FINALLY

DRUM ROLL..

After MANY interviews, a handful of written tests, hundreds of miles, applications too many to count, and one new suit......I have returned to the work force and back to the industry

I love best.

ENTERTAINMENT!

Click on the link to meet my new employer.

www.chipmunks.com

Interviews, Interviews, and Tests, oh my!

Busy and exciting week. Two HUGE (second) interviews this week, both on same day. These are for "personal assistant" positions for high profile individuals in Montecito and then my first test (in a series of three) in my new field on Friday. Hmmmmm.

Chelsea's play "You can't take it with you" opens this week on Thursday for a 6 night run.

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And then there was the white feather I found where I least expected it....yep mom, it's all coming together. Thanks for the sign!

SHE MADE IT!

After her recent 6 hour audition, our Ms. Chel has been invited to attend the prestigious Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts. She is sooooooo excited!

She wants to live on or near campus and starts school on August 16th. She can't wait to begin this new experience and we are so darn proud! sniff sniff.

Congrat's Chel!

"funemployment"

So it's been 53 days since I was laid off, but whose counting? I've officially joined the "405" club, that's the amount of unemployment I would receive weekly, however, I do NOT qualify as I was "self employed". Don't even get me started on the people I know who receive benefits and don't even look for jobs....

I honestly thought I'd have found a job by now. I am now one of the over 9% unemployed statistic. I couldn't have picked a worse time to be looking for a job, other than the "great depression". My resume goes into cyberspace daily, and every now and then I get a nibble. I've had three interviews, one for a position that didn't exist, one where I was told, "you are way overqualified and would be bored", and the last one is the beginning of many interviews required to work for a "high-profile" person.

Yesterday really brought a visual to light. I applied for a "judicial assistant" position and was invited to test for it at the Courthouse. I am not lying, when I arrived, I joined 57 other applicants for this ONE position. And honestly, I stopped counting at 57. We all sat in the court room with clipboards and took a written test. (and yes it was the court room where my trial took place) That was at 12 noon. At 4 PM, another set of applicants will also apply. I had no idea how saturated the job market was with applicants until I actually saw all of us at that one testing. From twenty somethings to retirees.

I am however exploring options outside of my personal assistant background. I will be taking tests in this new field in the next few weeks. I'm not saying what field it is, I don't want to jinx it. But it is something where there is never a dull moment, as I thrive on chaos, right?

Update **** I was just notified that I passed my 25 PAGE background check for the new field I am interested in and my tests have been scheduled. Stay tuned. (I began this journey last November!)

Double Update ***** A tip for all of you job applicants. While interviewing yesterday via phone, right in the middle of the conversation, the interviewer exclaims " Oh there you are" . They had searched for me on FACEBOOK and my profile popped up. She continued interviewing me while browsing my FB. So be aware, ANYTHING you post can show up to a potential employer. Luckily, my pages are pretty tame, but gads, what some people post would never get them hired!!

So that's the wrap up on my "fun employment" search. At least I haven't reach the level of some, who are helping themselves to rolls of toilet paper via gas stations and restaurants, or hoarding catchup or mustard..........but I have taken a few extra sugar packets lately from McDonalds.. Is that how it starts???
Have a good day y'all. Time for lappie and I to send off a few more resumes....to infinity and beyond!

SHE MADE THE TOP TEN FINALISTS!

Sunday night brought us GREAT NEWS! Chelsea made the TOP 10 FINALISTS in Santa Barbara Teen Idol! Hope you'll join us and celebrity judges KENNY LOGGINS and JIMMY MESSINA on Friday, April 8th. ........../.Way to go Chel!

Audition, Audition...

Whew, what a weekend. Chelsea had back to back auditions. Saturday took us to Santa Barbara to try out for Santa Barbara Teen Idol........where just two hours before we discovered they needed two 5x7 COLOR headshots and we, of course, had 2 8x10 BLACK AND WHITE headshot pictures. Thank goodness for CVS and their Kodak "instant" picture machine! And bright and early Sunday took us to Santa Maria where she had her callback audition for Pacific Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. This audition went from 9 til 3 and she should hear in about two weeks. Over 7o students auditioned today, with only 35 available spots. Keep your toes and fingers crossed! That #21 should bring us luck!

Hair Raisin

Yesterday, I had a hair appointment. It was time to hide those grey hairs and color the fire break that had appeared in the center part of my head. My friend Heather, who owns a salon and I trade services with.....I organize her......she cuts my hair.......began the monster task of coloring and weaving my hair.

We had just applied color when it happened. It was 4:50 pm, and the power went out. It came back on a minute later, and then went out for good. No problem, still daylight, we could still see and besides we were sure it would come back on again any moment, so we began putting the foil in my hair to weave in the highlights. Foils are in, time to process. Hmmmm, its been over an hour now, no power. I sit in the salon with foil head waiting. Anyone that has had this process knows that normally you are put under a dryer to speed up the "processing", i.e. making the bleach they have just put on your hair work. After 45 minutes and daylight diminishing, Heather begins to get worried. Checks the foils, nothing happening, no "lifting" of color yet. We need heat..........hmmm, I have an idea. I'll jump in my car and turn on my heater full blast and stick my foil head into the vents. Yeah, that should work. So the two of us, jump in my car with the heater on to "process" my hair. Still nothing. We then decide to go check on something...(that's an entirely different chapter) and do a "drive by" on something. So off I drive, foils in head, salon cape still wrapping my body like a moo-moo and no shoes. We drive to our location trying to be in cognito and observe. I pull into the "do not enter" part of the park-and-ride and proceed forward..............right into a busload of people who have just been dropped off......it is the equivalent of a salmon swimming upstream. I am traveling 3 mph and Heather has now slithered down to the floor of the passenger seat. Not only am I going the wrong way against oncoming cars, I have been reduced to a mile an hour to drive through the people. They just stared. I look like I have escaped perhaps from a prison salon. Hair full of foil and a beauty cape around my neck. Heather is now peeing per pants. I just nod and wave as if to say, what are you looking at, this is totally normal.....for me....at least. We finish our stake out and head back to the salon. It is now completely dark, Heather is very worried about my hair now. We use the interior lights on my car to check its status. Almost there she says. We arrive at the black salon to take the foils out. Heather lights the one and only candle she has and then I remember that "flashlight app" I had downloaded on my phone. So there we are, me holding my flashlight above my head while she rinses out the chemicals. Unable to really see the results, and unable to blow dry my hair, I head to my darkened home. Chel and I eat dinner (leftovers) by candlelight and then climb in my bed and luckily my "lappie" still has power and we insert Toy Story 3 and hunker down for the night.

Today, I see my hair for the first time......I have an interview today at 1:00 pm.....OMG.

Who poured the Clorox on my head?

Scenes from the Weekend

fried calamari ........yum

sharing a glass of reisling

the track

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the guy

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the rain

Baby Laughing Hysterically at Ripping Paper

This baby is laughing as her father tears up his job "rejection" letter. Hey, I've got a few she can tear up!! Ya just gotta laugh!