ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER INTERVIEW, ANOTHER TEST

Foofty!!! What a week!

It all started on Sunday with 'Kristmas in Kissimmee'. Ahh, the holidays.

This was followed by 'Sinus Infection Flare-Up in Altamonte Springs' on Monday, which was closely followed on Tuesday by a cold call off of CareerBuilder from a recruiter from a national homebuilder located here in O-town asking me to come in and apply for a position in their Design Studio on Wednesday morning. VERY good pay, bonus based on commission, AMAZING company, definite advancement opportunities.

"Okay!", I said.

And it was okay until he reminded me to 'dress appropriately' in business attire. My mistake was in thinking, "No problem! I've still got all my clothes from studio critiques back in school". Unfortunately, my upper half has started growing into proportion to my lower half, and none of my suits (which I've been saving for 5 damn years) fit any longer. Which means I spent most of the little Christmas gift money we had on a new suit to wear to this interview. (Gifts this year may be arriving in January and will be considered 'Welcome to 2006' gifts...)

God, shopping blows when you can't find what you want, and when you don't really want to spend the money in the first place.

Desperation really set in, and instead of just going into Penney's (filthy, filthy Penney's) to pick up a new suit jacket to go with black pants (and shoes, and bag) which I already had, I ended up not being able to find anything (at least nothing without sequins) in black, and ended up buying an entire new ensemble out of sheer panic. It didn't help that I didn't make it to the mall until almost 7:30pm. It was so bad, that I think I bought something at every single check-out counter in the store. Argh. To soothe my guilt (and stretched-out bank account) I had planned on returning a large portion of the outfit, but I didn't count on the lack of AC in the lobby of the interview place. And I nicked the heel of one of the shoes. Which I can live with, but means I can't return them like I planned. DAMN! Damn, damn.

The whole debacle also involved running to Kinko's at 11pm that night to print a copy of my resume and reference, since I wasn't willing to sell our car to be able to purchase ink for our printer at home. (Why does that crap have to cost so much anyway?)

But the interview wasn't really an interview so much as it was a Skills Assessment Test. B and I joked about taking the SAT's again, and we weren't far off.

But a miracle happened that day. I had on my new clothes/ armor, I actually found the place, I listened to my favorite CD of late in the car, and I was the first to arrive so I could scope out the competition on my own terms. And I wasn't the only one called in. I met the others face to face, and felt my old, extremely competitive, presentation self spring to life inside me. I made small talk with the very cool receptionist, I was direct and alert during the test instructions and I worked that shit. The confidence was POURING out of me. I'm thinking, "I've got this". I realized I really missed feeling that way in the years since I left school...

The test wasn't really a test (although it DID involve math again), it was more of a personality thing with questions such as:

"If your fellow co-worker walked up to you and threw a cup of coffee in your face during a meeting with a client would you:
A- Calmly wipe your face with the hankerchief you keep in your jacket pocket (you always like to be prepared) and go on with your meeting
B- Attack her right then and there, as you don't like to put off till tomorrow what you can accomplish today
C- Excuse yourself to clean up, and leave your clients alone in the office to fend for themselves
D- Yell "Fuck You!" to your co-worker and tell them "I'll see you in the parking lot after work so you'd best be prepared, you skanky biotch"
E- I'm not sure

Remember, there are no right or wrong answers."

I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the idea. The restaurant does these too, and there damn well IS a right and a wrong answer. More often than not, there's also an subtly comical answer and there were a couple of times I had to stifle a laugh during the test.

And that was it. 90 minutes later, I was free for the rest of the day (at least until I had to pick up B at work...did I forget to mention that I had to drive him to work at 4:30 AM so I could have the car?) so I treated myself to a stroll around the mall to do some window shopping and stretch my legs, 'cause that's how I do. They'll compute the results and may even call me back to schedule an interview.

The place just had this amazing cool vibe, and made me REALLY want it. Of course, I've probably just jinxed myself by admitting all of this, and I will now NOT be getting the job. My lack of formal sales experience will probably be detrimental to me getting the job, and may even be why I don't get it. My argument is that if you're a artist or designer, you're entire exsistance is sales - selling yourself, your ideas, your plan, convincing people what will be best for them is what you really want. But ces't la vie. Hey, at least I got a suit jacket that actually fits out of the deal. And some really cute shoes...and a pair of slacks...and a new purse to match...

That night we went out for (what turned out to be free) drinks and a very late dinner with B's compadres from the area restaurants to welcome B's new GM and his wife to the area, then crashed into bed about 1:30 AM.

Thursday was B's birfday and the culmination of a year's worth of attempts to re-create the Japanese food at Hei-wa's on Wilmington Island in Skevannah. WE WERE FINALLY SUCCESSFUL! Now we don't ever have to suffer through the truly bad Teppan-yaki here again. Thaaaaannnk Christ.

Yesterday, we slept in, went to the gym, had more yakitori for lunch (is it wrong to eat the exact same meal three times in a row?) and then headed out for a VERY late start to check out all the Christmas decorations at some of the Disney resorts, and stopped at the Grand Floridian for a little, suprisingly affordable, snackey-poo. B tried some pate/ terrine for the first time, and we had tea with strawberries and cream for dessert...PINKIES OUT PEOPLE!

We've become inspired by the INCREDIBLE gingerbread and chocolate displays and will be making something (God only knows) out of gingerbread tonight. The house at the Grand Floridian actually has a merchandise counter INSIDE of it, where they sell replicas of the house and cookies and candy. It's 2 stories tall! Another hotel actually has an almost full scale carousel made entirely out of chocolate. FREAKIN' AWESOME.

So that was our week. Now it's finally the weekend, and I can actually get some 'work' done.