You Say You Want A Resolution. . .

I'm posting another reflective piece because it's that reflective time of year. I mean is there really any other time of year, other than perhaps a birthday or anniversary, that brings out the mushy "What is life really about?" thoughts? I didn't think so. I'm not immune.

I also have a thing about not making resolutions, because nobody keeps them. And I'm not really breaking that rule this year. Mostly because I broke that rule last year and promised all these update posts, but didn't follow through. I didn't follow through for a couple of reasons. 1) update posts are good for me, but really boring blog posts unless I get creative with them 2) I don't think it's helpful to obsess over how many days I'm over or under my daily calorie allotment. At least not in public. I can keep those convos in my inner monologue.

I will, however, start breaking my larger goals into smaller ones and if they're interesting enough, I'll share. If they're boring and personal, I'll spare you the details. But looking back over last year, I have to say that I'm proud of a few accomplishments: 1) I made better use of my time. This meant that I gave up a nice job with good pay that ate at 3 hours of my personal time every day for a long commute.  But in helped with 2) Making a big dream come true. I have always wanted to work in an agency with a big brand and I'm working with a great, international agency on the  McDonald's brand. People love it or hate it or deny they eat there, but I love working on the brand. It is FASCINATING to see how a company can grow to be one of the top 10 biggest brands IN THE WORLD in my parent's lifetime. Truly been a blast to work on. 3) Write more. I made a big breakthrough on the never-ending project of a novel that has lead me to rewrite most of it and add a bunch to it. It's been excruciating, but here's the good part: I love writing it. Clearly I want to finish it, but before I had dreaded sitting down to write it and now I love it. It's been a blast and already I'm excited to start writing other things. But first things first. I'm determined to get this puppy done. Or at least the most done I can let it be before moving on because I've come to terms with knowing that it may never be complete in my eyes.

With those accomplishments behind me, I look forward to 2013. As I said, I hate making resolutions, so what I have below are goals. Some of them I've already started on weeks ago. Some I will start tomorrow or in coming days. None will begin today. That's my way of wiggling out the resolution thing. All of which will need my "Follow Through" theme to move forward. So here goes:

1) Concentrate on being well. This is intentionally vague. I want to concentrate on my health--not only my weight, but any lingering ailments that need attention. I want to renew my love of being active (which I hope my new Fitbit will help with), renew my belief that paying attention to what I eat makes me feel better. I want to stretch my arthritic hips, soothe any lingering emotional pains and try to continually remember that putting others before myself does not make me selfless. It is just the easy way to put myself second.

         1a) Don't say 'skinny' when I mean 'healthy,' and vice versa. 

2) Write daily. The only way to  be a better writer is to write more and read more. I read plenty. I love reading. This has been a passion that has never and will never die. But I have learned that writing even when I don't want to has made me love it even more. So I've literally taken away every excuse that I can to not write. I have access to all my files at home and work and anywhere (Thank you, Google Docs). I have an app on the iPad that can access and connect with Google Docs better than their mobile interface (which really does suck) and I have an actual notebook with various musings, novel chapters, lists, and notes that I carry with me everyday, as well as a small notebook in my purse. No excuses. A word counts. Sometimes the first word is the most excruciating.

3) Be a better blogger.  There never has been a theme to this blog nor do I intend on implementing one other than Ashley's random thoughts. But I will be more random, more honest, more consistent. Or I will pack it in. It's time to get serious or get going.

       3a) I will try at least one thing a month that will help improve my blog in some way. First stop, a content  calendar. It's super sad that I've made at least two professional blogs for clients or companies I've worked for successful and have yet to implement the things that made them a success into my own blog.

4) Try new things. Again, purposefully vague, but I will make a concentrated effort to eat new things, drink new things, do new things, see new things and meet new people in 2013.

     4a) Try new things from Pinterest at least once a week. I'm pinning up a storm lately and will try new things that I've seen there. If they work, I'll let you know. If they fail, I'll take pictures. Either way, it'll be fun.

So that's it. 2013 will be a year of being well, writing daily, blogging better and trying new things. All of which will take a good bit of follow through.

