That Voice Again

Hi, y'all. For those of you who already knew about my interview with Acme Co. last Thursday (actual name of company withheld to protect the innocent), I think it went pretty well. Three one-hour-long interviews from 9 to noon, followed by lunch with two people who do the job I was interviewing for, followed by an interview with those two, followed by a brief meeting to dot all the i's and cross all the t's with an HR guy... makes for a very long day. One of the last two guys asked me a technical question that he said I answered incorrectly, and it's been bugging me ever since then because I think my answer was right. Wish I had defended - or at least explained - myself when I had the chance. But overall, I feel good about how it went... and I feel like I was well-prepared and gave it my best. According to everyone I've spoken with at Acme Co., I should expect to wait a couple of weeks before I hear anything about whether or not I got the job.

And on a totally unrelated note, here are some pics taken last summer on my balcony. Who knew my place could be such a garden getaway for these two predators?



Anywho... I think I'll go for a run. It's a beautiful day outside... don't want to waste it. Well, and there's also the fact that I need to burn the calories from all that chocolate cake. And jellybeans. And Chick-fil-a. Maybe the Panthers will have picked a good football player by the time I get back...

More of Izzy's 1st Birthday Weekend

As if you didn't get enough of Izzy's birthday in Mike's post, here's some more. I just couldn't help myself. This year she got a birthday weekend, we'll have to work her up to a full birthday week. It takes practice. This picture is from Friday. Mike and I got her this outfit last summer at the Cubs game. She finally fits into it. Let's hope she brings them better luck this year. Go Cubs!

Here is a picture pre birthday cake on Saturday. Isn't she just precious? I never understood the phase "they just grow up too fast" until I saw her WALKING this weekend. She was hilarious opening presents. She's defintely her aunt's neice....she was all into the clothes....I had nothing to do with that. Yeah, right. One of my favorite memories was post cake on Sat. We had her in the bathroom sink rinsing her off and all she wanted to do was stick her feet in the water and just laugh and laugh. She really has stolen all of our hearts, especially her aunt Jess.

Saturday was absolutely beautiful at home. Here's a picture of Moa hanging out in my Mom's flower garden. He was a real trooper since I drug him all over the place with me. He would have stayed outside all weekend in the sun if he could have. He's just so handsome.

Mom's lily of the valley was starting to bloom in the front yard and here's one of the shots I got of them. It's my birth flower and one of my favorites. The green and the white together are just gorgeous. Just wanted to share one of my favorite things with you. If I ever get a yard these will be in it.




Everyone wish Mike luck for tomorrow. He's got his phone interview in the morning. I know you'll do great Sweetie! It's nice for me to be able to support you as much as you've been supporting me. I don't know what I would do without you. Good Luck!!!!

I Don't Like Weekend Recaps

Does anyone out there really care what happened to Jess and me over the long Easter weekend? Heck, pretty much all of you who read this blog regularly took part in at least some of the festivities yourselves. So... for the readers who happen to stumble upon this post, enjoy a rare weekend recap from Mikey:

Friday
Jess had the day off. I did not. :-( So she took the opportunity to run some errands and get the Moa-man gussied up for his big weekend. Donna rolled into town and I met Jess and Donna for lunch at Zack's (see Jess' previous post about her fave restaurants). I went back to work and the girls picked up Moa, stopped for some party supplies, and ended up in Hudson, NC for the evening. As for me... I stayed in Charlotte, ran some errands, and caught up with friends on the telephone. Low-key, fo sho.


Saturday
Got up, cleaned the apartment for a bit, packed, and headed for Hudson. Wanna know why? 'Cause we celebrated Izzy's first birthday!! Check it out:



After the b'day party, we packed up and headed for my parents' house all caravan style. Mom cooked a very problematic Turducken with several lovely sides, and my aunt, uncle, and grandmother all came over for dinner. Then we just sorta hung out until bedtime. Went to bed pretty early, too, because we had to get up at the crevasse of dawn the next day...


Sunday
Up at 0600 hours. A lovely sunrise service at 0700 with breakfast immediately following. Back home for a quick nap. Shower, shave, and dress. Back to church for the service at 1100. Back home for leftovers. Parents packed for the long drive to Kenosha. Parents left. More nappage. Call from Kevin. Over to Kevin's for dinner with friends. Back home. More TV. Sleep.


Monday
So we got up fairly early for a day off. The highlight of the morning was making some very tasty (and surprisingly believable) Egg McMuffin knockoffs with the help of my mother's most excellent new appliance. Ended up taking it easy in front of the tube while I worked on my laundry... then I headed out to pick up the fixins for livermush sandwiches (lunch). After lunch, Jess and I chilled for a bit longer and then she packed up her stuff and her dog and headed back to Charlotte. I wasn't too far behind... and after I left, it effectively ended our long weekend. Hope you weren't too bored by the recap.

