Hey all, just an update on what is happening on my end...

As you all well know, my lovely and talent wife is now gainfully employed with Harvard Business School, I have received and accepted an offer for employment as well!

I will be starting as a Web Designer for P3I - a technology contractor which works with the U.S. goverment. The contract that will be working within is at the Volpe Center, part of the Department of Transportation. I will be responsible for several large websites for external and internal use (maintenance and constant development), utilizing and extending and programming application and content management components, etc. Of course, I will also be doing design.

With it being information-rich and goverment-owned, it needs to be 100% standards and accessibility compliant, and this I have good experience with in higher education... so no big deal at all. Also, as time goes on, and I learn all the ropes, I will be more and more working with building applications components and building the overall content management and application-end strategy of how everything is delivered.

I only had the interview this last Monday, they called my references yesterday, and they made me an offer (excitedly) this morning. After talking with Alyssa and asking a few questions, I accepted! They did make me a rather generous offer, so it looks like home-ownership for Alyssa and I may be closer on the horizon than before. It is doublely nice that Alyssa and I both have nice, shiny new salary jobs with benefits and all that jazz at this point in our lives. Yay us!

I will be hearing from their HR people with the official letter/paperwork.

As for things on the home-front (in terms of Boston University) everyone is really excited for me. They all expressed that it was a shame the BU in the last year it has been in process, never got their shit together to pick me up permanently, but they are happy I got a good, stable position.

I will keep everyone up to date as everything progresses and will be starting in the next few weeks!

As Keith informed you all, I accepted a new job on Wednesday, October 18th! Yay Alyssa! Yay!!!!! *trumpets sound, roses thrown into the air* Raaaahhhhhh!

All in all, my tossing and turning about what to do and what jobs to consider was for naught. It was a pretty brainless decision. When offered the job on Wednesday, I accepted immediately, despite conventional wisdom to ponder the offer--to at least sleep a night on it. My interviews with the three prospective faculty members I would be working with were warm, friendly, and informative--they seemed to like me and my impressions were certainly positive. Exceedingly positive, actually. And there's nothing more that I want in a position than to be somewhere I think I can be respected, appreciated, and warmly welcomed. You can have the best job in the world, but it means nothing if you can't stand the people you work with.

They asked a lot of questions about little ol' me. ME. Nobody asks questions about me. Conventional interviewing wisdom is that you talk about the job and the needs of the employer. Not about yourself and your hopes. Can you imagine? They asked my thoughts and hopes for the future, my long term career development, goals, my educational interests---was I interested in pursuing a PhD down the road? As I interviewed more for the position, I certainly felt that working as a faculty assistant for a couple years would give me some incredibly valuable insight into the faculty support end of affairs and only make me a better higher educational employee, and perhaps a better doctoral candidate and professor someday.

So I took the job. Congrats to me. More so, if I may say, congrats to them. They had the same "concerns" about me being "overqualified"--the one common denominator in every interview I went to. I was able to honestly address those concerns. They had the guts to take a chance. I truly don't feel that this job is "too good" for me though--although it is flattering. Money and prestige is nice. But it isn't everything. A job that is interesting, informative, and filled with honest work and allows you to stretch your intellect at least once in awhile has the potential to make anyone feel like a million bucks. Right now, as I start the honeymoon period of this new venture, I feel like I've won the lottery.

Thursday after I accepted the job I received two calls from the faculty members I interviewed with on October 12th congratulating me on my job offer and acceptance. I thought this was SO SWEET. Unfortunately, I was not available when Professor Margolis called. But today, I found out that that just wasn't any call Thursday night. Professor Margolis made a phone call to congratulate me from a business trip. From Scotland. He just returned to the office today.

How many prospective employers do you know that even call to congratulate the successful candidate at all, let alone late at night (about 11pm-12am) from Scotland!? I think my instincts about the good naturedness of the faculty are pretty dead on.

These next few weeks will be filled with copious trainings, orientations, and benefit package reviews. That's another thing awesome about Harvard. The benefits. Don't even get me started. That's a whole other blog. Not to mention that this lil' ol' job represents a 25% pay increase for me. That's not really the feather in my cap it sounds like because I was undoubtedly severely underpaid at my last position considering the large scale logistics, crisis management, and stressful interactions with the parent population. HBS is going to be a wonderful change of pace.

