Thursday, September 27, 2012

Disguised Blessings

Last Monday, a Temp position in my department as a Lead came through.  I felt a very strong urge to apply.  I worried about having to go full time and many other things but I felt like I needed to act on it.  I called Ben and we chatted about it.  I wrote the letter, sent it to Ben to read and then sent the letter in.

Wednesday afternoon I IMed my Supervisor verifying she had gotten the email.  She told me they would be interviewing on Friday.  I told her I could not do Friday but could do Thursday.  Thursday morning came and I drove my hubby up to work the Ice Skating show we were working that weekend.  I was not supposed to work on Thursday but when I got there I was asked to come back later.  I had the day off work because my mom had fallen down the stairs and needed some help with my nephew.  Anyway, things changed and I ended up not needing to help my mom and so I agreed to go work the show on Thursday.

Thursday at about noon I got a call from my supervisor asking me to come in at 1:30 for an interview.  I was supposed to be at the show by 2:00 and the office and the show were only minutes apart so it all worked perfectly.

I went to the interview and then went to the show.  They told me they would let me know on Friday.  Friday night I got an email stating they needed 1 more day and they would contact us on Saturday.  Saturday night I got a call asking me to be the new Temp Lead for The Queues Crew.

I was sooo scared of the what, when, where, why and how but KNEW it was right.  I said yes and then they asked me to start Monday morning at 0700.  Crazy!

Now a little back story.  Thursday is our "payday" even though officially it is a Friday payday.  Thursday night Ben's check was not direct deposited into our account.  Friday night when we got home from the show at about 11:30 pm I checked the account and still no paycheck.  Ben texted his boss and was informed Direct Deposit did not go out that week and paper checks would be issued.  Ben could get his check Monday morning. STRESS!!!  Seriously...lots and lots of stress.

Monday morning Ben went into work.  He went to the office to get his check and was called in by HR manager.  He was informed he would have a BUSY day because 25% of the company was being layed off.  Ben's department of 1 paid off because he would be saved from lay off but many changes would come (such as no overtime which has been the 1 thing making it that we "made it" each month).

Monday morning I started my new temp position at Jetblue.  I am working 16 hours more per week.  Just what we need to make up for Ben's no overtime.

Coincidence? 

I think not!!

I KNOW that this situation has been a HUGE blessing from the Lord.  Even though going full time and working from the center had me stressed on how it would work, in the end it worked out BETTER for us.  We would not make it had it not been for this little bump and nudge.

I am so grateful for the promptings from the Spirit from our loving Heavenly Father.  He KNOWS us.  He knows our needs.  He cares about us and He wants us to succeed in life!  Our lives have been richly blessed by that small prompting!

Monday morning was

Monday, September 17, 2012

Update...cause it has been a while!

It's been a while since I have done an update...so here goes!

On July 25, the kids started back to school.  They were very very excited!  Katy has Mrs. Wendling and loves her.  Lyse has Ms. Beauticofer and loves her.  They both seem to be really enjoying this new school year.  Starting back to school in the middle of summer was a new adjustment but one I was grateful for.  It was getting really hard juggling work and the kids!!

On Aug 23 we hopped on an airplane and went to Cali for a couple days.  We left Thursday afternoon and Ben, Jana, Dave, Brookie and Dustin flew back Saturday afternoon.  Katy, Lyse and I flew back on Saturday night flight and mom and dad flew home Sunday morning!

It was fun.  We spent a lot of time at La Jolla Beach (which is amazing) and we had a blast the ENTIRE time!

On Saturday we went to the San Diego Temple so that I could get another pair of garments (packed double for Ben...ooops).  Lyse came with my parents, Ben and I.  She LOVED it.  She spent a ton of time taking pictures and commenting on how gorgeous it was.  I didn't realize it until then, but in all the times we had driven down to San Diego, we hadn't actually stopped at the temple!  We always point it out on the way past on the freeway but man on the temple grounds it is even more amazing!

We have stayed busy with little things here and there.  Katy started back to Orchestra on the viola.  She is really excited.

