Confession Time. . . .

Ok, so I am going to confess a few things today.  I have been excited about the possibility of going back to work but I have also been terrified.  This is a completely terrifying adventure, I have been out of the workforce raising my children for the past thirteen years.   Many things have changed since I worked and I am feeling a little overwhelmed.
I have always questioned if I have made the right decisions raising my children and I guess all parents have similar questions.  Should I stay home and raise my kids?  Can we afford for me to stay home with the kids?  These are all the questions my hubby and I asked before I decided to stay home. I do not regret my decision to stay home with my kids, I feel very blessed that I was able to stay home with the boys.  I went back to work too early after Sprat was born but he went to work with me.  He stayed with me for the first eight months of his life and then he went to an in home daycare.   There are little things I regret about sending Sprat to daycare, I regret that he had to go at only eight months old and that I missed out on some of his milestones.   Both the boys went to preschool and that I do not regret, it got them used to being around other kids and learning how to follow the rules.  I also believe my kids benefited from being around other adults and learning how to get along with different people.
With all of that out I will share my biggest fear.  What if I cannot cut it with this new job?  I am a little depressed because I am not at home as much with the boys.  I want to be a good example for the boys.  I want them to know that it is ok if when they get married their wife wants to stay home after they have kids or if she wants to go back to work after having kids.   It is a personal choice for each family and no two families are alike.  There is no one answer to fit everyone.
Stay tuned as we make this transition.

Thank You. . .

Thank you, two words that are not used nearly enough in our society today.  Today I would like to thank the teachers that have had my kids.  I am thanking all of them, good and bad.  The good ones, and there have been more of those than bad, because they encouraged my kids to shoot for the stars.  They encouraged my kids at times when they were struggling and really needed a positive word from someone other than their mom and dad.  Mom and dad can only do so much in the encouraging department but when that encouragement comes from an outside source it really reinforces what mom and dad have said all along.  I also want to thank my teachers especially my favorite science teachers; Mrs Waters and Mrs. Proctor.  I know I would have never majored in biology if it were not for Mrs. Proctor.   She encouraged me and gave me confidence in my knowledge and abilities.
Ok, enough about me, both of the boys are struggling right now in different areas of their education.  I know that these struggles are shaping them but it is very hard to watch, knowing you cannot help with certain situations.
I am thankful for those bad teachers because they did teach my kids a valuable life lesson about how some people will try to keep you down and that they will face road blocks in life.  I am thankful but also disappointed in these adults that think that demeaning a child in front of their peers motivates them.   It makes me angry to find out that an "adult" (I use this term loosely) believes that they are motivating someone by putting them down and being ugly to them in front of their peers.  This is not motivation even though it has taught my son a valuable lesson.  It is teaching him what not to do as a teacher and what not to do if you want to motivate young people.  It is also teaching him that no matter how much you try to please someone, some people will never be happy with you because they are not happy with themselves.  In order to lead young people you must encourage them not bully and demean them.  In order to lead you must lift others up in front of you not push them down and behind you.
It is hard to be thankful for the bad things but those bad things make you appreciate when you find the good ones.  I am thankful for good and bad today.  I am praying for all of those facing these issues both adult and child.   Love, hugs, and prayers to you all this week.

Feeling Blessed. . .

Waiting for everything in writing from the hubbs job offer.  Feeling very positive this week.  I am enjoying a couple days off and trying to get over this nasty cold my lovable little infectoids, I mean my wonderful boys brought to me.  
I am loving my new job, I am learning something new everyday and that invigorates me and my brain.  I am in an office setting with a wonderful lady that handles the front office.   So far she has made us (the people in call center) chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and last week when it was chilly she heated up apple juice for everyone.  I had never had heated apple juice before but it sure was good and it helped my sore throat.  It was kinda like spiced cider minus the spice.  I feel very lucky to have found this position and I am praying it will all work out.  I am in a training/probationary period right now so, only time will tell.  I am enjoying my new adventure.

BIG NEWS!!!!!!

My very dear sweet hubby has his old job back with a generous raise!!  Praise the Good Lord above and a big thank you to every one that was praying for us and who have inquired about how we are doing.  We are very excited!!!  He is slated to start November 1.    I guess he will be hanging up his apron, much to my dismay.   

Stay tuned lots of new adjustments to our family with us both working.  This could be very interesting.  

We are very thankful and feel very blessed.  

The Little Things. . .

