Special K and Coffee
I don't really know why you'd be here. I mean, I know I'm the single most interesting person, but don't you people have lives? Really, it's quite sad.
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Sunday, November 28, 2004
I am completely addicted and I don't care who knows it!
In fact, hopefully the more people who know it, the more likely it is that I will get more for Christmas. Of course, I thought that would work with the Gilmore Girls soundtrack two years ago and I ended up having to buy that for myself. However, in this case, duplicates are highly encouraged!!
So what is it that I want so badly? Anything in the Bath & Body Works Green Clover & Aloe scent. They discontinued it earlier this year and I am down to my last bottle and am starting to be afraid to use it much because I love it so much. This is really bothering me because I don't seem to like any other scent of lotion. So I just discovered two things: 1) B&B has begun offering selected discontinued scents for special order over the phone. However, I don't know if my Green Clover & Aloe is one of those scents and I really hate to think how much that would cost. And 2) there are a lot of people selling this scent on eBay. Several of the auctions were seriously tempting me to bid just now and I may end up doing some of that on my own anyway. :-)
Saturday, November 27, 2004
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have flakes. Flakes have been sighted. Flakeage, if you will, has begun."
As I'm sure you all know, especially since many of you got to experience it first-hand, it snowed in Illinois earlier this week. It snowed down in Greenville! We didn't see so much as one little flake. But we did today. :-D
I got up this morning around 7:30 so that I could return some things to the library before 8:00 so they wouldn't be later than they already were. I walked outside to discover that it was snowing--small flakes, but snow nonetheless. This excited me--I love snow and I especially love the first snow. By the time I dropped off my stuff at the library, it was snowing more heavily, so I decided to stop at the KwikShop on the corner by the library and get some coffee then headed up Duff Avenue on my favorite detour north of town. It was so beautiful and peaceful with the big flakes coming down like crazy over the freshly harvested fields that I just drove around for a while enjoying the morning snow. None of it stuck, which was probably good for me having never driven in snow before, but it was a great way to start my day regardless. :-)
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
The story about my grandma
One reason I love the Neutzman family so much is because I get stories about my grandparents that I've never heard before.
Carol Neutzman hates mice--she absolutely positively hates them. She would call her husband home from work just to come take care of one that got in the house. So one day when my dad was still growing up, my grandma was babysitting Carol's kids at the Neutzman farm and Carol's son Randy went out into the field and found a cute little field mouse and brought it back and showed it to my grandma. She, of course, didn't have a problem with the mouse and said, "You know, Randy, I'll bet your mom would just love to have that." So they put him in a jar and placed the jar on a post by where she'd park the car when she got home.
Sure sounds like something I'd do. :-D
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Who can guess/figure out why Grand Junction is the coolest town along Highway 30?
Things I was told today:
1) That I was a fun interview when Jeff and John from Midwest Industries interviewed me, and they're still keeping me in mind with whatever happens in the ad department.
2) I would probably get along well with the Crawford County Memorial Hospital Administrator/CEO's wife.
3) There is a full-time teller position open with United Bank of Iowa in Schleswig (I'm too tired to make sure I spelled that right :-P) that I'm definitely qualified for--those were the words of the HR Manager before she gave me an application.
4) CCMH will hopefully make a decision about the Administrative Assistant position within two weeks.
5) A story that tells me that part of my sense of humor must have come from my dad's mom--story to come tomorrow and that's a promise.
6) That apparently caramel puffcorn curls is really good. But I want proof. ;-)
7) That driving a stick is really fun and I should learn how.
8) I have to work at 6:30 tomorrow morning.
