My first week

My first week of being a Payless employee is nearly over. Although, I only had two days on the schedule for this week, so I can't really say that I feel very employed yet.

Monday was...insane. I'm happy that I was able to get through it with as much energy as I did. More happened than was originally planned, but I only had one small emotional breakdown. I had to take the boys grocery shopping with me in the morning, which wasn't supposed to happen. The groceries were going to be done on Sunday, but John and I ended up with a date (yay!) and we didn't get home until it was late and we were too tired to go. So my morning that was going to be spent at home was spent at the grocery store, at the gas station, in the car, and in the apartment leasing office picking up packages. I also spent a while on the phone with my father, getting all the details about that morning's court session with him and my mother. And for some reason, I also ended up having a minor vomiting episode right after eating breakfast that morning (sorry if that was too much information). I got home with 15 minutes available to get both boys lunch before we needed to leave again to get Nathan to the babysitter's and Aiden to school.

Once Aiden and I arrived at school, we were greeted by a big red sign on the door reminding parents that all registration forms and checks were due that day. Guess what? I had prepared everything, put it in an envelope, and set it on my desk. And there it sat. That was really the last thing I could handle right then and ended up bursting into tears in front of the teacher and two moms. One of the moms found some more registration forms and the teacher told me to just put a sticky note on there explaining that I'd left the check at home and would drop it off that night. So I got through parent-helping with more energy than usual (I guess crying helps sometimes!) and headed off to pick up Nathan. We made our way over to John's work as quickly as possible, but didn't have enough time to go home before I needed to be at work, so John had to drive me straight there. That meant keeping the boys up later than usual, but that's better than being late on my first day.

I had just 4 1/2 hours on the schedule and it went fairly quickly, considering most of the time was spent in the back room (which has NO heat!) watching training videos all by myself. The Payless training videos are interactive and require you to take little tests every 20 minutes. Fun! The store was really slow and I didn't have much to do once I finished the first video, plus I don't know how to work the cash register yet, so I couldn't have done much even if there were customers to help. So I picked out some comfy flats to wear at work and put my discount to use.
I helped close the store by vacuuming, but that was about it. My next day is tomorrow (Friday), where I will work a whopping 3 hours, most of which will be spent on more training videos.

I do really like the store and I get along pretty well with the manager, so I think it's a good fit for me (and that wasn't meant to be a shoe joke). I'm sure once I know how to do more, the work will get a little more interesting and as it gets closer to spring, the store will become busier.

Thanks for all the great thoughts and wishes for my first day! I'll keep you all updated on how the job is going in general from time to time. Off to bed!

One Year Checkup

This actually happened on the 15th, but I'm just now getting around to updating you all on Nathan's one year checkup.

The pediatrician was impressed that he'd been walking for month, but had anticipated it when we had his 9-month check. Everything is right on track developmentally, and he tagged Nathan as being ahead of his age group in speech. He has quite a few words that he uses regularly already: Bread, Potato, Baby, Diaper, Bath, Cat, Mama, Dada, Ball, and has also said Aiden a few times. He began putting two words together recently: Bitty Baby. It seems to be one of his favorite things to say and seems to say it when he's feeling particularly lovey with one of us.

He got a bunch of shots, but hasn't had any reactions (yet - they said it could be two weeks). He didn't even seem to be bothered by any soreness in his legs and didn't act overly tired.

So here are his stats for one year:
Birth:
Weight - 7 lbs, 2 oz Height - 20 1/2 in
2 Months:
Weight - 12 lbs, 3 oz (65th %) Height - 24 1/2 in (93rd %)
4 Months:
Weight - 14 lbs, 11 oz (48th %) Height - 25 3/4 in (80th %)
6 Months:
Weight - 17 lbs, 3 oz (50th %) Height - 26 1/2 in (50th %)
9 Months:
Weight - 18 lbs, 15 oz (18th %) Height - 29 in (67th %)
1 Year:
Weight - 20 lbs, 8 oz (16th %) Height - 29 in (24th %)

You'll notice that he hasn't grown any in height since his 9 month check, which the pediatrician was momentarily concerned about, but then inquired of our height and seemed to be satisfied that Nathan was probably never meant to be tall in the first place. :^)

Now if he'd just grow some more hair...

