Easter

We hope everyone had a happy Easter yesterday! We enjoyed a very filling yummy dinner, egg hunt, and games with extended family at John's parents' house. It was fun to have a relaxing day with family before everything hits the fan tomorrow (first day of my new job!).

Happy Easter from the Minthornes!

Carrie Minthorne, Library Assistant

It is official: I am a Library Assistant. Not certified yet, but most definitely hired. I had the interview last Thursday and was convinced that I had bombed it. I was sick, I felt like I was grasping for answers at their questions (I had prepped for different questions entirely), it just wasn't a great feeling once I left. But I got the call this morning to offer me the position and I readily accepted. I have four weeks of training before my official start date of May 19th.

It all hit me this afternoon. I am going to be working. I am still in school full time. I am still doing my internship. I have two kids and their four extra-curricular activities to worry about. I AM INSANE. Or will be shortly.

On the bright side, it's a part time job. I'm capped at 17 hours per week because it's a non-benefited position. I'll also be done with school in 8 weeks, so the massive insanity will be short lived.
On the not-so-bright side, it's a position with an on-call component, which means childcare could get tricky sometimes. Thank goodness there's a drop-in daycare a few minutes away for emergencies (which will cost me more per hour than what I'll be paid, but hey, you do what you have to do).

I feel excited. Very excited. I'm also panicking a little and suddenly feel the need to take a nap. Most of all though, I can't believe I actually got hired as a Library Assistant!

A Month for Grief

Last April, my cousin Ben was killed in a car accident when another driver ran a stop sign and hit Ben's car going 55+ mph. It shook us all to the core and it's sort of hard to believe that was a year ago. The anniversary of the accident is on Saturday. I've been feeling the grief again this week as the date gets closer, and I grieve for my aunt and uncle as the very painful date of their son's death comes upon them.

Sadly, the month of April just got a lot more difficult in terms of loss. There was more grief today as I received the news that one of my very best friends in the entire world lost her dad. Some of you may have known Stan Thornburg and maybe you are grieving today as well.

Stan came to our church as a pastor when I was about 13. His daughter Haley and I almost immediately latched onto each other like we needed each other for survival. This meant lots of time spent at Haley's house, where we pestered Stan with teenage girl antics until the cows came home. I don't know how the poor man handled it. But he never complained, even as Haley and I made way too much noise into the middle of the night during sleepovers (we tend to laugh hysterically - constantly - whenever we're together). He would happily drive us to the mall and back whenever we asked. He would only occasionally throw glares our way while Haley and I loudly munched on Gardettos during one of his sermons. He would calmly pick up the phone to let Haley and I know that he really needed to make a phone call and would sadly have to end one of our hours-long conversations. I had seen him only a handful of times in the past few years, but he always had a joke ready and then would seamlessly transition into letting me know that he continued to keep me in prayer.

He had one of the most fantastic personalities with a killer sense of humor. But you could always count on him to be serious when needed. To be a prayer warrior for you, to care deeply about what was happening in your life. He provided love and stability for me like I was his own daughter. Stan was a wonderful pastor, a great friend, and I am so so so happy that I was able to know him.

Lots of tears have fallen today. This loss is huge. I struggle with comprehending that Stan is really gone, because it doesn't seem possible. I know there are lots of people out there today feeling the same way. He was loved, and he will be greatly missed.

The Beginning of the End

Yesterday marked the first day of my last term of school. (Assuming I don't lose my mind months/years from now and decide to keep going) It really doesn't seem real. It's been a LONG 2+ years for this certification and I am so very ready to be done. I keep wondering if someone from PCC is going to call me up, laughing hysterically, to tell me that I'm so silly for thinking I was nearly done.

Next week is going to hit full force and I have a feeling that I'm going to ride the stress train from there until June. Along with my classes and internship (11 credits in all - the most I've taken at once so far), I have to take a trip out to the Cascade campus to meet with my advisor and the department director to make sure everything is lined up correctly for graduation (which is way more complicated than it should be, but they are in the midst of changing program requirements). I also have a job interview for a Library Assistant position, which is going to keep me wound up in a constant bundle of nerves until I get through it and hear the final decision. Soccer games begin for both boys, and of course they both have soccer on the exact same night at the exact same time in two different locations. Nathan continues piano, and Aiden begins a new after school club twice a week.

I'm determined to stay sane throughout this final term and not in end up in tears every couple of days like the last two terms. I have three day planners - one for upstairs, one for downstairs, and the electronic one on my phone. I color code our dry erase weekly and monthly calendars. And I'm continuing our subscription to eMeals for easy-peasy gluten free meal planning (it also reduces our monthly grocery costs! Woohoo!).

So that's where we sit....about to jump into the deep end. But when we finally crawl out in mid-June, it's going to feel amazing.