Who’s That Girl?

Oh no, I am joining the masses and using song lyrics as my subject lines! And not even in a cool way like Amy or Kapgar or Hilly! Help!
Anyway, I recently changed birth control from the patch to a pill I hadn’t taken before.  I know, I know–TMI! (what’s even more disturbing is the huge, multi-page file my mom sent me that details the effects and benefits of almost every hormone combination out there)  THE POINT IS, since I switched things up I feel like a whole new person.  Seriously, gone is the daily grouchy (possibly a product of having my period for two weeks straight, which mean I had PMS half the month?).  The bloating is greatly reduced.  I just feel all around better.
So maybe it’s the sunshine and cooler temperatures too, or maybe it’s the reduction in my workload to a much more realistic size, but I can’t help thinking that switch really pushed something back in place in my brain.  I have been happier and more relaxed than I can remember in awhile.  Yay! Aces.
ETA:  How super cute it is that my mom is SO excited that she got a gift certificate from the Amish Door restaurant for her b-day??

You Guys Will be Proud

A candidate of mine, who I just love, called me today to check on his/her status. The final interview was earlier this week, and I know we are making him/her an offer but I can’t share that until everything is signed and sealed and ready to go.  If it’s not done today, the poor candidate will have to wait the long holiday weekend to hear anything.
So I called my manager to ask the status, and she said she has just been so busy with more important things and only got the paperwork sent out for approval today. I said I understood, but anything we could do to push it through today would be great so the poor candidate does not have to worry and wonder all weekend long.
And she said she would make sure it’s ready by end of day.
So you see?  I’m on your side, I really am.  I’m trying here, people. 

Go figure.

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Babies and Freaks Love Me

Last night was my second to last babysitting stint with Maddie, and as always we had lots of fun.  She was a bit fussier than usual, but even her fussiness is minimal compared to most other kids.  Anyway, she seemed super tired (the heat?) AND had a diaper rash AND has a tooth coming in.  I would be fussy too if I were her.
The cute thing is she can almost say my name now!  And her parents want me to visit at least once a month if not more so that she is familiar with me, in case they need a backup babysitter again.  Heck, I think S. and I are going to end up either fighting for her or tag teaming because she is such a little doll. 
To answer Kilax’s question from yesterday–am I a freak magnet or what?  I know sometimes I seem overdramatic about such things, but in case I hadn’t mentioned it before, here is a small history of my experience with scary boys:
1. At age 16, my life was threatened by a guy I had seen over the summer.  I am exagerating in no way, he sent me a letter that told me he had thought of killng me.
2.  In college, I had a guy literally following me around campus, lurking behind buildings, until a big scary male friend had a “talk” with him.
3.  That guy I went on one date with, who harrassed me on MySpace.
4.  Various freaks showing up at my house and the houses of others.

I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy into the “but he’s harmless!” rationale.  There are plenty of men in my life who have acted with civility, so I refuse to excuse such behavior on the grounds that the subject in question is misunderstood in his intentions.  If you don’t know how to behave like a socially adept adult, that is not my problem and I do not have to learn to deal with it.  If you are a victim of such activity, you can deal with it however you choose.  I personally choose to avoid such situations at all costs.  Because really, I’d rather overdo my own protection than underdo it.  That’s my choice. 
So there.
I try to be a nice person, so hopefully I appear kind and vulnerable most of the time, and so animals and babies like me.  And apparently, freaks do too.

Even Better

So, through a roundabout chain of gossip, I found out from my mom that Brian Bragg (see previous entry) had a restraining order filed against him recently for stalking a girl that went to college with him.
Ahem.
As my mom put it, my instincts were correct.
But damn these crazies finding me at every turn.  What’s it going to take for me to peacefully exist on the interweb??
Part of my job is networking.  That involves putting my name out there.  I don’t like when putting my name out there means some random dude may show up at my house.  Just as I should be able to walk on a dark street at night without fearing for my life, I should be able to post my full name without someone doing any of a number of searches to track me down uninvited.  And potentially show up at my house.
I’ve already deleted my old blog with my name attached to it for various creepy activity.  I took my myspace account down for a number of reasons, one of which was a guy who I went on ONE date with would not stop leaving me snarky comments.  Thank god the LinkedIn people seem mature enough to act respectfully.
It’s not fair. But it’s the way things are, and it sucks.

