Happy Dress Up at Work Day!

Chad reports that the job is going well (of course, 2 days in doesn't make it a great assessment of what it could be but it is a great start!). I am still not sleeping well - feels weird not having him where he is supposed to be. I am having more and more sympathy for couples who experience career related deployment of any kind...it sorta stinks.

Today is Halloween and our office was full of contagious fun. There was a purple skittle, a gypsy, a solider, Carmen SanDiego, a femme fatale, a paper doll, Hermoine Grainger, half the cast from the movie "Up" (real dogs included), and my Mrs. Potato Head. Yeah. Rocked that.

 

 

Home early today to make a batch of cinnamon rolls for a rehearsal dinner on Friday. Excited about what the weekend will hold. Chad does have to work through Friday night but is off Saturday and Sunday - thankfully to be my date to our friend's wedding! Fun! Uncle J and I have a bet going about whether or not Chad will dance with me at the reception. He has literally never danced with me and I don't think he is about to start. So, my bet is that he won't. J bets that he will. I am going to get a mani and pedi out of this. Woohoo!

12 hours.

I stayed up too late last night - brain wizzing, sleep evading. I think I somehow knew that Chad wasn't in bed and I was fighting going to sleep without him. I guess I am going to have to get over that and quickly!

Got up super early this morning and was on the road at 6:45 to go to a school talk in Cleveland. I really love doing school talks - going in each classroom and telling girls about Girl Scouts and all the fun opportunities there are out there for them. Seeing their little faces light up and the gasps when we say "there are horses at our camp!" is totally worth every minute of lost sleep. Only downside was a training tonight too making my work day 12 hours long. Its really ok though - I am going to try to sleep in with my dude so I can ask him how his first day of work went. I shall report in.

Off to sleep off a long day.

Big changes.

Chad officially starts his new job today. He will be working as a nurse tech (CNA) at one of the large hospitals in town. I am really excited for him; he has been wishing and hoping for a change for some time now and was finally able to take the class required to make that change. I know that he enjoys helping people so I hope and pray that this job will be something that he will thrive in doing.

The biggest downside is that he will be working second shift. This means that our work schedules aren't completely opposite but pretty darn close. I mean, I already do work a lot of nights but I am pretty much guaranteed to not ever be home with him at night. He works from 3pm to 11pm - which isn't THAT bad but he isn't really a night person either so this will be an adjustment for us both.

I am so thankful for employment. We've been without 2 paychecks for almost 2 months now and while I fully realize that is nothing compared to what some families are going through these days, it has not been easy. Chad is so careful with our finances that I have not worried about money - per se - but it is sort of always in the back of your mind that something unexpected is going to come up with the cash flow isn't there. God has provided everything we have needed so far and I know He will continue to do so...

So here is my prayer for Chad on this first day of a new job:
I pray for peace and comfort while he is learning. I pray for an open heart and an open mind. I pray for his co-workers - that they will be patient and kind. I pray that God will bless his obedience in waiting in his old job for so long until this door opened. I pray that he will find a place at this hospital where he can truly be himself and enjoy daily work. I also pray that I will be more intentional about the time we will have together and that time will be even sweeter then it happens.

Good luck Chad. You are going to rock!

p.s. his face looks AWESOME these two weeks out. God has really done something extraordinary in quick healing. It is barely noticeable, with the exception of his nose which still has some little bandage strips on in, per doc's instructions.

weekends.

This has been a lovely weekend full of fun things, beautiful weather and not getting nearly enough things marked off my To-Do list - and that is perfectly alright with me.

Friday and Saturday at camp was cool (bordering on cold!) and beautiful. We made recycled paper beads for bracelets all day Saturday and hung out with the little Girl Scouts. It is always fun for me to sort of "get back to my roots" and remember why I love my job so much - and give so many hours to it every week.  I ended up coming back sooner than I thought I was going to be able to and made it home around 3 pm-ish. it was nice being able to hang out with my guy for more of the weekend than I anticipated.

Church online this morning since Chad thinks he will still "scare the women and children" and then movies and catching up on our TV shows from last week. I meant to fold clothes and clean up the kitchen today and all that got done was the kitchen (and only that with some help from my dude).

Small group tonight without him wasn't the same but it was good. I enjoy our sweet small group - kids and all - and it is always good to be learning from other sweet Christian couples - and just generally doing life together.

