Keeping Busy
Ahh... finally, some peace and quiet in my life. I had the day off from Boscov's , and considering that I'm working for most of the next six days, I figured I'd better take it easy today. After driving pianorayk to the airport early this morning, I went back to bed and slept in until nearly 10:00. Got up, let the cat out, and walked across the street to see Laura, Luke and Peter. Peter is almost four months now, and is very alert and active. He's got a cute smile too, and forget crawling... this little guy wants to walk. He's so much fun to watch... it's a learning experience for me, to give me a better idea of what having kids would be like. No hurry on that though... still need to get myself in better physical and mental condition first.
Then, talked to my remaining freelance client about the current project, creating a template for a series of informational/educational/marketing brochures. He's made me an offer I couldn't refuse for some of my services... bartering design work for professional coaching. It sounds really good, but it just doesn't feel right. After leaving Executive Success Programs at the suggestion of my outpatient social worker at Four Winds, I've become quite skeptical of the coaching profession. Sadly, I think that a lot of the people becoming coaches are experts in their original disciplines, such as nursing, business executives, etc., but I don't think they have nor are getting a solid grounding in psychology. If so, I would have thought that my ESP coach would have seen right through me and would have figured out that I was using the program more for therapy than for my career. Plus, this client has tried to make me into things that I didn't want to be... such as a salesperson, and promised me financial success, which sadly, I haven't seen. I'm thrilled that he thinks that I have the knowledge and know-how to succeed as a freelancer. Unfortunately, I don't think I have those things yet. I've enjoyed not having to balance both jobs... it's so nice to be able to come home from Boscov's and not have to worry about or do work. I'm hoping to find a design/writing job like that. I told my client that although I was very appreciative of his offer, I don't think it's right to have coaching forced upon me... I have to make that choice, and also carefully select the coach based on his or her methodologies and beliefs. I'm also hoping that I'll learn how to come up with ideas faster, and that he'll accept the fact that sometimes good ideas take time to generate. He's also one of the "hurry up, I needed this three weeks ago" clients... once I have my copy of InDesign 2, I'll be juggling two jobs again. I'm not too worried though; I've already have a couple of basic design ideas/concepts that I plan to run with.
After that, I spent some time reading all of your recent posts, and then made a large batch of waffles... some for today, and enough for another five breakfasts worth, for those mornings when I don't feel like eating a bowl of cereal. Then, just kind of hung around the house for a while... did a bit of cross stitch, picked up the living room a bit. At about 1:45, I felt like working out. So, I did... for the majority of an hour and a half. I think I've found a great ab strengthener/tummy toner... remember the bicyle exercise from gym? I thought that would be easy... NOT!! I had intentions of biking for ten minutes straight... only to realize that I could only do it in one minute intervals followed by a break. Looks like I'll be working towards that ten minute goal for a long, LONG, time. I spent another 30 mins on the exercise bike (interrupted by calls from pianorayk to inform me of his arrival in Las Vegas, and from the groom to be thinking that our home number was pianorayk's cell phone), did a circuit on the home gym, and took a relaxing warm shower.
I also planned to treat myself to something fun today, since Ray's off in Vegas, hopefully having a good time. It's employee shopping days at work, which means my discount is increased by 10 percent. So, I figured I'd check out the Colonie store to see what they had (not much different from what Clifton Park's stock). But before I left, I figured I'd better get some housework done, so I did the dishes that had been stacking up and put a load of laundry in the washing machine. Then I left for Colonie Center. After being quite disappointed with the lack of things I liked at Boscov's, I checked Macy's and Lane Bryant. There's a beautiful hunter green suit set at Macy's by Jones New York that I'll have to keep my eye on... :)
After treating myself to some soft ice cream, I did a quick grocery run, headed back home, and decided that it was time for me to make a real post to my journal, which is what you're reading now.
Now for the summary of what else has been going on since I last wrote:
Social Life:
Had a great time at tenner and rockingrobin's party a couple of weeks back... it had been a while since I'd seen many of you. I especially enjoyed catching up with justducky2202... another founding sister of Alpha Phi at RPI. Also enjoyed the tour of the Cronen/Thompson residence, complete with an explanation of upcoming renovations.
