Tonight was my grandma’s 80th birthday. A milestone to be sure.  We held a surprise dinner for her at a local restaurant, and many in our family showed up.

I finally got to meet my cousin Breanne’s boyfriend and “daughter” Jerry and Shanick. Both are lovely, and I was thrilled to bits to get a hug from Shanick at the end of the night.

Grandma seemed touched that we’d all made it out to help her celebrate the day. I’m glad I was there. There’s been so many missed events that have come from living abroad so long, and it’s nice to be back where I can easily meet up with family and friends.

Also got to see my cousin Aric, who I haven’t seen since early 2007, and then it was under terrible circumstances, as we all were visiting my grandpa in the hospital before he died.

Sadly, I made some big mistakes in ordering. Thinking to save money, as well as keep my meal light, I ordered the mysterious sounding, “Shrimp Mary” and some sweet potato fries.

Well, Shrimp Mary turned out to be four shrimp, each wrapped in bacon and then smothered in honey. I had one bite and then offered up the rest to my family. Grandma had one, with no real opinion, my dad had another, and he could take it or leave it. It left one and a half left, and no one else would try it. Not that I blame them. Pork and fish doesn’t seem to go together. Especially when you add honey. Meh.

The sweet potato fries were also a disappointment. They, too, were smothered in honey! Now, don’t get me wrong. I like honey. I do. But it does not belong on sweet potato fries. I guess the menu had said “Sweet potato fries with honey,” but I thought that meant it was COOKED in honey. Not that they added it afterward. Yick.

So my dad spent the evening sneaking me bites of his steak and fries. Yum. He couldn’t finish it all and gave me the rest to take home, and of all the luck, as I was getting out of my car at the end of the night, the doggy bag came lose and the steak wound up in a mud puddle in my driveway. GRRRR.

Ah well. I guess we can’t have everything.

Anyway, the night was a success.  But now I am beyond tired and needing some sleep.

Tomorrow is payday! HALLELUJAH!

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!

I can finally announce what I’ve been wanting to announce all week but which I was waiting to make official. As of Monday, I begin my brand spanking new job as a Radio Producer!!

Our local stations were hiring, and I applied on a whim. When I was in high school, I was Director of the school TV station, as well as Editor of the newspaper and yearbook. I went to college to pursue communications, but I wound up majoring in straight journalism, which I didn’t enjoy. But my dream has always been to work in broadcasting of some sort.

Anyway, I had my interview on Monday, and they were REALLY impressed. I read a commercial for them so they could hear my voice, and I talked to them for ages about my experience. I left the interview with a good feeling, but I knew they had other people to see.

I got a call later Monday, before they’d even finished seeing the rest of the applicants, and they told me in no uncertain terms that I was JUST what they were looking for, and I was asked to come in again today for further discussion.

So in I went this morning, and I was asked to join the team! I recorded a commercial for Sears, which will air soon, and I worked with one of the other producers for a couple of hours to learn a little about their production process. It was so interesting and amazing!

I am beyond excited about this!

I’m going to be doing most of the editing of commercials, promos, news, etc. This includes adding background music, recording some of the dialogue, and messing with audio levels, etc. I’ll have to write copy for some of the news reports, and I will fill in now and then on the air.

This is something I’ve wanted for YEARS but have never really pursued because I didn’t think I could get where I wanted to go without a college degree. But I GOT THE JOB!

This is the start of a career which excites and motivates me, and I cannot wait for the future to get here. :)

HUZZAH!

* Local folk: I’m working for Kibco Radio, WNAE/WRRN/WKNB. Listen out for me now and then! :)

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.

So after much soul searching, Ross and I decided that in order for me to find the job of my dreams, I needed to really focus on only applying for roles that would make me happy, no matter what money it is. So to combine my love of art and writing, I decided to pursue a career in marketing.

I started about three weeks ago, sending CV after CV out, registering with agencies and REALLY trying to find “the one.”

I finally got two interviews. One is a fairly local company who were in need of a Marketing Coordinator. The other is all the way in Maidenhead, and it was a Marketing Admin role. Both were amazing opportunities. I had the first interview last week, and they somehow liked me. They asked me to come back and give a 20 minute presentation to the Sales Manager.

The second job I interviewed for earlier this week, and they were great too. The money was fantastic, and the prospects were good for the future. I was divided.

Thinking I wasn’t good enough for the Marketing Coordinator role, I pinned my hopes on the second company since they seemed to LOVE me at the interview.

I was told I’d have an answer yesterday, and I never got the call.

Today, I had the second interview at the first company, and despite being sick and very nervous, I managed to NAIL the presentation.

I got a call within an hour and a half offering me this prestige position. I immediately called my agent from the second job and told them I needed an answer today. They came back to me quickly and said that I hadn’t got the job offer from the second job after all (a more qualified candidate came up), but that they were offering me a DIFFERENT position within their company.

Following my heart and my mind, I knew that there was only one job I wanted.

So next Wednesday I start a brand new job as the Marketing Coordinator for a company I will henceforth refer to as Current Employer.

Bam. I am ridiculously overjoyed.

Excitement abounds today! I got a new job!

Ross noticed last week that The New Rose, a pub in town was hiring full and part time bar staff. We decided to have dinner there last night, and I submitted my CV to the landlady. She asked me to come in this morning and have a chat. I was there at opening, and I was interviewed by her husband, John.

After a 40 minute conversation, he offered me the job! I start tomorrow on the lunch shift. I’ll be working 11 - 3. I will be doing around 30 - 35 hours per week at £6 per hour, which is WAY less than I am used to earning, but I can still do some hours for Ross to get extra cash.

This is very exciting news, though a bit strange… my mom’s been telling me for years that I should be a barmaid. And my brother works (or rather worked) in a bar for a long time! I’ll learn to pull pints and sling beverages all around. It should be pretty damn cool.

The sad thing is that tips don’t seem to be a big part of working at pubs. Though I’ll be taking orders and filling drinks and waiting tables, I will simply be making the bare minimum.

The good news is that it makes for excellent experience. And being that I’m moving back to the States in about 6 months (Remember I promised big news in an earlier post!), it’ll allow me to get a bar job back in America. And that WILL include tips!

Wahey!

ETA: Had a mental breakdown the second day and wound up quitting… actually, is it still quitting if you just don’t show up? Or is that called getting fired? *shrug*