Tagged!

I was tagged! Just highlight the things that you have done...

Started your own blog - that's why you're reading this!
Slept under the stars - Nah, I don't like camping.
Played in a band - I had my own band in high school!
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland/world
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris - If we get our way for our 5 year anniversary....
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning - The ONE TIME I ate clam chowder. Never again!
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train - does a crowded, smelly Greyhound bus count?
Had a pillow fight
Hitchhiked
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - who hasn't?
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb - I milked a goat too!!
Gone skinny dipping
Been to a Broadway show in NY - Even though it wasn't a Broadway show, I'm still highlighting it because I think going to a New York City Opera performance is just as cool!
Ran a Marathon - Yeah....I have asthma, so I'd probably die.
Been in three states at once - nope, just two. I did the hopping back and forth thing at the Hoover Dam.
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a Cruise
Seen Niagra Falls in Person
Visited the birthplace of your Ancestors
Seen an Amish community - Probably something I should have done while living in Pennsylvania.
Taught yourself a new language - French!
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo’s David
Sung karaoke - Hehe, yes.
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant - Not yet, but I really want to do the thing where I buy the person behind me in the drive-thru at Starbucks their coffee.
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight - Yes, but it was the Oregon coast and absolutely freezing even though it was July, so I didn't enjoy it very much.
Been transported in an ambulance - Yes, across the parking lot of the hospital. They honestly thought I was bad enough to need an ambulance from the Urgent Care Center to the ER. So I was dehydrated and couldn't feel the majority of my body....
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris - Again, hopefully next year...
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud - Probably...I was once a little kid.
Been to Grace Kelley’s grave in Monaco
Gone to a drive-in theater - Couldn't tell you what I saw though.
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Swam in the Mediterranean Sea
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout cookies
Gone whale watching
Gotten flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma - No! Afraid of needles and I don't weigh enough.
Gone sky diving - Almost...
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check - Not since college though!
Saved a favorite childhood toy - I still have most of my Barbies.
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar - It's never appealed to me.
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square - Yes, and I forgot my stinking camera in the hotel room!!!
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone - Many toes (which I then danced on in pointe shoes), my right wrist, and my nose.
Been on a speeding motorcycle - So freaking scary!
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper - Does my hand count? I could see my hand. And I've actually seen myself on the news twice, so I think that counts even more.
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared my own meat - It really needs to be dead before I can eat it and I'd prefer not to see it happen.
Had chickenpox - Twice.
Saved someone’s life - I was an RA in college and there was this stupid freshman boy who had drunk WAY too much and had some serious alcohol poisoning. Once I went through all of the emergency procedures and he was transported, my superiors contacted me to let me know that the paramedics and ER doc had told them that if I had come across him just five minutes later than I did, he would have died. Having someone's life in your hands like that is really not amazing or cool and it still bothers me to this day.
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous - I met Bill Nye the Science Guy when I was 8, and I met John Lithgow in New York, and I met the Newsboys in Seattle in 1999.
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one - My grandmother passed away last year.
Had a baby - Two!
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee - But it didn't happen until I was 20!

