Hesitant, Hopeful

I've been meaning to write about what I have coming up this week, but something's always getting in the way.  I found out last week that I have an interview for the Graduate Assistant position on June 1st at 10 a.m..  I'm crazy nervous, of course, but I figure who isn't nervous when it comes to interviews?  If I get it, I'll be working 20 hours a week in the writing center at the university, observing basic writing courses, and teaching a lab, all in addition to going to class.  So, getting the GA will complicate my life, but it'll also give me invaluable experience that I need.  So, I'm looking forward to getting over with the interview and I hope it goes well.

I'm going to wear my black slacks.  I was going to wear my dress, the one my mom got me, but I'm afraid I'll flash the graduate committee, so I decided against it.  I got a new shirt to wear with my black slacks and I'm going to wear this amazing pair of shoes I bought a while back and haven't ever worn.  I'm hoping to look professional, although professional isn't a look I've had to really pull off in years.  The last I really had to look professional, I was 19 years old.  Needless to say, I'm not 19 years old anymore.

At least I have amazing shoes!

Here's hoping I don't fall on my face and look like an idiot.  Like I said, I've never worn them, so I'm sure they're going to hurt... but it's so worth it.  They're hot, hot shoes!!

If I get it, I'm going to have to go shopping, I don't own many clothes appropriate for working that sort of job.  Might be that I'll get a few things I can mix and match, but not right now.  Getting clothes now would be putting the cart before the horse, so to speak, so I'm just trying to think about the interview.  I'm feeling like it can't be that much different than the one I had in February (or was it April?) for the writing center job.  That job didn't come through due to funding issues, but those concerns aren't a problem when it comes to the GA job, so hopefully this will go well.  There're three (or four?) interviewers, which makes me feel really unsettled, but I know many of them, so that should help... I hope.

Anyway, in the mean time, I have a BBQ to attend to take my mind off the impending interview.  Melanie and Joey are having a BBQ tomorrow afternoon for Brooke, Melanie's daughter who's graduating from HS tomorrow.  Should be fun!!  Then, Sunday it's back to work which is a good distraction.  I have some news on the work front, but it warrants it's own entry, so it'll have to come later.

I hope y'all have a great Memorial Day weekend -- this weekend holds a special place in my heart; I met Matt on Memorial Day weekend-- and wish me luck with Tuesday morning's interview.

Thursday simply cannot come soon enough!!  I'm going to be taking Thursday afternoon off to go out to the movie with Matt.  Might be that we'll have pizza after the movie, too.  I'm dying to see it, but I'm also a bit nervous.  I really hope they don't screw things up between Carrie and Big.  I was so happy when they finally got married in SATC1!  I'm eternally hopefully that they'll do them right, so we're off to see it Thursday.  Will you?

Since summer began, and I'm out of school, I've been working from home writing online.  I've mentioned it probably a dozen times, so it's nothing new, but I'm finding that I really enjoy working online from home. I don't have to go anywhere, wear anything special, or wake-up at any specified time, and I'm able to earn about $15 an hour right now.  Simply can't beat that, in my humble opinion.  Of course, when I say "about $15" I mean that it's a little less than that because with research and formatting, one article takes me about an hour and 15 minutes right now.

Today was an exception, I spent more time writing today than usual, I worked full-time and got five articles written... but this is unusual.  Most days aren't like this.  On average, I spent about 4 hours writing 3 articles per day, 5 days per week right now.  Today can be blamed on yesterday, when I didn't feel well and only wrote one article.  All in all, for my first week actually working online, rather than treating it like a money-earning hobby, I got my 3 article per day goal met and I feel really good about it.  So good, in fact, that I'm taking the weekend off.  I've been planning to only write 5 days a week and I'm thinking of changing my days off to Monday and Tuesday because the short part of the pay week is between Monday and Wednesday.  Won't go into it more than that because it's not that interesting.  Honestly, the only thing interesting about even as much as I've said is that I get to choose my days off.  I love that!

There are, however, a few things that I find I don't like about working at home.  The first has to be Facebook and email, I can't stay away from them. I waste hours a day doing nothing but playing Facebook games and it's cutting down on my productivity.  I know it's a simple matter of willpower to avoid them, and I did okay --if not great-- today, but I'm hooked. Besides, anyone who knows me or reads here with any regularity knows I suck at willpower. I recently made some changes with my twitter account, namely deleted it and opened a new one, so I'm going back to using Twitter because I feel like it's far less of a distraction that Facebook.  Also, I like the instant gratification and ability to say what I want about what I'm doing.  Facebook always makes me feel a little self-conscious about status updating.

