[I] Gotta Keep [You All Updated]!

So how crazy is it that I have been listening to a bit of The Offspring lately? I don't know why, but I recently downloaded one of their songs from freegal and now I'm linking this one to satisfy my song-title post :). I hadn't listened to the songs (or thought of the band much) in probably 5 years or so... But, conveniently, they have a song that fit syllabically (I think I just made that word up) with my life! And there's nothing like the hard-rock music of the mid-90s which I remember listening to on Casey Kasem's weekly top 40 countdown. I can picture myself at age 14 laying on the floor in my bedroom listening to the one English station we had. The band wavelength number escapes me. (And perhaps I'm not even calling that by the right name... But I know what I'm talking about :)).

So the big news in my life was all about the county job. I did not get the job. I got called just a little bit ago. I went in for my second interview yesterday, and found out I was one of two final candidates. And the official count of how many applied initially was over 60. My second interview was with the three commissioners for the county, because I'd have been working directly for them. The woman who called me was so nice! She told me that the reason the other candidate was chosen was because he had experience with cold calls from citizens and other constituents, and that was his strength. And then she proceeded to say a million really nice things about me. I mean, seriously glowing things. She told me she had really been pulling for me to get the job. She told me that she wished she had my credentials (I didn't even know I had credentials ;)), and that I was just such a pleasure to meet and interview. AND, probably most significantly, she requested that she be able to keep my resume on file, and when I said that I'd be thrilled for her to do so, she said, "Wonderful!" And she told me there are a couple of job openings that may be coming open there soon. She spoke of how over-qualified I actually was for this particular position because it was an entry-level position, and that she really wanted me to know that it was nothing I didn't do or did wrong that made me the second choice. It was simply that the other candidate had a strength I didn't have that was particularly useful for the job. At the end of our conversation, I expressed my gratitude for their time and consideration, etc. All those polite things. And, because she seems like such a nice lady (I really liked visiting with her yesterday when we were waiting for the commissioners to be free to meet with me. She was very nice and down-to-earth and also very friendly and "normal" for lack of a better term ;)), I said, "Well, I wish you all the best with your new employee and hope that he fits right in and that the transition is very smooth. Because it's just really nice when that happens." She said, "Yes, it is nice when that happens. And if it doesn't, well you might be hearing from us again soon!" So there you go. I didn't get it, but I was second choice, and that's not bad. And there is definitely nothing bad about having people in the county know my face and my name. It's not a bad thing that one of the commissioners was particularly impressed with me, and that I made a good impression on someone who was part of the interview team (the lady who ultimately called me today). In fact, yesterday, before I went in to meet the commissioners, she said, "Don't be nervous. I know you will shine." How kind she was!

So while it's not the news I was hoping for, it's not exactly bad news. I have my name out there now -- and my credentials. Hahaha... And who knows where this will lead. And maybe it won't lead anywhere at all. But you just never know!

Meanwhile, I have an application still out for a librarian position about 2.5 hours from here. It's been over a month and I hadn't heard anything, but then neither did one of my former co-workers, who also applied for it. So I emailed them and just asked what the status was. And it turns out, they are only just now going through the applications. Don't know why it's been so long, but you know what? No big deal. Though I'm quite under-qualified for that particular position, I might have a shot. So we just wait and see.

The truth is, I feel very hopeful in the future. I feel happy.

In other news, my last day at the library was Saturday. In celebration of National Library Week (which is this week), the library took us all out to Red Robin for dinner on Saturday. And they planned it for Saturday so I could be included. Which was very nice. So I rode with Lea and Chuck (who went, but sat by himself... hahaha). He was useful there by taking our picture :).
What you can't see in the picture was the bunch of helium balloons someone brought me for my going away. I was quite the spectacle leaving the packed restaurant with these balloons. All the little kids watched, pointed, and said, "I want a balloon!" Poor kids. Then Chuck, Lea, and I went to Target and then to Coldstone where we celebrated my last day with the library. Then we went to Lea's and watched the end of the Seattle Mariner's game. Gasp! What!?! The Nilla watching pro-sports on tv!?! I know. So out-of-character for me. I'm a little shocked myself. And even more shocked by what I'm about to admit... I kind of enjoyed it! Hahaha. Probably won't ever schedule my life around it, but it wasn't so bad to watch the last 2 innings with friends. Because then you can comment on the players that pick wedgies, blow snot-rockets, and are otherwise cute. Hahahaha. I still haven't gotten into watching football. Maybe I will one day, who knows. I know nothing about sports, really. In fact, I went to one of Morgan's softball games a couple weeks ago and saw the umpire had these shiny new-looking fancy-looking shoes. I turned to Lea and said, "Wow! Look at his fancy shoes! Is he trying to make a statement?" She looked where I was indicating, laughed her butt off, and then informed me that those were part of the shin guards (which were not visible underneath is pants) and that the bottoms of them cover and protect the shoes. Hahahahaha. Fancy shoes indeed! I'm a work in progress.

On Sunday we took Desiree and Emily to church. It had been 3 weeks since I'd seen them. How I miss them when I don't see them for a while. The day before, we had called Christina to see if we were taking the girls to church. Desiree wanted to talk to us. I told her I had missed her. She said (quite matter-of-factly), "Well you won't miss me anymore because you will see me at church tomorrow!" Sweet girl. Emily got on the phone to say hi. And she said, "Hi Ha!" Ha. That's what she calls me. "C'mon Ha!" Desiree drew me a picture of me. It was starting to sprinkle when we were leaving church, and Emily started singing "It's raining it's pouring!" That's the only part of the song she knows, so she kept singing that over and over. But it's way cute. Because she still doesn't enunciate everything correctly, so Desiree actually had to "interpret" that the first time she did it. But she's sure got the tune down! And actually, Desiree is the one who "interprets" a lot for us. It amazes me how well Desiree understand everything Emily says and wants. She is such a wonderful and loving big sister.

So that's it for now.