Gross

My little Eliza just caught and ate a fly. Doesn't she look so proud of herself?

Of course, this means there will be kitty pukage at some point tonight.

FUN.

Random Hilarity

Taking a break from the real world tonight after a very enjoyable day in the city with Tia Marie. Watching Charlie Bartlett which is proving to be quite enjoyable in its own right. And even funnier, I hit the Pause button to take a phonecall and I came back to see this:

Boy oh boy, I just love me some Robert Downey Jr.

The WhirlWind of Being 33

Wow - my 33 year on this planet has been pretty eventful. Already. And it's only Day 2.

Yesterday, at 5:02 p.m. I received THE CALL. And, I am unbelievably, ridiculously, supercalifragilisticexpialidociously thrilled to say I GOT THE JOB.

I won't get into all the hairy details, but the sweet girl from HR who called is sooooo quiet, demure and apologetic that I thought for sure it was a No Go. But then she said the magic words: pleased, offer and excited. Those are good words. Really positive words. Make Kalesy happy.

The joy somewhat mitigated the frustration I'd felt over having to serve boiled lobsters and fish chowder all afternoon. (Without tips, may I add, since I'm officially training. But that's a whole other post completely...)

So, yea, it's been kind of an emotional whirlwind of a few days. And I really need some downtime. To integrate and assimilate all this new information.

And, of course, to deal with the emotional hangover that is bound to be the byproduct of the last few months.

In a way, I wish I'd posted more about the entire situation. But then, I kept thinking, who wants to read a bunch of junk that basically says, "I'm scared. Wicked terrified. Kind of hopeful. But mostly scared." ???

So, I didn't. And while the chronicle might have been interesting for me to read in hindsight you, gentle reader, should probably be very very happy that it didn't come to pass.

And now, since I've been on my feet carrying heavy trays all night and the alarm is going off at 5 a.m., I should go to sleep. Not sure when I'm gonna tell them at the restaurant that, oh yea, I'm quitting. I should do it soon. But I feel guilty over having them train me and then leaving. Maybe I'll wait and see what next week's schedule looks like. After all, I have LOTS of free time to fill up between now and August 18.

Here's to an amazing year!!!!!!!!!!!

Do You Enjoy Yourself in a Crowd?

Hi there. Hypocrite girl here.

Let me explain. I spend a lot of time on my yoga practice. Not just the postures, but the chanting, the meditating and now I'm even reading a book on yoga philosophy and its application to modern day life. (It's Yoga and the Quest for the True Self and I highly recommend it.)

And all of this practice conditions me to want to focus on the Now, the Real, the phenomenal world (in both its connotations) that surrounds me at this moment.

All of this seems much easier said than done. Because, right now, I'm definitely focused on the recent past and the upcoming future and can't seem to shake it out of my mind.

I have come to terms with how the interviews went. Even the tough cookie. I know my stuff and I feel confident that I proved that. Now, my attention has turned to the psychometric evaluation I had to take.

You know these things. Twenty-two pages of true or false questions about ridiculous things like whether you feel comfortable in crowds or if you feel comfortable speaking your mind even when authority is present. These tests drive me crazy because I don't see those things in black and white.

Define crowds. Do you mean being at the Celtics Rolling Rally? Or a large yoga workshop in the middle of a kirtan?

What do you mean speak your mind? Do you mean stand up for your opinion? Or tell your boss s/he knows where to stick it?

And they tell you with these things "there is no right answer." But that is just not true. I've heard dozens of stories of people who got passed up for a job because of their results. So, this gives me one more thing to obsess over.

I took the test on Tuesday. Haven't gotten my results back yet. I don't know if the Company has gotten theirs. (I can only imagine they'll come out at the same time). So, it's Saturday and I have two full days of not knowing anything ahead of me.

The folks I spoke to on the interviews all said I shouldn't expect a decision until next week. So I really have no more information available to me over which to be concerned. The reality is, corporations move slowly. Even when they're in a hurry. And they can't officially make any kind of decision until these damnable results arrive.

(Yes, I realize I sound exactly like I'm engaging in self-soothing rationalization. Because I AM.)

So, I have no news. And I can only pray that no news is good news.

But the practical and tangible upshot of no news is that, Monday morning, I don my black pants and rubber soaled shoes and begin my career of selling fish to tourists in T-shirts. Be careful what you wish for...

What does that even mean?

I am loathe to admit it, but the confidence and optimism of last week have worn off somewhat. I know this is my own fault. I haven't been sleeping very well and definitely haven't been meditating as much and so I am much less centered and grounded. Only myself to blame.

Which makes it even tougher to admit that yesterday's phone interview went less than stellar.

To be fair, it wasn't awful. I could tell from the get-go that this guy was a bit of a tough cookie. Struck me as the kind of guy who probably doesn't toussle his kids' hair after his ballgame and tell him, "Love ya, kiddo." But what do I know? Anyway, I felt off-kilter and thus didn't shine as brightly as I have for the other four interviews.

All this is bad enough to know. But here's what makes it worse. After a few hours, I sent off my obligitory "Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today" email and got this response:

Thank you for sharing your qualifications and experiences with me today.
Good luck in your future endeavors!

Now, seriously, what does that even mean?

Most of the people I've spoken with seem to think that it's no big deal, that he's probably just an awkward person or bad emailer, that he was one out of four, that things still look hopeful and that it's all still okay.

I'm doing my best to believe and trust that this is so. I know for sure shootin' that I am right for this job - and that I wasn't right for my last one. And I have to believe the Universe is giving me not so gentle nudges in the right direction to fulfill my higher good.

Here's to good news coming down the information highway.