Another haircut and good news!

I'm loving having short hair again, it's so much fun. These are from an impromptu photo shoot in my bathroom. They aren't the best quality, but I like 'em. Thanksgiving was great. Grit and I spent it with my mom and siblings at my mom's house. I really love my family. Everyone is so chill - most of the time. Since it's going to be our first Christmas married, we're making plans to do our own thing and have been talking a lot about the traditions we want to start as a family. The one tradition we want to carry on from both of our families is to spend part of the day outdoors. My family always went to the beach for the afternoon and his went snow skiing. Here in the desert, we're going to go for a hike. I'm really looking forward to it!

In even better news: I finally got a new job. After putting up with a lot of crap from my former employer for nearly 2 years, I'm going back into social services. I started last week and I love it so far. I have a lot to learn since my social service experience has been working with the homeless population and victims of crime. My new position is working with foster families. I'll be helping families through the process of getting licensed and acting as a support and advocate. I was beginning to get really discouraged since I have been actively applying and interviewing for jobs for 2 years and nothing worked out. I even had an interview where they told me I was their favorite candidate and that they'd get back to me ASAP and I still didn't get it. When I found this job, I nearly didn't apply because it had been on a job board for more than a month and in this economy that usually means it's already been filled. I kept going back to it though and they called me 45 minutes after I emailed them my resume. I interviewed a week later and although it went really well, they said they had more interviews to do and would get back to me the week after Thanksgiving. They called me 3 hours later! and asked me to come back the next day (Thursday) for a second interview. The second interview went better than the first and after it was over I stayed for about 20 more minutes just laughing and joking with the team that interviewed me. Again, they said they'd get back to me after Thanksgiving. The next day (Friday) I sent a thank you email for the opportunity to interview with them and they called me 20 minutes later to offer me the job. I was over the moon! I started the following Monday and tomorrow will be my second week with them. As I was leaving the second interview, I understood why God took a little while to answer this particular prayer. I'd been praying for the very specific things I needed in a job. A regular 9-5, no weekends, full benefits, good pay, respectful of family time, respectful and appreciative of my abilities, wonderful work atmosphere, awesome co-workers, no more than 10 miles from home, working in a field a can feel good about. When you get specific, sometimes you have to wait, but let me tell you, God answers prayers. I feel as though this job was made for me. He knows me, knows not only my needs, but my wants and has truly blessed us.

Just a quick update!

Life is so busy! But so good.

My gallbladder came out in July. I am much happier without it and the recovery was surprisingly quick. Apparently I would have had gallstones for the rest of my life if I hadn't. It's one of those hereditary things I just couldn't escape.

I am crazy in love. I am amazed that after too many years of dating I have actually found someone who I am so compatible with it's scary. If you want to know what he's like, read all my old posts tagged "L'Amour," especially the ones where I list my wants/needs. I've been describing him for years.

For years I've had an interest/obsession with midwifery and natural childbirth. I have been toying with the idea of becoming a midwife for the last 10 years. I'm considering it very seriously now. I was determined to begin my schooling next Spring but I will be occupied with other exciting and worthwhile activities so it will get pushed back one more year. To get my feet wet and become involved in the local birth community, I am beginning training in November to become a DONA certified birth Doula. I've already ordered all of my materials and have begun reading everything I can get my hands on. One of my dear friends is having a baby next month and has asked me to be her Doula. I am honored and so excited! I was present for two of my sister's births and I have to say that it is the most amazing and fascinating thing. I'm obsessed. Truly.

I am still looking for just the right job closer to home. I am grateful that I have a job at all and that I can pay my bills. The search continues...

Gratitude

I have a lot of good things going on in my life right now so I'm going to make a list of things I'm grateful for.

Having a job. It may not be my favorite, but my bills are getting paid.
My ZANY and amazingly loving family.
My 2 nephews and niece who live close by and who are always as happy to see me as I am them!
My supportive, forgiving, and hilarious friends. Ya'll just get me. Thanks.
Quiet moments of introspection - there've been a lot of these lately.
Journals with lots of pages that help me get my crazy jumble of thoughts out where I can see and organize them.
A loving God who allows me to make mistakes and helps me learn from them.
A new and unexpected friend who takes long walks with me and holds my hand and is patient while I get back into the swing of this relationship thing.
Sunshine, even though I like the heat less this year than ever before.
Air conditioning.
Sundresses and flipflops.
23 lbs gone... forever.
A trip to Utah in July (20-27). I can hardly wait!!!
Life is good.

A few things...

First, Earth Hour is coming up! Sign up and participate! I loved it last December; turning out all the lights and just hanging out with candles was really peaceful. It was perfect. My whole family is going to get together this year! Do it!

