Time away, opportunities for the Mama

This winter was crazy busy for our family.  There was a lot of juggling, prioritizing and a little bit of making some hard choices.  One of the choices that had to be made was a new class our program wanted to offer our students.  My boss offered the class to me in September and I turned her down flat.  Then my boss was made the director of the whole program.  She offered the position to me again in November and told me it wouldn't start until mid January.  She also told me they would work around my schedule and allow me (within reason) to set my hours.  So, I considered it.  We discussed it together long and hard.  The position required 2 hours a week I considered long and hard for many more than 2 hours.  In the end, I could see how this opportunity was going to lead to other opportunities and I accepted the position. 

I don't talk about this much, because most of our family is here to see updates about our kids, not hear about my work.  But, in this case some pretty big things have happened and I want to record them here for many reasons.

First, I have to thank John.  He continues to be 100% supportive of every request I bring to him.  When I wanted some time to stay home with our kids, he agreed and helped me make it work.  When I wanted to go back to work, he agreed and helped me make it work.  It hasn't been the easiest road, but I am so fortunate he stands with me so I am able to accomplish the goals I have set for myself AND accept opportunities when they fall in my lap.

Like this class.

John provided all of the childcare while I was teaching this class and he does half of the childcare the rest of the week.  This puts him making dinner, packing lunches, running kids to important events and wrangling the kids to bed solo (bedtime is hands down the hardest part of the day).  So, a big THANK YOU to him for this support.

In March, my boss approached me again and asked if I would put together a proposal for a presentation to give at the state level teacher conference of adult education teachers.  This conference is for teachers across the state to come and learn about new developments and teaching practices, etc.  I have attended this conference previously, so I had a pretty good idea about what I was getting into.  I wrote the proposal, knowing I could turn down the opportunity if we later decided it was not the right choice for our family.  My proposal was accepted (full disclosure: 100% of proposals were accepted this year).

Again, we talked it over.  Because Gemma is still nursing, I wasn't willing to leave her home for the two and a half day conference at a Lake of the Ozarks resort (2.5 hours away).  I wouldn't be able to attend the conference if I brought Gemma by herself.  It was bring everyone or stay home.  Bring everyone meant John would do kid duty out of a hotel room while I attended the required workshops.  It was a lot to ask.  It was also a HUGE opportunity.

 This is certainly above and beyond the call of duty, but John said yes.  We returned yesterday from the Lake of the Ozarks and I gave my big 1+ hour long presentation on Thursday morning.  I have a few pictures to share later, but I wanted to put my appreciation down on paper before I forgot.

Other details:
-The presentation went well.  Not perfectly, but very good.  I found out later a large number of people from the state department of education were in attendance.  Glad I didn't know during the presentation.
-The state level Important People were please with my presentation and talked to me briefly after the presentation.
-The director of my program was in attendance and as a result, I've been asked to do at least one more presentation on campus here locally of the same material.  I am excited about these new opportunities.
-I was expecting 25-30 people to come.  There were closer to 50.  I was shocked by the fact I was not nervous.  At least not very nervous.
-The kids did well.  It was hard to entertain 3 kids this age in a hotel room.  At every opportunity, I ducked out to help bring the kids to the pool.  I can see this being a lot of fun for everyone in about 4 years.  This year was a lot of work.
-The resort was gorgeous.  Our room had a beautiful location.  We were 10 steps away from the lake (no guardrail- ack!).  15 steps away was a huge pool with a splash pad, hot tub, waterslide and waterfalls.  At least it was fenced it.  20 steps away was a fenced in playground.  There was fast food less than a quarter of a mile away, which was very convenient.  There were many other amenities we didn't get to check out because of our limited time and the ages of our kids.  But, maybe in a few years?

College cheese

(I'm making dinner in the kitchen. We've been out of town for the last few days and I'm throwing together an assortment of leftovers.)

Me: William! Amelia! Time to eat! (I'm spooning cottage cheese into two little bowls for William and Gemma as Amelia doesn't like cottage cheese).

Amelia come skidding into the kitchen and about somersaults head over toe as she screeches to a halt.

Amelia: mom! That is NOT for me! I do not like college cheese!

Me: okay. Thank you for telling me.

Amelia: MOM! I do not like college cheese! Do not give me ANY of that college cheese! Yuck! College cheese.

Me: okay Amelia. These are for William and Gemma. I remember that you don't like the cottage cheese.

Amelia: yuck! College cheese! I do not like college cheese.

Sent from my iPhone

Happy Fathers's day!

We're having a slow start today. We sent John back to bed not once but twice. We had cards, a gift and a special memory page (I'll share those later). We had a fruit, muffin, eggs brunch that we all enjoyed. Interestingly enough, Gemma devoured her eggs as fast as I could put them on her tray, but turned up her nose at the sweet peach slices. Silly girl.

Happy Father's Day everyone!

Ged graduation

It's the last week of class, which means crazy business. We had graduation on Wednesday - one of my favorite moments of the year. I'm so SO proud of the incredible hard work that went into these GEDs. I'm proud of myself as well. Not many of these were a cake walk.

By my estimation, I helped 22-25 people attain their GED credential. So many proud moments this year.

Words cannot explain how thankful
I am for this job. It isn't glamorous or high paid. There never will be. It is nitty gritty and with bare bones funding. But, the work I am doing is important. I believe in it. I can see visible fruits often labor and the positive impact of my hard work. I waited to find just the right job after William was born. To balance the home and work responsibilities. The balance isn't perfect every single day, but I am so proud of the work I do.

Ever wonder.....

Why I don't blog more? Here is a little visual....

Jam

It's strawberry jam time...mmmmm...

Soccer

The kids are signed up to play soccer once a week this summer. The last fee weeks have brought absolutely gorgeous weather to sit outside and watch soccer. Sadly, Mama has to work (grr!) and missed the first weeks. Luckily for us, daddy is a huge trooper and has wrangled our crew to make soccer happen.

From the pictures, it appears the kids run around and Gemma picks up bits from the ground. Sounds about right!