Saladbar No More

Tonight I worked my first shift back at the cash registers. My period as the Saladbar manager at The Grocery Store is now over. Thank God.

As you all might have seen on my sidebar, I got a position as a teacher's assistant at Alex's school, and I am so excited. I'll still be working at The Grocery Store three nights a week to cover babysitting though. The store was remodeled, and after they finished, our store hours were extended to midnight. So, I'm going to be working the 6 PM - 12 AM shift Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The TA position is Monday through Friday from 9 AM - 2 PM, so the hours are perfect for me.

My mom is going to watch Sarah for me two days a week plus the nights that I'm at The Grocery Store. The three nights that I work should just about pay for the three days that I need a sitter. You've gotta love the logistics. I don't know how I would make it work without my mom watching the kids.

I'm not really sure what the whole point of this post was... You see, I'm kind of tired right now, so I don't think that I'm making much sense. Please forgive my rambling, I suppose I just wanted someone to know what was going on.

First Words

Sarah said her first, real, honest-to-goodness word last week.

I mean, she's been babbling and making sounds (that I wishfully interpreted as 'mama') for a while now, but this was different. Language is a funny thing. See, Sarah has been talking for a long time now, at least as far as she saw it. The rest of us just didn't understand her. She finally figured out though, that she had to put together sounds that everyone else could comprehend. Because language isn't just about words, it's about being understood.

What I love about babies and kids is how they never do anything halfway. She had to make such an effort to say that one word. Her face scrunched up, and her lips pursed, "Puuuhh....Puuuhh.....Puuuhhppyyy." Puppy.

Her first word. She had communicated, and she knew it.

The way her face lit up was worth a million dollars.

Fragrant

I just finished pruning back my mom's lavender for the season, and you could smell me from a mile away. I think I'm going to be lavender scented for a week. Man, this thing was unruly. I was knee-deep in that sucker. My mom hadn't trimmed it in a while, can you tell?

I meant to take pictures of the god-awful mess that I made of the patio with all of the clippings and flowers, but I forgot. Of course.

There are two other bushes (Lord help me) that need pruning. I forgot they were there. My mom was kind enough to remind me when I was knee-deep in the other one though.

That'll be a project for tomorrow when Sarah goes down for her nap.

I'll take some pictures of those so you can see the before and after. I wish that I had done it with this one, though, it was a monster.

Woohoo!!!

I got the job!

I am so excited, and this is such a blessing.

They really, really needed a second grade TA(someone backed out at the last minute), so the timing was perfect. The teacher I'm going to be working with is really sweet and she's great with the kids. They're going to start me as soon as I go through the screening process and orientation.

Even better, they have all of their bus driver positions filled, so I'll only be on call. Whew. Don't worry folks, the roads are still safe for now.

I'll try and warn you if they call me in to drive the bus.

Love ya,

Jen

Wish Me Luck!

Keep your fingers crossed, pray for me, tell me to break a leg.

I've got my interview at 10 o'clock this morning, and I am so nervous excited.

This job would mean the world to the kids and I. Hopefully it will be the first step on the road to us becoming independent and moving out of my parent's house. If I get the position, I'm going to be socking away money as much and as quickly as I can.

If I don't get the job though, it's not the end of the world. I'll have to believe that God has bigger and better things in store, that this just wasn't the time or place for me.

Besides, the job requires that I get a bus driver's license. Maybe the world would just be too dangerous if I was driving a bus...