30 Days of Thanks - Day 16

Today I'm thankful for my boss.

Yes, I know that is likely a strange thing to be thankful for, but the woman I've reported to for much of the last 15 years of employment is one of a kind. 

First of all, I am fortunately enough to call her a friend, as well as a mentor.  She is a Christian and over the past years, we have found we have lots in common (some good, some not so good.  :))  After my last job, where I really enjoyed my male boss, I swore I would never report to a woman again.   

There is something to be said for liking your boss.  I don't recall ever dreading going into work (as a general rule...though some Mondays are tough) and much of that is due to her constant challenge to me.

She truly does try and look out for my best interest and sees the potential in me, many time long before I would see it in myself AND sometimes when no one else saw it. 

So today, I'm thankful.

Hello? Can you hear me now?

One of the words Kylie can "say" but only we can understand is "hello?".  Whenever the phones ring in the house, she'll pick up whatever she has nearby...toy phone, remote, HER HAND, and say, 'eeehhhhooooo' in that low high intonation you use when answering the phone.

It's hilarious because just last weekend, we were walking through Tractor Supply Company and their phone rang and she immediate put her hand up to her ear and said, "hello?"  Now I'm not sure where she gets that because I NEVERRRRR talk on the phone!!!

Last week before her doctor's appointment, the family came up to the office to see my co-workers and Kylie was very interested in my desk.  I picked her up in my lap and this is the first thing she did...

Can you see what she's got?  It's my MOUSE.  At her ear.  And she was jabbering away!  I thought I was going to fall out of my chair laughing.

So I locked my PC up and let her go to town on the keyboard.  She had to switch hands with the "phone", but she really enjoyed her office work!!

A future compliance coordinator!!!

She's a smart one, that Kylie.  I told you she was...

One Day Down...

First I want to thank all of you who left me well wishes, texts, emails and encouraging words today, my first day back to work.

Steve had scheduled a doctor's appointment in Nashville at 9:45, so he, Jenna, Kylie and Katie all loaded up and made the trip.  As it notoriously is with doctor offices, the wait was a little long and Kylie got a bit cranky but overall the trip wasn't too bad.

After lunch and an unsuccessful attempt at an afternoon nap, this is what they ended up doing...

Photo Credit

They joined several of our good friends (Yanceys and Pulfreys) for some pool fun with the kiddos.  Kylie much prefers big pool fun (more to come on that in a future post) but it was a nice change of pace and got Steve and them out of the house for a little while.

Meanwhile, I woke up this morning with a raging headache.  I spent some time last night moving and backing up lots of photos (very behind on this) and actually had the headache when I went to bed.  It just never went away.  I took Advil before I left the house, but I still didn't have much of an appetite for breakfast. 

Work was pretty good considering it is work.  :)  I spent some of the morning unpacking my office (I had packed prior to leaving because we thought our office would be moving while I was out on leave) and then most of the day I sifted through the more than 600 emails.  I had several visitors to welcome me back but mostly nobody tried to give me any work to do.  :)  But the best thing of all was when this little surprise arrived.

These are from my sweet friend Lucinda!  She knew they would brighten my day and she was right!  They really lighten the office and made being at work a little easier.

My sweet friend, Elizabeth S. brought us dinner tonight, so I walked in, put my stuff down and went to grab my girls for a squeeze and dinner showed up!  It was perfect timing.  And it was yum!  It was such a relief for Steve not to have to worry about dinner on top of everything else.

Kylie was happy as could be to see me and she actually seemed quite a bit more bonded to Jenna.  So I think things are going as well as could be expected.

So for those of you who thought of me today, whether you emailed or texted or messaged me or not, THANK YOU.  I couldn't have made it without you!

PS.  Jenna blogged today so be sure and check it out here.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is my first day back to work after nearly 11 weeks of being off.  Jenna is out of school and Steve is staying home with the girls for the summer.  Pray for all of us.  This is another adjustment for me although I've been through it once before, it was quite different 11 years ago.  Steve is now a stay at home daddy to TWO girls one of who is FAR from self sufficient.  This is very different from his summers at home with Jenna.  And then there is Jenna.  Summers were pretty laid back and she and Steve went and did whenever they wanted.  This is different and her desires are going to be tempered with naptime and Kylie's overall mood.  It'll be different for her too.

