Go Play Fetch

They have cut off access to blogspot at work, along with several shopping sites and other things. It won't be long before they get around to blocking my last remaining favorite link, my nestie message board. I feel like everytime I go onto it I am increasing its profile in our security system and likening the chances of it being blocked. I really would like an internet phone, but at the same time cannot justify the $400/yr price tag. Especially when there are so many possible changes in the future.

DH has started applying for jobs in Minnesota. We have not heard back about any yet. If he finds one, we may be moving within weeks. If he does not find one we may be here for ages. I may need a new car. Other costs may arise. We have been saving like crazy for the last three monthes and our bank accounts are starting to show the effort. It does not hurt those numbers that the stock market has been turning back around.

I have had so many thoughts for blog posts to write over the past week, but none of them have panned out because I don't really spend much time on the computer at home. Right now I intended to write a nice long post with lots of details and maybe even pictures, but I have a headache and really don't want to. So I resort to something I have been using all to commonly, the laundry list of thoughts and topics:

- I ran with River the last three days (Thurs/Fri/Sat). Very short, but I did it.
- Had Girls Day with some friends, went to a craft fair and then sat around and gossiped. Candied Cranberries are amazing.
- Made a chore chart this evening. More of a visual cue as to what we have done and need to do rather than directions for what specifically to do each day
- December marked the start of a new reading challenge. I once again was not lucky enough to get to create a task, but its always fun seeing what other people come up with.
- I am about on pace with my reading new years resolution
- I am starting to develop my new years resolutions for next year
- River ate another library book (goodbye $40). Why does she have a taste for those instead of my books which would be like $2 to replace?
- She also re-removed the pom off my hat that my Mom reattached while I was in MN. I don't know why she likes removing the pom and I don't know how she got access.
- My head hurts
- I have started to shower at night instead of in the morning. This is related to my running (in the evening), but also to goals for future changes to routine
- I really need to eat healthier
- I got more pictures printed for my office
- I am caught up at work
- Everytime I hear about people's health issues I analyze them from the Disability perspective
- I love half priced books
- Eclipse came out DVD this weekend, I went ahead and bought the BluRay/DVD pack w/all the extra trimmings.
- I have some Xmas decorations up but we have not yet got a tree. Apparently a lot of the tree farms are having issues and were not open long this year (as in, they already closed for the season??). So we are going to get one precut. Hopefully tomorrow night.
- I want to bake something fun.
- I have secret santa's to buy for.
- I am getting near done with Christmas shopping, just a few more people to go.
- We made our plans for Xmas and are taking a couple extra days compared to usual to see if that makes the travelling less troublesome. We will be out of town for 6 days.


I have to go. Gandalf wants to play fetch. I know this because he just brought me a pair of socks balled up from the bedroom, dropped them at my feet and started "meowing".

Insert creative post title here...

So, these blankets I have been making have proved to be very popular. I already have had two people, one in my unit who was a recipient of the gift, and one who is a friend of my supervisor, ask if I sell them. If there were any profit to be made, I would be happy to sell them, but there isn't. The material's alone for each blanket, without any labor, range from $20-30 depending on how careful you are in fabric selection. Some of the blankets I have given away are actually even more than that in materials because I could not resist a particular polarfleece or cotton print that was a bit more pricey. I don't expect people to pay more that that for a blanket like this (I would place their value at around $25?, which means my labor adds no value). I guess if people wanted solid colors, and I bought everything on sale, I might get materials down to $15, or if the cotton was clearance. The point is, there is not really profit to be made. I feel bad because I like making them and I wish I could provide them for more people, but it just doesn't make sense. I told my unit member that if she really wanted one for someone I would be happy to do the labor for free if she provided materials, but thats not an offer I am willing to make to the whole building. No etsy shop for me I guess. At least not for blankets.
There is sort of an etsy craze going on, everyone seems to have an etsy site. Etsy, for those of you who don't know, is this awesome website that allows people to sell their hand made goods or supplies for such goods. It is sort of a neverending online craft fair. You can find so many interesting things on there. I have considered the possability of opening one up for the beading I have been doing, but I am so lazy, so inefficient at handling little things like mailing and bills etc, that I am certain it would be a disaster.

In other news, my friend R has started working at BDD. She is in the same position I was a year ago, in her first week of training. She is, like I was back then, experiencing the joys of being in a training class with somewhat unorganized trainers and classmates who can't follow what is going on. No, training is not that bad, but its certainly annoying at times. Its nice eating lunches with her.