Second, I found this AMAZING link to find bluegrass jams in your area. I LOVE bluegrass so much it hurts and am excited now to know how to find local meeting places where people are playing. Check it out!

Third, I find out tomorrow about a job I interviewed for last week. Wish me luck!

Quick update

I have a ton of things I want to blog about but no time! 

Boodji is turning 6 today and I've got to take the cake over to the party and help get things set up. 

Things are good... but still no job. I'm praying that my bank account holds out until I can get over to the unemployment office and figure out why they aren't giving me any money. 

I've taken some gorgeous photos of my nephews and niece that I'll post soon. 

I'm knitting/sewing sundresses for my niece. It'll be summer here in a minute.

I'm helping my mom dig all the decorative rocks out of her flower beds and pulling up the ornamentals so our yard will produce food. It's good exercise - I have the sore muscles to prove it. I love this post! It's all about her victory garden. Plant one. Do it. Do it.

Okay, gotta run!

Mulling

So.... as you can probably tell, I'm in love with all things orange right now. Living with citrus trees in the yard is bliss and quite inspiring. I've been wearing lots of orange and yellow and want to paint everything tangerine. I've been busy trying to find a job, deal with family issues, and tie up loose ends. I'd love to sit down and put up a really fabulous layout that perfectly embodies all things citrus, but I don't have the patience today.  I've been mulling over my quarterly goals and haven't set anything concrete yet... besides getting a job. I have some categories, but I still need to narrow them down to something specific. 

I can definitely say that I need more music in my life. Not music listening, music making. As in, I have a guitar, flute, piano and violin that are so ignored that their self esteem is beginning to suffer. Also, I rarely ever sing anymore unless I'm driving and that doesn't really count. Not that I'm all that great at any of them, but that's what I am trying to remedy. I was friends with a guy who told me once that he'd always really wanted to learn the guitar, but now he was too old to be any good at it so he wouldn't try. He was 19. I think you can learn anything at any age and become reasonably proficient. I'm only 28! I've got a lot of years ahead of me God willing! 

Which leads me to my next point...

I can also definitely say that I intend to take better care of my health. I'd like to live a long long time and that won't happen if I just do whatever I want to all the time. So I'll have to come up with a health goal for this quarter that I can reasonably stick to. None of this, I will never ever eat ice cream again, that's just setting myself up to fail. I'm not all about that. Deprivation never did anyone any good. I'll let you know when I decide what the goal will be for sure. Yes, I'm aware that we're halfway through January.

I also need to set a social goal. I'll admit that I've been a serious hermit for a long while now. It's not healthy for me. My nature is very open and friendly and I love people and all their quirks and LOVE meeting new people. So, meeting my social needs will happen in my near future.

I would like to set another goal around gardening. It's such a major stress reliever for me. I need to make plans around how often I will get down and dirty. Along with this, I have been trying to buy as much local produce as possible and so I think I'll set a goal around this as well. Local produce is better for the body (it isn't picked before it's ready and transported 1500 miles or more), the economy (buy local!), and the environment (not trucked via diesel 1500+ miles). How great is it that such a simple thing has so many good consequences? If you need to find your local farmer's markets, 

go to: www.localharvest.org

 

Thank you!

Thank you to all of my wonderful friends for your support and your kind words and your anger on my behalf! It's greatly appreciated!

Here's the update:

I really haven't freaked out or felt too worried or anxious about the situation. Inexplicably, I feel relieved. I decided from practically the first moment to not look back. I have a tendency in my life to hash things over for far too long, so I decided not to do it this time. I wasn't given an explanation, so I chose not to look for one. Moving on.

As it turns out, none of the yarn stores can afford me. Go figure. I'm looking for jobs and taking it easy and setting new goals for myself. It feels good to have a break. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do yet... but it'll come. I do know that I have 2 months worth of money in my bank account and the thought is reassuring, for now. If I can get out of my rental contract, I can stretch my money for 4 months. Hopefully I won't need to!

I feel confident that something will come along soon.

Bad luck.

I got fired today.
From my job that I enjoyed.
There was no explanation.
No provocation.
Just "We are terminating your employment with us. Effective immediately."

It sucks.

I'm surprisingly calm and not worried... yet.

Maybe the yarn store is hiring after all...

Falling in love slowly.

