Gee Whiz!

When I was younger, I remember watching some TV show that had a cartoon short at the beginning. (I think it was the Twilight Zone, but not confident). Anyway, the cartoon was of a family and their dog. I remember crudely drawn figures sitting on a couch or at the dinner table, and the storyline always seemed to revolve around the dog being blamed for something. I don't necessarily recall the exact events of the episode, but there was one in particular where the boy in the family exclaims, "The dogs whizzin' on the rug!" Replace that dog with my dog, and the boy with my father-in-law, and that was my evening last night.

At some point yesterday afternoon, my dog sneaked downstairs in my in-laws house to the very back den of the basement and peed on very expensive wool carpet. Obviously, my husband and I had no idea, otherwise we would have dealt with it and hopefully, have been able to keep it from dear ol' Dad-io. Unfortunately, we were made aware of the dog's indiscretion all too late. It was not a good scene. The urine had been there long enough to have gotten cold, thus setting into the carpet. We spot-cleaned it with some vinegar, but will need to call in a professional to pull-up the stain. Fine. Done. Not so much. I have never seen someone so upset about carpet. I get it - it's expensive. But really? Yes, really!

It is over 12 hours later and he is still upset. The dog, unaware of what the hell is going on, is confined to a specific part of the house now, and "must be leashed at all times." Here's the irony: the family dogs have puked, peed, pooped, and bled on all other carpet in the house. It's just because it was that damn den. And it doesn't help that every time last night's incident comes up, I start to chuckle because in the back of my head I'm hearing, "The dog's whizzin' on the rug!"

Persepective

I was laid off in June. I'm 7 months pregnant. The electrical wiring in my house is probably not safe for an infant and will need to be repaired post haste. My sister and husband (two people I would die for) are not talking to each other. Oh, and my mother-in-law is still fighting breast cancer.

Much of this most of you, if not all of you know. But here's the deal: I'll find another job. My baby boy is healthy. My house has not blown up yet, nor will it (most likely). My sister and husband will eventually start talking again. And my mother-in-law will survive. Bottom line - We're all healthy and will get through all of this.

It's amazing how other's concerns suddenly put your own into perspective.

Ali and Teresa - my thoughts are with you.

Hope

I have an interview next Wed. This will be my third since I was laid off. (Well, technically fourth, but I skipped one because it was in a really bad part of town). I think that's good, right? If only there was a way to interview just my head...the baby bump keeps getting bigger and I think it's getting in the way.

The first interview I had was almost immediately after I lost my job. They told me there were over 200 candidates. They interviewed 6. I was in the top 3. They hired 2. It hurt.

The second interview was strange. They had all of the candidates for the position come in at the same time, sit in a circle with the interviewers, and then split up into small meeting rooms where we did one-on-one interviews for about 5 minutes. We then rotated to the next interviewer for their 5 minute round of questions. It was sort of a round-robin, group thing - just without the actual group interaction. Odd. I didn't get the job. I should have. One thing about seeing the competition is knowing you can beat everyone there. Again, it hurt.

I have not given up though. I got the call this morning and will be on my way to a brand new opportunity next Wednesday. It's kind of far, and not the ideal position, but a job's a job's a job, right?

Wish me luck!