I will now tag...Hannah, Emily, Carrie Marie, Bethany, Darla, and Casey

What Monday will bring

Monday will bring pulling sleepy boys out of bed to take John to work between 7-8am. The remainder of the morning will be spent dressing and feeding myself and my children, doing dishes, and prepping dinner for that evening, even though I won't be home to eat it.
Around 12:30, I'll take Nathan to a neighbor's house for babysitting while I parent help in Aiden's preschool class for three hours.
At 3:45, I'll drag Aiden out of his classroom to the car (this happens all the time, as he never wants to leave). I will pick up Nathan from the babysitter's, drive to John's work, pick him up, and drive home. I will rush everyone into our home, rapidly change my messy parent-help clothes to work clothes, and then run out the door for my first day at work.
I begin at 4:45pm, a little earlier than I will normally start, only because I have some additional training videos to watch. I will work until 9:15pm and then I will get to go home to my husband, who will have put the children to bed all on his own. If I'm lucky, I will have gotten a snack in before my shift started, but I won't eat dinner until 9:45. I will then shower and collapse into bed by 11pm.
Total hours awake: 16.

I'm honestly not trying to be downer by typing all this out - it's my way of mentally going through what my first day of being a working mom will be. Mentally preparing myself, if you will. If I don't go through it all, I'll feel totally out of control of the day. I'm not going to lie and say I'll feel supercharged by the time I get home from work. Monday is going to be exhausting. For some reason, parent helping is one of the most draining experiences I have all month (twice a month). But really, I'm not dreading the parent helping or my first shift at work. I'm just not looking forward to the time between 3:45 and 4:45, where I'm trying to fit more things in than can probably realistically happen. But, I'm trying to be extremely prepared for this day, so I have a backup plan. If I don't have time to get John and the boys home so I can change before I need to be at work, I'll pick John up from work and then he'll drive me straight to work (I'll have a change of work clothes with me just for this reason). This will mean keeping the boys up for an extra hour or so, as he'll need to pick me up from work at 9:15, but they deal with occasional extra time awake fairly well.

Another thing that Monday will bring that won't add extra time, but is still a huge thing: We turn in Aiden's registration papers for his class for next year. He'll be old enough to go into the Multi-Age Preschool class (3-5 year olds), which will up the amount of time he spends at school next year. We have to three choices for classes and we'll find out on Wednesday if we are placed with our first, second, or third choice for class. I would like our first choice, as it keeps him in the afternoon and it would give him an extra day a week at school. Our second choices aren't bad, but they are both in the morning and that would require getting John to work earlier than normal to get Aiden to school by 9am. One choice gives him an extra day a week and the other gives him an extra hour on the two days he would spend at school. Oh well, I have no real control over what we get and really, school is school to him and that's all that matters.

Well, Monday will be a big day, but then I don't work again until Friday, so I suppose I have most of the week to recuperate. I'll keep you updated as to how my first day of employment goes.

Results!

I just received a call from the manager at Payless and she offered me a job! I am very happy that my job search lasted only 2-3 weeks and that I will be able to contribute to our finances. It's not a lot, but my paycheck should cover most of our rent each month. I won't find out when I start until tomorrow evening when I go in to complete the hiring process.

Even though I now have the job, I need your good thoughts and prayers more than ever. After the initial excitement, I burst into tears. It really hit me that I won't be able to stay home with the kids all the time anymore and that I will barely see John. This is a huge change and it's going to take some getting used to for everyone here at home. I am hoping that we can adjust quickly and that my marriage can go through minimal suffering (or preferably none!) due to our work schedules.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and wishes. It's good to know that we have so many people who care about us.

The Portland Lumberjax

On Wednesday, January 7, I'd had a bit of a long, rough day. I was on my way to pick up John from work and was listening to the radio, 105.1 The Buzz for you in the Portland area. The female afternoon DJ is married to the assistant coach/goalie for the Portland Lumberjax, the professional Lacrosse team. He had stopped by and brought in some tickets for them to give out on the radio. They said, we have some tickets, so call in and see if you can snag some. John and I had been discussing going to a Lumberjax game for a while, but our finances aren't awesome, so it was looking like it was going to happen. But when I heard that, I grabbed my phone and dialed in. I tried probably 10-15 times to get through with no luck. I was pulling into a parking spot at John's workplace when I thought I'd give it one last call. And I got through! I snagged two tickets for the Friday night game! I was so excited and could barely wait to tell John when he got in the car. We worked out babysitting and planned to pick the tickets up at the radio station on Friday afternoon.

