The wonder of youth

My best friend, Steph and his wife, Lynette have been in Austria for the past week and a half, filming a movie about Mozart. There is much more to it than that, but you will have to visit Steph's site for the details. Anyroad, over the weekend, I had the joy of having their 2 teenage girls stay with me. They are 15 and 16. What fun we had!!

Saturday we went shopping, and then that night Beau and I taught them how to play poker. Sunday we all just flapped around, napped, and then played poker some more. I just wanted to write to say how much I loved having them here. They are both so intelligent and delightful. I love all 3 of those kids so dearly. Nathan is the youngest at 13. He stuck around his house for the weekend, bugging the heck outta Liz and Joel, no doubt. Now that the girls are so good at poker, I can't wait for the first family poker night. Well, it's late and I must work tomorrow, so I will bid you all g'night.

Parental Units

First off, let me say, that I am no longer going to apologize for lack of postings here. Those of you that know me, know that it's just ME, and besides, I'M NOT SORRY AT ALL!!! lol. So, with that having been said, I'm sorry I haven't written in so long... LOL, just kidding.

My parents rolled into town on Wednesday and have been spoiling me by getting me little fun things, taking me out to dinner, and today my Dad surprised me with a new bird bath for my yard. I love it!!! But I don't care about all the little gifty things (don't get me wrong, I am a Gemini and I love presents), but truly, I am having such a great time having them here in my home. I love relating to my parents now as a "grown up". Having them here has been pure joy. I love them so much, and miss them terribly. Saturday we are going to do the old fashioned Fleischer family backyard BBQ fun time. I am really looking forward to it. I will let you know how it went. Hopefully I will have a few pics too.

Ciao for now peeps!

Update and my apologies

I am so sorry I have been so lax on my blog. Since I have started on at the employment agency, I have been very busy. I love my job. No REALLY, I love my job. I get to meet new people every single day, and I have the opportunity to change lives. When one thinks of occupations that make an impact on people, most of us immediately think of nurses, doctors, policemen, firemen.... you get the drift. It never occurred to me to think of a staffing consultant. It may not be glamorous. It may not be too terribly exciting. But I have the responsibility of placing the right person in the right job. I get to be the person who helps put the food on others tables. It's what I have always wanted to do. Make a difference. I have had jobs that I have loved, but those jobs were, well, jobs. This "job" is probably going to be my career. Unless something drastic happens, I can see myself doing this for a very long time. This is how I am going to make a difference. I get to give people second chances. I get to go to work everyday knowing that someone just like me, will have a job tomorrow.

I have to give you a great example. I interviewed a guy yesterday. We will call him "TJ". He had gotten himself into some trouble and was just released from prison. You all know the story. 25 years old, black male, busted for drugs. Seems like an obvious "red flag", but I got to talking with this kid. I mean really talk to him. He is so committed to cleaning up his life. He is really committed to cleaning up his life. All he wants is for someone to give him another shot. I get to be the person that does that. I signed him on and put him to work. General labor, but he has a job. I can sleep at night, knowing that I was able to help this person take care of his family. Anyway, I don't want to make this all about my job, but that has been my focus for so long that I almost don't know what else to say.

Oh but I will.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, my parents will be here around the 10th of August. I can't wait. I went home to Cali last summer, but it's been more than a decade since mom and dad have come to see me. I am very excited. I will let you know if, and when. Meantime, I will try to be more communicative here.

Whoohoo!

First off, let me apologize for being so quiet. That job I had cleaning really wiped me out. Then Monday I came down with a bad case of backache. I don't know if it the arthritis in my spine, the humidity that rolled through, tired muscles due to the cleaning job, or a combination of one or more. So, I came home at noon on Monday and didn't go back. I am still in pain, but it seems to be subsiding.

In the mean time, the employment agency got me an interview for what they would only refer to as "something like inside sales". Hmmm, ok. It was an in-house interview, meaning I would be speaking with the manager of the agency itself. I went at 8:30 this morning, truly not knowing what to expect. About 20 minutes into the interview, he dropped the bomb that the job was in house. In other words, he wanted to know if I wanted to work for THEM. LOL!!! Seems that my agents (Seth and Kathy) were so impressed with me, that when the position came up, they recommended me right away. How cool is that??? Of course I was thrilled.

After the interview, it became obvious that I had the job before I walked in the door, he just wanted to know if I wanted it. Of course I said yes. Dream job for me. I get to work in an office environment, AND deal with the public. I am so excited and proud of myself. I should say here, that I never did hear about the eye doc job. So his loss, I guess.

I am really looking forward to this job though. The pay is good too. Especially in this town. The best part, its not a "temp" job. I can finally count on a steady paycheck. I'm going to steal a snippet from The Incurable Insomniac and say, File this under: "Whew"

"Vision" of my future

So sorry for the expanse of time between entries. I have still been working at that fire restoration place. But today I have an interview for a real full-time job. I came home to change and still had a bit of time to sit here and blog about it. It is for a front desk receptionist for an Opthamologist's office. With my eyes I would love to work for an eye doctor. There are 2 other people in the running for this, so I have me widdle fingers crossed. Starts between 8 and 9 bucks an hour, depending on experience. Psssshhhhh... I should think I would be closer to the $9.00 range, but 8 would be okay too. Actually a good deal of money for this town. Well, I'm off. Wish me luck!!!

Small towns

I realize that there are plenty of small towns in California, but the small towns here in Oklahoma are amusingly small. On a local radio station here, they announce class reunions. That's not so strange--a good idea really--but one in particular got me giggling. "The reunion will be held at Mr. and Mrs. Soandso's house..." How small did that class have to be to have the reunion at someone's house???

I met someone recently who has never even seen a mall. Wha??? Huh??? This is really odd to someone who grew up so close to "The Valley". I was at the mall as often as possible. The "Mall Crawl" was to a Valley girl what cruising is to a greaser. I have been away from Cali for almost 13 years now, but I am still amazed at the differences. I wonder if I will ever really become accustomed to it.

Another day, another dollar

Well, I'm off to clean up the fire some more today. Not really looking forward to it, but blah blah blah... I don't get it though. These people have more cleaning supplies than Procter and Gamble, but they live like pigs. Thick layers of dust everywhere (not soot, DUST), cobwebs so thick, it looks as though they are getting ready for Halloween. Don't even get me started on the toilet. *shudder* Thank god we aren't cleaning that. Well, frankly, I would just say "Hell, no!" LOL.

I just don't understand how people can live like this. I was in that house for only one day and my allergies and asthma were almost out of control. Sneezing and wheezing. Beau went to the drug store and got me some allergy medicine and I am keeping my inhaler in my pocket. Hope it works, because I need the flippin paycheck.

OK... enough about that shit. On a lighter note, here is a picture of my kitty, Figaro. How cute! I may have to puke!! LOL