Busy week this week...gotta work tomorrow night after going with Chad to his doctor's appt. Then he starts his new job with a computer class on Wednesday and official hours next Monday. I am a little sad about our time together getting cut off sharply but I am looking forward to this new season of change in our lives.

Camp and an update.

Headed to Camp this weekend with a fun group of girls. Sadly however, we picked one of the coldest weekends so far this fall so I am taking lots of layers and hoping for coffee each morning (even though I am not a coffee drinker). K and I are the official fire builders for tonight's bonfire and then the official craft girls tomorrow. Not sure what we are actually responsible for but we're willing to fill in where needed to whatever is fine.

I think we are also staying in a cabin with girls as I am the backup camp trained person for a parent who has a child with some health problems. I would prefer to stay in the staff house where there is a shower with a door (instead of bath house style) and no little girls who are so excited to be at camp that they want to stay up all night....but it will be fun either way.

By way of a quick update: Chad is doing much better. I've tried to publicly downplay his bike accident on Monday for his sake but it was pretty bad. Thankfully he had on his helmet and had his cell phone with him. Don't be surprised if we avoid public places for a while - no offense meant to anyone! :)

A scolding and an update.

I've been well scolded by my sister for my lack of blogging most recently so I will try to write a little post just for her today...though she knows all of this so really, is it for her?

I've been out of town all weekend - still am, actually - on a girl's weekend with my mom. We left Friday morning and headed north by northeast to the Asheville area. Gratefully, my sweet friend Dani and her hubby live near there and willingly let us stay with them for a couple of days. Mom and I tooled around Waynesville on Friday, hiked Mt. Mitchell (just the last bit!) and ate lunch with a friend on Saturday then tooled around Asheville on Saturday afternoon. We just strolled some craft shops, bought chocolate to eat and enjoyed a Latin festival for a few minutes. After attending church on Sunday, we did some delicious lunch in Canton, NC and then headed to Atlanta to hang out with my sister.

I am currently waiting for my mom and sister to get back from an errand so we can go to Fernbank and see some exhibit that they are interested in. I am not even sure what it is but I enjoy their company so I am along for the ride.

I have enjoyed having my mom's undivided attention for a few days. It isn't all that often that we get to enjoy that so it is sweet when it happens. I hope that I am turning out to be more and more like my mother, funny crazy and all.

By way of another life update: Chad has accepted a job and hopes to start soon - by the end of the month if we keep our fingers crossed. He has lots of paperwork, etc. to do but we are super thankful for  God's timely provision. As always.

Neighborhood Night Out.

In case you didn't know, last night was National Neighborhood Night Out. Basically, this means that you would get together with your neighbors and hang out - maybe do some fun stuff together. Our neighborhood was totally on board and it makes me love St. Elmo even more. I knew we made the right decision when we bought this old house in Chattanooga's oldest neighborhood but it makes me happy to see our neighbors come together for a little fun.

Not only do we have beautiful old houses here in St. Elmo, there is a fun little shopping area with some nice restarauts too. Every place was open and offering discounts, activities for kids, or something free. I got a beautiful flower from the Making Arrangements florist, just for stopping in to chat. They were doing free activities for kids, the Chicken Legal folks were there (trying to legalize chicken ownership inside city limits....Chad and I are big supporters!), and possible the highlight of the night -

a Corgi parade.

With prizes.

Seriously. How awesome is our neighborhood.

Sadly, don't go searching for pictures of our gal here below. As you might or might not know, she isn't really a fan of other dogs, even a gathering of her own kind. However, you might not know that Corgi's come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Ok, maybe that is a lie. They are generally the same shape - and mostly the same size - with the exception of the especially husky or young ones.

Either way, here are some "cousins" of our Gwen...

These ladies could have been Gwen's twins but I love that they were decked in their Tennessee orange.  (And it looks like they are getting a little love from their human boy).

I love these guys - grey, black, and white with their blue eyes. I don't think these are considered breed standard but I think they are so beautiful!

Then there was this little dude - Fergus. Only about 5 months old - whiich was just a tad bit younger than Gwendolen when we got her. Since our gal is 5 years old now, I can't believe she was ever that small but she was!

We enjoyed our night out with the neighbors. Can't wait till next year!

A picture.

Representing at Bristol Motor Speedway!