We got back from our trip Thursday night. Overall, it was a good trip. It was the most time DH and I have ever spent together continuously .... 7 days of 24/7 togetherness.
Our first hotel was in Silverthorne, Colorado. Up til about 8 pm travel was good ... then after stopping for dinner at Beaux Jo's pizza, the snow + darkness + winding mountain roads started. I'm thankful DH was driving.
We discovered that my headlights are foggy and probably need to be replaced. Not a good discovery to be made on a road trip.
Our next stop was in Utah, near Zion Forrest. We ate at a Chinese buffet that had egg foo young!!
The next morning we spent a few hours at Zion - free admission due to Earth Day!
Then on to Las Vegas where we ate at a buffet that had eggplant parm AND tons of sweets ....
Finally we arrived in Loma Linda. Grandma and my uncle were happy to see us. 
We got to our hotel, and at first were happy ... but then realized the wifi didn't work. Which ... one night would be doable, 4 night not so much. But even worse ... it had a double bed and a sofa sleeper. No way DH and I could both sleep on a double bed. So I ended up on the sofa (DH's feet hung way over the edge.) It was a *miserable* night.
I hated to complain ... but no way was I going to make it on little sleep for 4 nights ...
We were moved to a Best Western. Best hotel ever (other than Branson.) Great room, great wifi ... but the best was the breakfast! Make your own Belgian waffles --- with chocolate chips to add .. and little Nutella packets!! DH liked the eggs/potatoes/meats they had too.
My brother didn't make it down ... said he was sick.
On Sunday my Uncle gave us a driving tour of the San Bernadino valley. DH got to pick oranges and grapefruit from a coup;e of groves. He got a kick out of that.
On Monday we went to Santa Monica pier. DH fished off the pier for a little while - he didn't catch anything, but did spot a sea lion! We ate at PF Chang's - I was the only one who seemed to like it. We spent a good five hours in traffic ....
On Tuesday we went to Lake Arrowhead and ate at a Mexican restaurant on the edge of a cliff.
We left about 6:30 Wednesday morning, and drove all the way to Grand Junction, CO. We made sure to get there during daylight.
Thursday we left about 6:50, and by 7:30 encountered rain, then sleet and then snow. We were out of it by around 11 .... Definitely slowed us down a bit. We got home around 8 pm.
Friday I got one of my tires fixed that had gotten a nail on our trip. It was nice to be back in my own bed with the cats ...
I've got the budget all updated. We spent approximately $540 between gas, hotels, food, etc. Not bad for a 7 day trip.
--
I have an interview on May 11 for one of the two jobs I applied for!!
Why are you wanting to leave your job? I hate the money aspect - handling cash. I'm also really tired of dealing with people on the phone ... --- Not a good answer, but the truth.
Have you had any conflict with coworkers - how did you handle it? Yes - one lady I helped with projects was a major perfectionist who couldn't tell you what she wanted in a simple, straight forward manner ... I got majorly stressed out dealing with her, and my supervisor and I had a meeting with her. Nobody liked her. She's gone now.
Again, not a good answer, but the truth.
What are your goals in five years? Umm, have a job? - What I usually say ... I hope to continually improve myself as a person and as an employee.
Why do you want this job? It's a good pay raise, and looks like a lot more fun than my current job - lots of computer related work and NO cash handling ... (I actually have to come up with two - three paragraphs for this question...)
What has been your greatest professional disappointment? (was totally stumped on this one .. finally came back with ... Not being able to foster a good collaborative community at the school I was a librarian at. I was able to get one or two teachers on board, but there was such a turnaround each year that I wasn't able to grow it.)
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DH was looking into tiling costs for the cat room - remove carpet and add tile - he's figured bare min of $5k for the area. Gulp. We need to come up with some other option (less $$) - easy to clean, and won't soak up cat messes... The carpet isn't doing so well.
We plan on removing the carpet in the office and bedroom - hardwood floors under carpet, and tiling the bathroom (currently carpeted.) Hoping these moves will help the smell. (Getting rid of cats is NOT an option.)
If I get this other job, I plan on putting some of it towards a once a month housecleaner ..
Or .. if I *don't* get this job, I'm looking at a teaching Chinese children English online job .. do 8 - 10 hours a week for $18 - 22 +bonuses an hour. And use some of that to pay for a housecleaner.
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I did gain about 4 lbs on this trip. I have until May 17 to lose those 4 lbs, plus 2 more to win round 4. I think I can do it. If not, then I'll be on my way to round 5.
I just need to go back to my stricter diet plan (ate LOTS of junkfood this trip .. plus not much movement.)
I'm back try 2
April 30th, 2017 at 10:29 pm
April 30th, 2017 at 10:44 pm 1493592259
April 30th, 2017 at 10:46 pm 1493592370
April 30th, 2017 at 11:22 pm 1493594558
Wishing you well on the job interview. It's good to be honest, but don't make it seem like you don't work well with others. Turn each negative into a positive in some way.
Laminate paneling comes to mind for the cats, but not sure if that would work on a floor. $5,000 sounds like a lot of money...like what someone would pay for high end tile in a kitchen with installation.
May 1st, 2017 at 12:45 am 1493599507
Best of luck to you in your job search.
May 1st, 2017 at 12:04 pm 1493640279
May 1st, 2017 at 12:26 pm 1493641602
May 1st, 2017 at 09:04 pm 1493672640
Good luck with the job interview preparation. Research the company thoroughly and target your answers accordingly. Strive to be specific rather than overly general, particularly with the future goals question, and good luck and have fun preparing! (Yes, fun--even though it is anxiety-provoking, a job interview is a good chance to do some life review and put where you are now and where you want to be in the future in context of your past. Which of your skills would you like to use more than you do in your current position? Which of your personal strengths are not used to their best advantage in your current job and what kind of a position would make you shine?
May 2nd, 2017 at 01:46 am 1493689612
ccf - The room we need to do flooring in is ~450 square feet. I don't know what site DH got his numbers from, but he said it was on the low end.
CB - will def. look at vinyl
Dido - I think we went to Big Bear Lake too. Very pretty.