I got a job!

"Energetic, purposeful work leads to vigourous health, praiseworthy achievement, a clear conscious and refreshing sleep. Work has always been a boon to man. May you have a wholesome respect for labor, whether with head, heart or hand. " Ezra Taft Benson.

I have always felt that work is important. My parents are both hard workers, and I like to think that I am too (although I know that I lean a little on the side of lazy sometimes).
My first "job" ever was when I was in Jr High. I would walk to the Dopp's house after school and baby sit baby Bryce. I did this two days a week and really I loved it. Bryce was the cutest little guy, although he cried a lot, and I loved Val who was my Beehive advisor! and Durk, who was super funny and sometimes Mark, who I had the biggest crush on in the world, would stop by.(not to see me, but to play with Durk) Anyway, I made some money and got to go to the movies or buy a shirt or whatever. I did that for a long time. Years.
Then in HS they had these work training classes, career prep or something, I don't exactly remember what. I took Bank Telling. My friend Shellie took office assisting. When the class was over she got a job at a doctors office. I didn't get a job but I thought to myself "I can do that". So I went to the office complex where she got her job and walked around to the 20+ other doctor's offices there and said "I heard you were hiring after school help". Of course that wasn't exactly true, but one of the offices said that while they weren't looking for anyone they could use someone...and so I got my foot in the door of the glamorous world of filing medical charts and making appointments. It was a good job and the staff was really nice.
Then my Senior year I had a class with a girl who worked at Howard & Phil's, the store the won the west. I love cowboys as much as the next girl and I thought that would be the perfect next job for me. "hey there cowboy, wanna buy a rope??" I applied and was very happy to be hired. Again it was pretty fun. I was good at stocking stuff, and running the register and making displays. I wasn't much of a salesman, although I was friendly, so I never got stellar commissions but I think I usually made the quota and I worked there for about a year or so. Until Dani was born.
Then I began my most important, but lowest paying job, being a mom.
I was really lucky because Mark was a hard worker and I was able to stay home with baby Dani. When she was about a year old I wanted to go back to college ( I had finished a whole sememster already and didn't want that to go to waste :) ) so I began doing day care. That always went well. I kept Becky and Brittan, Dani's cousins who were so cute and fun. We went to the park and the library. The only hiccup we ever had was when Becky out grew her naps, and I didn't know it so was still putting her down. She was unhappy, once Val told me she got to stay up and I don't think any permenant damage was done. They were cute. I also had Andrea and Emily, Ryan, Rachel, Cherokee, Ashlyn, and Kelsea, Megan and Brian and a few other little ones. My girls always enjoyed the friends and I was always happy for some extra money to buy text books, happy meals and other things with. I never had more than a couple extras at a time so we could go to the park or library or McDonalds. Those were the big three places we liked to go when the girls were little. We went to McDonalds probably every week to play on the play set, eat french fries and collect the happy meal toys. I remember one time they had the Little Mermaid toys and I found out what days they got the new toys in and we were going very regularly trying to get the whole set. We had a great collection. We had Ursula, who stuck on the bathroom wall, flounder who shot water out of his mouth, Ariel, we had them all, except the Prince. We wanted Erik but he never hever came, and then they swtiched toys. Boy was I upset. I actually asked to talk to the manager. I told him we had been coming and collecting the whole set and where was Erik? Turns out their store never got him but the manager gave me the one from the display case and Dani had a full set! (such a good mom I was :) )
So went my career days. I was in college and baby sitting and being a mom.
Then Mark and I divorced and I had to kick school into high gear. When I got my Bachlors I got a job interview at Edwards, thanks to the help of Gary Black, who was in my ward. Why he thought I was qualified in any way to recommend I know not but I was grateful. I was interviewed and I remember being asked about my computer skills. At that time I did not have a computer, but I had used one for some basic word kind of stuff, writing papers mostly. Well, I got the job and I did learn how to be a scheduler. Divine Providence if ever I saw it. There was a really nice guy, Tony, who was assigned to "help me". We met every morning at 6am and he would train me until regular office hours. We did this for close to a month. I really liked that job, I learned a lot and got to dress up and it was fun the only down side was that I was gone from the girls a lot. One day I was at work when I got a phone call from a principal at a school near my home, although not the one where my girls went. She said she was hiring and heard that I was interested. I wasn't looking, or even planning on looking...but I said yes and went to interview. She hired me and I began my career as a teacher. Completely unqualified, not an education class to my name. Sort of crazy. I did go back to school and got a credential, I also eventually switched schools to the one where the girls went and there I worked until I met Big. I can really really see the hand of the Lord leading my life during that time. Those job finding stories are unbelievably crazy, yet they happened.
So thanks to that teaching job I got to spend a lot more time being a mom and I got to meet Big.
When we moved to TX I stopped working and began my life of leisure as a stay at home mom. Had three more kids, cleaned and cooked and read library books. Swam in the pool, took the kids to soccer and did my church work. It was a good life.
Since our move to MD I have felt like my days at home were numbered. It's expensive here, but more than that I really want to help kids with college and have the ability to do some fun stuff as a family and there is always someone who needs something in our little family, whether it's new shoes, school supplies, paino lessons or library fine money (alright so the library fines are mine..but still). So I have been looking. I am picky though. I only want to work while the children are in school.
Well, today I got a job offer. It's not at the kids school, but it is at the school where E will be next year (assuming he gets into STEM) and the hours are perfect. The pay is more like a volunteer position, but that's education for you, and it will be worthwhile, enough to send my $ and my daughter to BYU, and enough to build a little cushion. I am excited. It's a Title 1 school, which means low income, high needs but that's okay. I will be doing something worthwhile.

Now only one question remains...who will do the laundry????