Scared the daylights out of me

At 0330 this morning the family dog, who has taken to sleeping next to me jumped off my bed. She takes off down the stairs barking. I sit up in bed, eyes wide open and my heart racing in my chest. I suddenly develop supper sonic hearing abilities and am straining to hear anything.

A thousand thoughts running through my head; why didn't I get my pistol permit, should I call 911, my parents are down the hall sleeping, why didn't my dad get up and the list goes on.

Several minutes later the dog comes back. I am laying there trying to convince myself that she scared away whoever or whatever made her bark. The dog jumps back up in bed with me and I nervously pet her head. Just as I am about to lay my head back down to bed, her ears perk up, she growls and I hear a man's voice down stairs.

At this point, my heart has gone from racing to pounding in my chest. I hit the dog on her back end and tell her "go get 'em". We both jump off the bed, she goes downstairs and I take off running down the hall to my parents bedroom. Throwing open my parents door, in a loud whisper I say "WHERE'S DADDY?" My very disoriented mother answers "downstairs with the guy from the gas company we don't have any heat....why what's the matter with you?"

I jump into their bed, throw my arms around her and exclaim that "I thought someone was breaking in." I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry. Like all good mom's she gave me hug and sent me back to bed.

In my defense, after being in Kabul for a year, my senses are still a little hyper-vigilant. And, I watched Dr.Petit speak on Oprah last week (family brutally murdered several years ago; occurred in suburbs of CT around 0330).

Keep Smiling!

The search continues

Searching for a job, takes a lot of energy and perseverance. It's not for the faint of heart and interviews are mentally draining. Officially I've been unemployed or as I prefer to call it, retired since Oct 1. Not horrible considering the current state of our economy. I also have elected not to collect unemployment. Thankfully I am in a position where I don't need it. My parents are letting me live with them rent free and I don't have debt. In addition to that, a few short term opportunities such as editing an article for publication have presented themselves so I've had spending money.

I have been on a few interviews for either consulting opportunities or full-time employment, which I am truly thankful for. Again, given the unemployment rate I feel pretty blessed. I have greatly appreciated the time of rest at home as I've been adjusting to being back in the States. I needed that much more then I ever dreamed.

With that said, its going to be quite the shock to my system when I have to rejoin the workforce. Unless I can find a job that lets me start at 11am and wear slippers, but I'm doubtful. I used to watch the Ironman Triathlon that occurs in Hawaii and think the only way I could do that was to quit my job and train full time. Well, I haven't used this time home to do that. Although if a job doesn't happen soon, I may reconsider that option.

As of today, I have two interviews scheduled. One will be my third interview with the facility. The second is a two day interview with another facility. There is a third facility that reportedly wants to interview me but has yet to schedule it.

All of these opportunities are in the States. I haven't seen an overseas opportunity that pulled on my heart like Afghanistan did. Felt a twinge for an opportunity in Haiti, so maybe that part of me isn't dead. Here's to hoping I am employed at Christmas.

The photo is of the mountains in Kabul. It was taken from the plane as I was flying home.

Keep Smiling!

Home Depot and random thoughts

Spent some time today in Home Depot. Its not usually a place I shop but my youngest sister and I ran there to get more white Christmas lights and a Christmas present for our dad. He's asked for two "man" gifts; a case of oil (also helpful for us since he changes the oil in our cars) and a new shop light.

Now if Home Depot was interested in a few suggestions, I'd be willing to offer some. First, as an independent women, I won't be offended if you come over and ask me if I need help. Especially when my sister and I are starring blankly at all the options you have for fluorescent lights. The second suggestion is, it might be helpful to put the light bulbs that go with specific types of lights in the section that the lights are sold in. There are a lot of different types of bulbs. The best idea would be to sell the lights with the lights, but that might make things to easy. Does anyone know what's the best way to wrap a T8 32watt 48 inch bulb?

On the way to Home Depot, I stopped to get gas. $3.09 a gallon -Yikes! As I was putting gas in my car and wishing someone would do this for me, my mnd wandered to life in Kabul. It's cold in Connecticut and since my Kabul experience, I really really really dislike being cold. I realized that one of the things I miss about Afghanistan is not having to do the car maintenance. I wasn't allowed to drive, which was probably a good thing since traffic is a nightmare, as are the road conditions. Not driving also means, you don't have to put gas in the car, take it in to get the oil changed and that the car is already warm when you get it in.

Keep Smiling!