SCGC – Drew and Jen go to London

Can’t Stop Thinking About You

Jen — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:28:31 +0000

Today I walked a mile to my favorite grocery store to find out that it had closed early on Friday for a weekend of refurbishment.Â The Grand Re-Opening on Monday wonâ€t be in time to get the groceries I need today.Â No bother, there are plenty of grocery stores in the area, I just thought my favorite store might happen to have the specific brand of deodorant on my list.Â Itâ€s funny how attached you become to a simple thing like your favorite deodorant, but really, itâ€s a big deal.

There is a steady, heavy rain this evening (blown in by some strong winds by the sound of things at the moment).Â I do hope that lasts through the night.Â I could use some slept-right-through-the-rain sleep. Â I’ve been just a tiny bit grumpy today. Â Today was the first SCGC Field Day I have not attended since 1994. Â I might miss it more than I anticipated, but who’s keeping a list?

Although today was strictly for volunteering for my favorite organization and cleaning, I did happen to notice something strange while I was ironing this evening.Â Channels seem to repeat the same cycle of programs at least twice in a day like HBO or regular radio in the states.Â Itâ€s one more strange little fact to stick in my hat.

Tonight I made sugar free vegan chocolate cupcakes.Â Iâ€ll let you know how they taste tomorrow.Â I might just go have one now with a cup of tea and an episode of Battlestar Galactica.Â Yeah, we are the nerdiest people you know.

Is it That Late Already?

Jen — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:16:15 +0000

Sadly, I feel that there is very little news to report.Â I have rearranged my CV so many times, and written so many covering letters, I am quite tired of myself.Â I have lost count of the number of jobs about which I have contacted recruiters–or the numbers of recruiters I have contacted to be considered for potentially suitable roles.Â There are a handful of positions I am seriously pursuing and I have an interview on Thursday.Â Whew!Â Being unemployed is a lot of work.

I have managed to keep the laundry at bay and cook meals that didnâ€t get scraped out the window or into the bin.Â I also had lunch with Drew and Janita on Thursday at Wagamama. (I think I might compare it to Pei Wei, though it’s not quite the same.) Â After lunchÂ Janita and I inadvertently led Drew to an arcade in search of caffeine after our meal.Â At least I got to show Drew my favorite store in London–Octopus.Â Who needs any of this stuff?Â And why do I want it so badly anyway?

What I didnâ€t do today was prepare the magic notebook, pack a contest survival bag, or copy an insane number of cds for a Field Day performance.Â I did, however, let my thoughts drift off to those crazy folks who are doing those things.

All You Need is Love and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jen — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:46:37 +0000

While we were in Nashville for the Christmas holidays I took a trip Whole Foods for vegan chocolate chips. I was disappointed that the shelf had far fewer bags on it than I had intended to buy, but we will manage to ration them until May–or until someone visits. The point of the story is that during this season in London, the sun doesn’t rise until approximately 8:03 am. It is rainy. Finding a job is stressful. The laundry takes forever to dry. My floors are dirty. (Vegan) Chocolate chip cookies, in moderation of course, get me ready to face another day.

I did manage to make a healthy dinner before we dove into the barely-out-of-the-oven cookies. Drew and I have declared my yummy stir fry our first Huddleston family recipe. It’s the one that will keep my kids (and their friends) at my house on Friday nights. It’s the one that other parents will call me for because their kids keep talking about it.

I am truly sorry that there is nothing really exciting to report, but I am glad to tell you that I learned a valuable job hunting tip. Resumes, which are commonly used in the US, are meant to be short while CVs are meant to provide more information. I thought it was just the type of information that was different. I was wrong. A recruiter told me that all that rubbish I was fed in the states about a one page resume doesn’t apply in the UK. He said two pages are more the standard here. Not to worry. Expanding will be a breeze! That’s just one more thing I didn’t know I didn’t know about, you know?

Happy Field Day week–to those of you who know what in the world I am talking about! My thoughts will certainly be with the SCGC this weekend. I miss you all.