First day of school

We had an interesting turn of events this week. We had planned to fully homeschool O for kindergarten, but an opening came up at a charter school for homeschool families. We got a last minute call that there was a space for her, so O will be attending a full day kindergarten two days each week and be home with Jenetta for the other three.

I drove her this morning and Jenetta took L to preschool. I was stressed because traffic was really bad and we didn't take the optimal route, so we missed all the opening events with all the kids at the flagpole. I had to call Jenetta to figure out what class to take O to, but we found it ok and got her all settled in. The teacher called her by name and asked her to sit near her on the floor. All the parents had their cameras out, and I found a comfortable place against the back wall to watch. I was there probably for 30 seconds when the teacher said "Alright, time to say goodbye to the parents!" Immediately O yells out "goodbye,daddy!" She was certainly ready to jump in!

We've had a lot of firsts in the past 17 months. I know every parent feels that their kids grow up so quickly. But cut me some slack - we've been on a slightly accelerated pace! :)

It has surprised me how emotional I am about this today. One day at a time, right? It's not like she's learning to drive or graduating college or walking down the aisle. But I feel as though I can see those things coming! O is ready to take on the world!

Jenetta's New Vlogging Experiment

So as most of you know Jenetta runs Frugal Freebies and Deals. Well in addition to the blog she is experimenting with vlogging and we would love for all of you to check out her you tube channel.

One of the latest is on making homemade vanilla. Let us know if there are any topics you would like her to record a video on.

New Job

Some of you already know this, but for those who do not, August 16 will be my last day at Innovative Body Science. I like the people there, and the work was tolerable (if not always interesting to me), but I will be moving to a new position on the 17th that I am very excited about.

I did probably 40 interviews during my period of unemployment. One of the companies I interviewed with was more of a "courtesy interview." The CEO of this company is the father of one of my friends, and he knew I was struggling. He was actually assisting me in getting an interview at a company where he used to work. When it became apparent that this wasn't going to happen, he suggested that I come in to talk with him personally. I was shown around, and they were all very polite, but it was pretty clear at the time that there really wasn't a place for me there.

I was very upfront with my current employer that although I wasn't actively looking for another job, if something came up from one of my past interviews that paid better, I would have to go for it. Well, in late June, I was contacted again, and after a lengthy phone interview and 5 hours of interviewing with 4 people, I was offered a position. My current employer has been understanding and supportive (but understandably disappointed) through all this. I actually could have made the switch last week, but I wanted to stay on and cover for my supervisor who leaves on vacation this weekend. I felt that doing something in their best interest and asking my new employer to be patient was warranted under the circumstances.

Even though my time at Innovative Body Science was short (just over three months), and they paid me a salary about in line with what I was earning 10 years ago, I am very grateful to them for two key things. First, they gave me a job when we really needed it. Our retirement was cashed out, we were in serious debt, and we were faced with having no money available to pay our mortgage. We were planning on skipping upcoming mortgage payments. But just in time, I got hired and we were able to make it. I know God is behind this, and we thank Him for it over and over. He provided for all our needs and helped to relieve our stress when it seemed too much to bear.

They also gave me an emotional boost by hiring me when it seemed that no one else would. I must have put out 400+ applications, and the constant rejection and stress was really weighing on me. What seemed to be the worst was when I would interview and be told "we'll get back to you..." and then NOTHING!!! This happened a lot, and surprisingly, even after multiple interviews with other staff members at a business, I would still not hear anything back. That just seems so foreign to me! I can understand when I am one of 1000 online applications, but when I am one of 2 or 3 to be called back in for a second interview, you think they would have the courtesy to at least email or text me saying "No thanks..."

I was starting to doubt whether or not I would ever be able to provide for my family. I was wondering if maybe my background was so weird and scattered that I would never be worth anything more than an entry-level job. My confidence was at an all-time low. But then I got hired and was asked to produce immediately in a field I had zero experience in. There are a few things I do not appreciate about my current job, but I am grateful for it all the same.

My new job is with a company called TrellisWare. They make communications equipment for military and emergency services applications. Their engineers have designed hardware and software for streaming voice, data, and video in applications that some do not feel is possible to even achieve. I am very excited about the opportunity ahead of me. Everyone I've met there has been very welcoming and encouraging. You can definitely tell that they have assembled a winning team, and I'm honored to be a part of it.

I will be supporting the development of a logistics/operations department. The company is growing and the need for this type of support is becoming more apparent. That being said, the company is small enough that there really isn't an upper management position directly over me, so if I am successful there, it is clear that there will be substantial opportunities for me to grow with the company.

