08/22/03

I might have a real job soon! It’s actually at the company I’m temping at now. And I’d get to travel!! That’s the main thing, really. The pay is pretty low. I don’t even know about benefits yet, so I won’t get too excited. But to travel…woo! Yeah!

I got a card today from my sister-in-law’s father. He said that the last check Jennifer’s mom ever wrote was to me for my fundraising. It’s just so strange to know that. And ironic, considering it was a blood disease that killed her. I decided I’m going to make up satin ribbons with the names of the people I’m running in honor of or in memory of. But it’s just so meaningless, so little. What could I possibly do that would do justice to these people? Not a silly satin ribbon. Sigh.

Had dinner with the TNT people last night. I’m a little irritated that I’m going to have to do a 16 mile run alone, the morning of Nick and Annie’s wedding. Not that it’s then, but that no one is willing to compromise when I need to run on a certain day. Hmm. Well, whatever. Eight long boring laps of Lafreniere Park. Won’t kill me.

14 miles tomorrow at LSU, with Chris. And Krispy Kreme afterwards!

August 21, 2003

Yay Monster.com! My new favorite company! Not for the reason you might think. Not because they found me a job or anything. But because they donated $150 to my fundraising campaign! Woo hoo! Yay! My dear dear friend Kristie works for them up in Massachusetts. And she got them to donate! Yay! I’m there! No more fundraising necessary. (Italics because of course more funds would be wonderful. Everything I make from here on out is cake – 100% goes to the charity, not overhead or anything.)

Going out to dinner with the TNT people tonight. Fun, fun!

August 20, 2003

As I lay in bed last night, unable to sleep (no doubt because of my 7 p.m. workout of a 5.25 mile run, and later dinner), I thought of some truly witty, intelligent things to write in my blog. Naturally, I forgot them all. Or else I was actually half asleep and they weren’t witty nor intelligent. I suspect it’s the latter reason, because I do recall bits of what I was thinking and they don’t make any sense. Ah well. I wasn’t meant to have a witty or intelligent blog anyway. I like to deride those who do for being pretentious. Naturally, I wish my blog was witty ‘n’ intelligent.

Although Kinko’s never called yesterday (why does this non-calling-by-a-company-that-has-all-but-offered-me-a-job sound so familiar? Oh right, because it keeps happening! Riiight. Well, it’s an employer’s market out there.) I do have some more good leads on jobs. At the place I’m temping, they asked for my resume, they might see if there’s anything in marketing or elsewhere for me. And my uncle is friends with the head of HR at the Times-Picayune, a job I’d kill for. (Well, not as head of HR, but as a designer.)

Tomorrow night I’m going out to eat with the TNT people. Should be fun. I’m not working out tonight, so I can relax. I might ride my bike around the neighborhood, but that’s it.

8/19/03

Cool! I just found out that a woman in the office I’m working in also lives in the Point. Yay! And, she’s a former marathoner. 3:50, no less. You can imagine how sheepish I felt when I said I was shooting for a 5 hour finishing time. (And that’s not even really true! I’d love a 5:15!) But anyway, she’s a really funny person, I’m glad she’s a neighbor.

We’ll be working until 7 pm all this week, so I’ll have to go to the Metairie gym after work. But overtime! Woo hoo! I’ve never earned overtime before.

And the Kinko’s interview was rescheduled. (After I got there and found out it had been cancelled…well, the manager had left a message on my home phone, not my cell phone.) Hopefully it will happen today.

August 18, 2003

Just $115.20 left to raise! Woo hoo! So very close! And I have over a month to raise it. That’s $3.00 a day, or so. Less than that. I can do that! I could probably find that in loose change! Okay, maybe not. I’m still determined to get my hands on George’s tin box of loose change. (Minus the quarters, that was our agreement.) But it weighs about 20 pounds, there’s gotta be a good amount of money in there. Even if it was all pennies. Or maybe I’ll do the Chevy’s thing after all. Oh, I’m not going to worry about it.

