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!

Projects

Many things are occupying my time lately - including some projects so I'm going to make this a very picture-y post!

This is the clamping that I did in order to build the laminated top for the dishwasher cupboard - the wood is all Aspen (Poplar) that my dad cut from his forest at home and milled on his little sawmill and then planed and brought to me in December. The project is nearly complete now, needing only final assembly and a coat of finish - I'll post further pictures when it is finished.Oops, I forgot to rotate that picture - but Cootie is going to be very sad when I finish the cabinet - since she had taken to sleeping on top of the dishwasher on the soft insulation.
Last week we had a potluck with a whole bunch of people here to visit with Alex as he was home on spring break - this is my version of Anna's chicken with seasoned cream cheese smeared over it and under the skin....mmmm - I forgot to take any pictures of the people or the enormous table of food though!

Yesterday I did some baking and cooking - this picture from left to right - Chicken noodle soup (from the carcasses of the above chickens :), Oatmeal Pan Bread - rising, and the second half of the Cinnamon Bun dough waiting to be rolled out.
And in the oven - two loaves of whole wheat/4 grain bread. I can only make two loaves at a time since I only have two loaf pans....I think I need to fix that!!
Cinnamon Bun dough rolled out and the sticky bottom concoction prepared in the pan - no such thing as calories in these babies - only whipping cream, butter, sugar and corn syrup!Another delectable dessert - peanut butter pie - we had this at Andrew and Jaime's for dessert today - yummy but really rich!Last night's dinner, chicken noodle soup, oatmeal pan bread (with a herb/Parmesan topping), pickled beans and yum-yum sweet/sour pickles.

Here is the quilt that I debated about whether or not I should show.....its in progress....need to decide on how to quilt it now.This was the last quilt I did - for Grace's little boy - I was trying to decide on a backing - I chose the blue plaid with bears on it (in the middle)

More of my fabric stash - I've got tons of ideas, I just need the time now!!

Working on some crazy cute baby clothes for little Hope
My little friend Cootie - she loves to watch whatever I'm doing -especially if it means she can look out a window at the same time!
This is "Piggy" another picture which I forgot to rotate - but this is him sniffing at me when we were out doing chores the other day.

All the pretty little horses - looking all fat and sassy in their winter coats - waiting for a new bale to be tossed down the hill for them. Left to right - Guthrie, Riata, Apache and Black Jack.

That's all for now!

Where to start

Well, Amy commented that it had been a long time since I blogged - and it has... There has been too much on my mind to know where to start. I haven't been enjoying my job all that much lately, and have been debating what to do about it - on top of which they decided to make some changes that make me less happy then I already was and told other people about it, but not me... I've really been trying to sort out how I feel about it but the more I think, the more confused I become because I'm not sure how I should react to these things. On one hand I've been taught to stand up for myself and not let other people take advantage of me - Dad says "You're not just an employee, you're a contractor, you provide them with your services and they are to work fairly with you about compensation and conditions" So - as asked by my boss I wrote down the issues that I've been having and my feelings about the upcoming changes and sat down and had a meeting with her. In some ways it felt like a very profitable meeting - as she was able to hear me out on some issues that I've never had the nerve to bring up before and she agreed with me about some of the major downfalls. In response to this - she asked me to take a position that would provide the leadership needed to make some changes but also put me in a position of much increased stress- which I DON"T want...the conditions were also such as to take away one thing I wanted and provide me with small compensation for it... So after some turmoil and discussion with Trevor and such, I decided to say no to her offer. Now I'm not sure where I stand, and I'm maybe more confused then I already was. I had looked around at other jobs available, but sometimes I think it would be just as easy to just stay put and put up with the crap. I'm always afraid that if I give up what I have, I may not like the next thing as much. Then there is the ongoing inner battle...half of me wants to go have some sort of adventure again...but half of me (or perhaps more then half as of today) wants to settle down, build a home, get some animals and start a family. This inner battle has something to do with the job thing too - because if I am going to have a child in the near future, then I don't want to go and start a new job - and if I'm going to have adventure first, then I definitely want a different job.... *sigh*

Enough of that - so what have I been up to? I got on a sewing kick the last couple weeks - I made a baby quilt for my friend Grace and some cute and crazy baby things for Katie's baby. I tried out several new patterns and found some to be really great, and some not as exciting. I also visited our local quilting store for the first time - a very dangerous thing. As of right now I have everything I need to start the baby quilt that will be made to fit the cradle I made for Amy - I'm not sure If I'm going to post pictures of the progress or make it a surprise....I just can't make up my mind - come to think of it - that's my major problem lately - I just CAN"T make decisions.... *sigh* Well, there's lots more to say and pictures of projects, etc but I'm at work and don't have any pictures and I need to go get my mail before lunch is over - so I'll post this and promise an update - before too long this time!