Monday we went kayaking in the morning and it sucked all the energy out of Mark and I. Jared and Lydia had fun jumping off the dock and collecting lost balls from the dog park and throwing them back onto the shore there. We got back from running a few errands and I laid down on the bed and fell right asleep for at least 45 minutes. Fortunately we are getting a break this upcoming week and I am so grateful. Sadly the rain started yesterday which was supposed to be the school bike rodeo. I volunteered to run the event and am sad that it had to be put off. The school was in a flash flood area so it had to be postponed. It would have been really hot and unpleasant but it would have been done! It hasn't been an overwhelming amount of work but a lot of emailing with people and waiting to hear back from others. I prefer things that I can just do and be done with, not have to wait on. It is rescheduled for the 28th and hopefully the weather cooperates.
I love that tree in the back there, Fall is coming! I notice it each year as one of the first to change.
Lydia and Jared are both doing well at school. Lydia really misses her kindergarten teacher and friends from that class. She likes her new teacher fine but doesn't come home talking about how much she loves school like she did last year with Ms. Hunter. She typically takes some time to get to know people and make new friends but towards the end of this week she came home talking about people she sat by at lunch and played with and was really happy about it. There were a few days where she said she sat by herself (her choice) or ended up by people she didn't want to be by so we have had a lot of talks about choosing to talk to people and sit by them and it seems to be working for her. She went to a birthday party today and was really excited about it. She talked about it all week, it was a princess party and Cinderella came to visit. She has been over princess's for a good while but enjoyed being with girls from her class. It was a party for 2 sisters and there were 25+ 5 and 6 year olds there! It was crazy but they all seemed to have a good time.
They sent home Pop Rocks in the party favor bag and Lydia enjoyed trying them for the first time. It was fun to watch her experience them.
Jared is having a great time in 3rd grade. I went to back to school night and really like his teachers. They are really great and seem to really love teaching. He is happy to go to school each day. They still use way more technology than I would prefer but there is not a whole lot I can do about it when the district is all for it. Jared was given the job of "Calvin Care" and will be in charge of the class guinea pig all year. One of his teachers seems to really like animals and wanted to get a 2nd guinea pig for Calvin to have a friend. She invited Jared to come meet her at Petco when they were ready to choose the new one. He and Mark went today and he had a fun time. It was really nice of her to include Jared and he and Mark had a nice little date after. I am so happy things seem to be going well for him in that class. I am anxious to see how it plays out all year. He also started soccer this week and is happy to be playing. Mark is the assistant coach for his team. Lydia opted not to play this year and was a little sad when she saw all her friends there on the field but in the end I think it was a good choice for her. She is always tired of it half way through the season. Maybe taking this year off will make her want to play next year. If not then no big deal.
And for the biggest news this week I got a new job! About 2 weeks ago I wrote up a new resume and started applying for various administrative assistant jobs at UVA. I heard back from the Department of Chemical Engineering asking for a screening interview. I was so excited I literally jumped around my house and did ridiculous dances. I had that phone call on Tuesday at 2:30. I was called back that same day around 4:30 to schedule an in person interview for Thursday at 11:30. It was such a great feeling.
Thursday came and I left my house an hour early because I knew I would have a hard time with parking. When we go to UVA we park in two places: the parking garage by the bookstore or the lot by the soccer fields. They instructed me to park in Lot T4 by the stadium. I found the stadium perfectly easily but could not find lot T4. After driving around, parking in a more empty lot and trying to look it on on the map I was beginning to panic. I hate finding parking. It stresses me out big time. As I was feeling hopeless and nervous, as time was ticking by I looked out my window and noticed an older gentleman walking by. I hopped out of my car and asked him for directions. He stopped to give them to me and I looked at this complete stranger and said "can you ride in my car with me to it? Do you have time?" I am sure he was totally shocked but parking brings it out in me! I knew I would not find the lot otherwise and did not want to be late to the interview. I had a back up plan to go park at the bookstore like we have in the past and then hopefully have time to walk to the building from there but luckily he saved me. He was so generous with his time and a complete gentleman. He kindly helped me find the lot and then helped me get to the area where the engineering buildings were. He wasn't sure which building was chemical engineering but got me right near it. I ended up asked a student too but he was a first year and didn't know either. I walked forward a bit and magically found the sign for the building. So many answered prayers right there. I got in the building and then had to get a parking permit (the professor (John) warned me this would happen and told me stories of how bad the parking was and how it was strongly enforced. He once got a ticket for leaving his car unattended while running into a building to drop off a paper. He was only gone 4 minutes). I told the interview people (Jennifer and Jen) that even if I didn't get the job the fact that I found parking and the building were success stories. So I went back to my car to place the permit, found my way back to the building and had 10 minutes to spare.
The interview went well. Jennifer and Jen seem really nice and easy to work with. I met Bill the Department head and he seems pretty easy going. I had talked to a friend earlier in the week who works at UVA and mentioned what department it was for and he said that he knew a lot of the professors and there was really just one crazy guy so thats good? It seemed that my preschool experience was actually a big plus to them. They commented on how I worked with 4 year olds so I must be very patient which would be needed with some professors. The department head talked about how sometimes they need a little hand holding and sometimes they get a little full of themselves. I hadn't done an interview like that in quite some time so I was happy that I had answers on the spot and that I felt as calm as I did. After it was done I couldn't really see any reason why they would not hire me. That afternoon I got a text from one of my references saying that she had just written a raving reference for me for UVA. I hadn't actually told her I had applied. I hate telling people things like that because then if I don't get the job I have to tell them which is like admitting I wasn't good enough which I hate. So hearing that they were checking references was a good sign.
I was called Friday afternoon and offered the job. It was such a good feeling. I will be working Monday - Friday from 8:00 - 12:00 as the front desk person. The schedule is amazing. I am not entirely sure of all my duties but will be doing things like: giving tours, answering calls, arranging travel, ordering supplies, greeting people and answering questions, sorting mail, handing out keys and general organizing of files and such. In the Spring they hold a seminar and when that person arrives I will be helping them a lot with class rosters and assignments which is really similar to what I did back at BYU Idaho for Brother Pulsipher. That was my most favorite job I have ever had and I vowed that one day I would work at a university again and now I get to only 15 years later. Jared and Lydia both prayed for me a good amount this week and all our prayers were answered which is a nice bonus too, for them to have that experience and have it answered so clearly. I am so excited! I start September 24th. The position is year round so it will be odd when I leave for work next Summer but luckily for us Mark is home Summers so we don't even have to worry about care for Jared and Lydia. I am so thankful this job has the hours it does. Getting to be at UVA and still be able to pick up Jared and Lydia, to not have to pay for care for them is awesome. And I will still have time to get errands done before I have to pick them up. I am so grateful this is our new plan. It was hard each summer to know that our income was going to be smaller since I wasn't teaching preschool and it was so stressful waiting to find out if I would have a class or not, I hated it. I am sad to not teach preschool as I built a solid curriculum/business and really did plan to teach for many years but I can see how this will be so good for our family. Go Hoos!
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