A First Time For Everything - Part 2 | Rejection

After going over 18 years without having any sort of job interview, I managed to schedule two separate interviews within three days of each other.

Since I was in 3rd grade, I've wanted to be a camp counselor. Little did I know, the process of hiring camp counselors can get much more complicated than 'Are you good with kids?' 'Yup!'.

Over Christmas break I filled out the initial application. A couple of weeks ago I went down to camp and had my interview.

It lasted around an hour and a half and was perfectly awkward. I'd heard about 'the interview' all through my years at camp. And then it happened. And it was over. And I was still alive.

*Something I've been learning is that no matter how much you build something up in your mind and no matter how nervous you are about something, it passes. And you'll survive. Anyways.*

And I didn't get the job.

And it was okay.

That's it. It was okay, and I was okay. I had a moment of disappointment. A moment of I wasn't good enough. Why wasn't I good enough? I'm going to have to see my friends work at this job while I'm at home. 

-but then-

I have my summer free. I can go on vacation. I'm missing out on a summer at my favorite place in the world, but I have a chance to make this summer what I want it to be. It doesn't mean I wasn't good enough, it means that I wasn't meant to be at camp this summer. Other people were meant to be at camp this summer. I was meant to be at a candy store this summer! A candy store!

Speaking of which, I'm just about a week in and I've already had a nightmare about handling fudge without gloves. It's pretty scary, I tell you.

Also. The chocolate cravings. Being around sugar for hours at a time makes me want to eat as much of it as I can. (Luckily, I found this super-delicious, sugar-free, single-serving fudge recipe, and not getting a job is a good excuse to have some chocolate)

I have one of the greatest trainers and some of the sweetest (pun intended) customers. I'm so thankful and so blessed to have the opportunities I have to make this summer my own.

Now I just need to graduate....

My attempt at being deep/hopeful/wistful

A First Time For Everything - Part 1

There's a first time for everything.

I'm not a 'first time' person. I get that doing things I've never done before is important and helps me grow as a person and everything. I just really dislike the idea of things until I'm used to them.

The first time I tried canning, I burned my toe. I ended up burning my hands and arms at different times, of course, but I managed to burn my big toe first. (It takes talent, I tell you ;) )

The first time I ever went driving, I had to get pulled out of the ditch. Not because the weather was bad or because my instructor failed to tell me something. In fact, it was a sunny, fall afternoon and my ever-patient dad had to coax me into going over five miles per hour. I ended up in the ditch thanks to a combination of my unawareness of the power of acceleration and my lack of turning the steering wheel more than 3 inches at my first stop sign.

So...I put off my first job interview for as long as I could. 

I should wait until I have my license, I wouldn't want my parents to drive me to and from a job...

I'll wait until after summer, I don't know when I'll get scheduled for camp...

I shouldn't get a job when I'm doing so many theatre things...it would just stress me out too much...

Then I got a call from a shop that I'd filled out an application for in a moment of bravery/motivation about five months ago. I listened to the voice-mail a few times to make sure I was hearing it correctly. 

The next morning after literally 20 minutes of building up the courage to call back (the fear of doing new things is real, I tell you), the call didn't go through. Well, it did, but I could hear the other side of the conversation, but the other side of the conversation couldn't hear me. (Hello?....Uhm..hello?)

I took it as a sign that I shouldn't schedule an interview. 

My parents disagreed with the revelation.

I called back, and the interview was scheduled. I was so giddy. I was embarrassingly giddy. 

I've said this millions of times and I'll say it again. Phone calls are so awful. 

Fast forward three days and I'm waiting outside the candy shop (yup, candy shop :) ).

The interview itself wasn't even scary. Don't get me wrong, just because I came out alive doesn't mean I wasn't awkward. Half-way through, some customers knocked on the door and came in. Am I supposed to help them look for something? Should I just stand to the side so it doesn't seem like I'm sucking up? (I stood to the side and attempted some conversation. They did buy a handful of Strawberry Cheesecake Taffy because of my recommendation, so there was that.)

I also answered a questions with 'I'd do anything that needs to be done in the store and make sure there weren't bugs crawling out of the walls or something...not that there would be...I mean...' facepalm

I guess my awkwardness came off as likability, or they -really- needed someone ;) , because I got hired before leaving. 

