Nothing new or exciting to report. I just feel I should update once every 21 days and today was day 22. Heh.

Oh, I have started exercising regularly, which actually is exciting to me. Sometimes it's as little as 15 minutes a day, but I'm doing it nearly every day and just being more active is a big plus.

I haven't lost any weight yet, though. I do fine through dinner but find myself wanting *something* about 9pm. That something often turns into about five hundred calories, if I'm honest about it. Three servings of tortilla chips. Two servings of crackers with peanut butter and jelly. A whole bag of microwave popcorn. The things I'm eating aren't necessarily unhealthy, but the quantities are. If I wasn't downstairs watching TV most evenings and instead doing something else, anything else, this wouldn't be an issue. I'm really looking forward to spring/summer when I can still be outside at 9pm.

Unfotunately, nothing's brewing on the job front right now even though I've applied for at least 11 jobs since the beginning of the year. There was a potential contract/part-time/temp-to-hire position that popped up last month but that quickly fell flat. The position was as a media planner/buyer working 20-30 hours a week in Dayton on a six month contract. If the fit was right and the workload dictated it (as the company expected), they would like to hire the person on full-time from the placement agency.

After them going great guns in just a few days (the HR person said I was a 'home run' after the phone interview and introduced me to everyone in the freakin' office after the in-person, the direct report stood up after our interview, shook my hand and said, "Well, I'm charmed."), the next business day they sobered up after one last phone interview and said they were going to keep looking.

They are a business-to-business direct marketing firm. I don't have experience in B-to-B or in direct marketing, so I just figured that their need to immediately get someone in there who's smart and could pick things up quickly was greater than their need to wait and get someone experienced. I think they really liked me (the placement agency told me they did), but came back down to earth to realize, "Hey, we might be able to find someone we like who's also experienced if we kept looking."

Even though the position was in Dayton and the commute would have been an hour and fifteen minutes one way, I was interested in the job for what I would be learning and adding to my resume and the pay was right. I only went into it with the understanding that once I'm up to speed, I could do part of the hours from home and wouldn't be driving to Dayton every day. I was disappointed about not being hired after all the talk, but knowing I didn't have to start commuting 2 1/2 hours a day was somewhat of a relief. So while I'm disappointed that I didn't start making a nice paycheck right away, I'm okay with it not panning out.

I'm trying to use my time more wisely and get motivated to do something, anything really. I seem to have a "momentum problem" (tm Dr. Phil) so I'm actively trying to make and stick to schedule. I'm selling on eBay, getting ready to volunteer at two different non-profits (I've already gone through both orientations; just waiting on assignments) and will help MoreHusband's aunt paint a few rooms in her house next week. Last but not least, I have GOT to schedule time to write. I need (and have needed for months now) to start a new manuscript. I've only handwritten about one page of ideas and there's no reason I can't write an hour or two a day and have the whole thing done in a few months. I think taking the first step with this is the hardest. At least, I hope that's the case.