Answers

I'm sure that all of you have been losing sleep, wondering what I am going to do.

First, should you ever get giant blisters, follow the advice from all the medical websites that I ended up reading and LEAVE THEM ALONE.  I thought that it was going to take weeks for mine to heal (that's how bad they were), but I kept them covered with antibiotic ointment and band-aids and they were better in a matter of days.  I also decided to suck it up and buy new shoes, so I am much happier now.  I am really trying to live a healthier lifestyle (I've been drinking spinach for breakfast and I like it), so not even The Husband complained about the shoes.*

I have been thinking, pretty much non-stop, about the job possibility and I've decided that I really want it.  I've talked to The Husband and we can make the traveling work.  There are negatives to it, of course, but also a lot of positives.  I've been thinking a lot about my stress level and what I can handle without going crazy throughout my job search.  Stress has played such a big part in my health--I wonder if things had been less stressful three years ago if it would have been as bad as it was.  In a lot of ways, this job has less stress than many of the others that I've applied for.  Due to the nature of the work, I think that I will get to leave it at the end of the day.  There will be fewer disasters at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon that I can't fix and thus spend all weekend stressing about.  I talked to the manager today.  I really like him.  (I am trying extremely hard not to get to sold on this job because I don't want to crash if I don't get it.)  When I had my phone interview last Thursday, the manager totally caught me by surprise, so he asked me to call him this week after I'd had some time to think.  I told him today that I'd done a lot of thinking about the job and the traveling and that it is something that I really want to do.**  I had several detailed questions about the position and I was trying really hard to sound smart.  I think that the manager let slip that I've made it to the next round of interviews, which will be in person and probably in Boston.  (It's very weird that they haven't met me yet.)  My fingers, toes, ankles and everything else is crossed--I will hopefully hear something next week. 

I've been feeling very happy and perky lately.  I am really hoping that this is a combination of trying to live a healthier life and feeling more positive about the job search.  I've been sleeping less, which is good.  Of course, I still feel like I can never really trust my body and every time I start to feel happy, I worry that it's the beginning of mania.  I pray that some day I will be able to feel my feelings without being scared of them. 

*I also had a coupon...

**Since I'm about ready to turn pro, or at least join the Olympic Interviewing Team, let me give some advice, should any of you have to interview again.  Tell the interviewer that you really want the job.  It will feel so weird and awkward the first time that you do it and you will totally feel like a dork.  Of course you want the job, you will be saying to yourself, they know that or why would I be putting myself through this form of torture.  I've had several people tell me that NO ONE actually asks for the job during an interview because it feels so weird.  Doing so shows how confident you are (even if you are trembling like a leaf on the inside) and the person interviewing you will get another hint of your fabulous-ness.  Because you are fabulous.