Full-timer

It's official. I'm a full-timer. Well, it's not actually official until next Thursday when I start for real. But since I only work M-W-F at my part time job (through next Wednesday, which happens to also be my birthday!) I went in yesterday to my new job for the first time.

It was interesting. Tuesday's and Thursday's we have med-clinic. Which means that we have patients coming in those days to see the doctor. I am being trained by a retired employee who I would describe as old school. Actually, the whole place is old school. Lots of things could be done on the computer that is being hand written right now. Perhaps at some point I can update those things. We'll see.

The lady training me, Carol, is nice. But she's set in her ways. I think she said, "My personal opinion" about 20 times yesterday. I politely agreed with her and made lots of mental notes to do things differently once she cuts me loose.

Carol seems to get frazzled really easily. Actually, there's no "seems to get" about it. Any little thing not going the right way gets her completely frazzled. Several times she mentioned that although it was ovewhelming it was a good day for me to start because I was able to see exactly how crazy things could get in the office on med clinic days.

Um, ok.

From what I can tell, the definition of "crazy" at my new job would be an extremely slow day at my current job. I do know that the 7 short months I worked in my current job will come in handy since both positions are in the medical field. But honestly, I think this new job will work out great. Especially once I get in and get the hang of things and my daily duties become second nature.

I also think that if I have to work full time, this is the perfect job to do it in. I should be able to get my 40 hours/week and still take off here and there to attend the kids school functions that they have periodically throughout the year. Yeah!

Of course, it helps that my boss is my friend. Can't beat that. I worked my old job today and then went in to the new one for just a few hours this afternoon. My boss/friend, Leah, and I went to Wal-Mart to buy a new mirror and lamp for the office. Then we went back and decorated so it was more homey. It looks 100% better already. I might actually like spending time there! And bonus...we can pay off so many bills with my new income.

Yippee!

Natural exfoliation

Why pay $40 for a pedicure when you can get such quality exfoliation for free on the beach?

See more self portraits
here.

Major changes

Oh. My. Goodness.

Can I first just say that I had nearly my whole entire entry typed out and then lost it somehow. Who knows what on earth I hit but it deleted everything.

Not to worry right? Because "Now Blogger saves your drafts automatically!" Unless you delete them accidentally. Whatever. I'll just start over.

So anyway...

One of my favorite little co-workers left my office a few weeks ago because she was offered a full time position with great benny's and it was a lot less stress than our current situation. She's a single mom. Would have been stupid to turn it down.

I talked to her on her first day at the new job. She joked about how weird it was to have so much responsibility and how the following day she would be interviewing applicants for her receptionist. She said, "I wish you could work full time because it would be so cool to have you here with me."

Well, I don't want to work full time. Right? I'm not ready to be a full time worker who isn't home when her kids get home from school. Not ready for full time. So not ready.

Then I mentioned to Hubby that she was looking for a receptionist. He perked up immediately , wondering about the pay. Bless his heart. For so many years he's basically worked 2 full time jobs to support our family. And he saw the light at the end of the tunnel with the possibility of me bringing in an actual income.

So last week I went and interviewed for this position. I'd be the secretary to the director of the med clinic for a non-profit mental health agency. Just so happens that the director is my buddy. ;)

Well, today I heard that they wanted to officially offer me the position. Yee haw! 40 hours/week with a salary. Super cool. Of course I told them yes. I should have a final start date tomorrow when I talk to my current office manager and find out my final day at my current job.

So now of course I'm freaking out. What on earth am I going to do with my kids when I'm at work? What will they do after school when I'm still at work? How will I get them to their piano/volleyball/gymnastics/cheer practices? Ugh. It's too overwhelming.

I need to order extra bon bons.

Sister slumber party

On Friday night I had the pleasure of hanging with my two favorite sisters. Ok, so I only have two sisters but if I had three I feel certain that these two would be my faves.

Emily was in town from New Mexico and we all met up at Amy's house for what I hope will be the first of many future Sister Slumber parties.

What, you ask, is necessary for this type of shindig? Well, a tub of cookie dough is always important. Cookie dough shaped like a big cow patty? Even better!



You'll also need a spoon for each sister. Now, be aware that your sisters will probably double dip. Just try not to notice and remember how much you love them.



Finally, you'll need a couple sisters. Funny ones are best. If you can find one that snorts when she laughs...even better. Lots of childhood memories and deep conversation about bra sizes will help keep things rolling.



