Interview morning

Woke up feeling refreshed (rather rare for me) and happy and excited and in a good frame of mind.

I'm listening to Rose Cousins, read my morning bloggies, checked in at the Din, and had my coffee (now with Silk french vanilla creamer -- actually tastes like vanilla and not like chemicals, which is how International Delight tastes to me now).

I went through most of my wardrobe last night trying to find something to wear, we settled on a long black skirt with roses, a black sweater, bitch boots and my hair up in a clip. I still need to buy a bunch of new clothes, a lot of my stuff is either outdated or looking kind of well worn (not in a good way) or is just not a good look for me. Example, most of my shirts are short, coming only to my waist, which makes me look really short and thick-trunked. But the outfit we picked out works, and I won't be worried about my clothes during the interview, which is the important thing.

I have a good feeling about today.

From Pretty Damn Cool to Really Fecking Sweet!

One day after getting recruited for a web writer position, writing for healthcare consumers about wellness and preventive approaches to health (which I love and find really fascinating), I GET AN INTERVIEW!!

I submitted my online application (pain in the ass system, and I hate that you have to manually enter all the information that is on your resume even if you attach your resume, but whatever), and called the HR woman to let her know I submitted and to see if she needed any writing samples.

I get back from taking a walk around the 'hood with the Boy because I was feeling kind of unfocused and not work-like (something that has been happening a lot more lately), and come home to find two messages from the HR lady, one of which is they want to set up an interview!!

I have an interview Tuesday at 11 a.m. I am so psyched!

Oh, and side note, more confirmation from the universe that it's time to move away from freelancing -- one of the agencies that I submitted my stuff to had said before the holidays that I would be a good fit for their clients and then never heard back from them. I heard from them today that they are flooded with copywriters, but they will keep my name active because I am still a good fit. So, another freelance route went away, at almost the EXACT time that I submitted my online application to this new place.

Yeah, I love how the universe works. I really do.

bounce bounce bounce

From worse to bad to better to Pretty Damn Cool!

My skin is a complete mess. NOTHING is helping. I look like I was released from some camp where they keep skin weirdos. I was crying after I showered yesterday, because I hurt and I was itchy and ugly, and nothing was making any difference.

To try and help improve things, we bought two warm mist humidifiers (which are going back, they don't generate enough moisture) and Benadryl and washed our sheets in our old Arm and Hammer detergent, thinking maybe the new method stuff was making me worse.

I know most people who take Benadryl get really really tired. I get the complete opposite effect. I took two benadryl, thinking it would help with the itching, and maybe it wouldn't keep me up that much. Was I wrong. I was even itchier, and I could not stay still. I was awake easily past 2 a.m., feeling like I was going to crawl out of my skin and lose my mind at the same time.

Transition from worse to bad

I get up this morning, and decide I will call for an appointment with a dermatologist. But, I can't go to see the dermatologist until I pay a medical bill that has gone to collections (I just kept putting off paying it, stupid yes).

Transition from bad to better.

So, I realize the universe wants me to get rid of my last bad debt -- something I need to do for us to buy a house, and something I need to do for my own mental health (I hate knowing these small bills were out there). I had been planning on paying it when I get paid in two weeks, but we have the money, it gets it off my credit report, and I can get a dermatology appt. So now, all my bad debt is gone, and everything else is in really good standing.

I call back Dermatology, telling them the debt is cleared, and I can get an appointment for today (unfortunately with the really old doctor I saw last time, but if I didn't see him, I'd have to wait a week to see someone else). So I'm hoping I will find out 1. What is wrong with me. 2. How to make it go away and 3. How to keep this from happening again.

Transition to better to Pretty Damn Cool!

While I was taking care of my dermatology and medical bill stuff, I get a call from a health insurance place. It turns out, it was from their hiring department. I had applied for a freelance writer position with them AGES ago, well before I ever actually started freelancing. They wanted to know my current situation and if I was looking for full time work, because they have a Web content editor position that opened up that looks to be a good fit for my skill set.

Um, holy shit!

So, I have an improntu interview with the HR person, talking about my background, why I left my last place, and talking about my web writing experience. They are looking for someone with five years web writing, but I think I made a good case that while I only have 3 years web writing, I have done a lot of it, know healthcare inside out and more importantly, know how to write healthcare web content for consumers.

