An Attorney is a Good Thing to Have

So my court appearance was scheduled for today.  The attorney was there and did his best to keep me from hyperventilating during the procedure - was marginally successful at that.  The offenses my tickets were written for carry a mandatory fine - so $185, no ifs ands or buts about it.  BUT, the attorney told them this sob story that made me sound really - pathetic.  It's a good thing I don't care about my pride .... hmmmmmmmm.  They gave me a 30 day extension to pay so I didn't have to write a check on the spot.  AND this is the best part - he negotiated it to be that I pled guilty to having an obstructed windshield instead of speeding so there are ZERO points going on my record.  ~happy dance~

And the best part?  The attorney fees are included in my PrePaid Legal membership so I didn't have to fork over bucks to him for representing me.  Is that cool or what?  I'm telling you, that's the best $17 I ever spent. 

Next month, I'm having them do my Will - and a Living Will, and I think I'll be asking their advice on my phone contract because I'm not sure that I should sign this Verizon deal without my attorney's review ... and you know what?  I kind of LIKE spending time with the attorney, so I think I'll ask him some general questions about the situation that the people in the book I'm writing are dealing with because you know - I want to write authentically. 

Seriously, for all the time that they spend answering my questions, I pay $17 a month.  And this is more fun than dinner and a movie by far. 

You may or may not be interested in having this benefit.  But if you want your own attorney?  From most places in the US or Canada - you can sign up for a membership at the site I created this morning.  If you're in Manitoba, Wisconsin, Arkansas, or Virginia ... you need to find someone who is licensed in your province/state to help you and if you'll email me, I'll look that information up for you. 

Otherwise - go here and click on "Enroll Now" at the bottom of the screen. 

The basic membership for one person is $17 a month.  For a family I think it's $26.  And the best rider I have ever seen on any insurance policy is the Identity Theft Shield they offer through Krohl and Associates.  That's $9.95 if you add it to a membership or $12.95 if you only want the identity theft protection.  They don't just monitor your credit DAILY, they check with you everytime someone runs your credit and if you didn't authorize it?  They go after 'em.  If someone steals your license, credit cards, whatever ... Krohl goes after 'em. 

Most monitoring services do just that, they monitor.  If there's a problem they tell you "Hey, Buddy - I hope you had a good day because your identity was stolen a couple hours (or days or weeks depending on how often they monitor) ago and it's gonna be hell for the next 18 months to 3 years.  Good luck and I hope it all gets straightened out."

I've been very glib about taking advantage of the attorney firm that represents the PrePaid Legal Members of Colorado, but the fact of the matter is that there is no way I could afford the services they have provided to me if I had to pay their hourly rate.  But this way?  When I have a problem of ANY kind, I'm in the same position as the wealthiest person in town with a team of attorneys on retainer.  I make a call to my lawyer(s) and say, "Go get 'em, Tiger!"  I've been on the side of things where I felt powerless and shut out of the justice system because my blood wasn't quite green enough.  I don't feel that way now. 

It's Official - I'm just a Stinkin' Showoff

Okay - here's the deal.  Many restaurants these days require the wait staff to pass a test on the menu.  Name key ingredients in differen recipes, know the applicable food service laws and standards, company policies and etc.  At the one I'm working for, they give you the test at the end of your fifth day of training.  For me - that would be - today.

I really do love this job.  Compared to the high anxiety that comes of working working working on a mortgage application and then having the people who've used up a week of my time say, "Well, thanks for all that work but we've decided to go with  XYZ Lending because my brother's best-friend's girlfriend (who he just broke up with so she needs to be cheered up) is a loan officer over there and we want to be nice ....   You just have NO idea HOW many loans I've been working on but I haven't had one actually close since January.  That's a long time to go without a paycheck.

So anyway, the point is - I really love working in the restaurant.  The crew I'm working with is fantastic.  The whole atmosphere is one of teamwork and positive encouragement.  It's just really nice.  So today I was supposed to be taking my final exam.  It's four pages of fill in the blanks and list 10 of these or 12 of those - not the SAT but not a blow off thing either. 

