Job Hunting

I've been job hunting, searching, almost begging for a year and a half now. I'm not being overly picky I don't think, but I also don't think I can afford to take just anything in this economy. Something along the lines of "if I don't try for it and get it, then someone else will". I'm on the search for a career at this point in my life, not a job. I know where I want to be, I know what I want to do. It's a matter of getting there and getting it done. It's a matter of getting my foot in the door, even if that means doing something I'm overqualified for until something that challenges me opens up. I've come to the conclusion that I'm an "inbetweener". Which means that I'm applying for things that I'm over qualified for because I'm willing to apply for almost anything, but I'm not getting calls for those jobs because they know I'm overqualified and probably don't want to pay me what I deserve...what they don't know is that I'll take the lower pay!! On the flip side, I'm not really applying for things that I'm under qualified for because I won't get a call on those anyway, especially when employers are saturated with resumes from job hunters that are qualified for those positions. So, the question is, what to do? I think the bottom line here is that I have to keep being persistant...keep applying for the jobs that I want, keep applying for the jobs that I need and hope that my resume makes it to the top of the pile one of these attempts. I know I'm not alone, and I know that taking it personally doesn't really help either...it's all about the luck of the draw. I know once they bring me in, they'll want me. I'm awesome.

General Hospital soap makes a huge mistake!

On the March 15th episode of General Hospital, it shows a young teenage girl getting abused by her boyfriend. It's a storyline that has been ongoing for awhile, but has finally climaxed at her getting severely beaten, where as prior to this she has been verbal abused, slapped, and grabbed roughly. ABC has been promoting this week of episodes to be a teaching moment for teenagers to learn about abuse and what to do about it. Saying it's a must see for teenage girls, and that the story is "ripped from the headlines". The storyline of a teenage girl being beaten by her boyfriend, taken to the hospital and hopefully in future episodes showing the aftermath of what happens, is a good lesson. It is a hard lesson to learn and unfortunately something that needs to be discussed with our girls. HOWEVER, the last scene of the episode shows the teenage girl LYING about her attacker. This is the most irresponsible thing I've seen on TV in a really long time. I understand that this is what happens in some cases, that women are afraid of their attackers and therefore lie about who they are...however, this is a soap opera, that is promoting this as a learning moment to teenagers...they cannot and should not be showing the girl lying!! We need to show what SHOULD be done, not what IS done...we need to TEACH women to tell the truth and show the story line regarding the truth, which is just as difficult to get through as the abuse itself. I'm furious about this and am SO glad that my daughter isn't old enough to watch soaps. I feel bad for the parents that took ABC at face value and showed this episode to their children and then had to try and re-teach the real lesson, that it's NOT ok to lie. In addition to teaching young women it's not OK to lie about an abusive situation, we cannot forget how this affects the young men. GH needs to be responsible and show what really can happen to an abuser (man or woman), that they will go to jail, that there are consequences. If they wanted this to be a story line only, they should add a disclaimer to the show, if they wanted this to be a teaching moment as they promoted, they need to do it the right way! It's irresponsible of them to show a PSA at the end of the show regarding abuse and then show what NOT to do on the show. Kids are kids, they may not be able to see the difference in reality and fiction if they are in this situation.
Please make your comments on the soapnet.com, abc.com, or abc.go.com/shows/general-hospital, so that the writers and ABC know we don't agree with this!

Let the sun shine in...

It's so amazing! The sun is out, the air is fresh and warm and clean. The snow is gone (although it's left mud in it's place...I can look the other way on that). Spring cleaning is right around the corner, both inside and out. Ever wonder how the garage could possibly need cleaning every single year? Seriously, how does it get so messed up? Remember during the winter when you'd let the dog out and it was too cold to go out and pick up the mess, and you were so happy when that little dusting of snow came and covered it all up? Well, now it's time to pay the piper on that one, ugh, the worst of the spring cleaning for sure. The windows outside need a good scrub, mine as well do the inside too! Sweep the walk, pull the old weeds, pick up the winter toys that have been buried all winter, probably find a glove or two! The best part is soon, very soon, clothes will be able to be hung on the line! Oh, the prospect of it makes me smile. I lied, the best part is the flip flops are ready to come out...now THAT makes me smile!! Oh wait...the dogs can be let outside now! Maybe THAT is the best part?? I can't decide.
Happy Spring!

GOOOOO T-wolves!

Above is a pic from our recent trip to watch a MN Timberwolves game. They lost, but we had a great time!

Combination lock

Do you ever feel like your life is a combination lock? That if you just shift it a little to the left or right, or wiggle it just right it'll pop open? What if I adjusted my resume just the right way, would that change anything? Would I get a phone call or an interview? What if I connected to that one person on LinkedIn that I wasn't so sure about, would that change anything? What if I kept my status on Facebook as "Looking for work", would that one person see it that has been waiting for someone like me, with my skills hire me? Life is hard to know when to turn your dial to the left or to the right....or maybe if you just left it alone it was right all along and you just weren't pulling hard enough...

oh summer, where art thou?

We've got some serious spring fever going on around the Piller house this week. When it's 35 and above in Northern WI, we call that spring. That's when you can see your driveway again, you can start to take down your Christmas lights, the kids consider playing outside again, and you can stand to be outside long enough to clean out your car from the winter. My husband couldn't care less if winter never showed up, if he could play softball all year round, he'd be a happy guy. So, now that the garage door opens (at negative degrees it tends to refuse) he concocted a makeshift tee to hit softballs off of. He's hitting them against our old mattress but I can still hear it from my cozy warm happy place on the couch. I'm convinced that we was cool with us buying a new mattress so that he'd have the old one for just this purpose! Not only is he doing this but he's got the kids out there doing it too...which, I guess is good. It's always nice when I'm inside alone...oh, I mean, it's nice when the kids get outside and get some fresh air (there, that is more PC right?). Seeing the tempuratures start with a "4" on the evening news is an amazing thing. It puts people in a good mood! Wait until we start seeing 5, 6 or 7's! Bring it on spring...hello pre-summer...can't wait to have you over for a few months! Enjoy the warm weather all, let the sunshine see your face!

The moral of the story is...

Someone recently told me that I'm too old to be doing some of the things that I like to do, so, I went out and got a tattoo. (You know who you are ;) Not that I just randomly went and got the tattoo, I had thought about it, a little bit. I didn't know what I was getting until the morning we left and I didn't know where I was going to get it until about 5 seconds before I sat down in the chair. The bottom line is that you are only as old as you think you are and you are only as old as you want to be. I feel I'm totally capable of getting a tattoo and having a drink with friends and then turning around and going to parent teacher conference the next day without shame.
I often make decisions like this in my life. I like it that way, makes me feel alive! I'm also a planner, which I know sounds contradictory, but that's me!
The moral of the story is, be yourself and don't worry so much about what people think of you now or what they'll think of you in 20 years. (In 20 years I fear the wrath of my daughter when picking out a mother of the bride dress that may or may not need to hide this or any other future tattoos..)
Here is a pic of my tattoo...yeah life!