No longer an unemployed deadbeat!

Just a quick update...I start on Monday at a design company in the accounting department!!!!!! It's through the temp service, full time next week then 20-30 hrs a week after that, open ended. OK...so it's not a permanent position, but I don't even care. It's work till I find work. Who knows...maybe it can turn into real work. I'm sooooo excited!!!!! I get to go to work Monday!!!!!

Did I mention...I got a job, a J. O. B.!!!!!!!

I have been studying for my mid-term in Tax Accounting. Drum roll please…and the score is....95. I hate it when I get something wrong. This is a tough class but for the time I spent on studying, I should have done better. I can't wait till it's done!

I studied later than I should have and walked out without my calculator. I stopped by Office Max and realized I also forgot my purse. I always dump my change in a cubby hole in the dash so I gathered it all up and headed into the store...short .04...DUH! The sales kid was really sweet and got the .04 out of his pocket and took care of it for me. My hero!!! I literally ran out of the store and got to class 25 minutes late. By this time, I'm frazzled and worried the Professor won't let me take the test but he was OK with it. I finished and went over my test again, changing a couple multiple choice questions that I thought I had wrong. If I find out that they were the ones I got wrong, I will scream right there in class. I hate testing, I don't do it well but I am not the only one...there were still people taking the test when I left and they were there before me. Like I said, it's a tough class.

Now I am having a problem with creating extraction ranges in Excel. I don't usually have any problems learning in Excel. I guess I will have to go in tomorrow and pay a visit to my instructor. This is an independent study class. I decided on independent for this class because I usually don't have issues with Excel. This IS an advanced class, but still. Am I getting stupid in my old age or what?

I have actually done something right today...I just baked a really nice loaf of wheat bread for Rich's lunches. It is cooling now and smells soooo good...I just want to cut into it...I have to resist… I have to resist! During the winter months, I bake our bread. I can't bake in the summer because we only have a window air conditioner in the living room and one in the upstairs bedroom. It's like a treat when fall rolls around and I can start baking again.

On the job front, I had a second friend call me and tell me that the temp agency contacted her for a reference. I guess I'm still in the running for the print estimating position. I haven't heard anything on my Monday interview or the condo where my friend lives. I don’t understand why it is taking so long to go through the process of picking a candidate for the job. There must be other estimators they are considering.

I friend called and said that a bar/restaurant that we go to for fish fry is hiring. I mentioned it to Rich and he told me he would rather I didn't work at all than to work in a bar. He said we can get by till the right job comes along. I understand why he feels that way, I used to work 2nd shift and it's hard on a relationship. You only see each other on the weekends and when you work at a bar, weekends are pretty much mandatory.

On a sad note. A local couple were killed in a car accident. I didn’t know them personally but being a small community, we do know some of the family. It feels strange since I was at that same intersection ½ hour before the accident. I was coming home from my interview and the store. It had been raining and the temps had started to drop. How much of it was due to slick roads…who knows. My heart goes out to the families. It has to be hard to lose loved ones so young. And also for the firefighters who had to find one of their own.

http://couriernews.suntimes.com/3958782-417/future-teacher-firefighter-killed-in-sycamore-crash.html

http://www.kcchronicle.com/2011/02/22/maple-park-woman-remembered/auzaw4u/

Tonight's dinner.

I love to cook and sometimes I come up with something that Rich likes so much he gets a belly ache from eating too much. I had stuff that had to get used...cooking for 2 you have left over ingredients...this is how they all went together.

~=about

I call this my version of Italian cabbage soup...if there is such a thing!

1 lb bulk Italian sausage
1/2 white onion
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 head of cabbage
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can RoTel mild tomatoes
~1/2 of an 8oz tub of mushrooms
16 oz (I think) tomato sauce
2 or 3 6oz cans of V-8
~1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
~1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 bay leaves
celery salt (sprinkled it in till I decided it was enough)
I also added some water till it looked right.

I cooked the sausage till 1/2 done, added the onions, peppers, and mushrooms. When they were just slightly tender and the sausage was done, I added the cabbage, the tomatoes, the liquids, and then the seasonings.

If any one decides to try this...let me know what you think.

