Applying for Jobs is like Online Dating

You spend forever going through the websites looking for the perfect one. Then when you have found a few possibilities, you court them by sending in a cover letter, resume and application. You pretend you aren't waiting by the phone or checking your email 100 times a day for contact, but you are.

Then, when you never hear back from them you start second guessing yourself, thinking "what did the other applicants have that I didn't"? But instead of dwelling on the lost opportunity you get back on the horse and start the search all over again, thinking "oh well, it's their loss anyway!"

On the other hand, when you do receive a call or email requesting an interview it brightens your whole week. Unfortunately, after the interview you return to the waiting-by-the-phone/checking-the-inbox like a madwoman wondering will they or won't they want me? Too bad there's not a 3-day rule for interviews.

Preparation

1 day before my Dad gets here.
2 days before NaBloPoMo** starts.
3 days before the weekend.

Evening temperatures have dropped here over the past few days, so last night I had to unpack my duvet and my winter bedding. It also meant that I had to dig out my coat and gloves so that this morning when I left my apartment, before the sun had risen mind you, I was all warm and bundled up. Tonight I have to do some grocery shopping and finish tidying up the apartment in preparation for the end of the week. That means that this afternoon at "work" I'll be deciding what I am going to be packing in my lunch this week and therefore what I am going to have to buy at the grocery store. I'm thinking soup and possibly some sort of wrap. You'll have to check out my food blog later in the week to find out what I end up with. How is that for shameless self promotion?



**NaBloPoMo is short for National Blog Posting Month and as a participant you post a blog everyday for the entire month of November. I'm posting on my food blog so make sure you check it out and see if I can keep up with the challenge.

Detox

The next three days are detox days. Guess it's good timing seeing as Dad is coming for a brief visit on Wednseday. But seriously, I think I need a vacation from my life or at least to be more proactive about changing the things I am not happy about. Hopefully a clear head will give me new perspective.

The Alcohol Diet

According to my uncle's email this morning, now that I have passed my test I can return to the Alcohol Diet. If only he knew.

Tuesday: a couple of glasses of wine
Wednesday: happy hour with coworkers including beers and shots of tequila
Thursday: dinner with the marrieds and a bottle of champagne
Friday: girls night out in DC

By the time the weekend rolls around I am either going to have to switch to a detox diet or perhaps just go to rehab. I hear it has worked wonders for Lindsay Lohan.

So much time ...

... and absolutely no studying to do!!!! It is so very strange to go through my regular daily life, filled with scheduled study time, and have absolutely nothing to study for. I now have the 40 minutes on my bus ride to and from work, the half an hour when I arrive at work before I start work, my lunch hours, and time in the evening . . free, empty, and available to fill with absolutely anything.

This morning I finally got to reading Twinkie Demystified on my bus ride to work. I can now schedule lunches with coworkers and friends. Tonight I am going to Happy Hour, tomorrow I have dinner with the marrieds and who knows what the weekend will hold. Can it get any better?!

Adventurous Twenty Something MS RD

registered dietitian noun 1. A person who has fulfilled all the educational and examination requirements of the American Dietetic Association for recognition as a qualified nutrition specialist. 2. Me!!!!!!

The Time Has Come

The studying is done. I have read the information, taken notes on the information, reread the information, reread the notes, taken the practice tests, corrected the practice tests, reread the practice tests, studied my note cards and visualized success.

And now . . . I must go take the test.


Thank you everyone for all of your support, thoughts and prayers. I'm sorry in advance if you thought I was taking the test on Thursday (I was a little bit purposefully misleading about the reschedule date to relieve some pressure on myself) but I know you are thinking about me and sending all of your positive energy in my direction. Whether I pass or fail I know I have tried my best.

Where I Work

It's Friday. It's 4:15 and oh my lord the last 45 minutes of work are passing s-o s--l--o---w---l---y. With the realization that I have been telling you a lot lately but not really showing you anything I thought I would post a picture of my work neighborhood. The building in the bottom left corner is my building (although there is now another building where that big space of grass is). The circle in the middle of the picture is the park where I eat lunch everyday. And the big sidewalk area at the top right corner is the bus stop.

One Week Young!

And still as cute as a button!

