Today, for the first time in my new job, I got to do a REAL broadcast. Not just a commercial or a quick community bulletin, but a FIVE MINUTE broadcast.

And what, you ask, did I get to do???
SPORTS!

That’s right kids, complete with personal introduction (ie - This is Katie Williams with Sports, brought to you by Little Caesars, etc) I compiled and read out results from recent sports events! It was totally a last minute thing with my boss telling me he just wanted to see how I sounded. So I put it together (with a little help from the regular sports fella) and then I called my parents to tell them to listen. :)

They were so proud of me! Hell, *I* was so proud of me! :)

In the greater scheme of things, it isn’t that big a deal. It was likely forgotten five minutes after people heard it, but the fact of the matter is that I got to do it. :D

Also today, I got to interview a member of the Chamber of Commerce for a weekly special called Chamber Corner. That, too, got an introduction with my name, and I’m so frickin’ excited. Being honest, it was kind of awful. I was so nervous that I couldn’t think of anything to say, and since it’s an interview segment, it was kind of a problem. But luckily it doesn’t air until tomorrow afternoon, so I’m happily editing it so that I don’t seem quite so spastic. :)

Have I mentioned how much I love my job??
On the downside, however, I am sitting here at 10:30 PM suddenly conflicted about whether or not I prepared tomorrow’s community news for the morning… That could be a problem, as if I didn’t, then last Friday’s community news will play, and that means the folks in town will be mighty confused to hear a lot of stuff about Halloween! D’oh!

I honestly don’t know if I did it or not. I can’t remember having had the opportunity, but at the same time, I’m SURE I remember replacing October 31st with November 7th… I guess I’ll find out in the morning.

For now, I think I ought to get to bed. I’ve not been sleeping well, and I am pretty tired.

But I’m trying to update my blog every day for a month, as one of my 101 in 1001 goals, and I figured I’d better do it before midnight!

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve updated. I’ve been a busy little beaver!!

As mentioned in my last post, I started a new job on the 20th of October as a radio producer for our local radio stations (WNAE/WRRN/WKNB). I just finished my first two weeks, and I am KNACKERED.

But my overwhelming feeling is one of absolute adoration for my job. I’ve NEVER felt that way before. I enjoy getting up in the mornings, I enjoy going in to work, I enjoy being busy, and I am so thankful for how well it’s going.

Though I am still new at all of this, I think (and my managers have validated this) that I am doing a great job. I never really realised how much work goes in to radio production. Not just what DJs do, but exact timings, producing commercials, voice over work, recording people, putting together promos and liners, etc. I do so much every day, and I am amazed at how much work it takes.

My voice has been going out a LOT in the last two weeks. Not only have I recorded commercials for local stores and events, but we also have commercials we do for radio stations all over the country. So my voice has been going out on commercials, possibly even in your town! Yesterday, I even had to SING a jingle for a commercial. Crazy, eh?

I’ve also been producing a few segments every day, one called Community Calendar, and one called Ask Your Realtor. In both of these, I basically babble for a few minutes on pre-written events.  But as of next week, I’m going to be taking over a segment called “Chamber Corner” where I’ll be interviewing someone from the Chamber of Commerce each week on a specified topic. It’s a five minute spot, so I’m REALLY excited.

Other than that, I’ve just been learning a LOT. I have some great teachers who have been in radio for decades. It’s amazing to already know more than I thought I could possibly learn in 2 weeks. And I have given back all I can by teaching some of the older generation how to do certain computer tricks which have helped them save a lot of time.

To sum up, it’s going well!

I started NaNoWriMo today. So far I have 1882 words, which is a slow start, but I don’t plan on quitting. For once I have a solid story and am so very excited to be telling it. It’s a children’s book, and hopefully it will appeal to someone, somewhere. :)

Last night (Halloween) I went to my dad’s house to help him pass out candy to local kids. We only got about three visitors, which I know disappointed my dad. But he wouldn’t have missed those three for anything. He has such a big heart, and I know he was so happy to be able to be a part of it.

My neice also stopped by. She just turned three, and she’s so cute. She dressed up as a cute white cat, and she demanded candy. It was sweet.

Tomorrow we’re having a joint birthday party for her and for my other neice who turns a year old tomorrow. So I’m going down to my parents to see them. :) It should be good. :)

Anyway, not much else going on. I dont’ want to waste all my words for the day on a blog update, so back to NaNoWriMo I go!

Wow. In my never ending quest for the right job (and by “right job” I mean anything that will pay me enough to make rent next month!), I’ve managed to be inundated with opportunities in the last few days.  First off, last week I accepted a part time role at my local Goodwill shop. Though on my second day, I got sent home incredibly ill, and the next three days I called off… Not very good of me, but I truly was quite ill at the time.

Then, through careful observation, I noticed that the Family Video store two blocks away from me was hiring, so I went in there and have been offered a part time position starting next Saturday. It will move into full time in the coming weeks, which is great.  Then, in another piece of good fortune, I was offered a position at Pizza Hut! Obviously not ideal, but hey, it  pays! I am meant to start there next week.

