Finally It Happened to Me!

Well today is the first day of the rest of my life ;). How cliche.

Today was full of events to proclaim. Well, okay... Maybe there weren't all that many. But there were some events. One of them was the email I got from the public library saying that Ender's Game was waiting for me at the library. To say I was ecstatic is an understatement! I had visions of me curling up with the book and finishing it tonight. (I think I'm a loser after reading back over this paragraph, but oh well...). Those visions were quickly dashed when I made it all the way to the library and found out they were closed until 1. That's what I get for assuming. I mean, what main branch of a library doesn't open all day on a weekday? But then I must remember that budget cuts hit libraries in a particularly nasty way. Economic hardships are not friendly, ever, to the public library. Shoot... Economically good times aren't especially favorable to most library systems in my experience. It's a sad fact, really. But I digress. So I drove all the way over there to have my hopes dashed. And since they closed at 5, I couldn't pick the book up after work either. This will help to remind me to check the hours next time. I didn't learn my lesson the first time I did this either, but that was with the downtown branch, so it has different hours anyway. But still, I could learn the lesson of looking up the hours online before heading over!!! So, tomorrow is the day then. Tomorrow I will go check out the book. Yay!

The other awesome event is the reason for the blog post title (which is a song title post). (Although I just realized that the whole Ender's Game thing is also applicable :)). I finally got a job in the library world again! Woohoo! It is a part-time job in the same town where I volunteer at the middle school. I will continue to work at the funeral home, and I am glad for that. I love my job. Thinking of having to leave it and the people there had made me sad. So I'm glad that, at least for now, that isn't an issue. I have a foot in the door in libraries here now, so that is good. I got the phone call this morning and they offered me the job. And this is why I mentioned the other day that I talk way too much with my hands when I'm nervous. I noticed the hand-talking a lot during my interview. So anyway, I have to give a world of thanks to Mary, Annie, and Donna for being my references and for letting me know they had gotten phone calls! And I know this is seemingly out of the blue. But I got so tired of mentioning jobs I applied for; jobs I interviewed for; and then having to say, "No, I didn't get it." It made me feel like a total loser. So, I've kept quiet about things of that nature (not that there has been a whole heck of a lot of library job openings in my area for which I applied), because I just didn't want to have to do that again and again.

Perks of the job: It's a 2nd job and supplemental to the one I have. It's a foot in the door of the library world. I'm back in the public library world, where I haven't really been for almost 6 years, and I have missed it. I will now know when Tess Gerritsen will come out with her new book. Or what the best-sellers are. Yep, I've been out of the loop for far too long, and I've felt it.

"Downfalls" of the job (circumstantial/situational, not the job itself, mind you ;)): Schedule is Tuesday through Saturday, which means I will no longer be receptionist on Saturdays at the funeral home. Not that I'm totally bummed about it, I just feel bad that they have to readjust. And also I will miss working with Mary every 3rd Saturday. I will, however, enjoy having part of the day off on Saturdays. This also means I definitely will not be able to make the New Moon party with my dear Alabama friends. I knew this was likely true for other reasons, but this pretty much nips it in the bud. I will be sad to miss it. But I will be there in spirit! And, there's always Eclipse, right :)? But thanks anyway to all you lovely ladies who really wanted me to be there -- to the point of saying you'd pick me up at airports from Birmingham to Montgomery to Panama City, FL! You all are awesome! And seriously, I will miss being there to party down with you gals.

The other event of the day was what happened on my way in to work. I had a gift card to this little coffee establishment that is on the way to the funeral home. I'd been scoping it out to see if the only option was drive-thru, because remember, my windows don't roll down. Now, I don't drink coffee, but I won this during the Dirty Santa we played at work in December. And Bob told me that this place had a really good Italian Soda. So, in my days of scoping the place out, I noticed that there was a door, so I figured I could probably go in, even though it wasn't set up as a shop. So, I pulled in there today. Turns out you can't actually go in, but upon closer inspection, there is a walk-up window. So I was pretty excited. So I asked the girl about the Italian Sodas and she told me all the different types and said the orange one was like an orange dreamsicle. That sounded fantabulous to me. So, I got that. Used my gift card. Still have money on it. Yay. Headed for work. Parked my car. Got out of my car with the Italian Soda (which I tasted and it was way good) and my purse and my other bag I take to work with me (because it has things like make-up, in case I want to put it on, and my mp3 player, and my reading book, if I have one I'm currently reading...). Plus I had my keys in my hand. So, I put everything on top of my car to get organized, and when I went to pull my bag back off my car, it knocked off the Italian Soda and it went SPLAT! all over the cement. I was soooo bummed. Honestly, I'm still rather bummed about it. I'm just glad I didn't actually pay for it. And I can go back one more time and try again. This time, I will not put it on top of my car and knock it off :).

So, that's my news. I'm excited. I don't know why it took as long as it did for me to get a library job. I may not ever know. Or maybe I will one day look back and find out why things have been the way they have been. In spite of all the hard times (and during those times, I most definitely don't see it this way, even if I know it to be true), I do know that I have been watched over. I know that things don't happen randomly, but that all things (both the good and the bad) are for my experience and growth. And if I just have faith (I know, easier said than done... at least for me), it will all be ordered for my good.

"Sometimes He lets it rain. He lets the fierce winds blow. Sometimes it takes a storm to lead a heart where it can grow. He can move mountains of grief and oceans of pain. But sometimes He lets it rain." (lyrics by Hilary Weeks)