A full week under my belt.

I seem to be doing okay at this whole waitressing thing. They chopped my training from two weeks down to one. I believe I passed my server test on Saturday morning, so I am officially working for tips now. No more shadowing folks. Starting this Wednesday evening, I will be training behind the bar. You know, I really don't mind the work. You stay busy for 4 hours and the time flies by. The people I work with are nice and the innkeepers are very friendly. This will definitely work for a while!

I also happened to get a call from a firm I interviewed with back before Mike and I ever made the move to Ohio. They ended up not hiring for the position they interviewed me for way back in July. But they have a new project they said I would be "perfect" for. So, I will be meeting with them later this week. Things are looking up, folks. Things are looking up.

Protect our Insurance Companies (**ahem**)

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Life of the Unemployed

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
- Semisonic, Closing Time

It's been a rough week. I have applied for well over 100 jobs since February of this year. More than half of those have been in the past month. I wake up in the morning, I get a cup of coffee, and I head to the computer. I have a four page Word document filled with links to job sites. Ohiomeansjobs.com, jobs.osu.edu, careerbuilder.com, ohio5.org/jobs, oano.org, idealist.org - you get the picture. I have over 35 links I check on a daily basis. I make it a rule to apply for at least one job a day. Most days I succeed. Last Friday I applied for 10 jobs in one day, so I gave myself a bit of a break this week. I was up for an amazing position at Ohio State. I had to put together a one hour presentation to give to the whole staff. I met with 10-15 folks over a 4.5 hour period. Four people were interviewed for the job. I got an e-mail two weeks later saying I wasn't getting the offer. I wrote back and asked if I could have feedback so I was better prepared in the future. No response. Thanks, assholes.

We've been in Ohio for about six weeks now. I love our house, and I love that my husband is finally getting to do what he loves. He comes home tired but excited and full of stories about each class day. It's fantastic to see him doing something he loves so much.

Yet during the day, I am normally in the house. I job hunt 2-3 hours each morning then take a break to have some lunch and watch an episode of something on Netflix for half an hour. I do a three mile run every other day then come home and shower. I do some laundry, some dishes, some house straightening. Then I wait for Mike to get home. Sometimes that seems like the longest hour or two of the day. The kitties and I snuggle. I sit outside and watch the deer.

Luckily I have managed to avoid the trap that is the couch and TV combo. I rarely turn the TV on during the day. The only time is if I got a chick flick Netflix movie in the mail I know Mike won't want to watch. I had a breakdown yesterday evening. I miss my friends, and I miss having any sort of goal to accomplish. I'm lonely during the day, and I feel I have nowhere to focus my energy each day. Anyway, I decided enough is enough.

I've sent off about 50 applications in the past four weeks. It will take those places some time to sift through and pick some people for interviews. I'm hoping a couple come my way. But in the meantime, I need a break. The feeling of checking my job-hunting e-mail address to see I have no messages is getting to be too much. I need to get out of the house. I am taking a three prong approach to this solution.

First, I started a volunteer job. I am an assistant coach for a group of 19 girls aged 7-9 outside Columbus through a program called "Girls on the Run." The program teaches young girls to "run, skip or walk" a 5K by the end of the 12 week program; it also teaches them that they can accomplish a goal and that they are beautiful and talented. It's esteem building. Running has done a lot for me. I still don't enjoy it much, but I have realized that the discipline combined with the confidence it has instilled in me has been absolutely life changing. For an hour and a half each Tuesday evening I work with the girls and I run with them. That's a bit interesting since I am an only child who actually gets really nervous around kids. I figure they will learn something and so will I.

Second, I've joined a dart league. I am now a full member of the Newark's city dart league. I used to play in college, and we have a board set up at home. Our buddy Erich plays in the league and invited Mike and I to play. Mike decided to take on an alternate role, but this Monday night I earned my spot as a full team member after helping cinch up a couple victories in the first league play of the season. It's a fun way to get out of the house and be a part of some healthy competition.

Lastly, and probably the most important in all of this, is that I decided to take on a part time job. In reality, I have been applying for part time jobs the past several weeks as well, yet none of them call me back. I can't manage to get a job as a bank teller. That makes me feel real good, lemme tell ya. Since I wanted a part time gig I thought I would look close to home. It would be nice to work somewhere I could walk to and from, a place where I could meet locals, and a place that would be fun. So, I set my sights back to my first experience with Granville. The Buxton Inn.

