My First (9 minute) Interview! YeeHaw!

This past weekend was a blast! I was in Tulsa for my sister's wedding showers, and it was so nice to be with the Ervin family again. Just the 4 of us. I left early Thursday to make my hair appointment that afternoon in Tulsa. I got a $15 mall haircut here in Memphis a few weeks ago and definitely got what I paid for...janky bangs and all. So I was in desperate need for Abby, my awesome hair gal to fix me up. And she did!

Did I take a single picture this whole weekend? No! Did other people take pictures? Yes! So I'll get their pics and post those soon. I did, however, take one picture of all of the junk I took. I'm just a really heavy packer and often embarrass myself with how much I take on trips or even for a weekend away. Here is the evidence of my heavy packing:

I needed a workout outfit for every day, I needed a nice outfit for the two showers and church, but then I needed casual clothes for each day as well. I needed different shoes for each day and outfit. I needed pajamas. I needed hair stuff and toiletries (sp? What a weird word anyway...), and I needed the rest of my life with me. All that to say, my stuff required 2 large bags, a giant purse and clothes on hangers. Sorry airport men who lift my bags....

The Interview...

Yesterday, I had my first kind of real interview. It was a screening interview for Shelby County Schools and it is just to kind of get my foot in the door and my name in the system. This is how I felt before the interview:

I was ready to go and feeling good! (Check out those sassy bangs!) You wanna know why I was feeling good? This!:
I got me a new outfit (Thank you, TJ Maxx), so that I look a little less bohemian and little more professional. If it were up to me, I'd wear a long maxi dress with flip flops and big earrings and my hair curly. But then I bet my interviewer would have stamped a big fat NO on my resume. So I had to wear big girl clothes.

Here is another reason why I was feeling good before the interview:
My new AWESOME bow tie shoes! I took the "Interview Professional" look a little cutesy. I'm not going to buy some stuffy outfit that I'll wear once in my life. These shoes will be worn again and again because they're precious! I'm surprised I didn't get a job offer based on these shoes alone! Am I right?

Here is another good purchase. I figured I needed a jacket of some sort, so Steinmart provided me with this pretty little thing:
It looks a little bit like a lab coat, but it really isn't...it's super cute and it was only $26! Guess how much it was originally. $360!!!! No lies! Isn't that unreal! Man, I'm such a bargain girl! But really, what dummy is going to pay that much for a plain, black jacket? Not this white girl!

This was how I felt post interview:
I, needless to say, was not a happy camper. The interview went well and all, but it lasted a whoppin' 9 minutes. My interview was at 10:30. I got to the building at 10:15. I got into the interviewer's room at 10:33. I was in my car at 10:42. You do the math. He was a lovely and very nice man, but I was simply a warm body to enter into his office that he had to process into the system. His questioning was like rapid fire and we had eye contact maybe twice. He asked. I answered. He asked. I answered. No discussion. Just question and answer. And that's fine! But I think I had unrealistic expectations that he was going to think, "OMG, Abby! You are perfect for this job! Go straight to your new classroom and meet your students!" Even though he has nothing to do with the hiring, I was hopeful....stupidly hopeful. I obviously left jobless.

I went from feeling great!!! To feeling like this:

I was bummed and started to get that awful ball in my throat, fighting back the tears. (This is a dramatic reenactment by the way). I am just getting a little frustrated at my boredom and lack of help financially. I wake up with Jamie. We eat breakfast together. He leaves for work. I hang out. Clean. Sit. Work out. Clean whatever I can find. Piddle. Organize what needs to be organized. Blog. Quiet time. Play with Leia. Sit. Be bored. I'm just ready for a schedule and a job and something to do!

My frustration quickly turned to this:

Uncontrollable sobbing!!!!! (Another dramatic reenactment.) I couldn't stop myself! The tears just kept coming and coming and coming like a daggum waterfall!!!! What was wrong with me!? I was on the phone with Jamie and he just couldn't understand my ridiculous tears. (I didn't understand myself either). I ended up pulling into an Old Navy parking lot, because it wasn't safe to drive while bawling my eyes out. I was on the phone with Kim, my mother-in-law at the time, and this sweet homeless man walks by and stops at the front of my car and just looks at me. He reminded me of the homeless man on Bruce Almighty. He stood there for a few minutes, watching me cry. Bless his little heart. Then he cocked his head to the side, smiled, and waved at me. I laughed through the tears and waved back. Then he left. It was a little reminder that I'm fine. I'm in a nice car, wearing nice new clothes, leaving an interview that went very well, and my life is beyond amazing. That man saw me crying like a mad woman in my car and he still smiled and waved at me. Reality hit me then. Life is great. Get over your selfishness, Abby.

I got some lunch for me and Jamie (including a chocolate chip cookie, which makes everything better), ate it at his store, then went home to calm myself down. I began thinking about jobs and this is how I felt at the thought of getting a job in 2010!:

SOOOO EXCITED!!!! I'm not giving up. I spent a couple hours today applying to different schools, e-mailing schools and trying to make some contacts. I'll keep you updated on my job search, but I ask that you please partner me with your prayers and ask that God will calm my frustration and help me seek a job that is perfect for me. Thanks so much.

The coolest part of the whole day was when I was driving to my interview. I listen to the gospel station on the radio, because I love the music and the preaching makes me smile. He began talking about faithless people serving a faithful God. I don't remember how he got to this topic, but he started talking about how faithful we are to ourselves by making our resumes all perfect, and buying new clothes to impress your coworkers and boss and looking good for your interview to get a new and better job. And he just went on and on and then said, "You know what? God don't care 'bout none of that. That stuff gon' be gone once you enter the pearly gates of Heaven." Then he continued with his sermon, and I just laughed in my head and said a little "Amen", because I couldn't have agreed with him more. Yes I spiffied up my resume and bought new clothes and had a great interview, but if God wants me to get this job He'll make it happen. Not anyone else. He is a sovereign God who has a plan for me.

I love this verse: Habakkuk 1:5 "Look at the nations and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." Then of course there is this verse: Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

God is still true to His word. He is teaching me patience right now, along with faith, diligence, joy, and so much more. Yet again, I serve a sovereign God who has an outstanding plan that I won't even believe, even if it was told to me. He is that great of a God! I just have to trust Him with His remarkable plans for my life.

At the end of the day....I came home to this precious puppy face. How in the world can this not take the tears away? :)
"Scwatch my bewey!!!!"
I love you all and pray you have a terrific Tuesday!!!

PS--I'm making smores ice cream right now...be jealous!