Job

Howdy all!

Here is the much anticipated update on the job situation. Over the past few weeks, I had steadily written off Nielsen Media Research as an option for employment. Despite telling me repeatedly that I would be informed of their decision either way, I have not gotten a response to my most recent attempts to contact them. I have now moved on and began pursuing other options.

Just a week ago, I had an interview with the post office in Oregon City. I was one of six who interviewed for reportedly five open positions as rural carrier associates. This means that I am basically a sub for the full time rural carriers. As a policy, they only guarantee one day of work every two weeks. From the sound of things, they really need the help, so the potential for two to four days of work per week does exist. I'll have to be chosen, trained and put to work before I know for certain how that will play out. There are no benefits offered and I get to use my own car. Once I work for them for a year, then I am eligible for full time rural carrier work pending seniority and if a position had opened up or not. The quickest that has happened at this post office is about 3 1/2 years. So, it'll definitely take some commitment on my part. Only time will tell....

Meanwhile, I have pretty much nailed down a part time job to keep me busy in the mean time. It is as a delivery person for a company called Clowns Unlimited ( www.clownsunlimited.com ). For now, I'll be delivering inflatable bouncers, slides, obstacle courses, etc... for picnics, birthday parties, and other events. The Portland office is just over a year old and growing rapidly, so there is potential for full time employment there someday, perhaps in 6 months or so. I am going in to work for them on Friday and Saturday just to see how I like the work and then settle into it a bit more permanently. I'll have to keep you posted on those adventures.

The real trick will be to see how well I can balance both jobs, assuming I get the postal gig. There is a good chance that both will require weekends, but the post office pays more. Thus, if I have to choose between one or the other, the post office is definitely going to be the way to go. We shall see.

Typoglycemia, fact or fiction?

I'm not sure I bevliee the hhtoipesys that only the first and lsat ltrtees of wodrs metatr, to test the terhoy I hvae wtrtien a prgaorm wcihh sabcrlems the lrteets in a wrod, levnaig the frist and last alnoe. I blievee that this is olny ture with wdros taht ppeole are very falaiimr with, or mabye olny wtih ceitarn tyeps of wdros. The fiololwng ppgaaharrs are all teakn form vaouris wsitbees. See how wlel you do rineadg tehm!

- In rntas psat, we have speokn on seeravl oosccinas of how auervrndets could esliay be cnerdeiosd smoe of the most unkcluy and utaonturfne plpeoe to ever have eixetsd. I tned to dicetdae a lot of tguohht to scuh thgnis for it is in them taht I fnid the tolos nssceeray to mkae myeslf a btteer sereyltoltr. You see - in the end - bnoyed reeeefrs and dcie-siesprouvrs, we DMs are sytoetlrlres more than aynhtnig esle.

- I was born froty-nine yaers ago, lses a day. I was bron a slave, as billnios are born svlaes. Wehn I was a clhid I did not imeeialdmty igianme that I devseerd freeodm, for this was not my moethr's aitudtte. Snfieufrg was to be edunred. She adtmietd a pnateit hope for lses curel maretss, when we wree bteween them. She tauhgt taht if feoredm was in our dintsiees, ftae wolud fnid us.

- I thnik myabe the cetmnoms I lfet yeetrdsay aobut kids ralely appeils betetr to fhsemern and soreomhpos. I hvae jinrous and sieorns tadoy and I am feenlig a reewend sesne of hope for the frtuue of our cortuny. I sitll tihnk our kdis need mroe diciisnple... mabye that's why tsehe kids are in adaecvnd mtah tghouh...they are the ones that were gievn smoe borenuidas. hmmm braes tnkniihg auobt!

- We had a hial moosonn in Bned, OR yrsetdaey! I was wnoikrg at Skbartcus (dwntwoon) and it hilead and reaind so hard that the sotre fleodod! We had to csole two hours ealry. Paprhes I sohuld be ahamesd of tihs, but nuaartl dsisteras are kind of tirnhillg - ecplseilay when no one gets hrut and it bearks the mdnnuae rtnoiue of eyeavdry linvig.

- I have dcieedd to add aotnehr ftuaree to my bolg in adtoidin to the usual "qoute for tdoay" eietnrs. Tihs may brnig ccisiirtm form folk who tihnk I am just finihsg for cmnmoets, so to the ciicrts I say, "You colud be rhgit." :) I wlil now be andidg the "qeuiotsn of the week/moment" ftaruee to see what ye'all thnik aoubt waehvter tpoic I coshoe. If you do not lkie the tpoic I csohoe, then I gsues you're aobut nrmaol.