The people on the bus get on and off

One of the benefits of riding the same bus route everyday is that you get to know "the regulars". It definitely makes it feel like home when you are surrounded by familiar faces both on the bus and at the bus stop. Some of these familiar faces I have had conversations with, others I just see on a daily basis, but each one is a part of my daily commute.

• High School Boy. He gets on the bus three stops after I do. He is either reading a book, playing his game boy or most frequently listening to music on his headphones. Regardless of what he is doing, he almost always falls asleep during the ride. Not just your normal head on chest falling asleep but rather the head-bobbing-body-swaying-I-can't-sit-up-straight-because-I-am-so-damn-tired asleep. It's quite humorous when he comes close to resting his head on the shoulder of the passenger next to him or, when people have decided not to sit next to him, when he almost tips over into the seat next to him.


• The Writer. This middle-aged lady is always on the bus when I get on at my stop. During the ride she is either writing her book, researching other books for material for her book, or trying to advertise her book to her "friends" on the bus. At first I used to sit near her and read over her shoulder. Then I eaves-dropped when she was discussing her book with her friend. Apparently it's an adult novel, she has a blog with posts about it, her fans send her boxes of clothes (which explains the strange outfits) and she is currently shopping around for a publisher. She also reads a lot of self help books like "What Men Want" which is what she was reading today.


• My Friends. During my first week of riding the bus I noticed that one of the ladies on the bus actually worked in my building. Shortly thereafter we started walking from the bus to our building together and having brief conversations. Sadly, last week her contract changed and she no longer rides the bus with me and I have to admit, I actually miss our morning conversations. My other friend rides my afternoon bus. A middle-aged Filipino woman, she uses me as a gauge for whether or not she is late. As long as she can see me standing there waiting for the bus, she knows she hasn't missed it.


• Irish Man. Yesterday I decided to take my alternate route home. After last weeks bus ran really late, I've decided that from now on I'll always take whichever bus comes first instead of always waiting for the same route. Unfortunately the alternate route is a lot more crowded which usually means I am left standing in the aisle. Yesterday I had the privilege of chatting with an elderly man wearing a red shirt, hot pink shorts, and maroon knee socks. At first he thought I was Irish and then, after telling him I was British, he started telling me the history of the Celts. Chatty and friendly, but not exactly what I was looking for at the end of the long day although he did make me an honorary Irishman for the day.

You know you are getting older when

• You log on to your email and all the new emails contain photos of children. Children that belong to your friends and siblings.


• 9pm is no longer the beginning of the evening; It is now referred to as "bed time".


• Falling asleep on the bus is no longer a rarity but an everyday occurrence.


• Your paycheck is split between your IRA, bills, rent and savings account instead of a new outfit, makeup, drinks and dinner.


• You bring a lunch to work everyday not because there are no restaurants nearby but because you would rather save the money for your future house or trip to Tanzania.

The wheels on the bus go round and round

Everyday I take the bus to and from work. It's great actually. I walk out of the door of my apartment and stroll down the block to the bus stop at the end of my street. After a brief moment enjoying the crisp fall air the bus arrives and I am whisked away to my work neighborhood. Droppped off a block away from my office it's a short beautiful walk through the park before I am sitting at my desk ready for a day of work. Then at 5 o'clock the process reverses itself as I admire the afternoon light shining through the trees in the park and people watch at the metro station before boarding the bus and heading back to my neighborhood. Or so it's supposed to go.

On Monday, the evening bus was more than 20 minutes late. So instead of taking my normal route I opted for a little adventure and took a new route home.
Pros: It's a faster route.
Cons: It drops me about three blocks from my house, not at the end of the street.

Yesterday, the bus was on time. However, about halfway through the ride home the driver pulled the bus over to the side of the road, got out of the driver's seat and left the bus. Bus still running, full of passengers, on the road with no hazard lights.
Pros: The driver didn't wet his pants.
Cons: The normally 40 minute ride turned into an hour long ride.

I'm one proud auntie!

Boy my nephew is photogenic!

Rescheduling

Today I realized that there was no way I would be ready to take the RD exam on Thursday. To avoid a mental meltdown, I have decided to move my scheduled test date back by one week.

Introducing

Finley James
October 12th 6:41pm
8 pounds 3 ounces

I'm An Aunt!!!!!

