Kelley and the Biz: Part 2

I'm sorry for the technical difficulties. Kelley and the Blog will now continue for your reading pleasure.

Sorry!!! It has been a while hasn't it :-/ I had every serious and honest intention in the world to update Part 2 this last week (wanted to keep people in suspense about it!), but I came down with a cruddy sinus infection and I put myself on couch rest for about 4 days. I write this laying on my couch with three empty Puff's tissue boxes stacked next to me, a hot wash cloth sitting on my coffee table which served as steam room for my face, an empty bowl of rainbow sherbet, and every possible sinus medication you can think of scattered across my coffee table. Welcome to Eukel Pharmacy.

Now ladies and gentlemen...let's continue on with Kelley and the Biz: Part 2 shall we? Let me think of where we left off. Oh yes, Keith and I were packing up our gypsy wagon in Downtown Fargo and moving it to South Fargo. Since Keith and I were applying for jobs well before we moved into our friend's apartment, we tried to keep positive thoughts buzzing about us finding a job during the two weeks we stayed there. But things weren't necessarily going our way. We weren't out of the job jungle. Drats. We had to move to Plan B of "Let's get a bleepin' job."

Being the grand planner Keith is and me having occurring nightmares of living in a large green van down by the river, we wanted to make sure we had our gypsy camps planned out in advance in case one of us didn't find a job. We did have friends who offered to put us up for a couple of days at a time, but it just wasn't practical. Just like any normal human beings, we physically HATED moving our stuff around. We wanted to stay at one place for an extended time...like a hotel...but just the kind of hotel you don't pay for. We were broke. When we thought we had no other options, I pulled out my "cute, innocent, helpless little sister" card on my brother and sister-in-law who so happened to live in South Fargo.

It wasn't hard for Tony and Heidi to say no to my proposal. I'm the baby of family and having that title has a certain effect on family members. Well.....not really. But I like to think it does! They wanted to help us out since they've been through the ugly job jungle before. Keith and I moved in with Tony, Heidi and their faithful, very adorable and lovable English Bull Dog Lucy around August 15th. We kept the positive buzz floating around the house and told ourselves "This is only for two weeks. We will get jobs. This is only for two weeks. We will get jobs." And once again, things weren't going our way. One week passed by and no word on jobs. Two weeks passed by and no word on jobs. Then three weeks....and before we knew it, Keith and I had made a semi-permanent residence for a good month at Casa de Eukel.

To get our mind off the fact we were both not gainfully employed with all the bells and whistles that come with a job, Keith made supper for all of us most nights and showed Heidi how to make spiced apple cider and I took Lucy for walks. Keith did come on these walks, but Lucy and he didn't see eye-to-eye most of the time. Lucy liked to lick his socks and Keith wasn't too fond of it. Keith does, however, hold a special place for Lucy in his heart :). With all the cooking and walking to calm our nerves down, we began to see some light shine through the job jungle pretty brightly in a four day time span.

It was around the second week in September and Keith was in interview mode for an assistant coaching spot for a division two men’s basketball team from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Each time the head coach called (which by the way was at 11:00 at night. Keith said most coaches do like to do business very late at night.....weird. I began to think the man never slept) Keith would scramble to the unfinished basement and talk with him for almost an hour at a time. After the fourth day, the head coach called Keith back with a job offer. HOOOOOORAY!!! Keith had about five days to move down to Arkansas since the players were already a good month into their workouts. We packed most of his things into his car, drove down to the cities for the weekend so he had a chance to say goodbye to his family, and he was off to Arkansas. I really can't add any more to Keith's job story, because that's seriously how fast everything went. Keith was out of the job jungle.

As for me, I was in the interview process for a marketing position for Bobcat at their Bismarck offices which handled all the parts sales for all the machines. I had two interviews with them over two weeks and about two and a half weeks of waiting to hear back. Bobcat definitely likes to keep people in suspense, kind of like me. In true fashion, I became cranky about the situation and started looking at the classified ads for suitable vans that met my criteria. But then it happened...I followed Keith out the jungle as well. The Friday Keith and I went down to the cities to see him off, I finally got the call back and they wanted me for the job. HOOOOOORAY!!! 

So that’s the full story of how I became involved with the Biz. I've lived out here for almost six months now, and I gotta say it's a pretty cool town. I am becoming more and more comfortable in my marketing role at Bobcat, and am learning lots of new things everyday about tracks, tires, filters, oil, tire chains, and sweeper bristles. Riveting stuff to you guys I'm sure :) Sorry if the post was lengthy, but it was lengthy time to become part of the working force. Hopefully you enjoyed the story! I'm going to take some of my nasal meds now.

Bye Bye!

Kelley and the Biz

 Biz.

That word really isn't thrown around too often, but little do you know it's has some pretty famous products and people attached to it. Let me elaborate...

1. Biz - a stain fighter you can throw in to your regular wash! Biz gives your laundry that extra boost to treat those nasty, stuck on foods such as...Yikes! spaghetti sauce,.. Good Grief! chocolate ice cream, and...Oh No! even that day old mustard stain. 
2. Biz Markie - probably one of THE coolest one-hit wonder rap singers of our time. Baby...you got what I neeeeeeeeeed. His voice probably isn't American Idol worthy, but it's a catchy tune and it's one of my favorite 'going to work in the morning' songs. 

Last but not least, Biz is the nickname many North Dakotans use to describe the breakfast pastry capital of their state...Bismarck. HAH! Get it :) Why am I talking about Bismarck, ND of all places? This is the story I wanted to blog about on my very first post, but it was quite a doosie to explain. I wanted to dedicate an entire post to it because I think it's a fun story to tell people, and it explains what I've been up to the last few months and how I became involved with a city named after my favorite doughnut. So this is going to be a two parter....Oh the suspense!