So now I have the job. Now my job is to keep the job. Its mine to lose. This goodwill and dare I say, euphoria, at my arrival is mine to squander. I am now setting my sights to getting good at what I do, learning what I need to learn, and setting a routine for myself. Once that happens...I will work on losing 50-60 lbs and reaching other personal goals.

So that's all! Look for more adventures as they unfold.

So began Henry David Thoreau's Walden.

This is, in some way relevant, since Alyssa and I went and visited Walden Pond this afternoon.

Our weekend began (officially) on Friday evening - after working late, we decided that going to a state park and hiking, while New England foliage was at its peak, was a perfectly good idea. We made lists and through around ideas we found on Mass.gov's listings of parks and Walden Pond came up as a top contender.

Saturday, after grocery shopping and running errands, we went over for dinner at our friends' place and threw around the idea of going hiking next weekend (they were really booked this Sunday as it was). Since we were going to make a day of it (if the weather was nice) we thought it would be nice to go fairly close for this weekend and save a bigger trip for going out with our friends next weekend.

So this morning, we didn't get an early start. By which I mean we woke up at 11:30 am. We weren't up late, or out drinking or doing anything much, just sleeping in, which is rare for us. But we got dressed and headed out and made our way (about a 25 min drive) to Concord.

The drive was rather pretty. The route took us through Cambridge, so we had to weave through a load of people around the river watching the Head of the Charles boat race this weekend (we didn't see anything but the crowds of people). After driving through Harvard and Northern Cambridge, we took Rt. 2 pretty much all the way there. The trees were definitely at peak this weekend - with reds and yellows and golds, intermixed with the brown and pale greens.

After paying for parking, we crossed the street and walked down the path to the pond. There was a landing and beach of sorts, where people were gathering, watching the water, and fishing. There were some people there (mostly in wet suits) swimming (not I, thank you very much) and mostly couples walking around taking advantage of the wonderful weather. It was low 60's (if that) but sunny. It was perfect.

Alyssa and I took a walk around the pond. Early on, we chitchatted with a woman who was originally from New York City, but recently moved to Massachusetts to work on an MBA. People seemed so cheerful and friendly and happy to be out. We soon made our way over the site of the original hut Thoreau had on the pond. The spot was marked with stones and there was a pile of stones that people picked up and put to mark that they were in the woods where Thoreau lived.

We photographed quite a bit (the best of which are below). Alyssa is much better than I, admittedly. Unfortunately, we did have some camera issues (the camera doesn't seem to want to focus completely--will have to check on this) but you should get an excellent idea of the scenes of the season.

Both of us really liked the Concord/Lexington/Lincoln area and even drove by the town center (and Emerson's house). We drove back via 2A (which runs all the way back to Cambridge, but instead of a small highway, it's all little roads). It was a very pleasant drive. We eyed up houses and throught that if we had the money, this area would be ideal to live in - small town New England and only a half-hour from Boston. Too bad it's rather expensive. Maybe someday. It it very nice there.

The two of us, now back at home with our kitties, really want to go hiking more often. I am getting chunky and neither of us are getting much more exercise than going back and forth to work. We both love being out doors and in the woods.

It was a fun little excursion right before Alyssa's first day of work. A lovely little afternoon trip.

Without further ado:

Pictures of Walden Pond:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Just a little bit of news, that is of course very welcome: Alyssa is now (as of this coming week) and employee of Harvard University! She will be working directly with several faculty members of Harvard Business School (which, for those outside of Boston, is just around the corner, on the edge Allston, just north of where we live in Allston Village).

Alyssa is likely to give everyone a full rundown of the position, but we are very excited. I just wanted to post a quick entry, just to let everyone know!

Keep your fingers crossed, I may be trading in my BU Scarlet and White soon, if all goes well with interviews and applications I put in, etc.

Hey everyone -

Just wanted to provide a brief bit of a blog post to keep everyone up to date.

In the last few weeks, I have been making more concrete arrangements of sorts in securing a more permanent position. Although I have been searching (intermittantly) and putting resumes out there, a few weeks ago, I went ahead and updated my Monster.com profile and resume. Since then the phonecalls and emails have been nearly non-stop.

What was pretty cool, all in all, is that this chain of events put me in touch with a great opportunity for a higher education tech consulting firm for a position as an Instructional Designer - basically doing about 90% of the things I do now, but in a slightly different context. It seems very promising, I am quite interested, the phone interview went very well (and they seemed very interesting, and I will be interviewing on Monday (e.g. tomorrow). We will see how that pans out... so knock on wood, cross your fingers, do what you need to do.