Boscov's:
I've been working full time hours the last few weeks, and I'm actually kind of enjoying it. My department is quite small, and my direct supervisor isn't exactly known for her organizational skills or work ethic. I've done my best to clean the place up some and keep it clean and organized. I'm really trying not to take over her job, but if the opportunity arose, I would probably do so. Now, if we could only convince the buyers that not all plus sized women want to dress like old ladies....
The last week has been quite interesting. Our part timer quit (didn't like to work multiple days in a row... even if it was a short (4.25 or 4.75 hour shift)) and the department manager left for vacation. Which left me to run the show. It's definitely not as easy as it looks!! It's somewhat physically intensive. By the time Saturday rolls around, I will have put in close to 40 hours. But they've been productive; assisting customers, putting new merchandise out, rearranging older merchandise to find space to put the new merchandise out, price checking, etc. I'm definitely using my visual problem skills in new way...
Job Hunt:
Could be going better. I haven't had, ok, made much time to respond to postings in the last couple of weeks. On the whole, there's not too much out there in the graphic design and writing fields. But I try to respond to at least two or three ads for jobs that look interesting and very promising each week. My most recent applications went to NYSDEC and Newkirk (financial publisher) for graphic design jobs, and to the SUNY College of Nanoscience and Engineering for a Director of Marketing and Outreach position. I'll be pleased just to hear back from one of them. If you hear of anything from your other network of friends about positions, please don't hesitate to mention me or to let me know about the position.
Pepper:
He's currently in wind-down mode... he's curled up at my feet under the computer desk. I'm hoping that he'll sleep on the bed with me tonight... not quite the same as Ray, but it's nice to have his company.
So far, he hasn't brought any "presents" home this week. The current tally is 2 mice, and 1 bird. I'm pleased to report that the bird did survive his encounter with kitty. I'll admit that I was quite startled when I realized that it wasn't dead and saw it looking at me and blinking. I ran into the kitchen to grab a papertowel, carefully picked up the bird, gently placed on the papertowel and headed outside SANS cat. I sat with the bird in my hands on the front step. I gently stroked its back for a few minutes... it was very relaxing and awesome; how often does a human get to hold a wild bird? I slowly realized that he wasn't bleeding at all, which meant Pepper must have been quite gentle. After about five minutes, to my surprise, he hopped up on to my chest for all of a couple of seconds and flew off into one of the shrubs in our front yard. I'm also hoping that he won't make a regular habit out of this.
Speaking of nature, Ray and I had another visitor last week... a young bunny. He was a tiny little fella... who sat motionless by the right corner of the left garage bay. We stared at him in awe... and wondered where mom was. We also tried to introduce him to lettuce, but he wasn't too crazy about the ceasar dressing on it. We haven't seen him since and hope that he's ok.
Nutmeg:
Is our kitty to be!! We'll be taking her in once we return from Seattle. She's a cutie... she's a Hemingway cat, has extra toes on her front paws, and has patches of dark brown, sandy brown, and orange on her coat. Nutmeg is about 3 months old, and according to her human mommy, a colleague of mine from Boscov's, has turned into a real talker since I last saw her about two to three weeks ago. She's good with other kitties, (she has two brothers and two sisters, in addition to being around her actual mother and two to three other adult cats) and loves watching running water. She and Pepper will be two peas in a pod, as watching running water is one of Pepper's favorite pastimes. I'm also hoping that she'll be able to keep Pepper company while Ray and I are at work. I'll try to see if I can get a picture of her to post here so you can see what she looks like.
Vacation:
It's almost here!! Ray and I will be spending a week in Seattle visiting his friends Forrest and Cheryl Hume and hopefully catching up with his cousin Terry and her husband, and my cousin Sara. We're planning all sorts of stuff... touring Mount St. Helen's, spending time at Pike's Place Market, and the obligatory (at least in Ray's opinion) Mariner's game. It'll be nice to explore a part of the country I've never seen before and to meet a couple more important people in Ray's life that couldn't join us for the wedding. I've got plenty of film (yeah, ok, so I'm old fashioned...) and plan to take many pictures. Hopefully, that will force, er, encourage me to get back into scrapbooking, which can be a very social activity.
