I AM EMPLOYED....FULLTIME

I was offered the job at the health department pending a negative drug test on yesterday. I"m excited. I got the call around 11am and I went to take my drug test. I don't do drugs, so everything was negative. I talked to HR around 4pm and I will be starting my new job on March 13!! I will be making over $31,000 a year!! YAY!! No, that's still less than what I was making two years ago, but I'll take it!! It's a stable job and I have benefits--health insurance!! I can't wait to go to the dentist. I'm assuming that my net pay would be about $2000 a month (sans taxes and retirement), so I will have plenty of money to pay my bills--car, student loan, insurance. Fortunately those are the only bills I have right now. I will be getting the internet because I NEED it. And I'm gonna get a new cell phone plan because the prepaid thing is killing my money. I need a plan that is around $50 a month. I don't need all the extra stuff. I just need to talk and text. Also, I want internet that is not more than $20 a month. I hope I can find it. I HAVE GOT TO PAY MY DEBTS!!!! I've gotta pay $3500 for back rent from the apartment that I was evicted from, about $1000 in hospital bills and about $3000 for my car. My goal is to pay all of this off THIS YEAR!!!! And I NEED TO GET A NEW VEHICLE!!! I did a budget and if I can save about $12,000. I can have all of this paid off and I can get me a new car. But, it's gonna take some serious saving, like $1000 a month. I believe I can do that!!!

So Close

BB has been calling my references. She's gotten ahold of all except one. She called me today and I was afraid to answer the phone. I didn't want to hear a rejection, so I let it go to vmail. I later checked and it was BB asking me to contact my last reference to have her call. But...... Maybe my reference doesn't want to give me a good reference. Maybe she can't speak well of me....Maybe, maybe, maybe....I've used her as a reference before and she spoke well, but maybe, maybe, maybe....

Who Didn't LOVE Whitney Houston

The Million Dollar Questions

I forgot about this question during the interview:

What would you do if you had a million dollars?

My first answer was, "I'd pay my student loans."  Then I said that I would give some money to my church, start a scholarship and give some money away and make sure that I'm set up for retirement.

I've thought about that a lot...."If only I had $50,000 or $100,000, what would I do...."

You think about money a lot when you are homeless and broke.  You think of playing the lottery and hitting it big, how your like will change and what you can do with all that money.  I understand how a person can get rich and then lose it all.  I understand how a celebrity or an athlete can have millions of dollars and end up penniless.  I understand it because you  have to be mature with money.  You can't just spend.  You have to be wise!!  You also have to be disciplined.  You can't just spend your money on everything!!!  I understand that now.  And it's easier said than done!!!  I've read how the Great Depression caused people to be very frugal and a lot of the older people who went through those times when they were younger learned discipline.  I'm wondering if our recession is doing that for people. I know it's helping me.  Yes, I still buy stuff, but I'm more conscience.  I still have not paid my car note, but that's only because I needed get my brakes fixed, but I'm conscious of my money. Anyway, my references were checked today. I'm happy!! I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not. My references were for the job at the university and I was not hired. So, I'm happy, but still cautious. THANK GOD!!

How did you prepare for this interview

I had my second interview at the MCHD on yesterday. Thank God my "interview suit" was fresh out of the cleaners, my nails were done and my hair was flat ironed and pulled to the back.

1. How did you feel about being asked to come in for a second interview? That was my first questions. I told them (BB and JA) I was excited, but I didn't feign too much excitement because I've been on quite a few interviews to no avail this last year or so.

2. How did you prepare for this interview? That was the second question. I told them that I didn't do any preparations as it relates to practicing interview questions because I used to do that when I was younger. However, I did tell her that I was thinking about all of the stuff that I could have said during the previous interview. Which of course I didn't not write down and had not remembered at that point.

3. Sell me this bottle. That's always a fun questions. She gave me a water bottle and told me to sell it to her. I stumbled a little over my words, but I think I sold it to her as a product that was good for the earth and it was stylish because it had a design on it and it had a clip that you could clip it to a backpack.

