Thoughts from My First Week (Back)? Splendid!

Thoughts from the first week back at the school district:

Everything is the same, but everything is different.  I kind of have that vaguely familiar feeling that you get when you're trying to piece together the events of the previous night after drinking yourself silly.  (Not that I've ever done that...) I have an idea of all the things I'm supposed to do, and mostly how to do them.  I just keep getting little flashes here and there of specifics.  I'm sure it will all come flooding back with time, but for now, there are just little blips of remembrance.

I'm totally in "back to school mode".  I picked out outfits for day 1 and day 2...  After that it's all been downhill, mostly because I didn't get all my laundry done before I started.  Also, the fact that it was 95 degrees for most of last week was stopping me from busting out my adorable sweaters.  That really is reminiscent of going back to school as a kid.  I remember everyone wearing cute pants and fall clothes the first day before we all remembered that it was still August in Illinois and our schools weren't air conditioned.

My boss sent an all-district email reviewing the changes in the department, congratulating the guy who was previously in my job on his new position and welcoming me back.  I got two emails almost right away from teachers.  It was seriously heart warming.  Those two teachers are people who I always had a soft spot for - teachers who I worked with closely for one reason or another.  I always kind of assume that when I'm no longer an active part of someone's life that they basically forget about me.  It made me feel so good that these two teachers in particular wanted to welcome me back.

I had a bit of a reputation in my department last time I worked here.  No, not that kind!  For whatever reason, I was the awkward interaction magnet - especially with the now-retired Superintendent.  We always joked about starting a Google Docs list of all my awkward interactions.  Less than one week into my new-old job, my boss has already mentioned starting a new document for awkward interactions with the new superintendent.  I had honestly forgotten about the joke from before, but then (see paragraph 1), it all came flooding back to me.  So I had to ask her if she remembered how I had to hold the old Superintendent's hand.  Yes, that was a thing, and yes, she did remember.

During a job interview a few years ago, I was asked what superpower I have.  I answered that I have a real affinity for remember people - their names, personal details like hometown or significant other's name.  I'm especially good at remembering what instrument they played, and I can attribute that directly to my time spent working for the Marching Illini.  I've already freaked out new coworkers with my ability to remember the names of her kids (whom I've never met).  I also amazed her/freaked her out when talking to a former teacher from a neighboring school district.  I was able to remember her husband's name and his occupation, as well their anniversary.  I also realized that we have some mutual friends.  What can I say?  I can barely remember what I had for dinner last night, but I'm good with personal details about people.

Overall, I can absolutely say that I am so happy to be back at the school district.  My coworkers and I used to joke that we were so spoiled by our boss that we would never be able to work for anyone else.  I guess we were right!

Newfound Free Time? Splendid!

Quick life update:
I was working at a music (instruments & equipment, not CDs) store for the last three months.  It was an okay job with some wonderful people, and I learned a lot.  Recently though, I found out that my previous position at the local school district was open again (thanks, Jen!), and I applied for it.  After a couple of interviews, I was rehired, and I started my new-old job this week.  Aside from the fantastic people, supportive environment, rewarding work, and encouragement to wear orange often, I have to admit, one of the things I'm most looking forward to is no longer spending 2 hours on the road every day.

So, here are the Top 10 Things I'm Going To Do With My Time Now That I Don't Commute (in no particular order):


10. Voice Lessons - Guys?  I think I started my bucket list, and the only thing on it right now is to sing in a band.  I've got a decent voice, but I think it would definitely not hurt to take some lessons.

9. Illini Volleyball - The Illini Volleyball team has been consistently good for quite a few years, yet season tickets for an adult are only $25.  At $5 a game to get in normally, I only have to go to 5 games to make it worth it!

8. Illini Basketball - A slightly less consistent team, I still love going to Illini Basketball games.  Since I'll be getting off of work before 5pm every day, I'll definitely be able to attend way more weeknight games this year than I previously thought.

7. Illini Football - Despite the insane sunburn I got on the left side of my body at last weekend's game (still hurts!), I was so excited to be there.  I ordered season tickets before I started working at the Music Shoppe, so agreeing to give up my Saturdays to the retail gods did not make me happy.  Luckily I only had to miss one game for work, and I should be able to enjoy all that football Saturdays have to offer.

6. Ukulele - Did I mention I bought another ukulele?  I had been lusting after a Fender uke since my first day at the Music Shoppe.  I was going to wait till the holiday season to get one with some sales credit promotion they offer, but obviously that won't be happening.  Instead I took advantage of my employee discount and brought one home last week.  I've really enjoyed practicing so far, so I'm looking forward to skipping fewer songs in my book because they use "hard" chords.