What are your big plans for 2013?

Happy Anniversary, LA!

Two years ago today Chef and I made our way with the cats, a Nissan Sentra and a large Penske truck into Los Angeles where we headed to our new apartment and started to lay down roots in the city of angels. It's hard to believe that it's been two years since I left Nashville. I still miss my friends there and have yet to make as many friends here (but I have made some, which I'm proud of), but I'm happy we moved here.

Los Angeles has been an adventure and I don't think I was having enough of them before I got here. Despite anything else that has happened in my life, I'm always a little proud that I took a risk and moved across country with little knowledge of the area and only a hunch. While it was easier mentally to move to Los Angeles than Nashville because I have a partner in crime, it was way harder physically. Knowing that we're far enough away from family that I couldn't hop in car and get there in a couple of hours was a sobering experience. But thank goodness for modern technology. It's made the distance between the other ones I love seem much less expansive.

I can't believe how much I've done since I've been here. Here's a recap of some of the highlights:

• I've gotten married. :)
• Had two different jobs at two different companies. I've worked at more companies in two years in LA than my entire 9 years in Nashville. 
• Traveled the US and a small part of Canada. Non-profits don't have a ton of "business trip" kind of jobs. For-profits do. While I miss Chef while I'm away, I've liked being able to see different areas of the country. Got to see Washington DC, Philadelphia and Las Vegas a LOT more than ever before. 
• Went to the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Getty Villa, the Aquarium of the Pacific, a Hollywood homes tour, the Griffith Observatory, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, the American Horror Story Season One house, Staple Center, Angels Stadium, and so many more cool places.
• I've become a redhead.
• I've learned what the word "commute" really means and that estimating the time it takes to go one mile only works if you're on foot. I've also learned the hard way how much of my daily life that I'm willing to spend in a car for a job. 
• I've found great sushi and shitty pizza.
• I've gained the confidence in knowing that I can live and make it.

Now on next year's list, I want to add that I finished my novel and made headway in getting an agent. :) It's been a hell of a two years and cheers to many more!

And Then Richard Simmons Did Jumping Jacks

Last Friday I finally got to be a tourist. Well, kind of. My new place of work had their summer staff outing and it was in one of those open-air buses that float around Hollywood and Beverly Hills taking tours of stars homes and the like. I had always wanted to do one, but had been too chicken to ask Chef, so this was the perfect opportunity to get my geek on in semi-privacy. 

Can you spot him? No sign of the Dalmatian.

Because it was a corporate tour, the tour guide was a little less professional than I think he probably normally is. And by professional, I mean that he made stops at Ralph's (aka Cali Kroger) for snacks and bathroom breaks, as well as just vaguely pointed out things on the tour. However, it was still a good time. 

The highlight of the trip was pulling outside of a massive Hollywood Hills home and having Jeremy the tour guide say "If you yell loudly here, the celebrity has been known to come out and say hi." That was all it took to get us screaming at the top of our lungs. Low and behold out pops Richard Simmons who started doing jumping jacks and telling us that his dalmatian turned 18 just that week. Yes, he really told us that. 

The rest of the trip was a bunch of garage doors and gates of celebrity homes, but nothing can top Richard Simmons. (Can you ever, really?) Squint really hard at the fence and you can see him in my crappy picture. 

Where have I been?: Tales of a Know-it-all

That's a great question. And one that had no real answer because I've been here. Not literally on the Internet every waking hour (although come to think of it. . . ), but I've been here enough. I'm still in LA (at least until Thursday) and I'm sitting in my new desk working away. Well, kind of.

I'm trying to work as much as I can and looking into past files of predecessors to figure out where to pick up the ball and get going. The trick is that my boss is super busy. And by super busy, I mean, out of the office. So I'm stumbling the best I can and then asking my co-workers and team what I can do to help in the mean time. I was told by one not to worry. That things may be slow the first week or so but soon enough my schedule will be packed. But you know me. I hate the beginnings. I have the compulsive need to be a know-it-all. It's pretty damn annoying, but also why PR tends to work for me. As a PR person, you get to be in the know about all areas of a company or at least more areas than a typical employee. It makes for a happy know-it-all.