08/17/03

Good run today! We had scheduled 12-13, but our coach said to do just ten or so, since next week we’ll be doing fourteen. Unfortunately not together. I’m going to Baton Rouge to do it. The LSU lakes are seven miles around, so that’ll work nicely, two big huge laps.

But today was fun, if not extremely fast. We finished in 2:30, but that included a bathroom break at one point, and some stretching otherwise. Not bad, considering the heat and humidity. It was horrible. But a really, really funny thing happened. While we were stopped at a restroom to refill water bottles, empty bladders, etc, there was a group of girls (college-age, probably) listening to rap at top volume. The music was coming out of their car, while they sat outside by the river. Keep in mind it’s 7:30 in the morning at this point. I imagine they were still out from the night before. (Oh god, I’m getting old.) So Emily, the brave one, yells out “Can you turn it up?? I can’t hear your music!” to which the girl in the car responds, “It’s up as loud as it will go!” Emily yells back something about being sarcastic, and things swiftly deteriorate into a cross-parking lot argument between Emily and these girls. Curses were flung about. Peggy was giving some of her own input, while I walked slowly away, muttering “Let’s go, let’s goooo.” So we went. And about five minutes down the road, the car passes us. With a bare-nekkid butt hanging out the window.

Woo hoo! My first moon directed at (sort of) me! Very classy. We thought it was the funniest thing ever. Not sure why being mooned would be considered insulting, it’s just too funny. The other (older) runners/walkers around us also thought it was funny. Well, made it a memorable run at least.

Tomorrow I have a second interview at Kinko’s. Eeep!

08/15/03

Had to go to the unemployment office this morning, on account of my leaving the data entry temp job. Let’s just hope they agree my reasons for leaving are good, and won’t make me pay back any of the money I got. Hmm.

Last night I went out with the girls from Barnes & Noble. We met at 9, and ate at Chevy’s at 9:30 or so, so I was very full when I went to sleep. Blech. Didn’t work out yesterday, either, unless you count a short bike ride. Hmm, not likely.

Going to Baton Rouge tonight to hang out with my mom. And go shopping tomorrow for a dress for Nick & Annie’s wedding. I hope I find something. Then Sunday a.m. is a 12-13 miler.

Aug 13, 2003

35 minutes on the stationary bike at the gym yesterday, followed by some arm weights. How in the world I gained 2 pounds since last week is beyond me. I ran 12 &$#@* miles, and I’ve been eating reasonably well. Not to mention my bike ride to the Quarter on Sunday, and running around at the fundraiser. But I suppose I must mention the Krispy Kreme donuts after the run, not to mention the oyster poboy at lunch (in the Quarter) on Sunday. But still! Puh-leeze! Okay, okay, that’s it. No more KK. Even after my long runs. Despite what Chris and I agreed on. Hmmph. And if I do get a real job (please call me, Kinko’s!) I’m going to join Weight Watchers. For real, not just the half-assed job I’ve been doing with Terry.

Did I mention Col. Joe? He’s an older man, big in the Marines. I met him on Friday night at the pub, and we got to talking, and he was really excited about me doing the Marine Corps Marathon. He used to be a big runner too, and did MCM back in ’81 or something. Yesterday he presented me with a Marine Corps t-shirt and shorts to train in! What a nice, nice man. And he also asked if I’d need help with my plane ticket or hotel, but it’s already taken care of with TNT. But goodness, what an offer! The pub is an amazing place.

08/12/03

No workout yesterday, yay love the days off! After I got off work I read, relaxed, watched a tape of Sex & the City borrowed from Polly. Ahh, the life! Today, I have cardio scheduled. I’m excited to go the gym to see if I’ve lost any weight since last week. So far, I’m down five pounds. Okay, so maybe 10 more in less than four weeks is a tad optimistic, but we’ll see. I’ll be running further, so maybe it’s possible. I think I’ll go to Baton Rouge this weekend to see if I can find a dress for the wedding.