Monday, November 22, 2004
The most boring stretch of interstate in Illinois
When I got home from work Wednesday afternoon I had a postcard waiting in the mail from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Greenville announcing the groundbreaking ceremony for the new building they are building. This excited me because I'd been thinking how much I wanted a justifiable reason to go back to visit, then I noticed that it was to be held November 21st. That is when the craziness set in. I decided that if I could not work on Saturday (which we didn't) then I would leave for Greenville right after I got off work on Friday, spend all day Saturday with college friends, then surprise the congregation and show up Sunday morning for the groundbreaking ceremony, then drive back home Sunday afternoon. The true craziness of this really came from the fact that I worked at 6:30 Friday morning and had consistently worked at 7:00 almost every day that week and was completely exhausted already on Wednesday because they were long days, too. I didn't care, I was going to Greenville. I hadn't seen anyone from there (except Erin, in Virginia) since graduation in May and I had been involved in fundraisers and everything for this new building.
I had never taken a long-distance driving trip by myself before so I was excited. I left Ames at 4:30 and I-35 and I-80 really tested my nerves because it was raining and there was a LOT of traffic, but I made it just fine and breathed a huge sigh of relief once I got on the always deserted I-74 where it wasn't raining either so I made several phone calls about hooking up with people on Saturday. I found it a little funny that I'd never personally driven the route before, but still almost felt like I was on autopilot. I got some free coffee in Lincoln when I stopped for gas. Besides a bathroom, it was all I went into the station to get and before I even got up to the counter, the guy told me not to worry about it. I don't know if he thought I was hot or looked as worn out as I felt or he didn't feel like ringing up just a cup of coffee. By the time I pulled in to Greenville around 11:45, I was getting pretty loopy--not nearly like Levi and I were the time we drove through the night and pulled in at 6am, but Mandy was laughing pretty hard at the stupid things I was saying as I drove to her house (college-owned) where I stayed. She and I, true to form, talked waaay too late both Friday and Saturday nights. I'd love being her roommate but I'd be afraid we'd never sleep or get anything done!
Saturday: slept in until 9ish, showered, went to the Bond County Country Store with Jenn (it's "our" antique store), ate lunch in the DC with Jenn and Mandy while periodically running off to talk to someone and forgetting about my food, went to the bookstore formerly known as Family Christian now known only as the Greenville Christian Bookstore and it's really cool and they have some really fun GC stuff (FCS didn't :-P), left a note for Prof. Ross since I couldn't see her, went to the sports annex with Jenn where I got to sit in my hot tub again, then sat in Erin's room talking for a while before we went to the wonderful Taco Bell/KFC for supper, then ValueCity to buy film for my camera [tip: don't go there to buy film for your camera], then the Greenville liquor store because it's the only place I know that I can get St. James Winery wines and I decided to try a new one (blackberry) instead of getting a second bottle of my pink catawba which is waiting for me to get a job and move, then we got coffee at Will's Coffeehouse and talked more about everything under the sun, then I went just around the corner to my old roommate Rachel's apartment where we had a Gilmore-fest because I brought the first season (she'd been going through withdrawl) and I met her cat and kittens and we tried bacardi raz floats....good stuff. I saw everyone on my list that it was possible to see, which just meant that I didn't see Christy, who'd gone home to Mississippi for the week, or Ryan, who couldn't get away from a grad school project in St. Louis. It was a full, but extremely good day. Oh, and the best things really do happen right after you leave: Burritt got new carpet and brand new furniture! Anyone who got to see my Burritt furniture knows what a huge deal that is.
Sunday....I wish I had pictures and I hope to soon. I also wish I could have somehow documented each person's reaction when they saw me for the first time. It was hilarious and I loved it! :-D Mandy came with me because she'd been in the choir with us off-and-on last year and so we both sang the anthem with the choir after going through it only once right before the service. The actual groundbreaking was a little chilly, but exciting and quite an experience for someone so involved with the church. I was at the groundbreaking for the Greenville Free Methodist Church's new building last fall, but this was just so much more meaningful for me. They had a potluck afterwards and there were only 5 people in the whole congregation who I would have liked to see but weren't there for one reason or another. And I got to see my babies. Gwen and Olivia are getting so big already and they're just adorable! Butch said Olivia's 15 months, which means that Gwen's a little older than that I think. And my friend Emily's daughter Rebecca did the cutest thing after Emily gave me a big hug. She, like always, gave me a hug and said, "I've missed you." It almost made me cry. This girl is in 1st grade this year and last year when she'd hug me I'd ask her how she was using her name and she'd say, "how do you know my name?" She's just the cutest thing in the world. I left Greenville shortly after Mandy and I dragged ourselves away from talking to Rebecca, the pastor's wife. The last thing I did was drive out to the boat ramp where I had my fishing class and took some pictures and wished I'd had time to do some fishing. That also allowed me to drive the awesome highway 140 on the north edge of Greenville that's all curvy and hilly and treey.
