WORK!

Aaacck! yes, i am working again!!!!!!!!!!!
Because i was required by EDD to search for work, i did- although only half-heartedly since i chose to focus on school. but an opportunity presented itself that i couldn't pass up. not to mention that spending 4 mos. home with the kids kinda did a number on my sanity!

a friend of mine started a job at World Wide Sires in the spring and told me about an opening that wouldn't be advertised in the paper. the more she told me about the job, the more i got excited.
a little history: well, i'll let you read for yourself if your interested. here's our website! http://www.wwsires.com/

but the bottom line: i am an order/shipper processor that exports bull semen to 70+countries! *no i don't see it, touch it or know yet how they 'harvest' it! and i absolutely love it! i think what i'm diggin' the most is the work atmosphere and i just can't stop being giddy over it. my office is 30 people strong and seem like some of the most amazing people. it's a family. my ceo wants to know about my hobbies! and we prayed before our staff/lunch meeting! all normal things, i realize. but i think i'm still experiencing culture shock, coming from a 3000+ corporation. i get to wear jeans to work. i have internet access. i can make/take personal calls at my desk. the autonomy is rewarding. but underneath that, i'm staying very busy. our business is unique in different ways. the first being that we have, what i like to view as, a world hunger kind of effort going on. we are sharing our good ol' american bull 'pedigree' with developing countries and the like, giving them the opportunity to produce their own milk and beef. we also cater our services to each country, depending on their federal requirements, etc. so you can imagine the diversity with each customer. my first week there, we had a group of Algerians come for a visit (often these international groups visit the farms from which their product is produced)! There's a girl in my office who came to the US from China, by way of Australia and speaks and writes Chinese! We've got a guy who's fluent in Russian, and another in Arabic. it truly is a blessing to have found a job that, 3 weeks into, has been so enriching and rewarding!

this obviously presented an interference with school and that is where i'm at now. i see myself at this job for a while (they pride themselves in long-term employees!). so i'm hanging on to make it through the semester with school. my 2 social work teachers are an encouragment and i don't like to let people down if i don't have to. so i'm trying to pull through and catch up on the remaining assignments of the semester. but i won't give up next semester either. maybe i'll attempt that personal finance class again! i don't know yet, but i will take something. i'm just extremely happy to have found a happy medium for now.

School

So school has been going good. i regret to mention however, that i just couldn't swing my personal finance class- the one i could have benefitted from the most. but much has been going on so i'm not beating myself up over it too much.

I love love love my social work classes. that's the good thing. the not so good thing is that i think from these classes, i'm discovering that 'social worker' may not be the best title for me. as it turns out, i'm learning that there's a lot of hand-holding involved in showing people how to help themselves. and frankly, i am just not a patient enough person i don't think. i am confident though, that the field itself is right up my alley. I'm enjoying reading about the history of social work and essentially, a little history of our country. about people helping people, making a better world, community, etc. And of course, there's always room for my keyboard savvy skills! haha... really though, i've enjoyed how expressive this field of study/work is and i've eaten up every moment i get to write a little for class. So i believe i do have something to offer this field, i just still haven't been able to put my finger on it.

Baby steps

Well here i am once again! i've been meaning to update for several weeks now, but do i even need to say this?... we are the Edwards and something exciting seems to always be going on, throwing us off ever so slightly. ah, the spice of life i suppose it's called!

So July was my last post. let me start off light with some summer pics that my sister Gayle and the boys took swimming one day.

...still breathing..

turns out i really relied on that work pc (rolling eyes innocently)! still no pc at home, so still no pics and now no camera either! boohoo. i left my camera out in what i thought was warm enough weather at camp Wishon, just above Porterville. however, i awoke to discover the digital screen is now just a black screen with a 'crack' in it. the camera itself still works so i suppose i could use it as a good ol' fashioned point n shoot, but c'mon now! needless to say though, just another kink in our chain to remind us what life in our early 20's was like! HA.

not to worry though- life is curiously enough working itself out for us. i've been enjoying, for the most part, life as a stay at home mom. some days we stay in jammies all day, some days we run errands (events which are often severely disabling with a cooper in tow (yes, i said a cooper=)), actually grocery shopping for meals vs. drive thru stops and some days we head to the big soccer/park complex for the boys to play in the interactive water fountain... while i sit and watch and soak up the domestication from the other moms!

in other positive news, craig acceped a new job as an assistant warehouse manager and will start in just over a week. not only does the new job bring new responsibilities (asst. mgr baby!! haha), but a nice pay raise as well. well timed i say!

and i'm still waiting for a clear picture of my plan. i'm waiting to hear if i'm approved for some Workforce Investment Act money to complete the Social Services certificate program at COS as well as applied for financial aid. dealing with the government takes time ya know! =) i've mapped out an academic plan though and can finish this certificate program in 12 mos. minus the intern hours required. so if all goes well, i'll take 15 units this semester and 12 in the spring. of course being home with cooper full time will be a challenge, but with craig's full support, i'm really feeling confident that i can make this time worth while!

a weird post

so i'm very contemplative effective today. i was part of a 51 person layoff at the hospital! so i suppose those gripe sessions i've had recently seemed to have taken care of themselves. so aside from shock that i'm actually dealing with quite well, i'm left with several decisions to make. one of them being that i still really want to finish school. what if this is a crossroads for me to make something like that happen. so for now i'm going to try and enjoy the 'free' time and really investigate my options, maybe even enjoy a little bit of summer with my boys.

i AM the world to him and he LOVES it!

i... no, not I and not eye.. but i.

blogging is good for venting!

so i send out an internal email.. (i did say internal) to the communication and secretary groups at work about making sure plastic vendor badges are returned to me. if you've been reading my blog and/or if you've read other correspondance from me, i generally type in lower case, except for curtiously capitalizing proper names. so the next day i come in with an email from my boss to consider proofing that in the future and that while it's ok to use email 'shorthand' within my own dept., those going out to a wider group should look more professional. someone complained that i didn't capitalize i when referencing myself! oh em gee! seriously. now i put way too much time and thought into what i write, especially when sending out a representation of myself. and while i know that using lowercase letter's has not been considered etiquette, i am obviously not 5 and i'm capable of effectively communicating with a group of professionals despite the fact that i fail to hit 'SHIFT' when referencing myself. BIG DEAL!!!! speaking of... since this mini-ordeal, our own Marketing dept. has sent out, count em... 3 emails in ALL CAPS about various happenings. *sigh- another fine example of the beauracratic BS that just really boils my blood! needless to say, because i am the amazingly defiant Angela (OooOo.. catch that A!?) i've since updated my email signature to include a qoute from the precedently deviant E.E. Cummings.. or rather, e.e. cummings!
i am angela, hear i roar!!!!!!!!!!!! hehe