"Can we pretend that airplanes in night sky are like shooting stars/ I could really use a wish right now"

So I sort of abandoned this blog for a while there. Whoops. But I have a good excuse I swear! I got a job! As of right now it's just for the summer but hey, it's something! About a month ago, I pretty much got to the point where I had NO idea what I was going to try for next due to a lot of rejection and doors shutting. And then my boss from the summer job I had during college friend-ed me on Facebook. I thought Hmmmm... maybe I could ask her if they have any openings left for this summer so I took a chance and asked and she did! Hooray! So I am now the lead teacher of the three year olds class in a Weekday child care program (I essentially got promoted after not working there for three years. Boom). I'll include a few stories about work here and there but the employer and kids' names are staying anonymous. I'm not getting fired!

Today was a good day at work. I thought it was going to start off rough since several of the kids were extra clingy to their parents when being dropped off this morning (must of had a case of the Mondays). Little J especially had a hard time. So about an hour later during circle time, I had two books resting beside me. J excitedly said "I've never read those books before!" Then I said "Great, so they will be brand new and you won't know what's going to happen!" And J exclaimed "I'm so happy". Given his mood earlier in the day I asked him why and he said "Well I've never see these books before" and then he pointed at our Referee's Rules chart (Keep your hands to yourself, obey the first time, and so forth) and our sticker chart where once the kids get eight stickers for sharing, cleaning up, obeying, etc. they get to go to the dun dun dun daaaaa Totally Terrific Treasure Chest and said "And I've never seen these signs before". I don't know why he was so excited about the charts but I'll take it cause they are super cute (thanks mom for decorating them!). And the cherry on top, he said "And I love you" to me. Completely unprompted! Awwww. I wanted to give him twenty stickers but I fought the urge. I don't want to buy the kids' love (even though I clearly don't have to. Zing!).

Towards the end of the day I was reading a book about tadpoles and frogs to two of the kids. The little girl was saying how she had something at her house (maybe a pond or a lake, not sure) and she asked if I wanted to come over and see it. Now, maybe you don't know three year olds but this is one of the highest compliments you can be paid. If they ask you to come over to see them, babysit, or for dinner, you've hit the jackpot. Winner!

I've also gotten a drawing from one of the girls. Her mom also told me when little H was absent two weeks ago (stomach bug. super!) she said she knew that "Miss Annie was going to miss me so much today". And I did, I really did. Plus it worked out that all the girls were out that day so I was left with five boys. That was an interesting dynamic (read: Please God, don't ever let me be the mother of boy quintuplets).

Sometimes you have to come up with little games while you are waiting in line to go somewhere. My class is a big fan of "Simon Says Sitting Down" and "Raise Your Hand If...". I asked them to raise their hand if they were wearing sneakers. All of them were but all save one raised their hand. I asked little T why he didn't raise his hand since he was wearing in fact wearing sneakers. Little T replied, "These aren't sneakers. They're Pumas." Granted he was right but man it starts young doesn't it?

Oh and if you ever want to be entertained, ask a group of three year olds what they did this past weekend. Answers will vary from "I went to the zoo where there were 10 dinosaurs as big as houses!" to "I crashed my mom and dad's cars" (pretty sure both of these were dreams, but I'm not 100% sure).

"You can ask yourself: 'Hey, what have I done?'/ You’re just a fly – the little guys, they kill for fun"

Sometimes you forget just how not cool people can be. Like trying to take advantage of the already desperate people looking for a job. Some examples:

1. I got an email from a company claiming I was being considered for a position I had applied for and they needed to do a background check on me and needed my credit report. Whaaa? I called the one company I thought it could be for (since the name was absent in the email) and they said that it wasn't them and they wouldn't ask for such information unless I had already been interviewed. I got another email today claiming it was their third attempt to contact me (technically only the second) and did a little research and it appears to be a scam for identity theft. Awesome.

2. I have gotten numerous phone calls about continuing my education. One night I got several calls about ten minutes apart only to answer and have no one be on the line. Then when the number called again the next morning, I answered very angrily expecting more dead air only to be met by the voice of a young girl asking if I was looking to further my education. I spat out that I don't know how they got my number, I don't want to since I already have my bachelor's degree and I wanted my name taken off of the list. She said okay and that she would do that. Then my conscience kicked in for scolding an innocent, clueless girl. I started to apologize, only to have her hang up on me. Awesome.

3. I got called in for an interview where the name of the company sounded like one I had applied to. I drove the 35 minutes to the office only to realize, uhhh not the one I applied for. I talked to the woman for about two minutes (basically said five adjectives I wanted out of my career and that I have never been arrested) and she offered for me to come in for a training session the next morning. "I'm sorry but I'm really confused. What exactly would I be training for?" She replied: "You'd be training for a career opportunity." And that's when I got out of there since I had never applied for the job (they found my resume online) and to be honest, I still have NO idea what the company does. So that was an afternoon wasted. Awesome.

And the best part is when you get a rejection letter from a company that has typos and poor grammar. Maybe you could use my services after all. Hmph.

"You say yes/ I say no/ You say stop/ I say go"

Ah the pitfalls of job hunting. There is a pretty awesome journalism site where all the job postings are by word of mouth. I found out about it thanks to my friend NE, so thanks NE. I've found a couple good ones but more often than not, I stumble across one where I think I can do this! I would be great at that! And then I keep reading and there is always a catch.

Exhibit A: Women's magazine needing an editorial assistant? In Atlanta!? Perfect for someone looking to break into the world of publishing? THAT'S ME! Oh it's for women who are not of my race so that'd probably be a strike against me.

Exhibit B: Blogger for Women's site. Okay! (Even though I still call myself a girl. Asked an Old Navy employee if they had any of the boyfriend sweaters left for girls. She said: Women or girls? I replied: I meant women. Doh!) And you can be in any location since it's done remotely? Awesome. A divorce blogger: Nooooo. A menopause blogger... definitely no. A debt blogger: Sorta maybe kinda. Must be 35-50. Yeah, no.

And a ton of the jobs are in NY. Oh if I only I had the guts to move there. But, nope.

UGH. And why do people ask you questions why you clearly have earbuds in? And then don't wait for you to pause your music and instead ask you over and over until you respond. Then I feel bad but seriously!

"Oops I did it again"

Here is today's Helpful Hint from Annie about job searching:

ALWAYS proofread your cover letter. Especially when you use incorrect grammar after you've stated, quite clearly, that you rock when it comes to grammar. And always read it over once more especially when you toot your own horn about paying great attention to detail when that little error clearly slipped on by your eagle eyes.

Whoops. Probably won't be hearing from them.

PS The error wasn't that huge. Just used "a" when it should have been "an". But still... I weep.