For Posterity

08Aug09

This is where you will find a merging of two blogs: my old blog, “Slowly Emerging” and the older version of my family blog, “Bedtime Stories.“  There is a lot here and I don’t claim to remember all that I have written.  I just know that I have come a long way.     I find myself wondering if anyone reads blogs anymore.  Do they? I think everyone must be on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace. Someone needs to come up with a new social networking tool.  Three just isn’t enough.

If you’re finding yourself wondering what to do with a “dead” blog or where to begin in the archives, here are a few ideas:

1. See if I wrote anything on a date that is special to you (maybe you’ll feel more connected)

2. Type in a word or phrase to see if it comes up in any of my blog posts (it’s kind of like looking up potty words in the dictionary)

3. Go through month by month and methodically read through the entire thing (it’s kind of like plucking nose hairs)

4. Read the old stuff on days that I haven’t written on the current blog (I do what I can to encourage my fellow procrastinators)

Anyway, old or new, it is lots of fun to write on a blog and I can’t deny myself that. Here it is for the masses.  Enjoy.  Otherwise, I’m simply claiming my little piece of Internet space.

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the thrill is gone

29Jul09

for so many things that used to be fun, informative, or just plain time wasters.  The thrill is gone for this blog…again. I lost heart at the end of my other blog, but started this one on the pretense that it would be a family blog that my husband would also write on.  I think it is pretty safe to say, that ain’t happenin’.  It used to be easy to write a post and to tell you all what was going on, or to come up with a cute story, or expose my heart more than necessary. No longer. So,those who read this and who have followed for the last few years are accustomed to me ending a blog only to start another one. Don’t count on it this time.  By the end of next week this blog will no longer be visible on the web.  Thanks for reading.

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someone (Noah) is clearly unaware

17Jul09

that the females in this house are NOT morning people.  When Moriah was a baby, she would wake up for her morning feeding way before I was ready to get out of bed. I could usually cuddle her on the couch until we both went back to sleep for a couple of hours.  When Noah was a baby he would wake up for his morning feeding and stay awake. There was no cuddling him to sleep–he wanted to play.

He has continued this trend of waking up early and playing.  In fact, he wakes up laughing and playing and in a good mood. Weirdo.  This morning, he thought it would be funny to try and engage Moriah and I in play by throwing a soft ball at our butts.  Little did he know…

Moriah is much crabbier in the mornings than I am. To hear her yelling at him, I was afraid to come out of the kitchen to see what monster emerged.  He finally moved on to me and I obliged. I played. And what do you know? Playing in the morning can be quite fun and cheerful. Relaxing even.

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sometimes I ______ when I'm on the toilet.

16Jul09

clip my toenails

turn on the vent and pretend I can’t hear people talking to me

read the cookbook

make my grocery lists

paint my toenails

talk on the phone

pick my nose

wonder if you can hear me

fall asleep

take a little longer than I need to, cause it’s quiet in here

write blog posts

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running errands

15Jul09

Now that I’m in a larger city (with hills) it is more difficult to efficiently navigate the streets.  Fargo-Moorhead  is so flat that I could essentially walk out my front door and see the nearest Target, gas station, grocery store, library… Here? Not so simple. I have adopted a whole new routine for running errands.  Although I don’t get lost, I loose lots of time in other areas.

1. I make a list of things I need. That list is further organized into where can I buy these items.

2. Conduct a search of the purchase locations in my area, and copy the address that I think is close to my home based on the suburb, my limited address location knowledge, etc.

3. Paste this address into Google Map as point B and type in my address as point A.

The difficult part is knowing that although the store might only be 10 minutes away, there could be one that is only 5 minutes away.  It’s nice to be centrally located, but there are several suburbs that border our city and it all just kind of blends together. So, then I take a chance and hope I picked the best option. I’m learning anyway.

4. Write down the directions to each individual place I need to go to.

5. Drive there.

6. Spend two hours longer in the store than I need to or normally would because, not only are the streets organized differently, so are the stores. I have no idea what products are offered in the store or how the store is organized. Yesterday I spent two hours in Target buying sunblock, a dustpan, storage boxes, and toothbrushes.  I think I’ve got the grocery store figured out, but with two hungry kids who just spent two hours in Target and are way louder than they used to be in public places, the trip to the store also took much longer than it usually does.

Usually, when I go shopping I have my list and I go straight for the items in the most efficient, strategic way possible. Grocery shopping for a full list takes me 30 minutes (on the lengthy end). Running errands would take 1 hour including drive time and a minute or two here or there for window shopping.  I also make a weekly menu to help with shopping, but my brain is so crowded. I can’t think straight with a cluttered home and I haven’t even gotten my kitchen routine down.  Oh the things I never knew I had, but I’m discovering were so helpful–like a kitchen routine. My goal is to get all my domestic routines down–altered accordingly and into action soon.

