Because Ivymoon works at the Northern California Renaissance Faire, and because she was involved in one of their promotions, she managed to obtain a large stack of free tickets. So yesterday afternoon, nine of us all donned our Elizabethan attire and went to the faire.

It was dusty, as usual, but not too crowded, and the breezes made the heat quite bearable. We admire costumes, did a bit of people watching, cheered knights in a joust, and stood on tiptoes at the fringes of a crowd to see a man juggle knives and eat fire. We finished the day with dinner at a nearby restaurant, still in our garb.

Once home, I looked at the screen saver clock on Richard's computer and was shocked to see it was barely 8pm. It gets so dark so early now, and with all the walking of the day we were drained of energy.

This morning I kissed Richard goodbye and then packed my bags and drove away. Late Friday afternoon I received a call from my manager with my next assignment. Four weeks down at corporate headquarters for the Big Fish - too far to do a daily commute through typical Bay Area traffic. "I have to put you on something," she told me, but I didn't complain aloud. There was no point. She cannot keep me indefinitely on the bench, but it's been so easy to be lulled into thinking I'd somehow have more time.

The call from my manager came on the heels of another - one with far better news. I've an interview on Wednesday for a position that I've got a great deal of interest in. This is not the first call I've received in the past few weeks, but for the first time since I started job hunting in earnest, I finally feel as if perhaps there is actually hope.