Me & The Quarterback

Okay, this is so weird, I had to share. 
Yesterday I got a message from Facebook that someone I went to high school with had messaged me.  Let’s call him Brian Bragg. 
I thought it was a mistake.  Brian Bragg and I grew up together like everyone else in my home town.  We went to school from kindergarten through 12th grade.  Maybe we talked a little as kids, but by 7th grade he was a popular athlete and those guys just did NOT associate with my kind.  In high school, I was at every one of his football games–because I was in the band.
He was a good looking guy, just not my type.  And moreover, would never be my type because his tier of popularity did not associate with my tier of unpopularity.  By 9th grade, I knew to keep my crushes to my fellow band members and the guys in the art club (yep, I was also in art club) (and the national art honor society) (and the regular national honor society) (as you can tell, I was quite cool).
Anyway, it’s not like he was one of the popular guys that I once pined for (*cough cough* Jason Philabaum *cough*).  He was just some random popular guy that I probably had class with once, but likely not, since I was in those nerdy AP classes.
And indeed, he had messaged me on Facebook.  He’s changed a lot in appearance (heck, so have I), but I could tell it was definitely him.  He’s single, lives in Cleveland, and apparently works as a DJ.  His message was a simple, “Hi, what are you doing in Chicago? Okay, hope all is well, from your classmate Brian Bragg.” 
I sat here laughing, utterly confused for the longest time.  I’m sure I surfaced in some search of our high school, but did it not occur to him for a moment that we NEVER spoke in high school?  Largely because his collective tier of popularity would treat me like a bug on the bottom of their collective shoe?  I mean, at least the guy I wanted to apologize to after those weird dreams one night was in my tier.  We spoke, we had class together–I just treated him like dirt because he was weird.  At least if I messaged him…well, I would have started with “I am sorry I treated you like dirt when we were in school.”  Not just, “Hey, hi, how are you?”
Anyway.  I haven’t written back yet.  My impulse is to write something to the effect of “why are you choosing to acknowledge me now, since a high school quarterback would never speak to the likes of me when we actually were in school?”  But that’s incredibly rude.  Maybe I’ll just let it quietly go. 
Damn, I am going to have to go to my 10 year reunion though.  Color me intrigued to see which other popular people will decide I’m okay after all. (ouch, this chip on my shoulder sure weighs me down sometimes!)

Ahhhhh.

I just got back from a long walk with H.  And I remarked during the course of the walk that today I feel the most relaxed on a Monday that I can recall feeling in…weeks, if not months.
This weekend was just awesome.  Friday night I stayed in because I knew I was going to have a busy weekend, and wanted to get a few household chores done before starting the madness. It was quite productive, and I even got custom blended paint in a pint can for repainting my bookcase.
Saturday I went to babysit again, and most of that time was spent at the park.  We both had a ball and I was bummed to leave the little ball of sunshine, but I was off to meet Dave & co. for dinner downtown! Kilax was as precious as I expected, Kapgar was a hoot as always, and everyone I didn’t know was super nice.  Dave was Dave–nice as could be, and we all got personalized Davecago press passes and tee shirt coupons.  (E. was really excited about his tee shirt coupon)
After that, E., H., S. and I headed north to see Don’t Spit The Water, which I probably hadn’t seen in close to a year if not longer.  It was a blast as always–H. got to be a contestant, and we all were sitting behind a rowdy (yet hilarious) bachelor party.  Good times.
Sunday, E. and I met up with some friends of his and had brunch at Dixie Kitchen, one of our very favorite restaurants.  I had the most incredible Bananas Foster french toast.  And I don’t even like bananas that much!  We then proceeded to wander around Evanston and the beach by Northwestern on the most perfect of days.  After all that, E. and I watched The Departed at his place (he hadn’t seen it) and I reluctantly returned home at 11pm. (though if I had stayed out any longer, I think the kitties would have staged a very bloody mutiny around here)
All in all, just mountains of fun that left me in a great mood today.  Well, after the whole work thing blew over.  And now, what shall I do?  I shall go play Grand Turismo, because E. got me readdicted to it yesterday, and I haven’t just camped out to play video games in FAR too long.
Tomorrow–stay tuned for the story of the high school quarterback that found me on Facebook.

Slow to Update

I had a great weekend, and a lot to write about it, but just not the time right now. 
More importantly (at least to me), something odd happened at work on Friday that had me really preoccupied this weekend, culminating in worry and a lack of sleep last night.  Without giving specific details, everything was okay this morning and I feel much better.
Nothing like an odd conversation that causes you to fear for your job right before the weekend.  *sigh*
Hope ya’ll had great weekends too.  More to come…

Another Job Tip From This Side of the Desk

People–especially those of you who have not had many jobs–please do not list a friend as a reference. It’s a waste of everyone’s time, because we are just going to call you back and ask for more references.
If said friend was a co-worker, put them down as a co-worker.  Not friend, and not friend/co-worker.  References are generally biased enough, no need to make it more obvious.
If you are just starting out and don’t have enough references, professors/teachers are a good option. 
Or use a friend’s name and pretend they were a co-worker at the very least.*

*I do not condone lying by any means, nor would I personally do such a thing, but I have seen others do this and merely put it out there as food for thought.  I am just trying to put myself in a much younger mindset and figure out why anyone would think listing friends as references for anything other than a library card or babysitting job is a good idea.

Briefly

Going crazy this morning trying to dig up candidates in Texas.  More later–I have about three draft blog entries but am unsure when I’ll get to expound upon them!

(ps – looking forward to seeing Kapgar and THRILLED to finally meet Kilax at Davecago festivities tomorrow night!)