Monday, March 8, 2010

Maybe something new?

The advantage of having to purchase a new digital camera for photo-documentation is that you get to keep it! I took this picture last week. It was actually a double rainbow, but the second one was very faint. [I got it in a wide shot, though.]

I really don't know what God has planned for my (or our) employment situation, but yesterday He opened up my mind to the possibility of something I had not considered: Working from home.

A new job opportunity came to my attention and if it is something God wants me to do, it would allow me to work from home, set my own hours, stewardship our home (and our church)... and allow me to work in a fragrance-free environment. [And a heart-felt THANK YOU to my church family for allowing me to use the office printer so I could make a quick copy of my resume! And I'll keep copies in the car from now on!]

This could be an answer to so many prayers that I can barely keep myself from bouncing off the walls! But I've learned that I can't get my hopes up that high... the crashes at the bottom hurt too much when "it doesn't happen".

If inclined, please continute to pray that God's will would be done in our situation. He has something in mind and we must be diligent and wait on His timing.

-----------------------------------
God Bless & Godspeed

10 comments:

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Sounds wonderful... any news?

Mrs. Squirrel said...

Nothing yet. Oddly quiet in all directions.

My lump-sum last paycheck was too big for us to qualify for assistence for March, but we do qualify for April. That's good news, though.

Mr. Squirrel has applied for some interesting job opportunities, but nothing yet on his side, either.

I must confess that I'm really enjoying spending so much time with him. We go for walks and have gotten back into team-work around the house/property. It feels really good :)

Mrs. Squirrel said...

Hmmm. Additional opportunities have presented themselves.

The contact to whom my resume was given for the 'work from home' job last week has asked for permission to forward my resume on to a couple of other agencies. It would be for similar work (also from home), but may be more narrowly focused.

It made me a little nervous, but I said "Sure! Yes, please!" [With the condition that I can get the names and agencies for my unemployment reporting... gotta continue playing by the rules after all.]

I guess one way to freely let God put you where He wants you to be, is to put yourself into other people's hands. This is WAY out of my normal 'comfort zone' which is a common indicator that this could be the beginning of a new 'faith stretching exercise'.

I'm very interested to see how this new chapter unfolds.

God Bless & Godspeed

Mrs. Squirrel said...

Had two low points today:

First: Apparently, an individual must earn OVER a certain amount of money before you can qualify for unemployment. Mr. Squirrel's wages came up just short of the target. He does not qualify and we found out at the same time that a lifetime of work (and paying into unemployment all that time) means nothing :(

So, at this point there is still the option of pursuing a wrongful firing complaint, but we're not sure if it will be worth the energy. We'll have to think on it some more.

Second: The Wii-Fit system that has been out of stock for three months... was suddenly in stock again. It was wrenching. Even with money set aside for it, we simply cannot justify the expense. That money needs to be available for living on.

Although it might not be a perfect solution to combat the low points, we decided to go for a long walk around the river trails... in the sunshine. It was a beautiful distraction and a welcome release of the mental tensions :)

Tomorrow is a new day. Perhaps tomorrow will hold more ups instead of downs. [And I believe we will go for another walk, too.]

Hugs

Mrs. Squirrel said...

Today is a better day... mostly.

I love my Mom for so many reasons, and today I add yet another. I told her about our low points as just one of my "I need to talk to Mommy" moments. She's always been an encouragement in so many ways, and just talking to her helps me to keep things in perspective and can pull me out of my depression attitudes.

This morning, she called me back and offered to get us the Wii-system as our birthday/ Christmas present for 2010 if we still really wanted to get it.

So, after paying more bills and going for another nice long walk to toss around our options (i.e. about 6 hours of hemming and hawing), we decided to go for it. The Walmart price is the lowest anywhere in this area ($199) and it comes complete with the entire base set up and the original sports-game package.

On our own expense (my insistence), we also got a second controller so Mr. Squirrel and I could play games together. We also invested in the 'Sports Resort' game package as it came with 12 additional games (and Mr. Squirrel has been wanting to play the 'sword play' games something fierce). It also comes with an adapter to make the controller more accurate (a $20 item if bought by itself).

As it is, the Wii-Fit-Plus and board that I want for my migraine/ balance issues, will have to wait for another day. But we consider this to be a long-term investment in our health and well-being. We can 'accessorize' as God allows sometime in the future. For now, this is a good start to adding some fun into our circumstances.

The only not-so-nice item today was finding out that my unemployment is being held up by that WorkComp issue from last year. They've not figured out that not only was it denied, but that I didn't get one penny out of it. Technically, this should only cause a group of unemployment checks to come at the same time, but it is still annoying.

Mrs. Squirrel said...

Wow! I think I'm really going to like the new Wii system! Even after Mr. Squirrel did a Zorro all the way up to 'professional' levels in the sword-play game (in about 30 minutes). Ah, SCA combat. That off-handed back-snap is completely unknown to the computer. Go figure! However, the Pro levels are much harder ;)

I must confess that I'm no-where near as good at the sword-play, but I find the canoeing to be incredibly relaxing! Which is exactly what I need these days. And I'm looking forward to trying the archery sometime today after the work is done.

After my first experience with the Wii, I can SO EASILY see how people can "over do it". Time just sails by and you don't realize how much physical activity you really are doing. [Which will eventually be a good thing.]

And THANK GOD for the lanyard on the controller! I didn't actually let go of it, but when throwing a frizbee (to a very cute little dog) it was a hurdle of the mind NOT to throw the controller! :D

This is (and will be) a theraputic investment that has already been a benefit to my physical and mental state.

Yippee!

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Exercise and fresh air can nearly work miracles.

And humor.

Hang in there,

Julie

Mrs. Squirrel said...

Current update:

Well... nothing yet job-wise for either of us. No refusals, but just no positive news to report.

The work-from-home job is on a significant delay. I found out last week that the fellow working directly with my application was sent to another country to work on a military project. Although that makes me even more interested in the types of work I might be doing, no-one will say when he is going to return. [Hush-hush is hush-hush no matter how you spell it.]

When he returns, and gets back to his "to-do" list... THEN my stuff will go for security checks... THEN, if there is a slot open... maybe I'll have a job.

My unemployment checks are still being held up by the WorkComp thing. [I'll sure be happy when they figure that one out.]

Some good news, though: We did get our food-assistence card today. We won't be able to use it until next week, but I'm glad we're not waiting for it to arrive anymore.

Some off-handed good news: Our house is beginning to look less like a squirrel's nest. We've been able to do some rearranging and setting up of an office (for work or study). Things we've wanted to do for YEARS and just never had the time to do. The house is really starting to look nice and the space is becoming more usable... and frankly, more attractive!

[ I converted a barrister's bookcase from a china cabinet to a pantry - it's wonderful! And all the work is not allowing for interest in the Wii, but exercise is exercise! ]

If God's timing will allow for it, I hope to share more good news soon.

Cheers!

Herding Grasshoppers said...

We're having Spring Break next week and I'm hoping to do some organizing and tidying too.

Hoping and praying for work...

Julie

Mrs. Squirrel said...

Thanks very much for the prayers! I'm beginning to believe that this is going to be more of a seige rather than just a simple battle.

Just found out that the job opening in the 'sister company' got filled this week.

Odd thing is, none of the people who encouraged me to apply have seen or heard of any new hires... go figure.

It could be a blessing in disguise, though. We'll just have to see what God's timing & plan shows of it.

Hugs!