Preparation

If you've been keeping track, you must be aware that my job is ending soon.  If you've been paying attention, you'll know that is quite a cause for celebration.  If you know me in real life, you might perceive how petrified I am.

For the last 3-4 years, my life has pretty much been all about kids.  Babysitting, classes, nannying, student teaching, mini-teaching, more classes about how they learn, how to teach them, and then nannying some more.  This is my comfort zone, even if I'm unhappy in it.  I know kids, I'm good with them, and I can ace any interview involving them. 

And now.  Now I'm getting ready to venture into this completely unknown space where there are no kids and none of my knowledge base matters.  I'm so. so. SO unbelievably ready for this place, but I'm also scared out of my mind that I won't be welcome there.

I know my personality.  I'm a hard worker, I love learning new things, and I am organized and professional to a fault.  But personality doesn't show up on a resume, and so as I read job descriptions and begin to think about the application/interview process, I have never felt so unprepared for something in my life.  The idea that I'm not actually technically qualified for jobs in most any area outside working with children, and that therefore someone will have to be willing to take a chance on me, is, well, unnerving to say the least.

However... my fear has forced me into an unusual place.  I pray all the time about this situation, knowing that for me to find the right job for me in this time in my life will take nothing short of a miracle.  It's nothing I can do on my own, because I don't have the skills and experience needed.  So I pray before, during, and after I look at job descriptions.  I'll be praying later today as I try to piece together a resume that focuses on skills acquired but doesn't include wiping noses (or butts for that matter), teaching the alphabet, or my repertoire of children's books.  I'll pray over each email, phone call, or interview, knowing that only with God's help will I end up with something that makes me happy.

I will not allow myself to settle for another nannying, preschool worker, or babysitting job.  I am determined to be patient (not my strong suit...sigh) and wait on the Lord while He does the work of preparing me and my future workplace for each other.  And wouldn't you know it, in all that praying and practicing patience and forced reliance on God, I'm feeling a little less afraid and a little more hopeful.

When I have good news, you'll be the first to know. :)

{Photo source}

Playing Catch-Up

Oops.  I did that thing again where I think of all these great post ideas and then go eat a sandwich or take a nap and never do anything about it.  So instead of working up the motivation to write a whole post about some mind-blowing theme, I'm just going to play a little game of catch-up with you!

First, I do want to share some fun financial news.  Fun is the only word that fully embodies the essence of finances, right?? Wrong.  But this one is pretty jolly: we have finally paid off all the interest on our loans!  So in essence, we are back where we started, which could be really depressing, but not for this gal!  From here on out, all we'll be doing is make progress, and that's pretty darn neat-o.  

Also, a small update about groceries because I told you I would. My savings for March were $83.42 and 29.8%, which is less than February, but we also spent $98 less on groceries overall plus I tried my hand at shopping at more than one store for the first time, so it obviously still counts in the win column.  

So I started a little countdown... 33 days of work left!  That sounds ridiculously do-able until I also tell you that it's 11 1/2 weeks, but I'm ignoring that part and focusing on the 33 thing.  About a month and a half from now, I'll be able to start looking for a new job and relive this and also this whole process over again.  Yippee.  But really, yippee!

What else?  I have been horrible to the dear H lately, I am sorry to say.  Last night, he said something along the lines of, "Why are you snapping at me like a gosh darned sea turtle?" and I sat for a good ten minutes thinking about it, and realized I just really wanted to fight.  Not with him, not at all.  But I wanted to give someone a good spank in the brain with my ferocious words, and he happened to be the only person close enough to practice on.  I took many deep breaths and re-calmed myself, and hopefully I learned that spouses do not make good practice targets.

In better news, I just got back from a wild spring break trip spent with my new baby niece, who is adorable beyond words.  I got sunburned twice and giggled like a schoolgirl about it, and also laid around and marveled at my niece who is so much better than your niece.  I am sorry about that part, but the truth hurts.  I may have cried after leaving her because my sister is one of the most important people in my life, and one of the most important people in her life will never really know me, and if that's not a cause for a good cry, I don't know what is.