4. Sell me this pencil (it was broken). I sold that as a tool to keep my hair up. I said that at the gym the other day the rubber band on my hair popped, but if I had that handy pencil I would have used it to pin my hair up so it wouldn't be flopping all over my head in the gym. I then told them that since it was broken, it was really cheap.

The last part of the interview questions were related to scenarios. What would I do if a media person ask med about the rate of high blood pressure in the county? What would I say is there was a blizzard and I was asked how many people would b without power? What would I say to a person who stated that they don't have need to services of the health department? What would I say to a person who said they earned too much income to use the services at the health department? This stumped me. I had to think about what I would say and I ended up talking about the testing for lead paint and swimming pools.

After the questions, we were excused to finalize the interview with me proof reading a press release. There were a ton of grammatical errors, but there were also mistakes in the language used. For example, the press release was for assistance with breaking the habit of smoking. There was mention about distractor ideas, which sounded weird, and I found out that it should have been distractor methods. After proof reading the press release, I had to critique a video from the Illinois Department of Public Health. It was a "okay" video. It was a little cheesy, but it provided a solid message. There was a variety of people with different ages, but there were no minorities. It was a good interview for IDPH. It looked cheap, but I'm sure that was their budget.

To finalize everything I was asked to complete that application because they needed my signature to be able to check my references and past employers. Overall it was a good interview. I really do need the job because I found out that my unemployment would end in March.

Father God, I pray that your will be done and I pray that I find favor because I NEED TO PAY MY CAR OFF and I NEED TO BECOME MORE STABLE IN MY FINANCES!!!

This is only a test

I've decided to fast the first 7 days of each month this year. I need to move from my spiritual deadness. So, I started my fast on Feb 1. On yesterday I went to the gym and walked into the class to see Magicfingers. He's a guy that I dated about 5-6 years ago. Actually, we really didn't date, we just had an one night stand that lasted almost a year.

Well, I heard he was married, which didn't bother me, but sure enough he was in MY workout class with his wife. Well, I didn't know if she was his wife, I just suspected that she was. She was a pretty asian looking woman. I didn't want to stare too much, but I did want to see what she looked like, but I couldn't without him noticing. So, I ignored them during the class and finished my workout.

I was a little ....(I don't know the word) when I showed up to MY work out class today and I saw her again sans him the next day. I kind of got a look at her and noticed that we kind of favor with the exception that my skin is dark, but I kind of look like I have asian features. Especially since my hair is straightened.

Growing up, I used to get made fun of because my of my eyes and flat face. To keep myself from feeling bad I just told people that my dad was asian. I was lying, but it made me feel better about me. If my dad was asian I had an excuse to have "tight eyes" or "slanted eyes". People used to make fun by taking their fingers and drawing their eyes closed to mock me.

Well, anyway, I can see how he "dated" me and now married her. We even have similar body types with the exception of my boobies. I know it's crazy comparing myself to her, but all during class, I kept sneaking peeks at her. I want to see what she looked like. I wanted to see why he married her, but we rarely went out in public together. It really doesn't matter.

Is it awkward??

YES, I wish they would pick another gym because I WAS HERE FIRST, but it is what it is and I won't let it bother me. Sometimes I feel like speaking to him just to let him know that I'm not bothered, but I don't want her to have to ask him who I am. I guess it's just easier pretending that we don't know each other, despite the fact that we "know" each other very well or we "knew" each other very well......I guess this is my test to see if I'm over him and I AM. THANK GOD because if not, I'm not sure if I would have been able to be in the same room with him if I wan't.

BTW, Magicfingers is Coach's brother.  I KNOW!!!!  I'm pretty ashamed!!!  But, God has forgiven and I have forgiven myself!!!

To My Mom: LOL

Billy Collins Reads from 'The Lanyard' from City Arts & Lectures on FORA.tv