A New Porch

We painted our front porch over the weekend.

Here's Before...


Here's After...

Flowers...

White Star Zinnias




New flower-bed around the mailbox.




Snapdragons at mailbox.




Verigated Iris




White Cala Lily




Rose Champion




Rose Champion taking over the flower-bed.




Death by Easter Freeze...




Our grass my be dying but our flowers are blooming!

Update

So, I was suppose to eat lunch Monday with the lady from Job#1 but she had to cancel so I went to the lady trying to hire me for job#2 and asked if she had lunch plans... she did not:) so she took me out to lunch. She did a good job selling me the position because my first impression was not that great of one. The job is a lot of management without much control so it would definitely be challenging. But they want someone who is very organized, good with people and can follow projects from beginning to end which sounds really well suited for me. So the end of day one I was in Job#2's court.

This morning I left at 6:30 to be at Kennesaw by 8 for a meeting there this morning. I wasn't meeting until 8:30 but I wanted to see how traffic would be so I drove around and found a Starbucks and had a coffee before I went in to the meeting.
I met with the lady who wants to hire me for a while, we looked at my portfolio, met some people she works with, walked me around and then I met with her boss for a while where he pretty much talked the whole time about his philosophy on things. So... here's the philosophy in a nutshell.
- Work Hard, but play hard
- Relax and enjoy a slower, quieter atmosphere conducive to creativity
- think big, think cutting edge, think outside the box
- if something flops learn from it, modify, but nothing new is a mistake
- people won't look over your shoulder - they expect that you can do your job
- budget...? what budget... think big, think cutting edge, think outside the box

So to say the least - I'm excited. It's a job in which you makes you feel the sky's the limit. I told someone later it was every designer's dream job. It's a long drive but they are working with me on how many days a week I would have to be at that location so that's good. I know all of these people and have been working with them for a long time and I know I would enjoy working with them. So at the end of day two I'm in Job#1's court. I am to expect an offer from them some time in the near future and I'm going to tell the lady from Job#2 that and that I would like to have 2 offers to compare to. I don't know if I would have that option - but I think it's only fair. Tomorrow I'll let her know that. I'm leaning towards Job#1 but want to look at what both can offer.

My brain's pretty fried and tomorrow I'm looking forward to just working.

love you all!

Flowers

I am a Petunia What Flower Are You?

You are a tried and trusted friend who will be there for your friends when they need you. But you have a tendency to be nervous about doing things that go against the norm.

Options

So yesterday I was pulled aside by someone who wanted to tell me about a position in the company that was being formed and that a number of people mentioned me as someone who they thought would be a good candidate for this new position. This is completely separate from the other job I was talked to about a week or so ago. I told this woman that I was already talking to this other department about an opening and she knew what position it was for and right away said that that was a better position than the new one they were forming. However, if that one doesn't work out, it looks like I still have growing room in the company. It's been flattering to all of a sudden find out a number of people see me as someone capable of doing a lot more than I do. My boss has been so supportive of me, I've kept her posted on everything - even this second job possibility and she's been like "go for it". I feel very fortunate.
This second job opportunity is in the same building I'm in now, but not as glamorous or as exciting as the one I'm interviewing for on Friday. We will see how things go.
I'm also fighting something... not fun when I can't miss work right now.

Off to Colder Places

Tomorrow morning me and my husband are flying up to Minneapolis, MN. Why you ask?
Well, Sunday is his birthday and for the past 3 months I've been secretly setting aside money to go on this trip as a surprise. G, Camera Man, what ever you want to call him on here is a huge fan of Garrison Keilor and The Prairie Home Companion radio show that comes on every saturday night on NPR. He's tried a number of times to get tickets when they are in the area and they are always sold out. So rather than wait for the show to come to us - we are going to the show. I took a day off of work and am looking forward to not working any jobs for 3 days. :)

Job

Looks like I'm going to pursue this thing a little further. I told my boss yesterday that I was going to apply, she got a call today from HR telling her I was being considered for the position. I hadn't contacted HR yet, so the people that want me did - that's kind of a good sign. :)
I have to go work on my resume but I'll post details soon.

A Day Of Rest

Other than getting groceries, we've had a nice relaxing day. I took a nice long nap and G has been enjoying his original Nintendo (one of the things in his boxes from his childhood) and I have to admit, I kind of like it. I much prefer this to the new ones where it's real life shooting. I mean, when Mario spits his fireball to kill the turtle thing it's so much more innocent than shooting real looking people on the new Nintendos. I wonder if we can get away with making our kids play with this rather than get them the new ones... I doubt it....

A big week

My nerves are fried. I was going to do nothing today and guess what - I can't stop cleaning and marking things off lists. It's like I'm in overdrive. I'm looking forward to next weekend. I can't say what we are doing yet since it's a surprise to G - but it will be fun and be good to not be working one job or the other even when traveling.

So here's my week in review.

My patience was tested at work. I was suppose to receive information on a project last week so that I could do my part, yet last week came and went and I still did not have what I needed despite numerous emails communicating that. Monday and Tuesday came and went... then Wednesday morning the ##$HY& hit the fan. Finally I got the information I needed but it was in an email that started with (I've already given this information)... Well, she did already give me the information but I was told to disregard that because that was given before the whole project changed designs. I told her so in a number of emails... Anyway, I defended myself by replying all (there were a lot of top dogs copied in) and even though her email ended with (I will be out of the country the next couple days...) I still replied to defend myself. Note... not even her boss knew she was going to the Caribbean during a very busy time. Anyway, I did my part on Wednesday, had minor changes Thursday morning, and we had the whole project wrapped up by Friday afternoon. I could have done this weeks ago if some people had done their jobs.

Anyway, on to other issues. The minister of the church we've been visiting since we moved here was cited for soliciting a prostitute. To say the least more ##&YH hit the fan Tuesday and Wednesday when it was all over the news. This man was a minister of a pretty big church and chaplin of the Firestation here in a fairly small town. I can't imagine the devastation to his family (with young kids), wife, and future. He pretty much immediately stepped down.
I'm very surprised. I thought this man was a good speaker and he seemed to have a gentle and God-fearing heart. Not that he doesn't anymore, but it's hard to find out something like this from someone that you would never expect it from.
I guess I'm disappointed (if that's fair to say). We've never joined the church and even just last sunday visited another church, but we've been going there enough to feel like this was "our church". The church said it will appoint someone within the next 4 weeks. In the meantime, we will probably start visiting other churches. I want to find a place we both can get excited about. I don't know if we ever will - we have different preferences in worship style, but here's to hoping there's something out there....

I got a really big job offer Thursday. It's a job I would love to take with a pretty big raise. The problem is it's 80 miles away.
We've ran the numbers and I'm not afraid of the drive, but I need to think about the other ways this will affect our lives - and it's a hard fit. So rather than flattered and excited, I'm sad.

I held a beautiful 1 day old baby yesterday. Harper Kate is her name. She was born to a co-worker of mine who we also went to school with.

We got a new bedspread & shams Tuesday. It's easier to clean and will show less cat hair. Plus it's lighter and nice for the summer. I finished the new flowerbed one night this week and got everything mulched. It looks nice.

Well, I think that's it.
Talk to you later.