Work Days

Jillian and I have planned an open house for my still unsold abode in Mobile, so we went over there last Saturday to do a bit of cleaning and updating. Jillian wanted to try out a few things to make the house look a bit more updated without spending a lot of money.
One of the biggest problem areas was the kitchen. Apart from the kitchen counter tops , which would be too expensive to replace, the biggest eye-sore was a cream colored range hood above the oven. All the appliances in my kitchen are black and chrome so it's a pretty terrible mismatch. We had looked into purchasing a new vent, but rather than spend $200, Jillian decided to paint it with Rust-oleum's High Heat Ultra spray paint. For a grand total of $7 plus painters tape, she ended up with pretty spectacular results.

After painting was complete and we removed the newspaper that was taped all around the oven range, we noticed that there was a lot of black mist all over the counters. Thankfully, we had a spray can of Kaboom under the sink so we got to cleanin'. With the majority of the counters clean, Jillian went to spray the wall behind the oven one last time and accidentally grabbed the wrong spray can. It didn't take too long for me to notice the black on the wall instead of blue and yelled to stop. Once we realized we could clean it off, we had a good laugh over it.
Sunday rolled around and we decided to make a return trip to the house. This time it was just to install newer/nicer window blinds. The job ended up taking a few hours and multiple battery charging cycles for the electric drill. The difference in appearance for all the rooms was pretty drastic though. I definitely didn't think it would have made as much of a difference as it did. Whatever helps sell the house.
In keeping with the theme, Jillian decided Monday afternoon was a good day to dig up half our back yard in the rental house and plant new grass seed where winter had killed the old stuff. If my shoulders weren't exhausted already from installing window blinds the day before, taking a hoe to dead grass did the trick. Another few hours of work and it was done. I really hope we get some solid results in the next couple weeks. I really don't want to go through that again.

Career Changes

Well, last Friday I received a call at work from our Corporate Office in Baltimore. On the other end was my accounting manager and the VP of systems/admin which is never a good sign for anyone. After some fluff, I was told that my position had been moved to Baltimore effective immediately and that I needed to decide if I was going to move to follow the position (without moving expense reimbursement) or find new employment. Unfortunately, moving to Baltimore just wasn't an option for Jillian and I; especially when she's the bread-winner and is under contract to stay.
So, the job hunt officially began this past Saturday. I sent out resumes to places I thought would be most appropriate and/or had job positions that I felt most comfortable with. Fortunately, I've already had one response. In fact, I interviewed with that company a few hours ago. The position involves a bit more cost accounting than my current position, but cost accounting is something I found came naturally to me when I was in college. I think a quick study through old textbooks should get me back up to speed if necessary.
Anyway, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can find some employment quick. I'm receiving about one month of severance after my position expires on the 25th of this month (originally the 14th, but I talked them into more time) so I don't really have a large window before money gets tight. There's one of the down-sides of having a home for sale and also renting a home. On a different level of down-sides, I had to shave off my newly formed facial hair to be clean shaven. RIP facial hair.