Mom and baby boy are doing well. He was born at 6:41 London time. That's all the info I have for now but full details to come soon!!

The Countdown Begins

6 days from now is the big day. Am I ready? You bet I am!

Okay, well I will be in 6 days. So what are my plans for the weekend? You got it! Study, study, study. Yesterday I was on schedule with my studying and had finished four of the five knowledge domains. With yesterday's lunch break and a little extra time this morning I am now halfway through the last domain. My goal is to finish this up tonight so that tomorrow I can begin the reviewing process. I will be reviewing my notes on all five domains tomorrow and then Sunday I will begin the practice tests. The goal at the end of the weekend is to feel comfortable with all five domains and ready to take the test so I won't have to stress out about it during next week. At least that's the plan.

Every now and then I think to myself, if I really am not ready I could always postpone but then the thought of having to tell everyone I rescheduled becomes too much to bear. That and the idea of spending another weekend studying. It's time to put this behind me so I can really enjoy living in DC!

Oh yeah, and get myself a real job.



DISCLAIMER: If I don't post blogs, answer phone calls or return emails over the next 6 days you know I'm not dead, I'm just really focused.

Roaches

When I first moved into my apartment I found that I had some unwelcome visitors. Yes, my friends, I had roaches. A quick trip to Target for some roach bait and Raid and the situation was under control. Or so I thought.

Yesterday when I returned to my apartment there was a friendly notice from the management company informing us that this Friday they would be spraying for roaches to "curve the roach problem". Apparently it's not just me who has been spending time with these little visitors.

The good news, I won't have to replace my roach baits this week.

The bad news, I now have to move everything out of the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and bathroom, off of the floor of the closets, and away from the floorboards throughout the entire apartment.**

The even worse news, I may have to do this all again in a month if (a)one of my neighbors is still having roach problems or (b)I have roach problems. Is it even worth putting everything back?



**This wouldn't be so bad if I had an extra evening to accomplish all this. Last night I went for a run before reading said notice and then decided to get my studying done first, which left all of a 1/2 hour to move stuff before collapsing into bed. Tonight I'm taking a night off and hanging out with the marrieds and their son. Looks like Thursday evening's plans will have to be cancelled or else I'm going to be up real late.

Uninspired

I keep trying to come up with something to write about, but in all honesty I just feel uninspired. My RD exam is in 9 days and I am trying my best to stay focused but at the same time I have never been the type to let studying stop life. I think this weekend might be the first time I have to let it.

NaBloPoMo

It's just under a month away but I have decided that this year I am going to take part in National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). The idea is you post something on your blog, everyday, for the entire month of November. Looking at this blog recently, you would imagine that this wouldn't be too difficult for me. So I've decided that instead of using this blog I am going to enter the challenge with my food blog.

To help with bloggers block Fussy has suggested that people post on a theme. So I started to think about what I would like to post about everyday for an entire month . . . and then it came to me. Recently I have been discussing with various people (co-workers, soul-friend, parents) the fact that I am in a cooking rut. I can't really blame it on the moving anymore, now it's just a lack of inspiration. So my theme for NaBloPoMo is: What's for Lunch? I'm going to use the challenge not only as motivation to start packing more interesting lunches for work, but it also means I get to work on my food photography skills.

So if you have any suggestions or ideas for things to pack for lunch, I'm all ears!

Incoming Phone Calls

As the receptionist it is my responsibility to answer all incoming phone calls. I have to admit there aren't that many, but the ones that come through are definitely interesting. The majority of the calls we receive are about commercial driver licences. Today I received a call from your typical sweet southern lady (SSL), here's a portion of the conversation:

• SSL: Is this the number I call for making an appointment to take my commercial drivers licence test?
  Me: You would need to contact your local DMV. What state are you calling from?
  SSL: Georgia.
  Me: The number you need to call is 4-0-4
  SSL: 4-0-4
  Me: 3-6-2
  SSL: 3-6- (heavy GA accent) what baby?
  Me: 3-6-2 (trying not to laugh)
  SSL: 3-6-2 ...

