Job Interview!

Well, I received a phone call, while I was out grocery shopping for Annika's birthday party, and apparently they want to interview me! Whooo Hoo! Now, what does one wear to a "business casual" office environment while on a job interview? Even further complicated by the fact that I have virtually nothing to wear! I do not want to buy something, but I must look presentable!! Hmmmm ... can I tell you how much I hate this "appropriate dressing" part of a job. grumph!

And then my other delima? I need to find kiddo care while I go to the interview. And if I start this summer? I need to find kiddo care while I am working too. Oh so many things to think about and I do not even have the job. Yet. I (think) I hope.

Wish me luck!

Derailed by End Of School Celebrations

I actually worked on cleaning the mudroom one day this week; the other days I either spent working at my job or spent preparing for the end of the school year celebrations. Yup, it is that time again. Soon the kids will be free from school and longing around the house.

But until that time I will probably be fairly busy, and as I suspected, I am not going to make my Sunday deadline for finishing the mudroom. Oh well. The office is still looking good.

Tired

Stayed up till 3am last night filling out this wacky on-line application for a job. Among the insane requirements were some very bizarre questions, such as, "How would you address multiple issues in your group?" Anyone care to explain that question, because both Bill and I went, HUH?

Well, it is over. I applied. We'll see how it all turns out. ....seems like a lot of work for 15-20hrs a week.

Job Guilt

I am sort of job hunting right now. I do not really want a job during the summer, but I have some feelers out getting ready for the fall when I want to start. And people are letting me know if a position becomes available that they think may be of interest to me. Yes, in this economy there actually are jobs available. Mostly part time, but jobs none the less.

Right now I am working a gig that has me go to the food bank and other venues that dole out free food to all those un- and under-employed folks out there. And there are many!

I'm starting to feel very guilty that I am looking for a part time job, not to survive off of, but to supplement my retirement and allow our family to have a nicer vacation. I mean, when we can pay our bills off of Bill's salary alone (and by no means do we live high on the hog, we have just made some frugal and wise financial decisions, and we are lucky with Bill's current job looking secure for now.) and many others are looking for work to feed their family or to keep a roof over their head ... I start to feel very guilt about taking away that paycheck from them.

I agree that we still have to keep making wise and frugal decisions, and you never know, Bill could loose that job tomorrow. But still ....

I'm feeling guilty. That is all I'm sayin'

The Beginning

I cleaned up the mudroom floor today; 20 pairs of shoes and 4 pairs of boots were removed from our floor! *I* had the fewest pairs, and I was the only one not wearing yet another pair of shoes. However, I took 5 purses, three bags, and two coats off the hooks - and those were ALL mine.

I also told everyone that sometime this week they would have to take everything out of their cubbie and clean it out. Luckily it is almost the end of school, so the girls will not be adding more and more stuff to their cubbies each day! You'd think that was all part of my master plan ... wait until school was out to tackle this room. You could think that, and I'll let you, but you'd be wrong. Its just luck.

Decluttering the Mud Room

Take a deep breath, because this looks pretty bad! Are you ready for what I am currently tackling? I would like to finish it by the Sunday, but it is a busy week, so we'll see. This is a lot of work, and there is one cubby full of junk for each family member. I may just take everything out, put it in a box (one for each member) and let them deal with the contents.

See ya next week for the results!

A Clean Office

I did it! I met my deadline of finishing the Oval Office by Sunday! Whew! This first venture into "joint" cleaning and organizing has been rewarding and frustrating! I have decided that I am Lucy to my friend's Ethel; she agreed to go along with some of my wacky ideas!! There were moments that I questioned myself, but ultimately I am very glad I plowed through frustration and the likes thereof.

The results, you ask:

The previously cluttered floor in front of the shelves, now barren!

The bookshelf is organized, neat, and clean! I am not sure about the odd grouping of plants on the top - when we put these shelves in last year I envisioned plants on the top, but just never got around to putting any up there. And, believe it or not, I really do not have many plants in this house. I think I was too busy nurturing young kids, and had no energy left for the plants. I am starting to feel I need more green in the house, so I may soon-ish have plants up there.

I was challenged by part of the bottom area of the shelving, as I use it for storing some of my "office work" stuff. I have different papers, envelopes, notebooks, and even some odd shaped stuff for girl scouts or whatever project I am currently working on. I may go out and purchase something more attractive than the white plastic drawers, but for now it works and I was very happy that I did not have to purchase anything!

The piano is clean! No dust or extraneous items on it.

The desk is clean and decluttered. I have a small "in-box" to store some items I am currently working on, or need to grab for a meeting etc. Other than that there are no "things" on my desk and I intend to keep it that way!

I painted the window trim, washed the screens and put them back in, and I even washed the window treatments and re-hung them. Harder to do than I thought; this simple treatment really confused me! Yesterday, however, was nice and I was able to hang the curtains on the line, which was really nice!

Finally, I washed the carpet and was done! Well, I am bothered by this little area rug we have squeezed between the desk chair and piano bench. I love the rug, but it was a cheap Walmart purchase from when Bill and I lived in Dublin, so 8-9 years ago. And it WILL NOT stay in place. I walked over it once or twice and it bunched up like this. I am seriously contemplating removing it. I actually would kinda like to put in on our front porch, but rain would ruin it. So, who knows.

Anyway, I finished the Oval Office and am now on to the next project: The mud room. Ouy Vay