Red socks vs. white, what's the big deal?

Who made the rule that white socks go with everything. Personally, I find wearing white socks with everything kind of tacky.

When I went to work Friday I work my brown pants and a green polo shirt. Since I was going to wear tennis shoes I needed to wear socks also (I can could on one hand the number of times I've work socks since I left for Ukraine). I found my stash of clean socks and pulled out the first matching pair I saw, which just happened to be red. My pants were long enough were no one would see them so I put them on.

Wearing something "wrong" gives me more energy. I know it seems odd, but I can't explain it. I wore my red socks with pride and will do so again in the future.

Have I mentioned before I love song lyrics

I've seen a commercial recently and it had a catchy song. Being the Google queen I am I searched for it and found it truely was a full-fledged song. I love the lyrics and will see if I can download the song to my mp3 player. The song is Hold On Tight.

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Electric Light Orchestra - Hold On Tight Lyrics

Hold on tight to your dream
Hold on tight to your dream
When you see your ship go sailing
When you feel your heart is breaking
Hold tight to your dream.

It's a long time to be gone
Time just rolls on and on
When you need a shoulder to cry on
When you get so sick of trying
Just hold tight to your dream

CHORUS:
When you get so down that you can't get up
And you want so much but you're all out of luck
When you're so downhearted and misunderstood
Just over & over & over you could

Accroches-toi a ton reve
Accroches-toi a ton reve
Quand tu vois ton bateau partir
Quand tu sents -- ton coeur se briser
Accroches-toi a ton reve.

REPEAT CHORUS:

Hold on tight to your dream
Hold on tight to your dream
When you see the shadows falling
When you hear that cold wind calling
Hold on tight to your dream.

Oh, yeah
Hold on tight to your dream
Yeah, hold on tight...
To your dream.

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I so needed this right now. I have a lot of dreams, I can't give up!!

Oh no they didn't

I got a phone call from the home care place today. I saw their name on the caller ID and thought "Great, I find out when I can work" (I was going to keep them as my part time job and the pharmacy as my main job). Nope, no suck luck. The guy was on speakerphone (how rude) and informed me they have not run the background check yet because they neglected to have me (or the rest of the people in orientation last week) fill out the form authorizing a background check. HELLO!!! They were supposed to run the background checks yesterday but they didn't call me until today to tell me they don't have the form. Now they want me to drive over there to fill out the form. Nope, not going to happen.

I WILL not work for this company. I will not work for someone who can't get simple paperwork straight, can't return phone calls, and can't give me answers to straightforward questions.

Now I need to contact them to let them know I will not be working with them.

How can I forget

Yesterday I also got an e-mail from my very dearest friend LeeSue. She has always been there for me. I call her my voice of reason and will tell me like it is. I think we all need people like that in our lives. Thinking about her I really want some dumplings from Hunan Garden.

Better Today

I got hired at a pharmacy a few blocks away, it's inside a grocery store. I went to the grocery store to fill out an application and saw the signs for a pharmacy tech position, definitly more my style then the deli. They are going to pay for me to go through the process to become certified. Once I take and pass the test my pay rate goes up $2/hr. And I'll be able to walk to work so very

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting tonight and found out I lost 7.6 pounds this week. The first week or two is a lot of water weight but I'll take it. By the time I return to Minnesota next year I bet some people will not be able to recognize me.

After I got back from my meeting I checked my e-mail and found some wonderful messages of support from the HIC community. I e-mailed asking for prayers last night and they came through. Such a wonderful group of people. I feel like I've been given a major boost. Getting those e-mails was way better than losing those 7.6 pounds any day.

Doubting the journey

I'm really doubting right now if I am doing the right thing. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be this hard. Why did I ever think this would work in the first place?

I had a conversation with someone tonight and felt like I got knocked down a few more rungs. I thought I was stronger than this.

Frustration

My bank account balance is less than favorable at the moment and the last thing I needed was a delay in starting a job...

I went for orientation at my new job today. I was told I would actually start working Wed or Thursday or possibly later. This was after I was told yesterday, by the same person, I would start Monday. They knew there was a delay in the orientation (was supposed to be Tuesday) so why didn't they at least do the background checks instead of waiting until after orientation. OR they should have more than one person who could do the orientation, it's not that hard to say sign this form, read this paper then answer these questions, read these books at home, and the pay dates are the 8th and 23rd of every month.

I wasn't too thrilled with orientation either. There was no explanation of the benefits they advertised in their Craigslist ad. Nor did they say if we had to come to the office to pick up our checks or give us any information about direct diposit. I didn't get a good vibe from the person doing orientation.

I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot and quit before I even start. But, I am looking at other jobs. I really didn't want to go back to the medical field but all signs are pointing there. I've applied for two heart monitor tech jobs as well as multiple unit secretary positions. The heart monitor tech positions want 1-2 years experince, well, I have almost 8, so very little training involved.

Biggest Loser

I spent a lot of time last week putting together my application and video to be on season 5 of Biggest Loser. Last Wednesday I finished the video and was getting ready to fill out the final draft of the application. Shortly after I filmed my last segment I got a phone call. I had applied for 20+ jobs in VA just an hour or so before. The phone call was from one of those applications. A few hours later I was on the road. Being on the open road is great for thinking. While driving I convinced myself I really didn't need Biggest Loser. I thought about all the reasons I wrote down on the application and stated again in the video. If I value myself the way I say I do then why would I wait to get healthy until filming starts next April? Why not start now?

So after a lot more thinking I joined Weight Watchers again last night. I didn't like the number I saw on my little card but I will never have to see that number again. This time is different. I have something else deep inside me that has changed. I can't explain it very well, but this time it feels more like a fire.

Louisville wrap-up

Yes, my time in Louisville came to an end. At this point jobs are dictating where I go. I'd been applying to jobs in KY as well as VA (where my brother and SIL live). As of Wednesday last week I still had not heard from Kroger or Pier 1. But, I did hear from Home Instead Senior Care in VA one and a half hours after I submitted my application. I had an informal phone interview and things sounded good so a formal interview was set up for the next day. So I packed up my stuff, said good bye to Aalia, and hit the road again. While I was getting ready to leave I got a call from Kroger offering me a job. She was a bit stunned when I told her I wouldn't take the job because I was going to VA.

I didn't arrive at my destination until 2:30 am. For the most part the trip went great. I wish I would have arrived in West VA earlier in the day so I could have seen more of the mountains. There was the one semi driver I almost called the state patrol on in VA (kept switching lanes to ride my butt and flashing their brights at me, there was nothing wrong with my vehicle), other than that the trip was a breeze.

I had my interview Thursday morning and got hired on the spot. I start orientation tomorrow afternoon. I will be working with seniors in their homes doing things like preparing meals, washing clothes, taking them grocery shopping, and doing things as simple as playing a game of cards. This is a non-medical position. The pay is decent, I can work full-time, and it's a job I think I will actually enjoy.

I was sad to leave Louisville. I had a great time with Aalia, Natalie, Baley, and Fat Louie. I will be eternally grateful for their kindness. I also wish I could have spent more time with the spiritual community I found.

Laughing till your body aches

We don't laugh nearly enough. Today at dinner I laughed so hard my gut muscles still hurt several hours later. It was so good just to laugh and do silly stuff. By the way, the round drink coasters at Olive Garden make great frisbees.