Posted onFebruary 14, 2014|Comments Off on Exciting Weekend Plans (or Finally Meeting The Puppy!)
As you are reading this, I’m on my way to the Bay Area to see my parents and finally meet Tucker! I’m so excited! I’ve been seeing so many videos and pictures of Tucker that my parents send to me, but I’ve been waiting for what seems like forever (but in reality like 6 weeks) to meet him!
And Tucker is no longer a baby puppy. This week he graduated from puppy socialization school (although in the end he ended up being the only puppy to finish all the classes) and my dad texted me this picture yesterday morning.
It’s hard to tell, but Tucker lost his first puppy tooth (right in the middle on top)! He’s officially becoming a grown up puppy now!
I’m also excited to see my parents. It will be my first visit with my mom since she finished chemo (and by the time I get to the house tomorrow she will be 1/3 of the way done with radiation). And I’m planning a fun trip to the gym with my dad (more on that when we get it done).
I’ll also be seeing my brother and sister-in-law on Saturday. My sister-in-law and I have a lot of planning to get done for our trip, which is coming up in a month, so we’ll be working on that this weekend.
Going home will also be a nice break from being in LA and feeling a little lost without a job. But I will say that after my 2 job trial offers I got this week, my 3rd interview resulted in me getting hired! I’ll be working as an on-call personal assistant. There’s no guarantee with hours and the pay is independent contractor (so I have so save a lot of the money I earn to pay my taxes), but it’s something. And my birthday twin, Joanna, is hired by this company as well so I know that it’s a good and flexible day job.
As I’ve said before, I’m hoping that this round of unemployment ends quickly. While I’m getting by with unemployment money, it’s not enough to pay all the bills (or pay down my credit card). I don’t want to be surviving on that money for too long.
But for now, I’m not focusing on my lack of work but my excitement about meeting Tucker (and seeing everyone else in my family!)! And seeing my family will make my Valentine’s Day a day filled with people I love. I hope that you all get to have the same!
Posted onFebruary 13, 2014|Comments Off on Another Almost Job (or It’s Feeling Like Groundhog Day)
Another day, another job interview. And another offer to do a trial at the job in the next week.
I’m still being very cautious about job offers. I’m still spending 2 hours every day applying for jobs. I have no clue if I’m going to like either of the jobs I’m trying out (or if they will like me).
But again, I’m feeling very optimistic because I am getting good responses to my resume and to me when I interview. This is a much better job search than the past few that I’ve gone through.
I don’t know if I’m getting a better response because I’m being pickier on what I’m applying for or if my skills doing sales (which I only got after my last job) are making me a more desirable employee. But either way, I ok with it.
I have another interview today for another part time job (it’s for an on-call assistant type of job) and I’m hoping that I’ll either get an offer for employment or another trial out of my interview. That way, I’ll have plenty of options and combinations of jobs (since I’ll have to have 2 jobs with any of these part time positions).
I’m also getting ready to get back into substitute teaching. I haven’t been available in forever, but now I have lots of availability again. And I while I need to renew my credential, I’m still current for another month and a half. So all I have to do is make myself available again on the online scheduling service and hopefully I’ll start getting sub offers.
I’m a little nervous going back to subbing. I haven’t done it in a long time so I know I’m out of practice. And I have had some very tough classes in the past (one high school class tried to throw a chair at me and security had to stay inside for the rest of the class period), but I have also had some great classes. Either way, it will be good for me to get back into it. I have fun and it’s decent money for a day’s work. Plus, it’s completely flexible and my agents understand how my schedule is when I’m working.
I’m so glad that I’m having a much more positive week this week. It’s making my unemployment a bit more like funemployment.
Posted onFebruary 12, 2014|Comments Off on I Got A New Day Job, Sort Of (or Maybe I Won’t Be Unemployed For Long)
I’ve been busy applying for new jobs and getting a bunch of interviews. So far, I’ve gone to 2 interviews and I have 2 more this week. I’m really happy that my efforts in applying for jobs are paying off with interviews, and I’m being careful to only apply for jobs that I know will be flexible or that I’m confident will let me go for auditions.