While at work one day this week my sweet hubby sent me a text.  It read, "OK, I am cooking something.  I hope it's good.  We had all the ingredients in the house."   My hubby is a very good cook I have posted that many times.  The part of this that scared me was the fact that we had all the ingredients and that he had been on the internet looking at recipes.  You remember the post about the sour kraut?  Same kinda feeling came over me.
I called the hubbs when I was on my way home and he said he had already fed the kids and that he had my food still warm and waiting.  Am not the luckiest girl in the world?   I could hear my sweet Big T in the back ground saying, "yeah, mommy it was good chicken."   I was pleasantly surprised that not only had he fixed this amazing meal but he had also cleaned up.  Again, how lucky am I?   After I had changed clothes he fixed me a plate; rice, chicken, and cornbread.   It was really good, when I get the recipe I will share it with you.   The chicken cooked in the crock-pot all day and he made a sauce out of the juices to go over the chicken when he served it.  The main ingredients, the ones that we had in the house already, were:  lemon, chicken broth, chicken, oregano, and garlic.
I do not have the specifics or where to give the credit for the recipe but I will find out and post it later.  Work is going well, still in training and learning a lot.  No news on the job front this week but, we are still hopeful.
Stay tuned for updates and maybe some recipes from the kitchen of my very sweet hubby.

What I Have Learned. . .

I worked my three twelve hour days this past week and I learned how truly hard that is.  Friday was exciting, I had a lot to do and I learned a lot too.  
One of the most important things I have learned, is that I am married to the greatest man on earth.  He has really stepped up in his stay-at-home daddy role.  My mom reminded me of this, this morning how lucky I am to have such a very dedicated husband.  He gets the boys up and fixes their breakfast and packs their lunches.  He is a trooper and I am very thankful.
The hubbs will be talking with his old boss this next week via a telephone interview.   The hubbs is also doing a telephone interview with two other companies this next week.  We are very hopeful about the week.
I get to do some travel this week to our other offices and that is exciting.
I think in these next few weeks I will better adjust to the schedule. The boys seem to be adjusting to me not being here all the time, even though I am not.  

Stay tuned, this is going to be another wild week.   

What to Eat and What to Wear????

I will be working twelve hour shifts and not able to leave our building for lunch or anything so, what should I take for lunch and snacks?   My first week I found I eat all the time, I was hungry all day.  My first twelve hour day I got to go to lunch with our CEO so I only had to pack snacks and maybe something to eat before I went home.  I have been trying to put together a list of easy to carry items to snack on but still semi healthy.  I can ill afford to gain weight at this job.  I am also having some difficulty in what I should wear and what will be comfortable.  Personally, I think pajamas would be a great idea but my manager frowned on that idea.  We are supposed to dress business casual so, I am trying to be professional but still comfortable.  So far, I have worn dress pants and a nice top and skirts and tops.  We do get to wear blue jeans on Fridays or something more casual.   I only own a couple pair of blue jeans so that will limit my casual days.  I saw something on Facebook yesterday; a girl said when she was out and about she was either really well put together or she looked like she was homeless.  That is me to a tee.  There is no in between and I kind of feel that way about casual Friday.   I am either going to look professional or I am going to look like I just got out of bed.
If you have any advice please, please comment below.   Also if you have any ideas about what to pack for lunches and snacks I would love that too.  I will be sharing more on both of these as I go through this schedule adjustment.
This is all new territory for me so stay tuned. . .

Quick Update. . .

I survived the first week.  In this next week I will be on a routine schedule for this group.  They work twelve hour shifts and this is new for me.  I worked third shift in a lab my first job right out of college.   It was not that bad and I met my sweet hubby in that job.  
My adventure began yesterday and boy was I tired.    

Funny thing happened on my first day of work after thirteen years of being a mom, my sweet hubby's old boss called him and asked him if he would come back to work for them.  Ha Ha Ha!!!  If that does not prove that the Lord works in mysterious ways I do not know what will.  God's plan all along may have been for me to get back out in the workforce.  Our plan has always been for me to go back to work once the kids were more self sufficient, I just did not think they were quite self sufficient enough just yet.  I was thinking maybe when they were both in high school.  According to my hubby, I have been pushed out of the nest.  The hubbs job offer is not solid just yet, there are still some things that have to be ironed out but we are hopeful that it will work out.   

The boys seem to be adjusting well to me going back to work, we will have to see as my hours adjust.  I am part-time but, during my training period of several months I will be full-time so that my skills I am learning will stay with me.   There is even hope of working from home if the need arises.   I went to lunch with the new CEO yesterday and I have to say, I like that personal touch.  The CEO took myself and the other new hire out to get to know us.  That says a lot to me about how the company feels about it's staff.   They are really intent on their employees learning their job well before they handle live cases.  

I will be posting more as the days go by so please stay tuned.  I think I have found my new home in the business world.