18 days. Has it really been 18 days since I last updated? It doesn�t feel like it�s been 18 days, but it is, apparently, true. I always forget that once you hit Thanksgiving, the days fly by until New Years day. So, it�s been two and a half weeks, huh? I need to read my last entry so I�ll know what was going on then.

[reads last entry]

Oh yeah. Wow -- that was a long time ago. I don�t have gobs and gobs of news to report beyond the few bits I�m going to tell you now (I like the word �gobs� by the way), but there have been a few things to note.

1.) I am finally able to say, happily and without hesitation, that I am gainfully employed. Retail � be gone! No more temping for THIS redhead (and joleen, please join me in my joy that I didn�t become a waitress). Last Thursday, out of the blue, I got a call from someone who�d gotten my resume from someone else, and they were hiring for a receptionist (I�m good at recepting). I came in for an interview the next morning, and an hour later they offered me the job. I started on Monday. This job is wonderful for many reasons: it pays much better than retail and temp work; it makes me feel useful; I have lots of downtime which will translate into my return, beginning today, to daily diary entries; it gives me the luxury of not only medical insurance, but DENTAL insurance. I�ve never had dental insurance before � I feel so mature.

2.) If you�ll recall (or maybe you won�t because I don�t think I wrote about it), I�d been asked by two production companies in LA to send them my script. This was the first week I was living in the Bay area, so that makes it approximately six weeks ago. Since I sent the scripts I�ve heard nothing. Nada. Not a peep � which is actually normal. They say (you know, �they� being the �they� everyone refers to without ever knowing to whom they�re referring) it takes between six weeks and six months for agencies and production companies to get back to a new writer (�new� being a writer whose work hasn�t been purchased or produced). So, yesterday I get a message on my cell phone from one of the companies.

�Hi Minired, this is The Agency Guy from That Agency. I read your script, and I�m calling to get back to you about it, so you can give me a call at ###-###-####.�

And, of course, when I call he wasn�t there. I left a message, and ever since then I�ve been trying to decode his message. Just the fact that he got back to me at virtually the earliest possible time in the getting-back-to-a-new-writer window leads me to believe that he couldn�t have hated it, or else he wouldn�t bother calling at all. However, he didn�t exactly sound urgent about getting a hold of me � �you can give me a call,� he said. You CAN give me a call, not you MUST give me a call, so he probably didn�t love it. And here�s my question: If I don�t hear from him by this afternoon, should I call again? If I do call again, does that show tenacity, or is it just annoying? Anyone know the etiquette on this? If I don�t hear from him today and I don�t call him, then I�ll go on wondering what he thought of it and, in turn, it will continue to bug me. On the other hand, the not knowing allows me to have wonderful, detailed daydreams about becoming an immediate (albeit fabricated) success.

3.) Non is so wonderful. On Monday morning, I got out of the shower and went into the kitchen to find him packing me a lunch for my first day of work. (I won�t type �awww�, but you can say it out loud to yourself). We�ve been pretty busy lately, and we�ve got things going on every night through the end of the weekend beginning tomorrow, but tonight we have nothing on the agenda. I�m looking forward to not having to share him for a night. I foresee a movie and some quality couch cuddling. I love that man. LOVE.

It�s already 11:00 � more recepting needs to be done. It�s nice to be needed.