Just before I was to take the exam, my trainer announced that I hadn't been ordering enough food.  See they really want you to try a lot of the different menu items because how will you know when the guest asks about the salmon if you've never had the salmon.  (We serve it three ways, blackened, grilled or with this teriyaki sauce that is really yummy. - not a question from the test - but you get the idea.)

So I sat down with the paper and here comes Indie.  I have no idea what Indie's real name is.  Something Indian and he asked them to just put "Indie" on his name badge.  He sat down next to me and asked me how I like working here and whether Erika (my trainer) had done a good job with me.  Before I'm finished answering his question, here comes Steve, another of the trainers, along with Nikki whom he's training.  They joined us and started talking about the training process, what's good about it, and how far into it you should be before you're allowed to wait on a party by yourself.  I didn't want to brag or intimidate Nikki so I just smiled and nodded and didn't mention that I had two parties during lunch.  One with 10 people, the other with 8 and I was still taking care of three "regular" tables at the same time. 

Before long we were joined by Jessica and Crystal.  In case you're wondering where my trainer (Erika) was while this party was forming - she was in the kitchen putting in the order for my "lunch".  Remember how I said up there two paragraphs ago that she didn't think I'd been ordering enough food?  Well, today, she ordered on my behalf instead of allowing me to put it in the system.  Spinach/artichoke dip, black and bleu chicken quesadillas, bleu cheese and walnut salad, blackened sirloin steak with veggies AND fries (because Erika has figured out that I don't really like fries and she knew that I'd say "Here, why don't you have these ..."), grilled chicken and fettucine alfredo, and dessert - pecan and chocolate chip pie with whisky sace.  When Mike started bringing the plates out I thought he was bringing the food that EVERYBODY ordered.  But no, he put it all in front of me. 

THEY ordered their own food.  I'll admit that I at least tried a bite of everything - including the dreaded fries - but holy HANNAH.  I brought home six containers of food.  So the boys are happy. 

And remember while all that was going on, I was supposed to be taking a test.  There were a few questions on the test where Erika said "They'll ask you for 6 if you can list 8 that's worth an extra point."  And well, if you make 100 on the test you get to trade in your regular name badge for a gold one.    I kind of wanted that gold one. 

After it was all over and she graded my exam - I got 111 points.    Which the others hooped and hollered about and Erika said that may be a new company wide record.  It's certainly the record for Colorado.  SO you wanna know exactly what's in the quiche lorraine or the pasta jambalaya? 

Actually, some of our recipes are posted on a web site, and if you don't live anywhere near one of our places, you can try it at home.  But of course you won't get the happy crew to treat you like royalty.  Which we strive to do for everyone.  We are especially cool about children with crayons, games, and a menu that allows them to pick and choose have refills on anything they want or if say they order the chicken fingers and then decide they'd rather have pancakes?  No problem, we'll make the pancake (if Mom says it's okay of course.)

Mostly our restaurants are in the West - but we have one in Ohio and I think there are several in Florida.  Check us out  HERE.

And Bob - if you want to have that conversation about books, or just about anything ... the time to show up is 3:00.  That's when there's just no one in the place and you can be treated like a king AND have me pull up a chair.  You don't even have to worry that I'll steal your fries. 

Some People

I love people.  I love the stories they tell and the little bits and pieces they reveal without knowing.  I love the laughter of friends when they meet on the street - not the laughter of amusement (although that's nice too) the laughter of delight in companionship.  That's one of the things that's great about working in a restaurant.  People meeting over food tend to be relaxed and comfortable with each other.  When I smile, they smile back.

That said, there are always a few who just won't let themselves go enough to enjoy and connect.  And I always think as I see them hold themselves aloof that they have no idea how much they are revealing and would probably be embarrassed to realize. 

I had one such customer on Saturday.  Nothing we did pleased this man.  He was unhappy from the moment he was seated.  The drink I brought him - wasn't fizzy enough.  So we had the manager adjust the CO2 on the drink machine.  Once that problem was solved, he had another and another and another.  Finally he sent his lunch back to the kitchen because it wasn't "hot enough".  When the chef had prepared a second plate (trust me there was nothing wrong with the FIRST one), the man asked for a to-go box.  o_0  Like it's going to stay hot while he drives home?  Or where ever he was going. 