I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so I'd best be off to bed. 'night!
Then, talked to my remaining freelance client about the current project, creating a template for a series of informational/educational/marketing brochures. He's made me an offer I couldn't refuse for some of my services... bartering design work for professional coaching. It sounds really good, but it just doesn't feel right. After leaving Executive Success Programs at the suggestion of my outpatient social worker at Four Winds, I've become quite skeptical of the coaching profession. Sadly, I think that a lot of the people becoming coaches are experts in their original disciplines, such as nursing, business executives, etc., but I don't think they have nor are getting a solid grounding in psychology. If so, I would have thought that my ESP coach would have seen right through me and would have figured out that I was using the program more for therapy than for my career. Plus, this client has tried to make me into things that I didn't want to be... such as a salesperson, and promised me financial success, which sadly, I haven't seen. I'm thrilled that he thinks that I have the knowledge and know-how to succeed as a freelancer. Unfortunately, I don't think I have those things yet. I've enjoyed not having to balance both jobs... it's so nice to be able to come home from Boscov's and not have to worry about or do work. I'm hoping to find a design/writing job like that. I told my client that although I was very appreciative of his offer, I don't think it's right to have coaching forced upon me... I have to make that choice, and also carefully select the coach based on his or her methodologies and beliefs. I'm also hoping that I'll learn how to come up with ideas faster, and that he'll accept the fact that sometimes good ideas take time to generate. He's also one of the "hurry up, I needed this three weeks ago" clients... once I have my copy of InDesign 2, I'll be juggling two jobs again. I'm not too worried though; I've already have a couple of basic design ideas/concepts that I plan to run with.
After that, I spent some time reading all of your recent posts, and then made a large batch of waffles... some for today, and enough for another five breakfasts worth, for those mornings when I don't feel like eating a bowl of cereal. Then, just kind of hung around the house for a while... did a bit of cross stitch, picked up the living room a bit. At about 1:45, I felt like working out. So, I did... for the majority of an hour and a half. I think I've found a great ab strengthener/tummy toner... remember the bicyle exercise from gym? I thought that would be easy... NOT!! I had intentions of biking for ten minutes straight... only to realize that I could only do it in one minute intervals followed by a break. Looks like I'll be working towards that ten minute goal for a long, LONG, time. I spent another 30 mins on the exercise bike (interrupted by calls from pianorayk to inform me of his arrival in Las Vegas, and from the groom to be thinking that our home number was pianorayk's cell phone), did a circuit on the home gym, and took a relaxing warm shower.
I also planned to treat myself to something fun today, since Ray's off in Vegas, hopefully having a good time. It's employee shopping days at work, which means my discount is increased by 10 percent. So, I figured I'd check out the Colonie store to see what they had (not much different from what Clifton Park's stock). But before I left, I figured I'd better get some housework done, so I did the dishes that had been stacking up and put a load of laundry in the washing machine. Then I left for Colonie Center. After being quite disappointed with the lack of things I liked at Boscov's, I checked Macy's and Lane Bryant. There's a beautiful hunter green suit set at Macy's by Jones New York that I'll have to keep my eye on... :)
After treating myself to some soft ice cream, I did a quick grocery run, headed back home, and decided that it was time for me to make a real post to my journal, which is what you're reading now.
Now for the summary of what else has been going on since I last wrote:
Social Life:
Had a great time at tenner and rockingrobin's party a couple of weeks back... it had been a while since I'd seen many of you. I especially enjoyed catching up with justducky2202... another founding sister of Alpha Phi at RPI. Also enjoyed the tour of the Cronen/Thompson residence, complete with an explanation of upcoming renovations.