The drive...fairly uneventful, so much that I called Ryan to catch up (because we hadn't gotten to) on the most boring stretch of interstate in Illinois because otherwise I'd probably have been falling asleep. And I'm curious to see if Steve agrees that I-155 is that stretch--the whole thing: Peoria to Lincoln. Lordy, it's painful. I-74 to the Quad Cities is only marginally better. :-) I stopped in Iowa City to visit the Woods briefly, which I was happy I was able to do and Phil's still getting used to the "Karly has a car" idea. It's pretty funny. I'm not sure I would have made it the last 5-10 miles if I hadn't known that I was at Ames. Tomorrow's drive to Denison is gonna seem like nothing after this weekend.
It was a wonderful and needed weekend and I would do it again in a heartbeat--and hopefully will come late spring/early summer when they expect the church to be done. :-) I'll show ya'll some pictures when I get 'em.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
this is a test
this is only a test
do not pass go
do not collect $200.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
I made it to round two
Am I freaking out? Just a tad, but not just about the second interview. I seriously think I might need help....can't talk now--not sure who might read this that I want to try to surprise this weekend. Woohoo....losing your mind is fun! :-D
Monday, November 08, 2004
"So, um, where was I? Oh yeah, I was on the hood of a car in a cornfield with a guy on either side of me, wasn't I?"
The Aurora Borealis was absolutely phenomenal last night. I have never seen it cover that much of the sky so brightly down here in Iowa before. OK, so I've never seen it do that anywhere else either. Except pictures and stuff, but those don't count. According to my mother, it is supposed to be going on for the next couple of nights, too, so get out of whatever city/town you're in and look north! At night, of course. Mandy said that she could even see them last night as she was driving back to Greenville from Mississippi, so even you crazy St. Louis people should hopefully be able to see them! You don't have to watch them from the hood of a car in a cornfield, but do drive out to the country, even if you're somewhere as relatively small as Greenville. You can stay in the warmth of your car and the cornfield is not necessary but should be harvested if you're going to go that route, otherwise it obstructs the view.
Unfortunately, I do not have the energy to talk about Thursday right now, but I will soon, I promise. Short version: Everything went really well--some might say potentially better than ever anticipated.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Wait! Wait! Slow down!
So ya know how I went to Denison and all those places on Monday? Yeah, I'm headed back there tomorrow for an interview at Crawford County Memorial Hospital at 3pm. I'm not complaining about it, but I have some resumes I need to get in the mail tomorrow and I need to get ready for the interview and.....I just wanna go to bed. *yawn* It'll all get done by itself, won't it? ;-) mmmm....sleep.... :-)
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
"I thought people bought cell phones in case their cars broke down at night and they needed to call someone for help and there’s psycho killers and--"
Roadtrips don't always go as we plan.
My plan of attack for yesterday was to drive to Denison and drop off my resume and application at Crawford County Memorial Hospital, then drive around the town a little bit to see what it's like, then head up to Ida Grove to check out the town and at least drive past Midwest Industries (which is not entirely off my "possible employer" list), then head up to Storm Lake to drop off my resume and application at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, then head down to Lake View and Wall Lake--optimistically around 2pm to be able to stop at Twighlight Acres when Carol Neutzman was there and see my grandma for a little bit and then relax at the Neutzman farm for a bit before heading home. If you look at a map, that is a fairly logical order to take if I want Wall Lake to be my last stop before home.