Beyond that, work has been pretty 'meh.' Nothing bad. Nothing super great. The portal our group is collaborating on is going pretty decent (did some really successful testing with the guys at UIS). The tutorial season has ended, and I wound up teaching a fair share (which I enjoy). But as for work, I have just been working on miscellaneous little things. Sure, I woudn't be altogether keen on going back to the 60 hour/wk School of Law hellishness, but something more engaging that 4 hours at a go (or less) would be nice. Beyond the portal. I personally think the portal project would be nicer with a different framework - and as such, in its current manifestation, rather lame.

I have been working quite a bit though. With Alyssa out from the working world (and not available to take assignments as a temp readily, since she's been having interviews left and right), I am the sole provider for space-station Gibbs here in Beantown. We are definitely making due, but I have been finishing up later most every night to make sure things are done and we have nicely proportioned checks. This weekend, was a nice little rest (during the week) since I went to a conference this weekend. So sure, 7-day work week, but it was a pretty nice conference.

The conference was on Ajax technology - which to save the intricate details, is not a new technology for the web, but a set of fairly realidy usuable ones in place for a while that can be now used in interesting ways - particularlly in building rich and responsive interfaces in web apps and pages (without having the reload the browser). Yahoo's homepage, Google Maps, Flickr, a bunch of things use Ajax principles, and this conference was all about uses, considerations, tools, etc. I was the only one from NIS (since several others who were interested had commitments this weekend).

The whole thing was at the Maxwell-Dworkin building at Harvard University, which incidentally was built with a large donation from Bill Gates and Steve Balmer to honor their mothers (the names, Maxwell & Dworkin were their maiden names). Its new and kind of neat looking and we were in a nice big (but cold) lecture hall with ethernet jack every 12 inches, Wifi, and nice projection setup.

The speakers were several pretty cool people, one guy was from Yahoo! who works with User Interface stuff, another was the lead for the big, really significant JavaScript library, Dojo, and the third works as an applications guy for the Washington Post, and build this framework for rapidly building dynamic web-based apps in Python. [Most people are hearing, blah blah blah].

I learned a lot of things and really want to play around more. Significantly, I would like to (when I get a little spare time) contribute, fix bugs, and help out with Dojo. It seems like cool stuff and open source projects are really nice things for getting some good, solid, real world experience with a broad range of developers. [Most people are hearing, geek geek geek].

So after an evening of relaxing (finally!) and making paper flowers with my wife, just winding down and getting ready for bed.

Ah... one other thing. Besides working on and off on Alembic Labs stuff, I am playing around with [blah blah blah warning for non-geeks] various Content Managment Systems and am planning on rolling out my own web development blog of sorts (not Alembic's news thing... one for just me writing about tech as Keith Gibbs). I'll keep everyone posted - I got much of the design down, and a bit of the backend (using WordPress).

As I look at this site, I'm realizing its time for an overhaul. Because...

a) I love robin's egg blue and it's the color of our living room (both our last and this apartment except its called "Bon Voyage") but I'm getting a little sick of looking at it on this site, all over this site.

b) The wedding is SOoo yesterday's news. No one needs to know who attended our wedding a year and a couple months after the fact.

c) I never put up genealogy stuff and while I do plan to do this, I'll have to figure out a way that protects living family member's information.

d) We need more photo albums. Now. Non-wedding related ones.

e) My resume should look more resume-like.

Here is the lowdown and comparison of our new residence vs. our old residence:


Why I like 65 Ashford, #3 better than 158 Kelton, #4...

--More secure (three locks to get into our unit from the front, two from the back, security lights in the parking lot in back)
--Much quieter but just as convenient, actually closer to downtown Boston, Cambridge, and the Massachusetts turnpike
--Newly finished floors (although I wish they had a darker stain)
--More than enough electrical breakers, actually located within our unit
--Bigger bathroom
--Dual closets in the bedroom
--Larger Office
--Slightly larger living room w/ a rounded alcove
--Non crumbly plaster walls
--Smooth ceilings with up-to-date lighting fixtures
--The whole place seems to collect dust a lot less

What I miss about 158 Kelton, #4...