Friday afternoon came around and we worked our way downtown with mapquest directions. We drove for an hour and half...around and around and around. I was nearly in tears from being so frustrated, not to mention very hungry as I hadn't gotten my lunch yet. I told John to forget it and to just go home. We made our way back home and John decided that he would call out of work (he'd been planning to do a short half-day since he had class that morning) and we'd get better directions from the radio station website.

After a quick bite to eat, we loaded the kids up in the car yet again and made our way to the station. With the better directions, we found it in no time. Which was fine, but also annoying, because if they'd just told us that they were directly next to the Old Spaghetti Factory on the waterfront, I would have known exactly where to go the first time.

So after all that, we took the kids to a park, got some McD's for dinner and then took the boys to grandpa for babysitting. We made our way to the Rose Garden with no problem and found parking right away. I had no idea where the seats were going to be, but figured they would be somewhere in the middle. They are the ones they give away for free after all. We found the entrance to our section and showed our tickets to the usher. We were then ushered down some stairs and down some more....until he stopped us at the 5th row up from the floor!!! We were right next to one of the goals and sitting directly next to the place where all the players and the dancers enter the field. We could see everything perfectly and could feel the vibration when a player slammed into the glass. It was amazing. I was going to take a picture with my phone, but it turned out that it had gotten left in the car after Nathan was playing with it.

We watched the game (amazing!!) while we snacked on Super Nachos (yummy fake cheese...). The time came when they shot t-shirts out into the crowd. We ended up having a t-shirt thrown directly to us! Who knew it could get any better? But it could! I unrolled the Lumberjax shirt to find that the name and player number on the back was none other than the husband of the female DJ from the radio station! I couldn't have been happier! And the shirt fits me perfectly, by the way.

It was such a fun night out and one that I am so happy we were able to receive. With our finances as they are, we had planned to not have any dates for a while and that was beginning to really depress me. I nearly cried when I realized that we had gotten some of the best seats in the house for free. I think I may pay attention to the radio giveaways a little more often to see how far my luck can go!

Interview, part 2

On Friday, I was called by the manager at Payless to see if I could come in for a 2nd interview. It was today and it was with a manager at another store, purely to give the other manager a fresh perspective on me through someone else's eyes. I still felt quite nervous, and really, who wouldn't be? The 2nd round of interviews is probably the most nerve-wracking, as they are obviously seriously considering me at this point. I met with the manager, who was very nice, and went over some things about the first interview with him. He asked me some questions about my retail experience and what I might be considering for my future with their company, which I had actually spent a lot of time thinking about over the past week. I honestly believe I could do very, very well in management. I don't want to jinx anything, but it went really well and he sounded extremely positive in what he was going to tell the hiring manager. So for now, I'm just waiting on the final phone call. I'm not totally sure when that will be, but hopefully by the end of the week. I suppose it depends on how many other potentials they sent on for a 2nd interview.

While shoe sales isn't really the most challenging job on the planet, the schedule sounds perfect for us and I really do enjoy working in retail. I love talking to people and I feel very good when I can send them home with exactly the thing they were looking for. I didn't feel horribly confident after my first interview, but I have to assume that I was sent on to the 2nd interview for a reason. I sat in the car for a few minutes before my interview and said a little prayer, keeping in mind that I could only do my best and the final decision was not in my control.

I feel better today than I have in a few weeks now. John got some good news at work this evening and he'll have job security for at least the next 6 weeks. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but they just laid off two people last week and the rumor was that a few others were going to go as well. My stress level has been sky high for a while now and it's an understatement to say that things have been rough. While I'm not looking forward to the additional work load a part-time job may bring, I know that it's what we need right now and that we will make it through this. This might not be the worst of it yet (and boy, I don't want to see the worst of it), but I am trying to grow in my faith and trust that we'll be ok in the end.