And lastly, don't forget about Kylie.  She has bonded very well with me the last few weeks and so now I'm sure she's going to be wondering where this woman is all day.  Being that she has a history of being abandoned, we are expecting some level of regression, but praying it doesn't happen.

So anyway, think of me tomorrow...

Books!

I can't believe I haven't gotten to post this until now, but I blame "baby brain".  A few weeks ago, my sweet work team threw me a shower for Kylie.  Work has been crazy busy so it's no small feat that my team managed to pull it off.

Instead of the traditional shower, they did a book shower!  I honestly wasn't sure what to expect but it ended up being SO cute!  Dr. Seuss themed...

The cake was delicious and yes, Kylie enjoyed a bite or two as well!  That could have been why she didn't sleep that night... (just kidding!)

So many of my team members were there and it was really nice to see them again after being gone for more than a month.

We got SO many books and out of ALL of them, none were duplicates...either of what we already have or what someone else gave.  How unbelievable is that!?

I have started reading to Kylie almost every day.  She could care less and is not going to sit still long enough to listen to a book but I read while she play in her room.  We do a Bible story, then a Dr. Seuss book (my favorite is Fox in Socks) and then another Bible book.

I've been at my company for 14 years in June and these folks have become like family to me.  Many of them are friends as well as co-workers.  I'm so thankful for a team like this.

Employment Suits Us (sort of)

I've gotten repeated questions regarding how Steve's job is going.  It's a complicated question actually.  The company is a large company.  And there are perks that go along with a large company that Steve's never really encountered before.  He sits at a desk.  He's not required to stand or run a press.  The people he works with are, for the most part, professional.  They come in and say "good morning" and speak in the hallways.  He has a badge to get in and out of the building as well as in and out of his area.  They have a cafeteria on site as well as a workout area.  They know the rules and employment laws around service dogs.  They are more than accommodating with Katie and Steve's needs too.  In these respects, he could not have chosen a better company (except for maybe mine!)

The negatives are personal and not related to the company.  Steve is what I would consider IT customer support.  He answers calls from folks who need password resets and such.  The problem is Steve has NEVER done anything like that.  Therefore, there is a HUGE learning curve.  And Steve has a problem with learning curves.  He hates them.  He is easily frustrated when he doesn't 'get' something the first time it's presented to him.  The first two weeks were 7-4 M-F and all day every day training.  And it was rough.  He came home every day fussing about how he was never gonna get it.

Due to an error in his very common name, he's not gotten all the proper log ins, so this past week, his third week he did 7-4 shadowing.  Luckily they've sat him next to my niece's husband, Bob, who has been a GOD SEND for Steve because he teaches Steve more slowly so he can pick up on things.  This week Steve is also working 7-4 M-F.  That's 2 extra weeks of training while he waits on his new log in.  Don't you love it when God orchestrates little things like that to help us where He knows we need it?

So, for 2 extra weeks, Steve has sat with not just anyone, but a family member, shadowing him and the days have been considerably better.  Each day he comes home saying his day was "OK" and "alright" instead of dreading the next day.

I do believe Steve has realized all the benefits of being at home.  I know I sure have.  I had forgotten how much I did NOT miss worrying about child care for Jenna when she's randomly out of school or on holiday.  Here I am trying to save up as much time as I can for our trip to China and he's not really at a place where he can take off.  That's probably the one stress I do not miss at all.  That and the entire first week, I'd be like, "Hey, can you run to the bank tomorrow?" and then realize, no, no he couldn't.  I've lost my personal assistant.  :(

The good thing is every Friday when his paycheck arrives in the mail.  It's not a lot more than what he was getting in unemployment but it is enough to get us through. 

And in a few weeks, I think the answer to how his day was will be, "It was great!"

