Baseball, Photos, Projects!

Baseball is in full swing.  They are 7-5 overall, and still going strong with the beards. There was an article in the Washington Post about their beards....you can go to it here:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2015/02/24/george-washington-baseball-team-embraced-no-shave-policy-during-the-offseason/

Chris is in California this week with the baseball team.  My mom went to their game against Long Beach State on Wednesday, and of course....Chris gets a goodie bag!!!! Yesterday the team went to the Santa Monica Pier and this weekend they are playing Cal State Northridge.  My brother, Scott, and his family went to the game today, and after the game, my nephew, Kaleb, ran to the fence and started calling out, "hey Uncle Chris!" to all the boys because they all have beards and all look alike right now!  Chris snuck up behind my family and surprised them!

Chris has taken his hobby of photography to new levels.  It has been so fun to watch him taking pictures, editing them posting them, and being so creative with all of this!  We created a website showcasing his pictures.  The link is ctdpix.com....check it out!  We have also made mini-dates watching sunsets, or stopping at the monuments before work on my snow days.  He also went to Arlington Cemetery while I was coaching, and during a snowstorm last week, Chris went down to the National Mall after work to take pictures!

Now on to projects....I'm making tshirt blankets!!!!!  SIX t-shirt blankets to be exact!  One from Utah State, one from LPHS (the high school where I taught English and coached soccer and track in Utah), one of my club and camps, and other random little things I did while I was in Utah, and two blankets from my travels.  I don't own a sewing machine, so I am looking into borrowing one, and I'm just doing this a little bit at a time.  My goal this weekend is to get the shirt squares cut so I have that done and I can free up some of this space that all these shirts are taking on the floor of our apartment!  I figured, since Chris is gone this week, it was the best week to make a mess and start to tackle this project!  I've wanted to do this for SO long!  I'll update as I move along!

Why I Really Left...

I read a great article today about a CEO of a company who just had her first child, and she realized that all of the judgements she had on mothers she worked with or interviewed, were in fact wrong.  Family didn't come first...why would it?  She was single.  But then she got married and had a child...and that changed everything.  She understood the adjustments her coworkers made to work a full day and be able to leave early enough to pick up their children, she came to understand why they didn't show up for happy hour, and she realized that mothers were the people getting it done.

It is called:  Female Company President:  I'm Sorry to All the Mothers I Worked With.

Even though I am not yet a mother, I left college coaching because I was basically told I had to make a decision between work and family.  I was asked to change the date of my wedding so I could recruit.   It was suggested I delay my honeymoon for 6-12 months so I could be in the office.    I was told that the expectations being set before me were "part of the job," but was it really?  Then the statement that put the nail in the coffin for me, "If there ever is a conflict between work and your personal life, work will always win regardless of the circumstances."  I asked what if my husband's mom passed away?  I will need to go with him to North Carolina to help with the funeral and to be there to support him. Or what if I had a sick child and Chris was on the road? Because my child can't go to day care sick, I would need to be at home to take care of my child.  The answer was the same...work will always come first regardless of the circumstances.   Then the question arose of whether or not this was the right place for me and maybe that was something we needed to revisit after season was over.

My answer was easy....it's not the right place for me if I am told that I have to make a decision between work and family.   That statement was my ticket out, and was also a good indicator that my values completely contradicted what was asked and expected of me, and because that was even an issue with my immediate supervisor, it was time to look for another job.   I stuck it out for that season due to my co-worker needing to quit due to a family emergency.  I wasn't about to leave the girls two weeks before season.  That was not right.  I assumed that finding a full time teaching job would not be in the cards in November.  I  applied for teaching jobs knowing that returning to teaching, though I didn't want to at the time, was the best decision I could make for the future of our family.  Chris was hesitant at first.  He wanted me to stay on since we worked at the same place and we loved that....but as time went on, he knew that my decision was the right move.  We began to plan financially since there was a liklihood that I would have to substitute teach until the end of the school year.  But Heavenly Father was watching over us.  When I interviewed at Twain, I was told it would be a full time position.  The principal told me that he wanted me on staff, asked when I could start, and told me that he respected my commitment to finish out the season with the team.  He was able to arrange with the district my start date to be after season was over.

I'm grateful to now be back in a profession that recognizes that family comes first.   Even those who are single don't question a woman who needs to take the day off to attend to her sick child, actually, come to think of it...no one questions anyone who takes a day off for being sick, to take a quick trip for a family emergency or just to get an early start on the road.  It is a relief and a breath of fresh air.