Interview update and photos

The job interview with the CEO went...well...I'll let you decide. I might've talked too much, flubbed a couple of words, appeared tightly wound & overeager. All no-nos, no? Oh, and I left my purse in his office, not realizing it until I handed the receptionist my badge as I was leaving. That was a long walk back down that hall, lemme tell ya. DID I MENTION IT WAS THE CEO?! So, yeah, I just HAD to do something stupid. That's me, dork-extraordinaire! The purse-leaving may have put the kibosh on the deal. I mean, if it's between me and another girl who didn't do something stupid, and we're completely alike in every way, the only deciding factor has to be to axe the ditz who left her purse behind. Right?! On a more serious note he did tell me that 200 resumes came in for the position and he threw most of them out due to typos. I am one of eight he is considering, so I feel pretty good no matter what happens. Oh! And he disclosed that he changed the dress code banning pantyhose and ties. I wanted to high-five him right there on the pantyhose decision. I LOATHE those things. A no-pantyhose job 3 miles from my house? I could live with that!

Okay, enough of that nonsense. Here are some photos I've taken lately:

Izzy drooling as I drink my morning coffee. She may be expecting a teeny-tiny sip. Not sure why. ;-)

Linking up with A Rural Journal, Your Sunday Best #18. 

Facebook

So I've been on Facebook now for a year or two. Never really got into it or checked my page very often. I was already tiring of MySpace, so why would I need another networking site when Myspace was so lame? In fact, I had the email notifications turned off in Facebook so I never knew when someone was trying to poke me, send me a drink, bake me a cupcake, or give me hug. Once I discovered I had these offers, I had no idea how long they'd been there, so I just deleted them. Then I'd feel horribly guilty afterwards.

Then Jay invited me and my daughter to the Ft. Worth photography shoot with his Facebook amateur photography group. After meeting such nice people during that outing, I decided to check them out on Facebook and even friend requested a couple. Next thing I know, I've got about ten new friends. People are commenting on my photos, and I on theirs. I was like, 'Okay, this is pretty cool!'

Being part of a group makes a huge difference, I must say. Suddenly, I'm sending "good karma" and "Mardi Gras beads", but only to a select few because I still feel kind of juvenile doing it. I most definitely feel stupid posting "status updates", so I don't do those very often. I mean, really, who cares what I'm up to all the time? I don't want to sound rude, but do I really need to know you're on your second cup of coffee? The status update should be reserved for something funny, shocking, or weird, in my opinion. I have enough minutiae in my day, thank you. I don't know...perhaps I just don't get that aspect of Facebook.

It does have some cool features, though. I really like the iMusic application that lets you post music videos and songs to your page. There is also a music challenge game where you try to guess either the artist or the name of the song in under 30 seconds. The faster you guess, the more points you're awarded. It's pretty cool. I'm up to the level of "Music Expert" now, and my best streak is 145 points, with 70% accuracy overall. I also like that Flickr can be linked to my page showing my latest uploads.

Now that you have an idea of how sucked into this thing I am, I'll divulge my latest Facebook interaction. Last week someone from my old high school found me. Next thing I know, I have more requests from high school classmates that I do not EVEN remember. I was forced to unearth my old yearbook to try and put a name with a face. Some I'm remembering and some not so much. This is the same school where I was suspended for 3 days for dropping the F-bomb on Mr. Meador, caught smoking on numerous occasions, and skipped class on a pretty consistent basis. I'm hoping that most of my horrible antics have long been forgotten by these rediscovered classmates.

Most of the kids from the group I hung out with are in the "Lost" category on the school alumni web site. No surprise there. When I looked at the Memorial page, I was shocked that some of my good friends were on there. I found out through the organizer that three of them committed suicide, one died of AIDS, and I already knew about the one drug overdose. Sad.

If you don't want to be found, don't sign up for Facebook; however, I'm glad I was found because I have been reliving my high school years through notes, pictures, and yearbooks, and remembering how many funny, special friends I really had. I miss them all and hope the surviving ones are well.

A Very Jerry Springer Party

I had such high hopes for G's birthday party. Three weeks earlier, we all had such a great time for M's birthday, and I wanted badly to recreate that. M's party wasn't perfect, but overall I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars. In hindsight, the few hiccups experienced were mild compared to G's 28th birthday celebration on Saturday night.

In preparation, I bought 6 dozen tamales from Dallas Tortilla and Tamale Factory, a case of beer (big mistake), black beans, 2 new lawn chairs, 2 tiki torches, and Rockband. Well, I was going to get Rockband for Christmas anyway, but bought it early for G's party.

Things were going well for a while. M was doing a killer Mick Jagger impression, complete with protruding lips, arched back and jutting hips. My daughter was being her peppy, sweet self. She and her wonderful friend J made a delicious guacamole. G was happy that everyone was there to wish him a happy birthday evidenced by the grin on his face. He did, however, voice disappointment that his dad was late when he was always on time or early for everything else. Besides that, it was all going splendidly in my very small house with 6 dogs and 8 people.

I haven't sorted it all out in my head yet, but by the end of the night the highlights were:

• Leo (M's yorkie) jumping onto the table in an attempt to eat the cake;
• G forcing us to listen to hip-hop music, effectively clearing out the room;
• G getting angry because no one would give hip-hop a chance;
• my ex's youngest child taping down the sprayer nozzle at the kitchen sink which was intended for M but DD was the recipient instead;
• M and his dad (my ex) calling each other disgusting names;
• M spilling wine on his dad's shorts;
• copious amounts of F-bombs and shouting which caused Double D to go upstairs and hide;
• a cigarette hole in my new lawn chair;
• the patio littered with cigarette butts.

At one point I felt as though I was in the middle of a Jerry Springer episode, or one of those hidden camera shows where the host might jump out and say "You've been punked!" Seriously, I could not believe the level of chaos that evolved over 6 hours and a few beers.

This is the third event in a row that has not gone well and alcohol was involved. Therefore, we will go back to taking the kids out to dinner on their birthdays and no alcohol at family gatherings. I feel like a terrible mother for allowing them to drink in the first place. My mother warned me to not serve alcohol. Why is she ALWAYS right?