What I need to do this weekend:

PREP for interview at secondary school on Monday

Apply for other jobs floating out there

Dry clean outfit for interview

Buy new sneakers


What I want to do this weekend:

Go out and have some fun

Windowshop through Target, Best Buy, Marshalls, Banana Republic, and Kramers Books.



Counting down the hours until I leave this god-awful warehouse FOREVER!!! I don't mean to bite the hand that feeds me though, but I'm crazy excited to get work in D.C. Sick of the commute, tired of the wierd people who work and shop here, annoyed with the skeezeballs who leer and hang out by the bus stops after work. Must return to real civilization.

I learned today on GMA that today is the Happiest Day of the Year. I completely agree, even though I am acting like a pressure-cooker on maximum. I guess it's due to Summer Equinox and the long-lasting sunshine.

Excitedly filing new applications.

The pressure's on for me to get a new job. The bookstore has its own issues, and next week I work two days a week in Dupont Circle. But the warnings I've been getting that this was going to happen has been beneficial for me actually. Because it's a source of motivation to look for work. I've contacted people for references this week, and sent out tons of applications....and today I got an interview at a secondary school in Alexandria! I sent out the app only two days ago, and now I have one lined up. I hope it's the first of many promising things.

It's good to know that my efforts are paying off. In the meantime I start doing part-time in Dupont, but my roommate mentioned a community service activity that she does, which pays very well. Now that my work will be closer in town, I'll have more time and energy on my hands to do it. I'll temp wherever I can....GW, Georgetown, Howard...anywhere that's close.

But I've had a recurring fantasy that I worked part-time for Ben and Jerry's lately.....

My sister went up North today. Going to surprise my rents in coming home early. Jealous that she'll get some beach time in. But being in D.C. is good for me work-wise and play-wise, so I can't complain. I'm going to have a good summer. I feel it in my gut.

Since my boss is looking for me to to secure a better job in the near future, I'm sure he won't mind that I look and apply for some while I work.

Clubbing last week made me rediscover the exciting part of being single and get out of the negative side of it (i.e. loneliness). Having more single more friends around to do stuff with helps significantly too.

I even miss my roommate. She left to Atlanta for the week to see her family. She tells me to take an hour out each day to look for work. My brother-in-law and sister tell me that too, but I respond more to the truth than to verbal abuse. I still manage opportunities to walk around naked in the apartment while she's living there since our work schedules differ. But it's odd to associate the apartment without her in it.

And spending Sunday with my sister to shop and eat dinner with them made me realize that their phase in life is too real and too soon for me. She was eating more Tums than the steaks my brother in law made--which actually tasted good this time--and then hung out on the couch feeling crazy ill. We also went to Banana Republic because I needed shorts (still need some; never got any) and she tried on a dress for fun. Her stomach is still freaky 6-packed. She complained about how sore her boobs were and thought they were so big. I honestly haven't notice a change in size. I can still see her spine and the bones along her chest. My mom and I talked and she's worried about her body since she's always been so thin. We're sisters, but on such different planes. She's married, but it's so domestic and boring to me.

To work now. The harder I work, the better I can nurture my freewheeling lifestyle.

All I really wanna do this summer (besides land a decent job) is swim and party. Those are my priorities.

Go Celtics!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/sports/basketball/06nba.html?ref=sports

Go Bob Dylan and Obama!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4076339.ece

Go All-Girls' Colleges!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/education/03sisters.html?pagewanted=all


I'm up early because I came home late and was wiped out after continuing the project at work. I wanted to watch the Celtics, but I only made it through the first half hour when they were tied up with the Lakers at 11-11 when I went to bed. About to do some AM yoga so I can prep for the next leg of the project today. A little scared about it....I don't think I'm the right person for the job, but it's still my job to do, so I'll strive for the best.


Waiting for the weekend...desperate to unwind!

Being in Rockville today with my boss, I forgot to mention Friday night: He and his family invited my parents, sister and myself over to his family's house for dinner. His 14 year old daughter cooked the whole meal! She is like an aspiring chef. The meal was pretty ambitious and while it had some flaws, I thought it was nice. It makes me forget that my boss is actually a friend of the family and it was nice to see the casual side of him and not the workhorse side that I've come to know well these days. And his two daughters are as charming as ever. I got to talk more to the other sister since she wasn't doing the cooking...she's thinking about applying to med school! It's amazing to see these kids grow into their own identities. And then the younger chef daughter had her friend Lindsay over, who I swear looked like a third sister! She was quite a ham, loved playing with my cell phone, and when we were just getting acquainted, asked me "So what's your story?" I pretty surprised, but I loved it.

