Halloween Pictures

Bye-Bye Post Office Job

For the last 4 months I have been in the process of applying for, testing for, and training for Data Conversion Operator for the USPS. This job would be a part-time evening job four nights a week. That process ended last night when I made the decision to "give it up" so to speak. For the last two weeks, I have been working 6pm to midnight (that's after working my day job - which I would never give up - I love my job and everyone I work with!) The training requires one to encode mail that the scanners at the post office are unable to read and one must due it with a very low error rate and a high speed rate. In and of itself, this job would not be difficult for one who loves to type (me!) and the hours are doable. The family was very supportive and pitching in extra to take over the things I normally did in the evenings. The hard part of this training was 1. remembering how to encode the multitude of different types of mail, keep your errors low and still type the required rate of speed and 2. the lack of sleep. Being up at six in the morning with the kids, seeing them off to school, getting myself off to school, being home an hour and half then leaving again for 6 hours and not getting home until after midnight. Getting through the workday and then subsequently the night on 4 -5 hours of sleep for the last 2 weeks was extremely difficult. (I did it with the help of Lift-Off- a B vitamin drink and 5 hour energy drinks! Anyway, after 2 nights this past week where I really struggled to pass off the typing tests, I was really behind. I have had a lot of friends and family praying with and for me but ultimately if this was the path that HE wanted me to be on, then I would make it through this training. I firmly, deeply and faithfully believe that and last night when I knew I wasn't going to be able to pass this one test and move on, I relinquished that responsibility and said okay, I'm done. I told one of the trainers I was done - I have no regrets and no disappointments. I am proud of myself for trying my best. I think it's good for the kids to see that I attempted something that was at times difficult and even though it didn't come to fruition, they are able to see how an adult handles trying something that doesn't work out and the attitude of acceptance and faith that I have toward that. When our children try for something -I'll say sports as that is what my kids are into the most - and do not make the team, or make a team they didn't want etc... it's easy for us to say, "have a good, positive attitude" "there is a reason for everything" etc.... but it's even better when they can see that we as adults can go through the same type of situation and come out of it with a positive attitude. This job would have been helpful financially, but the positive is that the training was paid for and I made enough to pay for some specific truck repairs we needed. HE provided the way for that. The other positive (beside the fact that I can actually sleep more than 4 - 5 hours) is that I believe I am meant to be home in the evenings with the family and Mark said as much to me. He was glad I was going to be home and he had really missed me. That, is really all I need!

Summer Pictures by Kaylie

Kaylie has been camping 3 times this summer and I let her take my digital camera. It was hard to let go and trust that my camera would be taken care of (it stays in my purse and not even Mike is allowed to touch it) but Kaylie did a wonderful job of being responsible and taking some great pictures. I think I have a budding photographer on my hands. Or maybe it's just that she has been blessed with an artistic gift and taking pictures is just another way for that gift to come out. Either way, she took some great pictures. Notice the heart shaped cloud in the lake picture?