First Week of New Job. . .

Very excited to be back in the workforce.  I am also quite exhausted, emotional,  and somewhat afraid.  This is such a new journey for me and my family.  I am so lucky that I have such a very supportive hubby and kids. 
My posts may get back to a normal schedule sometime but for right now it is going to be sporadic.  My hours are all over the place for the next few weeks due to training.  I am doing a lot of reading and refreshing on my medical terminology.   Like I said I am excited for this new avenue in my life and I love learning new things.  Once my schedule gets a little more routine I will be able to get my posts back on schedule.  

The one thing I have learned about myself this week is that I eat all the time.  At home I did not realize I did this but since I have been in this office setting it is very clear.  During one of my meetings my stomach growled so loud and I was so embarrassed.   The good news is that it is ok to eat when I need to.  We took a little break and I was able to get a snack to tide me over till we had lunch.  The funny thing was, I was not the only one snacking so I felt a little better.  I am very thankful for a relaxed office setting rather than a strict and straight laced one.  

Lots of learning ahead and I feel a new energy about me.  Stay tuned and please stay with me as our clan makes this incredible adjustment.  

Excitement and Change. . .

We have a car, my mechanic said the same thing I said about buying cars from rental people.  You can be pretty sure they are well maintained and my mechanic confirmed that for me yesterday.  I have never bought a car and paid for it in full, it was a really good feeling.  We also got an awesome deal on this car and the rental folks filed for my license plate just like a dealership does.  I was not sure about that one when I went over there.
Starting to get a little anxious about Monday.  I have not been in the workforce since my sweet Big T was born, thirteen years ago, and it has been even longer since I have worked for anyone.  There will be a big period of adjustment but I do believe this job has the potential to be very rewarding.   I hope that I will be able to encourage others to sign up to be organ donors, my license renews soon and I am going to sign up to be a donor and add that little red heart to my license.  I was reluctant to be a donor but when I started reading all of the literature I decided it was the right thing to do and there really is no reason not to be a donor.  There are medical conditions that would exclude you from donating certain organs and you can read more about those here at organ donor information.

Used Cars. . .

We have been looking for an inexpensive used car for me to drive when I start work, since Sprat is driving mine to school.  I have looked on every internet auto list there is, or at least it feels that way.   I found something interesting along my journey to a car.  Did you know that the car rental companies sell their cars for a really good price when they can no longer rent them out?  These are the Enterprise and Hertz rentals places.  On a whim last week I drove by one of their used car lots and walked around.  They have some really great deals and the real plus is that you can be pretty sure that these vehicles have been properly maintained with oil changes and tire rotation and things like that.  This would be the ideal place to look for your kid a vehicle when they get ready to drive.  If we did not already have something for Sprat to drive I would most definitely go here over a dealership.
I am taking the car I am looking at to my mechanic today for a once over and if it passes my guys inspection I will have another car.   I am sticking to Dave Ramsey's plan, we are paying cash for this car, I refuse to go into debt with our job situation and we had to have another car so I have a reliable means to get to  work.
I start work on Monday and I am really excited and really nervous.  I am going to have six weeks or so of training so my schedule will be all over the place.  I do not think this position will ever get monotonous and since I will be part time I will be able to still be around for my kiddos.
A lot of things going on at our house this week.  Stay tuned still waiting for feedback on a couple phone interviews for my dear sweet hubby.  I told him to keep the faith that God's plan may be to keep him home till we have made this transition of me going back to work.   It is all happening in His time not ours.

A House Husband. . .

I got my schedule for my first two weeks of work and oh boy am I going to be doing a lot of studying.  Our life is about to get crazy!  My dear sweet hubby still has not found a job and is still looking but I think, him not having a job will help our family with this crazy transition of me back to work.  It seems like a catch twenty-two, right?  I would not be going back to work if my dear hubby had not been downsized, the Lord has a plan and he does work in mysterious ways.
Sprat is driving to school now and I think he likes his new found freedom.   We are looking for a car so that when I am at work the hubbs is not at home with no wheels.  Hey if my job works out the hubbs may become a house husband.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!  He is all for that.  I am somewhat afraid of that.  He is threatening to clean. . .  This is not good, when my husband cleans he just throws everything away.  He once took a large tin that I had ALL of Sprat's baby things in; his arm band, his baby hat, the mask that my hubby wore during surgery, the Polaroid snap shot of him right after birth, and my arm band.  He dumped all of these things on the kitchen table and threw away the tin that was holding them.  Now I ask you, what is the purpose of him throwing all of that on the table to toss the tin in the trash.  I do not understand what goes through men's minds when they are doing these type of things.  I love my hubby to the moon and back but I cannot let him clean my house.  
Stay tuned for a work update as things begin to shake and shimmy.  