On his way out, he made a comment to the manager that it had been the worst service he'd ever received in a restaurant.  Now at this point you'd think (maybe) that I'd be feeling bad.  Worried that he was getting me in trouble?  But no ... the woman who's been my training partner heard the comment, turned to me, and said, "That man has no idea that your reputation with the management here is much higher than his will ever be."  And that's true. 

The man had no way of knowing that on the same day he thought he was really making an impact with his complaints, my manager received several very positive comments about the service I was providing.  He had no way of knowing that my manager has a built in (ahem - cough - asshole detector - cough - ahem) that caused him to disregard everything that fellow said.  He had no way of understanding that the waitress he thought he was putting in her place, felt sorry for the sad unhappy person that he must be.  And I thought that my pity would have burned him like acid if he had been able to grasp that reality. 

Yesterday, we were busy.  VERY busy.  According to the schedule, Erika and I were supposed to be working three tables, four in a crunch.  When I got there, we had 7 and it never went below that number.  It's hard to provide good service to that many tables.  But I think we managed it very well.  The corporate world is big on talking about teamwork.  I'm thinking that a good way for them to really get a feel for it - would be to have them spend a week in a good restaurant.  If we don't work together, the level of service drops off and the guests don't have the best experience.  But working together?  It doesn't matter if that's my table or not, I'm going to swing by and refill your coffee or water, whisk away the empty plate, and respond to your request for a lemon wedge. 

This is different from my last experience waiting tables where the servers were so concerned about keeping their table to themselves that it was a matter of offense if you topped off a coffee at a table that didn't "belong" to you.  Yesterday, I heard things like "310 and 317 need drink refills."  "Can someone take care of 312's request for condiments?"  And ... "I'm making salads ... who needs a caesar."

I like my part-time second job, I like the team I'm a part of, and I like knowing that people who come into our restaurant are going to be treated well so all they have to do is sit back, enjoy the meal, and indulge in some of that laughter reserved for delight in companionship.

I'm scheduled there again this morning.  Then after the kids are out of school, I'm going downtown to see what the story is with these mortgage loans that I'm working on, I'm not forgetting or neglecting that job.   It's a different kind of helping people, but I'm getting feedback there that I'm good at it. 

Hello and WELCOME!  Have you been here before?

I had my first training shift as a waitress today and I loved it.  I'm telling you.  Unless I figure out something that I haven't thought of yet, I'm going to me happy as a clam in this job.  I'll be making enough money to keep my head above water (even if not FAR above the water), they are willing to work around my need to be with the kids - it's good.  I mean it's ALL good. 

It's been a busy week for me.  I've been working on three loans so that's been exciting stuff.  One of them is all done but the closing and I know that things can still fall apart even at this stage, but the clients have signed a contract on a house and allowed themselves to be talked in the kind of deal where they will owe substantial penalties if they back out.  I would have advised them not to sigh such a deal, but hey.  It's their decision and they didn't ask me.

It won't close for several more weeks but that will be a paycheck in June just in time for mine and Michael's birthday.  I know that he has big hopes for his birthday present this year and while I'm not interested in being silly, I would like to make it special.  I didn't think that we were spoiled before, but the kids and I have really had to learn to "just say no" to a lot of things that we are used to thinking of as necessities.  Of course, they weren't really necessary - but making that adjustment has been hard. 

Remember the big bad mean nasty day when I got a whole fist full of traffic fines?  My court date for those is next Thursday and frankly, it's not too soon for people to start praying about that situation.  They (lawyers) told me to come to court prepared to pay the fines and that they would try to negotiate to keep the points off my record.  Keeping the points off would be good.  Reducing the fines would be a bonus that I'm really really really hoping for. 

I know that I'll "get out" of two of the tickets, because the officer jumped the gun writing them.  He was too impatient to give me time to hunt up my insurance card and vehicle registration so he wrote me tickets even though I had those documents.  But the other two?  Oy VEY!  The printed fines add up to about $200 that I just really don't have.  Well, I have it because I won't pay my rent - but that's not so good ... Anyway - if we start the praying early - it won't hurt.