Am also excited about planning for the London Marathon. If this temp job keeps going, I may be able to send in the deposit sooner rather than later. And then I am committed! So we’ll see how the money-making goes. I may have to try to sell some stuff on ebay.

Job and fundraiser update

Okay, the temp job I’m at now is fine…pays well, is close to home, what more can I ask? It’s not too dull, either. But the other temps…holy cow. There’s one who hums and clears her throat every two seconds. And the other one talks loudly on her cell phone, a lot. Isn’t this not allowed? I’m baffled. She has no fear. Which, in a way, would be admirable if it weren’t so annoying. And I’ve done about eight times more work than the other two. Combined. Eh, whatever.

So, the fundraiser went really well last night. Was a lot of fun, lots of people came, I made about $400. Woo! But then, horribly enough, Dawn (the pub owner) got held up at gunpoint shortly after George and I left. Ugh. It disgusts me. And two of our friends (including Megan, who was kind enough to make my red beans & rice for the fundraiser) were in there too. It’s just too horrible to contemplate. Ugh.

Oh, and Kristina won the $100 gift certificate to Brennan’s…and she’s taking me! Woo hoo! Yay yay yay! I can’t wait until she comes in town…mmmm!

08/10/03

Ran 12 miles this morning, in Diamondhead, Miss. Was a good run. But I had to get up at 3:30 this morning, get ready, drive to Diamondhead (1 hour away) meet up with Peggy and Emily and Patience (our coach) and then run, and then drive back. I just got up from a two hour nap, because my fundraiser is in less than two hours. Oh yeah, and I had lunch with Maura and Jay and I’m dogsitting. I’m so tired I could barf, but I can hold it together for just a few more hours, surely.

Temp job is fine. Other temp is going to be strangled by me if she doesn’t stop a) humming b) clearing her throat c) being such a goody-goody. Okay, I’m being hard on her, but really. The humming must stop.

Went to Shoenami yesterday with Polly. Found a pair of $44 black stiletto mules I must have. Where I would wear them matters not. The fact that I would be 6’1″ (at least) and would probably look like a drag queen in them keeps me from buying them regardless of price and practicality. Sigh. They are actually comfy. Who knew?

08/06/03

Yay! Start a temp job today! And it can last as long as I need it to. Pays well (halfway between Barnes & Noble and GPA) and the company sounds cool. I’ll be working in the sales & marketing department doing presentations and spreadsheets and stuff like that (i.e., no data entry) and the best part is, it’s right across the river, hardly any commute! Free parking if I choose to drive, but I could also ride my bike! Yay!

And the temp agency has no problem with me going to the Kinko’s interview today, only working a half day today. Yay! What a great temp agency I found. (Keenan, in case anyone needs a temp job.)

So I didn’t make the run today. I didn’t want to be late for my first day of a new job, but I feel terrible for letting Emily down.

Oh! But good news…yesterday I went to check my PO box for donations and I got two great donations for the raffle/door prizes on Sunday.

1. Breakfast for 2 at Brennans – including tax and gratuity. $100 value. $100 for breakfast for 2! For breakfast!!! I can only imagine how good a $50 breakfast tastes. Mmmm, and this could be my chance to go to Brennan’s. Therefore, I’m going to make George buy lots of tickets. How great would that be, a fancy breakfast after a 20 mile run? (And a shower.) Of course, now everyone will think I rigged it if George wins. I won’t pull the tickets!

2. $50 gift certificate to Muriels on Jackson Square, another fancy restaurant in the Quarter. Exciting! (I’ll be happy if George wins this one too.)

So if anyone can’t make it to the fundraiser, but wants to buy some raffle tickets, email me and you can send me a check. Natch, if you win, you have to take me. Just kidding!