Five

In most parts of our apartment, you wouldn't know it's Christmas. The bedroom is still littered with clothes, the cats still poop in the closet (in litter boxes, mind you), and the dishes need to be washed, again.

But in one tiny section, right behind me, it's Christmas. Our stockings are hung up on the DVD shelf (yes, we have stockings for the cats too). Our Target-bought X-Mas tree stands next to it, speckles of white lights amidst the red & silver shine of our Target-bought X-Mas ornaments. Underneath, five presents dressed in red wrapping paper, camouflaged by the red tree skirt that once served as a table cloth for a Halloween party. More often than not, Big Kitty can be found under the tree; I'd wrap a bow around him as well if it didn't mean getting the shit clawed out of my hands.

Living off unemployment didn't stop me from splurging on Wac for Christmas this year; for better or worse, it's a quality I picked up from my dad (substitute my Mom for Wac anyways). Perhaps that money was better spent on bills or groceries or something else, but it wasn't going to feel like Christmas for me if there weren't at least a couple presents under the tree. I would have survived without them, and I'm happy that I'll be able to be with her for Christmas, not to mention that I'll get to see my family soon thereafter as well. But I know Christmas will feel a little bit more like normal on Sunday morning (we're celebrating early since she leaves for California that evening) when we're opening gifts, and I get to see the excitement on her face when she opens those presents.

Especially when she opens up the new Guitar Hero game I got her. I think she'll like that one the best.

......

We ran 5 miles on Sunday. Officially the longest distance I've ran yet. We stopped at the halfway mark to stretch before turning around, so it wasn't consecutive, but I'm beyond the point of considering that to be relevant. There's a reason people say "It's not a race, it's a marathon". In fact, I probably wouldn't have been able to get to the 4 mile mark had I not stopped to stretch.

The last mile was definitely the hardest. I've been really good lately about not letting any self-defeating thoughts creep in during my runs, but that last mile, I really had to talk myself to the end. It seemed like it took forever to get there, but I pushed through. It definitely helps to have Wac there with me. Although a couple of her mile-updates were less helpful than intended, I think it's easier to run with her next to me. It's harder to quit on yourself when you've got someone with you.

I fully expected to be incapacitated the next day, considering that A) we still made trips to Subway and the Apple store before heading home to rest and 2) I could hardly walk the day after my 4 mile run. Surprisingly, I felt almost 100% yesterday (I won't mention the bit of chafing I got as that's probably a bit too much to share for you). Not only am I able to increase my mileage, but I'm recovering better too. Perhaps I might be able to do this half-marathon thing after all.

......

I got called back to Worksource yesterday for another meeting. For those who aren't in the know, Worksource is the WA version of the federally-mandated employment assistance program that every state has. They're not "Unemployment"; instead, they offer resources to help people who are unemployed. It was mandatory that I attend their first seminar when I got my unemployment benefits, and I had to go back since I got an extension.

I wasn't looking forward to it since it was going to be a three hour waste of my time; I could have stayed home and done something productive like play Minesweeper or sleep. Luckily it didn't take as long as they estimated; it was basically a review session of the initial orientation I attended in June, followed by a one-on-one "consultation" where someone from the staff would help me look for jobs and\or match me up with some possibilities.

As it stands right now, I have over 9 job sites saved as Favorites that I visit on a regular basis, and that doesn't include any of the staffing agencies I check out periodically. If there's a job open in my field, I know about it. I will admit that one of those sites is not the Worksource site, but after playing around with it during the session, it won't be one either, as every job posted on that site I've already found elsewhere. The consultation was of no benefit either; they tried to match me up with a Director-level job; a position I'm in no way qualified for right now. Although it was still a 100 minute waste of my time, it was kind of satisfying knowing that I'm doing a better job at finding a job than someone whose job is to help people find jobs; at least I know that my lack of success hasn't been because I'm not searching well enough.

Sorry, nothing in this section to keep with the "five" theme.

......

I had my second phone interview with my only job prospect right now, an interview which took place on the FIFTH (a stretch, I know). I definitely feel that it was one of my strongest interviews to date. Of course, it definitely helped that the position is so similar to what I was last doing, which probably made the interview feel a little more natural to me. The interviewer, someone in the same position that I'm applying for, also mentioned that I was one of the most experienced candidates that they're considering. The only concern they might have at this point is my commitment to the position; they may not feel comfortable with someone as career-driven as I am. I feel like I've reassured them that I'm willing to commit to the position as long as needed if the organization is as exceptional as I've heard, but the truth is, it's not a department I want to be in very long. Unless the position is so kush that I'd be a fool to do anything to escape it, I plan on sitting tight no longer than 6 months before I start mentioning advancement; otherwise, I'll start looking elsewhere again. I can only toil around in admin-level positions for so much longer.

Hell, maybe even after FIVE months.

(there, that works better)