Well, it's the end of March and we are still looking. Unfortunately it's seeming more and more likely that we will have to relocate. Not that there aren't any jobs for call center managers in Indianapolis, but strangely none of them seem interested in my husband. For example, there was a job he was interviewing for in Muncie (it'd be a heck of a commute, but we'd get to keep the house) and Matt seemed to be doing really well; they gave him three or four interviews and had him do a Power Point and everything and then... nothing. We haven't heard boo from them in two weeks, so either the hiring manager was abducted by aliens or maybe all of his phones broke? That seems to be the trend, though: jobs Matt's applied for, and even interviewed for, and then it's like they've disappeared off the face of the earth. I wasn't a business major so I find that totally baffling. Maybe that is just the way things are done, though.
Jobs outside of Indianapolis, on the other hand, seem to be quite interested in my husband and also they know how to work their phones. We've discussed quite a few likely scenarios that would involve a relocation. One place in Harrisburg, PA is actually looking for a call center manager for student loans, which is Matt's exact area of specialty. Harrisburg isn't a metropolis like Indy but on the other hand it's close to several major cities (and several IKEA stores, which I love). A company in Colorado Springs called Matt yesterday and asked if he could fly out on Wednesday to interview for a job that would start the following Monday. Matt had to tell them that wouldn't be possible, because his wife is about to have a baby. Also, I realized later that one of my old ex-boyfriends lives in Colorado Springs so let's not move there, huh?
One that was interesting was a call center in upstate New York. Now, Matt isn't any keener on moving there than I am, since he served his mission there and remembers the winters. But we were still pursuing it, until Matt got a more detailed description of the company and the position. We had a pretty good chuckle because we realized that they were basically looking to hire Michael Scott. Now, my husband is a talented and competent manager, but he doesn't get his jeans dry-cleaned and he's never taken an improvisational comedy class so I don't think he would be the best fit.
On the other hand, Matt's flying out to Utah on Thursday to interview for a call center out there. He told him his wife is very, very pregnant so he really needs to be in and out in one day. Matt will leave at 6-something in the morning and get back around midnight - even faster than the whirlwind trip he took for Morgan's wedding. So, Matt probably won't get to see his parents on this trip even though the place he's interviewing is in Orem which is right next where they live, but on the other hand, if we move to Utah he'll get to see them plenty. Obviously it's still a huge unknown if they will offer him a position, or if it will be enough salary, but I'm thinking that if they were willing to buy him a plane ticket (and on such short notice it probably wasn't a bargain) then they will at least call him back, right?
Granted, I'm not terribly keen on the thought of moving to Utah, since it's so far away from my family and also it's in the desert. Even more disturbing is the idea of selling this house. For one thing, it's not even vaguely ready for market. We'd need to paint every single room (except Betsy's pink bedroom) not to mention the cleaning, and the cleaning, and the packing, and the keeping the house clean, and oh yes I'd be doing all of this alone since Matt would already be in Utah (or wherever we end up) and call me crazy but that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun. Also the fact that I really, really, really like this house. I like my second floor laundry, my kitchen island, the basement, everything... We built this house with the intention of staying here a really long time (which is why we didn't upgrade the kitchen cabinets or anything, which is a whole other can of worms) and I think that if we have to sell it and leave for good after less than two years, I will be consumed by regret. Also, the cost of housing is insanely cheap here as compared to the rest of the country, so I know it will be really hard to get a house that's as good or better than this one if we go somewhere else.
But. A job's a job, and our ultimate goal is for me to stay at home with the kids, and I'd rather not do that in a cardboard box if I don't have to.
Moving on... Have I mentioned lately how much I love Scrapbook Trends Magazine? They are the ones that actually publish me sometimes, and they send a fantastic goodie box as payment (plus free copies of the magazine). I had two layouts in the March issue and one in the Embellish idea book, and I got my box from them about a week ago. Holy cow, it was like Christmas morning! I got this paper pack and this paper pack, and one of these tools, plus an 11x8.5 album and refill pages (I love that they actually seem to pay attention to the pages I scrap when they are choosing what to put in the box. A 12x12 album would have been totally useless, since I never do that size.) and a blank calendar and a huge chunk of cardstock. I can't wait to play with all of these new goodies. (I think I'm going to do a mini album for Cutie Pie with some of that delicious glitter paper.) Also, I got my layouts back and the copies of the magazine and idea book, which are always fantastic - they do a great job photographing my layouts (I just have to look at them and think, Wow, that Joni chick is talented) and the books are always chock full of good ideas. I sent the second copy of the March issue to Rochester, because one of the layouts had a picture of Molly in it. Congratulations, Molly, you're famous! Thanks for being much easier to take pictures of than my actual offspring.
