Back to Work I Go (A God Thing)....

I love to see how God works.  He amazes me time and time again.  It is sometimes hard to keep faith through the storm, but when you can look back and see that HE was always in control and with us along the way, it feels great! 

Here's the story...yes it is LONG...no, there are no pictures, but I wanted to document this for me...(If you choose to take time to read this blog, you will have to follow closely because there are lots of pieces that come together to make the puzzle complete.)

So, as I blogged at the beginning of 2010, I very unexpectedly lost my job.  While Antonio and I were shocked/upset/etc., I really didn't think it would take too long to find something new and get back to work.  However, this wasn't the case.  Despite my search for a new job, there just wasn't much out there.  So, for the next 13 months, I searched without finding anything. 

Antonio and I decided to keep the kids in school/daycare as long as we financially could for several reasons.  There were a few times we seriously discussed pulling them out, but after long talks, decided to give it another month, 6 months, 2 weeks, or whatever. 

I had talked several times with a close friend "A" over the 13 months about the situation and she was great to cheer me up when I was down or just listen when I needed someone to talk to.  During Feb. 2011, we had one of our talks.  I expressed to her my huge concern that I would be HORRIBLE as a stay at home mom.  My kids are used to going every day to school, a strict learning schedule while at school, crafts, entertainment, interaction with other kids, routine, etc.  I was trying to figure out how in the world I was going to keep my kids happy, keep them learning, etc.  I had lots of doubts and fears and nightmares about this....LOTS.   "A" was great and listened to me whine about my situation.  After I finished, "A" said (and I will semi quote her)....You know that God has great plans for you.  I am sure as soon as you come to terms with being an official stay at home mom, God is going to do something.  He just wants to know you trust Him...have faith in Him...and are letting Him be in control.  I left there knowing she was 100% right, so I started making a list of things to do with the kids....park visits, story time at the library, pool days, zoo days, etc.  I was making our little schedule that would take place when the kids were pulled out of school.  I was beginning to get excited about all the things I had on our list.

Long story, short, we set a date at the end of Feb 2011 that would be the kids' last day of school.  I notified our daycare director of our situation and gave notice that we were going to be pulling the kids out.  So, I told her on a Friday that the next Friday would be their last day.  Later that day, I got a call from a friend asking me if I would be interested in a certain job. 

After talking to her for a few minutes about the position, I told her YES!  This was a job that my friend "A" heard about from her friend "L".  "L" had worked with a friend "G" for a while and "G" later took a new job at a different office but "G" and "L" still stayed in touch. (Are you following me here?)  So, "G" had been at her new job for about a year. "G" is pregnant and decided that she would be staying at home with her baby instead of returning to work, so she was helping in the search to find her replacement so that person could start early enough so "G" could train them. 

Although I was feeling like it would be a long shot to even get this job because I had NO experience in this field, I sent my resume to "A" to pass to "L" so she could pass it to "G" who would pass it to her HR manager on Sunday afternoon.  Well, Monday I got a call from that HR manager asking if I would be interested in interviewing on TUESDAY!  I said yes.

Tuesday came and I was pretty nervous, but ready/excited about the interview.  When I went in for the interview, the HR manager and I really hit it off and it was one of my best interviews ever!  We did lots of the typical interview questions, but some how we talked about lots of other things too.  I also met my possible future boss and he and I hit it off pretty well too.  I left feeling great and expecting to hear something by Friday of that week.(This is the same Friday that would be the kids' last day of school.)  I was very confident that I would get the job.  In fact, I would have put money on it because the interview went that well.

SO, I talked to the director and she was so great to us.  She promised to not fill the kids' spots until I found out for sure about the job.  I had already decided to that the kids and I would be heading to Florida the next week to see my parents (because the kids were not going to be in school anymore anyway), so we kept those plans.  Friday came and went and I didn't hear anything, so I talked with the daycare director again and we agreed that the kids would use their "vacation week" the next week so we wouldn't have to pay and she would still hold our spots.

The following Monday came and went with no word about the new job.  I will admit, at this point I was thinking that maybe I didn't get the job.  Tuesday arrived and I decided to call the HR manager to see if the position had been filled or what the status was.  When I called, i got voicemail and left a message.  About 30 minutes later, I got a call back with an offer for the job!!  I was super excited and after hearing the offer, accepted.

Shortly after I hung up with the HR manager, I called the daycare to let them know that the kids would be staying in school because I did get the job.  It was an exciting day!!

So, I am now working as a medical assistant for an orthopedic surgeon in town and I LOVE MY JOB!!  My doctor is amazing, young, laid back, super nice, great family man, (and most female patients tell me how cute he is too).  The other people in the office have been great too!  They are all so quick to help me when I have questions and they have also welcomed me into 'the family' with open arms.  I get to wear scrubs and tennis shoes every day...NO MORE HIGH HEELS for work!! (um..YAY!)

I do work LOTS of hours and stay very busy all day, but I would rather be busy than bored.  Time flies for sure.  The great news is I get paid overtime for anything over 40 hours, so while I don't like working extra hours, at least I am getting paid for the time I am putting in.