The second is easily state of mind and by that I mean the ability to feel like I'm actually working a job. I could write in my jammies all day if I wanted to, but I find that doing so makes me feel like I'm not working, which messes with my productivity as much as my Facebook addiction. I need to feel like a big girl, in my big girl clothes, so I'm finding that if I shower, wash my hair, and put on something I'd wear to school when I'm first up in the morning (er... early afternoon?) that I feel more like I'm working.  Jammies and lounge-type cloths are reserved for lounging.  Jeans and a comfortable shirt are my work clothes.  It's silly, or at least I feel a little silly about it, but that's how it goes.

Finally, I have to have total quiet and a clean desk to be productive. I clean my desk up every night, after I've worked, made dinner, and cleaned the house.  That way in the morning, after I'm cleaned up and when I'm ready to work, I won't use cleaning up as a form of procrastination. I'm trying to look at this like a good thing, I'm learning what I use to procrastinate and actively trying to stop.  Maybe working, rather than going to school, is a good thing for me!

As for noise, there's nothing I can do about that. The TV's on right now, as I type this, and I'm having trouble focusing and blogging is pretty simple stuff -- he's watching Bill Mahr.  Focusing on maintaining AP style, while reducing my passive phrases to less than 8% of text, and trying to remember to put only one space after periods cannot be done with the TV on.  I've tried music, because I could wear my headset and Matt could still watch TV, but no.  I need quiet and that means Matt has to find another way to occupy himself while I'm working. What I need is an office, but for now, I'm just going to have to make having my desk in the living room work because the spare room is packed with junk that needs to go to the dump and needs to have the carpet replaced.  So, the living room's it and noise is out.

All in all, though, I feel like working from home is working for me.  The amount of freedom I feel being able to work from home is amazing.  The sky's really the limit, my only real limit is my own ability to produce faster.  I'm working on that this summer because the heat's not really on.  At 3 articles, 5 days a week, I can make about $900 a month.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but when you consider that many of my bills are paid through August, it's more than enough.  The beauty, of course, is that at that rate, if I write two more articles a day, my earnings go up to $1,500 a month.  It's a gradual process of stepping up into more income.  I'm working on it, but I'm happy to be doing so and hopefully it will allow me to find more freelance projects along the way.  I'm hopeful!

For now, it's 10:30 and I still have a grocery list to make and shopping to do.  Going to be a challenge to see whether I can make meals with just the microwave, electric griddle, and foreman grill.  Good night!

It's been a while since I posted a recipe here, so I bring you something sweet.  With my oven broken, I've been feeling a little stressed out.  When I get stressed out, I need (want?) sugar in a major way.  Yes, it does nothing for my huge hips, but it makes me feel better.  Anyway, since I can't bake the chocolate cupcakes I had planned to make, I set out to find something I could make with my microwave.  What I found, thanks to my awesome mom's suggestion, was this:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Microwave Fudge

12 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 TBSP Peanut Butter

Mix chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high 4-5 minutes, or until mixture is melted smooth.  Do not over heat.  Once melted, remove from microwave and stir-in peanut butter. Spread in a 8x8 square pan and set aside to cool.  Cool completely before cutting.
I made it yesterday when I was feeling like crap, and grumpy as hell, and it really helped.  Matt and I liked it, so I thought I'd share.  I made it with milk chocolate chips, so the consistency is probably different than it would have been had I had semi-sweet chips in the cabinet.  I also used creamy peanut butter, and a bit more than the recipe called for, and Matt said he'd have liked for me to use crunchy.  Since I don't like crunchy, that wasn't happening.  All in all, I'd call this sweet success!

This is, of course, not my recipe.  I got it at GroupRecipes.

Well, I only have two quick things.

1. The last post (not this one, but the one before) was my 100th post on this blog.  It came and went without my noticing it, so it must not be much of a big deal, else I'd have paid it more mind.


2. What do you think of this theme?  I like it, it's simple, but I'm afraid I'll get tired of it.  I liked the purple one, too, but was feeling like I need a change.  Thoughts?

Okay, that's all for now because it's 5:15 a.m and I'm still awake.  Good night... er... morning?  Nah, it's still my night.

