Think Happy Thoughts

The button had been sitting there all along.

The little rectangle marked "Submit Application" faced us down every day, and we waited until time was almost up to push it. But we did. We pushed the button that would end our struggle with the UC Berkeley online application and sent the damn thing in. It's over. It's out of our hands now.

Since we got back a month and a half ago, we've been working on our applications for the UCB Full Time MBA Program (master's in business administration). Kane and I both want to move up to management-type roles in our engineering career and we've decided to pursue this goal in style.

Style takes a lot of work, apparently. In addition to asking multiple choice questions about every aspect of our lifestyle and history (name, dob, education records, employment records, ss#, test scores, gpa, place of birth, country of residence, address, phone number, family history, ethnicity...I'm surprised they didn't ask what color my fingernails are painted), there were also six "supplementary" questions (short answer, essentially), four 250-word essay questions, one 500-word and one 1000-word essay, plus two 500-word optional essays (I took the option).

Then we had to get two letters of recommendation from previous employers (you know they love that), upload our resumes, and send in official transcripts and GMAT test scores. Not exactly a walk in the park.

But, I suppose that's what happens if you want to get into one of the most competitive programs in the country. They receive approximately 4000 applications for 240 spots every year. Hence the request in the title.

Would it be possible for anyone reading this to think a couple happy thoughts for a moment for Kane and me? We really would both like to be admitted to this program and, as you can see, the chances are slim. But we put a lot of effort into the application, we're qualified, and we're ready. Now, it's all left to the Powers That Be: the UCB MBA Admissions Committee. Think happy thoughts!!

How It Feels

How does it feel to be back? People love to ask us this. It feels...fine. Actually, in a weird way it feels like we never left. Getting back into the USA groove took about five seconds for me and Kane. It's like starting all over and picking up right where we left off at the same time. So, I guess it's a bit hard to describe, but in a lot of ways Australia seems like a faraway dream.

And I suppose the "faraway" part isn't all that untrue, time-wise as well as physically. We were last in Aus in early July and we stopped working at the end of May, so it has been a while since we were living that life. But even one week after being back from traveling it felt (to me) like all that time in Europe was just Dorothy in Munchkinland. It was real, it was great, I have pictures to prove it happened, but it seems so long ago.

And now I live in limbo. No job, staying at mom's house, no real life to speak of yet. But I don't give myself too hard of a time about it yet since I'm still playing catch-up with this life and the people who I lovingly ditched for two years.

Thinking about it more, I'm going to revise my "how does it feel" answer to say that it feels good. Great even. Everything here is so easy compared to anywhere else simply because I know it like arithmetic flash cards. Australia is a superb place and we could easily be very happy making a life there. But I know this place like a first language - there's just an ingrained understanding that makes it unique from anywhere else I'll ever go.

So, that's how it feels to be back, in case you wanted to know.

So,

So, we've been back in the States for a month. And I haven't been updating this blog as promised. Surprise, we're not traveling anymore and our lives aren't nearly as interesting. Well, I still have blog entries lined up for posting, but I thought I should at least give an update for the time being instead of being painfully silent on my precious blog.

One month back and what have we done? Well, not a whole lot I guess. I feel like we're productive but it's hard to make the argument. I try not to let myself sleep all day, I have a to-do list, I get things done. I do not, however, have a job, have another place to live (we're at my mom's), or have my grad school application finished. So, it sounds like we're not making much progress. But I assure you, we're trying.

So what have we been doing? I get this question a lot actually, and I usually have to fumble with an answer since the reality is that putting stuff on Craigslist and organizing my mom's garage just doesn't seem like it's a month's worth of dedication. We have been spending a lot of time purging stuff: our own collection of pre-Australia goods (read: junk) stored away in mom's basement, mom's impenetrable fortress of debris from previous decades that seems to multiply when cabinet doors are closed, and now we're attacking the even more massively endless supply of clutter stored in the extensive bowels of Holiday Bowl.

Yep, I've happily started poking my nose into the family business and now I'm bringing Kane with me. I worked one day with Dad paying bills and cleaning up the office, and now I've stumbled upon a new task that's a perfect fit: sorting out the huge mass of crap stored in the many closets and rooms of the bowling alley. I enlisted Kane to help since we're pretty much professional junk sorters at this point. You have a room full of stuff? We'll sort, purge, recycle, and organize the whole lot for ya, quick as a cricket.

We've also spent some time taking trips to see friends and family: we've been down to SLO, up to Oregon, and out to Pacifica, Concord, San Jose and Buffalo Bills with folks we haven't seen in two years or more. And, I've made friends with my niece, isn't she cute?


I've also been looking for jobs, doing home improvement at mom's house (removing wallpaper, painting, installing new fixtures (Kane)), interviewing with New York Life (I didn't take the job though), starting a new blog (will notify when ready), filling out UCB grad school application, and, as mentioned, putting an inordinate amount of stuff onto Craigslist to be sold. It's actually quite an effort.

So, that's been our life so far. Still on the list: get a job, turn in grad school app, sort and purge more of my useless stuff, continue to work with Dad at the Bowl, start helping Jane with some of her organizational needs, continue the fight to improve mom's house, do my Australian taxes, get health insurance, go to the dentist, call AAA, finish this blog, change light bulbs, get rid of the VHS tapes...