However, when you're new, you don't know it all. You know only a little more than nothing. And while I'm learning every day,  I want to skip ahead a few weeks or months until I know most of what I need to. Which is perhaps why I was at the AHA for nine years. I got to be quite the know-it-all.

But until I can be a know-it-all here. I will be a sponge. Absorbing all that I can. Wish me luck.

A New Career Adventure

It's bittersweet, but ultimately more sweet than bitter that I decided to leave my current job at SAGE after nearly 18 months. I will desperately miss my UK counterpart who held my hand through trying times and my team who work so hard each day.

I will not miss the commute.

In fact, my new position will cut more than 42 miles off my commute. One way. So about 84 miles a day. In LA traffic. Basically it will be like getting 2 hours and 30 minutes of time back each day. And thus allowing me to actually start living in LA. Making friends. Volunteering. Sleeping past 5 a.m. on a weekday. Staying up later than 10 p.m. That kind of thing.

What am I doing next? Great question. I am going to try a completely different atmosphere (yes. more different than LA) again. I'm going to work as an Account Supervisor in the LA office of  Porter Novelli, an international PR agency. I've never worked in an agency before but I've always wanted to try it and I've always been able to handle it thus far, so why not take the risk.

And because I'm still enamored with the ways of LA, I am SUPER excited that 1) my new job is about 3 miles from home and 2) the office is on Hollywood Blvd. Like THE Hollywood Blvd. You can walk out the front door of the building and be stepping on stars. The Oscars are held about a block away. So the side of me that is impressed with this kind of thing is excited.

So if you wonder where I've been the last month, the mystery is now over. I've been transitioning and as my mom used to tell me "Work as hard on the last day as you did on the first." It's a good mantra. I wanted to make sure my friends and colleagues are left in a good place.

Celebrating until I go into my new gig on Monday morning. Why no longer gap?

Because I'm heading to Nashville and Evansville in two weeks (also became officially official today)! Make plans to hook up with me, friends!

The More Things Change. . .

the more they stay the same. Well, kind of. It's 9:15 on Thursday night and I'm on my work computer. Why? Because a mere three weeks in and I feel about a month behind. Or in one case, I'm actually 60 days behind. How did I come up with 60 days? Well, the project that just got handed to me 5 days ago and needs to go out in 30 days needs to be completed by the art department. The art department requests 90 days to get a project from first draft to final copy. A good practice, I'm sure, but it ultimately means that i'm already 60 days behind and need to ask a favor to get things done.

Generally, I feel like I'm doing pretty well, but I also feel like I'm dropping the ball on a few items. I guess that's a typical feeling when starting a new gig. While I'm used to having a ton to do, I'm not used to having to implement my new organization system (which isn't quite where it needs to be), and learning the new customs and expectations of a different company. For example, writing a press release is taking me about twice as long as it should because I'm not entirely sure what and how much information needs to be included. And then I go off in search of the information and some that I need isn't available for public consumption. So then I have to track it down internally which takes even longer.

Basically it boils down to unfamiliarity. Until I get a little more time here under my belt, my normal productivity is going to be lower. Which will frustrate me.

But I know I'll be back to normal soon enough.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Apparently I haven't given enough details of my job to satisfy some people and I want to quash any rumors of me working for any illicit operations in the Valley. I haven't given any details because of two reasons:

1) I just started last Monday and didn't have any real details, and

2) My boss mentioned in my interview that he had read my blog (it's on my resume), and I found out that other members of the PR team had read it as well.



So in an effort to make sure I actually knew what I was talking about before posting (which is a change of pace for me), I decided to hold off until I had an idea of what my job was before telling a little more about it.

Here's what I know right now: I do PR. I'm the US PR Manager for SAGE Publications. The US is needed because the company I now work for is a global entity and has offices in the UK, Singapore, India and Washington DC. In fact, my boss and the majority of the PR team are located in the UK. I've spent the last week trying to be able to do the time zone math in my head (it's an 8 hour difference).