I had a blast guys, thanks for being my sisters! *smooch*

Sew productive!

So I have this huge list of things that I really would like to get done around here. One of them is to find uses for all of the scraps and remnants that I have laying all around this place. It's a bit overwhelming, considering the seriousness of my fabric addiction. It's bad.

I got this great book by Amy Karol of The Angry Chicken. I just found her blog last week and can I just say I love her and she's not at all angry! I had some orders to work on today so while I did that I supervised Marleigh making Amy's No Cash Wallet from her book.



This was her first real sewing project to do on her own. I helped her just a smidge but I'm so proud of what she did. She liked it so much that she ended up making a second one and even bent the rules a bit more and changed it up a bit all on her own! Bonus: She used a bunch of my scraps!









Aren't those cute! She has a school trip to Italy next spring break and is really hoping to go. I told her we'd need to start saving money and she's all bummed out that she's only 12 and can't get a job. (Remember those days? When you were too young to have a job and hated it. Man, I'd love to be there again!) I'm considering letting her open an Etsy shop and the two of us can put goodies in there to help fund her trip. Whaddya think?

While she was working I made two aprons for my friend. She's been taking an annual trip with her Hubby to visit friends in Connecticut that have two little girls. Last time they went, her Hubby spent a fair share of his time there playing kitchen with the girls. So she ordered aprons for each of the girls from me. I love the colors in the fabrics she chose.



Feels good to have those done. Now I just have to get them monogrammed for her. And I'm getting ready to cut out some fabric for some PrettyMat orders that I desperately need to get done.

All in all, a very productive sewing day. Go me!

SPC1 - The Flame

The Flame
Originally uploaded by margo_stewart

My first entry in the Self Portrait Challenge This months challenge is to photograph the elements. Earth. Water. Fire. Air.

I choose Fire.

Fire is mesmerizing to me. I love just sitting and staring into the flame, dreaming of times gone by.

Fire and flames bring back memories of cherished times (and not so cherished) with my family. The top three most significant memories are:

1. Congregational Church. Loveland, Colorado. Leaned over during the candlelight child as a small child and caught my hair on fire. Mmmm. Burning hair. Yuck.

2. First Presbyterian Church. Tulsa, Oklahoma. Candlelight service = Silent Night. My mom died in 1993 but I can still hear her singing alto every time I listen to Silent Night. Looking into the flame of a fire this is what it most reminds me of.

3. Bon Fire. Memorial Day 1992. I went camping with a friend, her friend, and who I now fondly refer to as Hubby. We were out of firewood. So future-Hubby and I went stalking around other camp sites stealing firewood from other campers. Man, we were bad. *snort*

Change is good

Change
Originally uploaded by margo_stewart

Right?

Well, I'm not one for change. Never have been. My office has been going through a lot of changes lately. New computer program, co-workers leaving, new employees. You name it, it seems to be happening at my office. I don't like it.

I don't like the change happening with my children. I want them to stay little, to just freeze time. I should be happy that they are growing and thriving and I am. But I know that with each passing day they are that much closer to growing up and leaving me. What if I'm not done with them yet?

The change I see happening with my parents is scary. My mom has passed away but there's my Dad and Step-Mom and my Step-Dad who are all big pieces of my life. I seem to have successfully frozen them in time, keeping them all at an age that is much younger then they are now. Then I'll talk with one of them on the phone or see them and I realize that just like my children, they have aged. They've changed. Change I just don't want to deal with.

This photo was taken on our trip in May. I love it because it reminds me of what God is capable of. This morning at church the sermon was the last in a series about the intersection of Life and Faith. I was reminded that God is reliable. That He is the constant in this world that is ever changing. I may not be able to control everything. And things are bound to change and become uncomfortable, mostly right when I finally think I have it all figured out. But to know that my God has been and will be there through it all is certainly comforting.

As the service ended today Marleigh was taken up front with her youth pastor. A couple weeks ago while at camp she was baptized and today she declared her decision publicly in front of our congregation. Yet another change, my baby girl growing up and making decisions on her own. This was, of course, one of those decisions that I didn't have to argue with her about. I'm so proud of her!

Why can't I put a title on my post? I don't get it. I'm actually having all sorts of issues. I've found a new thing to add to my sidebar and of course I can't for the life of me get it added. It's really ticking me off.

So if I could add a Title it would be something like, "I heart photography". Or maybe, "A new obsession".

