argh. argh. and arrrrrrgh.

ok, how long did I go without employment? I lost my job January 26. I started working last week part-time as a research assistant. That's 6 months. Six months with nary an offer, very few leads, and a lot of time sitting on my ass and getting ready to go back to school.

And now... NOW... I've got job offers coming at me like bullets. I've got my research assistant job (more about that later.) Brittany has a consultant position open. And a company that I worked with at MaxWeb is aggressively pursuing me. I've accepted a part-time position with them. So now I have two jobs. I want to say, "No, I'm not complaining." But I am. I am complaining to fate, I suppose.

Ok, so about my research assistant job... I LOVE IT. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. I'm working on a study about the long-term physical effects of repeated stress on abused and neglected children. I go through case files and extract a bunch of information. Reading the case files is fascinating. I've learned alot in the three days I've worked so far. But as fascinating as it is, it's definitely not increasing my respect for humanity. The atrocities these kids have been through is unbelievable. I'm learning about social work and its role in the lives of the kids.

I guess the biggest thing I'm taking away from the research assistant position is that I've made the right decision to go into social work. I'm in awe that I get paid to learn about stuff that until now has been a hobby (the psych stuff, at least.) I feel like the experience I have with my family and various mental illnesses/treatments for those mental illnesses really has prepared me for it, despite the fact my undergrad degree is in advertising. And the research part of it is right up my alley... I love looking for information. I'm also learning how to use SPSS, which is statistical software. I really need to learn some more statistics stuff (as Jay keeps kindly pointing out.)

The other cool thing about the research assistant job is the dog! Banjo is a dog used in animal-assisted therapy. He's a big old mutt (kind of tortoise shell colored, if he were a cat.) He walks around all day giving love to those who need it. I saw him sitting with some kids, and sitting beside a guy who was taking an assessment test on the computer. He really seems to calm people down and make them more at ease (including myself.) He'll wander from office to office, looking for love. If you stop petting him, he'll either put his head in your lap or nudge at your hand. I love having him around, and I'd like to have a dog like him someday when I'm a practicing social worker.

Other randomness:

Jay and I saw Spiderman II last night. UGH! We both thought it was awful. It was as stupid as the first one. I'm sure many people disagree with me, but I thought it was horrible.

I cut and dyed my hair. It's pretty dark (and red). It's fading as I wash it. I'm tempted to do a manic panic red over top of it. I don't know.

I talked to my sister on the phone the other day. Bad idea. It made me want to drive 180 miles and wring her neck. I resisted the urge.

Ok, reference my previous post down the page a bit:
Now Eleanor is lying on the bed cuddling with an Alltel bill.

(although not as cute as Jennifer's cat cuddling with a power strip. I'm assuming Jennifer found my blog through our mutual interest in Great Big Sea and Carbon Leaf.)

Whew. My life since last Friday:

1) I went to WV to go to my cousin Shelly's wedding. It was on Saturday, and a very nice event. I saw a few people I hadn't seen in years, and my grandma and cousin Gaye were there. It was rather swank. The bridesmaids had sleek black gowns. The guy Shelly married is from Long Island, and there were a lot of New Yorkers there. Jay said he went to the bathroom and heard some folks talking, and it sounded like a mob movie or something. I wonder if those poor people had any West Virginian culture shock.

2) I have cable internet up and running now, and the router configured. We haven't hooked up Jay's computer/wireless card up yet, but we'll try that when he gets home. The cable modem is mondo-fast, compared to DSL.

3) My niece was visiting since Sunday. I know I said this last year, but I'll say it again: Wow, she has alot of energy. She's a chatterbox. Talk talk talk talk talk talk talk. She's a well-behaved girl, but it's so hard to keep up with her. We went swimming on Monday and Tuesday. I was burnt yesterday, but I feel better today. We played Mancala, and a non-scored game of Scrabble.

4) I have Showtime-On-Demand now, and I started watching Dead Like Me last night. I think Jay and I are going to watch the series together.