Other than that, I spend my days on bended knee asking the good Lord in heaven above to please send some sunshine and maybe not so much rain?  And then to go ahead and send a massive heat wave while He's at it.

What have your recent days been filled with?

P.S.  I pretty much never take naps, so that beginning part was a lie.  Oops again.

It's Party Time!

So back to the pity party with me, myself, and my computer with 26 tabs opened to different jobs.

I kept hoping I would read a job description and think, “That’s it!!  My destiny all wrapped up in 60 words or less!” No such luck.

So finally I turned to my safe zone.  Nannying.  I was not thrilled about this prospect, but applied partly out of desperation and partly because of that voice in my head screaming, “Get out before the cat pillows and embroidered cat sweaters get you first!”

I applied for a couple of jobs that I thought might actually be fun.  No word.  I got a couple of messages from moms interested in my profile, but none of them fit what I was looking for except one. So I responded to that one, while still applying to others I thought would be more fun.

Well, what do you know, I finally got an interview with the not-so-fun-looking job.  I interviewed, loved the family, and loved the kids!  I could work part time and still make more than I was hoping to make, plus they gave me some vacation days and paid holidays!

The final dilemma was the car situation.  I would need the car twice a week, but if I had it, my dear other half would have to work for more than 9 hours those days.  Well, here’s the kick in the pants, reader. 

Three weeks before my job starts, my hubbub gets called into a meeting where they tell him he can now work from home one day a week, any day he chooses.  Hallelujah and thank you Jesus, problem solved. (He works just one long day and gets a short day in return, which he needs in order to pick me up in time from the job. Could it get any more perfect?)

And after all my whining and complaining (and a dash of sulking), I realized God had done exactly what I asked him to do.  Never once did I get an interview with Starbucks or any other nanny job.  He opened the doors, and gave me a great job.

An awesome God, indeed.

Be Careful What You Wish For

The second blessing God gave us came in the form of my job.

When we moved, I gave myself a couple of weeks to settle in and figure out what I wanted to do.  But when the time came to get a job, it roared into town with a fury!

All of a sudden, I didn’t want a job, I needed a job.  What was I doing all day?  Why did I suddenly become so boring? Where is my life going? What if I forget how to talk to people? HowlongbeforeIbecomeacrazycatlady?? I was bored and lonely and needed desperately to get out of the house.  So the search began.

But not so fast, I had a couple of problems.

Problem #1- Hubby and I share a car.  He has a full-time job which he uses said car to get to.  Me=carless. Therefore, I needed a job that was either within walking distance or on the way to his job with magical hours that perfectly coincide with his.

Problem#2- I haven’t the slightest idea what to do with my life.  I got a degree in early childhood education because I really like hanging out with kids. I discovered, however, that I do not enjoy teaching them.  They are much more fun to hang out with than to teach.

So Google and I became very good friends.  Monster.com and careerbuilder.com were invited to the party as well.  I prayed and prayed and prayed over this (thus far nonexistent) job.  I prayed very specifically (which I rarely do) that whatever God wanted me to do, he would open the doors, because I hadn’t the slightest clue. Even MORE specifically, I prayed that if he didn’t want me to get the job, I wouldn’t even get an interview.

In my floundering, I turned where most directionless recent-grads turn: Starbucks.  There were two within walking distance, I worked in food service for many years, and I really do like the coffee shop atmosphere.  I applied, feeling pretty confident (here’s where that college degree pays off *nudge nudge*), and mentally gave myself a week to hear back from them.

A week came and went, and nothin’.  So what’s a stir-crazy housewife with no kids and barely any “house” to do?

Sulk.  That’s what.  But all the pouting in the world didn’t give me a job, so back to the drawing table, friends.

(There really is a blessing in all this.  I’ll get to it next time.  If you’re going to stick around, you may as well know that I don’t know how to make a long story short, but boy oh boy do I know how to make a short story long.  Need proof?  Look how long this parenthetical paragraph is.)