Anyway, yesterday I got an email from them requesting one of my layouts for the August issue. It was my 'I Hate Laundry' page, which is one of my all-time favorites and was part of my 2007 Hall of Fame entry. It'll be really cool to see that one in print. So I'll be making a trip to the post office today. They always look at me funny when I insist on mailing my little 8.5x11 page in one of those pizza-sized Priority Mail boxes, but really, it seems to work well, I've never had a layout get damaged or bent.
Also, I am still pregnant. Lucky for most of you that you haven't had to listen to me complain about this on pretty much a daily basis. I'm 38 1/2 weeks, which isn't even all the way but at ths point with Porter I wasn't even pregnant any more. I put up the bassinet this week and currently Betsy's baby is sleeping in it (she's a really good baby, she never cries). I had a friend of a friend come out yesterday: someone I met at the scrapbook thing I went to in February, she's starting a photography business and wanted to do some maternity portraits for her portfolio. I've never done anything like that before and it was really fun, playing with my big belly and everything. I've made an executive decision not to be self-conscious about my stretch marks, since hey, I came by them honestly. I think she's probably going to Photoshop them out anyway, so as not to scare away any potential clients.
One thing I've noticed, aside from my general hugeness, is that in the last few days I've started to get really annoyed about being touched. And the kids, I swear, are ALWAYS wanting to touch me. Being a human jungle gym is a routine part of motherhood that usually doesn't bother me, but something about the pregnancy hormones... I'm sure it's the same thing that makes me unable to sleep at night and turns my fingers and legs into sausages. (Mmm, sausage...) It will be over soon, right?
So. I'll end this massively long blog post with some pictures from the Children's Museum. Our membership expires at the end of March, so yesterday was probably the last time we'll ever go there. The kids really like the Robots And Us exhibit, so I made sure to take some photos of that. (It has nothing to do with this paper, I swear...)
Jobs outside of Indianapolis, on the other hand, seem to be quite interested in my husband and also they know how to work their phones. We've discussed quite a few likely scenarios that would involve a relocation. One place in Harrisburg, PA is actually looking for a call center manager for student loans, which is Matt's exact area of specialty. Harrisburg isn't a metropolis like Indy but on the other hand it's close to several major cities (and several IKEA stores, which I love). A company in Colorado Springs called Matt yesterday and asked if he could fly out on Wednesday to interview for a job that would start the following Monday. Matt had to tell them that wouldn't be possible, because his wife is about to have a baby. Also, I realized later that one of my old ex-boyfriends lives in Colorado Springs so let's not move there, huh?
One that was interesting was a call center in upstate New York. Now, Matt isn't any keener on moving there than I am, since he served his mission there and remembers the winters. But we were still pursuing it, until Matt got a more detailed description of the company and the position. We had a pretty good chuckle because we realized that they were basically looking to hire Michael Scott. Now, my husband is a talented and competent manager, but he doesn't get his jeans dry-cleaned and he's never taken an improvisational comedy class so I don't think he would be the best fit.
On the other hand, Matt's flying out to Utah on Thursday to interview for a call center out there. He told him his wife is very, very pregnant so he really needs to be in and out in one day. Matt will leave at 6-something in the morning and get back around midnight - even faster than the whirlwind trip he took for Morgan's wedding. So, Matt probably won't get to see his parents on this trip even though the place he's interviewing is in Orem which is right next where they live, but on the other hand, if we move to Utah he'll get to see them plenty. Obviously it's still a huge unknown if they will offer him a position, or if it will be enough salary, but I'm thinking that if they were willing to buy him a plane ticket (and on such short notice it probably wasn't a bargain) then they will at least call him back, right?
Granted, I'm not terribly keen on the thought of moving to Utah, since it's so far away from my family and also it's in the desert. Even more disturbing is the idea of selling this house. For one thing, it's not even vaguely ready for market. We'd need to paint every single room (except Betsy's pink bedroom) not to mention the cleaning, and the cleaning, and the packing, and the keeping the house clean, and oh yes I'd be doing all of this alone since Matt would already be in Utah (or wherever we end up) and call me crazy but that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun. Also the fact that I really, really, really like this house. I like my second floor laundry, my kitchen island, the basement, everything... We built this house with the intention of staying here a really long time (which is why we didn't upgrade the kitchen cabinets or anything, which is a whole other can of worms) and I think that if we have to sell it and leave for good after less than two years, I will be consumed by regret. Also, the cost of housing is insanely cheap here as compared to the rest of the country, so I know it will be really hard to get a house that's as good or better than this one if we go somewhere else.
