A personal post

I'm never sure whether its a good idea to pour your heart out in a blog post. Its not something I do on a regular basis but my head feels so full of inky black gunkness that I kind of just want to get it out.

So job hunting while going through a very messy break up is probably not the best thing for ones ego.  While I admit it hasn't been a total disaster and I have in fact turned 2 jobs away for being unsuitable its still rocks your self-confidence quite a bit. It drives me mad that I am applying for jobs that I know I am more than capable of handling and my CV gets written off without a by nor leave often with the comment "your skill set doesn't meet with our clients requirements" ggrrhh they want some to post invoices and check balances, I can do that with my eyes shut, how can my skills not match !! and then if I go for a job in a more "senior" role I just feel like I am trying my luck and everyone is going to laugh at me.

For instance a job came up in the town where we live and I must have applied for it 4-5 times through different websites.  Each time I wrote a covering letter and by the 5th attempt I was practically begging them to see me.  No response !!! In the end I decided to go pay the company in question a visit and hand my CV personally over to the man in charge of finance.  Great, got there, met him, he looked over my CV said he had remembered it but had just assumed that the money he was offering wasn't going to be enough compared to my "London" wages and that I was way over qualified anyway.  Even though I had all the skills he needed, lived a mile from the place of work and had practically begged to be seen, he had still decide there was no point even meeting me.  Faced with that kind of resistance how the heck am I ever going to get a job. Gggrrh

I don't know yet but can you tell I am finding the whole job hunting thing a tinsy-winsy bit frustrating.

The kids being off school "bless them" isn't exactly helping either.  They are so bored, its at times like these I understand why American kids go off to summer camp. I don't remember summer holidays being this hard when Mooki was little. Somehow we just managed to get through them without to much hassle  With the boys on the other hand its a completely different thing.  Not only are they physically more active than their "don't touch me, I'm sleeping" sister they also want me to join in with every possible game they can think of.  I end up feeling like one of those "grumpy old women" off the telly who goes around with a permanent scowl on her face and a don't come near me or I'll poke you with my walking stick attitude (Oooo there is something to look forward to getting old for).

Then of course there is the sincere and distinct lack of funds to content with.  I know everyone is in the same boat and we are all having to make the best of it, I just don't like it..!! Took the elder two to see Spy Kids 4D  on Friday a nice little daytime trip to the cinema without the littlest one driving us all bonkers running around the cinema. £50 that cost for the 3 of us, £50 !! When I was younger going to the cinema was something you could do with some pocket money, now I have to think about the long term strategy of film to interest ratio an whether its really worth seeing it on the big screen as it will be out on DVD by Christmas anyway. Was a bit underwhelmed by the whole 4D experience as well, the smell bits of the scratch card all smelt the same RIP OFF lol

The wonder of activity camp !

Sending him to a sports camp for two weeks over the summer has got to have been one of my better parenting moves.  I managed to time it for the time Mooki moo is away in Portugal so I am keeping myself occupied with thoughts of drop off and pick up times. I had the sneaky feeling that if I didn't commit to something I would be spending the whole two weeks of her vacation in my pjs feeling sorry for myself, Anyway.......

Basically the camp is made up of 4-12 year olds who go there on a daily basis to be kept busy with lots of different activities (mainly sporting ones).  When Mooki moo was Ninja's age I also sent her a couple of weeks a year during the summer holidays to the same sort of thing and I am pleased to say this one has been as well organised as the ones we went to down in London.  They are staffed with young adults both boys and girls who seem very keen to get to know who they are looking after and make sure they have a good time. There is lots of variety of sports and they seem to be catering well to age and abilities.  Ninja has discovered he loves dodge ball as he has excellent reaction times therefore making it difficult to get him out.  He is also enjoying hockey, tennis, football arts & crafts and massive games of hide and seek. Even when we had rain a couple of days last week, the camp still managed to keep them busy enough that Ninja was totally pooped when I picked him up.

I think Humf is ok with going to nursery while Ninja is at camp as it fits in pretty well with what would be a normal school day for us.  I am dreading next week when Ninja gets to stay home as trying to persuade Humf that he still has to go to nursery will probably be a nightmare.  On top of this there is the potential I might be starting work as well and that really will ruin all their holidays.

For now though all I have to worry about is which of the kids films we are going to see because there are so many at the cinema that look fab and how am I going to stretch the £200 I have left in my bank account till the end of the month.

http://www.activatesport.co.uk/2011-summer-camps/Wellingborough-School/285/

Seriously where do I begin..........