Alright... so now for the news: I scheduled a phone interview for 8 AM on Thursday. I won't divulge the name of the company, but I will say that they have a rather long review process, apparently. I applied on February 27th and heard back from them today. Wish me luck... I'm very interested in this opportunity.

Big shout-out to the rest of my family in Kenosha, WI tonight. Hope y'all are having fun. Everybody else take care and be safe... hope to see you sooner rather than later.

Another random posting from Jess

I'm kind of like Mike in his last post....I really don't know what to write. I guess I'll give you an update on what's going on in our world.

Just got off the phone with Mike. He's headed back from his weekly basketball game. I'm happy to report that there were no injuries tonight. Here at the Flippin/Messer homestead, we've been just hanging out and getting ready for our Easter weekends in Hudson, Mooresville, and Collinstown.

Tomorrow is going to be a happy and sad day. Flip has accepted a job with CIT and tomorrow is her last day at FMCC. She'll have a short break over the weekend and then she'll start at her new job on Tuesday. I'm so jealous.....her new office is uptown. Although I'll be lucky enough to still see her every day, it's still going to be strange not to see her just 3 desks away at work. She's done more for our office then most people realize, and I hope she knows how much everyone will miss her.

The job hunt has hit a lull this week. There has been one bit of good news though. It looks like an analyst position is going to open up in our other Charlotte office (next door to us). They haven't posted it yet...but I'm 99% sure that I'm going to apply for it....I'd be kind of stupid not to. This way I can keep my pay (with the raise I got today) and my vacation time.....and as everybody keeps telling me....it's easier to find a job when you have one. So the job hunt is still going strong, but at least I have this in my back pocket.

This past weekend our very own Flip had a birthday. All of the girls surprised her Friday night during a gathering we had at the apartment on Friday night. She thought we were all getting together for a Body Shop party (like the store in the mall), but right as we got started, we surprised her with a Birthday cake and other surprises. We all spent the night together just hanging out and then headed out for a night on the town. A good time was had by all, and somehow Ashley got up the next morning to run a 10k.....better her than me.....I slept until noon. Sunday (her actual birthday), Mike and I took her to brunch at 300 East and then went to see "Sheer Madness" at Blumenthal. All of you in Charlotte.....GO SEE THIS PLAY....Julie highly recommended it to us, and I agree. It's sort of interactive and tons of fun. I hope Flip enjoyed her weekend as much as we enjoyed planning it for her. I'm just surprised we kept it a secret for as long as we did.

The rest of the weekend was nice too. I just got some stuff done around the house on Saturday...and then Mike and I went out on a date. He called me the Wed. before and officially asked me out.....isn't he the best? We went to Cantina 1511, yum....and then went to see Ice Age 2. Sunday night we ended up at the Starbucks on East Blvd and sat and talked forever. I'd repeat last weekend over and over if possible, it was really nice. Makes me realize how much we need to appreciate the great friends we have....they truly become your family.

Well in case we don't get time to post before we leave for our Easter/Izzy's Birthday weekend....everyone have a great weekend and stay safe.

I don't know if it's me or my computer, but blogger really does not like to post pictures for me....guess ya'll will have to wait for pictures of the "kids".

Happy early Birthday Izzy!

Lyrical Potpourri

Alrighteeeeee. Can't think of a thing to talk (type) about tonight, so here's what I'm a gonna do: take a line or two from the song I'm listening to, type it here, then skip to the next song and do it all over again. We'll see what sort of convoluted mess I can create... and you'll get bonus points for knowing what any of the songs are! Woohoo! (And rhyming, by the way, is preferred but not required here. On with the show!)

i'm not scared of dyin' and i don't really care,
if it's peace you find in dyin', well then, let the time be near...
it's a crazy, crazy, mixed-up town, it's the rattlesnake i fear,
in another place, in another time, i'd be drivin' trucks, my dear...
i'm a new man
i wear a new cologne and
you wouldn't know me if your eyes were closed...
ride like the wind, straining the limits of machine and man,
laughing out loud with fear and hope, i've got a desperate plan...
did you see the lights as they fell all around you?
did you hear the music? a serenade from the stars...
purple rose that wilts away,
leaving me behind,
cause my love was there to stay,
it’s up to you to find,
from the bottom of the oceans,
to the mountains of the moon,
i've been looking everywhere for you...
in the mornin' you go gunnin' for the man who stole your water,
and you fire til' he is done in, but they catch you at the border...
contrary to the matter,
who you are you are not,
come with me, i'll show you saturn,
the planets don't quite align...
the minute i saw her face,
the second i caught her eye,
the minute i touched the flame,
i knew it would never die...
people say that i'm crazy for not movin' on to better things,
instead o' sittin' 'round trash-talkin' with the onion rings...
i recall when i was small,
how i spent my days alone,
the busy world was not for me,
so i went and found my own...
I am walkin' on a wire,
tiptoeing through the fire,
never looking down to see that,
I am walkin' on a wire,
the pressure's getting higher,
but i don't look around...
you can surrender without a prayer,
but never really pray without surrender,
you can fight without ever winning,
but never ever win without a fight...

