Quick Life Update

I've enjoyed the last 5 months off from work immensely. It's allowed me to rest and recuperate from a rather intense and stressful job and just get reacquainted with myself.

One thing I obviously did was stay off blogger. I was pretty much off social media entirely. And it was heavenly. I was able to gain some new perspective, figure out what interests of mine were being used as a coping mechanism for stress, and so forth. I did a lot of growing, just as a result of the layoff circumstances. God has been very gracious.

In other news, I start a new job next Monday! Unlike my previous roles, I'm not going to go into specifics about the company or the position other than to say that it is still with an NGO. I'm excited to start and see where it leads.

I am now a business owner. My earrings boutique is called Butterflies and Bows Boutique and is proving very successful. I make primarily dangle earrings although I did branch out into little post earrings for my last craft fair and they were quite popular so I'll keep with that trend. They're super fun to put together anyway, so I enjoy that. But dangle earrings are still my favorite. Click here to visit my etsy shop if you're at all interested. I only have about 1/8 of my inventory online so I'll be working on that the rest of the month. I've sold roughly about 175 pairs of earrings so far, a lot in person at craft fairs, but several online too so that's been a lot of fun.

Which leads me to the last update, which is, I finally caught covid. Or it caught me. Not sure how that works. Anyhow, I tested positive this week so I'm just keeping a low profile. Thankfully my new job will allow me to work remote whenever needed so I don't need to worry about that. And my brain is working just fine. It's this darn sore throat and sinus pressure that's the most annoying. I did have to bail out on a craft fair this weekend which I'm not happy about, but I do realize life happens so I just let it go. 

I just finished reading Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express for the first time so there should be a post with my thoughts coming out on that sometime soon for my Agatha Christie Project.

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The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (1936)

It's hard to believe that The A.B.C. Murders is #13 in Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series, yet there it is. It is the story of a serial killer running rampant through England killing people in the chronology of the alphabet. So Mrs. Ascher is murdered in Andover and Betty Barnard is murdered in Bexhill, and so on and so forth. Clearly a madman is behind the murders, and like most serial killers, this individual must write a letter to someone, either to give them a sporting chance at stopping them or to gloat over their genius. The recipient of said letters is, naturally Hercule Poirot, and so he partners with the police on this manhunt.

The A.B.C. Murders is undoubtedly intriguing, but it would have been more so if it hadn't been for Captain Hastings as the storyteller. I've only really read one or two other Poirot novels, so I found Hastings to be quite the irritant. This is a shame, because I love Hastings in the series with David Suchet, but found him irksome in this novel.

Poirot was his usual genius self, as expected, and I enjoy that he has a twinkle in his eye and good humor about many things as the story progresses. I heard Suchet's voice in my head and enjoyed envisioning an episode of the series that I know remarkably well.

Agatha Christie is quite the master craftsman. The plot is excellent from start to finish and based on my understanding, she developed the ending first and them worked backwards, which makes a lot of sense and is probably the best way to write a solid mystery. If you're not familiar with this story then you may have some surprises in store.

The copy of The A.B.C. Murders in the photo is one that I newly acquired. It is a HarperCollins edition and was available for purchase from England through Waterstones. I love the art deco cover style and am pleased with the quality.

I am very slowly reading Agatha Christie novels as part of my personal Agatha Christie Project. Emphasis on the slowly. And clearly I am not reading them in any particular order.

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Next steps

I interviewed for an entry level IT position today, at the same ministry where I worked previously. Both gentlemen were engaging and warm types of individuals, so that was terrific to encounter. I wasn't nervous at all and we had a solid conversation going. I'm not sure what will happen, but I am very pleased with my interview and am grateful to have had the opportunity. Let me reiterate again in case I haven't said it enough. I love the ministry where I've worked for almost a decade. I want to continue to work for them. Just not in the position I held prior or for the department I previously worked with. IT would be a completely different set of management and if what I saw in the interview is indicative of the trend for management styles in IT, then I think it's a positive working environment.

I don't believe in crossing my fingers for anything, but I do believe that this situation is in God's hands and if I'm meant to start a career in IT, then it will happen.

Meanwhile, the data entry team of people at my local pro-life pregnancy center have been tons of fun to work with. We're a diverse group of ages, which I prefer, and all of our youngsters are college boys. Those conversations are lots of fun to be a part of and also very interesting. It's easy to lose confidence and hope based on what you see as trending on Twitter or TikTok. But these young men, almost boys, are passionate Christians who want to serve the Lord in all seriousness. They're also crazy fun to talk to. So it's been a really lovely experience for the last week and a half. It was also nice to have additional income on top of my severance. And now I consider myself trained on the Etapestry data software system so that's cool.