Oh My .... Goodness

I preached myself a sermon this morning.  Didn't mean to.  I had the thought that some of the blogs in my sidebar are approaching two years old and maybe I should take a second look, I mean those might not be the best sampling of my four years of Xangadom.  (Okay its not QUITE four years yet, but I believe in starting the party early.)

So I clicked on one to read - Oh My Goodness.  I needed that. 

What does it mean to be a fully actualized human being?  My short answer to that question is that a fully actualized person fits in the world but remains fully herself. Virginia Satyr's classic book Peoplemaking paints a picture of the way that healthy humans relate to each other so that both sides of my definition. 

Human beings living humanly are people who understand, value, and develop their bodies, finding them beautiful and useful.  They are real and honest to and about themselves and others; they are loving and kind to themselves and others.  People living humanly are willing to take risks, to be creative, to manifest competence, and to change when the situation calls for it.  They find ways to accommodate what is new and different, keeping the best parts of what is useful and discarding what is not.  When you add all this up you have physically healthy, mentally alert, feeling, loving, playful, authentic, creative, productive, responsible human beings.  These people stand on their own two feet, love deeply and fight fairly (and effectively.)  They are on equally good terms with their toughness and their tenderness and know the difference between them.

In my copy of Peoplemaking, I keep a list of human "rights."  I haven't looked at it in a couple of years, but as I read over it, I think about people in general and I heartily endorse their right to be fully human, to take for themselves the prerogatives which in fact can never legitimately be reassigned.  In addition to the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness these rights are inalienable. 

Then I thought about myself and the bottom line is that I'm pretty harsh and judgmental when it comes to evaluating my own behavior, thoughts and feelings.  In fact the thought of asserting many of these rights on my own behalf makes my stomach clench and a bitter taste almost chokes me.  You think perhaps I'm exaggerating?

I'll give you an example, close to the end of the list is "The right to do less than I'm humanly capable of doing."  I pictured myself answering a request, "Yes, I could do that, but I'd rather not ____"  I could not imagine myself saying that without immediately offering reasons and assuming that I would have to placate someone I'd just disappointed. 

I'll be meditating on this list for the next several days, would you like to see it?  Would you like to add your thoughts about it?  Would any of these rights be difficult for you to assert?  Is there one that you think doesn't belong on the list?  Is there another that you think has been left off?

The Rights

• the right to judge my own behavior, thoughts and emotions, and to take responsibility for their initiation and consequences upon myself.
  
• the right to want what I want, to state what I want, and to ask others to help me get what I want. [Oh, this has been HARD over the past year because I've had to ask for so much that I have at times felt like a bad person for being so needy.]
  
• the right to be imperfect, to make mistakes and to accept responsibility for them.
  
• the right to offer no reasons or excuses in justification of my behavior.
  
• the right to decide if I want to be responsible for helping others find solutions to their problems.
  
• the right to reject the help of others.
  
• the right to change my mind.
  
• the right to my own logic or no logic in making my decisions. 
  
• the right to say, "I don't know" or "I don't understand."
  
• the right to say, "I don't want to" without feeling guilty. 
  
• the right to feel and express anger.
  
• the right to feel a healthy competitiveness and achievement drive.
  
• the right to have my needs be as important as the needs of other people.
  
• the right to do less than I'm humanly capable of doing.
  
• the right to do things others would not approve.
  
• the right to have and express my own opinions.

Everytime I read it I see how far I've come and how far I have yet to go on this road to becoming. 

Wanna Play?

Several years ago I did a summer reading club thing.  There was a list of books that had something for just about every taste whether you liked romance or Stephen Hawking.  I'm thinking that I'd like to do that again.  I got introduced to some great writing through the recommendations of other people who participated.  This year - I'm limited to what I can get from the library, but I have a really good library.  SO if you have a book in mind that you'd like to suggest for the list - please do so. 