My Fridge is too Advanced for Me. . .

I shared with you last week that we had to get a new fridge and how new fangled it was.  It got even more advanced than we ever thought this week.  We were going to celebrate Sprat's birthday on Saturday night so after the hubbs and I had worked cooking breakfast at Church we picked up an ice cream cake for after dinner.  We came home and I put the cake in the lower right side of the freezer section of this super techno fridge.  After dinner I went to get the cake out so that it could thaw a little for our dessert.  When I picked the box up the cake was leaking out of the bottom, it had completely melted.  Let me describe the way this fridge looks;  it has four doors, the top two are the refrigerator doors and the lower two doors I thought were the freezer doors.  Apparently the right side of the freezer can be adjusted so that it is either a:  soft freeze, chill, or freezer.   We had inadvertently set this lower right door to chill (refrigerator temp), I had not put anything in there other than that ice cream cake so I had no way of really knowing that it was not freezing.   We figured out how to change that temperature and it is now a freezer in both lower doors but, how cool is it that we can add more fridge space if we need it.  I kinda like that.
Sprat drove himself to Church yesterday, that was his first trip alone since he got his license.   He drove to school today too.  I made him text me when he got to school so I would know he was safe.   I also told him he had to text me before he leaves to come home after football practice.  I am still adjusting to this convenience of having another driver.  He did not take Big T to school though, I do not think he is ready for that responsibility and neither am I.  I am sure once the hubbs and I are both working there may be a time when he will have to drive him to school but for right now he does not.  It is going to be another interesting week here at our house, so stay tuned and hang on.  

Happy, Happy Friday. . .

Well, I have a job after thirteen years, not that I did not work during these last thirteen years but now I will get paid and I will be helping my family.  Very excited today.  Sprat did get his license yesterday and we are thrilled.   The hubbs had a job offer yesterday and he has another interview today that we believe will end with another offer.  The wheels are moving on this train to employment. 
I am going to be working with our local organ donor center.  Lots of new things going to be happening in our house.  We will be adjusting to new schedules and new responsibilities for the kiddos. 

We will be celebrating birthdays and employment!!!  God is good and we are very thankful!!  

I start work in two weeks and between now and then I will be doing a lot of studying about organ donation.  If you have any questions please post them in the comments section and I will find your answers.  The one thing I did find out that was very interesting is that most religions do not oppose organ transplant and donation.  

A friend and former co-worker of my hubby just donated a kidney so that his wife could receive a kidney from someone else.  It is a program where if your loved one is in need of a transplant and you do not match, you can give your organ to someone else that you match up with and they will find another candidate for your loved one in a similar situation.  They did a big news story on this couple and it really was good.  Awesome to see and hear great stories like this one.  

Hopeful, thankful, and very grateful. . .

An Even Keel. . .

I am going to say this very quietly and please do not repeat it, I think everything is finally starting to fall into place.  Shhhh!  I do not want to jinx this.   The one thing that is looming on the horizon, other than my hubby and I not having jobs, is Sprat will go to get his drivers' license today.  I cannot believe I said that out loud, that may just counter act everything else.   Sprat will also turn seventeen this week, where has that time gone.  I am really starting to feel old.   Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I will have a teen driver in my house by noon.
Since we have only two cars and the hubbs and I both are going different directions these next few weeks, he may not get to drive by himself for awhile.  He will at least have his license so when our lives do settle back down he can drive.  He does not see this logic just yet, so he is pretty bummed that he will not get to drive immediately.
We will be cramming birthday celebration in between lots of Church activities this weekend.  If you see me I will be the one running around with my hair on fire.

And the Wall is Wet. . .

