It has been an extremely hectic week full of countless ups and downs!
Since last Saturday (well, last Wednesday, technically), I have:
1) Interviewed for a full-time veterinary technician position in State College
2) Been offered and accepted the vet tech job
3) Moved back to State College
4) Began working at the veterinary clinic
5) Began babysitting for a 12 year-old boy and 11-year old girl
6) Resigned from the veterinary clinic (see below for details...)
and
7) Been host to my body's raging and uncontrollable hormones
(thus, frightening my fiance - I'm so sorry, babe!!)
Needless to say, it has been a BIG sigh of relief to be at home in the company of my family again, even if it is only for the weekend.
To expand on the vet tech thing...
I had received an email from a veterinary clinic in State College Monday. The woman in charge had found my resume on Indeed.com and reached out to me stating she would be interested in setting up an interview. I called her Tuesday and an interview was scheduled for Wednesday. Although I switched out of majoring in veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences my sophomore year, I still love animals very much and loved being a vet tech during previous employment. I was also so stoked to find out that this was a full-time position! The interview went well and I received a call the next day saying that I was being offered the job. I'll be honest: I was hesitant about taking the job - ideally, I was hoping to find a pharmaceutical sales job in State College, but since I don't have my "official" degree until the end of August, that wasn't going to happen. I was hesitant because I had my own "plan" for the summer, which included:
babysitting until June 8th in State College
coming home and working at Victoria's Secret until the beginning of August
having plenty of time to spend with my family and my "sisters" at work
being free and able to actively plan the wedding
However, I figured that there was a reason I was being offered this job, so I sucked up my reservations and accepted the position. I started Monday, working again on Tuesday, and resigned on Wednesday. I won't go into to much detail on here except to say that the position I was offered was different than the one I was actually training for. I wasn't very thrilled about the job (the pay and the hours were less than desirable) and was also looking at a very busy summer and needed a good amount of time off (wedding, family vacation, etc.). I told them that I thought it would be fair to both myself and the clinic if I didn't continue there. Thankfully, it ended amicably between me and my supervisor. I can now breathe a huge sigh of relief.
One good thing about this week was that I started babysitting for two very neat kids, Ryan and Kate. Ryan is a very intelligent, respectful kid and Kate is extremely talented and energetic. I took over the babysitting responsibility when Rachael had to leave to support her husband in his soccer career (best of luck, Daniel!). This week with the kiddos has been extremely eye-opening. For starters, I need to get accustomed to their energy! Kate is especially active and loves doing gymnastics. She and I have been working on a back handspring and she did one all by herself on Tuesday! Unfortunately, she's doing what I used to do when I was learning mine and overthinking way too much - she still needs me to spot her. Ryan is incredibly passionate about everything he talks about. He cracked me up on Friday when I picked him up from school by telling me he got his first girlfriend, but he doesn't know her name and already "has to" break up with her! Ohh, the love life of a 6th grader!
I snuck a picture of Ryan sleeping after I picked him up from school.
Must have been a rough day!
Kate and I went to her school's park on Thursday to swing and play on the equipment.
I'm so impressed by her strength and energy!
There was a blood drive in her school's gymnasium, so we snuck in and Kate showed me her classroom.
We also made sno-cones!
I have been learning a lot about these kids, but even more about myself. I used to be "anti-kid," meaning that I didn't see myself ever having any (mostly as a result of the customers at VS who would bring in screaming children and fail to discipline them or pay attention to their needs. I still run to hide in the back room every time a kid comes into the store...). To put it simply, I considered myself too selfish and immature. Boy, does that change in a heartbeat! Obviously these two are not my kids, but when I'm around them, I want to make them happy and make sure they are excelling in school and having fun and are safe. For instance, Ryan has been constantly bullied at school and, from what their father has been telling me, it is becoming pretty severe. Just hearing that makes my blood boil! I can imagine being a parent is extremely difficult at times, but I now know how any fears or any "bad day" can be made better with a simple hug and a smile. To me, the sacrifice is worth it.
I was sitting in the carpool lane on Friday and was looking around at all the mothers who were there in their SUVs or mini-vans to pick up their kids. I thought about their lives as stay-at-home moms (I was assuming that's what they were...) and pictured them picking their kids up, helping them with their homework, taking them to wrestling practice (again, just assuming...), and keeping them safe and loved. I am probably imagining a glorified version of the work these women
really do, but I immediately felt this warm feeling of gratitude and desire. I don't understand the feeling of gratitude yet, but I know that in that moment I desired to be able to do the things these women were doing.
Don't worry, Matt... I'm not saying August 11th we have to make this dream a reality, but having a family of my own is now a heck of a lot more desired... in about 3+ years! ;)
