Working Girl

I had my first Temp assignment yesterday. It was data entry and of course boring. I had thought of bringing my ipod, but wasn't sure since it was the first day. The night before there was talk of a rain/snow mix and the boyfriend warned of traffic, so I left 45 minutes early. In reality there was little rain and no traffic. I was almost 30 minutes early. 

I was put to work entering the results of a survey of 5th -12th grade students on graduation and drop outs. The only thing that made this interesting were the questions on the back that allowed the students to write their own answers. I was really surprised to find out how much bullying is a problem. Over all students wanted school to be "more fun" and some even wanted to be paid or awarded prizes for graduation. Otherwise, the task was monotonous, a series of 1234 on the keypad. 

The assignment was supposed to be for Monday and Tuesday. When I arrived, I was told it might go until Wednesday. After I started I began to wonder if I could survive through Wednesday. I daydreamed about ice cream and coffee all day long, which is not good for someone counting calories. By the end of the day I had done such a good job, I had worked myself out of the job. I wasn't needed for the second or possible third day. I feel someone thankful for this. 

And I just got a call from the temp agency telling me they received rave reviews from the company I temped for yesterday. Professional, polite and efficient were words used to describe me. I wasn't surprised because the guy told me yesterday he was going to call in and give me a good reference. He even told me I was too good and hoped I wouldn't be in the temp world for long. Me too!

As I sat in the office yesterday, I couldn't help but think of how this temp assignment had screwed up my schedule. Getting up early wasn't the problem. I have been getting up before 7:30. But I wasn't able to go to the gym, or check the blogs. And a full day of work, when you're not used it, is exhausting. I was so tired when I got home, I just wanted to lay around. Plans of yoga turned into fantasies of sundaes. So I found a low fat brownie recipe (substituted the eggs with yogurt) and made a brownie sundae. Delicious and within my calorie budget. 

I did begin to think that my productive unemployment time was coming to end and about to turn to laziness. After 3 weeks of a busy schedule, I stared at iCal and saw emptiness. Even the happy hour planned for the end of the week was cancelled. I allowed myself to sleep until 8 today and laid in bed for 5 minutes. But I made myself get up and go to the gym. 

A happy text on my way out of the gym told me I had bowling with the girls I hiked with last week. This is a group that includes one girl on work disability from a broken shoulder and 2 other laid off girls. So another meeting of the unemployed it is. I'm thinking a beer may be in order.