I was right around the point on Highway 30 where it goes back down to two lanes when my cell phone rang. [For those not familiar with this area, that's just past Ogden....'bout 20-25 minutes west of Ames.] I knew exactly who it was because I had been told by Iowa Workforce Development that I could apply for the Administrative Assistant position with BVRMC on their website, so that's all the information I was given. But their website had been down all week, so I went in and talked to Vonnie about it Friday afternoon and she called them and left a message to please call me about it and gave my cell phone number. Ironically, I tried their website later that day and it was finally up, whereas she couldn't access it when I was in the office. I wasn't entirely sure where I'd thrown my cell phone, so I didn't answer it, plus I knew that I would soon be losing service until around Carroll. So I just sat tight and enjoyed the rainy drive to Carroll, where I pulled into the Pic 'N' Save parking lot and listened to the message she left for me, which told me they were actually in the final stages of interviews for the position, but she could send me an application and they would keep it on file for a year. It was around 9:30 when I called her back to tell her that I was actually on my way to Storm Lake and was planning to drop off my resume and application, and with the news of the position almost being filled, I asked her if there might be a time that would be good for her when I could talk to her for just a little bit about employment with BVRMC. I wasn't looking for anything specific, just general positions held within the hopital and I wanted to make the in-person contact because it leaves an impression. She looked at her schedule and told me she didn't have anything on it until after noon. There was no way I could make it to Denison and Ida Grove and then up to Storm Lake before noon, so without giving it any thought, I got on Highway 71 instead of staying on 30.
So I ended up going in this order: Storm Lake, Denison, Ida Grove, Lake View, Wall Lake, home. Added driving and, obviously, time, but I got to talk to her for a bit, which I considered high priority.
As for Denison....seems like a pretty nice town. I told my dad that it has a lot of fun hills and he said, "well, yeah, it's like the Ozarks of Iowa." Whatever that means. ;-) I got to the hospital there and told the receptionist that I had a resume and application I'd like to drop off for the Administrative Assistant job and she asked me if I'd like to talk to Fred Dietze (the HR Director). I wasn't expecting that (and hadn't really thought about asking) and said that I would definitely like to if it would be possible, so she called him and told him I was there and said that he'd be down to meet me in a few minutes because he was in the middle of something, I guess. I waited probably a good 20 minutes in the reception area enjoying the view of the town from above (the hospital is on a big hill on the east edge of town) before he finally made it down. The exchange was very short: exchanged names, shook hands, told him I was interested in the Administrative Assistant position and had my resume and application for him as I handed everything to him, he glanced at it and saw that I was from Ames so asked if I was looking to relocate back to the area, I said I was looking to relocate to the area because we have family in Sac County and I like the area, he said they just opened the position so weren't ready to start interviews quite yet but he'd look it over and let me know, I asked if he had an idea when they might be making decisions that way, and he said, in good humor and possibly with a little wink, "when I can finally get the Administrator to stay out of my office, how does that sound?" I said that sounded good and he thanked me for stopping in and I thanked him for coming down to meet me and we said good-bye and I went on to Ida Grove.
The only report from Ida Grove is that Midwest Industries goes on and on and on. It's only one story tall, but it spans 4 or 5 city blocks. It's insane. Oh, and so is the castle motif in that town. Kinda weird. :-)
Lake View....it's Lake View. I just love that place. Wall Lake....Wall Lake.....I didn't get there until after 5pm and, after checking to make sure Carol wasn't either at church or Twighlight Acres, I made a beeline for the Neutzman's farm northwest of town. I had changed clothes in Lake View so I was comfy in my jeans, sweater, and shoes with socks! and just sat around chatting and eating roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, and homemade rolls and drinking coffee. I stayed way too late, but I was about to go crazy if I didn't get some time in a familiar place with familiar people and not to have to worry about anything (impressing people, driving and not falling asleep or spacing off, etc.) for a while.
End result: I'm even more ansy to find a job and move up there. The land is beautiful, it's quiet, and it has people that I love seeing and haven't gotten to nearly enough in my life.
Oh, and I came home today to an answering machine message from Fred Dietze who is interested in talking more with me about the Administrative Assistant position.