That's probably enough crazy, disjointed, lyrical goodness for one night, don't you think? Thirteen songs out of about a bajillion in my collection... and I've already tired of that exercise. But maybe someone out there will enjoy a random line or two while reading (if they can stick with it long enough). Love y'all. Have a great night, where EVER you are.

A glance at the past

A couple of weekends ago Mike was nice enough to spend most of a weekend downloading a TON of pictures that I "borrowed" from my mom to scan. We're up to about age 7 0r 8....right on that edge of awkwardness. We each have our favorites out of the bunch, so I thought I'd share a few of them with you.

There has always been a Mike in my life. Now I am blessed to have two that are special to me. I think from the day I was born I wanted to be just like my Uncle Mike. There's only 10 years between us so we're much more like brother and sister. I never knew this picture existed until I was going through these old pictures. I'm assuming we were on our way to one of his football games....I'm sure I was wearing that jersey later that day, I always did....and the helmet. This has to be one of my favorite pictures ever. My Uncle Mike now lives in Arkansas, and I don't get to see him often enough. I hope he knows how often I think of him and that we miss him terribly.

Christmas is and always be my favorite holiday. I was either two or three in this picture....I'm not really sure. It's funny how you can look at an old picture that you forgot about and it can take you back to that spot. I remember hanging these ornaments year after year and I can picture our old house in the country just like it was yesterday. Hard to believe it's been almost 20 years since we lived there. Mom, remember that first Christmas in the new house? Boxes everywhere, but it still felt like Christmas. It's those times together with family that you take for granted growing up.....as we get older we wish they happened more often.

Well, since we....I mean Mike....downloaded over 150 pictures for me, I'm sure they'll be more in the future. Here's hoping that we all find the little kid inside and grin from ear to ear over something small in the next few days. It's the small stuff that means the most.

Job update: I got an offer from the company I interviewed with yesterday. I actually got the offer last night and was really excited since the interview went really well.....until I opened the offer letter. It was much less than I make now. After counter offering today, we weren't able to make it work. It's kind of sad because I liked the company and the people I interviewed with....but at the end of the day you have to take care of you and yours.....and the $$ at this job was not going to do it. Pray that I made the right decision and another door opens soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

My Home Away from Home

So here it is, my own little corner of the gray cubicle world. This is what I see all day every day.....note the phone that rings incessantly....whoever said men don't like to talk on the phone have never met one of my dealers. Thought I'd share a little of my 8-5 world with all of you. The beautiful tulips on my desk were one of my Valentine's Day gifts from Mike. Isn't he the best? A little color to break up my otherwise gray world. It's really not as bad as I make it out to be....what you can't see is the awesome view of downtown I have to my left.















The good news today is I had an interview this morning and got the job. I really liked the people I met with and had a really good feeling about it. Now for the bad news......I got the offer after I got home from work and it's $6k less than I make now. I've made a counter offer, so keep your fingers crossed that is works out. Something is drawing me towards this job. I don't want to jinx it, so I'm going to shut up about it for now. Here's hoping.......

Happy DST, Everyone.

Just in case you wondered about the history of Daylight Saving Time (yes, it's Saving... without the 's'), the U.S. Naval Observatory has a nice little web page about it. Of course, you could always just Google the phrase "Daylight Saving Time", too. I'm sure you'd have hours of entertaining reading material available at the click of a mouse.

I'm reminded of a story my dad always tells... the details escape me, but the gist of it is this: when he was younger (maybe around the time of the Uniform Time Act of 1966?), he recalls a farmer calling in to a radio station or writing to his local paper and asking if the extra hour of daylight would affect his crops. I'm here to tell you, folks... the U.S. government isn't quite that good.

Anyway... to take advantage of the extra hour of daylight today, I did... nothing. Well, OK. I went over to Jess' place a bit after 6 and helped her clean off the patio furniture so she and Flip could use it for a little gathering they're having on Friday night. Then I fired up the grill, cooked some burgers, and we watched the Lady Heels get thrashed by Maryland for the second time this season. And here I thought the women were always supposed to win a National Championship the year after the men did. Now I'm officially in mourning until the start of football season. Sorry to all you baseball fans out there, but I just... cannot... watch... a... baseball... game... on... T... V... because... it's... like... watching... Galapagos... Turtles... mate. No... wait. It's... like... watching... them... sleep. Live baseball games are another thing altogether. And if you've never seen a pro baseball game in Puerto Rico, you owe it to yourself to put that on the list of things to do before you die. I've done it once, and the energy in the stadium was absolutely electric. Think professional soccer in England or cycling in France.

Alright... that's enough silliness for tonight. Jess will be back next time to restore some sanity to this here blog, and maybe she'll add some cute little pictures for your viewing pleasure. Until then, everyone be safe and have fun. I hope all your lives are brilliant!