Job market

I've had a busy day, I had an interview with yet another temp service. I tested pretty good. They have a position that is 1 1/2 hours away for $9/hr. Three tanks of gas a week at $40 each is equal to $3 an hour for a 40 hr week. That leaves me with about $186 a week after taxes and gas...not to mention, I didn't include FICA, state tax, or wear and tear on my car. At this point, I thought about it real hard, then I thought about three hours of driving every day. There's gotta be a better way.

A friend recommended me for a position as a manager at the condo where she lives...45 minute drive...much better than 1-1/2 hrs and almost double the pay. She said that when she left the board meeting last night, they had my resume on the table for review. Since she's an owner she can't stay for the personnel meetings. Booooo!

A different friend called me and said that one of the temp services called him for a reference for a permanent job they are considering me for as a print estimator...sound familiar? That's what I did for the last 10 years at my last job.

I got a call to set up an interview from the nursing home where my Aunt Babe was...30 minutes away. That's only $8.90/hr for accounts payable. Tempting just to get the experience and at this point, I would take it in a heart beat. Can't say I would stay very long. It's about equal to what I was getting when I had unemployment. The bright side is that I would have medical, that is a huge plus and, I wouldn't have to drive to Egypt.

I am hoping for the estimating job...with my experience...I can get a better wage there. It's not what I've been studying for, but I still plan to keep going for my Associates. I can always get into accounting after the job market gets better.

Any bets on what happens next?

A big lack of concentration.

I just took a test in Tax Accounting and missed two questions. Some of you know how anal I am about getting anything less than an A. I have two chapters to read this week for that class and three tax returns to do for my other tax class, plus a chapter and homework in advanced Excel is due and I still have not taken my photos for the photography class that is due on Fri. I just don't seem to be concentrating very well so I decided to stop studying taxes and get it all out of my system and hopefully then, I can get my mind back to studying.

I have been spending time contacting cousins to get info on the arrangements and to contacting other cousins to pass on info for the arrangements. I am also going to need to get my house “guest ready” in case my brother comes from KY and my niece comes from IN. I have a queen size sleeper sofa and a queen size blow up mattress. I want to have all the linens and blankets for both re-washed so they smell fresh. Don’t get me wrong, I put them away clean, but they have been packed for over a year. I am planning to make a pan of lasagna tomorrow, so I have less cooking to do while they are here. I need to think of some other dishes that can be made in advance and feed 6-8 people but I am brain dead. I don’t know who will be here or how long.

Also, I have been trying to organize with my niece, how to get my brother to the funeral . My brother is completely paralyzed on the right side and has some brain damage from a stroke. He is well over 6’ and a big man. My Aunt was his God Mother, so it’s important to get him there. My niece is worried about getting him in and out of the van by herself in the snow. She usually is able to take him out, with the help of lifts, but with the snow, she is worried about getting him up and down ramps and sliding while pushing. Then after she gets him out of the van, getting him into the building through whatever ice she may come across. I have been going back and forth with my 2 boys and her because they both volunteered to help. I finally told my son to call her directly to make plans so I don’t screw it up.

She had his sidewalk cleared to the curb but the snow plow has plowed in the curb so she was worried about getting that out of the way so she can get him to the curb to load him up. Once the plows have blocked you in, it’s hard enough to clear it out, but after it has frozen, it’s even worse. Both of his sons live out of state so it is up to his 2 girls to get him around. My oldest son said he would go tonight and take care of it, and then she called back and said my other niece’s boyfriend got it done today. One less thing to worry about.

Venting is good but this is not getting things done, so off I go. Maybe after I get everything done, I can sit down and study.

Aunt Babe

Some of you might remember the story of my Aunt Babe.

http://anmijumi.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-aunt-babe.html

She passed yesterday, late afternoon. She will be missed tremendously.

Snow storm of 2011

It took the two of us 4 1/2 hrs to dig out. We couldn't get out our front door and the back door was a challenge. Still...better than an ice storm. We are just trying to stay warm now. We are expecting -20 to -23 degrees windchill tonight.

Being in a small town has it's good points. People riding 4 wheelers through town pulling kids on sleds behind them. After we got done with the snow, we got dry and headed to the neighborhood bar. The place was packed. We stayed for two and headed home. Our neighbors were out trying to dig out so Rich went to help them while I made dinner. I haven't been sleeping much lately, worried about a job, but I think I will sleep good tonight.