--Kitchen cabinet space (completely non-existent here)
--The built in china cabinet (sigh)
--Having a coat closet *sniffle*
--Our neighbors (not that our new ones don’t seem nice…)
--The wainscoting in the living room
--Secure storage space (a little paranoid having extras unsecured in the egress in the back)
--A open air porch (our grill and porch set no longer has a home!)

What I don’t miss from 158 Kelton, #4...

--Not being able to run a vacuum, dishwasher, microwave, or hairdryer (and sometimes even our clothing iron) without considerable thought to the lighting, a TV being on, or computers being plugged in
--Having to run down into the scary basement to flip the breaker switches when they go out anyway despite our well conceived plans to not lose electricity
--The lack of natural light in the living room
--The daylight that hits you head on from the bedroom, regardless of whether or not the blinds are pulled
--The bathroom with the layout that makes no sense
--The radiators that made furniture placement a much bigger thought process than desired
--The lack of any control over the heating (one thermostat in the entire building controlled by the residents of apartment 5)
--The inability to buzz in visitors

What I could live without here...

--The severe lack of kitchen cabinets, only appropriate for a college students with a few pieces of Tupperware and a token pot or pan
--The tiling job in the bathroom that looks like it was done by the criminally insane
--The distance from the kitchen to the living room where we entertain
--The distance from the kitchen to the office when I need Keith for something (hmm, a great Christmas gift idea—walkie talkies...)
--The 90 degree turn on our exceedingly narrow and low ceilinged stairs (which necessitated the cutting apart of our couch and the procuring of a split box spring)
--The slanting walls that run parallel to the roof that make furniture placement exceedingly hard
--Paying for heat and hot water (everything is metered separately, but its not that bad...but just wait until its freezing in the winter)

We'll be posting pictures of the new apartment very soon!

That's right you alyssaandkeith.com-aphobes! At promptly 11:08 pm on October 3, 2006, yours truly turned the big 2-6. Of course....I'm still in my "mid-twenties" but frankly I'm feeling a little more "late twenties." Now a few years out of college, my friends are I are becoming a little more self conscious of the fact that the big 3-0 and what it represents is around the corner.

I know you Baby Boomers and Greatest Generationers are laughing. I can hear it now...(Twenty-six!? She's worried about turning 26!?) but, hey, the beginning of the end has to start somewhere. I think it starts about here....and that's what I thought in my teens and so forth.

I think its because my comrades and I are waaaay too old now to identify ourselves with college students and even graduate students pursuing a masters right after undergraduate. Thirty represents things like--buying a house, starting to save for retirement, having...*gulp* kids. I can't help myself. I sort of always thought (yes, I'll admit its crazy and sad) that your college years are the best and that your twenties are the best too. Past all the craziness of adolescence and independent. On your own, education finished, but your knees haven't begun to hurt yet. You aren't cleaning baby puke off your clothes and completely broke from buying diapers.

I do want to have kids, but recognize that if I feel this way now, I am not ready now. Maybe I'll feel differently when I hit the big 3-0. Or even when I hit the 2-8.

This birthday was rather quiet. After a day of painting our bedroom armoire to match our new room some friends (by friends I mean four total) gathered at our place for some snacks and desserts. As in cupcakes. Not a glamorous affair but frankly, after all the travel of the last two weekends and being flat broke in terms of an entertainment budget with my not working, its the best we could do. And it suited great. There's always next year.

The best birthday gift I could truly get (not that cards and money and such isn't great) would be a fufilling job. I'm keeping my toes crossed.

Okay....now for a major rant, er, discussion.

(And before any well-meaning friends and family comment, call, or e-mail--I'd like to say the following. Yes, I am aware my prospective employers could be reading this. It is on the internet. I somewhat hope they do and ponder what I've said. I don't feel what I'm saying is unfair. I don't feel that my wanting a new job, quitting my old job, and engaging a job search should amount to me having to swallow mountains of pride. If they think that this a requisite of the job, then frankly--I am not interested. I'd rather temp for the rest of my life.

If they recognize themselves, I hope they think wisely on what I've said. Job markets change. People have a tendency to remember who was thoughtful, professional, and managed their time well when things were reversed. And so, just because you can get away with being rude--doesn't mean you ought to. Fate has a funny way of making people you were rude to on the job your boss someday. Now onto the blog...)

I know that the job market sucks and all, and that there are probably 200 candidates for every position out there, but, I am really beginning to be MAJORLY annoyed by the HR people running the show. I can see why this category of worker is the most reviled in the business world.

