Waiting - Yet Again

If you haven't caught this from reading the blog, I'll let you in on a little secret that's not actually a secret. Patience is something I have yet to learn. Today was a lesson in distraction as a method of avoidance. I'm waiting to hear on a job that I interviewed for three different times last week. When I spoke with my contact on the placement agency on Friday she told me she wouldn't be surprised if I heard something on Monday. I was of course watching the phone for most of the morning, and then I spent most of the afternoon with Sheralee running some errands. Thankfully the errands got my mind off of the phone call for a few minutes - thus a lesson in distraction. I'm starting to wonder if life is just a series of moments in wait. Waiting to hear about a job. Waiting to hear back from a friend. Waiting to go on vacation. Waiting for life to be what you want it to be. I hope that this isn't what life is. I'm going continue to do what I can to capture this and every moment and take it for what it is instead of waiting for what comes next. Yup - idealist in the room!

I also tried to help a friend get tickets for the World Series this morning. I'm sure it's not being reported around the country, so I'll tell you, it was a MESS. After the Rockies won the NLCS they announced that they would be conducting a lottery where you would have to wait in line and then maybe the line that you're in would be chosen to actually purchase tickets. Then they scrapped that idea and decided to sell all the tickets online. So this morning I along with about a billion other people logged onto the internet to try and get some tickets. No one could get through - and at about noon they suspended ticket sales entirely. It's being reported that they've sold 500 tickets of the 18,000 per game that remain after pre-sales to season ticket holders. Tonight I read that the Rockies are claiming that they (and we) are the victims of a malicious hacker. I don't think they're telling the entire story. Apparently they're trying it all again beginning at noon tomorrow. Go Rockies?

Um, It's Snowing!

It really honestly is and I promise that I was not the one who ordered it. The internet tells me that it's 33 degrees outside and my idea of "I think it's going to maybe snow a little bit" has been shot. At 9:45 there's already at least an inch of snow on the ground! I hope it doesn't go on like this all day, but if you want to you can watch the Bronco's game tonight on television and see what I'm talking about.

Kenneth the Page

I heart Kenneth the Page from 30 Rock and discovered this gem of a video today. Enjoy!

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry for the week of blog absence. The internet at my apartment building has been on the fritz and I've also been very busy. Doing what you ask? While aside from celebrating the Rockies win I've been busy applying for jobs and actually interviewing. I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch - and - I've had three interviews for one job this week and I'm crossing my fingers, toes, legs, and arms as hard as I can hoping that perhaps this job search is over. As much as I have enjoyed having some spare time I'm ready to get back to work. What seems a bit backward is that I'm also getting ready to go on vacation! I'm heading to Puerto Rico next week with Vivian and Tony for a week. I'm so excited to be in summer weather again - especially since there's a possibility of snow here on Sunday - and to explore a place I've never been.

When I Say Rockies You Say Go

The Rockies won the NLCS. Wait - they swept the NCLS! In honor of such a great occasion I watched the entire game - my first full Rockies game ever. I'm proud to break my streak for such a momentous occasion. Thanks to Vivian and Tony for hosting me for the game and for putting up with me cringing every time they showed the coach and his crazy chewing, for singing "Holiday" every time Matt Holliday was up to bat, and for singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in it's entirety. I'm also glad that I live in Capitol Hill and not Lodo - I'm sure it was crazy down there last night. When I left their place for mine last night someone was whistling "Let's Go Rockies" so I did the little clap - from their place about half the way to my place. There were spotlights in the sky and enough beeping cars in Capitol Hill that I almost walked to Lodo just to see what it was like. I didn't have enough energy for that though - such a lazy butt.

Next comes the World Series! While I think the possibility for me of getting tickets to the game is something like one in a gagillion I was excited to go to Lodo and sit in a sports bar for at least one of the games. However this may not be possible - how sad! Okay - I'm not really allowed to complain since I'll be in Puerto Rico for most of the games, but while I would LOVE to see the Rockies sweep once again, I'd selfishly like for them to win the series in Game 6 so I can watch it in Denver. Is that really too much to ask? I'd like to think not.

Go Rockies!

For Friday: Funny Old and Funny New

Funny Old:

Funny New:

Go Rockies!

Devoured

I have absolutely devoured this book. Sheralee read it earlier this summer and recommended it. Then last week I saw the author on Oprah and I wept. I could not tell you why - something deep within me identified with the author of this book and I knew I had to read it.

I would love to be able to go on the journey this woman took - and that's not really an option for me. That said I would like to find my own journey to peaceful existence with God. To a place of rest - even within this crazy world.

There were so many places where I identified with the story in this book. I laughed, I cried, and I was awed. There is one quote I would like to share with you however - it's a story that puts into a metaphor the reason I believe that I'm on the spiritual journey that I am.

This story is told at the end of the authors time spent meditating in India. She tells it for a slightly different reason than I do, and I think it applies nonetheless.

