What's next?

Here’s a rundown of the past few hours of my life:

Thursday morning:  Call from number on my cell phone that I don’t recognize.

Thursday after school: Listen to a voicemail from the principal I interview with.  Talk myself into calling her back.

Later after school Thursday afternoon:  Get a job offer.

Later later Thursday afternoon:  Call my mom and dad each about 8 times a piece and decide I want to wait for a job in/near Sioux Falls.  Write a blog about the pros and cons. Pray. Write another pro/con list. Pray again.   Receive a call from Mom; again weigh out the options.  Ask to talk to with Dad.  Ask to talk with Mom again. 

Early evening Thursday:

Decide I want to take the job.  Call mom and dad about 7 more times and then my brother and then my sister and then some of my friends.    (I just wanted to make sure I was weighing all my options.  Remember, I am an analyzer!)

Later Thursday night:    Call more people.  Decide for sure I am going to take the job

Later later Thursday night: Pray. Think. Pray. Think. Call more friends. Pray.  Google apartments, google churches, google the library, google golf courses, google anything related to anything in this town.

Friday morning: Call the principal and accept the position.

Friday afternoon:  Sign the contract and fax it in.

Later Friday afternoon:  Find out that one of my best friend’s little sister (who is also my friend) got a job that same morning teaching at the middle school in the same town!!!  (I had no idea she had applied or anything.)  Rest assured that this is all a God-thing, and He will take care of me. 

Later later Friday afternoon:  Find out that my friends from FL that moved to IA (who had their own job journey/struggle this year) bought a house!  Again reminded that God takes care of stuff. 

Friday night:  Watch the news about the messed up economy and  school budget cuts.  Becoming extremely thankful that God has opened up yet another unexpected door in my life.   Getting really excited for a new adventure.  Thinking about what I’m going to blog about next.

After a long and hard freak out session beginning Thursday morning and ending…well, I’m not really sure it’s ended yet…I have decided to take the job.  I will be employed next year as an elementary school counselor in a small-ish town outside of Omaha.  YAY!

           

What to do?

So after all my whining about applying and rejection letters (because the b-word isn’t blog appropriate) I have been offered a job.  You’d think I’d be jumping for JOY and part of me is.   But I’m indecisive and a girl and an over-analyzer and a worrier and a touch of crazy…so…

I’m not sure if it’s the right job for me.  This job would require a move.  A move is OK with me.   But I would rather not move to a smaller town at this point in my life.  And if I am going to move to a small town, I’d like it to be closer to home.  But people who are just starting their career can’t be the choosiest.  But if I do have to move, I’d like to be sure that a job is a good fit.   But how can I be sure if a job is a good fit unless I give it a try. 

Here’s a condensed list of my pros and cons:

PROS	CONS
·         good school leadership ·         friendly community ·         close-ish to a bigger city ·         good counselors in other positions	·         in a small town ·         not a lot of diversity ·         time split between different schools…high number of students per caseload ·         not sure if I can get another job

So what am I going to do?  Your guess is as good as mine. 

The Golden Buffalo

For the past year I have stayed every Thursday night at The Golden Buffalo Casino, Motel, and Convention Center.  Why?  Well because I got a part time job working on Thursdays and Fridays as a counselor at Head Start (actually 2 different ones; more on this later.)  This job was a perfect fit for me because I could get paid for some of my practicum and internship hours and gain lots of good experience.  The only down fall was that the Head Starts were located about a half hour north of Chamberlain.  Since I live in Sioux Falls and go to school in Vermillion I figured why not add another town or 2 to my list.  Some people have been asking me to put some pictures up of where I stay; I'm really not a photographer but here's my best try...

This is the motel part of the resort.

This is the casino part.  I forgot to take a picture of the convention center part.

This is my Thursday night home or my river view vacation cabin, depending on my mood.

This is the view of the Missouri from my vacation home window.  Sorry about the dirt pile.  My photography skills are lacking.

And this is a horn lamp.  It cracks me up. 

The Joys of Working with Kids

I really like working with kids.  They are honest and creative and resilient and funny, and they always find ways to keep me humble and put life into perspective.

At school a kid who has some behavior problems was screaming and crying and kicking (not really out the ordinary for this little dude.)  I have a nice plan to help this kid learn impulse control and anger management, but sometimes my plans don’t work (shocking) so we just listen to music on my computer until he calms down. 

That day I went over to see what the hype was about thinking that today sounded more like a music-listening-day than an address-your-anger-issues day.  But his teacher looks at me with a panicky face and says, “He has a napkin up his nose.”  Napkins up noses are definitely not something I have a plan for.  She sort of shoves him toward me.  Sure enough I look up his nose and high in his left nostril was a little napkin ball.  So I plugged the other side of the kid's nose.  After a few strong exhales, the napkin with a snot wad flew out, onto my pants, of course.   And immediately the boy stopped crying.  I was gagging and laughing (snot is definitely not my thing).  But the little guy gave me a hug and said, “Auntie, (cause that’s what he calls me…just melts my heart) I can go to school now.”  Seriously, some things you just can’t plan for… :)

Rejection Letter #1

This past week I got my first we-don't-even-want-an-interview letter.  Obviously, I did the most rational thing and took this as a personal attack against my resume, experience, credentials, and character.  Then to spread the drama I left my mom a voicemail in a really sad and pathetic voice that begged her to feel sorry for me, "Got a rejection letter today (sniffle, sniffle.)"  Remember, I said job applying was a huge test of faith for me?  Instead of thanking God for showing me one place I wasn't supposed to be, I had a slight meltdown.  I say slight because a few days later I had another meltdown; it was a teensy bit bigger.

