Thanks, Job Hunting, and Getting Crafty

 Happy Wednesday everyone! Thank you all for your words of support on my last post. They really have helped me, especially on days that I feel like I will not be able to do this. I never imagined myself as a single mom, but that is soon to be reality and it is the hardest thing I have ever had to walk through. 

I have been busy... looking for and applying for jobs. I actually had 3 interviews and 3 job offers last week. One I turned down, as they couldn't guarantee full time hours. This was for a dietary aide position at a senior citizen apartment complex. They could only guarantee about 24-30 hours a week. That is not going to work. Also, the hours were from 2-8 and every other weekend. Not good for a new single mom. 

The second job offer came from a foodservice company that serves a local college. I almost accepted that offer. However, the hours were okay 6-2 for 3 weekdays and then I would have to work EVERY weekend from 6-2. I would never get a weekend off. Also, they couldn't guarantee full time all year, only during the college's academic year. 

The third job offer is from a local childcare center. It is for a lead teacher position, and I would be able to work year-round and get full time hours. Also, it is 5 minutes from my house. No weekends. The pay is a little less than the foodservice company, but it is so much closer to my house. I have been working this week on getting the paperwork done for them. Tomorrow, I have to go get a work physical and a background check and then I can turn all the paperwork in.

So that is where the job search is at. I am scared to death of failing, but I need to have faith that it will all work out. 

In other news, I had my 2 week follow up from my knee surgery. He said it looks like I am healing well. The incision points look good. He gave me some photos that he took during surgery. He said the surgery went well; however, the cartilage damage was more than he thought and what showed on the MRI. There was one area that was bone-on-bone that we need to keep an eye on as I may need another surgery in the future to fix that. Not what I wanted to hear, but it is what it is. 

The area my ortho marked on this photo is the bone-on-bone area where the cartilage has pulled completely away. :( 

I have been trying to stay busy with getting into a new routine of doing more around the house, since I will soon be the only adult here. I have also been planning out some changes that I would like to make once Bill moves out. I have done a couple of small changes so far and I love the new look that they bring. One thing that I did, was I reupholstered the lid to my cedar chest. I was given this chest as a gift when I was a teenager and I have never changed out the padding on the lid. Well, I bought some fabric off Amazon and switched it out. It was super easy to do and felt good to get something done on my to-do list. 

Before

After

I also replaced our downstairs bathroom door curtain. The door is a sliding pocket door, and it has gotten off its hinge inside the wall. Our landlord knows about it and has known about it for some time, but obviously is in no place to fix it. We had an old sheet up, but it looked really tacky. I finally got tired of it and bought a curtain panel and tension rod to replace it. It looks much better in my opinion and was a cheap way to fix the problem. 

Before

After

I have some other projects in the works. I bought a mirror for $10 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to hang in my bedroom to be able to do my hair. (I currently use the mirror that is attached to Bill's dresser that he is taking when he moves out.) My plan is to take the covering off the wood frame and paint it to match my decor. 

I also ordered 2 posters to replace artwork in the living room and dining room. Bill is taking the map artwork that we had on our mantel, and I replaced it with an art poster using colors that I love. 

Before (this was taken last summer but shows the map art that he is taking when he moves)

After (It is really hard to get a good photo without a reflection of the lights from the windows or light)

He also didn't want the sunflower art that we had in our dining room from when we first moved in together) so that got replaced with a Monet poster. I LOVE the blue! 

Before (this was taken before we had the piano but was the only pic I could find with the sunflower art in it) 

After ( I really need to clean off the piano LOL) 

So, life is moving on whether I want it to or not. The kids are keeping me busy, as always. Last week was VBS, where Rebecca and Jacob helped out and Ben attended. This week the boys have football camp in the evenings. That means that I have been cooking our main dinner meal at lunch time. That means that I need finish this up so I can go cook, as the boys are asking "When is lunch?" LOL 

I hope everyone is doing well. And once again thank you for your kind words, prayers and support during all of this time. I appreciate each and every one of you.