Ladies and gents...I like to introduce Keith now. Trust me...he's part of the story and  kinda a big deal in general, so I will be talking about him from time to time. I'm sure most of you reading this blog already know who he is and how incredibly radical he is. But for relatives and old friends who never had a chance to meet or hear about him, he is the boyfriend :) Enough of the intros. Let's flash back to August 1, 2010.

I was interning at Bobcat Company in West Fargo for about 8 months learning the marketing trade, and Keith was working with NDSU's athletic department coaching basketball to squealing and hyper 7th grade girls and to hungry and smelly high school boys. Both of us (and when I mean both, I mean mostly Keith) were hunting in the awful Job Jungle for about as long as Robin Williams was stuck in that awful Jumanji game. Which by the way, I do not like that movie. The monkeys were kinda creepy and the stampede of jungle animals scared me a little. Sorry...I got sidetracked. Anywho. Keith was sending his resumes hot off the press, but I was a bit more passive aggressive about sending out resumes and overly picky about what jobs I applied for during this time (forgive me for not applying to be a customer service rep at the Forum Newspaper...oh wait...), which turned me into a stress ball for 3 months. Ugly sight and I highly recommend not taking my approach.

With perfect timing on our sides (sarrrrrcasm), both of our leases were up at our apartments on July 31, 2010, and we didn't want to sign a lease to a new apartment until we knew we had a Golden Ticket to job security. Keith and I became known as the traveling gypsies of Fargo. We were nomads. Living off the land....and in the living room of our bodacious and good friend Burns' one bedroom apartment and the guest bedroom of my equally awesome and equally amazing brother Tony and sister-in-law Heidi. For the first 2 weeks in August, Keith and I crashed in Burns' downtown Fargo pad living out of a suitcase and some old Bacardi boxes. Keith and I dubbed these first 2 weeks as the "Let's Find a BLEEPING Job" time. Burns' floor and incredibly itchy rug became my little office to apply for jobs, while Keith's office was the luxurious green couch. By the way, really awesome napping couch!

How Keith lived with me in close proximity and put up with my snarky remarks about how "I am going to live in a van down by the river for the rest of my life because no one will hire me" for 2 weeks straight is beyond me. He deserves a world holiday for that, and not just a US holiday. After 2 weeks passed by, Burns came back from his long vacation to his home state of Ohio (I heard he went to same High School as those Glee kids!) and  although I'm 110% sure Burns' wanted us to live with him forever, it got a bit cramped in a one bedroom apartment with 3 people. Plus, Burns' queen size bed became my make shift closet, and my clothes swallowed it whole. Burns kinda had a thing about sleeping in a bed at night, so I was so gracious enough to let him have it back. It was time for Keith and I to take our gypsy wagon to a new and majestic part of town. South Fargo.

TO BE CONTINUED...<dramatic music>

Where will Keith and Kelley go?! Will they ever get out of the Job Jungle alive?! And did the Bacardi box go with them on their journey?! Stayed tuned...

Welcome to Kelley and the Blog

It finally happened...Kelley has a Blog now.

I had to join the bandwagon. Some of my good friends started one, Keith (who I will formally introduce in some upcoming posts to family and friends who have not yet experienced the shear awesomeness that is Keith) started a blog for his work, and plus Facebook was getting to be kind of a drag. I was getting a little tired of deciphering people's statuses (stati..? shout out to Britt and Keith!) when it said, "Glad that's done!"...well, what did you finish that you are so glad about? Or "UGHHHHH I HATE YOU!"....Who do you hate and whoa! What an angry person. Maybe I should un-friend them. I like to know details people! From the short time I've been reading people's blogs, this totally satisfies my need for knowing the details in people's everyday lives. And I hope my fellow bloggers would like to know some details about me, too.

Hmmm, I guess I should divvy out some details about me now, huh? First I will answer this age old question so many have pondered, "Why a blog now, Kelley?" Other than the fact my friends, Keith, and the sudden lameness of Facebook have influenced me to start a blog, I kind of figured it's a great and easier way to keep people updated on what and how I'm doing out in these neck of the woods. Not saying I lead a G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S life by any means, I just like to tell random stories in a humorous and quirky way about my day-to-day excursions. So definitely no set agenda here! I'm hoping this blog will also redeem myself a bit from my lack of ability to pick up a telephone and actually chat with people. It's sometimes hard for me to track down busy people for a 10 minute conversation, and it's hard for them to wake me up from my after-work nap. So this blog is my temporary solution in those types of situations. But don't think I won't stop calling you! Ohhhh no! I still need social interaction with real human beings, and I just like to hear your sweet voices :)

Next question I'm sure is leaving you on the edge of your seat is about how I came about my creative, innovative, outrageous, provocative, and HILARIOUS title. I pulled it outta my butt. I truly hate titles. I was docked points for not having a creative title on a term paper I did in one of my communication classes. cough cough Dr. Beck. But to explain my creative and deep thought into this title, I would compare it to "Beauty and the Beast" or even "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." - NERD ALERT! They both give the names of the hero/heroine and the topic of choice. Hence, Kelley (your heroine) and the Blog (topic of choice).

Alright then, I think it's time for me to hit the hay. Hope you enjoyed the first official Kelley and the Blog post! And I'm sorry for the undecorated blog spot. I'm too sleepy to even figure out how to get a cute and fun back splash on here. Promise for the next post it will be jazzed up a bit.

Night!