2 Times to Learn It!

I am learning something about myself. It seems like it takes me 2 times to learn something. For the second time in 6 months our computer crashed and I lost my pictures and my files that I had saved on the computer. The pictures that I lost I will be able to get most of them back from friends and family who have duplicates. The biggest frustration is loosing my files. I had each month of my budget plan and all of John's and my different resumes and cover letters saved on the computer. Do you realize how much time I had invested in those things? I had different resumes and cover letters developed for different types of jobs we have been applying for. Writing and developing these does not come easy to me, therefore to think about starting over does not thrill me at all. The fact that this has happened to me before you would think that I would have known better and would have saved and backed up everything, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I didn't! I am so frustrated with myself. However, I can honestly say that I have learned this time. From this point on, I will save my things to a disk and/or jump drive.

I have missed everyone this week. I have not been able to blog or get on line since Sunday night. So now I will try to catch up with everyone. Also I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful comments from my last post. You all made me cry. Thank you for your prayers. I realized that I have some great blog friends, along with my REAL friends (who most of them I don't think read my blog).

Blogging helps me to relax and I enjoy it, but I now have to go to bed. I work early tomorrow and have a friend from Ohio coming in to visit. I hope everyone has a good day.

Until Later,
~Betty~

Real Life Roller Coaster Continues

My roller coaster life continues. I am trying to find a full time job preferably in the social work field. However, I applied for a job at a child care center close to my home. I talked to the director and she asked me to come in for a formal interview with the assistant director. The interview was short and I felt like I didn't click with the assisant director and that I bombed the interview. Then to my suprise a couple days later (a Friday) the assistant director called me and asked if I was still interested in the position. When I responded yes she wanted me to start on Monday. Because of previous commitments, I told her I couldn't start until the following week. She said OK, we discussed the pay and said she would talk to the owner about the pay rate.

Thinking that meant I got the job, I gave the bookstore (where I was working) my notice and was looking forward to this new job. Can you guess what happened?

For some reason I just had an unsure feeling about this new job, therefore I called to confirm my starting date and time to be there. I was told by the assistant director (the one I didn't click with) that the director was off for the next two weeks and that they world have to call me back and let me know for sure if I got the job or not. My stomach dropped as I was going down that hill. I had already turned in my notice and I didn't have a job to go to and knowing that I NEED to have a job.

I don't understand how in one phone call an employer can ask a person to start a job the next business day and then in the next phone call tell them they may or may not have the job. I also don't understand how an employer could offer you a job and expect you to be available the next business day! I asked these questions to the manager at the bookstore where I'm working and I had a different experience talking to someone who could be totally objective and not someone that knows me and cares about me and wanting the best for me. You know what I mean? I don't mean to say that she's not a caring person - just that she's not emotionally connected or involved with me. I asked for her opinion as a business person and as an employer. She had some of the same thoughts I did. She said it sounded like the director and assistant director had some miscommunication problems. She also advised me that I may want to reconsider if that would be a place I would want to work if I 'm having these kinds of problems before I even start working there. She also asked me if this was really the job I wanted or was I settling? Well, she was right. If I took that job I would be settling and it would just be something until the job I wanted would come along. She also advised me not to job hop, because that will look bad on a resume - which I already knew. Therefore, I have decided that if I do get a call back I am not accepting the job at the daycare center. I did talk to the mangers at the bookstore and they are aware that I am looking for a full time social work job and have agreed to let me work at the bookstore until I find the right job for me. Of course this is only part time so I really do need to find something soon, which is a totally different post all together.

This roller coaster ride of finding the right job and trying to figure out what God is teaching me and wants me to do continues. I still feel like God is not hearing or listening to my prayers and I am going through a dry period in my Christian walk right now. However, I have decided that I am going to Praise the Lord anyways no matter how I feel! I asked a friend of mine this morning to pray for me, because God is not listening to my prayers and maybe He will listen to yours. I am going to ask you in Blog world the same thing. Would you please say a pray for me. I need a special touch from the Lord. I need to hear Him say that He still loves me. I need to hear him say that He has our job and our financial situation under control. I need Him to provide our needs like His word says He will. I need to know that I am walking in the right path He wants me to and if I'm not, I need to know how and where to change. If you wouldn't mind please say a prayer for me. I sure would appreciate it.