Here's what I'd like to do... Let's make up a reading list that I can post in my Sidebar by the first of May.  Starting Thursday May 26 and every Thursday through the summer there will be a discussion on the book of the week.  If it's a book you are interested in, you will have time to pick it up and read it beforehand.  If you don't care about the book of that week, skip it and pick up the discussion when we're on something you like. 

In addition, I'd like to do a community writing project.  This is kind of ambitious I know, especially for a time of year when we are all thinking that if we don't have to be at work we'd rather be on vacation.  But I have had a blast during my Xanga years whenever I have an email discussion that turns into "why don't we both write a blog on ... we can post them on the same day ... won't that be fun?"  Most often I do this with Faith (Lovingmy40s) but I've done it with other wonderful writers as well and I love seeing the subject at hands through someone else's eyes. 

Here's how I see that going.  Lets make a list of topics.  I'm thinking we keep them kind of general - along the lines of the way that Oprah does a theme for her magazine.  I'll post the topics in the ever abused sidebar so you'll know what the topic of the week will be.  Every Monday starting May 30 we'll post our blogs on the topic of the week.  The RULES for this will be - please email me if you want to participate that week and I'll put a link to each of the blogs so you'll be able to get the full pleasure of seeing all the entries.  Other than that there are no rules.  You can write a poem, a short story, a 'regular blog' - whatever you feel like writing as long as it fits the topic of the week. 

So if you'll be thinking over the next couple weeks and make your suggestions - I'll put together a list of books and topics.  The books suggested so far are definitely going on the list, the topics we'll talk about - it's looking like we'll have more topics than weeks so I'll trim the ones that we are least interested in. 

SO FAR:  I STILL need NON_Fiction Suggestions - some of the below are technically nonfiction, memoir and the like, but I'm looking for something science-like or historical.  I'm leaning toward including Thomas Cahill's Sailing the Wine Dark Sea although no one has suggested it just because I'm loving that Hinges of History thing he has going.  And I desperately need genre fiction - I'd like to have a Mystery week, a Romance week, and a Science Fiction week this summer.  Help me out here guys!

Books:  Zorro by Isabel Allende
       Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J K Rowling
       Magical Thinking, by Augusten Burroughs
      The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition, by Richard Perez
      The Time Traveller's Wife, by Audrey Nittenegger
      The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, By Mark Haddon
      Brick Lane, by Monica Ali
      Me Talk Pretty One Day, AND Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
     Ten Poems to Last a Lifetime, by Roger Housden

Topics:  Breath, Laundry, Moon, Freedom, Spirit, Serendipity, Heart, Food, Voice, Healing, Synergy, Hope, Child, Spouse

There Are Stars in the Southern Sky ...

When I was in high school, my senior year, I had a garage band.  Sort of.  We didn't have a garage so we set up in the backyard and entertained the neighborhood.  There's a chance that we annoyed people for a ten block radius, but we didn't think about that at the time.  And even looking back, I don't think they minded so much.  Partly because we were good, and partly because we were given a tolerance for that kind of thing back then that I don't see now.  I can't imagine a group of kids getting away with that in this neighborhood.

My hometown has an annual party - the Brickfest.  Yeah - I know it's kind of funny, but we have the Acme Brick factory that turns out SO many bricks that it's the brick capital of the world.  Well, the first of those annual parties took place in the summer after my senior year and we were invited to be one of the few amateur acts included on the program. 

I don't know what we expected, I know that I didn't expect nearly the turnout that we got.  There were hundreds of people who crowded onto the courthouse lawn to hear us.  We had sound equipment that wasn't quite as good as the average karaoke machine these days.  But we had a fantastic time.  We were invited to play a couple more places and parties that summer, and then it all was over when I loeft home for college that fall. 

Our signature sound was tight tight harmony that my sister and I performed.  As sisteres our voices were so close to start with that we could do things that you just can't achieve with a non-relative.  We had the most incredible guitarist I've ever had hte pleasure of working with.  Our signature song was one that the Eagles made popular.  I hadn't listened to it in ... I can't remember when.  But I have had it on my speakers today so I just called my sister and allowed the opening lines to play into her voice mail.  It didn't take long before she called me back saying, "WOW - that's been a while ..." 

