a wall for leverage rather than my own body part. What do you know, it worked! Then you have to put this inside your crib, put the mattress down on top of it (meaning, you had to remove it first), which again, is not that easy unless you have 4 feet of free space in every direction around your crib. Ok, got it in there, and after a few days, my son is used to it - he sleeps all night - life is good. One day, around 5am, he wakes up, calling for us. I go in to get him and find...the zipper is stuck. I try it for a few minutes to no avail. I get my husband out of bed, he can't budge it either. He gets a pair of pliers, I suggest WD40...nothing happening. There is no fabric stuck in the zipper, it just won't budge. It has now been 30 minutes and guess what? Dominic fell back to sleep. Finally, my husband cuts the mesh and we get him out. I am ready to write a ripping email to the crib tent company. I do a little research and find that, if I send them back the "damaged" mesh, they will send me a new one at no charge. I do this, and to give them credit, everything went as they said it would. Now, again, I get to have the joy of installing the thing! After waiting several days for my husband to help with this (hm, never seemed to be time!) I install it again by myself. This time, I use the wall first, and although I had trouble with the second rod again, I would say it took half the time. Voila, we are back in business! It really does seem to help in that, D. knows, he has to stay in there!}
Wow, that was a long aside. While he's zipped in and snoring, I'm going to go check out those blogging links I mentioned.
Thanks for reading!
{Whoops, my 2 year old just escaped from the crib. I replaced him in there and I'm back!}
Anyway, Maria has several websites, including www.bluesuitmom.com, www.momtalkradio.com, and one that just launched, www.momtv.com. I haven't checked out the latest one yet but will soon and report back.
I did not find any local events for MNO, but I did attend the Twitter party - which really was more fun than one might think! A topic can be set up on Twitter, although I'm not sure how to do that yet, and given a hash-tag. I believe that is the right term. So, the hash-tag for this event was #MNO-09, so if you make a post on twitter, and include that code in your post, it appears on that topic page. Then you can track all the posts regarding that topic. I found that there are so many great women and moms out there in cyberspace! Actually, I knew this already, but this really drove it home!
So, while Dominic (the 2 year old escape artist) is supposedly napping behind me, I took a few minutes to do some "how to start blogging" searching. I remembered from my virtual assistance days, there was someone who was huge in blogging, Andy Wibbels, www.andywibbels.com. How I remembered that, I have no idea. But, he's still out there! So on his site, I see a course called www.sixfigureblogging.com. Love the name, sounds good to me! I will check that out and see what the price is. Also, I saw a link to a site called www.freebloggingcourse.com. This makes me immediately skeptical, but I'm a very skeptical person. I will check that out too and let you know what I find.
{Ack, I had to zip D. into the crib tent! A little back story: Dominic is my 3rd child, and I never used a crib tent with the older two. However, my cousin who has twin boys 3 months older than him, really saves her sanity with her crib tents. Well, D. has never been a great sleeper, and had been jumping out of the crib, sometimes getting hurt, plus coming in and waking us up. So, around February, I ordered the crib tent. My cousin had sent me the link https://www.totsinmind.com/products/crib2.html This is funny too - I had envisioned the crib tent as being solid, that is, not see through, so I was thinking this would probably freak a child out. So when I saw the picture, I had a "duh" moment - it is mesh, and of course it is see-through! So, I waited until I had a coupon for Babies R Us and went and got it. I had read numerous online reviews of it, and the comments ranged from "totally easy to set up" to "I don't know what everyone else it talking about, but I can't put this thing together!" I was determined to do it myself, so I did, reading the directions very carefully. My experience was somewhere in between the two comments above, but leaning toward the latter! The tent consists of two rods that make a curved X through the netting. These rods are about 8 feet long when you start, so I'm knocking things over, trying not to poke my child, or inflict harm on myself. They have to be bent so they fit inside the netting. The first one - hey, no problem - the second one - OMG, was I frustrated! The rod bruised my thigh...then it occurred to me I could use a wall for leverage rather than my own body part. What do you know, it worked! Then you have to put this inside your crib, put the mattress down on top of it (meaning, you had to remove it first), which again, is not that easy unless you have 4 feet of free space in every direction around your crib. Ok, got it in there, and after a few days, my son is used to it - he sleeps all night - life is good. One day, around 5am, he wakes up, calling for us. I go in to get him and find...the zipper is stuck. I try it for a few minutes to no avail. I get my husband out of bed, he can't budge it either. He gets a pair of pliers, I suggest WD40...nothing happening. There is no fabric stuck in the zipper, it just won't budge. It has now been 30 minutes and guess what? Dominic fell back to sleep. Finally, my husband cuts the mesh and we get him out. I am ready to write a ripping email to the crib tent company. I do a little research and find that, if I send them back the "damaged" mesh, they will send me a new one at no charge. I do this, and to give them credit, everything went as they said it would. Now, again, I get to have the joy of installing the thing! After waiting several days for my husband to help with this (hm, never seemed to be time!) I install it again by myself. This time, I use the wall first, and although I had trouble with the second rod again, I would say it took half the time. Voila, we are back in business! It really does seem to help in that, D. knows, he has to stay in there!}
Wow, that was a long aside. While he's zipped in and snoring, I'm going to go check out those blogging links I mentioned.
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Let's Try This Now!
So here's my latest career: I am a blogger. I love to read blogs, and I have lots of opinions about the blogs I read. So I thought, I would like to start sharing my own opinions on topics of various interest to me, and hopefully others out there!
I'm also going to blog about getting started with blogging. I know a little something about it, but never started one from scratch. So along with my posts about various topics, I will keep you posted about what I learn about blogging. So please stay tuned!
One of my pet peeves about blogs is when they aren't updated regularly. So my promise is, I will update mine at least every two weeks - that's a modest goal to shoot for!
Thanks for coming with me on this journey!
I'm also going to blog about getting started with blogging. I know a little something about it, but never started one from scratch. So along with my posts about various topics, I will keep you posted about what I learn about blogging. So please stay tuned!
One of my pet peeves about blogs is when they aren't updated regularly. So my promise is, I will update mine at least every two weeks - that's a modest goal to shoot for!
Thanks for coming with me on this journey!
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