Job History - Random Thoughts

Lately I have been feeling a bit like Kirk from Gilmore Girls, who always has a new gig to bring in the money. Too bad I haven't been able to save any where near the $250,000 he did.

My first "real" job was at Joni's Cones, an enjoyable summer job scooping ice cream and waiting for unexpected visits from Tony, who at the time was "just a friend." Since then I have worked in three different restaurants, each time being reminded why I don't ever want to work in that industry. My longest job was working at Target, though I didn't keep the same position very long. As soon as I started to get sick of whatever job I had, I would find a way to switch positions, which kept things semi exciting.

Before Target, I worked at Arcadia Health Care as a home health aide, mostly assisting the elderly with personal hygiene and housework. I thought I would love it, as I have always enjoyed taking care of children. But I learned quickly taking care of children is nothing like taking care of the elderly, and I am not blessed with that gift.

My favorite job by far was as nanny of two of my favorite boys. Soon, I will have my own favorite boy to take care of. Hopefully the many hours I spent with them has somewhat prepared me for the 24/7 childcare that will soon consume my life.

I also worked part time as a telemarketer for an insurance agent. That was worse than any restaurant job I had. I will never forget when I called to ask for some Joe Smith, having his wife answer only to tell me that Joe recently passed away, and no, he was not available.

Then there is the part time work I do for stock20, answering email and other various tasks that end up being passed on to me. This I enjoy, but it is a barely part time gig.

My newest job is as a tax preparer for Jackson Hewitt. So far, I love it. I am learning a lot, and being somewhat challenged, but at the same time I don't feel completely overwhelmed or inadequate. And the timing is perfect. Tax season will be over a month before Levi comes, so I will have some time for last minute preparations.

The biggest dilemma is that while I have enjoyed most of these jobs, if only for a season, none of them have provided any sort of inspiration for a lifelong career. Unlike Tony, I don't have one thing I am passionate about that can pay any bills.

So for now, I am a tax preparer. And in a few months I will be a mother. I have a feeling no job will ever be more desirable than that of being a mom.

Our Crazy Car

Today we brought our car in to have some work done. The rear drivers side wheel bearing needed to be replaced, and we did not want to repeat our experience in Chicago when the passenger side went bad.

Money has been tight lately, which is the story lately with pretty much everyone, so we have been waiting to have it done. Over Christmas for various reasons we accumulated some extra unexpected money. When we called to get a quote for the work to be done, it was exactly the amount that we have received. We have to wait to deposit one of the checks for a while, which brought down how much extra we had. Today, when the mechanic called and told us it was ready to pick up, the new total was now exactly the same amount of the new balance of money.

And the mechanic we brought our car to we met earlier this summer at a party and his shop is within walking distance, so we did not need to hassle with rides or public transportation.

When we picked up our car, the noise it was making was gone and we were feeling really great about the entire situation.

Then we got on the highway.

Fortunately, the roads were kinda bad so traffic was moving pretty slow. When we hit about 50mph we noticed that there appeared to be a large sheet of ice moving up our hood onto our windshield. It didn't take long to notice that it was not ice, but our hood. Our hood had somehow popped open and was now laying flat against our windshield. This is not a good situation to be in when the slick highway is busy and you are in the left lane.

We were able to pull over safely and assess the damage. The windshield was not shattered and we were able to get the hood to securely latch. No major damage was caused, just some big dents in the hood and other cosmetic damage.

We went back to the mechanic. They said that they did not even open the hood, which makes sense. They did take a look at it and said that there was nothing structurally damaged, just cosmetic issues.

I am so grateful that we were not injured and the windshield didn't shatter. Unfortunately, I think Tony will be forever afraid of our car. I think he was just getting over his fear from the last horrifying events that have happened. But it is still running and hasn't killed us yet.

It's A Boy!

Today we had an ultrasound and were able to see that we are having a boy. The ultrasound was wonderful. We could see him moving around a lot. At one point he turned his head and appeared to be looking at us. He was swallowing and we could see his mouth moving, and he kept waving his fists around. It was amazing!

While our boy was cooperating to show his parts, he wasn't cooperating to be in a position the tech wanted to measure everything. So we get to have another ultrasound next Friday, and hopefully he will be in a better position.The pictures aren't that great for the same reason.




A wonderful profile shot of our baby boy.

Proof that it is indeed a boy. There is an arrow in case you're not sure what you are looking at.



Here is one of his feet.