"I chose to be happy"

Job Update:

I didn't even get an interview because I took too long to respond. They had already filled the position. It wasn't something I was actively looking for so when I saw the ad, I mulled it over for a week before deciding to do anything about it. But hey, now I've got my resume updated and will be ready when the next one comes along.

And Al and I get to still hang out.

Now about Kiersten. She has had an incredibly difficult time with her school schedule. It's hard enough navigating your way through junior high without having the extra stress of schedule changes.

Before school even started I knew there might be some issues with her orchestra class. She had taken two years of early morning orchestra through the elementary and I felt like she should be in the advanced class not the beginner. So when we talked to the counselor he said that would be up to the teacher to move her. We left her schedule as it was for the first term and sure enough her orchestra teacher wanted her to move up. However, that meant rearranging her entire schedule for second term.

We managed to keep all her core classes the same but she had to drop creative writing for keyboarding (although she stepped into this class that had been going for a term already and was immediately competing for the fastest time).

Third term began and again we were dealing with a new schedule with some drastic changes for a seventh grader. She got switched out of her science class into a new teacher. She didn't get back into creative writing like they promised. And she is in a new lunch period with NONE of her friends.

I felt the pain she was feeling. But I also know Kiersten pretty well and knew that this was a girl who could and would make the most it. I told her to "come what may and love it."

We are two weeks into the new term and she informed me last weekend that the counselors would allow her to drop her PE class to get back into her old science class which would make it so she had the same lunch hour as her friends. All I needed to do was sign off that she was doing at least three hours of exercise a week. It all seemed a little fishy to me, but I agreed to it and sent an email to the counselor. He called me Monday morning to let me know that they had been wrong. It was never a district policy even though they had allowed several students last year to do it.

That was the nail in the coffin.

But like I said I know my Kiersten pretty well. She came home and told me the sad news. She told me how mad she was for two hours. "But then I decided that I could either be mad about the whole thing or get over it and be happy and make it a good day. And you know what? I decided to make it a good day and I had a pretty good rest of the day." She is a remarkable girl. She has such confidence and determination which are traits that kids her age struggle with. What an example she is to me!

I also think this girl needs a lunch date . . . with her mom . . . soon.

Job hunting

I wasn't even looking for work, but I just updated my resume and applied for a part-time job. Holy cow that took my whole morning. I thought I could at least send it in and then decide if I really want it if they offer it.

I first saw it a week ago as I was browsing the local paper. It's an office manager for the Tooele County Association of Realtors and so much of what they were looking for are skills I picked up when I was on the board for the Stansbury Park Community Association, bookkkeeping and website management being key.

Oh, but what to do with Al?

Ty thinks he could handle him here at home for a couple of hours.

I guess we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.

Family pics

So I decided it was about time that we added Alex to the family. I mean he'd already been with us for over a year and the old family photo was still hanging on the wall minus one.

We'd always done the Sears Portrait Studios route and have never had anything to complain about. But this time I wanted to try something outside and knew my sister-in-law was a great photographer. She agreed to do them. They turned out wonderful and I couldn't have been more happy with them. I just wish it wasn't such a huge process to get to the finished product.

WARDROBE. I should have taken a picture of all the clothes that laid on my bedroom floor for two months as I matched and rearranged and coordinated all the fabric and styles and colors. I didn't want to be matchy matchy, but I didn't want to clash either. It's a big job trying to get it all to look great.

LOCATION. I scoured the internet looking at photos and decided on Memory Grove in downtown Salt Lake. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we had lived five minutes from there at one time and I had never been. It was a beautiful place with some fun things. We even took a quick drive one night to check it out. However, the photos of the kids didn't turn out as expected so one night when Linda was at our house, she snapped some of the kids in our backyard which turned out fantastic. I loved Alex's lip in this one.

DAY AND TIME. Timing is critical for outdoor shots to be able to capture the right lighting. We decided on a weekday evening when it wouldn't be too crowded.

DECIDING AND ORDERING. After all that I had to decide which prints I wanted and what sizes. It was such hard decision when there were so many great ones. Linda surprised us by printing two different family photos. The one we had chosen had a minor flaw that nobody but her would have noticed, but this way I can hang one for half of the year and then switch since one was fall-like and the other looked like spring.

Oh, I am not looking forward to another family photo shoot. I like these so much that they may hang in our home for a long time.

John Bytheway

I've become that mom I never wanted to be. You know the chauffeur mom who  shuttles the children to all their various activities. I mean just take a look at my calendar. That's just the way it is when you no longer live within walking distance of a lot of functions.

But I rediscovered a secret a month or so ago and his name is John Bytheway (rediscover being the key word since he was around when I was a teenager!). I insert him into our van's CD player and he keeps the kids entertained. I love his insights into the scriptures and hopefully my posse is also learning something as we travel back and forth.

I love that Kiersten gets in the van with her friend and the first thing she says is to shush because they have to listen to this part.

I love that Nate laughs hysterically while saying how much he loves this guy.

I love that my nephew is quoting him on the playground at school.

I love that Erik chooses to watch his DVD rather than something else.

I love that they request certain talks instead of certain radio stations.

He definitely has a way with the youth and I'm hoping he has a way with my youth.