Jobs and Finances

I still haven't started working yet. Surprised? I'm not.

Upstate called today and apparently the HR department has many stupid rules. Once a job is posted, no one can "officially" be offered the position until it has been posted for 10 days. Thankfully, this includes weekends. The Administrator said that on Monday, she will call me and *possibly* offer me the position. She laughed.... At least she knows how lame this rule is! We discussed salary, benefits, and our next step after *hypothetically* getting this job. The next hospital class is on April 5- If all goes well I will be starting that morning.

I would like to find a serving job that is 2-3 nights a week for a while. Just something for extra cash. I will probably end up at the Outback Steakhouse on Rt.31 in Liverpool, The Bluewater Grill on Rt.48 in Baldwinsville (why does it not have a website???), or some local joint. Now that I know more about the hospital job, a serving job will be easier to get.

I am really frustrated with finances lately. Without working, I have completely depleted my checking, savings, and credit cards. Go me. I applied for a Bank of America debt consolidation loan, but I was denied. Excuse me.... but how can they deny a consolidation loan when you NEED to consolidate? That makes NO sense to me, especially since BOA is a company that I owe money to. I think I found a way to borrow some money for a while so I can pay off my debt and not accrue intrest. We shall see.....

For those of you who would like to donate to the JILL IS POOR FUND, please email me at jillrachel@gmail.com I take paypal and money orders and of course, CASH!!! I'm *almost* kidding about this....

Stuff, and things, and well, you know how it goes.

After 1 month of interviewing at Upstate, I finally got a job! Well, pending my references.... It's not the job I applied for, but they basically created a position because they wanted me in their office. I will be working with Dr.Hodge and Dr.Hall (the new Chairman) at Upstate Neurosurgical Associates. Basically, me Debbie (the administrative assistant) will be in charge of these 2 doctors. I am her assistant. We will be doing all of the administrative and clinical work for Dr.Hall, and all of the clinical work for Dr.Hodge. This probably sounds like a bunch of jarble to some of you, so I apologize. This job will bring me out of the night shift, and on to the 830-430 shift (approximately). I will have time for night classes and a 2nd job if I choose to get one. To celebrate me getting this job offer, Kevin took me out to dinner Ichiban's and we brought Mark along. I ordered the Crystal Bubble (sushi) and the steak/scallop hibatchi, Mark ordered Tempura Vegetables, and Kevin ordered this Sushi dinner- all raw fish (eek!) The sushi chef, Chris, also gave us a ton of free sushi samples. Of course, hot Sake was a must as well.


So the weight loss.... I've lost 5.2lbs in 10 days. Yey. Let's just hope I can keep it up! Having a job where I'm way more active will help me a lot. Lisa wants to meet at the park a couple nights a week to go running/rollerblading after work. As soon as the money starts rolling in I will be getting a bike and a gym membership too.

Next week will be the start of uber-busy Jill!

Classes are going well.... My photography class is wonderful- I love shotting rolls of B+W film then having the satisfaction of developing and printing myself. When I have a house I AM getting a dark room!!! I don't care the cost. Math class is okay... I'm a math nerd, but I'm finding myself very frustrated these days. I just can't get with the program! It's like, if I don't get enough sleep or enough nutrients, I can't concentrate on my math. There have been many occasions that I have left my computer, taken a nap, and returned to do the math about 4 hours later. I just keep telling myself- less than 2 months left.....

Noah has been working hard on his first musical, ANNIE JR.! I've been going up to the school to help him and the other boys with their makeup and costume changes. I really miss doing theatre- maybe I will do some this summer.
This is how mom does his makeup.

This is how I do his makeup.

Here are some pictures of the dress rehersal:




Take a bow!

Tonight is opening night- there are other performances saturday night and sunday afternoon. I'm so excited for him! He plays Mister Bundles, a servant, a NYC man, and the sound effects man. He does such a great job!!

On the knitting note.... I'm almost done with the birthday scarf, and I'm almost done with 1 of my socks out of the AWESOME yarn I got at Rhinebeck. No current pictures, because you can't really tell when only a few inches have been knit. I will post pictures when they are completed.

I think that's all for now.... Syracuse people- enjoy this burst of good weather!!

St. Patty's Day

On Saturday, Syracuse held it's annual St. Patrick's Day parade downtown. Kevin (boyfriend) and I decided to go and bring our friend Mark. I had never been to one of our parades before, and I think this may be the last- well, unless the weather is better. I SWEAR it was only about 20 degrees outside and it was snowing and windy too. NOT my idea of a good time!!! I didn't do the normal drinking thing because I was the driver. Only thing to go in my belly was some hot chocolate from Dunkin' Donuts.