We did get our new fridge, but it was touch and go there for a while.  These new fangled appliances that have all sorts of bells and whistles need a several hundred page instruction book.  I mentioned yesterday that we bought a floor sample.  This was a special order that the customer changed their mind on.  We got a great deal since it was a return.  I asked the guys that delivered it why the customers changed their mind and they said the customers said it was too loud.  I was a little confused because how loud could it be.  Had we made a huge mistake by purchasing this after it had been returned?   The delivery guys said it sort of sounded like an aquarium.  I am still not sure about that, it does make a little noise but who can hear anything in my house between the boys and the dog all yelling and barking all the time.  I will welcome an aquarium sound.  Don't they sell really expensive gadgets that make that sound on purpose?  Hey we really did get a good deal, we got a two for one.
I did not notice any odd noises last night but this morning as I was in the kitchen cleaning up after sending the boys off to school I did notice a little bubble sound.  I then noticed my wall was glistening, my walls do not normally glisten.  I stuck my hand down beside the fridge and my counter top was damp and then I could feel a little bit of a spray.  Panic then begins to set in.   I had just got everything back where it belonged from having the refrigerators switched out and I had to clean everything off again and pull this monster back out and try to figure out what had happened.  I called the store and tried to explain what I thought was going on and they said they would send someone out to check on it.   I continued to clean the fridge off so I could pull it further out from the wall to clean the water up off of the floor.  Once I pulled the fridge away from the wall I could see what the problem was, I guess I called the store too soon.  I had a very small hole in my water hose that was going from the wall to the fridge and it was spraying a fine mist all over the wall and the cabinet.  I called the store back so they would not have to send anyone out for this.  The hubbs or I could go and get a hose to replace this one.   When the hubbs got home after dropping the boys off at school he went to the store to get that much needed replacement hose.   Fingers crossed, and hopeful that everything will be ok now.  
We have a couple interviews this week so stay tuned.  

Appliance Break Down. . .

Sunday morning trying to get ready for Church, I noticed our refrigerator temperature acting odd.  My freezer temperature was going up and so was the refrigerator temperature.   My Sunday mornings are crazy since I am trying to get two teenagers moving for Sunday school plus trying to get myself ready.   I now know my plans for after Church, start fixing food that is thawing in my freezer and then go find a new fridge.  

The hubbs and I went fridge shopping and each one we looked at and liked they did not have in stock.  It was going to take seven to ten days to get it in stock.  We ended up buying a floor model but, the good news is we got a nice fridge at a nice discount.  We should get it sometime today, so for now I have three coolers siting in my kitchen with ice and what is left of my refrigerated items.  Luckily we have a big freezer in our basement so my freezer stuff went there.  

The good news is I got rid of a whole lot of stuff I should have thrown out a long time ago.  Funny how things work out.   Maybe I can keep this fridge clean and neat.  Bahahahahahah!!!!  

We did not get the fridge with the TV or the one with the cameras, I am not that tech savvy or tech needy.  Technology changes so fast and obviously refrigerators do not last like they used to.   

Stay tuned to this roller coaster we are on. . . 

 

Youth Is Not All It's Cracked Up to Be. . .

Exhausted after my interview yesterday.  I have not interviewed for a job in twenty some years so I was very nervous.  I must have been extremely tense too, my neck and shoulders ached last night.  I have always held my stress in my neck and shoulders.
I thought I had a good interview but then at the end as I was leaving, I was not that sure at all.  It felt weird and I cannot explain it.  I am my own worst critic so, I am always questioning should I have said something different.  I have gone over my interview a thousand times and I am just not sure anymore how well it went.  I will not know anything for a few weeks because they are interviewing other candidates.  I liked the manager and I liked the facility, I think I would fit in there but who knows how they perceived me.  I am older than most of the other employees there, at least the ones that I met, and that may not go over well.  They may see me as a liability, who knows.
Staying focused and trying to stay positive in this uphill battle to find our path once more.   My dear hubby is beginning to show signs of wear and tear from this battle.  I am very worried about him, he thinks he is letting our family down because he does not have a job.  As a wife and friend I am trying to keep his spirits up and to encourage him but I know that this is weighing heavily on his heart.  He is blaming himself and I can assure you just based on his work ethic alone he is not responsible.
It would be nice if employers still valued loyalty in their employees and actually appreciated those that had stuck with the same company for a number of years.  These days employers see their employees as mere expendable commodities and to me that is sad.   I think if employers would show just a modicum of appreciation for service and loyalty they would get so much more productivity from their employees.   My husband felt loyalty to his employer unfortunately for him they did not feel the same.  
Stay tuned, the hubbs has more interviews to come and of course the kids are knee deep in their sports.