5. Exercising - I'm going to start slow, but maybe I'll try the Couch to 5K program again.

4. Visitin My Friends, especially those with kiddos - LOOK AT HOW CUTE MY FRIENDS' KIDS ARE!  THEY ARE SO CUTE!  

I need to spend more time hanging out with them.  I also have a ton of friends in the Chicago area whom I should visit more.  Who wants to go on the Chicago architecture boat tour this fall with me?

3. Cooking - Remember when I used to cook delicious meals?  Remember when I was making pasta from scratch?  Yeah, it's been awhile since I've had the time or motivation to do that.  I would say I'll even consider cooking slightly healthier options too, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

2. Being a Better Sigma Alpha Iota Member - I have been slacking in this area lately.  I'm looking forward to catching up with my responsibilities to my chapter and the collegiate chapter.  I'm also looking forward to coming up with new ideas for recruitment, fundraisers, and chapter events.

1.  Updating My Blog - I got into a nice habit of writing something on a weekly basis, and then BAM! all writing stopped because I wasn't getting home till after 8pm most nights.  I have so many ideas for posts that I just haven't gotten around to sharing.  Because I know you're all waiting with bated breath for the next installment of Kiddo Kim Stories and This is My Life?! ridiculousness.

Fake Resume? Splendid!

With all the emphasis and talk of finding a job that's been going on in my life recently, I've spent a lot of time thinking about my strengths and weakness.  I've spent a lot of time thinking about what would make me a good employee or at least a good fit for certain jobs.  I've spent countless hours working and re-working my resume and cover letters, tailoring every cover letter to be specific for each job.  I continue to list my previous job responsibilities, mention my strengths, and demonstrate my enthusiasm for a given job.  But mostly I feel like everyone's resume is essentially the same.

Just for fun, I put together a fake resume for myself.  Everything on the resume is true; it's just not information you would typically find on a resume or cover letter in any of the fields for which I am qualified.

What true information would you put on your fake resume?

New job? Splendid!

For those of you who don't know, I recently started a position at music store.  It's a pretty good job, and the people have been fantastic so far.  I have only two real issues with the position: 1) I'm on my feet all day, and 2) it's approximately an hour away from where I live.  Other than that, it's an okay gig.  I compiled a list of thoughts and feelings on the situation over the course of my first two weeks.

1. Being on my feet all day sucks.  It sucks especially hard since I'd pretty much been sitting on my butt all day in the interim between jobs.  The first week was predictably difficult.  I work with four guys at the store, all of whom have been exceptionally helpful.  What they didn't do during my first 4 days though, was sit down.  There are a couple of stools behind the counter, but they just never sat down! Thankfully by my 5th day, I saw at least two of them relax a bit.  The other nice thing is that we're allowed to wear athletic shoes.  I haven't yet, because mine are, unsurprisingly, orange, and it's hard to look cute in a skirt and blouse when you're rocking orange Asics.  For now, my black Mary Jane Danskos are working very well.

2. The drive kind of sucks, but luckily in the long and boring way and not the heavy traffic kind of way.  After I accepted the position, I immediately downloaded a bunch of podcasts to listen to on the drive.  My commute is approximately 58 minutes, which is means hour-long podcasts are perfect.  I've been going through a backlog of the Nerdist podcast, and that's keeping me very entertained on the drive.  I also started listening to audio books recently using Audible.  This week I'm listening to the audio book version of Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson.  I've already read the book, and I'm obsessed with her blog, but I'm really enjoying listening to her narrate her own life story.  Seriously, if you haven't read anything she's written, get thee a copy.  Get thee a copy.  (Obscure Much Ado About Nothing reference alert!)

The mouse's name is Hamlet von Schnitzel

3. The day before I started working, I was out buying more than I originally intended at Target, like you do, when I found Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Strips with music notes on them.  I mean, really, how perfect would it be to show up to my first day of work at a music store with music notes on my nails?  The answer is super perfect.

I mean, really.  Super perfect.

As I mentioned before, I mostly work with a bunch of dudes at the front desk, and they were completely oblivious to my fabulous nail art.  However, I did have two separate customers compliment me on them, so I will mark that in the Win column.

4. Quite a bit of my work the first week was learning how to fill out the contracts for instrument rentals.  The contracts are not overly difficult, but they're intricate.  I watched a few before I tried one on my own, but I felt confident by day 3 that I could do one solo.  That was doubly good because no one else was available to help my first rental customer.  After explaining the rent-to-own process we use for most of our band instruments and having the customers fill out their portion of the rental agreement, I headed to the register to enter in the down payment.  Luckily one of my coworkers was available then to check my work.  Because I had done all of the math wrong.  All of it.  I basically had to redo my portion of the contract, but we thankfully took care of it before I overcharged the customers.

