Hmmm...

I just found out the sidestep.com was bought out by kayak.com, which may explain why I haven't been able to get in touch with anyone there. I had planned to send an email out today requesting more work. Guess that won't be happening.

At least I got paid in full, but I found out from another sidestep writer, who sent me an email to ask me if I knew any ways for her to get in contact with someone about the money she's still owed.

This is the risk you take as a freelancer...you never have any real guarantee that you're going to get paid for your work.

And I'm owed a letter of recommendation from them for this job I'm interviewing for very soon. Guess I won't be seeing that. But I have confirmation from the editor at Curled Up With a Good Book that she is sending hers out today. So I'll have one letter in my file, at least. I'm not sure how many I'm supposed to have.

Anyway...my agenda for today:

- Call school to set up job interview
- Call doctor to schedule appointment
- Take down Christmas decorations

Lance is back at work, and I want to take down the decorations while he's gone. He hates doing it, and he grumbles about it every year. He thinks I want the decorations to come down too early, but in my family, January 1st is the end of the holidays. After that, you get on with your life. And I can't do that until the decorations come down. My entire life, the tree has always come down January 1. It's just a mental thing with me...my world isn't right thereafter if it still looks like we're celebrating Christmas.

He says if he gets off early enough, we can drive up to Lynnwood to pick up my car. However, I do not relish the thought of driving I-5 during rush hour. Yeah, we'll be driving toward Seattle, but once we get past downtown, traffic will be backed up. Ditto for the trip back. But if we go pick it up Saturday as planned, there will be a lot of traffic for the Seahawks playoff game. I still don't think that's nearly as bad as rush hour. But Lance is anxious for me to get my car. I'm anxious too, but not enough to spend 2 hours trying to drive 25 miles.

Which brings me to another thing that amazes me about living here - if it takes you 45 minutes to drive 10 miles to work, that's considered a reasonably good commute. *boggles*

The Value of Blogging

I know some people may think that blogging is just another worthless pastime, but I can honestly say that it isn't. Yeah, I'm not one of those people who makes their living off of blogs (heh...I wish!), but right now, I'm going to find my Live Journal particularly useful.

For I have a job interview at the school on Monday, and now I can go back through my old LJ that I kept during grad school and refresh my memory on some of the writing assignments I gave my students and some of the aspects of teaching that I struggled with...this is valuable information to have during the interview, because I will be expected to talk at length about these things. And it's been almost 5 years since I left grad school. I really need a refresher, because this is the most important job on my resume when it comes to this particular position.

They wanted to interview me this afternoon, but I explained the car situation. The school secretary suggested perhaps a teleconference, but then called me later to tell me that I need to come in person - I have a worksheet to do. I assume it's a writing sample that I'll be asked to proofread and edit. Must also dig out old composition books that I used in class. They're around here somewhere...at least some of them are. I had too many grammar/punctuation books, so I got rid of a few before we moved. I only rarely use them...they were kept mostly for Lance, for when he was taking his college courses (though he never used them either...I proofread his papers).

Anyway, I'm glad I have a few days to prepare now. I was nervous at the prospect of doing a phone interview this afternoon. I'm much better in person than I am on the phone anyway.

So now I need to go back and read through 2001-2003 on my old LJ. Need to go through grammar books. Need to prepare a set of questions to ask them during the interview (do I have summers off?...I would assume so, since who would I tutor? Unless they need me for summer school)...etc. etc.

Also, I scheduled an appointment with my new doctor today. I assumed, wrongly, that Tricare already forwarded my patient info to my new doctor, but this was not the case. They had no idea who I was and I had to answer a lot of questions over the phone before I could schedule my appointment. Anyway, I have to have my female exam, but because I don't want it to be the only thing my doctor does on our first meeting, I decided to just do an entire physical as well. And therein lies a problem...she does them at 9 and 2 each day (and she only works there 3 days a week...the rest of the week, she's working at the free clinic in Auburn)...I got the 2:00 appointment. I have to fast. And I can't really do that because if I get too overly hungry, I feel dizzy, faint and nauseous. Morning fasts are easier because I sleep through the night. But her morning appointments are booked way in advance, and I can't really wait. I need refills and stuff.