"The Indians around here tell a cautionary fable about a great saint who was always surrounded in his Ashram by loyal devotees. For hours a day the saint and his followers would meditate on God. The only problem was that the saint had a young cat, an annoying creature, who used to walk through the temple meowing and purring and bothering everyone during meditation. So the saint, in all his practical wisdom, commanded that the cat be tied to a pole outside for a few hours a day, only during meditation, so as to not disturb anyone. This became a habit - tying the cat to the pole and then meditating on God - but as years passed, the habit hardened into religious ritual. Nobody could meditate unless the cat was tied to the pole first. Then one day the cat died. The saint's followers were panic-stricken. It was a major religious crisis - how could they meditate now, without a cat to tie to a pole? How would they reach God? In their minds, the cat had become the means. Be very careful, warns this tale, not to get too obsessed with the repetition of religious ritual just for its own sake. ...it may be useful to remember that it is not the tying of the cat to the pole that has ever brought anyone transcendence, but only the constant desire of an individual seeker to experience the eternal compassion of the divine. Flexibility is just as essential for divinity as is discipline." (Eat Pray Love, Penguin Books, 2006, p. 205-206)

Though I realize I run the risk of offending, that is not my intent. The rituals I know aren't the only ones, and the point isn't the rituals. The point is getting a little closer to the divine. I think I'm on a journey to find the practices that work for me.

Along With Every Other Woman and Gay Man in America

My heart sank a teensy bit while watching America's Next Top Model tonight. Nigel Barker is MARRIED! Sad. Guess I'll switch back to Pushing Daisies. It's a fun little fantasy :)

Irritated with Hiring Directors

If you've been reading this blog for the past two months you know that I'm on the hunt for a new job. To this point it's consisted of emailing my resume out to new jobs posted almost daily and following up by phone with the postings that don't say "No Phone Inquiries." However - those are few and far between. I'm just so irritated that actually speaking with someone in HR is nearly impossible. I got this email from a prospective employer this morning:

Thank you for your interest in working with [prospective employer]. We are dedicated to continuing our growth by attracting highly talented people.
Your qualifications are carefully being reviewed for a possible match with our current career opportunities. If we identify a match, we will contact you within the week.
If you do not hear from us, please assume that we do not have a suitable position available for you at this time, but we will keep your resume on file for further review.
Thank you again, and we wish you the best of luck in your professional endeavors.

I am so sick and tired of hearing "don't call us, we'll call you". I almost always means they're not going to call. I'm not typically a glass half empty kind of a girl, and these automated email responses make me so irritated.

Real Age: 28 Body Age: 82

Today I feel like an old woman. I woke up yesterday with a knot the size of Texas in my shoulder - I sat on the heating pad for much of the day and remembered when I was getting ready for bed last night that I had one of those ThermaCares that you can leave on all night. When I woke up this morning it felt much better, until I took the heat off. So apparently I'm tied to the heating pad. Plus my eye will not stop twitching and there are some workers in my building crashing and hammering and making other loud construction noises. It looks like they're doing some work on a wood floor in one of the units. However, seeing as I'm feeling like a nap, I wish they were almost done! Nothing serious, just feeling whiny today!

So Exciting!

I'm 100% honest when I say that I've been terribly excited about the Rockies lately. This however, sadly, does not mean that I really know what's going on. For instance, I was trying to find a score for yesterday's game loooong before the first pitch was even thrown. This morning I was asking Sheralee if they win the games against the Diamondbacks does that mean that they're in the World Series? I don't think so, and I honestly still don't know the answer to that question, I've got to find myself a set of brackets :)

I also would love to go to a game, but can't justify $30 to sit in the Rockpile or $60 to sit in the upper deck - if I wasn't getting by on unemployment I totally would, and I'm just not there at the moment. Last night however - I realized that it just might be worth it. I was in Boulder for dinner and some beautiful hot tub time for most of the evening. We were driving back into Denver and drove by Coors Field just as the second run was scored in the 8th inning. The roar of the crowd that we could hear with the windows down in the car was so exciting I could barely stand it. And we were outside the stadium! Even listening to the end of the game on the radio on the ride back I could feel my pulse getting faster with each pitch. GO ROCKIES!

Overheard on Jeopardy

Since I no longer have cable I sometimes watch exciting things like Jeopardy. Funny thing is that I do enjoy Jeopardy - I like to see how many questions I can answer. Today however I thought I might be watching Will Ferrell playing Alex Trebec when he opened the show by saying "Three young people ready to do it on Jeopardy." Really? That's not what I thought this show was about.

Gah - I am a 12 year old boy on the inside :)

Two and 0 Baby!

I have officially caught Rockies fever. It's terribly strange - I've been to four or five games this season and while I always have a good time at the park for me it's usually about having a beer and a hot dog in the sun, watching the crowd, talking to whomever I'm there with and watching the game. In that order. Or at least with the game being the lowest priority. Yet, somehow I'm absolutely excited about the Rockies being two games up on the Phillies in the playoffs. I even listened to part of the game on the radio today. Who am I? Go Rockies!

I'm Back :)

Sorry for the short blog haitus. I had the luxury of being able to take a short last-minute trip to Michigan. My sister and brother-in-law were visiting for the weekend and I was able to come in to see them originally, and it turned into a very life-giving weekend for me. Before I left the job search was getting overwhelming - I was so exhausted from sending out resume after resume after resume and getting few responses - none of which seem to be turning into anything. The weekend turned out to be good medicine, and I'm now feeling much more relaxed and healthy and ready to start the job search back up.