Another update . . . at long last!

**I have been seriously remiss in keeping up this blog! This is a post I started in November but just got around to finishing. What makes it even funnier is that I was behind with my entries when I initially wrote it :) **

Well, everyone, it's been over 2 months since my last post. Since then, we have experienced (and are currently experiencing) some significant changes. The most important of these changes is that Michael and I both now have jobs. Most of you already know about this, but many of you probably don't know exactly what we are doing.
My job is working as a customer service rep for a company that is contracted with TriMet. TriMet, in turn, is contracted with the State of Oregon to provide medical transportation to people who carry either Medicaid insurance or a certain type of the Oregon Health Plan. It has been both challenging and deeply gratifying work--challenging in that I never know who is going to be on the other end of the line when I answer a call (and in what type of temperament they are in!), gratifying because I feel like I am truly helping people who need our service--and who often need extra patience and a willingness on my part to go the extra mile to help them. The job started out as a part-time postition, but a full-time position quickly became available, so I now work 9 hour days, Mon-Thurs, and 5 1/2 hours on Saturday with Fridays and Sundays off. I'm hoping that within a month or two I will be able to change my shift around a little in order to have Saturdays off, so that Michael and I will be able to have 2 days off in a row together--something that hasn't happened in years, since working as a massage therapist almost always means working weekends.

Michael's new job is with a company called Corbin Engineering. I am quite proud of the fact that the owners of the company came looking for him to offer him a position, instead of the other way around. :) One of the owners had worked with Michael a few years ago and knows the quality of his work. Apparently, he and his business partner knew they would soon need a designer on staff (now that businesses are beginning to build things again and they would be contracting for projects), and they thought of Michael and wondered if he was working again or was still unemployed. They talked it over and decided that they could find enough work to hire him now rather than wait until they are really busy and he is already working for someone else. So that is quite a compliment! He works Mon-Fri and is temporarily stationed at a company that designs chips for cell phones. The owners think that that particular project will last at least through the end of the year. Then, hopefully, there will be more projects in the works for Michael to be involved in.

One of the other big changes in our lives involves a huge landscaping project that Michael has more or less been forced to undertake. A few weeks ago, as he was in the process of running cables for his new pride and joy (his XBOX), he discovered that there is water under our house--and not just a little water. In fact, his guess is that there has always been standing water under our house during the rainy season. This, as homeowners, strikes fear in our hearts because where there is standing water, there is bound to be the potential for problems with dry rot and mold. So, Michael, brave soul that he is, has made considerable progress on preparing our back and side yards for installation of a "French drain." What this involves is basically digging a trench that runs along one side of the house, turns and goes under our deck (after many planks of the deck itself have been pulled up) and ends at the fence line at the other side of the house. What makes it even more backbreaking work is that our soil isn't really soil, but mostly clay. Add to that the gigantic rock that Michael uncovered directly in the path of his trench, and what is already a backbreaking job becomes truly miserable. Our friend John came over to help yesterday and the two boys slogged away, chiseling pieces of rock away with their shovels. This morning, 3 yards of gravel was delivered to our driveway. The gravel will go on top of the pipe in the trench and will act as a filter for all the rain yet to come this year. Michael worked all morning on the drain and was still working when I left to go to work at 1:30pm. All his hard work will pay off though, if it means no more standing water under our house. And once again, I am thankful that he has the knowledge and the skill to tackle these home repair projects.

We had a nice Thanksgiving on Thursday at my parents' home in Vancouver. We brought a mushroom and potato dish (something I could eat every day and not get sick of for at least a month), a fruit salad, and an Indian rice salad flavored with nutmeg and orange rind. We also brought some pear sparkling cider--yum! Mom and Dad provided ham, Mom's red Jell-o salad, and pumpkin pie. Needless to say, we all ate very well! We relaxed in front of the fire for a few hours and I scoped out the ads for the next day's shopping. I think the last time I got up early to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving was when I was in high school . . . mostly because I am SO not an early-riser. But this year, I really wanted to get some of the Amelia's organic cotton socks at Fred Meyer that I had tried earlier in the year and loved and I was willing to brave not only the early morning for them, but also the pushing and shoving that Black Friday is famous for. Michael decided that 5am was too early for his blood, so I braved it myself (but I left in time to arrive there just after the store opened, so I wouldn't have to wait outside) and was pleasantly surprised to find that people were generally very polite and conscious of the personal spaces of others. I got my socks, and a package for Michael, then decided to wander around and see what else might be on sale. I can definitely see how someone with a compulsive spending disorder could go hog wild crazy on Black Friday--there were 1/2 off signs everywhere I looked! I kept myself under control, however and even managed to bypass my biggest temptation: the 1/2 price boxes of Christmas lights. Although we have lights for our tree, we've never had them for the outside of our house and I've always admired the simple beauty of the white lights outlining other people's houses. But since we only recently got jobs again, I just couldn't bring myself to make the extra purchase. Maybe next year . . .