I’m trying to find full time work, but I know that part time work is more likely to be flexible. Of the 2 interviews I’ve had so far, one was for part time only (no more than 29 hours a week) and the other was as many hours a week as I’d like (up to 40).
The as many hours a week as I’d like job pays a bit more, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. They mentioned that they had a bunch of people to interviews and I don’t know if there is more than one position open (it’s doing customer service work).
The other job is doing recruitment for film screenings. I had the interview for it yesterday, and they offered me a position on the spot. It’s not a lot of money hourly, but there’s potential to make more for doing a good job. I’m a little wary about the job because I know that there’s probably no way to have that as my only day job, but when they offered me the job, I said yes.
So I’m going to start a 30 day trial with them next week. After my 30 days, I will meet with the supervisor and we will discuss if we are both happy with the job match. I like knowing that if it isn’t the right job for me it will be easy to say “no thank you” and still be able to leave on good terms.
I still have 2 more interviews this week, one for full-time job and one for another part-time one. I’ll see what else comes up for me and maybe I can find 2 jobs that will work well if I do both of them.
I’m just happy that job hunting this time is going better for me than it has in the past. I was worried that I wouldn’t get an interview for forever, but by having 4 in my first few weeks of unemployment gives me hope that I can still be a bit choosy and find something that will work out perfectly for me and my acting career.
It’s been almost a year since I got my Disneyland annual pass. And if you remember, last year I paid for a little bit of it by recycling ink that my mom gave to me (she doesn’t want to have to deal with going to recycle 10 inks every month).
Well, I saved all my ink recycling money for the past year so when it was time to renew, I had quite a bit more in gift cards than I did last year. I actually had enough to pay for almost half of my annual pass! So the balance that I had to pay on my own was only a little bit more than a one day park hopper ticket. Not too bad!
I’m really excited to have another annual pass. As you’ve all seen in my posts about Disneyland, I like to go to the parks. I have fun there and I do get a ton of walking in.
With not having a job right now, I’m going to try to take advantage of the free time and do some more mid-day park adventures. I’m actually thinking of paying the extra money for a parking pass so I can do that more often (it takes 10 visits to pay off the parking pass, and I went 9 times last year).
I’m spending an hour every morning and an hour every evening applying for jobs (if I spend more than 2 hours job hunting I start to go a little crazy). That leaves the middle of the day open for me right now. I’ve been going for walks or planning on going to spin classes (I’m going to the 10:30am one today!) in my mid-morning through afternoon free time. But I think I’m going to start going to Disneyland maybe once a week.
I don’t always ride the rides, especially when I go alone. But it’s such a gorgeous place to walk around and if I don’t have to pay the $14 to park there, it pretty much makes it a free outing (not counting the gas to get there).
I’m a little nervous to spend more on my annual pass because I don’t have a job right now and I’m pretty much living off my unemployment (which barely covers everything). So I’m going to spend this week trying to budget and plan it out (I don’t think I’ll have time for Disneyland this week so I don’t have to worry about it yet).
But at least for now, I know that I can go into the parks almost any time I want and not have to pay a penny! And this will come in handy because in the spring I have a multi-day Disneyland adventure planned! But more about that when it gets closer to the date.
Posted onFebruary 10, 2014|Comments Off on Finally Spinning Again (or It’s Been A Long Time To Be Sick)
That nasty cold that I had right before the end of my job did quite a number on me. I haven’t felt sick in a while, but I’ve been horribly congested. So congested that until a few days ago, I still couldn’t completely breathe through my nose.
And I know that if I can’t breathe through my nose, there’s no way I can do a crazy workout. So I’ve been taking a break from spinning (which sucked).
But finally, at the end of last week, my nose cleared up. So I looked at the schedule at who was teaching over the next few days. Now that I don’t have my job anymore, I can go to classes when I used to work.
And I found out that Heather was teaching on Saturday around noon. And my favorite bike (pretty much the only one I like to ride on) was available. So of course I signed up and got ready for my return to spin.
