Muskulösa flickor.

I visited my parents with my big brother for a change. My mum had a good excuse to bake pies again.

It was really nice because my mum was so happy, and even my dad behaved himself! Mum has been on part-time retirement for a while now, and she has been so much more relaxed and happy ever since. I'm happy for her.

As for my dad, I usually have a hard time getting along with him. There's something about him that rubs me the wrong way. But I suppose he's more relaxed and happy now too since he's been exercising so much lately. He still has trouble losing weight, but in my book, exercise is all that really matters because it makes you happy. We even did some crossword puzzles together and we didn't snipe at each other once! A miracle!

I was also pleased that my big brother noticed how my muscles have grown a little. Then me and mum compared whose bicep is bigger.

Our family sounds kind of weird now. But we're all like this, we have an appreciation for muscles. We don't strive to be skinny, we want to be strong and bulky. I truly enjoy discussing human physiology with my big brother, who used to be very serious about body building and who also studies medicine.

He still thinks weight training is the best form of exercise. He doesn't understand what I mean when I say how I couldn't give up jogging or aerobics, or any cardio activities for that matter. Different forms of exercise give different kinds of pleasure. I feel different after jogging as compared to after aerobics, or weight training. Always good, but always different.

I'm pleased that the streets are dry again, and I intend to start jogging more now that I'm feeling healthy again. The problem is, I noticed how my new winter running shoes have much, much better padding than my 2-year-old summer running shoes. I know that you're supposed to buy new running shoes at least every other year if you run a lot, but... they cost so much! I just bought new shoes on Christmas, and I should buy new ones again?!

I hate using money on expensive things. I can handle spending 20€ a week on food, and 195€ on the latest electricity bill (no kidding!!), but when it comes to something that technically isn't absolutely necessary, I hate it.

Earrings are a girl's best friend.

I wanted to show Amoena my new earrings. My mum gave them to me when she visited last week. She always tells me that my ears are the smallest in the world, so I shouldn't use heavy earrings that could stretch my tiny lobes.

Whatever. Mums are like that.

This is the best shot I could get with my camera phone. Well, it's really a phone with a built-in camera, not the other way around.

I just woke up so I look like crap. No one should see my face this up close. At least I spared you from half of my face, though you can probably guess what the other half looks like.

In other news, I finally transferred all the photos from my cellphone to my laptop (thanks to my new Deltaco Hi-Speed 7-port usb hub!), so expect more photo-ridden posts in the future.

Oh and if you also read Sleeping Artist, please note that the feed no longer works. I have absolutely no idea why that is. I've tried a lot of things and I've asked around, but so far no luck. I just don't have the energy right now to look into it so I apologize for the inconvenience.

My life as a lungfish.

That meeting with the career counselor was definitely worth it. We talked for nearly three (3! yes, 3!) hours, and she was a really nice and fun person.

I shamelessly hurled millions of questions at her and felt like I got very useful answers. She told me that the employers can be just as confused and ignorant about the recruiting process as the job applicants. Somehow I didn't see that coming at all.

For instance, she said that many employers write these daunting requirement lists because it's easier to imagine the ideal candidate instead of a realistic one. Usually the people they end up hiring don't fulfill many of their requirements. Lesson: salt, salt, and then a little more salt when eyeing up those lists!

She also told me that my work experience at the uni looks impressive, even if it's been a part-time job. It shows (in her words) that I can commit to a project, and long term too since I've had several projects over a couple of years.

Moreover, she said some people can be impressed by the fact that I've worked for uni. Myself I tend to think that it's not difficult at all to get some small project like that since I'm a student there, so I don't think of it as very impressive. The biggest ones I got because I practically forced my help on one teacher when he complained about not having time for his project.

Well, I suppose those projects don't really fit my idea of applying for a job, since I never had to do that. They didn't help me at all in learning those skills outside the university.

Even so, my main worry was that my cv gives off the impression that I've been extremely lazy and that I'm unwilling to work. Of course I can be lazy, usually when I don't like what I'm doing. If I do, on the other hand, I'm a workaholic. Maybe that's my saving grace.

I felt such relief after talking to her. The high lasted for about two days, and then the good old paranoia and anxiety kicked in again. But no matter how I feel, I refuse to forget all those tips and information I got. The job market no longer seems quite as intimidating as it used to.