Of course, we all can recall my recent experience getting dragged in for 3 face-to-face interviews by the Harvard Graduate School of Education (not counting my initial telephone interview) over a 8 week period and then not getting the job after another 2 week gap, because they decided to go with an internal candidate who indicated last minute interest. (As a supervisor, my question would probably be "Why haven't you paid any attention and why didn't you show some committment to applying earlier when it was only posted for internal candidates."--but hey, that's me--I like to hold people somewhat accountable for a lack of follow through. What was UNFORGIVABLE, is that the week before I was given a bullshit, boldfaced lie regarding the delay in the decision, and this was admitted by the HR person when she turned me down.)

It was a most inconsiderate waste of my time, considering that I used 1.5 personal days of the 2 total I got per year to go on all the interviews (I would have not been able to contain my temper had I not been leaving my previous position--after all, if I didn't use the days I would lose them...but what if I hadn't been leaving????). The situation shook my confidence incredibly considering I was being asked all the major questions about starting dates, etc, only to have it end so coldly and without a sense of consideration and responsibility.

Now, I am dealing with a repeat of same encore performances of general insensitivity and obliviousness to the plight of others and their need to make an income while engaging in a job search. While all the interest in my resume has been flattering, it has made it absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for me to temp and make an income. And the money isn't bad, but I can only accept short-term assignments while temping (because no one is going to wait more than 2-3 weeks for me) but no client will want to give me up for interviews for a short assignment. So I wait at home for calls and go on interviews and keep busy applying for jobs and cleaning house.

The first position I interviewed for is great-- I interviewed for it on September 14th, and was told at that time that they hoped that the process would be 2-3 weeks. This past Thursday marked three weeks. Now, I was aware at the time that the executive director who interviewed me was traveling for the next week and a wee bit skeptical of the 2/3 week timeline they were thinking about, but, there has been virtually no movement.

In fact, when I pushed myself to get some kind of an update on Monday the 2nd via phone (after leaving a voicemail mentioning a need to update them and check the status of their search Friday the 29th), I was informed that they are still well into "Round One" and won't be ready for "Round Two" for another two weeks!!! It was explained to me that they must "interview all the candidates" and the executive director hasn't been able to meet and schedule those interviews due to frequent travel, scheduling, etc. There was a hint of an irked tone, but, I pointed out that the executive director told me to call with any updates due to the "delay" in the process (however, it was a one week delay a week before when she wrote it). My update was that I was nearing the end of the process for the second job I interviewed for (experiences detailed below) and wanted to get a sense of their enthusasism for my candidacy and their standing in the process.

I would die to have this job as I would be working in an environment that I would enjoy and for a cause I very firmly believe in--European Studies, travel, and work abroad. So I wait...but I don't think that I should have to call for an update just shy of 3 weeks after my interview. (This is particularly laughable considering they stated at my interview they would be done at this point, and I hadn't heard really anything to the contrary.) I realize I was the first person they interviewed--but touching base after a few weeks via e-mail or voicemail is not asking a lot. I cannot predict what turn things have taken--the position being filled, dropped, delayed, etc. I am also not confident with such a long drawn out process that I will be particularly memorable after oh, five weeks. I feel this is a severe handicap and I'm not sure how to address it.

The second position that I started interviewing for on September 18th for is also a wonderful opportunity and the follow-up has been excellent, until this week. Last Friday when I interviewed (which I thought went well, except one of my appointments was unable to meet with me at the last minute--a little offputting but understanding for a dean working with students) I was told that a final decision would be made early this week. Monday came and went, so did Tuesday, and Wednesday...all the way until Thursday at 4:30 pm, when I left a message.

(I was pretty annoyed at this point--because not only am I wondering about their potential offer, I am worried about the other positions I am applying for and the fact that I told my first job that I would be hearing back early last week).

Finally, on Friday, while I was out grocery shopping, the HR contact called and left a message. The group is re-evaluating the position and not prepared to make a hiring decision at this time. The message explained that they may be splitting the position up into a higher level position (residence life support, administrative board support, etc) and lower level position (receptionist work, photocopying, etc). Frankly, that makes the job more appealing because the receptionist bit was the part that I was not as crazy about, but willing to do since the other work would be very interesting and enlightening. But this is "putting the cart before the horse." Why take the time interviewing candidates when you don't even know what you are looking for? How can you reasonably expect to identify a great candidate (and a candidate to recognize a great fit) when there isn't even a clear job description!?

