Dorisa Gets a Job

Oh my goodness I'm such a blogging failure. Pretty sure on Facebook when I said "blog coming soon" that was like a month ago. Whoops. This might not be as well written as usual, if you consider the typical post well written. If you don't, keep it to yourself.

I was able to get one decent picture out of a billion attempts.

Okay, so here is the story of how I got a job.

First of all, it must be noted that in 2008-2009 I sent out about a billion resumes with almost no response.

Fast forward to a Friday in late March, 2017. I had had a cold and just returned from a MOPS meeting where we talked about organization. I was all gung ho about getting organized and getting stuff out of my house to sell at the rummage sale. Meanwhile, I'm was also trying to sell something on the Brandon Rummage page. I hadn't heard anything from this woman who said she was interested, so I decided to check my FB inbox because FB doesn't alert me when someone who isn't a friend contacts me. Lo and behold I find a week old message in there from a guy saying he needs help at his firm and he was talking to his neighbor (a congregation member) who said I had a degree in architecture. I texted him back (that's what he said to do) and while awaiting a reply, I took my sick self and climbed back into my pantry and kept cleaning. He texted me back and asked if I could come in for an interview THAT AFTERNOON. I pondered this option while hacking away and covered in dust in my pantry and asked if we could please do Monday instead. Went in Monday and had a job in about 30 minutes.

She knows exactly how cute she is.

I didn't commit to it right away because I had a few things to figure out:
Daycare
Another car
Car loan
Clothes that are appropriate to wear to work and FYI The Limited went out of business
Shoes that one can wear to work
Figuring out if the money will cover everything and be worth not seeing my kids as much
A part time job to quit

After realizing how lucky I was to have this job fall in my lap, I e-mailed him back later that day and said that I was going to do everything I can to make this opportunity work for me. I told him that if everything came together, I would be able to start on April 10. He said he really needed help soon and asked if I was able to move it up anymore. I said, okay I'll shoot for the 3rd. For those of you keeping track at home, that gave me 6 days to get my life in order. And I had a cold. And both my kids were sick. And Oskar wasn't in daycare yet, so I had the privilege of taking him all around to every little thing I had to do. I also want to add that this was a situation that I wanted to bounce off my parents a bit, especially going about the car loan bit (since the last car I bought, I didn't buy) but this was literally the one time in recent memory that they were more than an e-mail away. They were on a Caribbean cruise without internet service. Good timing.

I love this picture of my kid wearing a thermal while playing on the beach.

Luckily, my daycare provider had enough room to take Ellie 1 more day and add Oskar for 4 days. Dan still stays home with them on Friday. We know someone who runs a bank, so I texted him our credit scores and he set us up with one of his loan officers. We searched around the internet for a car, decided on a Honda Fit, got to the dealership and it had just sold. Got a Honda Insight- less expensive, better mileage and now I know a good salesman at Vern Eide Honda if anyone needs one.
Went shopping that Friday and figured out some clothes and shoes. FYI at this point the kids still had colds and it was waaaay past bed time. It was a crazy week and life has not calmed down since. I told my appraisals boss about my job opportunity and he was very excited for me. I continued doing a bit of work for him for a while so he could train in some new help but it soon became too much and I had to stop.

My tiny baby in her baggy swimming suit.

As far as I can tell, the job is going well. I like the people I work with and I like what I'm doing almost all the time. And my boss is even an NDSU grad. It was and at times continues to be a very hard adjustment but we're making it work. I think it was hardest for Oskar. And me. I don't think Ellie noticed anything changed except maybe that I get dressed in real clothes when I wake up now.

A brief moment of sibling cooperation.

I think that Oskar has grown an inch in the last 2 months. He's real big. He recently finished soccer. It wasn't the best. My conclusion is that either soccer won't be his thing or he was too young to start. Or both. He just wasn't interested. Or good. But it's over now and our Wednesdays are better.

Ellie is spunkier than ever and is finally talking and eating more. We found a hairstyle that suits her perfectly. Pikey pigtails. (Pikey is how Oskar used to say spikey.) I wish I had a picture, but I'm sure I'll get one sometime. She is now wearing the pajamas Oskar wore at a year old. She's 18 months. So cute.

Sometimes they are quiet and playing peacefully by themselves.
I try not to look at them when this happens, lest it throw the mood, but this a moment I had to capture.