Cat Potatoes
This week was a crazy one.
On Monday Mike was told by his boss and grandboss that his team had been disbanded, and that he was assigned to work on the web team. If someone were to ask Mike which software engineering team at 1800Contacts he would have liked to work at the least, he would have certainly told you the web team. After talking with Alison, Mike started to search for a new job. He applied at five places - all of them in Ithaca NY. He also posted his resume at three different employment sites.
Monday night our toilet clogged, and wouldn't unclog. Mike worked on it for a few hours, and eventually we decided to call a plumber. Tuesday morning the plumber came over and got the water flowing again, so we could use the bathroom. This has made our desire to add a second bathroom increase significantly.
Also on Monday, Alison did her first class teaching English online with VIPKID. She's been seeing people mention this job for about a year now, and it really felt like it was something she was supposed to pursue now. She has been signed up for 9 classes this week and taught 5 of them (the others were student no-shows, which is apparently not too uncommon), and she's enjoying it a lot. Actually, she's somewhat surprised at how much she likes it and how it helps her feel better about parenting after a teaching break. She's also made $75 this week, so she's off to a good start!
Tuesday Mike was getting too many calls from headhunters. He talked to a former co-worker who offered him a really good lead at a company just across the freeway at 106th South. It seems to have everything that Mike is looking for with the exception of being in Ithaca NY. Both Alison and Mike have felt that this job opportunity is the "right" one, so we are expecting that it will be the one to pan out (though, Mike is considering the possibility that he is only feeling good about it because the Lord wants to delay him so that a different job opens up for him, the real "right" one).
Tuesday night we had a baby sitter, so that Mike and Alison could go to the dentist. Everything went well, although we probably wouldn't have planned it then if we had known about everything else that would be happening this week.
Thursday Alison went to a relief society activity, and Mike took care of the kids. They had macaroni and sausages for dinner. The kids approved heartily.
By Friday, Mike had narrowed the job opportunities to three. He has two interviews scheduled next week, and is waiting to hear back from another to set up a time for an interview with them. The two with interviews are both second interviews, and the other one is in Ithaca, and is a first interview.
Friday during the day Gideon finally started pooping in the potty. We were very excited. He has just graduated from being a baby to being a big kid. The requirements (as they currently stand) are: talking, walking, and pooping in the potty. Because of this graduation, we decided to have a goal day party for him.
Also on Friday we remembered that we had a play planned for that night, however Alison had also set her teaching schedule open for the entire night, and a kid signed up for 8:00PM. We could have cancelled on the kid, but Alison is just starting, and a bad review would be really bad right now, so we had to skip the play.
On Saturday Mike and Alison went on a date to an adult nature workshop run by the homeschool nature group Alison takes the kids to. The adults split up and sat still for 40 minutes, then tried to piece together what had been happening around the area based on what each individual had seen and heard. This was surprisingly fun, and we figured out a lot, like two chickadees calling back and forth and the flight pattern of two ducks. Then they wandered around to see what they could find: an elk yard and the place where a fox caught a bird were highlights. It was not anything that was a stretch for Alison and Mike (although it was for some of the other parents), but they enjoyed a chance to get out in nature without kids distracting them.
Saturday night we had a goal-day party for Alison and Gideon. We had Indian food - basically we went to the Indian cash-and-carry, and bought ingredients for Mauritian roti. We also bought various Indian breads, which are always amazing. Our favorite by far was the paratha bread. Mike is definitely going to start making it. Hopefully all the time. We planned on finishing up the meal with gato batate - a traditional Mauritian desert, which probably means potato cakes, but if it were Italian, it would mean cat potatoes.
Mike doesn't really like job hunting, so here's to hoping that everything will be done before the end of the next week. Alison is hoping to start getting regular students instead of trial students, so that her schedule will be more predictable. We know God is guiding both of these job situations, so it will all work out.
On Monday Mike was told by his boss and grandboss that his team had been disbanded, and that he was assigned to work on the web team. If someone were to ask Mike which software engineering team at 1800Contacts he would have liked to work at the least, he would have certainly told you the web team. After talking with Alison, Mike started to search for a new job. He applied at five places - all of them in Ithaca NY. He also posted his resume at three different employment sites.
Monday night our toilet clogged, and wouldn't unclog. Mike worked on it for a few hours, and eventually we decided to call a plumber. Tuesday morning the plumber came over and got the water flowing again, so we could use the bathroom. This has made our desire to add a second bathroom increase significantly.
Also on Monday, Alison did her first class teaching English online with VIPKID. She's been seeing people mention this job for about a year now, and it really felt like it was something she was supposed to pursue now. She has been signed up for 9 classes this week and taught 5 of them (the others were student no-shows, which is apparently not too uncommon), and she's enjoying it a lot. Actually, she's somewhat surprised at how much she likes it and how it helps her feel better about parenting after a teaching break. She's also made $75 this week, so she's off to a good start!
Tuesday Mike was getting too many calls from headhunters. He talked to a former co-worker who offered him a really good lead at a company just across the freeway at 106th South. It seems to have everything that Mike is looking for with the exception of being in Ithaca NY. Both Alison and Mike have felt that this job opportunity is the "right" one, so we are expecting that it will be the one to pan out (though, Mike is considering the possibility that he is only feeling good about it because the Lord wants to delay him so that a different job opens up for him, the real "right" one).
Tuesday night we had a baby sitter, so that Mike and Alison could go to the dentist. Everything went well, although we probably wouldn't have planned it then if we had known about everything else that would be happening this week.
Thursday Alison went to a relief society activity, and Mike took care of the kids. They had macaroni and sausages for dinner. The kids approved heartily.
By Friday, Mike had narrowed the job opportunities to three. He has two interviews scheduled next week, and is waiting to hear back from another to set up a time for an interview with them. The two with interviews are both second interviews, and the other one is in Ithaca, and is a first interview.
Friday during the day Gideon finally started pooping in the potty. We were very excited. He has just graduated from being a baby to being a big kid. The requirements (as they currently stand) are: talking, walking, and pooping in the potty. Because of this graduation, we decided to have a goal day party for him.
Also on Friday we remembered that we had a play planned for that night, however Alison had also set her teaching schedule open for the entire night, and a kid signed up for 8:00PM. We could have cancelled on the kid, but Alison is just starting, and a bad review would be really bad right now, so we had to skip the play.
On Saturday Mike and Alison went on a date to an adult nature workshop run by the homeschool nature group Alison takes the kids to. The adults split up and sat still for 40 minutes, then tried to piece together what had been happening around the area based on what each individual had seen and heard. This was surprisingly fun, and we figured out a lot, like two chickadees calling back and forth and the flight pattern of two ducks. Then they wandered around to see what they could find: an elk yard and the place where a fox caught a bird were highlights. It was not anything that was a stretch for Alison and Mike (although it was for some of the other parents), but they enjoyed a chance to get out in nature without kids distracting them.
Saturday night we had a goal-day party for Alison and Gideon. We had Indian food - basically we went to the Indian cash-and-carry, and bought ingredients for Mauritian roti. We also bought various Indian breads, which are always amazing. Our favorite by far was the paratha bread. Mike is definitely going to start making it. Hopefully all the time. We planned on finishing up the meal with gato batate - a traditional Mauritian desert, which probably means potato cakes, but if it were Italian, it would mean cat potatoes.
Mike doesn't really like job hunting, so here's to hoping that everything will be done before the end of the next week. Alison is hoping to start getting regular students instead of trial students, so that her schedule will be more predictable. We know God is guiding both of these job situations, so it will all work out.
Comments
Post a Comment