The next day I completed three more contracts, and I felt like each subsequent contract was a VICTORY!  That is, until the end of last week, when the woman who enters all the contracts to our system emerged from her office.  Apparently I had been regularly forgetting one piece of information.  She told me that she had noticed it the first week but had hoped I would just figure out that I was doing it wrong.  Also, instead of coming directly to me at any point, she brought it up with one of the guys.  I'm not gonna lie, I was really irritated by how passive aggressive she was about it.  I mean, I'm new.  If you don't want me forming bad habits, correct me ASAP instead of wishing the problem away.  Argh.  Anyway, I have finally mastered the rental contracts!

5. With it being summer in Illinois, I tend to wear my hear up more to combat the heat and humidity.  The first time I wore my hair down, one of my coworkers commented, "Wearing your hair down today, I see.  Loose and free like a hippie!"  Um, no.  I use far nicer and far more hair product than a hippie.  Also, I'm not terribly Bohemian.  Also, just no.

6. Two of my favorite quotes from my first two weeks on the job:

"Mustang Sally is the Jessie's Girl of blues." - coworker

"I just think the bassoon is my spirit instrument." - local high school drum major

The Guilt of Being Unemployed

I feel like I couldn't exactly continue with the "Question? Splendid" title structure for this particular post...

The thing about unemployment is that it makes me feel guilty.  There's the guilt about being home during the day while everyone else is at least attending the job site.  This isn't helped by people asking "So, what do you do all day?" Personally, at least, I also feel it necessary to offer to tell people what I did all day.  "Today I got out of bed before noon, and then I showered, and then I went to the Apple Store to see about upgrading my operating system.  I was going to do laundry, but I figured I could do that tomorrow.  I had a strange lunch that consisted or random things found in my refrigerator.  Then I wrote a blog post."  This is typically in response to a theoretically innocuous, "How was your day?" question.  For me, at least, this kind of reply stems from wanting to prove that despite my lack of job, my life is still inherently important, even if I'm doing unimportant things.

There's also the guilt of not keeping my house spotless.  Just because I don't go to work every day does not mean I've suddenly become less lazy and more domestic!  The reason I haven't de-cluttered my room is not solely because I haven't had time.  It's mostly because it's not even a little bit of fun, and I have been avoiding it.  Suddenly having time to sort through a tub of shoes does not make it any more entertaining than it was two months ago.

Let's not forget the guilt of not applying for every single job that is hiring.  But you know what? This one is especially unfair, because sometimes you just don't have the right background or work experience for even the "easy" jobs.  I learned that the hard way right after college when I was interviewed and ultimately rejected at a pizza place.  A pizza place run by burnouts from my hometown.  That was rock bottom for me at the time.  Knowing that I wasn't qualified to make and/or serve pizza with a bunch of stoners was really a hit to my self-esteem.

So here's my question: is this guilt something I conjure up myself, or does it stem from others projecting their disappointment on me?  Have you felt the same guilt of unemployment (or underemployment)?  Seriously, I would love to know what you think about this in the comments.

This time around, I really am trying to look at everything in a more positive light.  I've actually had real jobs this time around!  Jobs that I was quite good at and taught me a great deal!  Jobs that look good on my resume!  References from those jobs who are willing to say nice things about me to potential employers.

As I wrote in my last post, I really am open to new adventures this time around.  What do you think I should be when I grow up?  Right now my wish list of professions includes wedding planner (and officiant! I'm internet-ordained!) and rock & roll backup singer.  (You should see my sweet step-touch dance moves and my terrific tambourine talents.) Of course I'm looking for legitimate job openings, but I'm interested to see what other people think I'm capable of doing with my life.  Leave suggestions in the comments. 

Looking for a New Adventure? Splendid!

Do you think I’m fairly great with numerous talents and a sparkling personality?   

Is there a job in the greater Champaign-Urbana area that you think I would perform fabulously?  

If so, send me a link, because I am on the hunt!   

It's been the question on my mind and the minds of many others over the last few months, and a decision has been made.  I will not be returning to the theatre when it reopens, and I am ready for a new adventure.  I enjoyed my time at the theatre and the park district, but I really am open to trying something new.  As a guideline, I would absolutely prefer to work full-time at an organization that offers typical benefits like paid time off and health insurance, but if you know of a really sweet part-time gig for me, hit me up!