Job: Acquired! *cue Final Fantasy music and/or WoW "ding" noise*

I am employed! This is terribly exciting! Better yet, it is full time! And it pays decently! It is an extremely silly job...well, the job itself is not that silly but there is no way to describe it that does not sound silly. I blame it on "cheese" being an inherently silly word. But, here goes: I test cheese. So far I know how to test the fat content, I'm learning how to test moisture, salts, etc. and hopefully at some point I will get to work in the micro lab and test cultures. It's long days and it's a lot of standing and moving around but so far (all two days) I really like it! I'm not stuck at a computer staring at a screen, I'm actually doing things with my hands and I get to feel accomplished every time I write down data. It's tangible, which I like. And I get to do a variety of things. Not so much today, but over all I will be. Also we listen to the oldies station, which makes me happy because I can sing and dance a little bit. Also we are not only allowed, but encouraged to wear crappy clothes cause there is acid and whatnot. Plus I get to wear a lab coat, which makes me feel like a real scientist.

The only major downside so far is that it is far away. It's in Monroe, WI, which Google Maps declares is 51 minutes away but is more like 40 minutes from what I can tell. Either way, it is far, and I'm worried about what will happen when it snows because it is on a two-lane back highway. For now, the drive is absolutely lovely and I'm going away from the sun in either direction, which is nice. Also I've started listening to Lord of the Rings on tape as I drive, which was a brilliant decision.

The only other down- or also maybe upside is that I really don't know how long this job is going to last. I am a temp, technically, and paid by the recruiting company that hired me, not the cheese people. When they called they said it would be for a month or two, which is pretty perfect if I can find a job in Madison and move up there (Epic, perhaps? We shall see!) but then when I got there they said they might be looking at hiring me on if they like me and have the money so who knows? That might be okay, too. Although, similarly, I would still need a place to live in January. Either way I can still give two week's notice whenever I want which is pretty sweet, as the other job I was maybe possibly going to get through this recruiting company had a 6 month contract. I like this a lot better.

I'm glad not to have to worry about money right away, and I like what I'm doing. So far I'm having fun and not really mourning the loss of my oodles of free time but we'll see how long that lasts. I still really want to move to Madison if I can find a way to make that work, but I guess we'll see what happens. I still haven't heard back from the far away wildlife positions and I still don't know what to do about that. I'm not going to worry for right now. I have a place to live and a job and even though both will disappear in a matter of months, it makes me feel very self-sufficient and proud, like maybe I will be okay in this big wide scary world, after all.

Also contributing to this feeling: I solved a car problem. By myself. I'm awesome.