Again, embarrassing giddiness.

Official Adulthood | A Tale of Spray Paint and Pickles

My first day of adulthood consisted of watching Netflix, a wonderful play practice, Chinese food, a surprise cake, and a movie. In my opinion, there isn't a better way to spend a day.

What's really exciting, though, is buying spray paint. I'm not even kidding. I've been joking about buying spray paint for years, and, by complete coincidence, I ended up needing spray paint (and pickles) a couple days after I legally entered adulthood. A friend of mine had told me about a way to make masks with hot glue, and I wanted to try it out, with black spray paint.

Saturday afternoon, I drove into town and headed straight for the paint section when I entered Wal-Mart. I had promised my Sunday School class a treat for memorizing the 10 Commandments, so (of course) I needed to find the pickles. 

This was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in Wal-Mart. I'm not even kidding.

It hadn't crossed my mind that Saturday afternoon is when all the moms drag along their husbands and kids to go shopping. I say drag because not a single man I saw in the store looked happy to be there. Little kids and grown men with carts were literally lined up at the end of aisles while packs of women wove their way through the shelves to grab what they needed. 

I haven't done much grocery shopping on my own. I know how to get to the milk and bread, but a thing like pickles....Let's just say all the aisles started to look the same, and I had no idea which shelves I had checked.

So there I was, trying not to step on anyone or knock anything over, holding my can of spray paint.

Eventually, I did manage to find the pickles, and I waited in line at the check-out, clinging my pickles and spray paint to my chest (I didn't want anyone to steal them, you know?).

The nice older lady finally rung up my can of paint and the green letters on the screen flashed 'VERIFY CUSTOMER IS 18 OR OLDER', so I pulled out my ID.

"1997 makes you 18?"

"Uhm...yeah." 

"Okay, I'll trust you."

In her defense, I'm sure if I was buying cigarettes she would have made sure that I was 18 instead of trusting my math skills. 

It did make for an anti-climactic 'first carding', though. The spray paint made it better. ;)

I spent a good forty-five minutes gluing on sparkles. It was time very well spent.

How to Survive Your Last Day of Childhood

Wake up early and cram as much knowledge in your head as possible. Not as a last effort to make the most of your childhood school days, but to avoid as much school as possible on your first day of adulthood (it will give you more time to adapt, you know?).

Take care of important responsibilities (like as selling and prom meetings) and feel super grown up (never a bad idea to practice ahead of time, feeling grown up, that is) about an actual meeting room. 

Come home and curl up with some 'nostalgia candy' and watch horrifying home movies. 

Assure yourself that it won't be unacceptable for you to color pictures and stomp in puddles even if you'll technically be an adult. 

Thank the Lord for an amazing 18 years and remind yourself that just because you're almost 18, you are no where near grown up.

Alexander and the Average Homeschooler's Over-Packed Day

The following post include a not-so-dramatic re-telling of what may be a normal day for most people, but was exciting enough for me to write an entire blog post about. 

Homeschoolers have a sort of funny advantage by being able to go to appointments or go shopping in the middle of the afternoon without filling out forms or getting permission from anyone other than their mom. 

Monday evenings are a little crazy. My little sister has dance, my dad teaches college classes, my brother has confirmation class (until Lent is over and they can go back to Wednesday evenings). We usually work out a complicated dropping off/picking up system that makes it seem like there has to be an easier way to do this...

Normally our Monday mornings and afternoons include schoolwork. This Monday had four dentist appointments and two doctor checkups scheduled instead. It'll be fine, right? No reason to stress out...

On Sunday morning we sat down in church and found out that my brother has examination on Monday after catechism. It's a little bit funny how busy we'll be at this point. Why are mom and dad laughing? They should be stressing out like a normal person!

Fast forward a few hours and we don't have water. Our pump went completely out, and the nice plumber man told us that we wouldn't be able to have a new one installed until tomorrow evening. 

Thank the Lord, a few hours later he figured out a temporary solution that would work until Spring. 

We caught our breath and when Monday morning came, it wasn't as bad or stressful as I had been expecting. Everything happened on time, no one got held up at gunpoint, and we all got toothbrushes out of the deal. 

The part where I thought the nurse practitioner asked me if I had pot instead of pop was a little awkward, though...