I've been doing a lot of driving for work lately. I have a love/hate relationship with all of this driving. On the one hand, I sometimes drive 4 hours one way to give a 1 hour presentation. Ugh. On the other hand, I'm getting to see every corner of the state and I'm actually starting to fall in love with it a little bit. The first 3 years I lived here, I only liked it when I was driving OUT of town because the cities and 'burbs are ugly. Seriously. Ugly. Barren, dusty, not green. The 'burbs are painfully homogenized. I'm not a fan. But if you leave either of the metropoli, the vast majority of the state is farm-land and desert. And there are some really really beautiful places. There are even places where it snows and where the leaves change. And even the places where there are no leaves or snow are still beautiful. I'm still very partial to the tropical paradise that is my true home, but this place is beautiful in its own way. So... I never thought I'd say it, but I kinda like it here.

I went out to the Superstition Museum with Big Mama and the kids a couple of weeks ago and took a bunch of photos. I love that the little cowboys wore their boots. Boodji dressed himself that day and was wearing his little brother's pants which are too short for him, but he insisted they were fine... until we got out in public and he was embarrassed. Poor little guy. I told him to tuck them in his boots and no one would notice. The museum is an old ranch that used to be a movie set. A lot of old westerns were filmed out there. The chapel in the background is the Elvis Presley Memorial Chapel. He filmed the movie, "Charro!" there. It's a pretty place.

Crossing over

I reached a milestone in my work last week! I realized that I haven't posted about actually training since my first few trainings. I've probably done two dozen trainings since then. I know the material, but there are still facts, figures, and statistics that I am acquainting myself with and because of this, I nearly always get really nervous before each training. Any-who, I wasn't really looking forward to the 8 hour training I was scheduled to do on Wednesday, partially because it was 8 hours long and partially because of my nerves. I arrived and went through my normal introductions, still a little bit nervous but making it work. Then, while I was showing a short video, something clicked. I realized that I was standing there because of my expertise. The 24 people in that room weren't experts in the field judging and critiquing my knowledge and abilities. They were there to learn from me. It's okay if I don't have all the answers. It's okay if I don't have a million facts, figures, and statistics memorized. I know my material. I understand domestic violence. I am able to teach and explain the information in a way that is easy to understand. I've worked with victim/survivors first hand. I know what I'm talking about. The video ended and the following 7 hours turned out to be the best and most dynamic training I've given so far. The group filled out evaluations afterwards and they were the best evaluations I've ever received. It feels good. I feel as though I've crossed a threshold. I've gone from being the rookie trainer shaking in my boots to the confident and friendly trainer who isn't afraid of the "hard" questions. It helps that this job is the most empowering and supportive work environment I've ever been in. There are jobs out there where you can be treated like an equal! Can you believe that? It's great.

Miss me?

Yeah, me too. I just haven't felt very creative lately. My knitting is neglected, my bedroom looks like a clothing/shoe store vomited in it, and I'm basically boring. I work, come home, sit on the couch or my supa-fly new recumbent exercise bike and watch tv/read news on the web. Oh yeah, I hang out with my family a lot too. But on the bright side, my foot is mostly better, I'm well-informed on current events and I'm more of an activist than ever. Many thanks to my job for that. I really enjoy the work I get to do and I'm able to stay up on the issues I care most about and get paid. I've encountered some really amazing people and some really CRAZY folks as well. My favorite part of my job is watching light bulbs go on as people really grasp what I'm saying. The even better part is when a training lights a fire and someone becomes committed to the cause of ending family violence. So, while I may be mostly boring in my personal life, my professional life is great and things are generally good all-around. I am going to post my most favorite quotes of late pretty soon. Those aren't boring! In the meantime, click the link below and find out how rich you are in relation to the rest of the world. It made me feel a little bit greedy, but also helped me recognize that there are little things I can do to help others. It's cool, I promise!

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

Remember that time when I had a blog?

So... it's been a really long time. How'ya doing? Good? Glad to hear it.

Life's good, busier than ever, but quite good. I really like my new job. It's going really well. I've spent the last 6 weeks shadowing the other trainers and learning the tricks of the trade. Thursday morning was my first solo presentation in the community. I spoke to a social work class at a University. I was a little bit nervous before-hand, but not too bad. It went well and my boss gave me really good feedback. Thursday night I participated in Take Back the Night at one of the other campuses (I manned a booth). It was cool. Next week I'm doing an 8 hour training for CPS employees and then I'm participating in a community diversity fair where I'm presenting twice. One workshop on DV 101 and one on Teen Dating Violence. The keynote speaker that day is going to be Ishmael Beah, author of "A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier." I'm excited to hear his story. I really have the coolest job ever.

My foot is doing better. I'm out of the boot and driving, but my foot still hurts and my toe is still swollen and my doctor seems to think that this is somehow okay. I'm going to seek a second opinion.

