Recovering Unemployement Addict

Despite the fact that I still am unemployed, things are looking up. I've received call-backs from two universities and at least three staffing agencies. I have my first actual job interview tomorrow, and my second is scheduled for June 30th. Maybe your friend Ryan actually will be employed by the end of this summer. Keep your fingers crossed.

In other news, my back still hurts. It is not as bad as it was when my body was gearing up for that once a month JOY we call "female troubles," but it still sucks to have shooting pains run down your quads and to have your butt feel sore from (my best guess) sympathy pain. I am even enjoying the every other day kidney pain - cuz you know that a one-kidneyed person enjoys nothing less than pulsating spasms through the last of the pair.

What else? Oh, yes, I woke up with a migraine today and it's still hanging out behind my left eye. I have an appointment to see a staffing agency later this afternoon and I can barely begin to tell you my joy at having a headache all morning. If I'm really lucky, the migraine will return just in time for the meeting.

Whew. The house is quiet today though. We accidentally took the girls out for a two hour walk yesterday and now we have counted TEN ticks that we have pulled off their body (or the couch or bed they were sleeping on). They are so exhausted now that they barely even want to lift their heads to make it over the lip of their bowls for breakfast.

At least it means they are quiet.

And San and Preyasha have gone off to Hampton Beach for the day, only to leave the house to me and my headache, and my insanely cleaning-crazy mother. For once, the television isn't on with the volume up to decibals that the Jolly Green Giant can hear, and no one is trying to talk to me. That makes the migraine oh-so-much easier to deal with.

Anyway, I should probably hop into the shower and smell pretty for my meeting with the staffing agency. I hear they like that sort of thing. I may even wear something other than my pajamas.

(Erin, wish me luck!)

Overqualified

I stopped by my local Temp Agency yesterday (all doped up on Flexerall by the way) and was politely informed that I was too qualified for any job they have at the moment. I'm not sure how that works in my favor, but for the time being I am still unemployed. Of course, I am free to call the recruiter one to two times a week to check for new listings. Whatever.

So today I have another appointment with a different Temp Agency. This time, however, I applied to a specific job posting on Monster.com and they called to invite me to come in. I can't imagine that I am overqualified for this position - otherwise they wouldn't call, right?

Yeah, well, that's the excitement here in good old Clinton, Mass.

In other news, it appears as though Anthony will be moving to D.C. within the next month or two. We finally came to a decision on what to do about moving in together, and it goes a little something like a conartist scam: I give Anthony all the money I've saved and he goes to D.C.

Okay, that's not really the end of the story. He's going to get an apartment big enough for the two of us (I'll be house-hunting with him though) and stay there by himself for about six monthsy, while I continue to work and save here in Massachusetts. Once I've paid off my loan from my mom (for my last move from NYC to Philly), established a bit of savings, and find a job in the D.C. Metro area, I'll be back in D.C. for however long Anthony's job down there lasts.

Blah. I am feeling very "blah" today. I think I'll go to that job interview now.

My, My, My! What a Big Ass You Have, Grandma!

Cheating Never Looked So Fun
Originally uploaded by Pookah.

I can't resist. As part of our month-long anniversary extravaganza,I took Anthony mini-golfing. This is a lovely shot of me, cheating. On the score card, I shot a 2 on this hole. In reality, I hit the ball twice and then blew the ball the rest of the way in.

Anthony still ended up KICKING MY ASS (doesn't he know that's not the best way to kiss up to your girlfriend?).

Because You Didn't Get Enough...

Anthony
Originally uploaded by Pookah.

And neither can I, apparently.

On Being a Fairy Godmother

Sarol
Originally uploaded by Pookah.

When Sarol was born, my mom gave me a magic wand and named me a fairy godmother. Several years later and this is what we have.

We spent all afternoon looking for just the right toys for the "girls" - and by the "girls" I mean Tess and Chloe, my mom's dogs. We picked up a Finding Nemo pool, three squirt guns, a gate, and a bottle of soap bubbles for me.

We tried to get the dogs into the pool so they could enjoy the humidity in the relative coolness of Dory and Nemo's presence, but instead we had Sarol running around squirting us and then jumping in the pool in all her clothes. This was the last 30 seconds of pool time before she stepped out, Christy said they had to go, and Sarol began to scream that unearthly scream that only young children can get away with without anyone beating them to a bloody pulp for the commotion.

To Celebrate, Remember, and Honor

North Carolina
Originally uploaded by Pookah.

In celebration of one year of dating bliss, here is the post that those of you from college have been begging for: a picture of Anthony. Granted, you can't see much of him with my big old schnoz blocking the view, but you can at least tell that he's taller than me (6'4") and is blond.

Oh, and that's the Blue Mountains of North Carolina behind us. (The picture is from my first trip to NC last July.)

Long Time A Comin'

Okay, so I haven't written in a while, and Vince recently asked me, "Now that you've moved, are you going to start posting to your Blog again?" Gosh, I didn't realize how much you guys cared! OF COURSE I will!

I really don't know where I left off though. Somewhere around Wendy's, but long after I canceled DSL in my Philadelphia apartment.

Since then, I moved to lovely Massachusetts, where I will remain jobless, shriftless, and thriftless for as long as humanly possible.

Actually, that's not true. My mom claims that I owe her $3,000 a month for rent and I spent all day yesterday trying to up the ante on Monster.com. Would you believe that there are more available Editorial Assistant jobs in the state of Massachusetts than I could ever find when I was looking in NYC???! Well, THERE IS. Although nearly all of them are in healthcare. So if I really take a liking to the the mitochondria and nucleus of cells, I could really have something going here.

What I've discovered however is that I can never again try for a job whereby I have to lift heavy, semi-heavy, or even light-as-a-feather objects, as I have now spent the last month with chronic back pain. Sometimes the pain even rushes down the sciatic nerve in my leg at the most inconvenient times - like when I'm trying to sleep at night. It's been a real pleasure knowing that this was coming - both my mom and uncle have had surgery for herniated disks in their lower lumbar region- and it is ever more so now that it is here.

This morning, for instance, I woke up, brushed my teeth, and started to wash my face. When I tried to bend over the sink to wash the soap off my face so that suds and baking powder (don't ask) wouldn't run all down the front of my pajamas and on the floor, I realized that I couldn't move forward. Honest.

So now I'm without health insurance and about to make an appointment with the doctor. There's nothing more fun than being 26 (well, almost) and having your body give out on you. Dr. Claves (she's my Philadelphia doctor) is always mentioning that someone my age shouldn't have a file as large as mine. I was thinking that it's been nearly a year since I last added something good to it, so here we go to the doctor's again!

I have also realized that if this back bullshit continues that I'm going to have to sink $2,000 into a mattress. My mom has a Temperpedic mattress and it is HEAVEN to lay in. In fact, we spent about an hour today just lying on it. It's like floating on a marshmallow cloud.

What that really means is that my back likes the Temperpedic so I like the Temperpedic. Enough said.