Never Burn Bridges (Or, God Works it Out)

Last spring, I met a woman and discussed being a nanny for her family during the summer months. We talked off and on for a while and two weeks before I was supposed to start working, she emailed me and said that although she wasn't planning on hiring someone else, she met someone who she thought would be a better fit for the job. I was so disappointed and started my email reply several times, but the irritation was always too evident so I would delete and start again. This happened over and over and finally I decided that not responding at all would be better. I don't like the idea of "burning bridges" and thought it was silly to be so upset since I didn't have an offer in writing or anything like that.

Well, fast forward to this morning. I got an email from the woman explaining that she realizes she made a mistake by not hiring me. The person that she hired instead didn't work out quite like she thought it would, so she wants to get an earlier start this time and asked if I would like to nanny for her this summer and babysit occasionally until then. How cool is that? I know it's months away, so it might not work out as I plan, but just knowing that I made the right choice by keeping my mouth shut feels great. It's true what the Bible says in Proverbs 10:19. "When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise." That's usually not the path I take, but I definitely recommend it.

Hairspray

I love big hair! My friend, Tiffani, styled it for me this afternoon. She always makes it look so adorable!

Life is a marathon

So I'm three weeks in with my marathon training. I had a lovely race picked out at the end of March. I got a flier in the mail promoting this particular race, so I counted out how many weeks away it was. I had 19 weeks to train, which was perfect since the plan I wanted to follow was 18 weeks. Sweet! So I printed out my schedule, even did a whole week of training when I found out from a friend that the race that was promoted is only a HALF marathon and not a full! I felt so stupid for all this planning, so I checked the flier again and sure enough! It said there would be a full AND half marathon! But my friend was right, the flier was incorrect. So, I continue to train but I am still searching for a marathon to run this spring, hopefully within a couple weeks of the one I had originally planned.

Running has been consuming most of my thoughts for the past three weeks and I think it is mostly a defense mechanism to avoid the frustration and panic of still being *mostly* unemployed. I am working part-time at Williams-Sonoma, but it does not offer a lot of hours. I'd love to have the income of a full-time job, but the classes I will be taking next semester will not allow me the time to do that. I will be doing what I refer to as our version of student teaching. Going on assignments to observe working interpreters and, based on my teacher's judgment of my skills, might be interpreting some while on those assignments. I'm hoping she thinks I'm ready for that, but most people at that level do not get that option. We will see!

I'm also trying to figure out a plan to continue on to get my bachelor's degree. I have decided (as of now) that I would like to major in Communications. Not only do I think that will help me with my interpreting, but it will also give me a broader range of knowledge so that I can get back into Human Resources if at any time I decide that I no longer want to interpret. After that, my goal is to then go to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. to obtain my masters in Interpretation. All that said, I know that God has a special way of making His own plans for me so I know it might not happen as I have planned. :)

Well, I'm trying to get back into blogging (How many times have I said that??) so this is a catch-all catch-up on what is going on in my life! Pray for me! :)

Over the hump

I seem to be in a running "slump" the past few weeks. Well, it's been the past couple months actually. After I ran the Cowtown, I took two weeks off to recuperate, because that's what the pros say to do. I don't think they meant that for people who ran it as slowly as I did. I pushed my endurance, sure, but I didn't physically over-extend myself. So, I don't think my body needed two weeks of recovery time. Ever since the two-week break I have had a really hard time pushing my body to go more than a couple miles. I'll catch myself stopping to walk so early in my run, and after that happens, forget it. I mentally hang up the phone and decide that I'm not having a good running day and that's that.

Lately, I've been trying to get my parents to go to the park with me because I want to help them get in shape as much as I can. The down side is that I feel bad for making them wait if Mom is finished with her walk and I still want to run for 30 more minutes, or if I lap her and I'll want to stop and take a little break and talk to her and catch my breath - and there goes my run. There I go again, hanging it up and saying to myself, "I stopped running. Game over. Today is gonna be a 'short run' day."

So, I have to figure out a way to self-motivate and get my tail in gear to get over this hump and back to my best running self!

The Waiting Game

I feel like my life has been spent waiting on other people for a long time now. Waiting to hear back from a job, waiting on someone to provide some real support instead of the usual "be warmed and fed" kind, waiting on an unemployment check, waiting to find out what God has planned for me, waiting to find out if someone thinks my time has any value, waiting to finish school, waiting for my phone to ring, waiting, waiting, waiting...

I don't want to have a "Debbie Downer" blog, so I've been trying to keep it as positive as I can, but ya know what? I'm tired of waiting. I just want to put that out there. I am ready for something in my life to change and yet I feel 100% completely powerless to change it. I am at a loss. I have no idea what to do - I've applied for every job I thought I was capable to do, and plenty of jobs that I'm not. Either way, you can see the success rate of actually getting those jobs. I applied at a fast food restaurant the other day and when I gave the manager my application, he did one of those, "I'll look this over and give you a call" things with the tone of voice that told me he would not be calling me. What is the deal? So, now I'm just waiting on an answer. Don't know who it will be from or what the answer will be, but I'm ready for it.

I cain't say no!

I'm singing along with Ado Annie (that's Oklahoma talk for those of you who are not musical fans!) - "I'm just a girl who cain't say no - I'm in a turrible fix!..." Well, although Ado Annie is singing about courting guys with ulterior motives, I'm referring to CAKE! I said I was going to call it quits until I could do the business properly, but when I'm asked to do a cake, I just can't say no!

My childhood best friend is getting married on May 1st. In Alabama. I am driving/flying (depending on my job status at the time) to Alabama to make her wedding cake. Can we say pressure? I was really hoping she would rather me sing or something instead. That is a lot less stressful!