Lucky for me, last week was an unintentional boot camp of the company. There were LOADS of people over from the UK (including my boss and my UK counterpart), and the freelancer that has been doing parts of the job for the last 10 years was also flown in to help give me some context and information about what I'll be doing. But the first week was intense. I literally met about 50 people, learned about a new industry, learned about 5 new products, and had cocktail or dinner engagements on 3 of the 5 nights. It was a great learning curve, which I feel like I got through pretty quickly.

Clearly, I'm still learning. I can tell you about the upcoming branding audit results and present to fellow staff, but I can't print out a report and staple it--because I don't have a stapler. Or a highlighter. Or just about anything. The office I'm in (and I'm thankful that I have an office and not a cubicle--not sure how I got that lucky, but I'll take it) right now has got a desk with drawers that currently hold a box of tampons (I brought those in), a computer, a week's worth of my notes strewn about the desk (I'm notorious for being messy on the desk, but clean on my hard drive), roses from Chef for Valentine's Day, and a refrigerator.

Why a fridge? Because I'm a lazy caffeine addict. This place has about 300 employees or so on-site and the breakroom is downstairs. There's a vending machine and three fridges for storing frozen meals (but only up to two per person for space sake) and four microwaves. But those things require me to: 1) have cash or change--which I never do, or 2)not be in meetings where I have the 7 minutes roundtrip to get a beverage and get back upstairs. (Yes I timed it). So I'm lazy and put the fridge in my office so I only have a 4 second trip to get a diet Coke. Really it's for the company's sanity as well as my own.

Anyway, office aside, I do a lot of the things I did at the AHA. I push out journal articles from among the 630+ journals we publish. I announce the acquisition of new journals. I announce when books are published. I work on social media. I contribute to a corporate blog. I prep our executives for speaking engagements. I continue to be the branding police. I manage a staff that plans events--except instead of cocktail parties and Galas, it's conventions and trade shows.

That's basically the gist of what I do. And it's for a very legit, very legal and not at all X-rated independent company. On another day, in another post, I'll start comparing for-profit with non-profit. It's been a re-entry experience into the for-profit world. And not a bad one.

Weird Coincidence

Today was day three at my new gig. I am positive why they wanted me to start this week. First is the fact that my boss is in town from London this week. Not that he isn't here a lot, but an entire week of his presence is key for this as my position was created and replicating one in the UK office.

Second is that EVERYONE from all branches of this company is in town this week. There was a big office wide "meeting" today where the new products were announced and a lot of the other branches from other locales (DC and UK mostly) had their people present. It's an interesting set-up and I'm beginning to understand the pieces. So, this meeting was all 300 or so of this branch's employees at a hotel about 5 miles from the office.

The coincidence comes in the fact that I was heading to the bathroom at this hotel when I happened upon two of the few people I know in LA now. It was two of the LA American Heart Association employees. Turns out they were confirming some things for Ventura County Go Red For Women Luncheon next month. I was kind of excited for two reasons: 1) I know more than just Chef in LA!! I'm on my way to having some contacts and then some friends! and 2) I'm probably going to be able to go to the luncheon since it's so close. Another chance to meet some new people.

Don't get me wrong. I've met about 30 people at my new job, and I remember at least half of their names, but I'm always looking for some kindred spirits. Or at least some clever smart asses.

Day One done, Day Two begun

First days are always funny at new jobs, aren't they? You cram about a week's worth of learning into the first 8 hours and hope that some of it sticks. So far, I think I'm absorbing more than I realize. Or should I say I hope that I'm absorbing more than I realize.

Unbeknowst to me, my counterpart from the UK flew in to help acclimate me this week. That's because my boss, who is also based in the UK, flew in for a conference and wasn't going to be able to spend a ton of one on one time. Apparently, his next trip to the US after this week is in April. So, this is going to be a sink or swim test. And I'm fairly certain I can swim just fine. I might just need some water wings for the first week or so.

So, because of this flurry of foreign activity, I've been booked solid for the first week. Happy Hour cocktails for two nights and a dinner on a third. It's probably a good thing because the extra time gets me out of traffic. The only downside is that I'm learning names from people I'll probably not meet or see again for months and am probably going to forget them. Then I'll have to act like I remembered them from my first day when in all likelihood, I won't.