How come I can catalogue books that are older than any living person but I can't do it with books that are younger than my 2 year old cat? I am lacking focus today with the new stacks.

At least I'm able to sneak in applications to other places. I like that I have a boss and working environment who knows that my presence there is temporary. My main target? Fairfax County Public Schools. I think that's where I want to be. We'll see if I can get anything.

I had Day 1 of my temp job today. Tomorrow's my last day. I did a bunch of Excel work at my biiig desk. I didn't dare use the Internet, because it is a bunch of people in cubicles and being just a temp I erred on the safe side. I just listened to the way the people handled customer calls over the phone and listen to the occasional office talk around me.

Went to a librarian meetup in the Mission. It was so lively. I haven't been there in four months. Gives me good reason to go back. Smelled the food from Ethiopian and Mexican places in the area. Found the coffee shop. It was during "Ugly Betty," and there was this girl who looked and talked just like her! She wouldn't stop talking either and whining about how hard library school is (*eyeroll*). She just needed braces (and she actually needed them) and she would have been perfect. But all joking aside, she was kind of sweet. She even gave me a ride back to the bus station.

Got two letters from SFPL. I qualified for one job as a temp librarian, but I was rejected for the permanent librarian job because "I didn't have the education." I think they made a mistake. The sole basis in being considered is having a library degree, which I have. Besides, I never would have qualified for the temp library job without that. I called Andrea at SFPL and she told me to call them ASAP. I will tomorrow morning at 8 before I go back to the temp work.

I'm so close to a steady library job I can touch it, but the officials are just slapping my hand around.

...a baby doubles its size from birth. A space shuttle can travel to Mars for exploration. Four months ago, I was bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to fetch at my bosses' every beck and call. I had some work experience, but not as much responsibility as I was about to have when I slammed off the airport runway and reported to work 48 hours later.

Holidays are over. Four months have passed and I'm back in CA. New year, new place, new face. I walked into the building with all the power and command in me. I went to lady boss, and I kept the mood light by giving her some holiday gifts. One of them was a box of cranberry frog chocolates. A Boston candy, but I kept my animal spirit motif--a frog being between two worlds--strong. When we got down to business, she said that we weren't a match. I had no arguments there. My keys were off the ring already. I was prepared and after our three phone calls and e-mails over the holiday, I saw it coming. They don't know what they are planning to do with their business. They are questioning if one assistant is really enough in handling their entire business. They've talked about maybe hire a bunch of part-time workers who can be responsible for certain tasks. Either way, we aren't in each other's future.

What came next blew my mind. She had contacted four head Bay Area librarians on my behalf to see if they can help me get hired. 2 of them already expressed an interest in me. This is fabulous. If anything these four people can create ripples of interest through word-of-mouth.

They want to be my friends and my support system. And that's such a relief to hear.

I'm e-mailing all of them right now. I feel amazing. I may be jobless, but there is a lot of promise here. And now that it's 2008, there are a prospected 5 million jobs that are opening up to young people. I am really feeling good. I am free and I have a fire in me to get what I want. This life is my own. I am my own self.

It's nice to be home. My body clock is about 3 hours behind, so I'm staying up later until about 1 am.

My parents and I came to the conclusion that Option 2 would actually be better. Originally they thought Option 1 would be the way to go, but after a lot of thinking and studying the review, it seems that the bosses want me to become Wonder Woman in order to make them happy. I'd have to perform magic tricks to keep everything in order for them. There's no way I can change overnight, which is what they want me to do if I reported to work by the New Year. I'm not happy there anyway, so I may as well part ways and take them up on their offer to help me find something.

We got to put up the tree last night. It's kind of a dinky tree actually, but after putting on some ornaments, it looks better. My mom and I did it together. I'm kind of relieved that I can complete tasks without feeling graded and critiqued at home. At the same time, I hope I show my parents while I'm here that I have changed from my work experience, especially listening to people more thoroughly before jumping in to speak or act. That was really my #1 flaw that I set out to improve on, and being at work sparked that change. I hope I have carried that in every aspect in life now. But since I've been home I catch myself being a little lazy on completing tasks with the same precision and care from being at work. On one hand I'm on vacation, but I know it's not a good habit.

