As usual lately...

I worked my ass off today. Today I was selling a special product, however, and for some reason I always have great success with stuff like that. I HATE HATE HATE cold-calling selling. Usually when I do it I do great. (Last project no - right now I can't even remember what it was) but yesterday and today I rocked AND I get 10% straight-up commission on this one. I sold one full page at $1200, so there's $120 extra dollars on next month's pay. Woot! I'm not sure on all the others what I will end up with. I sold Kroger and because they are a big national company I am hoping for a full page or something large, at least. I might go in tomorrow and start the paperwork for processing the ads. There is A LOT to do, plus I have a few more people who said they'd make their final decision Monday morning so I have to make follow-up calls by 10:00. It will be better if I have as much done as possible when I get there. I worked for about half an hour last night while Michael was in his orchestra rehearsal, mostly just doing stuff like putting things away, filing and cleaning off my desk, and even doing that made my day go better today. I was still VERY stressed and tired at the end of it all. Cold-calling and selling things is like this character I have to become to succeed and it is mentally and emotionally draining.

So since we have been home tonight I have read and played on the computer and that is all. I have a lot I want to accomplish tomorrow. I'll probably make THE LIST, but tonight is for recovery, including bed soon with no clock set.

Tomorrow Michael has a "Show Up Alley Cat" bike race. They do different things at different races. This one is going to have three check points where each rider must accomplish some unknown task before they can continue. The total route is about ten miles. They are also having a one minute trick competition. I wouldn't mind watching the tricks, but this bike group is one place Michael doesn't want me to be. He says he's not embarrassed to be seen with me and he goes everyplace else with me okay, so I think this is just his world and his way of separating from me and I have to let it go.

He interviewed for a job at Target yesterday assembling the BIKES. They said they are not going to hire for a couple of weeks. It would be cool if he would get it, then he would be a professional bike mechanic as well as a community volunteer bike mechanic AND a solar bike team mechanic and rider!

Michael got his letter from the college boards that he is in the top 50,000. He will either end up a semi-finalist or at least get a letter of commendation. Either way they will notify two colleges you choose about your status. He's thinking of Harvey Mudd, in California and Swarthmore in Pennsylvania. I guess both have great engineering programs. He's deciding on Mechanical engineering now. Emily got the letter of commendation on hers, which I think is what prompted her invitation to University of Chicago. We campus visited there and I loved it, but once we went to Purdue she really just wanted to go there. I couldn't understand because Chicago is so much more prestigious and cool to me, but it was her choice...
U of Chicago swore they'd make it financially possible for everybody invited to go, but she is probably better off financially in the end from going to Purdue. Michael swears at both Harvey Mudd and Swarthmore if they accept you, you get GRANT money and not loans to meet financial need. I feel skeptical, but we'll see, I guess. We might be able to swing a visit to PA, but at Mudd, he'd have to do everything over the phone, unless they send out recruiters, but I don't know how those private colleges work, so they might do that.

I had bought at half price fifty dollars to use at an Italian restaurant (Grazie) so after work and Michael was done with solar bike we went out for a VERY nice dinner. We spent the entire fifty bucks + three more and I gave the waitress all my money for a tip, which turned out to be about eight dollars. She probably deserved more, but I literally gave her all the money I had except I didn't dig for change. I needed the relaxation SO badly. We could have come home and Michael would have made spaghetti for us, but I would have ended up with the dishes, this way, no more dishes. We also brought home a piece of tiramisu Michael can have tomorrow. That's what took us over the edge of the fifty.

Well, I must feed fishies, take meds, and maybe read or watch TV or something until I zonk, which will be very soon. I can feel it coming on. I may be too tired to even check FB again. Yawnnn...

Positive thoughts for safety for our bike racers tomorrow and also for a good, productive day so I will feel relaxed when we go to Lafayette on Sunday.