Journey Back to the Land of the Living

It occurred to me as I began to type this that some of you might not know my dirty little secret: I'm unemployed. Although it might have already been obvious, since I clearly have unlimited amounts of time to blog and workout and blog about working out. *haha* Yeah, I've been jobless for 5 months now. (If you would like to revisit the drama of WHY, be my guest. Oh and, this one too. I'm not gonna hash it all out again because it's really not necessary. My thoughts on the matter are already embedded in the skin of the internet! And in the words of a Kelly Clarkson song I listened to today, "it's been a long time since those hands I left my tears in." It's time to move on!) 

So it's not been the best time to be job hunting, y'know? I probably haven't pounded the pavement as much as I could have, but I've applied for quite a few jobs and either they weren't hiring...or they weren't hiring ME. Jeremy's been very patient with me as I've been very picky. I didn't wanna work here, there or the other place. Basically I wanted to love whatever I was working with as much as I'd loved the merchandise (and people) I had been around at my old job. And it just didn't seem like it was going to happen. I'd almost resigned to just being a hermit and placing some ads on my blog to earn extra money.

Well over the weekend, a bunch of new job listings popped up over the internet for receptionist positions. I figured, what the heck? I could do that. I'm an excellent typist, have good people skills and I can answer a phone. *haha* (I know there's more to it, I'm just bein' silly.)  So I got "creative" with my resume (which took FOREVER! I hate resume writing! It makes my head spin to speak in incomplete, self-congratulating sentences.) and applied for several online. 

Thus starts my crazy day. I got a call from the optometrist office I'd applied to, asking if I would come in and fill out their application. I agreed, but said it would be later in the afternoon because FIRST I needed to: bring my resume to a vet clinic that didn't offer the "apply online" option, and take Wrigley & Cubby to their own vet for shots. 

The vet clinic I applied at is further East, but not as far as I where I was working before so no biggie. When I got there, they had me fill out THEIR application (seriously, what's with all the personalized applications? All this information is right here on my pretty, organized resume, shouldn't that be good enough?) The woman I talked to was very nice and after going over my app, she asked me if I could come back at 3:30 to talk to the veterinarian. I figured I had plenty of time, so I agreed. 

By the time I got back home, it was time to load the boys up and get them to OUR vet. (Hope you're not getting to confused with all these different vets! *haha*) Their checkup went well, Wrigley's down about a pound which is good. Geez, though, it was expensive. Our most costly visit yet, and I still can't figure out why. I guess because they were due for everything at once, but still!

So then I came home, ate a really quick lunch and headed to the optometrist office. It was a little after 2:15 and I figured I'd have plenty of time to fill out their app and still get to my interview by 3:30. PLENTY of time, right? Well I didn't know what I was getting myself into. The gal behind the counter handed me the clipboard and I took a seat. The first part was pretty standard, all the normal application hoopla. But then I flipped to the next page...and it was a personality test. A little weird but I can see why it might come in handy. So ok, I filled that out too. 

Then I flipped to the last page and...*gasp* Someone might as well have shot me through my chest. It was a MATH TEST!!!! Let it be known, there are two things that I hate more than anything in this world. Namely: Math and Tests. Put the two together and I go completely bonkers. I started to sweat...I felt my heart begin to race...I immediately forgot everything I ever knew about even the most basic of math. (Although, some of this wasn't so basic. It's been like 9 years since I'd seen some of this stuff! Give me a break!) And all this IN PEN with no calculator or scratch paper. Before long I made the mistake of looking at my watch: it was 3:00!! I only had half an hour to get myself across town to my interview. This induced even greater panic. I know I must have given some really screwy answers on that math test. I was embarrassed to even turn it in.

But when I did, the girl says, "Ok great, just one more thing I need you to do. Come back here and I'll start you on the typing test." TYPING TEST? I wanted to scream, "Lady, I don't have TIME for this! And you're wasting both of our time, anyway, just look at the math portion of my application!" But I politely sat down. Um, it didn't go well. Not only had I forgotten my math, I also forgot how to type. This is tragic, because I'm a darn fast typist. It's one of the few "skillz" I feel confident in. But I was having to type a bunch of medical terms and codes that I didn't understand or know how to spell, so I spent half my time rechecking the words. And she was sitting there timing me, making me extra nervous. AND (could I possibly have any more excuses? Pathetic!) I'm so used to my laptop now that I kept reaching downward to "scroll" with my fingers instead of reaching up for the mouse. I've been crippled for the "real world." *haha*

When I left I was NOT feeling very confident in myself. Satan was playing quite a game with me as I drove across town for my interview, filling my head with all sorts of lies. "You're pathetic. Why are you even bothering with this? No one's gonna want to hire you. You have NO SKILLS! You worked at the same job for so long that you became completely useless to the rest of the world. All you know how to do is ring up scrapbook supplies. It's irrelevant. You're unemployable. You might as well turn this car around and forget the interview." Pretty bad, I know. 

But luckily I didn't have to "take it sittin' down." I escorted his lies right out of my consciousness with some much needed prayer. "Lord, I know I'm not great at everything, but you've made me valuable. You didn't waste Your time creating me...You've given me talents and traits that are unique to only me. I have a lot to offer those around me, especially because I have You beside me and Your strength to lean on. I don't have to be nervous about this interview because I'm not going in there alone. Speak through me! And if this isn't the right place for me, I'll accept that. And I'll wait for the perfect match that I know You'll provide." And with that I went inside.

The interview COULD NOT have gone any better. The staff was extremely friendly, just as the woman I'd met that afternoon had been. And when the vet interviewed me, I felt completely at ease. In fact, I felt more comfortable with him INSTANTANEOUSLY than I ever had with my former employers. He was very down to earth and didn't seem like he was looking down at me or trying to intimidate me. He was easy to talk to. He asked me about my application where I'd asked for Sundays off (before I realized that they were closed on Sundays) and I told him it was because I go to church. He told me that I would fit right in because he and most of the staff are Christians and that he wants those principals to be conveyed in the way they treat customers and each other. What a refreshing thought! A boss that doesn't scream and scold you in front of customers? 

So they're conducting interviews for the rest of this week and will make a decision next week. I won't lie, I kind of hoped they'd offer me a contract right then and there, saying "Hallelujah, you're the one!!!" But it's OK. I need to take the time to pray about it...as I hope they do also. I really do feel like this would be a good fit for me, though. But if not, at least this got me moving in the right direction....back into the land of the living! :)