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An overcast day in Colorado

We'd had an abundance of rain in Colorado for the last few weeks and it's turned our usually brown plants a very nice and lush green. It's not quite like Oregon, but it's still close enough that I'm enjoying the weather patterns right now. For those who don't know. I spent 6 of my childhood years on the Oregon coast, so I'm very familiar with wet and rainy weather. Folks in Colorado aren't accustomed to it so I can see a little emotional strain happening with all of the cloud cover.

I spent a good portion of the day today with my mother. We went to a local tea house that is owned and operated by a couple of Christian ladies. If you're ever in Colorado Springs, I highly recommend you checking out Festivitea. They have their own delicious tea blends and you have the freedom to be spontaneous because reservations aren't required for a basic cream tea. The cost is about $10 for a small pot of tea and a scone. The scones are very much American style, which is fine, and they're quite tasty. They do book full teas as well, but those require reservations. 

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Watching Amazon's Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets

Disclaimer: The people who suffered at the hands of the Institute in Basic Life Principles are victims. Their stories are their stories and I will never demean or diminish those stories. What happened to each of them was horrific and absolutely grieves my heart. So anything said in this post is not aimed at these people who suffered.

I knew next to nothing about the Duggar family. My family was never interested in reality tv. In fact, I kinda hate it. But I love true crime, which is why I watched Shiny Happy People at all. True crime tends to reveal the worst about humanity, and sometimes it is done with excellence and sometimes it is done poorly. This series falls somewhere in the middle.

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When God closes a door . . .

 

Ya'll may or may not have noticed that I've been missing in the month of May. Almost sounds like a song! I've had some life changes going on, things that I didn't foresee happening and have shaken me quite a bit. I'm in a calmer state right now and today is the first day of the rest of my life.

My workplace had a restructure and in the shifting of positions, my job was eliminated. Or rather, they made some alterations and moved only some of the roles from my team to a new team. People had to reapply, but as the opportunity came up, I knew it was time for me to let go. I've been in my role for almost 4 years, and the last 2 or 3 years have been hard. I haven't really loved my work for at least that long and it's worn me out. So I chose not to apply. My three teammates who I love dearly got the three available positions and I am so relieved for them. As for me, well, today is my final day with my organization.

My personal laptop is literally on its last legs so I knew I wanted to get one more post in on my speedy work laptop before I turned everything in at the front desk. This has been a hard season for me. I found out on May 4th and my emotions have been all over the place every since. I trust that God's got this, that He's got me. But it doesn't make this experience any less difficult and painful. I've served in this ministry for almost a decade. The people here are like family. It's comfortable and warm and safe. The world out there is a scary one. 

But I am ready to do something different. I don't know what, but something other than technical writing.

I start at a temporary data entry position at a local pro-life pregnancy center next Wednesday. Just for a month to give me something to do and I can still earn a little money. I have a severance package that will easily last me 8 months or so. That's a huge blessing. But I can't see around the corner of my life and that is God teaching me to trust Him in this desert time. I'm excited and terrified all at once.

A friend of mine, also someone who was released during the restructure, is giving me her old laptop since she bought a new one right at the beginning of May, right before the news. So this new one will be only 7 years old vs. 20 years old. I'll share some things in my journey, as I learn and discover myself apart from my job. Because I want to know who I am and not just let my identity be completely wrapped up in what I do.

Blessings to all of you and I'll touch base later. I still need to read those last few posts you made for the Children's Classic Literature Party, sorry it's taken me so long to get those read. 

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Children's Classic Literature Party Wrap-Up Post

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Classic Children's Literature Party! You can read all the associated posts and book reviews in the Mister Linky here!

My plan is to read over the remaining book reviews and thoughts next week and comment on them, but I'm thrilled that we had a chance to read some old favorites and try some new books. I hope you enjoyed the time spent.

I'll ponder formatting for next year's event, which will also be held in April. I'm thinking maybe extending to all children's literature instead of just classic children's literature. Any thoughts or preference on keeping it classic children's literature or extending it to all children's literature? And as I've had a chance to think about it, movie adaptations of children's literature do play an integral role in childhood. I mean, the reason I decided to read The Hobbit was because I had seen the animated film first. The same with The Princess and the Goblin, although the book for that is waaaaaaaay better. 

Ivy Miranda, I think I'll integrate your idea next year, and we can enjoy some in-depth discussions on what our favorite film adaptations are of children's literature and why!

Anyway, that's a wrap for this year! Blessings to everyone and thanks again for participating!

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