Hubby got me a new a camera for Christmas and I have really been enjoying it. I'm trying to teach myself Photoshop. Holy cow, that is one crazy program! I haven't seen more gadgets and gizmo's since I was allowed to go in the cockpit of an airplane as a little girl.

(Ahhh, remember the good old days? When you could go in and meet the captain and see where he sat to fly the big airplane and he'd give you your own pair of little wings. And you could ring the little bell and the stewardess would bring you a deck of cards that you got to keep. And then you and your brother would make your little sister laugh so hard that she'd throw up in the doggie bag and the stewardess would then give you really dirty looks and whisper to her co-workers how she hated kids flying alone. Um, nevermind.)

So anyway, I really am loving taking pictures. I'd love to improve to a point where I could do some photography for others. I don't know if that will ever happen but a girl can dream. Right? And in the meantime I get to lust after all these cool contraptions that would help my picture taking and then things like
these that are just plain cool!

Hopefully in the next few days I will share some picture. But first I have to figure out this whole blog issue I've got going on!

Stick-to-itiveness

I've never really had it. Ever.

I remember being a young girl and thinking it would be fun to rearrange my bedroom. I'd get nearly halfway done and decide I didn't really have that much interest in it after all.

At a young age I learned to do needle point and cross stitch. I can't tell you how many of those unfinished projects I have still laying around here.

Then there is every January 1st when I make a bunch of revelations to be healthy and happy and lay off the bon bons. I'm sure you can guess how long those generally last.

I just have never been one who could stick with things. My parenting skills are no exception.

Today we had to go to OKC for Elliot's Dr.'s appointment. Tess wasn't all that good during the appointment, she was cranky and loud and I attributed it the cold or whatever it is that has plagued our family lately.

After the appointment we headed down the street to a Border's so we could look at all the books and magazines. I love a big book store and could get lost in it forever just checking out every aisle and shelf. I'm so happy that my kids have inherited my love of reading and they were all excited about looking around.

So after we'd been there for a while Tess comes up to me with a stuffed animal. Seriously? Do you know how many stuffed animals there are in this house? After 33 years and 4 kids the last thing we need is a new stuffed animal. So I explain as best as I could that she was under no circumstances getting it but that I was happy to get her a new book.

Melt down.

Yep, right there my 5 year old cried and clung to that animal like it was something she'd had her whole life that I was horribly making her give up. I think if I'd told her she could have it if she'd let me cut off her legs she would have learned to walk on her hands. She wanted it that badly. Seriously.

But I'd told her no. And for some reason at that point I decided that today is the day that I start sticking to it. No more giving in. No more threats without following through. I told her she could get a book and that was it. I also told her if she didn't chill out she'd end up with nothing. No surprise here...she didn't chill out.

As hard as it was, and it was really hard, I kept my word. She stood in the line while I was checking out just sobbing and watching all three of her siblings pass their new treasures to me to buy. When I asked her if she thought she should have minded a little better when I asked her to she flat out told me no. Nice.

I did have a talk with her afterwards and told her that from now on she needed to behave or she wouldn't get treats. I told all of them actually and they all told me they'd mind better. Now I guess we'll see if they follow through with it. And we'll see if I can finally stick to it.

By the way, the Dr. isn't 100% sure what is going on with his ear but it didn't show that it had changed in his audio today. So we're still "watching" him. Whatever that means. I wonder if he'll start doing tricks if we watch long enough.

Apparently not

I asked last blog if a girl could catch a break. Actually, a 'freakin' break was the exact terminology. I now have my answer ...apparently not.

We just can not seem to get better around here. Elliot has lost hearing in his left ear. That would be his good ear. Good meaning the one he can actually hear out of. I took him in on Monday to the ped in hopes that he'd have an ear infection. Weird, I know. What sort of Mom actually hopes her kid has an infection? The kind that is looking for a reason for hearing loss other than "looks like the left ear is doing it now too."

Of course there wasn't any fluid so tomorrow we head to OKC for another audio to see what's going on with that. The ped did think he has a sinus infection and put him on some antibiotics. As of now, it doesn't seem to be working. The kids are all coughing and hacking but still going 110%. Hubby and I aren't feeling quite as well, but can't take the time to slow down.

I've been keeping track of everyone's temperatures for several days now. Everyone seems to just linger in the 99's although they've gone up to 100.5 or so on occasion. Certainly not the sort of fever you discover in the middle of the night and wonder if you should call a doctor. But if 98.6 is normal then we are definitely not normal. Right?



Wait, don't answer that.