Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) went rather well. It was pretty cool outside and inside, so I wasn�t dying of thirst at all, no particular hunger pangs either - and generally, it went quickly and painlessly. Spent lots of time praying and hoping that next year will indeed bring success.

Well, here�s what�s going on with our lives� I got an interview with the company I work for now! (i.e., company that I�ve worked for before I left it and now work for it as a contractor). It is utterly bizarre. Basically, I saw an internal posting in their job database for a job which is some weird mix b/n graphic design and desktop publishing � I�d say more desktop than design, but still, semi-close. So I applied. They called and said I am not allowed to apply because I am now an external employee and the posting was for internal people. Tough break. I wasn�t too upset because deep down I thought that�s what�s going to happen. Well what do u know � I get a call late Friday afternoon from HR and they said that no one internal applied so they are opening the job for external consideration and I�m top on their list because of my previous experience with the company! Haha. So today I have a phone interview with HR and if all goes smooth they�ll set up in-person interview with the team. Advantages? They are super quick, this is one company which does NOT put you on hold for weeks. Like, you had an interview today, you�ll know your answer tomorrow, or even the same day. Number two, obviously my previous experience helps � they like it when ppl already worked there and they rehire a lot � I� m certainly not the only person to leave and come back� I have never worked for the company with better benefits, and certainly our insurance problems would be more than solved if I get the job there. Disadvantages? Not pure graphic design job. Close, somewhat � but not totally. Should this bother me? I don�t know. Perhaps. But after careful consideration, I realized that at this point I can�t be too picky. Graphic design jobs are hard to come by now, and I�d rather work here as a real employee with benefits than work here as a contractor forever and ever.

I also have another interview tomorrow with a sports magazine � this is indeed a pure graphic design job, they got my resume through my school. Sounds pretty exciting but who knows! Will see tomorrow. Also I hope to get hold of HR dude at that company where they put me on hold for a month because new VP was starting his position. I still felt I was unbelievably close to getting this job, and if HR guy didn�t lie and this was truly the case, then I see no reason why wouldn�t they consider me still � after presumably the VP has already begun his work and all that. This still seems to me an ideal job � pure graphics, very close to home, nice atmosphere, established company�

So I am keeping faith that something will come up.

Another important thing � we started to look for a house! For better or worse, we are stable financially now and while I don�t have a full time job, I do not see that contractor job expiring any time soon � they happen to love me as well ;) � neither is Mike�s job going away, so we figured now would be a good time to start looking. So we started a bit last weekend, just drove around and checked out open houses. It wasn�t very encouraging. We are looking around certain areas obviously, and some houses were way too overpriced for the space they provided. The way I see it, we cannot get away with less than 3 bedrooms �if we have more than 1 kid � hopefully! � 2 bedrooms just wouldn�t cut it. And anything with 3 bedrooms is getting to be at this ridiculous price range. Of course we just started and all but I do hope we can find something within our means with some space to it! I do not see a point in moving from one cramped apartment to another, if we are already buying something we should think long-term, with consideration for our future family (hopefully!!). Mike understands this as well, so we�ll see what our search brings. Of course ideally I wish we also had a basement � that would solve office problems and recreation, etc. But those are hard to come by. So would be curious what we�ll end up with.