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My [possible] job: Part 2

13Jul09

So, my friend called this guy and left a message.  The guy called back and talked to me.  He told me that the phone call was an answer to a prayer he just prayed earlier that week.  He said to me that he would love to have someone with my character working for his company.  He didn’t tell me what position he was looking for, but let me know that if I wanted to attend a product development meeting to get an idea of what they will be doing, then I could. I expected that I would be his personal assistant, keeping him organized.

I attended this meeting and began praying about if I should join this start up company and in what capacity.  A few days later I got an email where they told me what position they had in mind for me.  At the time I had no idea what the position was and I never heard of it.  It is an executive position and I know I could do the job, but I don’t have direct experience.  Later, I met with him (the CEO) and the COO of the company for lunch. They let me know on several occasions that they wanted me to work for them and in a sense were selling the position to me.  I expressed to them my hang-ups/ reservations about the position. They stressed to me that I have to know that the life experiences I’ve had (planting a church, owning a daycare business, etc.) are more than enough to qualify me for the position.

I’m excited about learning something new, having something challenging and working with a team of Christian people. I am not excited about working with The Good Ole’ Boys on the other side. I am not excited about wearing a suit, or being a suit. BUT I’m excited about all that this job would mean.  I’m excited about working for this company and the values they are building the company on.   This position is one where I can use most of my gifts and talents–just packaged much differently than I anticipated.  The only catch for myself (and for them) is that the offer is contingent upon the company getting funding.  They are hopeful and we will know by the end of the month. Once things go through, I can give a few details about my position.

So, this would be a job I did not interview for, my work experience isn’t what got me the job, but my character and life experience. It kind of just fell in my lap and it is more than I would have hoped for.  If things work out I really think I would have an opportunity to shine in this position. It is not what I had in mind for my career, but it is an awesome alternative.

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My [possible] job

09Jul09

God is absolutely mind-blowing. Astounding. Confusing.

And here is why I think so…today.  I mentioned that I might have a job. Well, here is how all of that started and at the same time, why God baffles me. Maybe some background information would be helpful and maybe I’ll actually get to the story. But then again, I’m tired and I like to leave you hanging and coming back for more.

We used to live in Fargo.  Now we live somewhere else.  While in Fargo I applied for over 50 jobs from September to March or April.  I don’t know if that is a lot and I’m sure someone else has applied for more. It isn’t a contest.  Of those over 50 jobs, I only interviewed for 3 and one of those interviews was at a temp agency.  I was completely burned out. I am completely burned out on applying for jobs.

I have confided in the Lord– in my burnout–that it sure would be nice to not have to apply for a job and that one would just land in my lap. It sure would be nice if I could just get a job based on my charm and my good word that “I know I can do this job”. It sure would be nice if etc etc etc, blah blah blah

So, once we moved here I had an appointment at a “headhunter.” So far I have not been impressed with the way these people present themselves. But as my mother said, “they have a job. They don’t have to impress you.”   I left this appointment with the words, “you have a lot of education, a lot of smarts, but just not a whole lot of experience. I don’t know if we could find a job for you,” ringing in my ears.  I haven’t told my husband, but at that point I gave up on applying for jobs (even though I’m still doing it).  That same day I was speaking with our hosts (we stayed with friends until our place opened up) about my disgust and discouragement. Then he said, “you’ve got to talk to ____. He needs someone like you working for him.”

I didn’t think anything would come of it. I was more so humoring everyone by giving it a shot.

Filed under: Adventure, No I still don't have a job.   |  2 Comments

I found it: The bakery

30Jun09

Please forgive me for not writing back right away.  Someone smashed into our van.  We found out today that it is totaled.  It’s highly inconvenient and it put a small damper on my explorations.  I did find a bakery, but I was not too impressed with the inside or the baked goods. I have also found my variety store to browse in–two actually.

Saturday, Nathan and I drove around the city and I got a bit of a feel for the area and the culture.  We went out to eat at this Polish place that has a polka bar and a piano bar that they use kind of like karaoke.  It was a hoot! Nathan sang two songs *swoon* and we enjoyed hearing the others sing songs as well.  There was one lady who said, “I’ve never done this before.” So as she began to sang I finished her sentence, ” but I just cut my first album last month.” She was really good.  There was also a crooner there. He didn’t even have to write down his songs, or read the lyrics from the book,  he just told the lady at the piano what he wanted to sing and she played it.  The atmosphere was quite interesting and if you go there expecting anything but interesting, you’ll be disappointed.It was a great date for us that we ended by watching Roman Holiday.  Very sweet.  We’ve really enjoyed our time together these past few weeks even though Nathan’’s been working late.