The third Saturday in May, I'm going to a graduation/birthday party in Houston and - you guessed it! - making the cake. This one is my fault, though. I found a cake idea that fit too perfectly, I had to do it!

The fourth Saturday in May is my 10 year high school reunion. Hard to believe that I've been out of school for ten whole years, but here we are! I'm pretty sure I'll need to make a cake for that occasion, too.

And finally, the fifth Saturday in May is the wedding of a friend of a friend. They want a fairly easy cake; however, any time I am doing the cake for someone's wedding, I get very stressed out!

So, if I really want to put the cake business on hold, I need to learn how to say "No!"

I also have a 10K race coming up in a couple weeks. On one hand, I feel like I'll do fine, but lately my runs have not been very good. I don't know if I'm pushing myself too hard or what. I started going on social runs and I really like them! There is just something easier about running with a group. I'm hoping that on race day, I'm feeling like my normal running self and am able to push myself for a personal best time! I'll be running with three friends and the race is in Austin, so we will get to spend one night in Austin. I think it will be a fun time!

Two hours and thirty-nine minutes

Wow! This morning I ran the Cowtown Half-marathon in Ft. Worth, TX. I have been training off and on for several months, but since December I have really slacked off with my training. I wasn't nearly where I was supposed to be at this point, seven miles being the longest I had run in one session. Until this morning. As it always is with a race, it is easier to keep a faster pace than normal because there are SO many people around you running at different speeds, and maybe I'm not normal, but when there are people around me, I always feel like I need to pass them! After a couple miles, I realized I needed to stop trying to pass people, so I slowed down a bit. Funny thing, when I knew I had a total of thirteen miles to go, those miles seemed to last forever! Around mile six, I was really wishing that I had signed up for the 10K instead! I allowed myself to walk if I felt like I needed it, so I would give myself 2-3 minute walking breaks. Then I crossed the 11 mile mark. Something in my body just said NO MORE! I walked for a few minutes, tried to run again and had to stop and walk again after about 30-45 seconds. So, needless to say, the last two miles took me a long time!

Since it was my first half-marathon, my only real goal was to finish, but my unofficial goal was to finish in 2:30. I finished in 2:39 and I know it would have been within my time goal if I had been able to run the last two miles! I'm really sore at this point and I haven't been able to stop eating since I got home! It doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but my resulting hunger has been insatiable all day! I hear it will be like that tomorrow, too. Now, I have to take two weeks off for "recovery" - walking only - and then training for a 10K in April. After that, hopefully another half-marathon this summer. Can't wait! :)

What a week!

So in the midst of the cake business to be or not to be, I decided to call it quits until I make it a legit business. Well, that can't happen until after this week. I have three cakes due in one weekend. Yikes! I have gotten faster at the process, but three cakes is still pushing it!

On top of that, I also have my business plan due this weekend. I'm not prepared at all, but procrastination is my way of life, so I'm sure it will get done before it's due. :)

Also, I have to do an ASL presentation in class on Thursday and, of course, haven't started it. So, it's Tuesday already and I can tell you this week is going to get really hectic really fast.

OH YEAH, and the Cowtown marathon is next week and I am supposed to be running the half. That's 13.1 miles and I am SOOOO not ready! I almost decided to not run and wait until I was better prepared, but I figure if I do that it will never happen. So, I WILL be crossing the finish line next weekend, but I might possibly be the last one to do so!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Texas got a treat today! When I woke up this morning, there was probably less than an inch of snow on the ground and right now, 8:30 p.m, it is still snowing. It hasn't let up for most of the day, so we have about 8 inches right now. Papa and I made a cake and a baker out of the snow. I am not such a good snow artist, but Papa is pretty good at being artistic no matter the medium.


I'm glad we got to enjoy the snow for a little bit before it melts and/or turns into ice! Texas doesn't know how to have snow without it turning into an icy mess! I hope everyone got to enjoy the white beauty today, though!

To incorporate or not to incorporate, that is the question!

One of the core requirements for my Interpreting degree is to take a Small Business Management class. I decided to take it in fast-track form (a whole semester worth of credit in 3 weekends? don't mind if I do!) so it has taken over my life for the past two weekends. I thought I was going to hate the class and find the information useless, since when I do interpret, I don't plan on opening my own agency; however, this class has actually been pretty interesting and I have learned a ton!

Our goal throughout the course is to develop a business plan for a legitimate business that we are interested in creating. Since I knew I didn't want to go the route of the interpreting agency, I decided to create a business plan for a cake business, since I have been "practicing" that for two years. I thought that I might actually want to do that to make ends meet until I can interpret full-time... but wow! Did you realize all the requirements for selling food to the public? Aside from the fact that you must have a kitchen, separate from your personal kitchen, that meets health codes and all that jazz, it is highly recommended that you also incorporate since you will be selling something that might possibly cause someone to become sick, they can sue, they'll try to take everything you have, etc. etc. Well, that is a LOT of initial cost. And I don't know about you, but I don't know of many people that will pay several hundred dollars to buy a cake from someone with as little experience as I have. After paying rent for the kitchen (because I definitely don't have other options as far as that goes) I doubt I could make ends meet.

The problem I'm having now, though, is that I think owning my own business sounds like a great idea, but I seem to be one of those "jack of all trades, master of none" people. I'm a crafty person, and I love to do lots of different things, but I don't feel like I'm great enough at any of them to make a profit off of them. I love the saying, "Find what you love. Then find someone to pay you to do it." I wish it was that easy. The saying doesn't give you advice for what to do while you're waiting to get your degree in what you love. :-P