In other other news, our cable actually is gone now. On the downstairs (main) TV this had the expected effect. We now have ABC,CBS,NBC,FOX,PBS, and a handful of random channels. (RTV anyone?). The consequence upstairs was much different. The TV does not have a built in digital antenna, so we are still plugged into the cable line. The result is that we are getting the random channels that our cable company failed to block. We have about five channels, and I think they can safely be called "the channels no one would bother paying for specificlaly anyways" - Big Ten Network (great to get football games, but otherwise useless), Hallmark, versus, and nickolodean toon. I already miss Mike & Mike in the morning. Luckily that can be remedied with a radio.

Enough random thoughts for now.

I GOT A JOB!!!!

Is that title big and bold and obvious enough?

As I said only three short posts ago, no secrets when it comes to me getting a job. I will shout it from the roof tops.

I had arrived home from another interview and was just hanging out, cleaning up, etc last week when I got a phone call out of the blue from the Bureau of Disability Determination. I interviewed with them back in May and failed to obtain a position in their June "class". They call it a class because the first 10 weeks of employment are classroom-style training. Anyways, they called me last week to offer me a position in their September class!!! I was very surprised, even though I knew I had told them I was interested in future positions, I did not think it would actually result in anything. Yesterday, I also received an offer from a bank that has large offices in Columbus. When it rains, it pours, eh? I have heard this story a million times. Unemployed for a long time, and then ending up with a decision to make about which offer to accept.

This morning I called to accept the offer with the BDD. As of Sept 14th I will be a state employee. My official title will be "Disabilities Claims Adjudicator". The basic job is assessing claims for disability payments and deciding whether people meet the legal criteria to be paid. DH said one of the requirements was "cannot mind red tape". Actually, a more accurate statement would be to say I am becoming the red tape. LOL. It is rather fitting though. After studying bureaucracy for two years, I will become part of it. I think the job will be engaging and keep me busy, it pays well, and when I get home at night I don't have work to bring with me. What more could a girl ask for?

Now... to take full advantage of me next three weeks off with no obligations and no guilt of being unemployed :-)

Back to Blogging

So my blog, while clearly not entirely neglected, has been somewhat random for the last month or so.

But who can blame me. In the last six weeks I have been out of town to four different locations, attended to graduations and three weddings, become officially unemployed, and many other chaotic things. It seems like ages since I have just been in Columbus living "normal", or should I say routine, life.

I just sent my last obligation to OSU Political Science off via email and now am officially and fully unemployed. My tasks for the coming weeks are clear: apply for lots of jobs, clean the house, get back into the habit of cooking and getting things done.

The first challenge I find in this is getting up in the morning. It was so easy to get up in the morning in Duluth, but here it is so hard, and I am not sure of the difference. I think the first thing is the natural lighting that came into the room I slept in there, which is easy enough to change here by opening some blinds before bed, since our windows face east. Second, I think, is having a relatively clear and peaceful place to sit, wake up, and eat breakfast. Third, which is the hard part, is having things I am looking forward to to get up for. I will have to work on that one.

A Productive Day

Today at 10am my friend from school, a fellow third year comparative politics student, called to invite me to a 10:30am meeting to talk through past generals questions. This was very unexpected, very last minute, and very appreciated. I imagine it was so last minute because her and the other girl had talked to each other at some reasonable hour (like 8am) and set the meeting time, and then she waited to call me to invite me until ten out of fear of waking me up, as in the past I have told her 9am was too early to call someone! (Though, admittedly, I did make the disclaimer that nine is too early on a weekend). If she had called me at 9am, I would have been awake, but not yet functioning. I admit I have fallen into a rather bad sleep schedule considering school is starting soon. Seeing as the exam will start at 8am, tonight I am starting to change my sleep schedule to make sure I can function at that time in the morning.

Anyways, enough rambling. I headed off to drink coffee and study with them. The good news - I am in a good mood, the meeting was very productive, I feel like the exam is doable and things may just turn out alright. The bad news - I managed, between breakfast, coffee, lunch, and snacks, to spend $16.50, and I plan to do it all again tomorrow. That is a lot of money to waste on food in one day. I think its worth it though. I am pretty sure if you asked DH if he would be willing to pay $20/day over the next ten days to put me in a good mood and stop my incessant worrying, he would take you up on it in a heartbeat. At least I hope he would.

Lakamo Market Research

I just got back from my first experience with Lakamo Market Research - it is a firm that does consumer research here in Ohio. I was participating in a usability study about a car insurance website - $75 for one and a half hours work. Not to mention I find the "work" of giving my opinion quite enjoyable. Sweet! Granted it was an hour and a half I should have been studying, but as usual I don't feel the worry nearly as much in the daylight, and the $75 will contribute nicely to my new, more professional wardrobe I need to develop for this fall.

Now lets see if I can't crack down and use the afternoon in such a way that will allow me to sleep at night!!