There are other perks that go along with this job. The company is located next door to where I used to work at Sony, so it will be much easier for me to meet for lunch with my buddies from church again. They would like me to take an hour lunch, and the building has a full locker room, so I will be able to run and exercise on my my lunch break a few days a week (there is a great exercise course I used to run when I worked at Sony). I'd like to get back into half-marathon running shape again, so this schedule looks to help accommodate that.

But probably the best thing about it all is that instead of being a bit short each month to make our budget, we will be several hundred dollars ahead each month. So accelerating our debt payoff plan will be a huge blessing! The company benefits are also incredible. They gave me a "benefits at a glance" sheet. It is a 3 page spreadsheet with 10 point font. There are a lot of really good benefits offered to TrellisWare employees.

Anyway, I am super-excited about this new possibility, and I eagerly anticipate being at TrellisWare for a long, long time!

I'm famous

Ok, not really...

But I posted a while back that I got a random gig as a "model" for the Madden 11 video game cover. Well, it will be released next month. Look for me in stores or on Amazon! :)

Busy summer days

There is always so much to do in the summer! Long, warm evenings, activity packed weekends, trips to the beach, VBS and other events for the kids... So it's been a while since I've posted. Here are some highlights:

We've started harvesting from our garden. Most of the lettuce is bitter (or gets eaten by gophers), but we've enjoyed beans, cucumbers, peas, and LOTS of zuchinni. Jenetta has been getting really creative in her use of this vegetable. It has found its way into muffins, applesauce blends, and salads, but my favorite is breaded and fried with ranch dressing :) Our surviving corn should be ready soon, and it looks like we will end up with about a thousand tomatoes (I planted way too much of that).

I'm noticing how old this photo is already. The watermelon plants in the foreground now completely fill the front box and are growing down the sides, and the tomatoes in the far back to the left are 2 feet taller now! Wow!

The girls are doing well. They are enjoying their summer and playing with friends outside more. Grandma Joy has been on her summer break, so they've been able to spend some fun times with her. We got to go to a makeup Padres game as a family, and that was fun - a 5:30 Saturday start time makes for a much better evening (not to mention avoiding the ER!) L's owie on her face healed nicely, but she will have a pretty noticeable scar by her eye. (Just fitting in with the Penners, I guess..)

O is swimming without floaties and has ridden with me on her tummy on my surfboard a few times. She likes flopping on the boogie board and riding in the shallow whitewater. I think next year I will get her a softtop surfboard of her own.


We got free passes to the county fair, so that was a lot of fun for the girls. We did a few rides, but to keep the cost down, we mainly took advantage of the many, many fun free things you can do at the fair. The girls had a blast (and took a two hour nap when we got back home)!

But probably the biggest new thing that has happened is that last weekend the girls' paternal grandmother arranged for our kids to play with their siblings whom they have not seen for almost two years. The oldest is 7, and the first thing he asked O was if she remembered that she used to bite him. :) That sounds like our O! He is a half-brother, and O really enjoyed running and playing with him. They also have a younger sister who is around 2.5. She had fun, too, but she is so young that she didn't engage much with our two - mostly she just played with the wood chips at the park :) We played together for a few hours and then went to Lakeshore Learning Center for all four of them to do free crafts.

It was a good time, and there really hasn't been any negative repercussions of the get-together. It was just kids having fun playing together. From what we have heard, it meant a great deal to the boy - he misses his sisters. O was a little bit depressed or low the day after the get-together, but she's been normal ever since.

We certainly don't want to hide anything from our girls, but it will be interesting seeing how these relationships develop over the years. It seems clear that our girls will have a drastically different childhood experiences.

God is good. He has taken care of the needs of our family. We are in a place of living day to day and enjoying the good things He has provided for us.

Whirlwind

We've had a crazy few weeks!

Did you ever have those times where you are so busy that you never feel you get a chance to recover and rest? That's how I've felt for a while now.

Last week was really busy - I just over-scheduled and did too many fun things with my friends at night after the girls went to bed.

Last weekend, we went to Las Vegas together. I had to work a tradeshow at the Sands Expo, and my boss was kind enough to suggest that I bring my family along and put them on the expense account for meals. She expressed to me that she wanted me to feel welcome and for me to have a good time with my family.