That's my update for now. I finally have a day at home tomorrow and my home is as clean as it's been in weeks, so I might just get a chance to post some pictures from Christmas and New Years. I have many stories to tell and I look forward to sharing them with you. I will definitely update when I get the much-awaited phone call from Payless.

The new additions to our family

First, sorry about the cat bum in the picture. I know that's not the first view of a cat anyone would want to see. These are the best pictures (so far) that I've been able to capture of our new kitties, Jack (gray tabby) and Poe (black). They were a late Christmas present for the boys and something we had been planning on for nearly a year. We adopted them the day we came back from the coast, after a couple hours of searching. We were initially looking for a very little kitten to bring home, but found these four-month old brothers that had been waiting to be adopted ever since they were old enough to be away from their mother. We held them and showed them to the boys and they were so calm and cuddly, we knew we had found our cats. One more than we had planned on, but they took to us so well, we couldn't pass them up.

So far, they are extremely active and very much enjoy wrestling with each other. They spent the first few days hiding under the couch, but then eventually started coming out after the boys went to bed, and now they are out about half the time during the day. They have been very gentle with the boys so far, even though they're still a little afraid of them.
One thing that I have give thanks for is that they took to their litter box immediately! We've had one small incident so far, but that was Poe protesting the fact that they had totally filled their little box and he needed to go. So he pooped at my feet. Nothing some Febreze and a strong scolding didn't fix!
They have been sleeping on our bed, which is nice for a while, until they decide that it's play time and they wake both John and I up by licking our faces. We are thoroughly enjoying their presence in our home.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Happy 1st Birthday to my baby Nathan! I still remember, vividly, the day you were born. While that might not be a good thing, I can't tell you how amazing it has been to watch you grow and learn over this past year. Walking, learning words, doing your own version of telling jokes, clapping, pointing, brightening my day with every smile, hug, and kiss. I can't believe you're not a baby anymore. I waited for what felt like forever to meet you and now this year really has gone by much too fast. While you're going to have no idea why I'll be crying at various times during the day today, just know that it's because the love I feel for you is so overwhelming, there's no way to put it into words. I just wish the past year had taken as long as the pregnancy seemed to take. Have a great birthday, my new little toddler.

After the interview

I actually have no news. They have a couple other people set up for interviews this week and they're going to call me by the end of the week to let me know.

I haven't interviewed for a job since 2005. Needless to say, I did not feel confident about my interview skills and I think I was shaking a little. There were lots of "What would you do if...." questions and I had to do a role-play situation. The interviewing manager was the customer and I was the employee, lending my assistance. It required LOTS of improvisation! I think I did ok with that though.
I'm pretty sure that my nerves were obvious, but the lady interviewing me was training to become a manager and she seemed a little nervous as well, so maybe I didn't look so bad.

The interview lasted about 10-15 minutes (yay for retail interviews), which was fine because I'd barely eaten all day and was beginning to really need food. The schedule looks perfect, so I am really hoping that I get it. I did feel ok about how I did right after the interview, but as the evening went on and I kept thinking about it, I began to feel like I didn't answer some of the questions very well and convinced myself that I had completely bombed by the time I went to bed. I still don't feel all that great about it today, but it's out of my hands now.

Hopefully I'll get some pictures up today. I have plenty of housework to do, but I also want to go a little easy on myself since I haven't been feeling all that well and I have a busy end of the week ahead of me. Plus, my baby turns one tomorrow and I'm still not handling it very well.

Until later then....

Interview

I know I have been lagging on the posting and believe me, there's much to write about. The problem is that I want to get the pictures transferred from our camera to the computer, and I have yet to find some time to get it done. Which means no posting yet!

So for now, I would just like to ask that you keep me in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow (Monday) at 6:30pm. I have a job interview and I'm really hoping that it works out the way that we need it to. I'll be sure to update as soon as I know anything. With this kind of thing, they tend to offer the job or decline your services during the interview, so I'll probably have news on it as soon as I come home. Wish me luck!