I don't want to spoil the party

As I've gotten older, I've realized that I could become a hermit. I know that is not a good thing but it's the truth. I'd like to live in the mountains on a farm or a lodge..just me and the dogs..

I found this house but it's a little out of my price range.

http://www.landwatch.com/default.aspx?ct=D&pid=88139855&mltmid=23111

Maybe some day!

So tomorrow is Easter and I've had two invites to people's houses for dinner. I think I'm going to decline both and just stay home.

Stuck in the middle

This week has got me to thinking about family and life. In the course of one week a friend lost his mother to breast cancer; another friend's wife had a baby boy; my ex-sister in law had her medi-port removed from her cancer treatment; and another friend's daughter came home from college.

I am so fortunate to have both my parents (and step parents) still living. I have four brothers and six nephews. All are in good health. And yet all the news I've had this week has made me feel a little melancholy for being nearer in proximity to my parents. I suppose I'm as close as one can be with one parent on the east coast and the other on the west coast. I'm just stuck in the middle with you.

Love you family!

You may say I'm a dreamer....

Last week I applied for 10 jobs. One called me right away. Sounds good, doesn't it? Well seems that the job I applied for was a mid-level exempt position. They are going to look at interviewing a lot of candidates. But, the recuiter offered me another position, basically a data entry clerk...$15.00 per hour...temp to hire..He said it would be a good way to get my foot in the door. Now I haven't made $15 an hour since 1989. I've been unemployed for over a year now. I wonder...do I take the temporary job and hope?? Do I decline it and find another job that I really want??

I wish someone would tell me what to do! Why can't things be simple?

Interview update

Well I heard back from one of the comapanies I interviewed with last week. The email just said they were putting the interviewing on hold while they decided what skills were really needed for the job...it may be a month or two before they make their decision. Oh well - doesn't sound like I wowed them.

I'm sure my mother will take this news harder than I did. I know she worries about how I'll survive but its harder on me when she expresses her concern. I know she means well but it makes me sad to hear her concerns.

Still thinking about the reinventing of my career. If anyone out there has any thoughts, I'd love to hear about them.

Reinventing the wheel

It's been over a year now since I was laid-off. Some days are better than others. I had two interviews (two different companies) last week. But as the days go by and I don't hear anything from the companies, I tend to get discouraged.

Today on the news there was a story of a man in the same boat as me. He decided to reinvent himself. In the last year he earned $87,000 bowling. That's right, bowling! So that got me to thinking...how can I reinvent myself?

Where do I start? What do I like to do? What am I good at doing? What will provide me an income? These are all questions I must answer. For some reason it is easier for me to answer the opposite of these questions. I know what I want (a job that I like). What do I like to do..I know what I don't like to do. Am I good at anything?? How does a 51 year old earth dog reinvent herself?

I like gambling but its obvious I'm not very good at it. Nor am I lucky. I like doing cross-stitch, knitting, etc. but I don't do it often enough to make money at it, nor am I that good. So what can I do to provide an income? Its obvious to me I must find a menial desk job. A friend suggest that I write. I thought perhaps I will just log my life on the blog again. Who knows, maybe it will provide an enlightment down the road.

Until next time.....

Who's the Alpha Dog?

In the 3 year absence of me blogging, I lost my cat to old age and had to put my German Shepherd to sleep. I found a 16 week old puppy wondering the streets in 2007 (so I took her in). She is part Chow and part Border Collie - lots of energy and weighs 60 lbs. I got her while Chance was still with me and I thought she might help him to feel young. But his spinal issue became so bad that I had no choice but to put him out of his pain. So that Lucky (the new puppy) would not be alone during the day (while I was at work - when I worked) I decided to adopt another dog.

After looking into a German Shepherd rescue group, I adopted a 5 month old male Shepherd mix in 2008. His ears flop over and he is taller than most shepherds but very smart and a 100 lb big baby.

Now when these two play you better look out. Max (the boy) grabs Lucky by the neck. Lucky gets out of this chock hold and bites his checks...both run in circles around the coffee table and jump up in an attempt to get the upper hand on the other.

When it gets to wild I try to calm the dogs down by shouting STOP IT! Sometimes I think both dogs suddenly become deaf. I'll get between them and Max will stop but Lucky will go around me and still attack Max. Once I get their attention and they calm down I resume my activities and they go about their way. This happens on average 5-6 times a day.

I wonder which one is the alpha dog? Its obviously not me.

Where have I been?

OK, so it's been ages since I blogged. I was on Facebook and a friend was excited about blogging. I thought, gee I used to blog. So I think I will start back. I know it has been awhile. A lot has changed.

1 - Mom and I had a interesting trip to South America in 2008 (hence the profile picture of woman with deep friend Guinea Pig).

2 - I was laid off in 2009 and have yet to find meaningful full time employment.

3 - I haven't been seeing anybody for some time now. But I still haven't found a handyman either. Dang it!

That's sad, 3 years condensed into 3 bullet points. Well, I'm going to try to get back into the blogging. Maybe that will cause me to spend less time in Farmville and Mafia Wars!