DC: Epidose 2 (that's right I said "Epidose")

Whazzup bitches? Just writing to bring you up to speed on the impending limbo that is my nondescript existence at the moment.

Apartment.

I was supposed to find out about whether or not my lease was approved for the aparment I am dying to move into at 3217 Connnecticut Ave, NW. I called and they told me that they were still waiting for the employment verification from my mom's employer (since she is co-signing the lease for me) but that other than that things looked good. I called my mom and she made sure that they sent it over to the leasing office this afternoon. They told me to call back on Friday but I am going to call tomorrow morning just to confirm that they received the fax. Sarah Gurfein (who is hopefully going to be my new roomie and since Sarah Ruzicka objects to another Sarah in our lives, I will henceforth refer to her as "Gurfy") seems to think they are stalling since they don't have their shit together, still can't tell me when exactly I could move in or how much exactly the place costs since it's not techinically on the market, and she says it's illegal for them to approce an application for a place that's not on the market. I have no idea why it is not on the market since I was in it and it's vacant - they were just finishing up the paint job. All of this makes me increasingly nervous so I try not to overthink it.

In the meantime, Gurfy is coming in to DC on Friday, we are going to see the apartment, and - in an ideal world which probably doesn't exist for me - sign the lease that day. If something goes wrong, she and I are going to spend the weekend apartment hunting. Oh joy of joys. If all you churchgoers could please say a prayer for me that would be great. Yes, I like religion when it is convenient to me and advances my own personal goals.

Job.

I had my second interview yesterday afternoon and I think it went pretty well. Dave, who I previously interviewed with and would be my immediate boss, is an easy going, jovial guy and we had lots of laughs during the interview. When I met with him plus the president and founder of the company and the head of HR (who happens to be the president's wife), the meeting was slightly less fun-filled. Ken and Donna were nice but just a little more tight-lipped and staight-laced than Dave so it was harder to get a read on them. I think Donna was particularly suspicious of whether or not I would still be looking for a government job after they hired me. I think I answered all questions truthfully and still made myself appear to be an appealing candidate. Sometimes I think it is unfair of people to ask a 24 year-old "Is this what you want to do for your life's career choice?" Dude! Can you really make an educated decision about something like that without experiencing it? Who knows? Maybe there will be something in finance, some job aspect that I don't even know about right now, that will really excite me and give me the opportunity to travel internationally and yes, it will be what I dedicate my life to professionally. Maybe I will take the job for a year or two and bust my ass, do a great job, impress the hell out of you, learn a lot, but in the end decide that there is something out there that is better for me. Would that be so horrible? I don't know exactly what I want to do and is that really so hard to believe given my age and my past experiences and my current situation?

In any case, Dave said he thought I did really well and that he thought he looked more nervous than I did. They wanted to call on my references and do a background check so I think it would be a couple of days before I know anything. But Dave said that he should be able to tell me something by the end of the week since then the bossman is going out of town for a while. I am not in a huge rush to start working there since the commute from CM's place on public transportation is 2 FRIGGIN' HOURS!!! I shit you not. Two hours each way and that was without having to wait long for a train or bus and without delays or anything like that. If I get this apartment I want, my commute shouldn't be longer than about 45 minutes - which I can totally handle.

Oh and are any of you PowerPoint pros? Yeah, I might need some serious tutoring in PowerPoint before I start this job (knock on wood) since that's big part of it. I need to know how to make pie charts, data charts, and graphs and so on for marketing materials. Any suggestions on how to learn it or where to find a good online tutorial? By the way, if anyone wants to learn more about finance and feels completely inept on the subject - investopedia.com has these awesome, idiot-proof, user-friendly tutorials on economics and investment and stuff. Love it.

Friends.

I have none. Boo. Well, it's not quite that bad yet. Casey and I are going to a Nationals game tomorrow (I get to wear my ballcap!) and Gurfy and I will be hanging out all weekend. Hopefully she and I can be pals regardless of whether or not we live together. She seems like one of us, you know? Plus she will know some people here through her boyfriend (did I mention he lives here?) so that would be another good way to meet peeps. When I was in Spain I met a good friend of Denise and Debbie's named Emily - anyone remember me talking about maybe living with her? Well, she still plans to move here in about a month and has a roomie friend from high school. The apartment search is kicking their asses as well so she and I talk frequently to bitch about the market here. She even asked if I wanted to live with her and her friend but I had already committed to Gurfy and I would feel bad about ditching her. So hope is not entirely lost on me having some estogen-enriched buddies here in the district.

That's about all for now. My cousin is pretty much going to be out of town on work for the next three weeks - anyone want to crash at my place? :) I think I am going to visit my Aunt Penny and Uncle John in North Carolina next weekend. It should be fun since they have a 35-foot sailboat they love to go out on and I am seriously considering hang-gliding again because it's such a wicked adrenaline rush and I haven't been to Great America yet this year. But other than that stuff, my social calendar is looking pretty lame . . . I am sure I will do my best to change that though. Goals for the next couple of weeks? Research where the hip and happening language institutes are that teach Russian and find me a Planned Parenthood clinic and twist their arm until they let me volunteer.

Take care honies. Mwah.