The snow is white still, it's cold outside, and I have a happy catty cat to snuggle up with. It's nice to be home.

Michelle and I watched "Before Sunset" tonight. The viewing of the prequel was a roaring success in the house, and some sweet seniors who watched that came back to watch the sequel tonight. It was really sweet. I still believe that if they are not the best romance movies ever made, then they are among the best.

I found a nice crepe house close to my residence. Incidentally, it's called The Crepe House! I had an Acaulpoco omelette with guacamole, avocado, salsa and black beans. Delicious!

I'm taking these last days to enjoy SF. Wherever I go from here, there's nothing I can do at this point except slow my life down between Dec. 13th and my flight home. So as much as I want an answer and a resolution for my job, all I can do is stop and look around me. No doing, no acting. I may as well follow lady boss's advice and enjoy the hustle and flow of the city even though there are seismic tremors in my career as I know it. How high it'll go on the Richter, I don't know.

I cancelled an appointment for a "shrink wrap" at Bliss thinking I would take too long during lunch. What I didn't know was that both of my bosses went overtime in their meetings and even went to lunch for two hours! Oh well, I saved myself $115. But it would have been a nice way to seal all of those "trying" events from the alst few days...

Just waiting to go home and see "Waitress" tonight at the residence as part of Movie Night.

Have you ever checked your watch before embarking through a winding mental maze about all the things in your life, spanning all corners from relationships, to family, to career, to money, to education, to the future, all with reflections on each thing, and realize that only a minute has passed you by since you first started to think about any of them at all?

Man boss sniped at me just now about a package that I didn't do a good job on. It's not that I didn't try: I did put everything in a smaller container, but they just didn't fit and I was afraid that the bag would burst. So I moved to the next size up while still maintaining enough protective padding. But, apparently it was still too roomy. I get self-conscious asking him questions because I know how busy he is. And he introduced a whole new concept to me: That out-of-state packages are done 3-Day Shipping as opposed to Ground. Up until now he always told me to use Ground because that was the cheapest. That was freaking news to me.

I almost lost it in the packing room....and I thought about the culmination of events that happened over the weekend since Thanksgiving. I probably wouldn't have let it shake me given what happened last weekend. Silently I did my flail-dance as an alternative to weeping, and I went back to correcting it. Can't the bosses just ease up a little? If they only knew what has been going on with me lately, but if I told them an iota about my personal life that just wouldn't be professional.

I hold myself accountable for every mistake I make, but I feel like sometimes they don't anticipate the learning curve that I'm on. They could have picked any other candidate with more experience than me. But look what they did. It just goes to show that you can be having a great day, but it's never over until it's over.

My major organs need some major rewiring.

I can bend the back of my chair waaaay back! It's really cool!

Can you tell how long I've been here today?!?!

Yay for hitting the gym for a run during lunch. Keeps me sane.

I ditched the office a half hour early at the thought of my bosses getting knackered with colleagues at a holiday party yesterday....and now I have a message saying they won't be in until the afternoon.

I came across other reasons why I want to go into Hospitality...because I like communicating with people. I like expressing myself to people. And I like to help people. On top of that, I think all of these are my strong points as far as my character goes. Now the question is, how the hell do I crack into that business?

Lucky me I decided to come in a half hour early because I tried to return those shoes. They wouldn't let me because I wore them outside....How could I forget that rule? Well, I didn't, but I didn't clean them off as well as I could have. I didn't fight it; they only cost me $15. If they cost more, I would have argued. But 'tis the season for charity, so I'll be an angel and give them to Goodwill. That'll be tax deductible anyway, so there's always another way to benefit.

I lost my willpower and gave in to spaghetti and meatballs. The portion wasn't so huge, but I dined anyway with Chris. Then I thought about French, and how he hasn't been around the residence, and how I haven't been able to get in touch with him, and the idea that he just might be ignoring me---and I ate a few too many Oreos because of it. I felt so gastronomically loaded that I almost didn't go to Hip Hop Jazz class. But I dragged myself only because I knew we were learning a new routine. I was so glad I did...it really perked up my spirits and I felt beautiful even with frizzed out hair, my belly bouncing out of my shirt, and with my hands in the air when they should have been by my shoulders at one step during a super-quick tempo. Overall though I was really impressed that I picked up the routine being a brand new one. I think it's muscle memory and having some practice. I get inspired by the other dancers too...they come in all shapes, sizes, and ages, and they dance spectacularly. There's always a nice camaraderie there.

