goings on...

I haven't been a very good blogger lately, but here is an update on things I have done in the past few weeks:

#1 best thing to happen in the past few weeks is that my bff Brenna is finally home!  I am so excited that she is here, but a little sad that she is so itching to leave again.  The day she got home Gretchen, Heidi and I made her lunch and some welcome home signs.  It is weird that she has been gone for a year, but it doesn't really feel that way.  Then I went to dinner at her house for two different nights of a "family" open house...it was fun to hang with the P's.  I talked to Bren's sister Brie about her new truffle/card company Blue Calla Kreations - Check her out.  Here is a pic of Brie, Brenna and I at Brenna's welcome home party, which was also super fun!  Oh how I missed my brenny.

Beyond Bren being home I have been working on a few volunteer jobs.  I have been doing a few things for the Alliance for Sustainability to help get ready for the Sustainable Communities Conference coming up on March 12 and 13th.  When I say doing a few things I mean making a lot of phone calls.  I wasn't the best volunteer since if someone didn't answer I called it good and crossed them off my list.  I just hate making calls!  The second set of people I called wasn't so bad, I pumped out 50 calls in 2 hours or so.  Next weekend I will be helping at the conference which is more my style...hands on.

Even though I swore to everyone I would never volunteer for anything again I have already signed up with another group called Great River Greening.  I will be supervising groups of 5-15 people working to remove invasive species and plant natives along the Mississippi River.  I think this will be a little better for me, but we will see.  I have a training on April 10th.

I am also volunteer assistant coaching for the High School Track team this year.  We had a coaches meeting on Friday and it was really fun to catch up with a few old friends and I am really excited to start the season.

On that note...I really need a job!  A paying job.  I keep finding volunteer things I want to help with, but I force myself to forget about them since I am running out of cash real quick.  I have a list of jobs to apply for this week and I WILL have a job by the end of the week.  In this case when I say job I mean anything that pays me.  I am still waiting to hear back from two career jobs, so here is hoping.

Whew, this is a long post.  To speed things up....

I have started reading Eat, Pray, Love.  I have worked out consistently for the last 5 days.  I have a new goal to read one issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine every day until my stack is gone. I have beat Jake in 19 in 21 games of Foosball.  I am still awesome.

today today

Today I am super bored.  Although it has been an excellent day, now that I have applied to every single job I can find I feel like I have nothing to do when in fact I have a ton to do!  Makes a ton of sense I know...

I ran 1.7 miles today...it was supposed to be the usual 3 but our streets had not been plowed yet so it was very slow going and exhausting.  I am really hoping I get a career job soon so that I can sign up for some races this spring/summer/fall.

This weekend was fun - except when I had to chase a dog around the neighborhood for close to 40 minutes!  In the snow. In the DEEP snow.

Kier and Nic were up and some friends came over for a taco lunch on Saturday.  Now I will be eating tacos for the rest of the week.

I have a job that I want more than anything in the world, but I am trying not to get excited about it since then the universe will punish me by not giving it to me.  Here's hoping.

I love watching the Olympics.  Cross-country skiing was on today and it was so exciting - makes me miss skiing so much that I might actually go for a second time this season.  Oh, btw starting March 15th I am going to help out with the high school track team, that will be fun.
 

This is a random blog post.

How can I get Kris Freeman to love me?

Job Stats: Update

I applied for 7 jobs on Sunday, bringing my grand totals up to:

16 applications pending
5 rejections (of the 7 I applied for on Sunday I have already been rejected by 2)
5 left to apply for (will be done today)

Then it is on to calling all of these places and then harassing all of the other companies in the US and abroad who are not advertising openings.

I am also working on getting signed up for my LEED certification exam.  I haven't studied at all, I haven't even bought the manuals, but I figured I had better have something to show for my time of unemployment...

Job Stats

Now that I got blogging out of my system for the week I had best get back to writing out cover letters.  Here are the job stats as of now.

Rejections: 2
Waiting for a reply: 10
In process of applying: 14

I will be getting that 'in process' section down to at least 10 today.....  Now if only one of them would hire me I could RELAX!  That's right, I am currently conducting a study that proves it is actually more work to look for a job than it is to actually have a job.

Job Hunt

So although I don't have much hope for a job I really want in Manhattan, I have been searching the globe and have found 13 more landscape architecture positions to apply for.  It is time to start pumping out those cover letters.  I am thinking I can finish 3-4 per day.  I am also still waiting on a job in Aspen, CO, but considering I applied the day after they posted the position I have been told via e-mail to be patient...

Anyone else kicking themselves...???

Here is a conversation I had on the phone today with a prospective employer:

Me: Did you look at my stuff yet?  Can I have a job?
Them:  Well we did start reviewing applications but it will take a while since we have over 300!!!!! 
Me: Well f me.

So I am pretty much crossing that one off the list.  That leaves me one hope left to actually become a landscape architect any time soon.

I am kicking myself for thinking I am anything special and not taking an Americorps job that would have started January 11.  What an idiot.

Dear Rebuilding Together:
Please call me and say whomever you hired instead of me fell off the face of the earth and you really really want me to work for you.  I just might accept.

...empty

So I have finished all of the Sookie Stackhouse novels that are available to me and now I don't know what to do with myself...  (I even checked the libraries in the area and all copies of the 9th book are out)  I mean I guess I could start a different book, but what's the point if it doesn't include a dreamy vampire like Eric!

Cross the following off of my 'bucket list' (I hate that phrase):

My car ran out of gas on the way to work yesterday!  Thankfully I was on my way to the gas station, but my car just quite working about 100 feet away from the turn lane.  Something I didn't know...your power steering goes out if the car has no gas...it was definitely a struggle to pull the almost U turn I need to get into the parking lot.  I was able to coast most of the way, but fell short by about 15 feet and had to ask some guy to PUSH ME!  It was mortifying.  And of course I kept babbling like a fool, saying this has never happened to me blah blah blah.

About the only other thing new with me is that I started working at Costco for the holiday season.  I repeat it will only be for the HOLIDAY SEASON!  I will have a 'real' job after that if it kills me...wait, don't they cancel your student loans if you are no longer among the living?  Where is vampire Eric - whoops there I go again fantasizing that I am Sookie.

Also, my grace period is officially up and I have to start paying off my student loans at the end of the month. Ug

Random: did you know that the new standard in typing is to only put one space in between sentences...this could take some getting used to.

Also random:  I NEED to start working out again!  I have put it off because I haven't been able to find the pair of shoes - I am very particular about my running shoes and I haven't found a replacement for my beautiful New Balances yet.  I have bought and returned two pairs already.

Music:  Has everyone heard the new song by Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson?  It is great, although I don't like the begining much.  Stream The Current more if you haven't...