If I could figure out how to put it as an option on my site that didn't automatically play when you load the page, I'd put that song here.  But since I don't want to annoy my friends, I'll just say that "Seven Bridges Road" is special to me for a lot of reasons.  I loved it at the time because it was a song about my home, I lived under those southern skies, breathed the magnolia air, and could see the moolinght through the moss hung trees every time we sang it.  Now, it's the memory that gets me. 

There are stars
In the Southern sky
Southward as you go
There is moonlight
And moss in the trees
Down the Seven Bridges Road

Now I have loved you like a baby
Like some lonesome child
And I have loved you in a tame way
And I have loved you wild

Sometimes there's a part of me
Has to turn from here and go
Running like a child from these warm stars
Down the Seven Bridges Road

There are stars in the Southern sky
And if ever you decide
You should go
There is a taste of time sweetened honey
Down the Seven Bridges Road

time sweetened honey ...

What song takes you back?  Where do you go?  How do you feel when you get there?

Becoming Light

Michael:  Mom, have you noticed that root beard is like love potion for kids?

Mom:  Oh really?!?  And what makes you think that.

Michael:  Whenever me and Tucker share a root beard we are nice to each other for almost an hour. 

Wanna guess what he had in mind for breakfast?

     I had orientation yesterday at the restaurant for my new "second" job.  Really when you're a mom, you already have a full-time job before you ever leave the house.  So I'm thinking this is really like a third job for me.  But that's beside the point.  I loved the manager.  We already know that she's exceptionally wise because she hired me.  But there were other indicators in the meeting yesterday that she is going to be someone that I enjoy working with.  I started out looking for a waitress position with a sense of desperation, but I'm now looking forward to this job with all the excitement that I'd bring to a career position with a corner office. 

Let's Do the Time Warp ...

I've mentioned it often enough that I'm sure you're starting to wish I'd get over it.  My CD wallet was stolen over Christmas and I've suffered from the loss of my music.  Well, recently, I've been surfing around thinking about what songs I really WANT to have in my collection.  Listening to bits and pieces here and there.  (Napster is great for that, listen to a half minute segment of any song in their million song library.)

The songs I've been drawn to most are the songs I loved in the 80's.  Songs that I associate with discovery, wonder, hope, dreams, passion and freedom.  I've heard notes and phrases over the past couple weeks that I haven't heard in fifteen or twenty years.  And I've been transported to that time of my life.  It's strange being 40-ish.  I have all these memories and experience.  I have the knowledge and (hopefully) wisdom gained of living through decades of mistakes.  But I hear these songs and I'm reckless and daring again.  I forget that in real life there's no safety net.  Or maybe I've remembered that in life there is no safety net. 

Wanna come over and join me?  Let's drink herbal tea, write a poem, draw a sketch, ask a question that can't be answered and chew it back and forth.  Maybe someone will bring a bottle of wine, and I'll be cooking later.  Then we may go for a hike, just because the it's a beautiful day and we have too much energy to sit around.  We can climb the rocks beside the lake and lie back with the sun warm on our face. 

Back in the time of my life that I used to spend my Saturday this way, I was a smoker.  I'm trying to keep the smell of smoke out of my vision but I can see that blue haze at the corner.  I haven't even wanted to smoke in ... forever.  But listening to these songs I feel my hand reaching for a lighter that I haven't owned in 18 years.  It had a little daisy engraved on it.  For several years after I quit smoking I still had the lighter and used it to light candles.  Now I have candles and one of those stick lighters with a child proof trigger that you see next to the register at the discount store. 

<shakes head to clear image>

So that's what I think about, and where I go when I want to think about something other than responsibility for laundry, kids, science fair projects, bills due ...

Delightful Dilemma

After the weeks and months of worrying about a job, the blizzrd of applications I laid across the town is paying off for me in multiple opportunities.  I had a firm job offer yesterday, and then also was called for two very promising interviews. 

