TD: “How was work today?”
Me: “It was WORK.”
...Silence while That Dude is in serious thought...
TD: “You know something, that is exactly my problem with your job. I can get over the late and weekend meetings, I can get past how far it is but I will never be able to get past the fact that every time I ask you about work you respond, ‘It was work.’ It shouldn't be that way Mel.”
Me: “But it’s not EVERYday. There are some days when I come home after having had a GREAT day at work!”
TD: “I know, and I treasure those days.”
Me: (Frustrated) “Well, I’m sorry honey, I NEED this job right now. Our wedding is just a few weeks away and I’d like for us to have food to eat and I don’t want to have to live in a shelter!”
TD: (Exhausted) “I know...”
*Union Square is 4 stops away from where I was which meant my ride was shortened by about 10 minutes! SCORE!!
1. The concert is over and we took a financial loss. I still don't know what that will mean for my job, but I'm totally relaxed about it.
2. We've started the wedding planning process again. Checked out a photographer, DJ, and a bridal show at a Catering Hall, so far. The wedding party is pretty much set, except for a flower girl and ring bearer, although I'm pretty sure I'll be asking to have my cousin's daughter or my boss's daughter as our flower girl.
3. That Dude bought me a Blackberry and added me to his phone account, and despite my former aversion to all things Blackberry, I must admit, I actually don't hate it! It's WAY better than the Samsung Instinct from Sprint (IMHO) so I'm happy as a clam!
4. I have officially taken on the position of Kids' Church Coordinator for the non-denominational church that I belong to. I've also agreed to coordinate the Youth Group at the Catholic Parish that That Dude and I will be getting married at. With work and the possibility of school this semester, I've pretty much got every minute of the day taken up! But I love it, so I'm not stressing.
5. Many people have only heard about my oldest younger (step) brother in passing, but don't know much about him. First, although we aren't biologically related, he has always been and will always be my brother in my heart. With that said, I've been pretty actively searching for him for a few weeks now, and finally have some good news! He's not laying dead in some California ditch but is in fact taking the necessary steps to improve his life and I'm so proud of him. I hope to someday share his story, not today.
Also, my search has brought me two wonderful new friends that (based on my limited experience so far as well as the fact that my brother very obviously loves them both) I can't wait to repay them for all that they've done.
6. Each day That Dude manages to say or do something that makes me fall more in love with him. There had been some tension because of my stress levels, but as the fund raiser becomes nothing more than a memory, we've worked our way back into a (semi) normal relationship - well, at least normal for us!
7. The Lord is revealing different facets of His glory and mercy to me everyday. It seems though, that each time I have a glorious moment with the Lord, I get a spiritual attack that I always feel is "the worst it could ever possibly get.". I'm spending a lot of time in prayer and praising the Lord. I know that I cannot let these attacks get the best of me.
Thanks for reading!!
It's not what I envisioned for myself... It's not even in the latter part of my "Ten-Year-Plan"... Some days I'm annoyed by just thinking about it... Have you guessed yet? Well I'll give you a hint, I'm on my way there as I write this post on my phone... My Job!
I've worked for my organization for a little more than two years now and it's been quite an interesting experience. We're a Catholic CBO working primarily with the Hispanic community of Upper Manhattan helping to bridge the gap between the community residents and resources available to them. Through this job, I've met many interesting and important people (NYC judges, local and state politicians, screenwriters, etc), I've gained skills (such as website management, better communication, and improved organization), and had lots of laughs. But like any job, at moments it's simply WORK.
Today though, I felt the need to take some time out to give thanks for the work that I do. While my own personality causes me to get bored easily no matter what I'm doing, and my mind sometimes wanders, I really do love my job. We have a small staff (as of Monday we grew to a full-time staff of five, plus we have a Jesuit priest that comes by two days a week and also works with us on some of our projects) and that allows us to just let things in the office flow. Having such a small staff also means things like:
-We go out to lunch together instead of having office parties,
-Throughout the work week, we often discuss our opinions on anything from celebrities, to food, to politics, to our personal values
-We help each other with projects since there usually no "team" to work on things
So on this fourth day, I'm grateful for my job!
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UPDATE:
At the end of the day I was called into the Executive Director's office. He asked how I felt about giving up one of my ongoing projects (I work together with our local Assembly Member to put together housing forums for the community as well as working on housing issues for any of our walk-ins or call-ins) and giving me the responsibility of taking over a program that we offer to young adults teaching evangelization and leadership. The thing about the program is that there is somebody on staff who coordinates this program. If I were to agree to take on this program, it would mean the following:
I asked if I could sleep on it and my Director was understanding. I'm going to do some serious praying about this.