5) They've opened up a new Chinese restaurant on Richmond Road (near me, here in Lexington.) That brings it up to a total of six Chinese restaurants in an eighth of a mile area. This does not include the two Japanese restaurants and the one Korean restaurant (as they are obviously not Chinese.)

Eleanor and Sophie (both of the feline persuasion) are cuddling on the bed in the office. Ok, that's pretty normal.

However, they're also cuddling with an old Trivial Pursuit card. What, did they just get tired in the middle of a game and decide to nap?

Today I went to Louisville to spend some time with Anne. We went to Lynn's Paradise Cafe (which I thought was familiar.. I've seen it on the Food Network's show The Best Of). It was pretty good, and the atmosphere was neat. We then went to wander around Cave Hill Cemetary for awhile. I enjoyed that, and I also saw the gravesite of a very famous Kentucky (and American) icon, Colonel Harland Saunders, aka the man who created Kentucky Fried Chicken. We looked around at some of the older graves. The earliest birthdate we found was 1796. For some reason, I'm fascinated by cemetery in a non-Goth sorta way. It's a snapshot of the path of our ancestors.

Anyhow, after that we went to Graeter's (as it was very hot), and I had a peach ice cream and a lemon ice. As we were eating, I heard someone (not Anne) call my name, and looked up to find my dear ex-therapist/current mentor-type, Jamie. I hadn't seen him in about four years, so that was really cool. It was a bit awkward though, having been in the former client/patient relationship, I feel like I tend to talk about myself, and don't really know that much about his life. I would love to learn more about the research he does. His wife is a doctoral student in Social Work too, which makes them the coolest couple ever. hehe.

After Graeter's we went to Central Park and watched some man sing. He was evidently of some fame somewhere, but I'm not sure who he is. However, he was good. He had a good voice, and his daughter sang lead on a few songs, and she had a great voice.

After that we headed towards a Barnes and Nobles, and me back to my car, so I could go home. Anne is going on a pilgrimmage to Bosnia soon to visit Medjugorje. Although I'm not personally religious, I can imagine that to visit somewhere that powerful would be amazing when you truly believe. Now let's just hope she can keep her watch on her wrist and not get left behind in Bosnia. :)

The fourth of July would have been my mother's 58th birthday. It was our first Independence Day without her, and I miss her.

I had the scariest dream last night.

There was a serial killer circulating a virus among people I knew. We couldn't figure out how the virus was caught, but the first person I knew to die of it was Liz. I'm talking to my ex, Sam, and he knows about Liz, but fails to tell me that Liz's/Sam's/my friend Steph also died, as well as her friend Tara and Jodene (Jolene? I can't remember her name.) I discover this, and start to worry about Beth. We can't find her anywhere, and we suspect she's caught the virus. I'm in some sort of class with Nathan, and we're all concerned for Beth. We finally ask him where Beth is, and he admits that no one knows, and we all suspect the worse. I think in the end we found Beth, and she was ok, but we were still worried for her. It was such a horrific dream. I was so glad to wake up from it.

Today my dad and I went to the US Air Force Museum in Dayton because a) it's free and b) we're geeks.

Some items of note:
1) The plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki in WWII
2) The plane that carried JFK's body home after he was assasinated, and where they swore in LBJ (we actually got to walk through the cabin), as well as many other planes that acted as Air Force One (any plane the president is on becomes Air Force One, interestingly enough.)
3) The Sopwith Camel, otherwise known as the plane that Snoopy flew
4) A really cool IMAX film about the international space station
5) A developmental tilt rotor aircraft.
6) The Apollo 15 (I think) capsule
7) A B-2 Stealth bomber
8) It was very weird to be in a hangar with literally billions of dollars worth of aircraft present.
9) Some early Wright Brothers aircraft

I find it amazing that we've gone from extremely elementary wooden aircraft to the type of aircraft that fly today in 100 years. It's just hard to fathom. Such leaps in technology, it boggles the mind.

I feel like I'm leaving out something else that I thought was cool. Maybe I'll think of it tomorrow. I recommend if you're near Dayton (such as Ms. Erika), you should definitely go to the Air Museum.