GRRR.

The other interview I had on the 18th, I finally got some update Wednesday the 4th (almost 3 weeks later!?). Literally, that was after a handwritten thank you a week after the interview, a quick e-mail a week after that (no response of course), and a voicemail message Monday (HR contact on vacation per the message). I was surprised they were not a bit quicker considering that the interview originally was quite enthusastic. Now yesterday, they want to schedule an interview for Wednesday the 11th. Problem is--do I accept a job offer from them or try to see about the other possibilities?

The fourth interview I had at Suffolk University was on the 26th of September. I sent e-mails thanking everyone for their time and to encourage them to contact me with further questions. I have had no further contact. Its my fourth choice, frankly. But Tuesday will be two weeks, and...no updates.

So look HR personnel and hiring managers of America. I realize that the hiring process is long, drawn-out, and frought with difficult decisions. I understand that hiring the right person is important, as it represents a huge investment of time when people quit and there is turnover. But more than likely not, most of the people you interview can do the job credibly. Just pick one you *click* with and invest some emotional energy into them. Be considerate. Show follow through. I promise the efforts and the attention will be rewarded.

Even if I get any of these jobs, I'm not too likely to forget the lack of consideration thus far as I start the job. Mind you, I'm not asking for an immediate decision--just a "We got behind the eight ball, and we haven't forgotten about you. We will be in touch." After all, the internet is frought with stories of people interviewing and NOT EVEN GETTING THE COURTESY OF A STRAIGHTFORWARD REJECTION. That is COMPLETELY COWARDLY and THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR IT. I am confident there is a special circle of hell set aside for cretins such as these. Okay? You can't blame people for being worried and they are not psychic--they are not privy to your watercooler talk. So drop the 'tude. Second, when you make a promise to call, keep it, even if its just a "we have no news." Because the thought "No news is good news" is NOT true of a interviewing situation. Job seekers are investing their own precious time and money in resume paper, suits, transport, parking and it all adds up on top of not knowing if any of it will be worth it in the end. Lastly, don't insult my above average intelligence and act like you were on the verge of calling me when I finally call you because it is four days over when you were promised to contact me. You should be apologizing your ass off, not lying to my face.

Needless to say, I'll follow up with the second job early next week and then...who knows? Out of all the interviews, they seemed the most enthused with my candidacy thus far, but the advice I received from the Career Services at my alma mater, they said that the position probably won't happen nor a job offer. Its a bit flaky, but I can see in my mind how it could have happened--some Dean saying "Hey, why don't we do this?" while the rest of the boardroom plasters a smile on their face and keeping the boss oblivious to the time already expended on behalf of the staff and candidates while thinking "Thanks, this info would have been much more useful a month ago."*pictures this in my head* Yup, totally plausible...

Or, other opportunities or new information may very well present themselves in the coming weeks. We shall see....

After a short work week (okay, well, for Keith...) we zoomed off to Philadelphia crack of dawn (or before) early Saturday. A few weeks beforehand, Mom had asked Keith and I to come down to surprise Nonni at the surprise party Nonno was throwing for her at the local country club.

So, the flight left at 7:10 am, which necessitated a 4:00 am rising time, and a 4:45 am pick up by the taxi to get us checked in. Predictably, we zoomed through the ticket counter and security so there was much time to kill and a chance to buy overpriced breakfast goods at the airport. Finally we took off, landed, retrieved our (broken) luggage (apparently the security guys wanted to look through our luggage but didn't master the kindergarten concepts of pushing a button to undo a buckle), and took the shuttle to the hotel, which was....SCHWaNKY. Our room had a large king size soft bed, couch, several arm chairs, desk, TV console, a dining room table with a minifridge, microwave, and a huge bathroom. Preettty cozy.

Mom and her boyfriend, David, (who seems to be recovering from the finger infection of the weekend before) picked us up shortly after 11 am and took us on their errands prior to the festivities. We also visited with some relatives before changing, making our way to the party, and beginning to set up decorations.

All in all, the party went well. Nonni seemed surprised (perhaps she thought that she was in store for a family gathering only) to find 60 people waiting there for her. Dinner was tasty and there was an open bar as well. Our gift to Nonni was a pair of citrine drop earrings. Mom says she has a ring with that stone, so I hope she will like them!

Keith is back to work today, I am working at home and eagerly awaiting further word on the status of my job search. Anxious....