Here are some pictures from the day:

This is just an awesome car.

McGruff!! Wasn't he around when I was a baby???

This truck got the biggest applause out of the whole parade. Hmmm wonder why? GREEN BEER AT COLEMAN'S!!!

This guy? ADORABLE.

Me and Mark, freezing our asses off. Kevin refuses to get his picture taken. THE BUM.

What's a day on the town without my weird picture of me and an animal statue???


I just wish Erin could've come down for this. Unfortunately, she has a job :)

Oh, BEAUTIFUL day!

Holy crap! Syracuse had a day of good weather!! Today was actually tolerable- temperatures in the mid 50's if not higher. I failed to look at the actual temperature. So, I decided to relax on my balcony for a bit and soak in the sun. Yep, that's right.... SUN! Blue skies, and sunlight. I love when the weather starts to get better. I feel more motivated, I feel happier, and overall just wonderful. Spring cleaning tends to kick in too, but not for another couple of weeks. Let's hope for a great spring. Here are some sunny pics!







Two posts in one day. What's wrong with me? =-D

Let the games begin!

I started dating Kevin back in the fall of 1998. I was SKINNY! Yes, I was sick because of just coming home from being in China for a while, but I looked gooooood. I think I was somewhere around 140 or so. Not too shabby for a gal who is almost 5'8". Well, almost 5'8" on a good day :) We broke up in Spring of 1999. I went on to touring Europe for the summer of 2000 while having my home base be in Limanova Poland. December 2000 - January 2001 I was in China for the second time. March of 2001 I fell and injured my back. The weight just kept on piling on. March 2002 I finally had back surgery after gaining somewhere around 30 lbs because of immobility issues. I was on bed rest for 8 weeks and was also hospitalized a 2nd time for paralysis. I gained more weight during this time. Summer of 2004 I began to have some other medical problems that had me gain more weight because of my doctor messing around with my birth control pills. Then, my depression began to get worse. March 9, 2006 James and I broke up. My diet started that day. As my regular readers know, I lost a bit of weight. So, over the course of the past year with my dieting and not, I've only lost a total of like, 15lbs. NOT ENOUGH.

It's true that you should be in a relationship with the person who makes you be the best YOU possible. Someone who makes you happy inside and out. Someone who you are IN LOVE with. Kevin and I got back together a few weeks ago after our almost-a-decade-stent. His sister found me on myspace and helped me get back in touch with him. Things have been FANTASTIC so far (knocks on wood). I hate getting my hopes up about relationships because when I do, they don't work out. So all I will say is that I am ecstatic that we are trying things again. He is helping me feel way more motivated and more conscious about my health (aka weight). He knows how happy I was back in the day when I was a lot thinner, but not too thin. I had curves. I still have curves, but not the right ones! So today when I got home from class I started going through an old box of photos. I found all the old ones of me and Kevin from way back in the day. You can tell from the pictures just how happy I was. I am scanning the pictures in tonight, so I will post them later or just another day.

So.... here we go kids.... This is me promising to lose all this friggen weight and to get back in shape! I'm NOT telling you how much I weigh because that's just embarrassing. Now, I don't plan on getting down to 135 or 140 because I think that's a bit too thin. I will have a more reasonable goal for now. Anyways, I will keep my blog posted as to my progress. I will have my weight loss/BMI ticker at the very bottom of this page (not in a side bar because the new blogger templates are not that great).



Wish me luck!!

Bean's Stock is back up!

I have decided to move my Crafting business over to my friends at Etsy. Check out my new website HERE. I am in the process of listing all of my new cases that I have made. I have a bunch of new knitting needle case fabrics that I am excited to share with you all.

Prices for my knitting needle cases currently range from $18 - $32 with shipping costs at $6 via USPS Priority Mail in the USA.

Please message me if you have any questions!

Here are some examples of the new fabrics!

Yeah... I'm nerdy.

I've been doing Where's George since April 4, 2005. I'm always excited to see where my bills go! So far, I have hits in 30 out of 54 states (including Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Washington DC, and the Virgin Islands) and other countries such as Mexico and El Salvador. However.... the other day I got some great news. I GOT A HIT IN JAPAN!!! Go look!

That's all for now. I'm excited :)