The Upside to Employment

Since I gave the downside to employment yesterday, I thought I'd give the upside now.

*He doesn't have to fool with unemployment anymore.
*Unemployment ends...and soon.  God willing, the job does not!
*Steve FINALLY understands how bad traffic can be!
*He still makes it home before me which means he fixes dinner!!! :)
*Getting up in the morning is way easier when you aren't getting up alone and in the dark.  I really have missed this part.
*He's learning something brand new and realizing that even though it's hard, he CAN do it!
*He now better understands large, corporate work environment.
*Steve is a much happier man, husband and daddy.  And that my friends, makes it ALL worth it.

The Downside to Employment

(Disclaimer: This is a tongue in cheek post.  We are extremely grateful for this job opportunity God has provided Steve).

For the past 2 years, Steve's been unemployed and we have been praying for a job.  I've always said that despite the financial stress being a one-income family caused, I did love Steve being at home.  Now that he's back to work, the downsides have become increasingly clear.  So, since I'm running low on interesting blog topics, I'm going to list them here...

The Downside to Employment:

*He can't clean my house, do the laundry or run my errands which means I have to use my lunch break to do errands like banking and clean the house in the evenings when I get home (yes, I've been spoiled).
*I pack 3 lunches a day instead of two (I'm doing this at night to save time).
*I wake up earlier because Steve's alarm is going off before mine.
*By 9:30pm, Steve is ready for bed and I'm just getting my second wind.
*I can't call or text him everytime something crosses my mind that he needs to know (which REALLY means I have to remember everything or write it down).
*Jenna has to go to aftercare every day.

You don't realize just how much he did at home until he's not there to do it anymore!!!

The Day Is Almost Here

Steve definitely starts his new job on Monday!  I think he's excited and nervous all together.  We have been told you get to choose your schedule (after the 2 weeks of training) based on how well you do during training.  No pressure there.  We know there are less than desirable (for us) shifts so please join us in praying for Steve to quickly pick up what he's being taught.  If attitude, timeliness and friendliness has anything to do with it, he'll have nothing to worry about!

I'll get you an update as soon as I can!

Job Update

So many of you have asked about Steve's job and how it's going.  We aren't really making public the company he's going to be working for yet.  For a while, he'll be on payroll at the placement agency and then hopefully he'll move over to the company payroll.  It's a large company and so we are hoping this will work out.

He was due to start Monday, the 15th, but the security clearance and drug test results weren't complete, not just on Steve but on all the other people starting at the same time.  Right now, the start date is Monday the 22nd.

For 2 weeks, he'll be in training, working 7-4 Monday through Friday.  But then, they'll put him on some random schedule and it could be nights or weekends or both.  We are both very nervous about this.  But we obviously aren't in a position to turn the job down or cause any ripples with the new company by being irritable about his schedule.  We know God brought us to this point and He will work this out.  Maybe not the way we think is best, but the way He KNOWS is best.  We have already decided to trust Him in this and whatever happens we'll deal with.  But again, just something for you all to be praying with us on. 

My Cup Overflows

Y'all that know the meaning behind today's title are gonna kill me that there aren't any pictures or more details here, but I'm actually writing this post on Thursday night and setting it to publish in the morning.  As you'll see, I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm tired and just want to get in bed.

We have had a BIG BLESSING kind of day!  First of all, Steve calls me on the way home last night and tells me that he has an interview today at 11:00.  We never get our hopes up because we've been there, done that and it's just not fun coming down.

Last night, Steve went to church praise band practice and Jenna and I ran to the grocery store.  When I got back, I checked my blackberry only to find an email from Lifeline (my NEW agency) saying to call them.  Not unusual since several of them work from home in the evenings to wrap up loose ends etc.  I called and my coordinator and I chit chatted for a while.  I'm thinking she's going to tell me there is a problem getting my dossier logged back in.  Her next words stunned me:

"I'm calling because I have a referral for you to review."

DO WHAT? 

"Oh, and by the way, we got your log in date.  It's today."

LOUD RINGING IN MY EARS.

