(Above: Silly pictures the kids and I took during spring break this week at the mall and the park. )
I've been absent for awhile...A good long while. If I have any regular readers still out there (Hello Grandmas!) You know this has been a long stretch to be absent. The point of the matter is that I often write for myself. If others want to read my stuff I guess that is in the cards.
I've had a huge life change as I have recently gone back to work full time. When I say "full-time" I mean a second full-time job, as I still have that motherhood gig going on too! Working in the dental field means you work eight hours a day, four days a week and call it good. I wrote last year and told you about my venture with Thirty-one gifts which was excellent for me at the time. As our family is growing in the way of my kids getting older and having more responsibility there has been a shift in the things they need and what our family needs. The past year seems like it's been a huge change from parenting little kids who are home a lot to kids who are growing and maturing in responsibility and who are gone most of the day at school. Our oldest is nearly 12 and headed towards orthodontics and desiring opportunities such as soccer. With Booties (aka: Luke) at home I have had a lot of one on one time with him. He will start kindergarten in the fall of 2015 and was asking to go to school like his older siblings. He is a bright kid and we knew that he would do well in a school setting if it was very part time. I have been wanting to back to dental assisting for a year or two, but he timing did not feel right until late last fall.
At the end of last summer Aaron and I started considering the thought of having me go back to work. Initially we thought I could look for something part time and keep looking until I found just the right place. It had been eight years since I left my last job to stay home with Faye. I really have not regretted ever leaving. I think I will never regret those years with them. It did make it more challenging for me to find work though. I started studying to retake my certification test in October. In the mean time, I realized that the laws in WA state had changed and certification was an option, but not a requirement. I completed two short training sessions that I needed and renewed my registration with the state, which ended up being less of a headache and easier on the pocket book. I placed a few applications and had two interviews that did not end up being what I wanted. The first one was for a doctor that currently did not have an assistant. I'm not sure what happened there, but he was on his own in a very out dated office that I wouldn't of wanted my family to be treated in. On I went to the second which ended up being a 5 interview process over a month's time. Half way through I felt great about the staff and the location was a mile from home. Towards the end of the interview process I started having doubts. It seemed over regulated by one employee that was giving me the idea that she would always be looking over my shoulder and would dominate what I did. Often that is what happens, just one bad apple in the group. During my last working interview there I felt discouraged and knowing that I am too easy going to have to work in an uptight environment. At the end of that time I felt exhausted and wondered if this was really for me at all. I kept praying and looking. Two days later I responded to another listing online and submitted my resume, simply out of duty and habit. Certainly a month or two is not a long time to be looking for a job, but it seemed daunting to think about interviewing again for another long month. The day after I submitted my application I was called for an initial interview. I met the doctor only at that interview and had a really great feeling for him and the office, but again felt reserved knowing that most things start nice. I openly shared my views with him during my interview and why I was coming back to work, and the exact job and people I was looking to work with. I expressed my concerns with him that I would need some time to get back up to speed since I had been away so long. He seemed to connect with me as well, but told me he had a few more interviews to do. I walked away not knowing if I aced it or bombed it. I guess that is how most interviews go! Within a few days he called me back for a working interview and I guess the rest is history. I have been there now for four months, I was hired a few weeks before Christmas. I really love my new job and it has challenged me where I see that I need growth-both in skills and interpersonal interaction with others. It's different every day and always keeps me on my toes. The staff has been excellent to help me get up to speed and I feel like there are parts of my job that are so much easier now that there has been new technology set in place. The doctor I work for has been out of dental school just a few years and is an excellent clinician. I have a lot of respect for him and can easily stand behind the work we do. I have decided to stay full time for now and he is very willing to allow me to have time off here and there when I have appointments for the kids and such, and I am home every Friday.
Aaron's sister has been helping with the kids. She has a baby that she and her husband adopted in August and it has been great for her to stay home with him. She comes to our house three days a week and takes care of Luke and her son and gets the kids off and back from school. The one other day of the week Luke goes to a preschool and it's been a great fit for him.
As I look back over the past few months, I see God's hand in it all. The month long interview felt like a low point, but now I see it was just the right amount of current experience I needed to truly shine at my new job. It was a stepping stone and a test of my trust in God in what made sense to me at the time. I had in mind that I wanted a job close to home and that's what I saw in that job, as well as a staff that had a very low turn over rate. The hours would have been a bit whacky, but I would have made it work and kept my commitments I had to help with the Awana program at church. Little did I know that when I let go of the reins to control, God had something far better for me. I found a job that was still close to home (10 minutes away), a Christian preschool for Luke and coworkers whom I could easily connect to. Through my new job I have also been able to connect with the Mormon community which I see as a valuable experience for me in the way of understanding what they believe. It has challenged me in new ways spiritually with my Christian faith.
At home, this whole process has been an adjustment for everyone. We do things differently now and what I like is that we all pitch in and help each other more because we have to. It feels like a team effort even though I am very much still responsible for the things with the kids while Aaron works full time. I have really jumped in to freezer meal cooking more than I ever have in the past and I have enjoyed the little gifts I make for myself that help with the 5:00 dinner rush! I'm learning to find balance in knowing I can't do it all, but still doing my very best and putting my family first. (Which often means very early mornings).
Of course I do hope to update my blog more than once every 6 months! I've had a few days off this week for spring break and have really been wanting to write about the changes that have taken place. So, it feels good to get it out!
