MaeLyn's Musings

Tuesday, February 25, 2025 Journal entry: Yesterday I worked 9-1 at the register. The news came that all JoAnn stores are closing after all which is really disappointing... February 26 Yesterday work was as busy as the week before Christmas as people came to stock up on craft supplies and use their gift cards before the store closes. Many people expressed their sorrow about the closing. I came home exhausted... February 27 Yesterday I worked 9-1 and again it was like Black Friday with condolences. Already, with three cashiers the line wove back to the aisles - and the sales haven't really started yet!... February 28 Yesterday I worked again, starting with orders, but then at the register as it got busier. It wasn't quite as exhauting that way... March 1 Yesterday I worked 9-1 and came home cranky, frustrated with the vultures who are waiting for the store to die, disappointed with the sales and complaining - while I am facing the end of a job I have enjoyed the last two years a...

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that Steven really wasn't enjoying his job. He was working as an inventory clerk, something that it seemed like anyone could do, and all the advanced skills he had developed in the past were going to waste. The technology at the company was ancient (blue screen, DOS based programs), and frustrating to work with. Steven is used to knowing what he is supposed to be doing and being able to take charge and get it done. In this job he was being micro-managed, and occasionally being asked if he had yet done something that he'd had no idea he was supposed to do, or how to do it. In the past, Steven has always been very good at separating work and family - and not letting work cut into family time. He was frustrated when he received work related texts and emails in the evenings and weekends. Not happy with the situation, when he was approached about interviewing for another job, he agreed. This other job would involve being in charge of a new technology...

Last week Thursday we had Parent Teacher Conferences. I spent over three hours talking with the boys' teachers - Josh's teacher, Peter's teacher, a speech therapist, John's Math, Social Studies, Language Arts, Science and Engineering teachers, two art teachers, two media teachers, two music teachers, and two PE teachers. Later that day I went to Hannah's school and spent another hour talking with her Math, Language Arts and History Teachers, as well as her Great Books and Orchestra teacher. (Her Science teacher was out of town.) In general my children are doing very well. They have all scored very well on assessments, some are showing very good leadership skills when working with other students. John's math teacher described him as being "a Ferrari of math brains", jumping from problem to solution so fast, that he is working on getting John to slow down a bit so he can explain what he is doing to get the solution. At the moment Hannah is getting stra...

I guess my last real post didn't really mention much about how we are doing. Nothing much has changed since my last status update. Steven is still busily searching for a job, and still isn't getting much response from anyone. No longer is he searching mostly in Denver with a few scattered jobs elsewhere. Now he is applying for whatever jobs he can find - mostly elsewhere with a few in the Denver area. We wish the phone would ring more from potential employers, and less from political campaigners. We are grateful for the assistance we have received from home teachers and other ward members in the way of food and clothes, as well as with car repairs. In spite of their help, Steven's Jeep is out of commission. Until Steven finds a job, we can manage with just the van. It helps that both the boys' school and Hannah's bus stop are within walking distance.  I sometimes wish that I were in a better position to bring in money, but I'm afraid I don't have the ski...

Early Monday morning, I drove Steven to the airport, and he flew to Virginia to meet with the CFO of the company there. He interviewed with him and several others in the office, spent the night in a hotel and flew home Tuesday morning. He liked the office, he liked the people, and he felt that it had gone well. That evening he received an email from the company saying that they would like to interview other candidates before they make a final decision. Our first thought was, "What?! Didn't you already offer Steven the job?" Apparently that was a preliminary job offer, contingent on their liking him when they met him in person... and I guess, for whatever reason that hasn't been made clear to us, they decided they wanted to keep looking. We are disappointed, to say the least. Frustrated and confused are also major emotions, especially because we felt like this was what the Lord wanted us to do, and now we haven't a clue where to go from here. It has been week...

As I've mentioned before, Steven has been searching for a job for the last couple months. Over the last couple weeks, he has interviewed with a company called MC Dean, located in Dulles, Virginia. Yesterday morning, Steven received a phone call from them with a preliminary job offer. Steven accepted the offer, and now he is working to complete the drug tests, background checks, etc, after which the company will fly him out to Virginia to meet the big-wigs. (His interviews with this company were done via video chat.) After that, if there are no hiccups, we will move our family there and he will begin work. Life has suddenly become a whirlwind of thoughts, emotions, to-do lists, and wonder. I am tremendously grateful that Steven has found a job. He feels less stressed and worried, I feel less stressed and worried. Soon, we will have money coming in again. This is a very, very good thing. I wonder why it had to be Virginia. I'm a California girl who has spent the last ten ...

Did you have a job as a child? My first jobs were babysitting jobs. I babysat at home for my parents frequently, and I was lucky to be paid for it. I think I was about eleven when I started babysitting for a family across the street. They had two children, and I would babysit the younger one while their mom took the older child to a piano lesson once a week. We mostly watched the Disney Channel on TV and drank chocolate milk for the hour or so that I was over there. As a teenager I had more babysitting jobs for various families, although nothing on a regular basis, and I usually found more for me and the children to do than just watch TV. I had a couple odd jobs for short periods of time, including watering a garden while a family was on vacation and tutoring a friend who needed some extra help in math. My first real job was at the beginning of my senior year in high school, for an after school day care program. That lasted for about two weeks. I think I was really nervous the fi...