To shorten the story while I can still form sentences...Kylie now has a face.  She was born on January 30, 2011 so she's a little one.  She has cleft lip and palate.  We submitted our LOI (Letter of Intent) today to adopt her and so she is officially ours (in our mind!).    Until we have pre-approval, we can't post her pic in a public place like this blog, but I can email it and as soon as we get that pre-approval, I'll post it

Oh, and if tht wasn't enough excitement, Steve's interview went well.  Exceptionally well.  HE GOT THE JOB!  He starts training on the 15th of this month.  Can I get an AMEN!?  Yes, thank you.  Very excited!

Finally, to finish out a trio of fabulous news...my friend Darlene got the results of her recent PET scan which was to tell her whether the cancer has spread anywhere other than her breast and PRAISE GOD IT HASN'T!  After all my personal good news, reading hers brought me to tears.

After all this news yesterday, this is the scripture that keeps coming to mind:

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Malachi 3:10

God totally showed off yesterday.  I just love it when that happens.

OK, more information to come.  I promise!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program...

Today I thought I'd mix things up and introduce you to who I affectiontely refer to as my "work BFF", Katelyn.  Katelyn came to work in my department a few years ago fresh out of college.  I would have never thought this this young whippersnapper (could I make myself sound any more like a SENIOR CITIZEN?!) and I would have enough in common to be able to work together, much less be friends.  But you know, despite our differences, she has become one of my best friends.  She was the very first person to know we were adopting and she got a front row seat for the craziness that surrounded that decision (and still does). I love this girl even when we are getting on each others' nerves and there are many young people who could learn a LOT about making their way in the world from her. 

So, here she is...Katelyn B...

Hello “Just Haven’t Met You Yet” readers! This is my very first guest blog post! I’m Katelyn, blogger at “On Repeat” and Sandra’s work friend. Sandra originally introduced me to blogging – and Google Reader – so I have a lot to thank her for {and a lot of time wasted because of her!}. Here’s my take on the faqs she sent me:

Hometown: Rittman, Ohio. If you know where that is, holler at me! It is an incredibly small town in the Midwest. Picture it: everyone knows everyone and their business. I knew I wanted to get to a big(ger) city for school, so I escaped to Ohio University, in Athens. {We’re the number 1 party school in the country, not to be confused with that other school in Ohio where they cheat at sports J} Then, I knew that wasn’t big enough and made my way to the South immediately after graduation.

Current Home: Nashville! Specifically Sylvan Park. West Side represent. I love my neighborhood.

Meaning Behind Blog Name: I am a creature of habit. When I love something I LOVE it. So, I tend to “repeat” a lot of my favorite things. Same thing for lunch every day, throw my fav songs “on repeat”, etc. You get the drift. I think of my blog tagline as “If it’s good, play it again”.

Current Job: Communications Coordinator. I went to school for Public Relations, but have a love for interviews, design and the benefits of working for a well-respected company, which sums up what I do now. I like my job.

Dream Job: I don’t know! I’m in that quarter-life-crisis stage where I’m thinking a lot about my future, but not making any decisions. I’ll report back when I figure it out.

If I could travel Anywhere: Israel. I spent time in Egypt in 2009, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I’d love to go back to the Middle East. Or Mexico. I enjoy the language, food, drink and laid back attitude of our friends below the border. Arriba!

Something Unique about You: I’m a vegetarian! I have been super pro-animal all my life. {Like, having to leave the classroom in 5^th grade when Mrs. Berry was showing a movie that involved a wolf fight. I should have known then.} I gave up all meat 8 months ago after reading, “Eating Animals”. I don’t know if I will be strictly veg-only forever, but for now it’s a choice I feel good about. You’ll have to ask my boyfriend how he feels about it! Ha!

Thanks for having me, Sandra! It was super fun, and I’m glad my first guest blog could be here!

And that's Katelyn!  I'd encourage you to hop over to her blog.  It's witty and very Katelyn.  Please be advised that I totally plagiarized these questions for KB from another blog.  :)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program....

