... check-check, shaboom. (Long-time rah-rah friends will pick up on that reference.)

Strange how a cheer from WAAAAY back in the day popped into my brain when all I wanted to do was stop in and post a blog documenting my latest status. So I'm either experiencing a synapse miss-fire or minor brain dump, not quite sure. Here goes, nonetheless:

• Took the cat to the veterinarian for a wellness checkup only to learn she needed a molar extraction as a bonus procedure. Yikes.
• Found a doctor to replace my recently retired gynecologist and got that annual exam checked off my "To Do" list.  Oh, along with a mammogram.  Because I'm a glutton for self-torture, obviously - so why not get it done all at once, right?
• Last but most certainly not least, interviewed for the job opportunity OF. A. LIFETIME. So basically if I die tomorrow, at least I can say I lived long enough to be considered for the position of my absolute dreams.

*mic drop*

As all of this full-time-job-search activity rolls on, life just continues forward. So in an effort to keep the blog all fresh-like, here's a handy bulleted-list of latest achievements:

• 3 trips to the University of Lincoln shuttling the Husker Student home and back for Fall break and various doctor and dental appointments
• assisting long-time business client on a communication-related project
• scheduling and tending to other vehicle, personal health, and pet-related appointments
• maintaining a regular exercise routine, house cleaning, and shopping schedule only with more flexibility due to open work-day hours (no complaints there!)
• keeping Sling, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video in business by streaming multiple seasons of Seinfeld, Friends, Sneaky Pete, Suits... amongst others

How I feel about today's job search situation.

"... as time passed, when I breathed in and out, it took less effort. It used to be that when my alarm went off, I'd immediately feel a two-ton weight upon my chest. But then, little by little, it was one ton. And then half. And less. Until slowly I became more anesthetized to the gut-churning pain. Sheer agony became blunt pain became discomfort. And soon enough discomfort morphed into tolerance for my situation. And once I started to get used to everything, I started, step by tiny step, day by day, to feel that if I squinted hard enough, I might be able to make out an infinitesimal ray of light in the distance."

- Jill Kargman, The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund

After an exciting week of having a certain Rockstar Recruiter help me land an on-site interview with a Rockstar dot-com company, I still required more words of wisdom to keep that forward momentum going in my job search - and Alexa's Inspire Me skill did the trick with these loving words from STEVE JOBS, a lifelong hero.

The cool take-away from his motivational quote is that I have already found what I love to do. Steve would be so incredibly proud to know this!  So now I just need to put that love to use so I can go back to doing even more Great Work, lest I resort to Lyft driving or something else completely outside of my Love Zone.

**Sending out serious Ninja Brain Waves channeling that next Rockstar Career**

While I am grateful for the job application invites to become a pizza delivery or Lyft driver, call center representative, warehouse associate, insurance agent, receptionist, dog walker or pet sitter, day care worker, financial advisor, sales representative, machinist, and more, I remain fixated on my dream to return to a career that puts my background and education to best use. And after experiencing an extremely low emotional start this week, these words of inspiration received from Arnold Schwarzenegger (by way of Alexa's Inspire Me skill) helped remind me to stay focused on my vision, give 100%, and never stop believing that my dream will happen.

Thanks, Arnie.  I'll be back - most definitely.