The Buxton is the hotel Mike and I stayed in when we visited to house hunt in Granville. Operating since 1812, the Buxton is Ohio's oldest continually operated inn in its original building. You can get the full scoop here: http://www.buxtoninn.com/history2.html. I happened to check their website, and it said they were hiring waitstaff and bartenders. I used to joke to all the folks in Durham that if I couldn't get a job in Ohio that I would learn to bartend or something similar. I said half jokingly, half seriously. But with the state of the economy and my utter failure in the job searching process, I decided to throw caution to the wind. So, starting Sunday morning I will be a part time employee at the Buxton. I told Ms. Orr, the owner, that I wanted to learn to bartend, to work in the restaurant and/or to work the front desk. She said she would love to have me there. I have a job now. In my new community at a storied "haunted" inn. Who knows where this will lead.

I'll keep you posted. And I'll let you know if I see any ghosts.

TORONTO

We had an awesome time in Toronto. It was great to reconnect with friends we haven't seen in a long time. And since we are still adjusting to Ohio life, it was nice to have the touchstone of so many special people around for a few days. We wandered, we drank, we ate, and we laughed - a lot. Here's the highlight real of the festivities!

Things your mom tries to get you to do....

...this one only took about 25 years.

When I was about 6 or 7 I believe, Mom decided that she wanted me to drink a small glass of V8 each morning before I went to school. To a six or seven year old, you should just ask them to drink poison. I have no idea how many days Mom tried this or if I drank the few glasses she attempted to give me.

I would now like to report that at age 31, I am now having a glass of V8 each morning. My hubby is, too. Mom, it only took 25 years, but I am finally doing what you asked me to do.

WATCH TRAVEL CHANNEL TONIGHT!

And oh yes - don't forget to catch Man vs Food on the Travel Channel tonight! Durham is featured - and so is the Doughman! Look for me on TV! Oh, and look for all the other folks who participated too - like my awesome team "I hEArT Durham!" yay!

Loving Ohio, but still jobless

Hello, faithful readers. Sorry I haven't blogged much about our new lives in Ohio. One would think that since I am stuck at home I would have plenty of time to blog. I guess in reality I do, but I am trying not to do too many things that remind me I have too much time on my hands. Instead, I run, I do chores, I clean up the yard, I go driving without the use of our Tomtom. I can fill up a full day with all of these activities. Trust me - it's what I have been doing the past several weeks.

The house is now fully unpacked. It looks great and we love it. LOVE IT. This is the type of house that I would want to rent when I go on vacation somewhere. I still have this recurring thought that the mortgage guy is going to show up and say, "Yeah, there was a mistake. You didn't really buy this house. We need to take it back." The house is that wonderful. I feel very lucky to be in such a beautiful home in such a beautiful place.

As for the "place", we are enjoying Granville so far. I don't need to use my car much, so I just walk or run to wherever I need/want to go. The entire village isn't more than a couple of miles across, so I can walk over to the grocery store, the bars, campus, etc. No need to use the car for in town stuff. If I want to go to nearby Newark, Heath or Columbus then I use the car. Not too shabby. Saving lots of money in gas. I've only gotten gas twice since we have moved here.

Job hunt - grrr. I'm still on the hunt. I am waiting for my phone to ring any day now about an amazing position at Ohio State. I interviewed last week with the entire staff in a four and a half hour interview - complete with me giving a one hour presentation to the full staff. I think it went really well, and I enjoyed meeting and spending time with all of the people there. They are interviewing four people for the position, and I was the first one in the door. The last person interviewed Monday I believe. They said they would make a decision by the end of this week. Oh please let me get this call.

In the meantime, I apply for jobs every day. I haven't quite given up on a higher level position yet - I've only been jobless about a month and a half now. Surely I can find something challenging - a step up if you will. Give it another month, and I will be applying to work at Sears. Really. I've thought about it. I really want something meaningful though. I want to do good things for people. Why is that so hard to find?

I will get a bit of a break from the job hunt this weekend. The annual Political Science conference is in Toronto this year. Mike and I are heading up tomorrow and staying through Sunday. I have never been to Canada before, so this will be a new adventure! We are driving up, and the entire route will also be entirely new to me. I should have lots of photos to share next week.

That's about it for now folks. I will try to be better about writing. Hell, since I have so much time on my hands, I should try to write meaningful essays or something. Surely an advance on a book deal could get me paid, right??