I wasn’t too nervous because I knew that I wasn’t going to do as well as I did 3 weeks ago before I was sick. But I was going back and that’s what’s important to me. I also made myself get the heavier weights for the arms workout.
The class went pretty well. When Heather saw me in class, she got pretty excited that I was there. And she gave lots of encouragement to me throughout the class (I’m so grateful that she knows how to push me even though I still am unable to do the standing up moves on the bike).
While I did get more tired than usual in class, I finished and worked hard, and I’m proud of myself for not getting frustrated giving up when it got tough for me.
While leaving the studio, I noticed some of the new cute tops that they had for sale. And one top in particular caught my eye.
I’ve never purchased anything from SoulCycle in the past because I figured nothing was in my size. The largest size they have is a large, and I don’t wear large shirts (in straight size clothing, like Old Navy, I’m wearing either a XXL or XL top). But I decided to try it anyway.
And guess what? It fits!
Of course, I bought it. It’s a nice comfortable sweater. It’s designed to be pretty high cut (almost a crop top) in front so I’m definitely wearing a tank top underneath. But now I can go out and about sharing my love for SoulCycle with the world.
Posted onFebruary 7, 2014|Comments Off on Interview Time! (or Maybe I Can Find Another Perfect Day Job)
I’m finally starting to get responses from all the jobs that I’ve been applying for. While some of them are scams from the start (asking me to pay for an interview, lying about pay, lying about a job opening), there have been a couple that are real jobs and they are really interested in hiring.
The first one ended up not being something good. I had a phone interview for a personal organizer (something that I enjoy and have done in the past). The phone interview went really well and they wanted to bring me in for a final interview. After they were done interviewing me, I asked a couple of questions. I found out that it was a commission only job (which it was not listed as online). I also had asked about the typical hours one would work in a week. The person on the phone seemed very insulted that I asked that question and answered me in a very patronizing voice. I let them know that I would have to get back to them about the second interview.
As soon as I got off the phone, I went to google the company. First warning sign: the name of the company that I was given doesn’t exist anymore. I then looked up the phrase “working for XXXXX company”. What came up were many many scam reports warning people about working for this company. They said that they were typically not paid and the way that the company got away with it is by changing their name all the time. While there were a few reviews saying that it was the best company to work for, those responses were almost all the same. And the negative ones were all different but all had similar complaints.
Needless to say I will not be contacting that company for the second interview.
The other interview I had was yesterday. It was for a very popular Los Angeles apartment rental company. It’s a customer service job and very actor-friendly. It’s exactly 2 blocks away from my last job, so it’s pretty close to my house. And I really liked the boss. He was very nice and very ok with me being an actor. And instead of being interviewed inside in his office, we went for a walk around the neighborhood and chatted.
That was nice (and I’m glad I wore comfortable shoes to the interview!). The only awkward thing was that we walked right by my old job and several of my old co-workers were outside. They saw me and some waved, but I think they could tell I was doing an interview because none of them seemed to mind when I couldn’t wave back at them.
That interview went really well (I think), and I’ve already decided that if I’m offered that job and nothing else has been offered to me first, I will take it without hesitation.
I’m still busy applying for more and more jobs. But I’m starting to have hope that there is another day job out there for me that is actor-friendly and something that I could enjoy doing (at least while waiting for my big break!).
Posted onFebruary 6, 2014|Comments Off on Biggest Loser Finale (or I Wish I Didn’t Have To Write About This)
On Tuesday evening, the finale for the most recent season of “The Biggest Loser” aired. This is the season that had the contestants that I saw at my birthday spin class. I’ve already written about how the show is a guilty pleasure of mine and that I have issues with how weight loss is shown on the show. But now I feel like I need to write about the reactions to the finale.
In case you aren’t too familiar with the show, the finale is a live event (or at least live for the east coast). Everyone who was eliminated prior to the finale weighs in for the at-home prize. The contestant with the highest percentage of weight loss wins. Then the finalists come out and the finalist with the highest percentage of weight loss wins $250,000.