I put together a work party and went off pretty smashing I must say!  I was excited to see how well it went!

Bart and Debbie are getting rid of their Vinyl fencing and going with trex fencing, which means they are giving their vinyl fence to us!  It's not terribly long but it is long enough to cover 1 side of the house separating the front and back!  YAY!  We will most likely be putting that together in a couple weeks.

Let's see what else.  Lyse's favorite friend right now is Stella.  Our FAVORITE neighbors that have 3 little girls my girls are always playing with are going to be moving.  She is getting re-married and he has custody of his 2 kids and well their 1890 sq ft home only has 4 bedrooms and they will need 6 :(  I am soooo sad to see them go and I really really wish they could stay but at the same time I understand and will miss them terribly!

My church callings are going well and I am really happy with them.

Ben's job is going excellent.  I am really considering taking a promotion offered to me at work.  It would mean more money per hour but it would also mean full time and I wouldn't work 100% from home.  We are going to have to really pray hard about it!

That is life in a nutshell I think!


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Messiness Ghost Hauntings

I have been working extra hard in our house the last few weeks to stay on top of and go a little further in keeping it spotless.

Does it stay that way?

NO!

In all reality though, I have actually enjoyed the routine.  It has helped to make me not feel trapped with not having a 2nd vehicle and Ben having no choice but to have a car every day at work.

I do feel lonely though.  I wish I could just go to lunch with friends and have the money, time and transportation to get there.

As I clean I think, "maybe this will make it that people can come over and see my house so clean" and when I think that I think at the same time, "oh no but I still have..."

It has become an obsession.  I don't want it to be but I just keep thinking of the next thing.

Our craft room (aka the green room) and the toy room in the basement have haunted me for months now.  They kept getting dirtier and more unorganized.  I knew they needed time but it was so easy to be like, "Oh they are in the basement" and since we have no huge real reason to go down there, I didn't.  Yet it haunted me.  The clutter.  The mess.  The fact that I would be mortified with a neighbor, my mother-in-law or even one of my parents were to go down there.  I didn't really like the neighbor kids even going down there cause it was MESSY!

That is when I changed.  I decided I could not and would not keep doing this.  I decided by the end of the Saturday night, the green room would be CLEAN.  SPOTLESS.

By the end of Saturday night, it was.  However I missed out on so much more.  I was too busy for breakfast with the family cause I only had a little bit until I needed to be at work.  I then worked and wasn't with the family.  I got off work and set back to work on that room and Ben had to beg, plead and guilt me into sitting with him outside for dinner.   The entire dinner my mind wouldn't stop reeling over what was left to finish that green room and get the house back to where it should be.  That 1 room had managed to mess up several others.

I did get it all done (and got to bed around 1230 am).  The thing is:  I missed out! I already had to work most of Saturday.  Then I spent the rest of the time stressing getting stuff done.

It's a double edged sword.  Not being able to go anywhere has really helped me get a LOT done in the house.  It has also lead to me not wanting to stop cause there is always so much to do.  My house is rather clean but to keep it this spotless all the time requires constant work and cleaning.  While that is great while the kids and Ben are gone, I can't let this be all we do when they are home!

How do I curtail this perfectionist desire?  How do I create a clean home (and work for me) environment without killing myself and always be thinking "oh I need to".  How do I shut my brain off and say, "It's ok to be done for the day!"?  Yes it will be here tomorrow but so will other things.  I just don't have enough time.

I think what was cabin fever has now turned to "clean it fever".  I just wish I could curtail it some.  I hate not being able to get anything done outside the house (i.e. running errands) until Ben gets home so it makes it that lots inside the house does get done!  I now know why houses in the 50's were always spotless...the mom's didn't have cars to run here and there so they had lots and lots of time in the house.  If you are spending 22-24 hours of your time 100% at home...you definitely get it more clean!

I keep thinking, "Once I finish this, I can make it that I am not cleaning 24/7".  The problem is, once I finish that item, I think of 2 or 3 more to add to the list! 

For now though, I have some dishes to wash, some dinner to make and a floor to get mopped nice and shiny!