A questing we will go again then... yeah. The rumormill at work has projected that they'll be laying off those of us that are temps in my department in about two more weeks. Joy. I hate job hunting. It's a grumbly sort of week (sad when it is essentially just Tuesday - yes I know the clock says Wednesday but it is still "Tuesday night" by my standards). One of my co-workers for whatever reason guessed my age and guessed it higher than it actually is :( seriously I don't look 37 do I? Sheesh. I've been stressy but I don't think I look that old. *mutter* Despite the bumps in the road there are at least a few things in November to look forward to like Meat-a-palooza and Turkey day. Here's hoping that a job will be forthcoming with far more promptness than the last time I was looking for one.

I figured I deserved a break so I went adventuring and brought my laptop along. After going down Nicoliet a wee bit (try a couple dozen blocks) too far I realized I had long since passed Betsy's Back Porch... it turned out I was looking on the wrong side of the street for it or I'd have seen it the first time around. Oh well. Wi-fi in public locations is gooooooooooooood. So is the double chocolate frappe and chocolate cake I'm having. :) My living room and bedroom are starting to actually look like rooms instead of box storage areas. The dining room however.... I still have to shovel through more and get the kitchen unpacked into the kitchen more. Still things are definitely coming along. I had my orientation with Minnetonka School District this morning. That went very well. The HR lady I met with actually did ask if I was interested in more than just reserve teaching (as they call subbing around here) and when I said yes she said she'd leave my application active. So that's nice. Now I can fill out internal applications instead of the big long form. I hear Beth's got a show tonight so the mapquest directions are waiting in the car and I plan to adventure that direction. It's been a busy and productive week. I talked to dad yesterday and he's back on solid food finally. He might be released Saturday morning. It sounds as though he's still doing very well which is really good. I'm looking forward to my wireless getting fixed up Sunday morning, though I've been so busy that I've missed it less than I might have otherwise. Wednesday I put together two bookshelves and my dvd/cd rack/shelves from IKEA. They were actually pretty easy to assemble. The bed frame, however, was a pain in the rear. At each corner you had to put a large screw on the baseboard side and a small cylinder with a hole in it and a flathead screw top on one end on the interior frame board. The large screw went into the hole in the small cylinder. This is where it gets tricky as a one person job. You have to tighten the cylinder with a flat head screwdriver WHILE cranking the large screw with this octogon? shaped tool that came with the bits and pieces. Three of the four sides I got the large screw flush with the head board or base board. The fourth one? Sticks out almost a half an inch. However since I couldn't pull it out I called it good since the cylinder thing ended up with a stripped flathead screw top. So that was my excitement last night. I opted for dinner out after that (my kitchen isn't really quite cooking ready yet) and discovered... Southdale Mall. I ended up at the Cheesecake Factory since I was kind of indecisive on what I wanted to eat and they have a fairly varied menu (and cheesecake).

And the winner is...... Richfield!

The second apartment we saw today was definitely the nicest. There was a bit of a trade-off with the price, but given they include ALL of the utilities... I think it is probably well worth it. Especially since it is near a number of very good school districts. It is actually a very nice size, lots of storage, good neighborhood and near lots of things (the grocery store is only 2 blocks away which is handy). Looks like lots of good prospects nearby too if I decide I want to see about a part time job a couple times a week to suppliment subbing so that's good too. Definitely a hectic trip, but very productive. It was good to see Beth and Eric again. Jen and I enjoyed Masa, though she talked me into Dairy Queen when we got back near the hotel (there was one a block away from the Ramada). That pushed the edge from comfortable to OH MY GOSH I'M FULL. Drive back was pretty uneventful aside from the large amount of cops still out and the excitement of dumb people who can't seem to handle merges when there's construction. Nothing new.  I'm rather hoping for a call from the apartment office people on or by Friday, but I won't be surprised if I don't get it until next week given.... holiday weekend. They seem very flexible on move in date which is very nice too. :)