watermelon(s)

well, i'm home now. the journey home was ok, i nearly missed my connecting flight to ktown, but the fact that i didn't (because they delayed it twice) made for a happy ending.

thankfully i was traveling with two colleagues who are both very experienced travelers (they travel many times a year with work), so i knew that if we missed our flight they would help show me what to do. for the chunk of time that i thought i'd miss the flight, i tried not to worry, knowing it would all work out somehow. that said, i really needed to be back in ktown this morning because we had our first interviews with potential candidates for my maternity cover. on my way into work i felt a little nervous. i'd never interviewed someone for a job before, and it's been almost 10 years since i myself was interviewed. so how it worked was that i was in the room, and emma was on speaker-phone. she asked general job interview questions and i asked graphic design specific questions. we've now interviewed two (and have one more on monday) with very similar levels of experience, but quite different personalities. part of me says "go with your gut", but another part of me feels that it's unprofessional of me to chose based on who i can more easily see myself enjoying a conversation with. BUT interpersonal relationships are a big part of work dynamics, AND i have to work closely with this person for the month of june. so maybe it's fair to pick based on instinct.

i finally got the chance to talk with frank about the applicants. i was actually kind of avoiding the subject since i know his wanted his son to apply (but i don't think he ever got around to it – which tells me something about his interest level). anyways, for the first 5 minutes of our conversation, as i filled him in on the latest developments, he looked a little like his heart had fallen and he was trying to set aside his feels of disappointment as we talked. he asked if he could read over the resumes, and came back about 15 minutes later significantly more upbeat. right away he told me "i think your instincts are right on" and was super positive about the candidate that i'm leaning towards. that was pretty affirming, especially since i'd already concluded that i thought they'd get along quite well. where with the other one, i can't see them connecting at all.

this whole thing is really quite interesting. it's surprising the broad scope of new experiences that come with having a baby. i suppose it's never just the baby.

we should shine a light on,

a light on.