Then, feeling very thankful to have found positions, I got a call from the local radio station asking me to interview for a Production Assistant role with possible on-air duties! How cool is that? It’s only 30 hours a week, during the day, so I would love to get it. I interview on Monday.

And today I had a message from the BIG company in our area, a company my brother works for, in fact, to set up an interview as a customer service telephone rep paying over a DOLLAR more than I am getting anywhere else.

So things are looking up. I’m just hoping that I get offered all the roles and can mix and match to find exactly the right amount of hours so I earn as much as possible. Right now I am flat broke, and I still need to find the money to buy Ross a plane ticket to come see me next month!

I know there is someone out there looking out for me.

Okay, so I’ve been promising a big update for a while now, so I think it’s about time.

So I left the UK on the third of September and traveled for 21.5 hours to reach the house of my childhood. Anticipating my arrival, my wonderful parents had done me the courtesy of setting up the spare room for me so that I could get a good night’s sleep. Sadly, that first day, I only managed a few hours before awaking and promptly getting ill.

The next few days I concentrated on buying a car. I quickly found myself a lovely turquoise Geo Prism from 1995, which cost me just under $3,000 including taxes, registration and license plates. Happily kitted out in a swish new ride, I began attending job interviews and sending my resume out to as many places as possible. The bites I was getting all turned out to be sales jobs, which for me isn’t so great, since I hate sales jobs. But money is money, and I was running low, so I eventually accepted a position at the local newspaper as a travelling ad salesperson. BIG MISTAKE.

I also in the last two weeks found that my brother’s girlfriend (a girl I actually graduated high school with!) knew that the second floor apartment in her building was on the market to be rented. So I called her landlord and set up a viewing. Though the place is very old fashioned (dark wood floors, dark wood doors, and mint green paint!), I thought it had character. It is comprised of three rooms, a large kitchen, a large living room, and a large bedroom, as well as a lovely set of stairs leading down to a medium sized foyer, which THEN leads to a very large enclosed front porch.   I took it immediately, and though the rent is fairly steep for the area, I think I got a good deal.

I picked up the keys at the end of last week, and I decided to spend my Saturday moving into it. I had a wedding shower to attend in the early afternoon, but my little brother was perfectly happy to help me carry what MINIMAL furniture I had later in the day. For the record, I had a bed.  And that is all.

I enjoyed the wedding shower very much, and I was super excited to see 5 of my very best friends from high school (including the girl who’s shower it was). We all reminisced and re-bonded, and it was soon clear that we NEEDED to hang out more. The weather on the day was terrible. Rain poured all day long, and I realised after a couple of hours that I wouldn’t be able to move after all, so I called my brother to cancel.

Without any plans any longer, I was invited (along with the rest of the gang) to come up to Salamanca in New York and go to the Seneca casino with my friends. I was going to be one of the designated drivers, but sadly we quickly realised that one of my headlights was out. D’oh! Instead, we took two cars up there, and upon arrival, I took $40 that I’d got for babysitting my neice and step-nephew and invested it in the slot machines.

In the first machine I tried, I won $8. Another roll, another $8. The third roll, I won $10. It continued like this until I eventually got greedy and wound up with close to $5 left!

As we were all hungry, we went upstairs to one of the fine dining restaurants and had some food. The six of us chatted and were quite happy to be together again, and for the third time of the evening, I suggested that we should make a casino pact - if any of us won big, we should split the winnings six ways. If I’m being honest, I didn’t REALLY mean that we should split it. I simply didn’t believe that any of us would win any big money! And everyone laughed and told me they wouldn’t be sharing any winnings with me.

So imagine my surprise after dinner when we went back down to the casino. Brookie, Alicia, Ryan and Amanda all wanted to go play the poker tables, which had a minimum bet of $10.  Wendy and I decided to go by ourselves over to the non-smoking room of the casino and find the penny machines. We did a circuit to see what machines were on offer. Wendy wanted the 1 cent machines, but I found a 5 cent machine which I deemed “feels lucky.” So Wendy begrudgingly sat down next to me and put her money in a machine.

I had little money left, but I figured I could make it go up again if I played the Max Bet. So I pulled the lever, and I lost. I pulled again, and I was down to 76 cents. I shrugged my shoulders and pulled one last time. This time it was a win.

A big win.

A $5,000 win.

I didn’t believe it at first. The machine tells you how many POINTS you win, and it said 100,000. Wendy said you divide the points by the bet (5 cents) and it gives you how much you won. She said, “Katie, I think you just won the Jackpot. $5,000.”

“No way. It is probably just $50.”

The money continued to go up…

“Okay… maybe it’s $500…”

Up some more.

“Wendy, I think I just won a LOT of money.”

“Katie,” she said. “You won the JACKPOT.”

“Wendy,” I said. “I won the Jackpot!”

By this point, the lights were flashing and people were coming up to me congratulating me. A message popped up on the screen telling me to call for an attendant to come give me my payout. So I hit the service button and waited. No one came. The rules in the casino are clearly posted everywhere: If the machine breaks, you don’t win the money. I tried to send Wendy to go find someone, but she was afraid to leave me alone in case someone tried to steal my win.

So we tried calling Brookie and the rest of the gang… but we got no answer. So I called my dad. I wanted to tell someone.