Anyway, I just had bloodwork done back in September, so I may just have to call back and cancel the physical and just do the pap. I just don't really like doing THAT on the first meeting with a doctor (or ever, really). But at least this time, my doctor is a woman.

And the appointment is the 18th. I have a pretty good feeling that I'll be employed by then, so I would really hate to ask for time off for that appointment. I'll see what happens during my interviews next week, and go from there.

Some Thoughts on Home Ownership

If you're a new homeowner who is having issues with finding decent window treatments (I am having this problem in the kitchen right now...the windows really need custom shades, which we can't afford at the moment, and curtains just don't look right)...

these things are genius.

We ran out to Home Depot yesterday to get some, because I needed to finish the touch-up paint around the windows, which would involve taking down the current curtains (which will end up going into our bedroom)...I could put these up and stick them right to the window and they'll last us several months until we can find a more permanent solution.

Alas, Home Depot is fresh out. So I couldn't do the touch-up work on the windows. Must see if I can order these online...I would probably get them faster.

And then, once we're able, I'll go to JoAnn, which is right around the corner (across from Home Depot, actually) and get one of those kits to make my own custom no-sew window shades. I'm just afraid of screwing them up, because I am sorely lacking in the craftsy department. But I also want something in our house that I've done myself (besides the painting, I mean).

And I need to figure out how to remove some paint that found its way underneath the painters tape...we have spots on the ceilings and in the doorways. I just don't want to remove the original paint. Also, I found a few spots where we had dripped some on the carpet...probably as we were running into the bathroom to wash paint off our hands, etc.

Plus, we just noticed yesterday that the screen door is completely destroyed...we don't know if it's been like this and we just hadn't noticed, or if it was damaged either when the fridge was delivered or the movers came. Anyway, it needs replaced ASAP. Guess those Home Depot gift cards will come in handy sooner than we think.

Home ownership - yeah, not so fun thus far. We keep finding more and more problems with each passing day. But the house has good bones regardless and it has a lot of potential, and now it is our job to see that potential and make this the best house is can be. Neither of us know what we're doing, but we're learning as we go.

(no subject)

If this were an ideal world, we would've already had neighbors stop by to introduce themselves and say hello.

But this is not an ideal world, and we found it strange how many of our neighbors would actually just stand out in front of our house and gawk at us, without so much as a friendly smile or a wave.

Lance has smiled and waved at the elderly lady who lives kitty-corner from us. She usually smiles and waves back. But neither of us have talked to her yet. I said hi to a neighbor girl who was playing out in the street in front of our house, and she said hi back. But until today, that was the only contact we've had with anyone on our street (with the exception of Al, the realtor who sold this house, who lives about 4 houses down).

A couple days before Christmas, a visitor of our across the street neighbors rang our doorbell to tell us that his car got stolen in their driveway, and for us to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. But still, he was a visitor (from Vancouver) and not our actual neighbor.

Today...finally...I hear the doorbell ring, and I answer it to find a woman who lives 2 doors down. She said she wanted to come over and say hello anyway, but she had a perfect excuse to do so - she found a stray cat and wanted to know if it was ours. So I let her in and we chatted for maybe half an hour.

She told me that car theft is really huge in this neighborhood. The previous residents of our house had their car stolen twice. She had her car stolen once. I should warn Lance. While my new car (name hasn't been determined yet) will have a place in the garage, he has to keep his truck parked outside. He has a security system on his truck, just as my car comes with one, but these days, those aren't enough. But we didn't pay all that extra money for the window etchings and the LoJack for my car...we just simply couldn't afford it.

She also said that the park, which is right next door to her, attracts suspicious looking men who like to park and hang out around there in the summer. So far, they haven't committed any crimes that she is aware of, but she suspects that they deal drugs. I asked her if there is a neighborhood watch, and she said there isn't, but we should start one. I suggested perhaps we call the Kent Police and ask them how to go about doing that.

Anyway, she seemed really nice and I wish I had been more prepared...I would've asked her to stay for tea or something. But I was slicing up an apple when she came, and as it was, it was all brown by the time I actually got around to eating it. Besides, our house is still a disaster, and it's embarrassing.