Speaking of unimaginable foulness...

A couple weeks ago, we noticed that we have mice in the garage and attic, as we do every Spring. (next month: ants!)
So I bought D-Con, which they ate, as they do every Spring. But this year, something new. One of the bastards went in a wall to die. Usually they stagger out into the back yard or the driveway.

The stench in my computer room is impressive. I've opened the window and plugged in a Scentsy and closed the door. I wondered how long it takes for a mouse to decay, so I googled it, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that many, many people have asked the internet before me. The consensus is that it takes a week or so, and short of ripping out the wall, there isn't much to do but wait it out and try various combinations of sprays, vinegar, coffee grounds and baking soda. I've noticed the smell for a couple days, I remember on Wednesday giving the dog and cat disapproving looks because I thought one of them had took a hidden dump somewhere. By yesterday, my husband had identified the smell..."That's something dead." And today, it's really bad but it seems to be confined to one room.

So I'm off to buy Lysol. Maybe I'll pick up some ant traps while I am out.

I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.

I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

So yeah. I got the job. The first job I have applied for in over 13 years. I was told there were an unusually large number of applicants, and many of them were current university employees. And even though I feel like Red on the beach right now, earlier today I felt like Andy Dufresne crawling through 500 yards of unimaginable foulness.

Last night I had to break the news to my boss that I was being considered for the new position and that the department chair wanted to talk to her about me. I had to tell her on the phone, and she took it...okay. She didn't swear or cry, but she wasn't overly happy for me, either. After that tortuous conversation, I sent her numbers to the chair, let's call her Ann. Ann told me she would contact my boss in the morning.

So this morning, I sat alone at work from 9-1, hoping for a call from Ann. No such luck. At 1:00, my boss came to work and didn't say much to me. She did say, "your people didn't call me."
And that was the beginning of two of the most uncomfortable hours I can remember. Did I just piss off my boss for nothing? Why wasn't Ann calling? Was she interested in someone else?

Longest afternoon ever. Maybe she will call tomorrow. I walked down to the mailbox, and when I got back, the nurse was taking a message from Ann. My boss called her back as soon as she got a chance, and shortly thereafter Ann sent me an email to set up a good time to talk to me.

So tonight at 8, she called and offered me the job. She is going to get some more information from Human Resources about salary, but it's a done deal. One of the amazing benefits of this job is that employees are eligible to take 12 credits per term at 30% of the in-state tuition rate, and that is transferable to their children. So even though I am negotiating a strong starting salary, I would probably work for minimum wage and the tuition discount.

I am so excited to work with people who like people. I felt such a great energy in my interview, and having had a number of conversations with Ann I am convinced that this will be a great move.

I am really grateful for my friends, who texted and emailed and encouraged me over the past two days. We all need friends in here.

I hope.

Today I interviewed for a new job, a Program Specialist at the university near my home.
I applied for this job over a month ago, and heard back from them about a week ago- about three days after I had assumed that they had found someone else.
I can't tell you how badly I want this job.
The interview, I think, went well. I was in the room with three tenured professors and two office ladies. I think I made strong connections with the office ladies. I think I impressed upon all of them how quickly I can learn. I mostly listened to them tell me about the job, and speak as if it were already mine.
I know I was the first interview, and I know they called at least one of my references this morning. I know there was at least one other lady in the lobby waiting to be interviewed as I left.
I hope I wasn't overdressed. I wore a black suit and a beautiful pair of burgundy patent heels, to which I wish I would have given a more thorough test-run- I had to stop in the ladies room on my way to the interview and stuff toilet paper in the toes to keep my heels from slipping out.
I hope they read my resume and my cover letter. They didn't have copies with them, but I supplied them. There were a lot of things on paper that I may not have had the chance to detail verbally.
I hope my friend Erica is right when she says that interviews are just to make sure you aren't crazy. It sure seemed like it. They asked vague questions from a list that Human Resources had given them. I tried to sound very sane and reasonable when I answered.
I hope that I did not misinterpret the "I like you a LOT" twinkle in one of the office ladies eyes as I left. It was such a warm look that I could have hugged her.
I hope to hear from them today or tomorrow.
I hope.

Shame on Mio.

The other day one of my facebook friends, a relative actually, pondered her self-sabotage along these lines: "Why, when I am constantly saying I want to simplify, simplify, simplify, do I find my life becoming more complicated?"

I wonder the same thing. A week or so ago, as I made my grocery list, I tried to keep whole, "real" foods in mind- sugar rather than artificial sweeteners, dairy rather than non-dairy, fresh rather than from concentrate. As I walked through the doors of grocery store, into the "Aisle of Values", I reminded myself to buy things that might take longer to prepare, but would be better choices for me and my family.
As I walked past the Mio, I put two bottles into the cart. Mio is 100% pure artificial sweetener and color, to be expressed into water. Mio very well could have been on the bottom of Clark Griswold's aluminum sled-dish. Evan as I pushed my cart away from the Mio, I realized that Mio is the opposite of food, and I did not put it back.
In case you are wondering, I bought red Mio, which my daughter picked- I think it's fruit punch, and peach-mango which is orange. I think they taste terrible, my kid is really amazed that you don't even have to stir the drops into the water- it magically makes an even solution.