Oh yeah, that

Since we made the decision last fall to move to Chicago, I have been applying for jobs. I opted to not sign on for another year-long contract with the World Bank since we were not planning on staying in DC. I had my last day there in February. Yes, February as in NINE months ago. My resume and profile are on every job-finding site ever created. I've been on twenty-one interviews in Chicago. There were multiple interviews for several of the jobs. I've been close to getting about six jobs.

I did a search of my gmail and found 30 emails where I wrote, "Please find my application for the...position attached." In addition to those 30, there's about a gajillion jobs I applied for through companies' websites. I am 100% sure that Gallup, Amnesty, and the University of Chicago have no interest in hiring me, ever. I know this because I believe I have applied for every job they have posted for which I felt even remotely qualified. I wrote so many cover letters. Like most people, I really really hate writing cover letters.

So I think it's funny that the job I ended up getting is one for which I never applied. I did not come across the job posting. I did not write a cover letter. The people with the job contacted my people (the temp agency). An interview was had and voila! I'll be a research analyst at a company that helps rich people (which of course is similar to my life long dream of helping the poor and saving the world--only different). I start December 1 unless my background check turns up something bad I did in the past of which I am totally unaware. I will continue to do the organizing thing on the side. I have a feeling it will not be too much to handle since I have had a whopping one job this month.

Birthday Boy

Jackson turns 4 years old today. To celebrate we are giving him the wet version of his regular food. Funny how that is a reward for a puppy. He has received two birthday presents. The lovely jaunty sweater pictured above and below was made by his friend Whitney. Patrick and Amy got him the lobster costume featured in the Halloween post. They gave it to him early for obvious reasons. In lieu of a birthday party, Jack has requested that we spend a few hours on the couch taking turns rubbing his belly.

Why you should listen to your mother

And father and brother and brother-in-law (but not really in law because the laws are unjust):

We registered for and were given some very nice non-stick pots and pans. All of the aforementioned folks said it was a bad idea and that the non-stickness would peel and be bad and all. We thought we were smarter and thought we could take such great care of them that they would not peel. We own no metal utensils. We always waited for them to cool before cleaning. Still, they peeled and probably poisoned us and we'll probably now never conceive children or our children will have extra fingers or toes because we have consumed so much Teflon or whatever it is that made up that non-stick surface. On Saturday we wrapped them up in towels. We called my not quite brother-in-law who used to work at the store they came from, is an expert returner of goods, and an experienced finagler and asked for advice. We successfully returned them after acing a quiz about how we cared for them and got new pots and pans. After about two minutes of contemplation, we allowed ourselves to be talked into very expensive cookware. I think we were led to believe that our food would taste better for the rest of our lives and that our great-great-grandchildren would be able to inherit the set.

The temp work I did working at a packaging expo for the next three days paid for the difference in cost. This temp job is the type of job that I decide future Emoly is up for. Present Emoly has absolute disregard for the feelings of future Emoly. She will sign future Emoly for a variety of things future Emoly is bound to hate. I was told that it would be a lot of standing on my feet and that I would need to be peppy. I was most concerned about the being peppy part. Turns out, I am totally capable of being peppy. I was, however, allergic to the expo. If you're wondering what a packaging expo is, it's an expo where companies that make machines that package come together and try to sell their machines to people who need to package things. During the course of the three days, I sneezed no less than 500 times. That is not an exaggeration. I tried and failed to get out of the third day for I feared it might send me into anaphylactic shock. I suppose that is my punishment for not listening to my family. I did, however, learn a whole lot about shrink wrapping.

A few steps forward, a few steps back...

I am so excited to finally have a president I can be proud of--a president of whom I am not afraid or ashamed. The last two elections all but destroyed my faith in our electorate, but after Tuesday I am reassured that we are capable of making good choices. The elation and excitement I feel are, however, dampened by the sad choices voters made in California, Florida, and Arizona regarding gay marriage and in Arkansas regarding adoption.

I think there ought to be a ballot measure to abolish marriage between one man and one woman. I like being married and all and am very happy with my choice of spouse. I just think it's terribly unfair that thousands of people in California just got their chance at marriage taken away. Nobody ever thinks about taking it away from straight people. All those people opposed to gay marriage talk about protecting the sanctity of marriage. How sacred can marriage be if it's something that can be put on a ballot and taken away by strangers? Maybe they wouldn't think about taking it away from people if they thought about the possibility of other people taking their own right to get married away. And so, I propose a challenge to straight marriage. Who's with me?

Let's try that again

Hmm. Funny how I can fail to post for a week or so but feel the absolute need to post in the midst of my party and several martinis. As you can see and as I might have mentioned, Jack played the part of a lobster and was decidedly the most sober guest.