Sour Grapes, Or Honest Assessment?

I started my new job on Monday. The first day was quite rough. Long story...don't ask. But suffice it to say that I felt overwhelmed, and I second-guessed myself about going back to work. Luckily, the week got better, and I am getting the hang of things at the office. My boss told me on Thursday that he was very pleased at how quickly I am learning things. Boy, did I need to hear that! Especially since I felt like I wasn't learning fast enough. I guess it just goes to show that we are our own worst critics sometimes.

The good news is that my writing hasn't fallen completely by the wayside. Despite the dishes, the cooking, and getting the baby fed and put to bed at a decent hour after work, I still manage to do a little writing most nights. Of course, it's usually only a paragraph or a few sentences, but anything helps. It's better than not writing anything at all.

And besides, I've been doing more writing today, now that it's the weekend anyway. Things are looking up for me.

Mostly.

I still have never received any word about my short story that I submitted. So, I went online to the website, and the early results were posted. I did not win either the grand prize or the first place in the category I submitted to. I'm disappointed and frustrated. Especially since I skimmed through the story that won the category I submitted to, and I don't think it is nearly as good as mine. It's certainly not half as creative...and on the risk of sounding snotty, it's well...cliched.

Blah. How do you know when your work is honestly better than someone else's, or when it's just a case of sour grapes?

Well, fine. If they don't want my story, I'll submit it elsewhere. THEIR LOSS!

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They Say No News Is Good News...But Sometimes News Is Just Good News.

Good news! I have a job! I went in for an interview this morning, and I got hired for the position! I'm excited and nervous. I just hope I can meet my boss's expectations. We're starting things from the ground up in some ways, as he is taking over the company since the original owner is retiring. I will be doing office work at an insurance company here in town, and among other things, I will be creating a manual for other people to reference later, on the procedures and systems for everything. Since I know nothing about insurance and I've never put anything like that together before, this is intimidating in some aspects, but he obviously looked past that to my willingess to learn and my ability to learn quickly. And you never know what you can do if you try, do you?

I'm feeling upbeat tonight, though tired. It was a good day. I even did a little writing. Not a whole lot, but a little.

Even a little writing looks like a victory from where I stand today.

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Just Call Me Grumpy.

1418 words in the past couple of days. Not bad. I just hope I can keep it up. In the meantime, I'm trying to get a job. There is a position I particularly want that I have applied to recently, but I am trying not to get too attached to it in case I don't get it. And, considering the current state of the economy and the fact that a lot of people are out of work, there's a good chance that I won't.

Man, am I pessimistic today, or what?

There's just a lot of things going wrong lately, I guess. I need something to go right. Maybe the weather is part of it, too. There's nothing like cold weather to make you feel like saying, "Bah humbug!" to everything.

Well, I'm going to try to apply to more jobs and do some more writing, if my daughter permits me to. She's gotten a real attitude lately, heaven help us, when things don't go her way. Plus, she's become real clingy. I can't wait for this stage to end.

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