I wanted to tell Jason about French. Besides Chris, he is like my other brother in the residence. I think he'd understand since he has a girlfriend who also lives in the house. I almost told Chris, but I kind of like Chris and it would be wierd. Plus he's friends with French and I didn't want to put him in the middle. I kind of dropped a reference to French at dinner with him, and he doesn't seem to know about us. But Jason was on the phone with his boss, and I was too tired from Jazz and I just started to snooze on the lobby couch with a newspaper on my face.

It's raining a little today...the weather reports that we need some rain here. It last rained the day I started my whatever-people-call-it with French a month ago. Still in the dark about us. He is busy, and I know that other people at the residence haven't seen him either. I just hope he's not avoiding me and using work as an excuse. But if it is, then that's the way it is. We were never close enough to get my feelings hurt. But this story is still incomplete.

Man boss went to holiday party. Lady boss never showed up at the office today, and she picked him up at 4 to go over there.

Now I'm all alone until closing time....woo-hoo! I need to take back those 8 1/2 wedges....they are muchos grandes!! I'll clean off the bottoms first. Good thing I keep two extra pairs of shoes at work.

Hip Hop Jazz is tonight. Spaghetti and meatballs will also be served tonight, but I don't think I'll be able to eat it right before the class. Whatever, I'll wait until I go home in two weeks and make it myself! J.D. said that he'd have new moves for us tonight, so that'll be exciting. We've been doing the same routine for about 3 weeks now. I love it, but I'm ready for something new.

Waah, I put hand creme on and now the toggle on my mouse doesn't scoll down. It can go up though. I think I've done this before, but it finally went back to normal after a couple of days. Oh well, at least Wednesday's going down with the ship. At least 2 more days to bear with it.

I. am. SICK. of. being. the only. assistant. at this JOB!!! YEARGH!!!!

I am surrounded by bosses. It's not that I mind taking direction. I just miss having group interactions at work and being with other assistants who do what I do and being a team with people on my end of the job.

Maybe it's all the more drive to find something better in the long run. Which leads me to my new favorite field......Hospitality! I think that would be the perfect fit for me. I think I'd be a natural, and I would be happy. I know that the highlight of my job is when I interact with clients here. I like working with people and helping them, and if given the chance I could really thrive in hospitality.

At least through my experiences here I can pinpoint what I like about this profession and carry it into a long-term career that is different but even more fulfilling.

I spent 5 hours yesterday packing giant books for two shipments. I was flying high after making two sales on Friday, and I felt very accomplished with packing up the books for one shipment to New York. The other one, which had books from three different bookshops en route to Ireland, was not so good. The problem was, I already knew it. I even asked my boss if he could look at it, but he never had time for me. So there it sat. In its shabby glory, it was sealed and packed. I had a nice sturdy one before, but he said it was too big and shipping for it would be expensive. So after calling the maintenence department, they suggested that I go through the boxes by the trash and find a large enough box. I did, but it was just a little worn in for my taste, but the size was just perfect. With the other big box we just transferred with the New York shipment. I spent at least 90 minutes just finding the right boxes to hold big cargo. And the funny thing is, he had me pack that package alone before he helped me with the other package. So I was blindly preparing one giant package before being guided with the other giant package. Maybe I should have undone the first package after I saw the way he did it, but by then it was 2pm and I was hungry for lunch and I had a new project for the lady boss to deal with. But he didn't give me enough instructions for it; he cared more about another package which he helped me with.

Today I had a talk about it. He kind of laughed through it. I have never packed GIANT books before. Let alone ones from multiple bookstores that are going overseas. It is a learning curve. Just a freaking learning curve. Nevertheless, he packed it up the right way by himself. Arrrrg!

I have my own projects now and that's what I'm doing. And, I think I can safely say that I'm doing A-O.K. with them.

I swam for a good hour at the gym this morning. I even saw Lydia's boss again at the pool just as I was cooling down. And, I'm taking Frenchie for what he is. A booty-calling Parisian. That's it. That's all I'm telling myself anyway. I don't get him. Maybe he didn't want to be around a virgin? Not that he knew that I was one. Maybe he's sampling the stars and stripes of other ladies here? Whatever. If it's over I'll need to find someone else to spoon with and will also go out with me every now and then.

