Gas: $33.86
Food: $24.81
Parking: $14
New purse: $59
Indoor soccer league fee: $65
Heartworm pill: $14.16
Gym membership fee: $20.57
Haircut for my boyfriend: $15.95
Fishing license: $33
Dental visit (no, I don’t have dental insurance): $107
Car repairs: $184.92
TOTAL: $572.27
Gah! Notice there are no bills on the list, and only one real splurge item. Good thing I’m a high roller makin’ the big bucks. Wait…I’m actually a full-time student with a $9/hr part-time job. Hm.
I apologize for my last post, which I admit was utterly depressing. I really have been going through something lately, and I think I can honestly say that last week was one of the worst weeks of my life. That post basically summarized how I felt up to that point.
But! I have wonderful people in my life who have been there for me, and I have received many words of encouragement and much support. I do believe that I am loved by a mighty God through whom all things are possible. I now have complete hope and confidence in my situation, and although it remains difficult, I know I can make it through to the other side. Not only that, but I know that the other side holds a better life for me and those involved in this ordeal.
So, let me talk about some random, completely unrelated things to distract me and to make this a happier place to be. First of all, I went to see the movie The Jane Austen Book Club with my roommates, and I loved it. I’ve only read two of Jane Austen’s books, and now I’d really like to read the rest. A long time ago my grandmother gave me the complete set, so I have them all. But that’s beside the point; the movie was really cute and funny, so if you like that kind of thing you should see it.
Secondly, I have now witnessed a C-section and a vaginal birth. Both were fascinating, but I have to say that when I have kids I really don’t want a C-section if I can help it. Also regarding school, I have the rest of this week off, which is quite nice, but then next week I have a test in both classes so I need to hit the books.
On Saturday I ran the Race For The Cure. I think I did pretty well, considering the pack of people I was hindered by. Not that I was trying to win any awards or anything, I was just hoping to have a decent personal time. Also on Saturday I went to see the David Crowder Band in concert. It was pretty good, but not one of the best concerts I’ve seen. The place was pretty big, and we weren’t very close. Also, I was extremely exhausted and I think I actually dozed off during one of the songs. Oops. However, the opening band, The Myriad, was really good, and the whole experience was worth it just to see the people around us dancing and getting into the music. Sometimes Christian rock concerts are just hilarious.
In conclusion, I hope everyone has a great week. I know mine will be better than the last. To quote Mandy Moore, “I’m looking forward to looking back on these days.”
You know that feeling when something so big and unexpected is going on in your life, and your whole world – what you thought it was, and your dreams and expectations for the future – is turned upside down, and nothing is the same or will be the same, yet everything is the same and you have to keep on living your life – going to work, doing school projects, singing at church (although you give up little things like trying to eat right – instead you hardly have an appetite one day, and the next you eat nothing but ice cream and greasy fried rice – and you forget about trying to keep your exercise schedule even though you know it would help you feel better) – but your heart and mind aren’t in any of it, and the thing that is distracting you is beyond your control, so you are powerless to do anything besides pray, which you do because you are desperate but part of you is skeptical that it’s actually doing anything, and you feel guilty for thinking such a thought, and the whole thing is just so hard to talk about, yet all you want to do is talk about it, but you have a strong suspicion that soon your friends are going to get tired of it, and they will stop calling to check up on you because they have normal lives and they assume you’ve adjusted to your situation, and they have nothing left to say to you anyway, and really you’re just so scared, you feel so small and isolated, and you think that life has let you down because it wasn’t supposed to be like this?
Yeah, me too.
Since I am going to be graduating in May (praise God), I will have to start looking for jobs sometime next semester. At school yesterday there was a speaker who gave us information on writing a resume, interviewing, and negotiating. Some of it I had heard before, but some of it was very interesting. So interesting that I took notes. And I am going to share those notes with you, because I think others may benefit from this information.
>Put it on Crane’s pearl white stationary. “It will be like a golden beam of light radiating from your resume.”
>Instead of an “Objective,” write a “Professional Profile.” Ex: “A highly committed professional nurse who is interested in working in the operating room.” (I wrote that one off the top of my head just now, so don’t judge it. You get the idea though.)
>Most people hold papers with their thumb about a third of the way down from the top. Statistics show that the thumb becomes a magnet for the eyes. So this is the area that you should put the most important information, such as work experience or, if you’re a new grad, education.
>When you are called by HR and are offered an interview:
-Say: “Great! What is your time frame for the interview process?” The first person interviewed is the least likely to get the job. Try to be in the second half of the process.
-Ask: “Would you mind sending me a job description?” Most will in order to prove that they have them. This way you will know about the job and be more prepared for the interview.
-Ask what the appropriate dress is. Most will say business casual, but you never know.
>Build rapport. One way to do this is to monitor the interviewer’s breathing patterns and to match yours to theirs. This puts you on the same wavelength. I know it sounds wacky, but hey, why not? I just don’t recommend monitoring breathing patterns by staring at the person’s chest.
>Be prepared for behavioral questions. In other words, have success stories for each part of the job description.
>Dress appropriately.
>Be on time.
>Turn off your cell phone or pager.
>First you have to get an offer. Then say: “Thank you! I am very interested, but I made a commitment to myself to review every offer. May I get back with you in four days?” Four days is probably the longest they will wait. Also, say the day of the week, don’t say “in four days.”
>Call the other places you’ve interviewed and say: “You are my first choice, but I have an offer with another company. I’d really rather work for you though.” This way you can find out if they were planning to make you an offer.
>After you have 2-3 offers, call back the place you are most interested in a day before you said you’d call. Say: “How much negotiating room do you have?” Make sure to phrase it like that instead of, “Is there room to negotiate?” because they answer will probably be no.
>You can say something like, “The offer was for $XX,XXX, but I was hoping for closer to $XX,XXX.”
>The goal is to increase the offer without losing it.
Interesting, right? Some of this stuff I would have never thought about. Hopefully I will actually be at a place where I have room to negotiate between a few different offers. Of course, most of you probably already have jobs and are all grown up already, but for those of us who took the long way around, it’s good to know now!
When I lived with my parents, there was a church that we would frequently drive by which had a sign out front and its contents were constantly changing. My brothers and I loved it because the sayings were always something funny, witty, or weird. The signs were so creative that my brother David and his friend decided to start naming their songs after it. That’s how they ended up with a song called, “Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones But Words Form Sentences.”
I was extremely pleased to discover that my new apartment complex (which I have lived in for a few months now) is situated right next to a church with a sign out front which changes weekly. The sayings aren’t quite as funny as the last church–in fact they’re sometimes plain cheesy–but it works for me. So I have diligently recorded the last two months of sayings for you, just in case you ever need something to fill up the space on your own church sign:
“‘In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity’ –Albert Einstein”
“A liar needs a good memory.”
“It’s not your aptitude but your attitude that determines your altitude.”
“Truth is heavy, so few men can carry it!”
“Only those who are willing to fail greatly can ever succeed greatly.”
“Smooth seas do not make a skilled sailor.”
“Average people don’t want others to go beyond average.”
“A man wrapped up in himself makes a pretty small package.”