But. A job's a job, and our ultimate goal is for me to stay at home with the kids, and I'd rather not do that in a cardboard box if I don't have to.
Moving on... Have I mentioned lately how much I love Scrapbook Trends Magazine? They are the ones that actually publish me sometimes, and they send a fantastic goodie box as payment (plus free copies of the magazine). I had two layouts in the March issue and one in the Embellish idea book, and I got my box from them about a week ago. Holy cow, it was like Christmas morning! I got this paper pack and this paper pack, and one of these tools, plus an 11x8.5 album and refill pages (I love that they actually seem to pay attention to the pages I scrap when they are choosing what to put in the box. A 12x12 album would have been totally useless, since I never do that size.) and a blank calendar and a huge chunk of cardstock. I can't wait to play with all of these new goodies. (I think I'm going to do a mini album for Cutie Pie with some of that delicious glitter paper.) Also, I got my layouts back and the copies of the magazine and idea book, which are always fantastic - they do a great job photographing my layouts (I just have to look at them and think, Wow, that Joni chick is talented) and the books are always chock full of good ideas. I sent the second copy of the March issue to Rochester, because one of the layouts had a picture of Molly in it. Congratulations, Molly, you're famous! Thanks for being much easier to take pictures of than my actual offspring.
Anyway, yesterday I got an email from them requesting one of my layouts for the August issue. It was my 'I Hate Laundry' page, which is one of my all-time favorites and was part of my 2007 Hall of Fame entry. It'll be really cool to see that one in print. So I'll be making a trip to the post office today. They always look at me funny when I insist on mailing my little 8.5x11 page in one of those pizza-sized Priority Mail boxes, but really, it seems to work well, I've never had a layout get damaged or bent.
Also, I am still pregnant. Lucky for most of you that you haven't had to listen to me complain about this on pretty much a daily basis. I'm 38 1/2 weeks, which isn't even all the way but at ths point with Porter I wasn't even pregnant any more. I put up the bassinet this week and currently Betsy's baby is sleeping in it (she's a really good baby, she never cries). I had a friend of a friend come out yesterday: someone I met at the scrapbook thing I went to in February, she's starting a photography business and wanted to do some maternity portraits for her portfolio. I've never done anything like that before and it was really fun, playing with my big belly and everything. I've made an executive decision not to be self-conscious about my stretch marks, since hey, I came by them honestly. I think she's probably going to Photoshop them out anyway, so as not to scare away any potential clients.
One thing I've noticed, aside from my general hugeness, is that in the last few days I've started to get really annoyed about being touched. And the kids, I swear, are ALWAYS wanting to touch me. Being a human jungle gym is a routine part of motherhood that usually doesn't bother me, but something about the pregnancy hormones... I'm sure it's the same thing that makes me unable to sleep at night and turns my fingers and legs into sausages. (Mmm, sausage...) It will be over soon, right?
So. I'll end this massively long blog post with some pictures from the Children's Museum. Our membership expires at the end of March, so yesterday was probably the last time we'll ever go there. The kids really like the Robots And Us exhibit, so I made sure to take some photos of that. (It has nothing to do with this paper, I swear...)
4 witty remarks on "Job search update."
Oh you know you have a painter should you need one. I may not be a pro, but I can do it fast without spilling much paint.
I got all my stretch marks first time around, no new ones after that. It's your badge of motherhood.
Betsy must be a really good mother if her baby never cries!!
Oh, girl, I feel your pain. My hubby is having to job search as well, and the only ones that call routinely (and call, and call) are at least three states away. Our house is 4 years old. I was planning to die in this house in about 50 years. If we have to sell it, so help me...
I want to see your maternity photos! You're such a teeny thing, I bet you're adorable! (Even if you don't feel adorable. Even if you don't feel anything at all, like your toes, or your patience.)
That Betsy knows what she's doing! Does she hire out yet?
I'm praying for you.
I have faith in God and Matt.
It's going to work out.
So, I wouldn't be absolutely miserable if you and your wholesome, bread-basket offspring were forced to move to Harrisburg, PA. I probably, with enough gin, could learn to deal with you living just a short, cheap bus ride from Philly.
It'd have to be a lot of gin, though. To sterilize the festering wound of proximity.
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