This basically sums up my life. I need to take pictures of my knitting and post them here. I'll make this my next goal.

Good news for the Trainwreck

This is what I looked like when I came out of the womb... sans the glasses and mascara and eyebrows.


Thank you to all of my beautiful friends for your get well wishes and support. Ya'll are the greatest. Okay, so I'm a really bad blogger/friend and make promises and don't follow through. The suspense! Alright already, the news I've made everyone wait so very very long for is that I have a new job. Many of you are smarter than the average bear and figured it out already. I was waiting to post it here until I'd given notice at my current job because some of my co-workers know this site and I didn't need them to spill the beans. I gave notice at the shelter last week and my last day there will be February 15th. It's a happy/sad situation. I've been at the shelter for three years and it is my HOME. I love it. This new opportunity just seemed to fall in my lap back in December. It's with the Coaliton Against Domestic Violence for my state. The second week of December, I was in a week long training at the Coalition and thought it would be really cool to have a job where I could basically stand on a soap-box preaching about a cause that I'm so passionate about. The trainers seemed really especially cool and it got me thinking. The second day in training, they announced that they had a training position open and stated all the requirements. Something inside me changed and I knew I had to apply and that a new chapter in my life was unfolding. I applied on Friday morning, had my first interview Friday afternoon and I was told that they'd call me the next week if I was going to be offered a second interview. I was really confident that I would get called back and sure enough; they called me on Monday and set up a second interview for the second week in January. (They needed time with the holidays and all.) Because I'd had a month to stew in the idea and am prone to self-doubt and a touch of anxiety, by the time the interview rolled around I was really unsure whether I was right for the job or was ready to leave the shelter. I very nearly called and canceled the interview. They told me it would be a two hour process and to come prepared to give a 10-15 minute presentation on DV101. I wasn't worried about the presentation at all, I was mostly just worried that I might actually get the job and have to leave the safety of my current situation. The interview was conducted by the three trainers I'd become acquainted with in December and began with a series of questions about DV. No worries there. Then they had me present with no clock to see how well I can time myself... I warned them first... and then went over by 7 minutes. It happens. Then they threw all the crazy stuff that people bring up in trainings at me to see how I would answer. It had been an hour and they asked me if I had any questions and I thought I was in the clear. Then they had me draw a card out of a hat. The card said, "DV in the Workplace." Then they sat me at a computer for one hour and had me create an outline for a one-hour presentation on DV in the workplace. Then it was over. They told me they'd contact me sometime within the next two weeks either by phone (a yes) or by letter (a no). They called me a week later. I start on February 19th. My official title is Training Coordinator. My job will involve staying up on all of the latest research and stats about DV and facilitating trainings all over the state. I'll be traveling quite a bit and will get to interact with shelter staff, law enforcement, and those fighting to end family violence all over the state. It's truly an amazing opportunity for me and I feel really blessed that it has come my way.

In other news....

My toe isn't broken. Hooray! My foot is. Crap. Seriously. I have a non-displaced fracture in the fourth metatarsal in my right foot. The fracture is is up high in my in-step (very near the cuboid) and according to my podiatrist, the more I walk on it, the higher the likelihood of it displacing and ruining my life. The solution?

There isn't one that works with my life.

I'm not supposed to walk on it at all. The only way to do this is with crutches. The problem with this? My collarbone is still very tender and because of this, I cannot use my arms to bear my weight. The only solution is to stay in bed. With a bed-pan and a maid houseboy. Again, not a viable option. So I continue to wear my walking boot, use my crutches to keep me from putting too much weight on my foot, and go about my business. Because I can't get off my foot the way I need to, it ALWAYS hurts. ALWAYS. I tapered off the pain meds so I don't become a junkie and I'm going to have to go back on them because I can't sleep at night. It's not like I'm on narcotics or anything, I'm just not used to taking any kind of meds. I take small doses of ibuprofen only when needed. Even for my migraines. Not a fan of meds. To top it all off... I'm coming down with a cold and may or may not have a stomach bug. I've just decided that all of my bad luck is going to happen at the beginning of the year so the rest of my year can be grand.

Here's to a grand rest of the year!!

not-quite-news-yet

I updated my resume and emailed it....


more info to come later......

still breathing

Oh how I miss blogging... and having something interesting to say... or at least believing I have something interesting to say. I haven't blogged about my Grandmama they way I blogged about Tiffanie because this new loss is much deeper and more personal. I'm dealing with it differently. I promise you that I'm coming back to blog before too long. I think I used to be funny... or at least that my attempts at being funny were funny. Eventually you will have something fantastic to read. But for now I've got to get back to not grocery shopping, not picking up my clean clothes off the floor (somehow the dirty ones always end up in the right place), not washing my dirty car, and not reading my mail. I did miraculously manage to do my laundry and my ironing last night so I didn't look like a vagabond at the Domestic Violence Awareness Conference at a Community College this morning. And I held a successful and productive Parenting Group this evening. And I got to the bottom of a sticky situation and am prepared for my meeting with a rogue and irresponsible CPS case worker in the morning. But now it's time for bed.