Until Later,
~Betty~

Time With John's Family

Having 5 extra overnight guest for a week and 2 others during the day CAN be a WONDERFUL experience! John's family were here visiting from out of state last week. It was good to see everyone and at the end of the week we all were still talking to each other and all in one piece. :) I had to work 3 days of the week, but John was off all week and got to entertain everyone. He did a great job!

We made some memories last week. One night we all were hanging out on our patio while the kids were playing in the yard. We had a total of 4 girls; my daughters, Bethany(9) & Jody(5), and my nieces Kayla (12) and Katie (10). As it started to get dark the kids started playing flash light tag & hide-and-seek. It wasn't long until the adults joined in and we all started playing in the dark. I can not remember the last time I played hide-and-seek. I used to love that game as a kid. I really should put down my guard and play like this more often. We divided into partners and changed partners at each turn/ round and took turns being "it." I'm not sure if the adults or kids had more fun. However, we did create a memory for the girls and the adults. This was a great way to start out our week with the family. Because of other plans and activities this was the only day we were able to do this, but it was such a great time!

The other big thing we did was we went to downtown Atlanta and visited the World of Coke Museum. Our family is a Pepsi fan, but we still agreed to visit :). It was interesting to learn and hear about the history of the coke product and see how it has changed through the years. The highlight of the tour was the taste test of the different types of cokes they serve in different countries. I am not one that is real daring and will try new "weird" foods, but I was open to try the different drinks. The cup was small, so a small taste can't hurt right? I started out tasted a couple apple flavored drinks from Asia and those weren't to bad. So it was all going good. Then came the drink from Italy!!!!! Cheri I thought of you and wondered if you really can get the Beverly drink in Italy? It was the worst thing I have ever tasted. I only took a small sip, but the taste was so intense that it filled my whole mouth. It was awful! After that I decided I would not try anything else and was done with the tour! I heard that they make the Beverly drink out of the peels of grapefruit. All I can say is I will never try that again. According to what I am hearing from others, many people feel the same way I do about the drink. I'm interested to hear from Cheri, who lives in Italy, if they really have this drink there and if you have tried it and your thoughts on the drink! Do tell!

Overall we had a good visit with the family and got to do some fun things. I hope everyone had a good week and I hope to get caught up on every one's blog this week. I also have other things to share about my job and my "real life" roller coaster ride, therefore my next post shouldn't be that far apart. I started a new system to blog and will see how long it last. I have found that I really enjoy writing (with pen & paper instead of just typing) my thoughts, but I really enjoy bloging and sharing my thoughts and feelings. Therefore, I bought a notebook and will write my thoughts, feelings, events, and etc. down then type them on my blog. I'm hoping this will help me to keep track of ideas/memories I want to remember too. We will see how it goes.

Until Later,
~Betty~

New Chapter

I know it has been awhile since I have posted, but there has been a lot going on here and have not much time to get my thoughts together to be understood. This week I have started a new chapter in my life. I am no longer doing child care in my home. I am working at a local college bookstore right now. I have mixed feelings about this and am not sure if it will work out or not. It all happened faster than what I expected, but felt like God was opening the door, therefore I walked through it for now. This job is temporary with a good chance it may lead into something more permanent. I am still looking for another job and would like to work in the Social Work field. I am also struggling with not staying home with my girls, I didn't think that would bother me as much as it is. I know to meet our need financially I have to have something that pays more. Right now I feel like I am on a roller coaster and I can't see the track in front of me to know which way we are going next. I know God is in control, but for someone who likes details it is REALLY hard to trust Him, not impossible just HARD! I know God is working in my life and will get me through this period in our lives, but I sure don't know what he is doing and don't see His plan at all. I feel like I am getting a deaf ear when I pray. I have been a Christian long enough to know not to trust my feelings, but I'm just expressing them here. I am learning to trust the Lord through this and am trying to enjoy my life as I am on this ride. I am praying for God's will and for Him to be glorified.

Now with working outside the home I'm not sure how often I will be posting. We have family coming into town next week so I don't think I will have time to blog. Hopefully I will catch up in a couple of weeks.

Until Later,
~Betty~