The first is for a management position with a Rental Car Company.  And I know that I have some new readers, so I'll quickly recap the past 12 months of my car life so you'll know why the old readers are LAUGHING so loud that you can hear it from where ever you are sitting.  2004 began with me as the owner of a mini-van.  The van in question was the subject of many happy blogs as I used it for ALL kinds of things.  I think the only thing I didn't use it for was hauling goats, for that I rented a UHaul trailer - no kidding.    Then in the divorce, the van went to Tim and I got the blue Mercury Sable. 

That's okay, I liked the Sable.  As the boys and I were driving to Virgina for Springbreak, the Sable totally fell apart on the Interstate just outside Cumberland Gap, Maryland.  We were stranded there on the side of the road for longer than was quite comfortable because it was a Sunday afternoon and took a while to find help.  While we waited a gentleman happened along who looked at the Sable and pronouced it "Beyond any kind of side of the road fix that I can imagine."  But offered to wait with us until the tow truck arrived.  After approximately 40 minutes with us and just a few minutes before the awaited tow truck, he proposed marriage to me.  Sadly, I felt that I must decline his offer.  And over the next week, we had more and more adventures which culminated in the rich blessing of my Xanga friends pitching in via PayPal and sending us enough money to rent a car to get back home (which at that time was in Indiana.)  I'm still amazed and humbled by that outpouring. 

My next car was a white Ford Focus.  Cute little car, nice truck space.  Less that six weeks from the time I got it there was a storm in Salem and a tree blew down across the road just as the boys and I were coming along trying to get home.  I stopped for the downed tree, the van behind me didn't.  My car was totaled.  SO ...

I bought my little red Sunfire.  And I only JUST this moment realized that all in one year I owned red, white, and blue cars ...

Anyway, in October we were waiting in line to exit a busy parking lot when the woman in the SUV in front of us decided to back up.  There wasn't anywhere for me to go, I laid on the horn, but she thought there was no one behind her so the horn must be for something else.  She backed over the hood of my car.  The priceless moment that day came in the midst of her hysterical apology when my ten year old said, "Don't worry Lady, it's not totalled THIS TIME." 

Vis-a-vis my insurance company, I was a very good customer of car rental agencies last year so it seems very appropriate that I would be offered a second interview with this one.  I'm driving up to Denver this afternoon to the corporate office.  (And yes, I'm still planning to take the waitress position - THAT one is a bird in the hand.  I'm getting mighty distrustful of the birds in the bushes.)  I'm not sure that this is a wonderful fit for me because of hours.  But we'll just have to see what they say - IF they make me an offer. 

I was also contacted last night by a realtor who needs an office assistant.  The hours are perfect - he wants someone from 9-3 five days a week.  In the phone interview last night, I didn't get a great feeling from the guy.  And the more I thought of it over the evening (And prayed about it) even though the hours are exactly what I wanted in terms of being able to balance my kids and work schedule ... I don't think this is a good position for me.  This guy is not just hiring someone to do typing, filing, and phone answering - he's looking for someone who will come into his life and office and be the total Girl Friday.  He wants to have a minimum of a year commitment to the job.  And he wants to know that the person in that position is someone he can rely on the way that I rely on my closest friends.  Only, I'm a Mom with two little men in my home who already are my toppest priority and I'm not willing to put them on the back burner for a job.  I'd rather be a waitress and know that when the shift its over, its over.  So although he invited me to come in this morning for another interview, I'm going to tell him that this is not the position for me.  There's a scary feeling - turning a job DOWN when just a few days ago I was desperate for an offer from SOMEONE - ANYONE. 

So there you have it.  In two weeks I applied with somewhere over 30 establishments and its looking like I have work.  Life is good. 

You scored as Spring. You are SPRING. Ever optimistic, you readily greet each day with an open mind, and with gladness in your heart knowing that even should life share its dimness with you, the sun -will- come out. Spring 90% Summer 80% Fall 75% Winter 75% What Season Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

Happy Dance

I've been offered a job as a waitress on the lunch shift.  Remember all the drama with trying to get the interview with the manager who kept having crises and so forth?  She called this afternoon and said that all the reports from the Asst. Manager people had been about my excellent humor in dealing with the inconvenience so rather than interview me, she wanted to just hire me.