This post is part of the Blog Hop competition sponsored by Dirt Devil”

If I hear the words "its because he is so intelligent" one more time, I think I might scream.  Alright I am not the strictest of parents and now as a single mum I find it even harder to be tough on my kids but come on....

My darling 3 year old is a whirlwind wonder of mess. Over the last six months we have had the hand printing incident:

This was done while I was having a little nap on the sofa and Nanny and big bro where watching him for me.  She thought it looked quiet artistic and thought I should leave it.

Then we had the ground cumin incident

I think there was also black pepper and some garlic in there too.  It took two days for the smell to go.

Then we also had the flour evening

You can see where his knees where. Don't ask me how he got the flour it was on the highest shelf

Pasta or rice mummy?

 Fun at Easter

I can do my own nappy cream mummy just watch me

I'm not waiting until I am 18 to get a tattoo

If I am really quiet no one will find me

Guess what they are each getting for Christmas this year

What you've never heard of ear painting, mum you are so out of touch

But my all time favourite piccie has to be this one, how many lollies does a kid need at one time !

bless him his face was really sore in this one, he'd had a nasty bout of eczema but he still looks as cheeky as ever.

Tell me, could you tell a face like that off?

You know what though I wouldn't have him any other way, I am grateful everyday my children are happy and health and enjoy their lives.   As for the mess well it might start getting under control by the time they are in their 20's until then "where's the vacuum cleaner?"

The Interview.....

So last Friday I finally got to go for the interview I had been waiting for 2 weeks for.  Job hunting like on line dating and rightmove feel just like an extension of shopping to me.  Maybe I am a bit weird but I like doing it.  It has the same thrill of the chase as ploughing through the bargain bucket in tescos searching for hidden gems and the same high of excitement when you spot something with good potential and you snatch it up before anyone else can.  Alright its not exactly like that because ultimately you can't go for the 50k a year job with a CV that says stay at home mum for the last 4 years but you know what I mean.

I had left my search criteria quite open in the fact I wasn't too specific on role, distance or wage package and this allowed me to trawl through about 150 jobs on the Reed Accountancy website.  I beefed up my CV with my newly acquired qualifications and set about registering myself once again.  Alot of the jobs advertised on these sites seemed to be posted through recruitment agencies and while I know that there is slim chance that the jobs they are advertising actually exists I still set about writing polite covering letters and sending off my CV.

To my surprise I got 2 responses back, which in this day and age is a bit of a miracle, one was from an agency wanting to get me on their books. Fine who knows something might come of it. The other was from an agency phoning me to tell me their client wanted to see me..! Really ! Crap I have nothing to wear.  "The company are holding 4 interviews next Wednesday you need to be there at 4" Really ! Crap again. I can't make next Wednesday as the car is being serviced and MOT'd and I have no transportation.  "Oh" says the lady from the agency, "i'll have to let me client know you can't make it and I will call you back" well I was pretty convinced they were just going to say, never mind will see so and so instead as they will probably be able to make it. But miracle no 2 happened and she called me back to say they would see me on the Friday instead and could I make it for 10am.  I nearly kissed the receiver, of course Jessica no problems, yes send me the details by email, I'll be there with bells on.

So I spent the next week and a bit determined to find something in my wardrobe that was suitable and would mean me not having to spend any money and getting lectured on interview techniques by the 13 year old (they'd just done this as a topic in PSHE and she was full of tips and bright ideas, firm handshake, smile alot and remember to make a good impression within the first 30 seconds otherwise you just may as well give up).

The big day arrived and to say I was nervous was an understatement, I was sweating just standing in my bra and pants trying to do my hair and every time I put any make up on my face it just melted right back off again.  I chain smoked two cigarettes on the way to their office and then berated myself for going in there stinking of fags (so off putting don't you think).  Gave my firm but not to firm handshake and smiled my brightest smile possible.  The first thing the guy said to me was "don't worry we're not going to eat you" to which I replied "it would be a bloody hard job if you tried" hhmmm not a particularly good start I feel.  I then spent the next half an hour trying to explain why I wanted to leave this fantastically convenient and well paid job of mine to end up working full time with out so much more money.  When directly asked "are you only applying for jobs so that you can get out of the house for a bit?" I infactically answered yes but realised quite quickly that this was probably the wrong answer and made short sharp work of taking my foot out of my mouth and returning my brain to my empty bimbo head. They seemed nice enough people and also a worthy company to work for but his parting words to me as I was heading out the front door where "we had many many high calibre applicants the fact you have been able to get an interview was a good achievement" Brush off words if ever I heard them, oh well applied for another 15 today so keep your fingers crossed for me ..:0)