I made my first sale today! Woo-wee! Because man and lady bosses were out I talked with a customer on the phone who was playing phone tag here, and after I outlined the specifics of a collection of books, he said he'd buy them! I took the initiative to ask for his method of payment, but still assured him that he wouldn't be charged until the details were finalized with the man boss.

Worked up the nerve to call Mr. French 5 times last night. Knocked on his door twice. No answer on any of those tries. This makes me all the more determined to reach him. After 9:30 when there was no answer for the last time, I went on a tame Double Stuf Oreo binge. Not too wild; I actually controlled it this time. Maybe because my belly started to ache early on. I know he's busy. He even bought a Crackberry, which I learned at our quiet dinner on Tuesday.

Woke up in the middle of the night. Had dreams that I was dating around with a few guys and doing cable car tours, and one of them called me over the phone telling me that he had a good time. I woke up at around 3:30. I couldn't fall back asleep. So I tried on my wedges and walked around the halls. They are a size 8 1/2, but they seem to fit pretty well. So I'll give them a chance. Besides, my shoes in 7s haven't been good to my feet lately. Moral: shoe sizes vary by designer and type. I'm sure every girl and metrosexual knows that already, but having been raised on low shoes, it feels good to branch out from plain flats.

I'll deal with French when I get back. My lady boss rewarded me of my sale with a closing time of 4pm instead of the usual 5:30!

I forgot to ask my boss for my paycheck yesterday! And today he's out golfing! Arg.

My stomach feels sick after eating that baked potato for lunch. I hope I'm not getting sick. Or worse, love-sick.

I'm getting 2 pairs my jeans hemmed. I received a pair of 3'inch shoes from a lady who was leaving the residence. Nice fun yet practical shoes for the time being, and perfect for determining the length of my party jeans. Also bought a pair of wedges marked from $44 for $14! That costs less then getting my jeans hemmed! I finally have wedges! Woo!

Lydia thinks I should work up the nerve to talk to Frenchie. I should, but why do I feel like I'm not good enough for him when all I ever did was practically everything else that he wanted to do with me?

O.K., back to work. Someone's gotta do it and I have too much stuff on my desk to lolly around.

My Thanksgiving dinner is tonight!! Rockin'!

Last night I had dinner with Chris and Randy. I have so much fun with them and they are so easy to talk to. Chris answers all my questions about fitness, and Randy makes me feel O.K. about eating during the holidays even though he's serious about health too. We talked about guilty pleasure stuff, like "300" (a guy thing) and "The Bachelor" (a girl thing)! I think Chris is especially growing on me. His is kind of like a brotherly figure though. And that's something I've always wanted. Generally I'm so happy that I've found a California clique/family at my residence. Social politics at school don't really apply anymore; we can just be ourselves and that's enough to connect. I'm getting over the quirks of the older nuts in the house and the more I learn about them, they're benign.

And even though I have something going on with Frenchie, it's not serious. Besides, I think Frenchie made me sick again because I'm all congested after seeing him on Sunday. I have a feeling that I won't be seeing him for the rest of the week now that it's Wednesday and he'll be away on Thursday. I think right now a little distance and reflection would be good for me anyway.

My Hip Hop Jazz class is cancelled tonight, so this morning I went to an Athletic Interval class. Who did I run into but my boss's coworker, a.k.a. Lydia's boss. I was so surprised, but I was glad to hold my own and keep up even though my body felt like jelly when it was over. I survived but now I'm exhausted! Thank goodness people are travelling today and nobody is coming in for business.

I haven't had T-dinner yet, but in the last two days I've already regained the 5 pounds that I've lost over the last two weeks! Cripes!

The photographer that I worked with all last week is coming by to pick up her equipment at around noon, exactly when I was going to my yoga class during my lunch break. I felt uncomfortable not being there while they were picking up their stuff in the office. She suggested that I leave a key with the bookshop next door, and I didn't want to look like a slacker while the bosses were away. I didn't even bring sneakers so I could improvise if I had to miss yoga.

What's a distressed Millennial to do when her schedule revolves around her yoga class?

I looked up the schedule for Thursday classes, and the gym has a Pilates Props class at 5:30. I called the photographer right back and settled it. So I'll be here when she picks up her stuff, I can attend a Pilates class after work, and make it home in ample time to watch 'Ugly Betty.'

All settled! ;-)


http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3486473n