Sunday, I met up with my sister-in-law and nephew (what a cutie) and we ate a great place for pancakes, went to an indoor global market and she showed me a quilter’s fabric store. Tonight I’m going to a new advisers and spouse’s cocktail hour at Nathan’s office, then we’re off to network with some guy that does a Bible study in a bar!  I actually, like this kind of stuff.  The hard part will be putting on a suit…and the small talk. We pick up our children on Friday and I’m pretty excited to see their sweet faces again. I wonder how long it will take to transition to being together again.  I pray that there are minimal bumps. My goal is to keep them so entertained it won’t be much of an issue, but now that we won’t have a car, it might be harder. I guess I’ll have to learn to ride the bus sooner than I hoped. I won’t be such a socialite once the kids come back, and that’s okay. We’ll have boxes to unpack, lots of reaquainting to do, and our normal routines to begin.

Our circumstances are really no different than they were before we moved, and in some cases they are worse.  But as I walked yesterday I realized that I feel more contentment, joy and happiness than I’ve felt in a long time.  I am so glad we made this move.  It is just right for us at this point in our lives and I’m excited to take part in what God has in store for us.

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I found it!

26Jun09

After writing yesterday’s post I got really motivated to explore.  My goal was to find a co-op close to our home.  I found one! It is only about five minutes away.  The perk is that the co-op is in an area that has several other neighborhood places that I wanted to find.  A nice, quaint library (think Music Man, only smaller, but just as quiet and minus the singing), a bread store (we had the same one in Fargo, and I rarely actually bought bread there, but it’s good stuff for special occasions like feeling obligated to buy after eating the free sample), a coffee place (it’s not a shop, but they have over 100 varieties of coffee beans that they roast fresh daily and over 100 varieties of bulk tea), a children’s bookstore (complete with live animals in cages, Noah will hate it, Moriah will love it), etc.  It’s a really cute area, and I did not get lost!

Recently, Nathan and I discovered that he feels more comfortable in an area of town (shopping district) where it’s almost like there’s a dress code to walk on the sidewalks.  I feel more comfortable in an area of town (shopping district) that has people walking around with purple hair and holes in their ears big enough to stick my elbow through.  The part of town I found yesterday is a nice blend of those two atmospheres.  That’s our neighborhood.

Today, I’m going to look for a bakery.  I’ll report back tomorrow.

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Exploring new territory

25Jun09

Life is pretty boring for me right now. I didn’t expect it would be.  I’m in a new place, which I tend to enjoy, but my husband works until 8pm and my kids have been gone for two weeks.  Metropolitan areas are not as simple to explore as small cities.  Pretty obvious, but I’m one of those people that thinks she can do anything.  Exploring this area will take a lot  more planning and a little less spontaneous travel if I want to minimize getting lost. Since being here I’ve learned that if I end up in the sister city or at the airport, I’ve probably made a wrong turn and I’m not where I need to be.  Thankfully, I’ve found a really nice map that has addresses and every suburb in the area.

At any given time I am totally and completely lost.  I know how to get a few places, but any sense of direction I gained in Fargo has fled. So, though I know how to get to the lake, my house, the grocery store, the post office, the library, etc. I have no idea how to tell anyone how to get to those places and I have no idea what direction I’m facing.  In the past I would have not cared what direction I’m facing, but now I live in a place where if I ever want to truly explore and go somewhere other than the places I need to go or the places that are right next to my house, I need to understand what direction I’m facing.

Here are things that are on my list to discover:

1. A bakery

2. A cutsie clothing store that I only window shop in

3. A cutsie variety store that I only window shop in

4. The perfect thrift store

5. A health food store

6. The farmers market–there are at least 10 so I should be able to find 1

7. Indie fabric (and craft) store–it would be wise to NOT find these until I own my own sewing machine or there will be trouble

8.  Great mom and pop shops to take people when they visit. Breakfast diner, great place for dinner or lunch

9. Coffee shop we found one! I don’t remember how to get there and I don’t drink coffee, but their stuff is so good I would start

In addition to the discoveries, I need to memorize how to get to the museums and find one that is my favorite. In the future we’ll need to find a dance studio for the three of us.  There is just so much to do here! Options, options, options! And I love to have variety at my fingertips.

That’s what I’m supposed to be doing this week, but I don’t really have the energy to do that much planning.  Maybe next week.  I’ll be living here a while, and hopefully starting a new job in the next few weeks, so exploring can wait. In the meantime, my goal is to stay found.

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