This past weekend was so nice. Having a three day weekend. I graded a lot. I prepped for my classes. And I even wrote 8 pages of a new story that takes place in Hopland and plays with the theme of a gossipy small community. They gossip about a Russian immigrant that comes to town by accident- as hitchhiking north to escape her family...and she befriends, possibly falls in love, with a local native american boy. As the reader watches scenes develop between the two in the private of the russian's home there is a constant switch to scenes that take place in the Hopland Bar and the reader experiences the community's gossips, ideas about the "russian and pomo boy." I've grown to like my characters and hope an ending comes soon. I want to visit Hopland Brewery, sit listen to the people, and have an ending come to me. I'm tempted to ditch school on a weekday and drive just to sit in the bar and then come home.

The best part of last weekend was that I felt relaxed and ready for the week.

But oh boy. What a week I had waiting for me. On Tuesday was the second workshop of my class. They started to workshop their own stories. It has been good, but they have been really nervous about it since this is the first time they are sharing. One of the authors whose story was workshopped left in the middle three different times to go throw-up (I think anxiety induced). So after making one of my students barf....

I went to sophias to play the regular trivia night and we were not so hot last night. Our name rocked though (part of the fun is thinking up of a name that usually combines current events with sexually implicit things.) The name I thought of was...
"Get me a turkey baster...I want some Octuplets." Sigh. We didn't win best name though. Of course the majority of them were about Lance's bike getting stolen. Something along the terms of...who has one ball to steal Lance's bike.
I thought ours was good.

I also went to the dentist to find out about filling my front tooth that was chipped while in costa rica. The dentist said it didn't chip enough to hit the nerve and it sanded itself quite nicely so there is no worry about it constantly slicing my tongue. At this point he would fill it for cosmetic purposes which insurance would not cover. After being reassured it wouldnt chip more over time, I opted out. He said good choice at least you have a good story to tell with the chip. I smiled and thought boy costa rica. There are tons of stories to tell. Then I embraced my chipped tooth and decided it gives me character. Plus, I can stick a piece of hay between my front teeth and embrace my country side. And my front tooth can act like a canine. It's got edge.

Tonight I make my homemade lasagna (my signature dish), drink two beers and hope tomorrow is better.

While making Lasagna I had the idea to open a Lasagna shop. I'll call it "Strictly Lasagna." I will make all kinds of Lasagna- cheese, veggie, meat, dessert. I let my imagination run wild...I'm sure it won't find a place in my real life, but it will show up in a story at some point.

Things I did this past weekend:

+ walk the dog, alot
+ Go eat way too much sushi @ sushi buffet with palina
+ Play video games with palina
+ Go Ghost Hunting at Chiles Mansion and Baxter House
+ Drive by our old duplex where we grew up
+ Visit our grandfather's grave
+ Watch Desperate Housewives
+ Go to Costco
+ Go to Berkeley to see Yiyun Li Read from her new novel
+ Eat dinner at my parents house
+ Reviewed a text book for some extra money
+ go get frozen yogurt with palina and convince palina she should sell avon for extra money

Things I didn't do, but should have done this past weekend:

+ Write a new story or edit stories for my thesis
+ Search for jobs for the fall
+ Complete my lesson plans for this week
+ Figure out what to write for my aesthetic statement
+ Clean the apt.

Weekends are way too short....

Last Saturday I found the perfect job. It is at Mills college and is the office admin personnel for the creative writing program: full benefits and salary. The best part though, it was only 20 hours a week which would give me time to write, do an internship, and pursue other things.

Of course there was a problem. There always is a problem. As I teach my students on a daily basis- Life is full of struggles. Don't make everything so easy for your characters. I want to see struggle and conflict in your stories...

So my problem...the job closed on January 29th. I found it on the 31st. 2 Days LATE. Regardless, I thought to myself if they still have it posted online maybe, just maybe they are still accepting applications.

So I spent half a day writing a darn good cover letter, editing my CV and paying the post office extra money to deliver it ASAP.

Mills sent me a letter thanking me for my application but pretty much letting me know they were not going to look at it because they have closed the job and are not accepting applications any more. Just to add to that they also said they are not keeping resumes on file at this time.

I tried to decide if it was more frustrating to be rejected without them even looking at my application or looking at it and deciding I was not suited for the job. Then I just kicked myself over and over for not looking at the Mills employment website earlier. I mean on January 25th I spend hours searching at UC Berkeley for jobs...why, why didn't I look at Mills?!?!?! I would have met the closing deadline.

Regardless, I drank a beer and decided this perfect job was maybe not meant to be my job.