When the finalists came out, the two men who were finalists looked a little thin, but that’s to be expected when they try to be at their lowest weight to win. Then the girl finalist, Rachel, came out. And you could hear gasps coming from the audience.
I thought she looked pretty thin. Her legs were muscular, but her arms and face seemed very very skinny. When she weighed in, her weight was 105 pounds (she’s 5’4″). She lost about 60% of her body weight in about 8 months.
Immediately people were posting various sites online that Rachel must be anorexic now. People seemed shocked by her appearance. And two of the trainers on the show looked pretty surprised in the live show and later released a statement that they would not comment on her weight since they weren’t her trainers during the show.
It seems like people are finally seeing some of the problems that I’ve noticed with “The Biggest Loser” years ago. When you reward people for the highest percentage of weight loss, people do drastic things to make sure they win in the finale. Historically, the contestants gain weight back after the finale because they are extremely dehydrated (to make sure there is no water weight causing them to lose the weigh in). Many contestants gain back a lot of the weight they lost because the show is not realistic. And when you lose weight with a finish line in mind, you aren’t looking at it as a lifestyle but a temporary situation.
I know that last one for sure. When I did the RFO diet the first time, it was in preparation for my hip surgery. I knew that the less I weighed, the easier my recovery would be from surgery. And since I was about 90 pounds lighter going into surgery, I did have a very easy recovery. But after surgery, I didn’t have the same motivation any more to lose weight. And I gained a lot of it back. I did the RFO diet again, but again looked at it as a temporary situation (you have to when you aren’t eating any real food). And I gained it back again.
The other thing that makes me pretty mad at “The Biggest Loser” is the fact that many, if not all, of the contestants are at high risk for starting anorexic or bulimic behaviors. It’s a pretty safe guess that most of the contestants are going in to the show with an eating disorder. Probably the same eating disorder that I have, a binge eating disorder. When I was in therapy for my eating disorder, the biggest thing that I remembered is that I will always be at a high risk for another eating disorder because I have a history of having one. I’m also at high risk for another addiction of any type.
When you take away the food from a food addict (which is similar to a binge eater), they have to find their addiction somewhere else. You can see this a lot in people who have had weight loss surgery. When you can’t turn to your comfort item, you find something else that gives you comfort. And if it isn’t comfort that you are seeking, it’s order or control. And anorexia or bulimia gives you a sense of control (even if it’s a false sense).
I’m sorry for the rant, but I’ve been holding this in for a while when watching “The Biggest Loser”. And it seems like many people are now seeing things the same way that I do. I don’t know if they will change “The Biggest Loser” now due to all this backlash, but personally I would love to see them focus on body fat percentage instead of weight. Or maybe on inches lost. But sadly, seeing someone drop 155 pounds still makes good tv.
But at least now, some people will think about it a bit differently.
But when I saw this blog pinned on Pinterest, I thought that maybe I could do the dot art mug. And I’m happy to say that it was a success!
It’s a super easy craft, but I think it look pretty impressive, as you’ll see at the bottom of this post. And you don’t need too much to do it.
First, you need a plain mug. I bought this one at a kitchen supply store, but I think I’m going to look at IKEA for more. You also need a sticker to create the negative space. And finally you need an oil-based Sharpie (you can buy these at craft stores, just look for the marker to say “oil-based”).
To start, I put the “J” sticker on the mug where I wanted the plain space to be.
Then using the oil-based Sharpie, I put dots all over the sticker, putting more dots closer to the sticker and putting them farther apart the farther I got from the sticker.
I then let the marker dry for about an hour before removing the sticker. I would recommend waiting longer as my dots got a little smudged.
The final step (which I haven’t done yet) it to put the mug in a cold over, turn it on to 350, and letting it bake for 30 minutes. I’m going to do a few more mugs before I bake them (might as well be energy-efficient!).
I did a second mug after my “J” one and I think the heart looks even better!
I’m thinking of maybe making some of these for anniversary gifts (sorry to spoil the surprise for anyone who might get one from me).