- Our slhdecue will cionunte in this way for the next few wekes uitnl we mvoe bcak to our palce in the mdldie of Jluy to get reday for my praents avriarl on the 21st.

- The Jsutcie Dtramnpeet has been aeksd to istgeavtnie who dlsiocsed secret dleatis abuot a murioetyss and esnxeivpe U.S. spy saielttle poecrjt, a fdaerel law eernemcfnot offciial siad Tdeasuy.

- Let's move on to Snetoar Dodd who was on Tihs Week Ndees Diavd Blkeniry. The hsot of the sohw, Greoge Shaneoopoptuls siad, "Seontar Duirbn sootd by those cntemoms for svareel days, fianlly eiessxnprg his rerget on Fdraiy nhigt in the face of a lot of csiitrcim. Yet msot Daortemcs were sleint. Did Dtceoarms fial to uannrsetdd how ovfisenfe toshe cmmnoets smeeed to so mnay?"

- We wree not stavred, and were slodem beaten. I ddin't tnihk it was so bad. My mohter Smhi and I loekod out for one ahteonr. Wehn the ltoahsmoe Gadlrula the Htut lsot us to Watto the junk-daleer I got my frsit cnchae to tkae mhenicas aaprt and put them back theoegtr, and it was anazimg. The more I fxied tinghs the more tgihns Wtato gave me to fix. My mhoter was aslo poilfbrtae. It was a hppay riasnohitlep that mroe tahn hafwlay reelbsemd a fmilay, mcuh lkie the one Wttao had lsot yeras brefoe on Tiadryoa.

Tknahs, Bteh!!

Taht was vrey iretsenntig, Bteh! Tknahs for sihrang it!!

Typoglycemia

I was so astounded by the following that I just had to share it with you all:

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid! Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but rtaher the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia :)-

Amzanig huh? Yaeh and yuo awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

Scary Baby

I think that I am carrying a Monster!

The faint white circle on the top right is the yolk sac again. Amazing how much size difference a few weeks can make, huh? Baby is on its side facing us- it is easy to see the skull structure, with eye sockets and the jaw/mouth. Its hands are up by its face, and elbows by its big fat belly (like Wallace saying "Cheese, Gromit!"). The heart rate is seen to the left in the midst of the squiggly lines- 158 bpm. The best part about this particular ultrasound was that I got to see Baby dancing all over the place, groovin' to its own beat. :)

Tiny Baby

Baby's first photo.

Most of you have seen this photo already. For those that haven't, the little white circle to the right is the yolk sac- at the time, the baby was still getting most of it's nourishment from the sac and not from me. The baby's head is to the right and body to the left.

Hi all! Is anyone there?

Since none of you are posting anything here, I wonder if you ever look at this site. Please at least put in a comment so I'll know if I'm wasting my time writing to you here. I look here often to see if any of you have left a message, but alas! It's always my last message!

Its strange and quiet here without Daddy around. I guess its always fairly quiet – probably strange too, right? But I’m keeping busy with one thing or another. Last night I went to a home school program of several kids from our church. It was really cute. They did a Veggie Tales play – “Where’s God when I’m scared?” and Daniel in the Lions’ Den. Fun!

Wednesday evening I went down to Roseburg with a couple of people and picked up Barby’s mom and went to a meeting about the Oasis products that I’ve been using and promoting.

Tomorrow I’m going with the singles’ group from our church to the Rose parade in Portland. We leave at 6:30 in the morning and will probably be back home by 4 or so. I was just invited yesterday, and it sounded like fun.

I don’t know what I’m doing on Sunday other than going to church. Monday and Tuesday I work, and Tuesday night I’m going to Kim and Andy’s and will stay there overnight. Wednesday evening I’ll go to Kathy’s in Centralia and on Thursday I’ll go with her and her senior citizens on a trip they have planned (can’t remember where they’re going). I’ll spend Friday with Kathy, and then come back home on Saturday the 18th. Your Daddy is coming home that day too for a few days. That evening there is a family barbecue at Dave and Lisa’s for Tate’s graduation (he actually graduates tonight).

Timmy moves in with me the week of the 20th (Daddy and I may be going down and helping move things on the 20th before he goes back to tractor driving). Then maybe Timmy and I will visit Joann that next week-end.

I love you all and hope to hear from you soon.