Tuesday, November 8, 2011

week three is underway

And alas ... it happened. I have settled into complacency. I think I have applied for every listed position at every major university, hospital, business and employment agency in the NJ area, and as well as a few in NY.  My careerbuilder and monster daily updates contain nothing but jobs I've already seen and submitted. And still I wait. No word on the interview from two weeks ago either.  And remarkably, I don't even feel sad. Insulted, of course; not sad. That must be significant.

Over these three weeks, I've had a continuous onslaught of miserable personal appointments. I suppose it's convenient that all of this takes place with no disruption to an employer, but it sure is making it difficult for me to appreciate this little home-time I've suddenly been granted.  On the other hand, being able to go to the gym whenever I want, be home when B gets back from school, and wander the empty house without interruption does soften the blow. And I *have* gone to the gym! Four times so far, and I'll go two more this week! I also replenished my supply of jeans, since the same few pairs were plenty when I wore work clothes five days a week. (Maybe I should have waited for the gym results to set in!)

I wander around town and everywhere I go, I bump into someone from my former life, when I didn't spend seven hours a day at a desk, wondering where my boss was and if he had anything he needed done. It reminds me of just how miserable I really was there, and how I need to focus on making the right move for my next chapter rather than jump into something that leads to nowhere and returns nothing.

Today is a noteworthy day, because I have a meeting with a cohort of my former employer; the poor man agreed to the meeting just to get the former boss off his back, and he has already rescheduled me once. I almost feel sorry that I have to take up his time, but I'll try to shake that feeling by the time I step into his office.I also discovered that there was also a career fair to which I had been 'invited.' I thought the fair was tomorrow, but in my spam folder this morning I found a notice that the day had arrived - today. Sad to say, I won't be able to make it due to the conflict with the aforementioned meeting.  This revelation was not hard to accept: every single company is either an insurance/financial services firm looking for salespeople or an employment agency.

On the home front, we had a great weekend driving down to Virginia for M's meet. The girls did great, they did not expect to win any of the meets but in fact they beat two of the other four teams. A couple of the freshmen, one especially, are exceptional, and there are a few strong older girls as well. M is pushing herself harder than she ever did at this point in the season and her times are reflective of the effort. Unfortunately, in this D1 arena, those times aren't quite enough! I also believe she is training for distance, which is slowing her down on some of the shorter races. Her longer events are consistently impressive compared to past years' performances. It will be interesting to see how she does next weekend, when they rest for the meet in Boston.

And in other news, B has managed to complete the first marking period with only one grade below a B, and a GPA for the marking period in the low/mid-80s. This may not sound impressive but at his school and with his record, it's cause for celebration. He's also continuing with the tech crew, waiting to hear if he has a role for mock trial, attending the law explorers meetings and volunteering at the nursing home.  He met with a guidance counselor yesterday who really wasn't too helpful other than suggesting a couple of 'safety' schools, which is where we were coming up short. It's really easy to come up with a long list of reach schools! But still we await the PSATs and then have to schedule the SATs before any of it means anything concrete.




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