The only other thing that I noticed is the accents. I'm good throughout the day, but around 5:30 and with a brain full of mush, I was having to concentrate. The same thing happened in Murfreesboro, though.

So I sit here and begin and realize that there aren't a lot of people who are outside the education arena that work here. Most have backgrounds in colleges, teaching or sales connected to colleges and teaching. It'll be interesting to see how quick I'm able to catch on...

Yes, I start my new job tomorrow, but here's the key question: What do I wear?

It seems the same for the first day of anything new- a new job, a new home, a new school. There's always a first day. And it's never the actual work or core of the new challenge that we worry about. It's the little things.

And for me, I'm worried about the little things. Here's my list:

• Will I get there in time?
• Will I be overdressed in a suit?
• Should I pack a lunch? If I pack a lunch, how long does it take for a frozen meal to thaw? Do they have a fridge for me to store it? Would it look bad to have my name already written on it?
• Is it presumptuous to bring some of my office decor on the first day? How early is too early to designate and stock a snack drawer?
• Will I have a cubicle or an office?
• How much paperwork will I have to fill out for HR? What's the over/under on pages? (I'm thinking 10 pages)
• How much help will I need to figure out the new to me office equipment works?
• What's gonna surprise me most?

Oddly enough, I know they have a schedule for me. And less odd is that my questions center around food. That seems to be the center of a lot of questions in my life. Like, why can't I stay away from it?

Until then, tomorrow is a new day and a new challenge. I'm sure my small questions will be answered fairly quickly and give way to much larger, long-term questions. But I'll save those for another day.

And the winner of the Ashley Employer Lottery is. . .

well, me, of course. Because I've got a job. But the employer isn't getting a bad deal, either, because I work my ass off, as a rule.

And the lucky employer is. . .SAGE publishing, a higher education textbook, reference book and journal publisher. On Monday, I begin my tenure as the PR Manager. I get to continue management (or as Amanda quoted to me "We can put you in a position to be over as many as four people"--except that was Office Space and my new gig puts me over 2--one of which I'll have to hire), I get to work with the upper management and build the brand externally, and I get to learn a new industry. All of which are very exciting.

The things I really liked about SAGE were that it is an independently owned publishing house--which is highly unusual--and the owner has set up an endowment to keep it that way. The place feels like its on the precipice--at that crossroads where its trying to figure out how to expand while keeping the relationships and service that made it successful in the first place. And that's kind of fun.

I also got to meet a LOT of the upper management and the CEO during the interview process and they were all easy to get along with and understand. Plus the HR department sent me chocolate covered strawberries to welcome me to the team. Which was exceptionally sweet and Chef will very much enjoy them.

So on Monday I get to bust out my heels and cute work attire and head back into the fray. The one downfall is that there is about a 45 minute drive (with light traffic) to get there--up to 90 minutes in heavy traffic to get home. That's going to be a change from the usual 8 minute commute I had at the AHA. Which got me thinking back to my longest commute. Two of the longest commutes I had were 35 and 40 minutes to Princeton and Mount Vernon, respectively. Which kind of made me chuckle that my longest commutes thus far weren't in the city but my Indiana home.

So the commute is gonna have to become a useful time for me. I've decided to use it to do a couple things:

1. Listen to Mike & Mike and sports talk radio. Mike & Mike ends at 7 a.m. here, and in time, I'll be able to keep 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours at the new job. So that means, extra sports chatter. And until then, I'll listen to regular sports talk to get my sports jones in without sacrificing any Chef time, as he's not a fan.
2. Flush out my arguments. For a debate? Against Chef? What kind of arguments? All valid questions. The answer lies in Chuck Klosterman. Thank you, Greg, for introducing me to him and his wonderfully sarcastic essays. They've already got me thinking and that thinking takes time--so I'll use the commute to flush out some weird arguments to write. And be prepared for this blog to shift it's tone a little. I feel like I may have pulled some punches lately to buffer things from any potential employers or to keep from offending. But I've decided its time to be a little offensive.
3. Books on tape. Anyone got any good suggestions? I've never been a big audio book fans because I like to visualize my literature and its harder for me to visualize words that I'm listening to rather than words that I'm reading. Is anyone else like that? Does this mean that I'm a visual learner? I guess it does. I usually take notes as people are talking to me so that I can see the important words they're saying. It helps me remember better. I may never look at the notes again, but just writing them and seeing them help me.
4. And last, but not least, I need to use the time to be inside my head for a little while. I need to let my mind wander and go places that it shouldn't. I need to be my characters for a while and use the time to write. I might even get a voice recorder to see if I can transcribe anything later that could be useful.

