Taking Steps

I am determined to have a more positive day today than I did yesterday. Granted, I’ve already gone through a bout with tears and feelings of utter uselessness, but it’s still early and I’m putting it behind me. It’s the first purely beautiful day we’ve had in ages and I won’t waste it moping over my sucky job situation. I’ll just have to find a way to change it, that’s all.

I have already taken steps to find something more suitable. I’ve combed through CraigsList and Yahoo and Monster, but let me tell you, it’s bleak out there. I also took a few career aptitude tests, and oddly enough, the one that’s seemed the most bogus has actually been the most accurate. It’s called Colorwize and basically all you do is pick which color you prefer from each set. It then tallies up where each color lies within your preferences. Then it gives you a list of 40 careers out of almost 300 that match your color signature. #2 on the list was my major with #’s 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 being so closely connected as to be natural paths for any English major. There are several foreign language options, a subject I’ve always been very good at, as well as several areas of education, another area I’ve always been good at. It also includes photography, museum curator/archivist, sociology, psychology, and (naturally) childcare. All fields I’ve been interested in or directly involved in at one time or another. And it has quite a few that are new or something that’s only intrigued me at times, but never enough to pursue. I would definitely suggest checking it out because although it’s hard to believe that something so "fluffy" could be so spot on, it really is.

And I have applied for a couple jobs I’ve come across. There was a junior office assistant position in New Haven on CraigsList, and on a complete whim, I applied to be a dance instructor with Fred Astaire Dance Studios. Maybe it sounds a little odd, but something just seemed to pop it into my head, so I’m running with it. The same thing happened with Lifetouch and that’s really been my favorite job so far. I’d go right back to it if only it were a little more consistent. ::sigh:: But such is life, I suppose. I’m also thinking of heading over to Micheal’s and seeing what they have available in the world of cake decorating. I know. I’m weird.

My 101 Things List is going well. I haven’t updated the one here on OD lately, but I inadvertently picked up three of the books on the list of 1,000 you MUST read before you die, so that’s convenient. I just finished The Hours, by Michael Cunningham and I have Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Stranger from the library. If you’re paying attention, you will see that I was by the "C" shelf. Hehe… I also have New Moon, the next book in the Twilight saga. A little guilty pleasure, I suppose. I just hope that this story picks up a bit faster since it’s actually as thick as the other three books put together. I was going to get Angels and Demons while I was there, but they only had the large print version. I tried a couple pages, but it was too difficult to adjust to weirdness of the print, so I’ll leave it there for someone who actually needs large print. Until then I have the three books I mentioned, plus Par Lagerkvist’s Barrabas, so I’m pretty well supplied for reading material.  I ought to mention that my year is almost up. At the beginning of last July I started recording every book I read. Partly it was just to keep track, since I sometimes forget I’ve read a book until I’m rereading it and things start seeming awfully familiar. It’s also to see just how voracious a reader I really am. I’ve finished 90 books so far. If I stop reading now that’s an average of one book every 4 days. But I won’t stop reading now. LOL… I still have a month and half! I don’t think I could go that long without reading.

Well, since it’s such a singularly spectacular day, I’m going to take advantage of it and go for a walk in the woods. Then perhaps a trip to Wal-Mart (much as I hate it) because they have a seriously excellent selection of tissue paper for one of our art projects this week. And I can’t forget about going to Micheal’s either. Who knows, maybe in a few short months I’ll be getting pictures of my cakes up on CakeWrecks… hopefully as Sunday Sweets and not as wrecks! Time for me to fly.

~Liz