I'm a One-Job Kind of Gal

I really enjoy my job at the seminary. I enjoy it so much that I've decided to make it my only job. Despite the steep learning curve, I feel like I'm totally crushing it. It helps that my co-workers are very kind, patient, and encouraging, and the students are respectful. When I'm done at the seminary for the day, I leave feeling energized.

I took this photo in order to include it in a monthly report for work, trying to capture the new images Neil (on the left) and my boss (not pictured) had printed to hang on the walls. Neil and Tanner got in the way, however, so I just took their photo. They're such good guys. So young, but such good guys. There were no students in the building, so they're not wearing masks. I just want to clarify that they do wear masks when students are in the building, as that can get a person into serious trouble these days.

Working a full day at the seminary and then rushing off to drive afternoon bus runs was just too much, however. Oddly, learning this new job has not been stressful, even though I've had so much to learn; but being a sub driver comes with a certain degree of uncertainty about where you're going, who you're driving, and what possibly unpleasant surprises you'll encounter. The problem with adrenal fatigue is that even small and simple stresses aren't handled well by the body. I have very little tolerance for mental stress anymore, which is annoying. The mental stress of being a sub driver--though it's a small stress, to be sure--meant that I was not sleeping well at night, my brain zipping around in my skull like a hyperactive toddler while I was pleading with it to calm down and be still. Consistently poor sleep makes doing both jobs more and more of a mental and physical burden. Driving a bus while exhausted is not a good idea.

When I told Griff, my seminary boss, that I was giving up the bus driving because it was just too much, he nodded his head and said, "Yeah, well, the worst that could happen if you make a mistake here is that we have to fix a file. It wouldn't actually end up killing a student or anything."

I agree. I should stick with the job that carries the least possibility of killing students.

I also factored into my decision the worry that I'm not seeing Little Gary enough. We're homeschooling him again this year because his migraines are still coming on very frequently--sometimes daily, despite our efforts to figure out how to stop them--and I'm too exhausted when I get home to spend the quality time with him that I need to. Better to get home earlier and not be too exhausted to spend time with him. Despite his headaches, however, he has maintained his passion for history and has created some very well researched PowerPoints on World War I and World War II. Little Gary knows so much about those particular wars that I go to him when I have questions.

Joseph, my 16-year-old, is doing really well, which is a relief. He decided to attend high school this year as a junior (11th grade), and his school counselor is working with us to help him get enough credits to graduate with a high school diploma in two years. It means he's doing a full school schedule plus a few extra classes online. He's getting the rhythm of it, and he's keeping up. I'm so proud of all he's been doing to learn how to cope with his anxiety and his determination not to let it beat him. He's making friends at school, and he also applied for and got a Saturday job at the local bakery, which is putting money into his bank account for private driving school classes. Fortunately, he's not bringing any donuts home, like Gabrielle used to do when she was working there. I do not need the temptation of fresh, delicious, tender bakery donuts in the house.

Joseph, just before his recent haircut. 

Elannah has been enjoying life in Southern Utah. She got a full-time job as a front desk clerk at a hotel, and that makes her feel a lot more financially secure (and it means we get a steep discount on a room if we want to go visit her!). She has also made some really good friends among her roommates and with kids in her FHE group and Institute class. She isn't a partyer, but she has a lot of fun.

Elannah started dating a lovely young man just before she moved, and they like each other so much that they're doing the long-distance relationship thing. He's gone down to visit her, and they spend all their time together when she makes the drive home. Dalton is a super young man. He's smart, steady but fun, and he adores Elannah.

They make a cute couple.

Elannah and Dalton

Sophia is still dating her gentle-giant physical trainer boyfriend, Matt. They've been together for two years now. There's talk of a pending proposal. Matt is a great guy, despite his insistence on growing the occasional mustache and goatee. For his birthday, we bought him a cast iron frying pan, and he was so excited. You know a guy is mature when getting a cast iron pan to use in his kitchen (in the house he owns) makes him happy. The only serious difference of opinion between Matt and Sophia is on how he wants to decorate his bedroom. Sophia has stated emphatically that she will not be able to live with black walls covered in red paint splatter. He can do that in his basement Man Cave, but she doesn't want to wake up to that every day.

They're in negotiations.

Matt and Sophia

Sian, Nathan, and my darling grandson, Tyler, are doing well. Nathan got a good full-time job, and he's also attending another year of college. They're happy, and my grandson is, of course, adorable and smart and hilarious and perfect.

You can see his mischievous self in that raised eyebrow and little smirk, can't you?

Nathan, Tyler, and Sian

Gabrielle and Raine are plugging along, as well. They adopted one of my parents' cats, and the cat, Midnight, is very loved and gets plenty of snuggles and pettings on Gabrielle's lap (not that Midnight wasn't happy at my parents' house, where she was also loved and petted). Raine found a full-time job in the automotive department at a newly built Costco, and Gabrielle is still doing the workload of seven women, trying to fulfill the sometimes impossible promises made by the salesmen she works for. She is scouting for another job, however, as working for salesmen is a terrible deal for anyone other than the salesmen: they promise the moon to the customers--essentially dropping a bomb onto their fulfillment teams--and then spend a lot of their time congratulating themselves on their sales successes by golfing and refusing to do one iota of extra work to help clean up their messes. Been there, done that. I told Gabrielle to get out now before the whole company implodes. She heartily agrees. Her stress levels are almost unbearable, despite the cat.

Husband built a new deck onto the back of our house over the summer. The old one that came with the house was poorly built, so Husband did the research, bought the supplies and equipment (so much more expensive now than a few years ago!), and put up one himself, with the help of his dad and Joseph. All that remains to be done is staining/protecting the wood and putting up a little privacy lattice, as our back yard faces the street behind our house, and all the people living in those houses can see right into our yard from their front windows. It makes me feel very exposed, so I don't spend a lot of time hanging out in the back yard. This deck is so nice. I'm so proud of Husband for doing such a great job.

Husband and Joseph putting on the final touches. 

You're still here? I'm impressed and gratified!

In case you were wondering, yes, I'm still losing weight. I'm down about 25 pounds total now since the beginning of June. That's not a lot of weight lost given the time frame, but there was a vacation in there where it took a couple weeks to get fully back on track, and I occasionally eat too much pizza. But otherwise, I am very much still loving the keto/intermittent fasting approach. I was eating only one meal a day, which was easy, but I realized I wasn't eating enough in the day, so I added a small high fat/high protein mini-meal for lunch, and that seemed to speed up the weight loss process immediately. I'm all for eating more in order to lose weight!

Ok. That's it for now. I hope you have a wonderful day!