Boscov's:
I've been working full time hours the last few weeks, and I'm actually kind of enjoying it. My department is quite small, and my direct supervisor isn't exactly known for her organizational skills or work ethic. I've done my best to clean the place up some and keep it clean and organized. I'm really trying not to take over her job, but if the opportunity arose, I would probably do so. Now, if we could only convince the buyers that not all plus sized women want to dress like old ladies....
The last week has been quite interesting. Our part timer quit (didn't like to work multiple days in a row... even if it was a short (4.25 or 4.75 hour shift)) and the department manager left for vacation. Which left me to run the show. It's definitely not as easy as it looks!! It's somewhat physically intensive. By the time Saturday rolls around, I will have put in close to 40 hours. But they've been productive; assisting customers, putting new merchandise out, rearranging older merchandise to find space to put the new merchandise out, price checking, etc. I'm definitely using my visual problem skills in new way...
Job Hunt:
Could be going better. I haven't had, ok, made much time to respond to postings in the last couple of weeks. On the whole, there's not too much out there in the graphic design and writing fields. But I try to respond to at least two or three ads for jobs that look interesting and very promising each week. My most recent applications went to NYSDEC and Newkirk (financial publisher) for graphic design jobs, and to the SUNY College of Nanoscience and Engineering for a Director of Marketing and Outreach position. I'll be pleased just to hear back from one of them. If you hear of anything from your other network of friends about positions, please don't hesitate to mention me or to let me know about the position.
Pepper:
He's currently in wind-down mode... he's curled up at my feet under the computer desk. I'm hoping that he'll sleep on the bed with me tonight... not quite the same as Ray, but it's nice to have his company.
So far, he hasn't brought any "presents" home this week. The current tally is 2 mice, and 1 bird. I'm pleased to report that the bird did survive his encounter with kitty. I'll admit that I was quite startled when I realized that it wasn't dead and saw it looking at me and blinking. I ran into the kitchen to grab a papertowel, carefully picked up the bird, gently placed on the papertowel and headed outside SANS cat. I sat with the bird in my hands on the front step. I gently stroked its back for a few minutes... it was very relaxing and awesome; how often does a human get to hold a wild bird? I slowly realized that he wasn't bleeding at all, which meant Pepper must have been quite gentle. After about five minutes, to my surprise, he hopped up on to my chest for all of a couple of seconds and flew off into one of the shrubs in our front yard. I'm also hoping that he won't make a regular habit out of this.
Speaking of nature, Ray and I had another visitor last week... a young bunny. He was a tiny little fella... who sat motionless by the right corner of the left garage bay. We stared at him in awe... and wondered where mom was. We also tried to introduce him to lettuce, but he wasn't too crazy about the ceasar dressing on it. We haven't seen him since and hope that he's ok.
Nutmeg:
Is our kitty to be!! We'll be taking her in once we return from Seattle. She's a cutie... she's a Hemingway cat, has extra toes on her front paws, and has patches of dark brown, sandy brown, and orange on her coat. Nutmeg is about 3 months old, and according to her human mommy, a colleague of mine from Boscov's, has turned into a real talker since I last saw her about two to three weeks ago. She's good with other kitties, (she has two brothers and two sisters, in addition to being around her actual mother and two to three other adult cats) and loves watching running water. She and Pepper will be two peas in a pod, as watching running water is one of Pepper's favorite pastimes. I'm also hoping that she'll be able to keep Pepper company while Ray and I are at work. I'll try to see if I can get a picture of her to post here so you can see what she looks like.
Vacation:
It's almost here!! Ray and I will be spending a week in Seattle visiting his friends Forrest and Cheryl Hume and hopefully catching up with his cousin Terry and her husband, and my cousin Sara. We're planning all sorts of stuff... touring Mount St. Helen's, spending time at Pike's Place Market, and the obligatory (at least in Ray's opinion) Mariner's game. It'll be nice to explore a part of the country I've never seen before and to meet a couple more important people in Ray's life that couldn't join us for the wedding. I've got plenty of film (yeah, ok, so I'm old fashioned...) and plan to take many pictures. Hopefully, that will force, er, encourage me to get back into scrapbooking, which can be a very social activity.
I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so I'd best be off to bed. 'night!