So, that's my life and work coming up. Wish me luck on Monday. I feel good about it.

A New Routine and Some Perspective

I started a new routine this morning. Mostly because the idea of finding a job was getting to be too overwhelming. You know how everyone says that finding a job can be a full time job in and of itself? Well, that's partially true. It can be just as much of a roller coaster as a regular job. And there tends to be the same amount of paperwork, but the results sometimes aren't there.

I think I liken it to more like losing weight. You do stuff everyday to try and take off the pounds, but the task at times seems insurmountable. You see a few pounds come off and it motivates you more. You see 0.2 pound come back on and it's a fight to get back into the fight.

After my phone interview last week, I realized that I was trying to do too much at once. I was applying half-heartedly to about 10 jobs a day. Not bad, but I wasn't taking the time to really try and distinguish myself on the jobs that I actually really wanted. And why I was applying for jobs that I was qualified for, but didn't really want anyway?? So, I took some time to try and devise a game plan, as well as do some soul-searching on what kind of job I really wanted.

And so I came up with this routine to try and follow. I will be at the computer and ready to go every morning by 9:30 a.m. I will concentrate on my job search for two hours. I will apply for two job listings (posted somewhere) with carefully tailored cover letters. Each day, I will also send a catchy intro email and my resume to two companies that may not having openings, but I would like to work at. I will reply to all emails or phone calls during this time as to not spend all day doing things piece meal.

So, that's my plan for finding a job. I've got another phone interview and an in-person interview this week. I've also set up a meeting with a local AHA employee to get her take on the communications/ PR/ marketing market in LA.

Now, I've got to get my weight loss plan working a little better. I'm working out like crazy (about an hour a day--which is like crazy compared to the 30 minutes a day I used to do). I eat plenty of calories, but I count them. And despite this, I've still not lost any weight so far. I started to get frustrated when Chef took me aside to say "It's about making the lifestyle changes. Not just losing weight." Which is very true and good perspective. But I also need to look better in my clothes. Just sayin'.

I'm A Teeter Totter

I realized this week that I've been a little more moody than normal. Or at least a little more susceptible to moodiness. I think it's a combination of all the things going on in my life. Here's are things that have gone up and down this week:

• My weight (thankfully, down a net 0.2 lbs right now)
• My anger with those who watch crappy stuff while I'm in the gym
• My happiness to watch SportsCenter while working out
• My annoyance with the cats for moving or dumping their water container
• My urge to kill Mila for scratching my face
• The scratch on my face's appearance
• My urge to kill Mila for pooping outside the litter box for no apparent reason
• My interest in Bowl games
• My nervousness for the Colts play off game tomorrow
• My anger in not being able to hear anyone who calls my cell phone (aka our only phone) while I'm in our apartment (this is getting fixed with a VOIP phone number and computer headset friends!)
• My enthusiasm about job prospects
• My enthusiasm for staying away from alcohol
• My willpower for anything
• My continued sleep patterns
• My disdain for whoever spray tanned Bob Barker for the State Farm commercial
• My loneliness
• My anger/jealousy over Chef's midday naps
• My belief that a teenager can lose 90 lbs in 90 days and it be healthy (C'mon MTV. I'm not sure "I Used To Be Fat" is a good example)
• My excitement over finding out that Glee's Brittany used to be a background dancer for Beyonce and was in the Single Ladies Grammy performance
• My love of being on the computer for 8 hours a day for working, job searching and pleasure

That's all I can think of right now, but as I am a teeter totter, I'm sure my love of the list will waiver and I'll add or delete more.