A Day In the Life...

Thought you might be interested in hearing what a normal weekday looks like for me.  I might have blogged about this once before, but just pretend like I haven't.  :)

5:00am Alarm goes off for the first time.  Hit snooze.
5:07, 5:14, 5:21am Alarm comes on multiple times.  Continue to hit snooze.
5:28am roll out of bed and go to the bathroom.
5:28 -5:55 Brush teeth, put on makeup, fix hair, put on clothes including jewelry.
5:55am Make sure Jenna is up and getting ready.  She almost always is.  Head downstairs.
6:00-6:20am Make lunch, snack, breakfast times two.  Most days I cram some kind of breakfast down my throat as well.
6:20am Get my bag, purse, Jenna's backpack (and jacket depending on the weather) and had out.
6:30am Hopefully on our way to school/work.
7:00-7:15am arrive at school. Give lots of love to JG and then she reports to before care at school.
7:30-7:45 Arrive at work.  This is where my day starts.  On any given day, there is at least one meeting or conference call and sometimes multiple or back-to-back meetings all day.  On about 3 out of 5 days, I'll get to have lunch away from my desk.  Most days my lunch lasts 30 minutes even though I have an hour slated.
5:00-5:30 leave work and head home.  I try to be out of the office by 5:00 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because we have plans after work.  Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't.  I work very hard to try and make it happen.
5:30-6:30/6:45/7:00pm TRAFFIC.  With the construction out towards our neck of the woods, the traffice is horrendous.  On a bad day, when it seems like everyone is on the road, it can easily take 90 minutes for me to get home.  On a good traffic day, I"m looking at about an hour and 15 minutes.
6:15-7:00pm arrive at home.  Hopefully Steve is cooking dinner (or dinner is on the table).  Eat dinner, clean up the dishes (if Steve cooked).  On the rare occasion where Steve hasn't started dinner yet, I then start dinner (and he cleans up).  6:30-7:00 Eat dinner.
7:00-8:00 Clean up kitchen, get Jenna's bath, watch a bit of tv or work on the computer.
8:00-8:30 Jenna gets ready for bed.  We do devotional, pray, then read (or snuggle) and she's in bed by 8:30.
8:30-9:00 that's what I get a shower (obviously, there's not time for showers in the morning)
9:00-10:00 PC, TV, read, do Bible study, fold laundry, review Jenna's homework etc.
10:00 BED.

Then the next day I start all over again.  Maybe one day I'll let you in on what my weekends usually look like.

6th Day of Christmas-My Work

So, I know most folks wouldn't list their workplace in a blog as something to be thankful for.  But I am. I work at really a great place to work.  Part of what makes it great is the people I work for and with.  I have 3 co-workers on my team and my boss, Sherri.  Now, you've probably heard me mention Sherri before...some in this blog, but many of you know I talked about her before.

I love working for Sherri.  I worked for her a few years ago and left to take what I thought at the time was a better opportunity.  And I spent the next several years scratching and clawing to get back to her.  About 18 months ago I finally succeeded and I could not be happier.  Sherri knows me well.  I could go on and on, but we'll leave it at that.

And I work at a company who is very involved with the community and helping others.  In fact, once a year, we get an entire day off work to volunteer with a non profit entity in our city.  We have literally hundreds to choose from.  And the company pays us for the day...we don't take it from our vacation or anything.  And it is "strongly encouraged" that we participate.  The company gives no telling how much to these same institutions every year to help them do what they do best.

We have a cafeteria, a fitness center, pharmacy and clinic all on-site at the Corporate office.  It's free parking every day and if you have to go between buidlings, there are shuttles that run all day long so you don't have to walk in the rain or cold.  There's so much more, but it is a fabulous place to work.  The opportunity there is crazy.  I have been there 11 1/2 years.

And then I have great co-workers...Katelyn, Sally and Erica.  We all have different jobs, but we get along like family.  They are some of my closest friends.  We make a great team.  And I love it.

So, in this season of reflection, I'm thankful for the company I work for, the people I work for and the people I work WITH.