And while I REALLY appreciated the generosity (it's so nice to feel appreciated after 7 months of rejection), in many ways, it probably would have been better to leave the girls at home with Jenetta. There is just SO much stimulation there with lights and sounds and smells and crowds. Plus with the work of the trade show, I felt pretty much exhausted when I came back to be with them and of course, they were missing me and were jacked up and wanted to play. So I never got any rest.

And maybe Jenetta and I are "old before our time," but the whole Vegas party lifestyle doesn't seem very appealing to either of us. The sheer volume of public intoxication is staggering! People walk around with huge containers of liquor and sip on them all day long! The girls were exposed to things that were uncomfortable for me to witness, let alone for children to see. It just made me glad that we live in a nice community with good friends, and I'm happy to just chill out at the beach.

We came home very late on Monday night, and then all week, I had to play catch-up at work. So that wasn't very relaxing, either.

I'm venting and it sounds like everything was awful. The girls really enjoyed swimming and meeting other kids and playing at the pool with them. Jenetta took them to a chocolate factory and to Circus Circus, so that was neat. All their meals and snacks were paid for by my company, and I have a job at a place that is run by generous and thoughtful employers. I was even eventually able to get on top of the pile of work on my desk and got it down to a manageable stack! :)

Then last night, we had the unexpected blessing of getting four tickets to the Padres vs. Orioles game. These are great corporate seats - right in line with the first base path, just behind home plate, about 16 rows up. It was fun to talk baseball with the girls. I think O understood a little bit of it. They definitely enjoyed cotton candy! (Won't be doing that one again!!! - I think peanuts would be better next time - they were so hyped up!!!)


But in the third inning, we decided to take them to the park in the park. There is a spinning ride there that they love. (And they enjoy rolling down the grassy hill and getting grass stains all over themselves!) :)

The girls played for a while and I watched the game on the big screen behind the outfield wall. Then L had an accident and hit her face on a concrete planter. I actually have video of it, but it is brutal to watch. I think I will be deleting that file! The Petco Park emergency staff were super helpful and they cleaned up the blood and gave us lots of Padres stuff, but it was obvious that she would need stitches. So we took her to the Coronado ER because it is generally slower there. We were there about an hour and a half for everything (which is pretty good for a Friday night at the ER). 5 stitches later, L is fine, and it only hurts when she laughs or smiles.

But needles to say, last night wasn't very restful, either. :(

So this morning, we let the girls go play at the neighbor's house, and I'm planning on relaxing in front of the TV. I haven't been able to watch any World Cup games yet. We'll see how that goes! :)

Changes...

I spent some time yesterday looking at pictures from a year ago. I was overwhelmed by a strong sense of compassion for our girls. Not only where they physically unhealthy when they first came here, but they were so awkward. You can see in the pictures that they just don't know what is going on or how to respond. Jenetta and I talked about it, and she said it seems almost like a crime to uproot a child and tell them that they will be living somewhere else now with different parents. How strange and incomprehensible that must have seemed for them!

Recent photos show them just being themselves - normal kids. You can see a clear difference in their body language in photos from them versus now.

This morning I took O with me for a run. We hadn't run together since early April. So I noticed a lot of changes with that, too. First, we were both out of shape. O complained almost right away of being tired and not wanting to run. Our usual competitive games didn't work either. When I would run ahead and encourage her to come catch me, she just screamed and wanted to hold my hand. That need to compete and be in charge seems to have decreased a lot. She just wanted to be with me and enjoy running/walking together.

Maybe I'm reading too much into one morning. But Jenetta and I talked about it, and O's crazy excess energy has definitely decreased over the past few months. She still likes physical activity and loves riding her bike (and she can still be a pain at times), but the overflowing spring of energy and excitement within her seems to have decreased from a raging river to a gurgling stream. Maybe she doesn't need the running as often as possible to calm her down. She doesn't seem to have the excess energy to burn anymore.


Not really related to this post, but noteworthy is our upcoming trip to Las Vegas next weekend. I am part of the team from my work going to a Spa products trade show at the Venetian next Sunday and Monday. I was to go up on Saturday and return on Tuesday. Since I had a hotel room to myself, my boss suggested that I bring the whole family along to play in the pool and to get a vacation. We talked about it, and decided that even though the hotel would be free, the extra expense for eating out just wouldn't fit in our budget.

I was really touched by the response from my boss. She wants me to feel welcome at the company and really wants me to bring my family. She also wants to get to know our girls and Jenetta better, so she would very much like me to bring them. She told me to put their meals on the company expense account for the trade show. I am very grateful for this gesture. Even though I will be busy for much of my time there, it will be great to see my family in the mornings and to be with them for dinner and in the evenings. Vegas, here we come!

