After literal months of applications and rejections, I got picked for further consideration on three positions recently. One evolved into a phone interview (have since heard back that I was not selected), one a face-to-face interview, and one was testing (which I aced, and am now expecting a recruiter to contact me for interview). I am keeping my fingers crossed on these last two and really hoping for a job.
My old red '93 Isuzu Trooper finally hit a point that drove my husband to buy a new car. Old Red decided not to start after we refueled at a gas station, creating quite a scene, and then periodically would or would not start--ended up dropping it off at my dad's for repair, and he has decided (for the time being, at least) that he will be resuming ownership of the vehicle as a spare, as the car is worth nothing with the cost of repairs. So, Mr. B went out and overspent exactly like I didn't want to and got himself a shiny new 2011 Subaru Outback; it's a nice car, but it was outside of our set budget, and I am a little pissed about it because my husband seems to think I only became opposed to the cost after the purchase (to which I replied, "I have been saying I don't want to spend that much for weeks. I said I didn't want to buy it on the lot. And when they refused to drop the price, I said you were getting handled. What part of all of that sounds like I wanted to do this?"). It's not that we can't afford the car, but it was outside what we wanted to spend--I told Mr. B that if he really *needed* it that badly that he could have it, but I find new cars pompously arrogant and unnecessary. Why buy new when you know a used car is just as good and half the price??? --Anyways, I am now driving his old Outback. (I'll post some fond memories of my Trooper when I clean it out and take some pictures.)
I finally got to attend StarFest. Last year I was presenting at AAG in Washington, DC, for work. The year before I was presenting a group project for my MLS (while Brent Spiner was wandering the dealer's room, mind you--I cried when I found this out). This year, I feel I finally had my priorities straight--this event is part of my personal history and heritage. It's what my husband and I did every year before attending Prom that night. I had fun, and feel that my "old self" life goals have been recharged and my direction in life has been reaffirmed and is a little clearer.
Q took me to The Golden Spoon. The prices are good, the frozen yogurt is good, and the calorie count is fantastic. I did the math and one could literally eat a pint of this stuff and then work it off with a half hour of dancing. Amazing.
I bought a game for the Wii out of curiosity. It's called Just Dance 2, and as the title suggests, you pop it in and "just dance". The songs are great, the moves to the songs actually match the music videos in some respects, and when run on the shuffle mode, this can actually make for an impressive cardio workout. The game takes advantage of your (or my, I guess, if I'm the only one) compulsive need to dance in front of the bedroom mirror when a catchy song comes on the radio. You watch the characters on the screen and mimic them like you are watching yourself in the mirror, and the game tracks your accuracy using the Wii remote you hold in your right hand. My husband has demonstrated to me that this game can be played from the couch, but that's really not the point--there isn't a strong point or reward system in the game, so the satisfaction really comes from rocking out and bogeying down to your favorite tunes (you can even buy more from the game store). So far, so good--I've had the game for about two weeks now and it's still holding my interest and making me sweat. The first time I played it my arms hurt so bad that they woke me up that night, if that's any indication of the level of workout you can get from this. In terms of cardio, it's much more entertaining than the programming provided on the Wii Fit, though the Fit still provides necessary Yoga, Balance, and Strength training that this game does not.
Alula
