Me and the Pope

Let's play spot the Pope...

Do you see him?

I took this picture as the Pope whizzed by in his Popemobile. Pretty damn good timing on my part considering I didn't have a digital camera at the time so I had no idea if I'd even caught him. Plus that Popemobile drives fast! Honestly, if there is a Vatican speed limit I'm pretty sure the Pope was breaking it.

Now, I don't exactly like talking about religion, but for the record I will say that I am not Catholic. But I am surrounded by Catholics. I swear, they follow me wherever I go. 

And when one is in Rome one indulges their Catholic friends with a trip to Vatican City (like I'd pass up a chance to visit any place remotely related to history) especially after said friends were kind enough to be dragged all over Rome indulging my love of ancient Roman ruins. And let me tell you, if you are a history (or art) buff go visit the Vatican Museum, it is spectacular!

Anyway, most of the world knows that the current (above-pictured) Pope is retiring. In essence, he put in his two-weeks notice. So has someone else.

That's right, all this to say I got a new job! And I will try to condense the story as much as possible.

The place I recently applied at called and offered me a position in a different department from what I had originally applied for. At first I hesitated to accept and asked for time to think about it. Truth be told, the phone call woke me up since I was out of town at the time and sleeping in after celebrating my friend's bachelorette party the night before. I wasn't hungover (really didn't drink that much) but I hadn't gotten to bed until around 4:00am so a 9:30am phone call had me scrambling to figure out why there was noise coming from my phone. (Can you tell I don't get called much?)

Anyway, I thought about it over that weekend, talked to one of my brother's friends who works there and decided this department might be a good fit for me. So I called them and accepted the position. I'm still not sure exactly what my duties will be so that has me a little nervous but everyone I've met there has been so nice and welcoming that I'm hoping it will be okay. Plus the benefits are great and the pay is more than I could ever hope to dream for as a starting wage. The only bad part right now is that the job starts at 8:00am which means getting up at 6:00am and I am not a morning person at all. But I guess it is practice for a baby since no baby seems capable of sleeping in.

And if I find that the job isn't a good fit for me (or me for the job) then I do have my back-up plan of going back to school (and begging to return part-time or full-time at my old job). But for now I am cautiously optimistic. Finally I will be making enough to tempt a mortgage lender which ultimately means the gears of my baby-making plan have begun their motions.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Oh Grumpy cat, you crack me up.

The January Doldrums

I thought I would be happy and excited once the December rush was over and the new year had begun but instead I just feel....blah. However, I don't want to infuse my blog with doom and gloom right now so I'll just update on what has been going on in my life lately.

I did not get to start the college program this semester. With three days before the end of registration my mother graciously got another copy of my high school transcript and hand-delivered it to the college. Apparently the high school says the college misplaces transcripts all the time. The college maintains they never received the fist one I had sent. But they couldn't deny getting the second one. So, I called the college to get a registration appointment. The first number I tried was out of service. I tried another number and someone answered who transferred me to the right number which rang and rang ending in voicemail. I tried the new number a few times but only ever got voicemail. Thus my time ran out for registering......At least until they called me on the first day of classes and assured me I could still register if I wanted. Gee, thanks. I decided I'll wait until next semester if I haven't found a new job by then.

I joined a gym a week ago. It has a therapy pool which I think will help to restrengthen my knee that has been giving me problems. Of course to swim one needs a swimsuit, and a proper swimsuit at that. Somehow I don't think my old glitzy bikini will fit the bill, if it even fits me anymore. So I went swimsuit shopping. Who knew that January isn't swimming weather? Or, rather, who knew that stores getting an early jump on swimsuit season would only carry bikinis?! The closest I could find was a tankini and in my current out-of-shape state that doesn't quite cut it right now. So, the search continues. In the meantime I bought some shirts, sweat pants, etc. so maybe I'll take advantage of some of the stationary bikes.

In other news, life keeps moving faster than I want it to but more on that another time.

Out of the Frying Pan.....

I did not get the chance to take up meditation over the pre-holiday rush, unless you count the times I was so exhausted from work I just sat in the recliner staring at nothing and trying to get my fried brain jumpstarted again.
You would think I would have attempted some form of relaxation on my one day off per week. No dice. Because clearly what this girl needs is one more form of stress in her life. No, instead I applied to go back to school. No, not the graduate school that I spoke of earlier. This is the local technical college (or vo-tech or whatever they call them these days).
In my defense it is something that has been in the back of my mind for a long time. And I have some good reasons for doing it, such as giving me an edge in my job hunt.......okay, now that I think about it that may be the only reason I am doing it.
As for deciding to apply for spring semester, well it wouldn't be my blog without a list, right?

• The course (in bookkeeping) is only two semesters. If I start in the spring then I will graduate before I turn 30
• Work is much more relaxed in the spring and therefore easier to balance with classes
•  If I start sooner I'll be done sooner and can then find a job sooner

So, with those reasons in mind and only two days to get everything done before the cut-off date for transfer students (prior to this I thought I had until January 4th to get it all in) I quickly threw together my application and turned it into the school. Then raced home to order my college transcript before they shut down for winter break and the next day I got up early and went to my old high school to request that my high school transcript be sent. Phew, I thought all was taken care of.

The next week I received my acceptance letter. Only it stated I couldn't register for classes until they received my high school transcript and proof of vaccination (which should be on the HS transcript). So I waited a few days thinking the high school had taken some days to process it and it would arrive at the college soon. I then called the college on the 21st - couldn't get anyone so I left a message and figured my ability to register would change after the holiday.

And dutifully I placed some calls again on the day after Christmas to make sure the transcript had arrived. Only the college has not received it yet. Fully two weeks after I requested that the high school send it. The high school is still on break and the office is closed until January 2nd. If by some chance I could get my hands on another transcript on the 2nd and take it over to the college myself I would only have until January 4th to set up an advising appointment and register for classes before being charged a late registration fee. If the classes I need aren't already full. And of course the 2nd and 3rd are inventory days at work which mean I have to be there earlier than usual leaving me less time to run around town dealing with this.

There is more frustration to this tale that actually begins before I turned in my application but in the interest of not making this a novel-length rant I will just sum up to say that I am about ready to throw in the towel and go back to my original plan of searching once again for a new job come the new year. But what if I don't find one?
If you are still reading what would you do?

Christmas Can't Come Soon Enough

Probably one of the ones nesting in the attic at work

Never was a time more ripe for maximizing relaxation and getting more sleep. I just got my work schedule for December. December happens to be our busiest month and is always the most stressful for me. And my boss has decided this year she's not going to hire seasonal help or make use of our part-time employees. Instead she has scheduled us all to work six days a week from now through December 24th. It was also casually suggested by my boss that I could come in for three hours on what will be my only day off (Wednesday) to cover an employee who has a prior commitment that day. Oh joy.

Why, oh why, did I think I could do one more Christmas season?? I always manage to squeak by on adrenaline only for it to crash when the season is over leading to an illness of one form or another. I've had a cold, hives, shingles (yes, at the ripe old age of 23), and one particularly special Christmas Day where I got my period and the flu. Oh and one year I had what I now know was a burst cyst (though the timing on that was probably a coincidence).

And to make matters worse one of my coworkers, and on-again/off-again best friend (it's complicated), is stressing himself out working two jobs (he really is a workaholic) and he's taking his stress out on me. Picking fights, yelling at me, finding something wrong with everything I do. It's really more stress that I just don't need right now.

 All of this on top of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Perhaps it's time I take up meditation.

Frozen downspout at work

Ice formation in squirrel tree

What you lookin' at?