My birthday

Because Monday was a holiday, we ended up celebrating my birthday a day early. In the morning, I took the girls to the beach with David, Courtney, and Isaiah. We had a great time hanging out and playing together. O even paddled out with me on my surfboard for a few belly rides. It was great!

After naptime, we went to Grandma Joy and Grandpa CJ's pool to swim. Both girls are so brave in the water! Then we feasted and enjoyed my blue angel-food cake.

At work the next day, I got an unexpected bonus. I was informed that even though I had only been there a few weeks, I was getting Holiday pay. I think the last time I got paid for a day off from work was my last year of teaching - 1998. It's been a long time! It allowed me to not work so much this week - which is good, because there are lots of things for me to take care of at home! Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I really appreciated it!

Hurkey Creek Camping Trip

We just got back from an amazing camping trip! I took the girls for the weekend up to Hurkey Creek with a large group from our church. In many ways, this was the easiest camping I've ever done! I didn't have to worry much about the girls because when they wandered off, they were always going to play with friends from church. And when I found I'd forgotten some necessity, we were surrounded by people who were happy to let us borrow and share.

The girls had a blast, and although sleep was challenging due to the the coyotes howling, neighbors snoring, and babies crying, and the chilly nights (someone told me their thermometer hit 32 the first night - and our tent is definitely not geared for that kind of low). But I actually feel pretty rested and refreshed. I let the girls do the running and climbing and biking. I mostly took my time, sat and read, and hung out with friends. It was great!

There were too many highlights to mention. But a few that I've uploaded video for were a kids water balloon fight and playing in the creek. Also one photo below shows O after getting her first hit in baseball! She hit the ball over the 2nd baseman's head (but didn't have any idea where to run, so she ran a big "S" near the pitcher's mound).

I'd love to go again! But it is nice to be clean, too :)

Another cool random gig - and the free time to do it!

I've been training at my new job for the past two days. My boss decided it would be better for me to assimilate some of the new information in half-day sessions. This allows them to train me but also gives them time to do the everyday work they need to do outside of getting me up to speed.

One benefit of this is that I got the afternoon free today. And I filled it by being a "model." I got the opportunity to be a part of a photo shoot for a popular video game. The front cover will have a Superbowl-winning quarterback on it, and one of the images on the inside cover will be Saints fans cheering. Me and three other Chargers fans got to pretend we were in the Superdome. The final image will be heavily edited and a lot of graphics added, so I'm not certain if you will be able to tell it is me.
I think the "sign" that I'm holding will have "Who Dat?" put on it in post-production.

It was a lot of fun, I met some really nice people, and I got paid to boot!

Hike with Isaiah and David

I start the new job in just over a week from now, so I am trying to take advantage of the time I have available to do lots of cool things with the girls. Yesterday we went on a hike at Lake Hodges with David and his son Isaiah. The girls play really well with Isaiah and they like a lot of the same things. It was a beautiful morning, and a great time!

JOB!!!

Today I finally got a job offer. It is a challenging position in a field where I have lots of transferable skills that can be applied right away, but a real lack of experience and specific knowledge with the industry. So I'll be playing catch-up again. I've done it before with Sony and with the water company. I can do it again.

I really like the people I'll be working with. Their corporate values are structured around respect and partnership with their clients. I like that a lot!

Also they are at an interesting crossroads as the owner is following her dream and branching out in new directions. I think there is a real opportunity for me to make an impact right away.

Here's the one catch. It pays about $7 an hour LESS than we need to make our monthly budget. So that's not very fun. I'm going into salary negotiations tomorrow at 8:30, so I'd appreciate your prayers. At the very least, we can continue to limp along for a while, and I'm hoping I can structure some sort of value-added compensation where I earn more when my contributions affect the profitability of the company. But some income is WAY better than none!

We've been talking with the girls about daddy going back to work. It has been good for me to be with them so much since September. The extra stability this arrangement has provided has been really good for them. But it just can't go on forever if we plan to stay here. We feel that stability and structure are so much what the girls need right now - we need to stay put as long as possible.