Well, I have to tell you, my summer break isn't starting out on a great foot.  My grades came in, I made an A and B.  I'm pretty damn disappointed in that B, if I'm going to be truthful with you.  More than anything, I'm feeling really disheartened by it.  I felt like my paper was pretty good, I worked had on it and until the I turned it in, I was making a low A.  So, all I can think is that she gave me a low B or a C on the paper.  Very disappointing.  I didn't cry, but I won't like, it was close.

Then, or perhaps before, since it happened over the weekend, my electric range died.  The over and stove both went out, at the same time, while I was making dinner on Sunday... or maybe it was Saturday.  I don't know.  Anyway, the oven will warm, but it won't heat above that.  So, I'm stuck making food in the microwave, on the electric griddle, and in the Rival electric fondue pot (which isn't exactly a fondue pot).  So annoyed, especially since I have a cabinet filled with pasta that I can't cook.  We can't afford to replace the range right now, but there's a place in town that sells used appliances, so I may check them out when I have enough saved up.  Since we have mice, which I think are probably at least partially to blame for the death of the range, in addition to it's 6 years in service, that is, I don't want to get a new stove.  Well, that and we're not going to be here another 6 years, so we don't need something that'll last forever, just for now.

My glasses are going out of prescription, which sucks because I'm going to have to choose between being able to cook and being able to see.  I'll get both done eventually, but something will have to come first.  I don't make a huge amount of money right now, which is my choice since I'm only writing 3(ish) articles a day, but it's more than enough to pay our bills right now since some of them are paid up through August.  I think I'll probably choose vision before oven, since I have to be able to see to work.  My glasses aren't that far out of prescription, they're just starting to get there, but it's annoying.

Then, of course, there's west Texas to save for.  We decided we're only going to go for an overnight trip, rather than staying there for two days.  We're going to have to kennel Anakin, which I do not want to do, and that's $15 a day.  So, going overnight will save us half the cost from that, plus $40 extra for a room that going overnight will be free since I have $100 worth of Best Western Cards to pay for our room.  All in all, overnight will be cheaper, with an added bonus of not having to see my aunts.  It works out, and since we're staying in a hotel over night, I'll still be able to work, so I don't have to take time off.

Otherwise, not much to say.  I hope like hell that summer get's better.  I'm waiting to hear whether or not I'll get full admissions to the graduate program, and whether or not I'll be interviewing for the fall graduate assistantship.  I'll probably write about both things as soon as I know more.  For now, I have a horrible headache, so I need to go lay down.

Adieu.

Well, as of last night, the Spring 2010 semester is officially over.  Thank goodness.  I got all my papers done and turned in on time, and am now just waiting for grades.  I thought the grades were due by Friday, come to find out they're not due until Monday, so the wait will be a bit longer than I thought it would.  I'm dying to know how I did.  Right now, I feel pretty good about my comparative lit paper, which I wrote over The Lais of Marie de France, ask me again after grades are in and it may be a different story.  For now, everything that can be done has been, it's just a game of waiting.

I'm just so glad the summer's here, I'm exhausted and need a break.  I'll be working all summer, full-time for Demand Studios, but I won't be going to school.  Between now and August, I'll have nothing to do but work.  We are going to West Texas next month, but that's an entry for another time.

Last night we went out to coffee with Nikka, Melanie, and Joey, which was a nice, sort of celebratory fairwell tot he semester.  Afterwards, Matt and I went to Melanie and Joey's to watch a movie.  It was an okay film, but it was nice to hang out with friends without the weight of something to do hanging over us all.    Today, it's rainy and gloomy and amazing here.  As the first day of my break, I'm spending the day doing absolutely nothing.  We've been watching movies and listening to the thunder, and being lazy.

I have a horrible crick in my neck, which  I woke up with yesterday.  Matt put some Icy Hot on it last night and I think I'll get him to do the same today.  It's not how I was hoping to feel on the first day of my break, but freedom is freedom, even in pain.   For now, I'm going back to the movie.  We're watching "Dangerous Beauty," one of my favorite movies.

Oh, we also got "Daybreakers" and watched it when we got home last night.  It's a good vampire movie.  It's been a long time since a good vampire movie came out of Hollywood.  It was somewhat unconventional, and though I still prefer the more traditional vampire movies, I really liked it.  It wasn't scary, as the box would have us believe, but it doesn't need to be, either.

Okay, I'm off.   I hope to catch up on my blog visits today or tomorrow, but no promises.  I'm so damn tired lately.  Good afternoon!