Winter revisited and hopefully gone for good!!

Of course it was too good to be true....last week it got cloudy and cold again and old man winter came back for one more blast of cold...and brought his friends ice and snow with him. It was quite ugly actually - starting as rain and then moving to ice and then snow - for a total of about 4-5 inches of snow plus and un-measured amount of rain and ice. Today, however, hope has been renewed and the temperature is once again in the double digits on the right side of the freezing mark and the birds and frogs are back singing. It was funny last night - a few brave frogs were giving out their tenative song but it was a far cry from the generous chourus from the week before! Cootie decided she doesn't like snow, but yesterday she wanted out - so I put her out in the evening and when I went to call her in she was nowhere to be found. Trevor came down from upstairs and said he had seen her on the roof of the garage and the addition - I'm still not sure how she got there exactly, but she must have climbed a tree that overhangs the addition and jumped down on to the roof and then been to scared to take the reverse route back down to the ground. Silly Cat.....she loves to walk across my floor with her grimey little paws too and let me know the exact trail she took to the carpet in the living room where she usually proceeds to sit in the sun and clean herself from the "contamination" of the outdoors!

Enough about a cat. The big event of the week was an interview I had at the local Credit Union. It was somewhat scary - the closest thing I'd had to a real interview before that was a phone interview for my summer student job and a "interview" with the farmer I worked for after high school (which consisted of drinking coffee and talking, then going for a drive around the farm and waiting to see if he wanted me to work for him and if I felt the same....not very professional but I guess scary enough at the time). This was however a professional interview with questions like: How did you prepare for this interview? (Prepare???? ack what am I getting myself into) "I prepared by thinking about what skills I could contribute to the organization and how to outline my experience and assets to show that. (actually it wasn't that smooth...but you get the idea)...then
"What is your best trait?" (daft....thats not for me to judge...hmmm) "I would say my best trait is my pleasant personality. (oh crap, that sounded pretty shallow - impromptu speeches in 4-H did teach me to think on my feet...but that doesn't mean I say meaningful stuff...)
"Ok, what is your worst trait in your opinion??" (ahhh...oh what given day...I can't make myself look too bad...how do I say something bad thats not too horrible and be honest??) "I guess my worst trait is that I can be rather grumpy and short tempered at times - mostly if I'm tired." (ahh, I just contradicted my pleasant personality....that won't sound good!)
...You get the idea...
At the end of the interview they thanked me for my time and said they had a couple more interviews and some refrence checks to do and they'd call me by the end of the week.
I went back to work with a fairly positive feeling, but part of me kept beating myself up over my lack of preparation. I worked tuesday and wednesday with some apprehension over me...and I didn't realize how tense I was getting until thursday when my shoulders and neck started to hurt. Thursday afternoon I finally got a phone call...and they offered me the job! After a few more questions I accepted the offer and hurried to finish up my duties so I could leave right after the clinic closed and go sign my acceptance of the offer. So- big changes are in store for me -I'd appriciate prayer as I make this transition. I am have some hopes that this job will provide a bit of a lifestyle change that I need.
-First off, there will be less driving (10 miles one way instead of 35)
-Less stress (I hope) with a more structured management system, not worrying about animals and getting attached to them...I never really noticed how it does take a toll on me!
-A new challenge.
-More time and hopefully more energy at the end of the day so I have more to put into our relationship
-A renewed appriciation for my animals and more desire to spend time with them rather then doing something BESIDES animals when I get home from work

Anyways...its been an exciting week - but there are lots of uncertainties...I am trying not to get my hopes up too high (you know the grass is always greener....) but I am also so glad that the Lord answered my prayers and provided this opening - as I had really been wishing that this exact job would come open - and although I will take a pay cut, I know this is where He wants me. Now I'm just waiting to see what else He plans to do!!

Spring is here!

As usual there has been a somewhat lengthly pause in my blogging...not that I have really had that much exciting going on, but I seem to keep busy.

--I have rediscovered my love of reading and the seemingly unending books available from the in-law's house has been feeding my christian historical romance appetite! I have spent many hours riding in buggies and wagons, living in soddies and contemplating the feelings of various others.....all in my imagination of course. Its fun to read these things, but somewhat dangerous to spend too much time dwelling on them I think - as a person can certainly write about a person who is pretty much perfect, even though none exist - and it can make one long for perfection in themselves or even more damaging- in their mate. So I will try and keep my intake of these dreamy stories to an appropriate level...they are also a great way to procrastinate and I certainly don't need any help in that department!!

--Besides reading, I have been working on hand quilting the quilt for Baby Eager - I still have 5/12 blocks to quilt and the binding to do. No more pictures or info will be exposed until the great reveal :) I have really enjoyed the project and may to more like it in the future.

--I did pick up my guitar again the other night and have played it a couple times, as well as tickling the ivory every now and then.

--I have been enjoying the wonderful weather - it has been beautiful, in the double digits on the plus side every day since Sunday I think! Sunday was like 17 and sunny - so I took my nephew for a long walk in the stroller - time to start working on my tan if I want to look decent for Rach's wedding pictures! Cootie (my cat) has learned to enjoy the beautiful out of doors too, and always wants to go out when I come home from work.

--I've been working...of course that takes up most of my time - and since I made my frustrations known, I feel much more relaxed at work - I'm not afraid of how I feel or how others might react to it - I just keep working without letting the day to day things pile up - I feel somewhat free in knowing that they know where I stand and that I'm not hiding anything - I have applied a couple of other places and I'm praying that the Lord will guide in where I should be and when. I know that He will open the right doors according to His will!

Oh yeah, and a big happening - Liam finally turned over from his back to his front!! We are still waiting for his first tooth though! He's the cutest nephew ever!