Clearly, not meant for me

I had a phone interview today unlike any I've ever had before. It was so different that I had to call a few friends to make sure that my experience was not the norm. I mean, it's been a while since I've been actively ON job interviews, but I spent the better part of last year conducting job interviews. So I'd think it wouldn't be too different than what I was asking.

Clearly, I was wrong. Or maybe my expectations were off. But normally a phone interview is a brief screening call. You ask a few questions about the resume, the background, etc. Use the call to see if the person can put a full sentence together, speak intelligently and is more than just a piece of paper.

That was what I was expecting. I had done some research on the company. Checked out their client list. Their vendors, their executives, etc. Checked out the verbiage they use on their site. All that good stuff. When I go for a face to face is when I really spend some time researching. I only did THAT much because I wanted to be able to craft any questions that I had around the position and corporate culture. Apparently, I didn't do enough.

First, she began by explaining the process. A phone interview, an in-person interview with herself and another EVP PLUS a writing test, an in-person interview with their entire sales team, and an interview with the CEO. I thought the AHA was bad, but they've got NOTHING on this place. Did I mention the position they're offering is NOT a management position?

Anyway, instead of the "getting to know you" questions, I got the following:

• After checking out client list, who would you say is missing?
• What would you do to bring a new client on? What if you didn't have a travel budget to visit them? (At this point, I mentioned reading Business Week and using critical thinking to come up with some prospects. In one of her comments later, she said "Business Week is good and all, but it reports on things that have happened in the past. We need you to read things that predict the trends." I thought that was a little condescending.)
• Who are our biggest competitors?
• What is our business model? (I had to ask for clarification as to what she wanted me to answer. The next question was: How do you think we make our money?)
• How do you feel about building relationships with brilliant minds? Do you feel you could handle carrying on conversations? (I was a little offended by that one)
• Clearly you don't have a tech background (this was for a company that deals in the tech industry), how do you think you'd learn about tech?
• What kind of hardware, software and social media do you use?

So, I'm trying to tell her about her own industry without having any background and I'm trying to guess at what their company does with only a very convoluted website to go by (tech people aren't generally naturally good writers). I'm getting no feedback, so I could be completely wrong (although I knew I wasn't that wrong--it's a basic business, not performing open heart surgery). As I'm trying to answer these questions, I feel two things: 1) I don't really want to work for this place and 2) they clearly aren't sold that I'm not a idiot.

When it was my turn to ask questions, I asked what qualities they were most looking for in someone to fulfill the position, what the most pressing issues would be when someone was on board and what the company's vision was. She seemed a little perturbed to have to answer my questions. When I asked her what the vision for the company was, she read off a mission statement. When I asked her the vision for the future (expecting something about growth, increased membership, increased prestige, etc), she said--"that is our vision for the future." Clear as mud.

So, please make me feel better and let me know that all interviews are not like this one. Especially not phone interviews. Luckily, I got another bite today and two more loose ends, so there's always hope.

In fact, there are five words that inspire and terrify me at the same time: "This is only the beginning."

When Did I Become Old?

It's not that atypical that I go to bed at 9 p.m. on weekend nights. No, you totally read that right. I'm in bed early a lot. Mostly because Chef gets up at 4 a.m. for work and if we're going to spend time together, it just makes sense that we try and be on the same schedule. He's done it for me on the weekdays and by Friday, I'm only too happy to succumb to his early bird regiment.

But it really takes me by surprise that I've starting drifting off on the couch in the early evenings. What the hell made me so tired all of a sudden? Oh yeah, it's going non-stop from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. I always get so excited about new jobs and challenges that I completely forget how all-encompassing it is to figure out what your organization method is going to be, how to manage the new items and of course, when you're going to move your office. None of which are nearly as important as the looming deadline. . . and there's always a looming deadline for one thing or 20.

Okay, I should quit bitching about being tired because if you're an adult, you're tired for some reason or another. But that's the thing. When did I become an adult?

Maybe we're all sleepy in my household.