And if you don’t want to do dot art, you can still follow all the same steps to make a custom mug/plate/bowl/serving dish. The possibilities are endless!
And now I have something crafty to keep me busy while I’m out of work!
Posted onFebruary 4, 2014|Comments Off on Super Bowl (or Faking My Football Knowledge)
My friends Kate and Beth held a Super Bowl party this past weekend. I don’t really care about the Super Bowl. I wasn’t raised in a house that watches football. In fact, the very first time I had ever really seen a football game was at my high school.
But I do love the Super Bowl commercials! It’s even more fun when I know people in them!
So I went over to the party to watch the game and have a good time. I knew that most people there were going to be into watching the game and not the commercials, so I DVRed the game at home just in case I needed to re-watch commercials that I missed (this was a very smart move).
The party was full of food. I’m glad that I brought wine because there was pretty much no room for any more food in the apartment! I got a plate with some goodies and got a seat on the couch for the game.
The tv was working fine for the first 40 minutes or so, then it decided that we needed to watch the game in black and white.
It went back to color after a few minutes, but then right after that, the screen went black.
Turns out, the standard definition feed for Fox went out for Time Warner customers in Los Angeles. Since Kate and Beth didn’t have access to the high-definition feed, we ended up streaming the game from a laptop.
As most of you probably know, the game wasn’t all too exciting. It was pretty much a win for Seattle from the first minute (which kind of stunk since everyone at the party was rooting for Denver). I didn’t really understand too much of what was going on during the game, so I just cheered when everyone else cheered and booed when everyone else booed.
Since the game was looking pretty dismal, everyone started to pay attention to the commercials. But we noticed that we kept seeing the same commercials over and over again and everyone on twitter was talking about different commercials than what we were seeing. Turns out, the live stream didn’t show the commercials! That’s the best part of the game! Fortunately, I had my DVRed game waiting for me at home, so I watched the commercials then (my favorite was the Budweiser one with the puppy).
When the game ended, everyone pretty much agreed that the game stunk but at least the party was good. I liked that the game was boring because I was able to follow along a lot more than I probably would have been able to.
Hopefully next year, the game will be better and maybe I’ll be in one of those Super Bowl commercials!
Now that unemployment has officially hit me, I’ve been learning how to schedule my life again. Â I’ve been so used to scheduling around a work schedule for so long, that it’s been nice to actually have more than a few hours a day to do all the things I need to do.
Some of my chores I’m going to keep on my usual schedule. There’s no need to screw with what day I do laundry, water plants, or do major house cleaning (as those are once a week things).
But now, I’m adding in a new type of meal planning (where I actually can make things for all 3 meals instead of 1). I’m also trying to schedule my free time. I don’t want to turn into someone who is lazy on the couch all the time. I did a lot of that last week when I still had a few shifts left. I watched all 3 seasons of “Veronica Mars”. But I can’t do that anymore.
I’m trying to build a schedule that allows me to have fun while I’m not working but also work hard on finding a new job. When the unemployment breaks were just temporary breaks, I’ll admit that I didn’t work that hard at finding a new job. I knew I had one to go back to so I could be picky. And I was probably way too picky.
I’m still going to be picky as far as finding a job that pays a certain amount or has flexibility, but I can’t just pick jobs that I would want to take. I have to look at the undesirable ones too.
In the past, I spent a majority of my day looking for work. That is a way to get burnt out quickly. So I’ve built a schedule where I spent 1 hour in the morning looking for work and another hour looking in the afternoon (just before the close of business for most jobs). That way, my time is structured but I’m also allowing for some fun free time.
So far, I haven’t found anything right. And the jobs that looked right for me turned out to not be what they said. For example, I applied for a job that was supposed to pay $15 an hour, but when they emailed me back to schedule an interview, they said it was actually an unpaid job but the value of what I would learn was worth $15 an hour. I need a job that pays money to pay the bills, not something that has perceived value.
If any of you blog readers know of any decently paying jobs that are flexible for actors (no MLMs please), please feel free to let me know in the comments. While I’m enjoying this time off for now, I know that the sooner I’m back at a job the better.
