Cramming

ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL: We've had four days (!!!!) of blue skies in a row. That is cause for celebration, to be sure. All this sun puts us on serious daffodil watch. We don't have any blooming yet, but many look oh-so-close.

Meanwhile, out out in the garden, these mystery flowers have been blooming all winter, no kidding. We don't know what they are or where they came from. None of us recall them being here our two winters prior that we've lived at this place. Anyone out there know what they are? 

It occurs to me we had some earth moving done last spring in the area where these showed up, so maybe that unearthed these? 

ABSORBED: Seems I have a dearth of things to post about the past couple of days. I blame Japan.

More specifically, Japanese. More accurately, CJ's Japanese class. He's been studying for a big test, and we've been trying to help. (Believe you me, Annabelle is a *lot* more help than I am. She is learning it right along with him. My help comes in the form of implementing various study strategies.)

One of the things we've done to help us remember the new-to-us words is watch some YouTube videos with 'catchy' songs featuring Japanese vocabulary.

Here are a couple of the little ditties that have been rolling round in our heads the past couple of days.

The first one is a Japanese version of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

Much to Annabelle's chagrin, CJ actually sang during most of our walk yesterday.

And this song helps listeners learn how to count people in Japanese.


JOB FRONT: I mentioned a bit ago that CJ and I applied for (different) jobs. Yesterday, we each had some movement on that front. I had an interview at King County Elections as a temporary helper during election periods. 

It was an interesting interview. There was a timed data entry test, and a proofreading test. After that, an agility test. Yes, really. We had to move boxes of varying sizes in varying ways. Lastly, a group interview, seven applicants and two interviewers. 

Have I mentioned I haven't interviewed for a job since, oh, around 2005, I think?  And have I also mentioned I literally wrote the book (well, training manual) that was used statewide (15 years ago) to teach people how to prepare for a job interview? Needless to say, I had to dust off some cobwebs and remember advice I used to provide. It was funny, the three questions they asked were straight from the book - ones you could almost always expect to be asked, and so you should be ready for them. 

Anyway, I guess it went OK, because I got a call offering me a job this morning. It's funny, the training (5 days) lasts as long as the temp job, I think. Oh well. I am definitely looking forward to learning more about the election process, which is the primary reason I applied to begin with.

Also yesterday, CJ received an email that he'd passed the first screen for the library page position he applied for, so his resume and app are being forwarded to the hiring manager, who will decide whom to interview. That made him feel pretty good to learn he survived at least the first cut. It's the first job he's ever applied for.