job hunting, interview, the weather and mom

I know it's been several days since I last wrote in here. It's been a little busy here with getting my resume brushed back up and getting a decent cover letter written. I hadnt had to do either in 4 years or so and had no clue as how to begin. Thankfully, hubby was doing one for himself and I was able to get a good idea as to how I wanted the finished product to look. The cover letter was another matter. I figured to give a bit of background on the other places that I worked for that didnt make it on the resume. That particular project took a little longer than expected because there was just sooo much information to put in. I ened up paring it down quite a bit and the bugger STILL was close to 2 full pages (then there was hubby who only had, like, 3 lines...*sigh*).

The week before last we went out for me to get applications. The first thing I did when I walked into a place was checked out what the employees were wearing. Sneakers? Check. Tops and bottoms...are they jeans, dockers or whatever? Most places I've noticed seem to prefer khakis and polo shirts on their workers. The reason for checking all this out is to find out how much money the place is going to run me on a startup cost. Shirts arent much of a problem because I can get them pretty readily at WalMart or Target and they'll fit nicely, but pants are another story for me. I just find it hard to find ones that fit comfortably. It's harder still when they insist on the fitted waistbands instead of the elastic waists that I prefer....especially if it's likely that I'll lose weight working...then having to invest in more pants. I ended up going home with 4 apps to fill out.... Hobby Lobby (ideal job, Sundays off guaranteed), Big Lots (good because all I'll need to worry about is jeans), Michaels (whoot a craft store and in jeans), and Office Depot. I've yet to fill out the latter because it means a complete retrofit of my wardrobe, even sneakers. They have their people in denim shirts (more costly than a polo for sure), black dress pants (which I have exactly 1 pair of and they arent even the type worn there) and BLACK sneakers. The only sneaks Ive found that are really comfy cost me $35 ON SALE. Needless to say, I aint about to fill that one out unless nothing else pans out. I filled out the other 3 though and this past Friday went out with hubby to drop them off with a packet containing a resume and cover letter each. I was greeted with a smile at Hobby Lobby but not so much at Big Lots. Hmmm am re-thinking that place now. While out in that direction I applied at the Albertson's kiosk and dropped off a packet. I got to talk to an assistant manager for a few minutes there. This was a plus in my eyes that she took time to talk to me right then. Im hoping they thought it was a plus that I old-schooled it with a resume and letter.

Then we headed in the other direction and I stopped off at PetSmart to drop off a packet (I was able to do their app on line...thank goodness). After, I went next door to the Target and filled out an app on their kiosk. Again I old-schooled it and was sent to the office to turn in my packet of papers. I walked out of there with an interview scheduled for today. Here I was going to go across the street and fill out the kiosk at WalMart as well but decided to not bother since I had an interview lined up and interest generated at Albertson's and PetSmart as well. We went shopping and then went home. Sometime over the last week I also filled out an app for Best Buy online. They have a store going up around the corner near Loews and Home Depot. This would be ideal because I could pretty much shoot for the position I really like doing...the playing field is wide open in that case. I love coming in on a new store...you actually get to work in the place and get familiar with it BEFORE you need to deal with customers.

Today's interview went well. I found a kindred spirit in the first person I spoke with in that he's divorced and under some unpleasant circumstances as well. We must have talked for a good 45-50 minutes at least. He told me to wait in the breakroom and he'd see if someone else could talk to me too. Look at that I walk in and have 2 interviews on the same day. The next person I talked to was the HR director. I was told what the uniform would be (uniform on night crew? *sigh* yep...even though there are no customers to deal with...we still have to wear the store colors...sheesh...not sure Im gonna like this) and that the pay for receiving was $8/hr to start and a $1/hr wage differential for the night crew. Not bad, pretty much what I was making when I left the one store (there I was at $9/hr+ comm). ..very good considering I havent worked in 4 years. The good thing about here is that the usual schedule has us off on Tues and Sat nights. That's right, I'd be able to stream my usual nights still. Unfortunately, I'd never see hubby except in the car... The HR is going to place a few calls and do a background check and call me by Friday.If I pass that and the drug test, I'll be working by next week. As good as the job sounds, Im really kinda hoping one of the other places calls instead. Im still not really sure Im ready to be back yet but I guess I kinda HAVE to be.

We have been having some really nice weather the last few days. Mostly 80 degree temps and so beautiful that the a/c can be turned off and the windows opened wide. Last night the weather changed and storms rolled in off and on all night. This morning we still had lots of rain and thunder. It was so grey out...the perfect type of day to stay under the covers and sleep the day away. Go figure I had to get up and get going because of an interview. It was 60 degrees out at noon so I wore my short-sleeved sweater for my interview...the nice red one my TxSis bought for me for Christmas. If it hadnt been for my black dress pants they could have slapped a name badge on me and put me right to work. It's still nice and cool out, but now it's too cool to open the windows for the night because we'll have the sniffles tomorrow if we do. Last thing I need now is a cold.

Mom called this evening and we talked for a bit. She's gone in for her lab work and got all the paperwork ready for her surgery this week. They want her in at 605am and surgery will be around 8am or so. From what she was saying, the drs expect to release her back home around 2pm or so. Dang, I wish mine had been that easy. Im so glad we caught this early on her though. They're anticipating a 4 week recovery time. I guess the surgeon's nurse had said that it'd be only 2 weeks but that short recovery is for sedentary jobs. Mom's job is a bit more active than that. She calls herself a "package beautification specialist"...just a nice way of saying a gift wrapper. Considering the types of packages she has to wrap (oftentimes several sets of dishes) and the fact the rolls of wrap are really heavy (they come on HUGE rolls that are bolted to the wall), the dr said at LEAST 4 weeks.