“I could hardly hear him over the noise of the casino, but I said, “Daddy. I just won $5,000.”

He was quiet for a few seconds and then very calmly said, “Well that’s good. Congratulations.”

“I just thought I’d let you know.”

“Well good. Be careful driving home.”

I love my dad.

Anyway, eventually the attendant came over to take my information. There was slight concern because my drivers license is in my married name, my social security card is in my maiden name, and the form I filled out had my NEW address on it, while my license had my parents address on it. So we had to get a few things straight. The man finally told me to wait there while he went and got my money for me.

As he went away, Wendy and I spied Brookie and the gang walking in to the room. I began waving frantically, and Wendy ran over to them and told them the news. With disbelief, they all came running over. Seeing that we spoke the truth, they began congratulating me excitedly, and Amanda grabbed the machine next to mine and began funneling money into it.

A few minutes later a gaggle of casino reps came over and made a big show of counting me out the money in cash, and I got all my friends to stand with me while they took our picture for their “Recent Winners” slide show.

(L-R: Ryan, Amanda, Me, Wendy, Brookie, Alicia)

After that, everyone realised that the odds of another in our group winning big was slim to none. So we decided to go home. I gave each of my friends $50 as a thank you for a great night.

Amazingly, this money came at the exact right time for me. Having to move into my house within days, I was finally able to buy myself some furniture for my new abode.

So I am the proud new owner of a flatscreen tv and dvd player, a GORGEOUS green velvet couch, a laptop computer, a table and chairs, a mahogany dresser, a Martha Stewart kitchen island and loads of decorations.

Yee haw!

On Tuesday night, I spent my first night alone in the new place. It was scary, but good good fun. I was able to get my phone and internet connected very quickly, and though I don’t yet have cable, I am very happy with my current setup.

This last week has been the luckiest of my life. Besides winning the money, EVERYTHING that I bought for my house came up either on sale or FREE.

And that job that I accepted as a salesperson?  With my rent paid for the next few months, I no longer have to take it. I am now free to find a job I’ll actually love. AND I can afford to have my husband fly out to see me in November for Thanksgiving and our 5 year wedding anniversary.

God works in mysterious ways. And I know there is SOME power out there right now doing everything to help me out.

As I mentioned recently, I had a job interview yesterday for a marketing role that I was really keen to get. As I also mentioned, it is a pretty senior role that I never thought I could get. Well, as it happens, I did really well in the interview, and they’ve asked me to come back in on Monday and give a presentation!

They want me to basically give a two part presentation involving

1/ a demonstration of how I would quickly and efficiently familiarise myself with their company and products.
2/ a fictional product they want me to develop a marketing initiative for

So I have four days to get something put together. I’m supposed to spend about 20 minutes talking, after which I’ll be given yet another grilling, this time by the Sales Director.  The job in question is to actually be the ENTIRE marketing department for this company! o_O

They’ve gone through two people in two years, and they want someone fresh, enthusiastic and full of ideas. I think I put it across very well that I am the person for the job….

Only now I’m wondering if I really am.  It seems way over my head. I don’t have any marketing qualifications, nor do I really have any concrete marketing experience. I haven’t claimed any experience I haven’t had, but I’ve “marketed” myself a certain way to achieve a good result. But now I’m sitting here doubting my own abilities and thinking of various reasons not to do the interview!

I’ve given presentations before. In fact, as an ex-flight attendant, I can boast experience of public demonstrations to up to 50 people at once! So presenting to two people should be no issue. Especially as this will be a big part of the job if I get it!

I went out today and bought a book titled “How To Market Your Business - A practical guide to advertising, PR, selling and diret and online marketing.”  I’m hoping it’ll help me come up with some great ideas.

I wish I knew why I so often talk myself out of the positive things in my life. I guess I feel like if I don’t try, then I can’t fail. What I need to get through my head is that not trying IS failing.

Bah.

I suppose my attitude isnt helped by the fact that I’m ill. I got a headache before bed last night, and I woke up with a terrible migraine this morning. I wound up in bed until 2 PM! I spent all day in excruciating pain, nauseous and feeling like I’d been hit by a truck.  A bath, some lemsip and a lot of quiet seems to have helped, but I’m still not feeling great.

Anyway, in other news, yesterday I attended the Endocrinology Clinic at the Royal Berks. I’ve been waiting for an appointment since I got back from Brno.  Basically while I was in hospital, they found out I had low cortisol levels, and as that can be life threatening, I was made an emergency priority when I got back.  (Of course, the fact that I STILL had to wait an extra 5.5 weeks despite my emergency status just shows how difficult the NHS can really be.)

The short story is that I am going back on Tuesday morning for the test that will determine whether I definitely have Addison’s Disease or not. They will draw blood, inject me with some horomone, and then draw blood again at half hourly intervals. If I have the disease, I’ll be on hydrocortisone for the rest of my life. BOO! If I don’t have it, they will slowly wean me off of the 25 mg per day I’ve been taking.

In other other news, Ross and I had a fight tonight. He left the house a couple hours ago, and I’ve no idea where he’s gone. I’m not sure I really care right now.