I have to apply for the position online, but the HR person seemed to like my answers and my experience. So, we shall see. But to be recruited completely out of the blue, just a few days after I decide that I have to get a regular job again, I would like to say a big Thank you to the Universe. Yes, I'm listening.

free at last!!!

Yesterday was my last day as an official, full time salaried employee, and like the rest of the week, it was completely crazy. Kathryn left a complete mess for everyone to clean up, so we were scrambling to get that stuff done, Sue was on deadline for Physician's Practice, so I had to write and edit articles for her, I had to organize all my files, finish stuff for Kathleen. I went in at 7 a.m. and didn't leave until after 6 p.m. and I was non-stop all day.

But now I'm officially a contractor, and I am so excited about it. I easily have 40 hours billable next week, I can't even take time off, just dive right into work. Poor Kathleen, when I was leaving, she was saying how much it is going to suck now that I won't be there, since I was the only person who was consistently happy and upbeat and not whining and complaining all the time. "Now I'm going to be stuck with all the complainers." Ding ding ding. That is a huge part of why I'm leaving, because I couldn't deal with the attitude of everyone.

And I talked to Sue, who is thrilled about this arrangement, because she finally gets to do what she envisioned when she created the position for herself, she can do all the strategic stuff, and the emergency communications, and I can take over everything else. I think I can freelance for Sue pretty much as long as I want. Sweeeet.

One step closer

To a house.

T and I went to a first-time home buyers class this week, and it was very informative. They walked us through everything you have to do when you are buying a house, what the different stages are, what you have to do to make an offer, how a real estate agent helps, etc.

And they also talked about money and mortgages. They do have no-money down programs, but you have to pay closing costs. Or you can pay down "points" to get a better mortgage price, or if you put down 0-5% of the cost, you get a much better interest rate. We figure we won't be able to hit 5% by the time we're thinking of looking, but we will easily have 3% down, possibly 4% down, which makes our interest rate MUCH better.

They also talked about what determines your interest rate, and while credit score was a big factor, so is debt to income ratio, and my debt to income ratio is fabulous. And they don't look at total debt you owe, they look at your monthly payments. And I only have a small school loan and the car payment, which they pretty much expect everyone to have. One thing they said was make sure you don't buy a new car before trying to get a mortgage, because they don't want to see new debt right before you qualify for a mortgage.

And they didn't talk about job history. They said you need two years of W-2s, two months of pay stubs and proof of your assets. I asked about if you are a contractor or self-employed, how you verify that, and they just said they just look at the tax returns for that.

So I feel like this is a goal we can really work towards, and we will continue to save as much as we can and pay down my school loan and start paying on Tim's.

learning to fly

"I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings. Coming down is the hardest thing.

So I started out for god know's where, I guess I'll know when I get there. I'm learning to fly around the clouds."

I've always liked this tom petty song, and it's felt like something I could relate to at different points in my life, and now as I get ready to embark on a new job adventure, I definitely feel like it is true again...learning to fly without a safety net, learning to fly around my problems and heading down a path that I don't know where it's going, but looking forward to the journey.

:)

9 leads

Just went through the Portland Monthly 20 best places to work in Portland list, and I found 9 I am at least going to check out and look for job openings. And if there aren't any now, I will bookmark them and keep checking back.

They all have great benefits. Most are environmentally conscious. All seem to have happy employees, as evidenced by their low turnovers, and they all really treat their employees well. They sound like places where I would find what I've been lacking...working with people who are happy, who enjoy what they do, and working for a company that actually cares about its employees.

Let the job search game begin...I'm ready!

I just applied at adidas!!

I have a great feeling about this. The timing is right. It is exactly the job environment I have been putting out into the universe that I want. I really like my cover letter, and it was really easy to show how my skills can relate to an hr position.

Fingers crossed, this would be GREAT. It was listed as the number one best place to work in Portland, according to Portland monthly magazine.

New mantra:

I am ready to find my perfect new job, where the employees like their jobs, enjoy coming to work, where the company supports and encourages their growth, where there is good pay and good benefits, where the work is fun and interesting and challenging, where there is a good culture. I am ready to find my perfect new job.