This is what I'll be blogging about for the month of October.

Good News

So... I really am going to post some great stuff soon.... I hope. I don't hope it's great (I know it is), I hope it's soon. I have some great stuff on eating disorders and parenting and miscellaneous nonsense. Life is good and busy, I got promoted to the position of "Children's Specialist." I'm now part of the Admin team at the shelter and will be part of the on-call rotation starting in about 2 months. Basically to answer random questions at all hours of the night. The good news is that I'm making more money, doing work I LOVE with people I love and life is good. Starting next week, I'll be teaching the weekly parenting class and all of the various children's groups. I'm really excited. I've done a good bit of this for the past 2.5 years, but now my responsibilities are greater as well as my opportunity to help my clients. Whoopee! Oh yes, my Ritzy is moving here this weekend! That's the best part. I'll try really hard to get my good posts up this weekend and do some more work on my template.

Later!

Quick post...

I really miss blogging. And yes, I will post a pic sometime... but life is remarkably crazy and I don't have Internet at my new place just yet. I'm currently looking for a new job - I'll explain later - and I'm now in the RS Presidency (Counselor over Visiting Teaching and Compassionate Service) and have been as busy as a sister missionary checking up on the sisters in the ward. I like being busy, but I haven't found my rhythm just yet. I'm still adjusting to my new place + longer commute, my new calling and the decision to leave my current job even though I'm loathe to do it. Loathe may not be a strong enough word. I've cried myself to sleep twice this week because I'm so heartbroken about leaving this place and intimidated by the prospect of finding a new job that I may not love quite as much. I'll tell you the whole story when I've got a little more time. I'm getting to know more people in my ward and have a legitimate crush. I'll also update you on this when I've got more time! I hope everyone is well!

Update...

I'm mostly moved into my new place. I love living in a house full of friends instead of a cramped apartment with my bossy sister... and having a washer and dryer.
I'm applying for a new position tomorrow... (new position = travel money) ...I'll let you know how it goes.
I'm no longer out of mineral makeup or mascara - thanks to Whole Foods and M.A.C.
My hair is healthy and shiny - and I have a hair appointment with a stylist who is supposedly a master with curls. I'm ready for a drastic change... for real this time! I mean it. Maybe.
I recently overhauled my wardrobe. It's full of saucy pencil skirts in various textures and patterns, wide-legged trousers, bright colors and belted blouses. I've been mixing contrasting colors with gorgeous results.
My library books have all finally been returned -mostly because the fines were getting ridiculous, not because I wanted to return the books.
I sang in my mother's ward on Mother's Day. It went fine.
My birthday was great, see previous post.
I don't want a puppy anymore. My sister just got one. She's a pain. But really really cute. If I'm gonna get something that needs that much attention and money and pees on the floor, I'm gonna get a kid.

The Greatest Day

It's taken me forever finally find the time to blog this. Two weeks ago I had the greatest day. There's a really great group of kids in the shelter right now. There are 8 of them and they're all between the ages of 5 and 11. They're all really funny and creative and when they found out my birthday was coming, they began covert operations. They asked for construction paper and balloons and spent hours in one of the rooms in the center "practicing" and making me keep out. Things at work have been really busy and I've been pulling double duty performing my regular job and half of the case management - So I knew full well these kids had something up their sleeves, but had been so busy I was taken by surprise when they sprung things on me. We'd just had art therapy and the kids and I were cleaning up when they told me to go in my office and don't come out until they said so. I went in my office and heard giggling and scurrying. One of the kids came in my office and told me to close my eyes and she led me out of the office. When I opened my eyes, the room was dark except for the glow of birthday candles and all of the kids and their moms and several other clients were singing "Happy Birthday" to me. I cannot describe how incredibly moved I was. It was a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life. I spend hours everyday listening to their fears and anguish and despair. I know how hopeless many of them feel. How hard it is for them to pick of the pieces and feel empowered and here they were singing to me. Have you ever heard that cheesy birthday song sung and honestly felt love? I have now. I've never experienced anything like it. When I blew out the candles, my wish had nothing to do with me. Then the kids led me into our large group room and sat all of the adults down and performed a play and a song that they had written just for me. It was honestly the best birthday I've ever had.