Gotta love the southern accent and a little bit of baby. Lucky for me the majority of our calls come from the great state of Georgia. Although this is the first time I have heard baby I have received some other fun phone calls. For example:

• Me: The number you need to call is 4-0-4.
  Caller: 4-0-4
  Me: 3-6-2
  Caller: 3-6-2
  Me: 6-5-0-0
  Caller: 4-0-4-3-6-2-6-5-0-0. Thank you.
  Five minutes later I answer the phone to the same caller.
  Caller: Can you give me that number again. I was trying to remember it, but I forgot. This time I'm gonna write it down.

And sometimes the caller decides to program the number in their phone with you on the line so you get:

• Me: 4-0-4
  Caller: BEEEEEEP, BEEEEEEEP, BEEEEEEP

Not Your Normal Wednesday

Today has been quite the day.

This morning we were all evacuated from our building due to a fire alarm. I have no clue whether it was a real fire or not, what floor said "fire" appeared on or why the firemen did not find it necessary to come introduce themselves to me. On the other hand it did allow me a twenty minute break from my icebox, aka my desk, to stand outside chatting with co-workers in the sunshine.

After returning to my desk I was greeted by random-guy-who-works-in-my-building. You might remember him from my second day of work when he asked for my phone number and I said no. Well, last week I saw him again, this time he was on my floor to help one of my co-workers with an issue he was having. Apparently random-guy-who-works-in-my-building works for the company that owns the building, not just in the building. Anyway, today he showed up at my desk with this note in his hand, "Since I can't have your number, can I take you out to lunch instead?" So it looks like I'll be having free lunch #4 sometime next week.

Outside of all of this, I am still trying my best to get over this little cold I have. Despite two nights of 9 hours of sleep I still fell asleep on the bus ride to work this morning and, to add insult to injury, I also fell asleep during my lunch in the park today. I can also pretty much bet you that I'll fall asleep on the bus ride home before I go to bed early for another 9 hours of sleep. Plus I'm developing a sore throat. And it's not even winter yet.

Baby Watch

In case you didn't know, my sister is just about 9 months pregnant. Her due date is October 7th. So for me that means baby watch has just begun. Since she lives in London it has been decided that the birth announcement will be coming through via text. It's the easiest way to get everyone informed all at once and not overwhelm the new mother. This means that everytime I see an out of country number on my phone I jump thinking, "This is it!" Unfortunately, because my Dad travels a lot and one of my close friends is living in Tanzania, I have recently had quite a few false alarms.

To go along with baby watch, everyone in my family is currenty placing bets on when they think the baby will come. My sister bet last weekend. Wishful thinking on her end but not a winning bet. Yesterday I told my mom the baby would come on the 10th or the 18th. I think my mom guessed the 12th. I'm hoping for the 18th because I think it would be cool to become an RD and an auntie on the same day! I know, I'm a dork.

Not a drug addict, I just have a cold.

Despite the gorgeous weather, it appears that I picked up a little cold over the weekend. Luckily my mom left me a few "get better" presents on my bed yesterday, so that when I returned home last night I was able to drug myself up and hit the hay for 9 hours straight. The only problem now, while I sit at the front desk, is finding a moment to stick the vicks inhaler up my nose when my coworkers aren't around. I fear it may look a little questionable when I hide behind the desk snorting my vicks and reappear wiping the end of my nose.

**Side Note: I just noticed that the active ingredient in Vick's Vapor Inhaler is levmetamfetamine. Interesting, very interesting. **

When Words Escape Flowers Speak (Part 2)

Did you get the memo?

Apparently someone forgot to tell mother nature it is in fact fall.

Mommy and Me Weekend

This past weekend my mom flew out from California to visit me here in Virginia. Although I had to pick her up from the airport at 6am on a Saturday morning it was absolutely wonderful to have her here. After catching the tail end of a farmer's market we spent Saturday wandering around the historic homes in Old Town Alexandria before heading off to the high school sweethearts house for afternoon tea. Sunday we slept in then headed over to Washington DC to explore the Botanical Gardens and the museum of Natural History. It was so much fun to show her some of the sights and sounds of my city. It also meant that I got a chance to use my latest toy . . . a Canon Rebel XT Digital SLR. So below I post pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!


A crate of pears at the farmer's market in Old Town Alexandria.


Sun dial in the butterfly garden.


Inside the conservatory.



FLOWERS FROM THE BOTANICAL GARDENS







LEAVES FROM THE BOTANICAL GARDENS