Imagine this...Me crying while talking on the phone to my mom, "Moooommmmm, (hiccup sob)  I am probably (slight gasp for air) NOT going to get a (another sob) JOB!  Who (cry, cry) do you think (sniffle) is ever going to HIRE (sob) me?  Why can't this (one last sob) be EASY?  Really, mother, HOW am I ever going to PAY off (ok..one more huge sob) my LOAAANS?"  I then go on blubbering about all the unknowns in my life.  Right now, I have a lot of unknowns.  Will I have to move? Will I get a job in Sioux Falls?  Should I continue working on the rez?  Where will I live?  Who will I will be friends with? And blah, blah, blah...Thankfully, only a few days later, job prospects are looking slighly better.  I've heard of a few openings and potential openings and was able to send out a few more applications. 

Today work helped me remember that my problems, my job search, my worries are actually pretty pathetic.  People around the world are hurting, and I'm crying because I might have to move or make new friends?  Seems stupid when people in Japan are mourning the deaths of their friends and can't escape harmful radiation.  Seems stupid when I look into the little faces preschoolers and know they might not get much to eat over a long weekend.  Seems stupid when  children and families are hurting from abuse or illness or poverty. 

And then ... when I checked into the Golden Buffalo tonight, the check in lady gave me back my shampoo and conditioner I forgot in the shower during my stay last week.  I though I had lost it forever.  This might not be a big deal to anyone else, but I was extremely thankful to be able to have my almost full bottles back and thought it was really nice of her and the lady who cleans my room to save them for me from last week.  When I am taken care of by people who barely know me, seems pretty stupid to struggle to trust the plans of a God who MADE me. 

Past Jobs-Paper or Plastic? Part 2

You may not understand what you might all learn working in a small town grocery store; I will try my best to fill you in.  First, grocery store delivery trucks do not run on normal people time.  I mean, really, who wants to be up at 4:30 a.m. to unload boxes of cans?  And is it really even safe?  I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be hanging out before dawn with sleepy eyed high schoolers armed with box cutters.

You will quickly learn everything needs to be priced according to the sale add.  You might realize it has to be done quickly and completely accurately because someone wiLL examine their receipt and find that your advertised $.19 per pound bananas are ringing up at a whopping $.20 per pound instead.  After a few weeks you will most likely shudder in fear of "dime" ladies who go over their receipts with highlighters looking for every cent you "stole" from them.  You might begin to understand that if our government is serious about cutting spending they really need to hire these ladies, soon.

Because you are an employee, you might be given the privilege of entering The Back Room.   On any random day you might find a plethora of goods back there.  You might see an ice sculpture, a deer, (skinned and hanging upside down, of course) lots of damaged stuff, bakery goods, and piles and piles of boxes. You might also have to use The Back Room to hide from the really cute public school boy with a cut off T-shirt and dimples that you absolutely canNot say hi to because you'll totally do something embarrassing like smile weird or talk in shaky voice. 

You will most definitely learn to love getting an oasis from the insanity of baggin and checking each day at a retreat called break.  You might see boxes become lazy boys and produce carts become couches for 15 minutes around 10 a.m. and 15 minutes around 3 p.m.  Breaks could involve some donuts or cookies, caffeine, gossip, and bickering about who has to interrupt their mini vacation to check out costumers who aren't aware or don't care that no one in the world should be at the grocery store at these magical times of day.

Working at a small town grocery store also might help you fall in love with the variety and excitement of life.  You might get to sell milk to the town mayor, see your best friend wrap up meat and wear a hair net, wash windows with a squeegee, witness a seven cart pile up, go to war with a "dime" lady, and have a credit card machine melt down all before noon.  You might get to be a spectator in Back Room flirting that develops into dating that ends up in an oh-my-we-still-have-2-years-of-high school-left-and-working-together awkward break up.  You might get to Moonshine clean everything with a crazy blond friend or get to know a family that has made a small town business a success.  You might even get to hear "A Boy Named Sue" karaoked at the company Christmas party.

Since you are employed by the main supplier of food to your community, you will most likely get to meet lots of people and hear lots of stories. These stories might help you fall in love with a community and people that helped shape who you are and who you will become. You might need a job like this to give you building blocks for jobs coming in your future where the stories you hear are little less light and the faces aren't as familiar...but you might have learned to be delighted that people are letting you in on their journey :)

Past Jobs-Paper or Plastic? Part 1

I got my first real punch-in-and-paycheck-with-taxes-taken-out job in 1998 as a cashier and bagger at Sanborn Foods.  

For those of you who might not know, Sanborn Foods is an amazing place.  Located right in the heart of Sanborn on Main Street, it has two check-out lanes, around 6 aisles, fresh produce and a meat department.  You might think this is small, but you can honestly get all the groceries you (or your family) need.  Whether you want Shurfine brand anything or an Oglivive home perm or a 10 cent jolly rancher stick or Casey’s Bakery buns or a peppered beef stick or a carton of Dorals or Kirby vacuum bags or the latest town gossip, Sanborn Foods is your one stop shop.  You can charge your groceries to your own account (or your mom’s if you're smart.)  And instead of drive through or take out your own, someone actually carries your groceries to your car!!! 

Anyhow, I sorta fell into this job because they were looking for a high school kid that was available after school (aka not in sports.)  Someone told someone who told my mom who told the store owner's wife that I’d be interested.  Two days, and no application or interview, later I was scanning bar codes, bagging up groceries, and stocking shelves dreaming of the sweet ride I would buy with all the cash I was banking at $4.36 an hour. 

If only I could have known back then how special a place this job/store would hold in my heart now... :)