Thursday
was our five-year wedding anniversary. Wow. Five years. (!)
Mark's
parents came to visit, and they watched the girls while we
went to gorge ourselves on sushi and gelato. Yum.
So,
yes, the job interview. Sorry to leave you hanging. There
have been general employment things happening, but I haven't
really written much about it here.
I
should summarize. I am, what I would consider underemployed.
I have some contract work that I do in the evenings and on
weekends, but I am looking for something more substantial
to keep my mind occupied.
What
can I say, I like to work.
Ideally,
I would like to work here from home while the girls are in
daycare and school. Ideally, I would like to work during the
day and then be free when they get home from school. That
is my ultimate goal.
My
interview was on Friday. It was for a webmaster position at
a nonprofit organization based here in town. It's part-time
work, and it looks like it could be interesting.
All
in all it went ok, but there were a few little ruffles along
the way. This is typical for me.
Three
hours before the interview I took a closer look at the shirt
I was going to wear. I noticed a large (3 inches in diameter)
stain, almost like a water stain, directly under the left
bre@st. Thank god for washable polyester. It came clean.
Lesson learned: scrupulously check your clothing way before
the date and time of the actual interview. I had bought
the shirt and pants a mere two days before, and I thought
I had inspected it thoroughly. Clearly, I hadn't checked
it closely enough. My purchase was another coup at ValVillage...
which included a pair of awesome black Club Monaco dress
pants and the aforementioned shirt. Total cost for interview
outfit: $23.00.
At
several points during the interview I found myself clutching
and toying with my pen. When I realized what I was doing
I forced myself to put my hand down. But then, unnoticed
to my conscious self, at some point I would pick it up again.
I am a natural fiddler. At least I wasn't flailing my hands/arms
around. This is something I am prone to do when I'm nervous.
Limb-flailing is not professional and should be avoided
at all costs.
The
interview itself was pretty easy. It started with an hour-long
"test" which was really just a a description of
a typical task, and then I had to type out some notes as
to how I would approach it. Piece of cake.
Some
of the actual interview questions got me rambling because
I wasn't exactly sure what was meant by them. After I spilled
my exhaustive answer, I found myself asking "did that
answer your question?" Unfortunately I think I did
this after every third question or so. This was mostly out
of nervousness, but also out of the fact that I really would
forget what the original question was. (Cindy, I should
have taken your advice and jotted down what the question
was. #$@&%.)
That's
it. They're supposed to let me know within the next week or
two if I get the job.
I
have another interview that is supposed to be scheduled for
some time next week, for the same kind of job, also at a non-profit.
I am actually looking forward to it. If anything, this first
one was a good practice run.
In
other employment news, there is one other item that I've been
holding back here. A few weeks ago I was asked to write an
article for City Woman magazine. (!).
My
article was written and submitted at the end of July, for
publication in September. The magazine is a quarterly, and
it will be distributed through the Ottawa Citizen some time
at the beginning of September. So keep your eyes open for
it.
The
article was about children's birthday parties. I had a lot
of fun writing it. I am really looking forward to seeing it
in print. I want to do more!
As
for today, we just got back from Ray's Reptiles. Photos have
been posted to the main
page, in case you missed them on the way in.
Cheers,
andrea
<friday
august 8, 2003 - 9:11 a.m.>
Job
interview today at noon.
<eek!>
a.
<monday
august 4, 2003 - 6:15 p.m.>
The
holidays are over and it's back to the routine.