Anyway, thanks for going along with us on the journey. I'm really hoping this time for a job I can work at for longer than 6 months!!! :)

Unexpected Blessing

I had kind of a weird day today. I had three interviews, but none of them were specific to one particular job. The first two were for temp agencies, and they were very positive. I got some encouragement and some solid advice, but no real imminent job prospects. The third was a qualification interview for a major health care provider in our area, but that probably will not be going anywhere. With thousands of applicants for each job, they made it very clear that unless I have exactly the kind of experience they are looking for, I won't even make it past the computer system that does the initial screening. I also followed up on the phone on every job lead I've been tracking and got nowhere...

So I had a strange day in that perspective. High and low, up and down... It is exhausting putting yourself out there over and over and over again.

We met with a credit counselor earlier this week and got a good sense of the pros and cons of the tough decisions we need to make in light of the deficit we're running every month. At the end of that session, we made the decision to liquidate our retirement account. A tough choice to make, but definitely among the least damaging options we are faced with. This morning, we put that plan into action.

Did you ever have that experience where you put on a coat you haven't worn in a long time and there is some cash in the pocket? Well, I had forgotten that almost ten years ago, we set up our retirement accounts where almost a third of it was a joint savings account (not tied to an IRA). I'd totally forgotten that we did that because we stopped funding it in 2007 when our businesses began their declines. Basically, it allowed us to make a withdrawal today that did not incur any tax penalties. We have enough now to make it for another 5 or 6 weeks (longer if we pull the plug on our health insurance - another difficult decision to make). But "rediscovering" that joint account was a great unexpected surprise.

I'm grateful to not have the immediate pressure of the mortgage payment and property tax payment on top of me anymore. But I'm even more grateful for the sense of peace I have about the whole thing right now. Something has got to happen! Right???

One year anniversary

One year ago today, we became parents. My, how it has gone by so quickly!!!

Today we celebrated a year of growth with our girls. Some friends donated a really cool giant pinata, and I put in a couple bags of peanuts and some Tootsie Pops. I took down one of the curtain rods I'd made a few years ago out of thick dowel rod, and let the girls go at it! :)

We celebrated with Jenetta's family and some of the neighbors. I had the girls wear the backpacks they were wearing when we picked them up at the airport (just for nostalgia's sake), but eventually, they got taken off because they were impeding the full destructive motion.

After a while, we did away with the blindfold, too, and just let them have fun.

We wanted to mark the anniversary and let the girls have some extra fun to celebrate it.

We are also reminded to thank all of you that have been supporting us and praying for us. We could not have done this without our support network.

Cool things in our family

We've noticed a pretty substantial change in O during the past few weeks, and it has been exciting for us as parents to observe it. Those of you who are parents are probably very accustomed to seeing growth and being proud of it. (Or at least you remember it from when your kids were young). Well, for us, we've been so focused on structure for the girls and so involved with big picture concerns that is has been hard to notice the little details.

But to be completely honest, O has been delayed in many areas by the trauma in her past. They both have, really, but O was definitely impacted more than L has been. There is a reason they love playing with toys that belong to babies and toddlers. Their speech and other developments have been significantly delayed because of all they have been through.

O has been in "survival mode" for a long time. Because of this, her brain really hasn't had time to devote attention to other things. Next week, we will have had the girls for one year, and we are finally starting to see her relax and feel secure. This has allowed her to advance by leaps and bounds in many areas, and it has been really exciting for us to watch! We are proud of her (and tell her that all the time!)

Last weekend, our neighbors had their grandchildren visit for an overnight, so the girls played with them outside for a while after dinner. Their grandaughter is probably 7 or 8, and she had a lot of stuff in the garage. When she saw our girls ride their bikes, she brought over her old princess bike with no training wheels for O to try. O hopped on it and after a few wipeouts, just did it! We were so surprised because she hadn't given any indication that she was ready for this. So this week, I removed her training wheels on her big bike for good, and she has been doing just fine!

But some of the biggest developments we are seeing are in language. She has had more time to devote to writing letters and numbers and coloring. When we first got her, she would scribble for about ten seconds, then tear up the paper and go on to something else. Now both girls sit and color and create a lot. Yesterday, O walks up to us and hands us a pink 3x5 card:


And she says to us, "B - I - B. That spells Bib!" She picked this up from an infomercial about teaching your baby how to read. It brought a big smile to our faces.

She still is challenging to understand at times and her grammar and vocabulary are definitely delayed as well, but now we are finding that when we correct her, she is actually able to process the difference. She is working on the word "before." Mostly it comes out as "-fore" or even "A-fore." Last night, she was asking us a question that used that word, and we watched her mentally check her options before correctly saying "...Before when we went to grandma's..."

This is the kind of stuff we signed up for!