Update on GJFD

Ben passed his physical agility test last week with the best time of the day, and also did very well on his written exam. The next and most important step will be the interview, which he has scheduled for a late Friday afternoon in June (hopefully the EMT instructors won't mind him missing one Friday, since the whole point of taking the class is to get hired with the City of Grand Junction). Thank you for your prayers!

Spring

Experiencing all of the repeating joys of spring this year--the smell of the Russian olive, the warmer days, my beautiful children playing outside, the sunlight on the carpet--makes me realize how down and depressed I was last year. Abby was a few months old, a delight unfolding before my eyes, and I could barely contain my sadness and negativity. I experience the same stimuli this year and as I brace for the sadness....waiting....I realize with relief that instead I am enjoying the smells, the warmth, the beauty, the expectation. Thank you, Lord!

EFM

When my sister in law became a stay at home mommy, she sent out an email notifying everyone of her new status as Domestic Engineer. I love that! I have worn the title proudly for 4 years now, and would like to share with BlogLand that I have recently completed my certification for Expert in Fluids Management. I have logged countless hours and passed practicums for such courses as "Overseeing the Toddler Peeing", "Sippy Cups 101", "The Big Bang: Diaper Explosion", and "Vacation Vomit: How Will You Deal With It?". Thank you, thank you. Interested in obtaining your certification? Contact me!

Works for me: Fun with Diapers

My cousin (in-law?) Katey gave me a starter kit for gDiapers during Spring Break, and I'm having so much fun using them! I had wanted to try the gDiapers (I'm a sucker for nifty packaging) but couldn't justify the cost/effort of changing our system. But with a FREE starter kit as a gift.....well, if I bought another starter kit that would make them half price, right? =) So, now I have green, blue, ivory, and red. Then I had to get the purple and brown because they are so darn cute. Then when the flushable inserts ran out, I discovered that they are rather pricey--$0.40 each! So, I invested in 18 cloth microfiber inserts from Bumgenius. They fit great in the g-diaper and so far are working wonderfully. Easier to use than a pre-fold and thinner/more absorbant. Plus, Abby was getting a painful rash with the cotton diapers. I also ordered these rice paper liners and Charlie's soap. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing, right?

Let me just say, the rice liners rock! It's a little time consuming to wrap them around the microfleece but they are soooooo worth it if she poops. And the most incredible, fabulous, amazing thing--they are washable (up to 3 times)! If it's a pee-only diaper, I just toss the whole rice paper wrapped microfiber insert in the diaper pail and wash like normal, then line dry. How can a flushable, biodegradable piece of paper be washable? Amazing but true.

I am enjoying the G-diaper/cloth system now that I have all the parts...but I do find it a bit time consuming to assemble everything, make sure there are enough clean parts, and take care of the dirty stuff. I bet that regular cloth diapers would be less tedious (but probably more expensive). Right now the novelty still outweighs the annoyance. And I just bought a camping wind-up clothesline for the laundry room--it makes me smile to hang up the liners with the wood clothespins. It's the little things, right?

More fun stuff back at Rocks in my Dryer.

Test day this Friday

Ben will be taking the written and physical agility tests Friday April 25th. If you think if him/us, pray that he does well.

Career change?

This is my latest conversation starter: Have I told you that Ben's thinking of being a firefighter? Really, truly! Teaching public school is difficult to say the least. He loves math and enjoys interacting with the kids, but there are many, many downsides. 1. The pay is ridiculously low. 2. The hours he needs to put in to do a great job are too high. 3. Little to no responsibility for learning is placed on the student's shoulders. Kids are failing? Must be the teacher's fault! Differentiate your instruction! It couldn't be because they're not trying.
We read an article in Time Magazine last fall about job satisfaction, and firefighters are #3, at about 57% "Very Satisfied". So Ben started thinking about it. Several of our friends work for Grand Junction Fire, and I interact with GJFD all the time in the ER. It seems like a great fit. 1. To match the starting pay as a firefighter, he would have to complete his master's degree and have 8 years of service with the school district. Does our society really value education that little? 2. He would only work 10 days a month. Of those days, 8 hours on the weekdays are structured, but the remaining time is his to sleep, work out, relax, or hang out with co-workers (and be on call). 3. What a cool job! Everyone loves firefighters. They're the good guys. They save your life, property, kids, or cat. They whoosh in, work hard, then go home.
So, we are going to camp/live in Crested Butte, Colorado for the month of June while Ben takes his Wilderness EMT class. (Sidebar: Anyone want to come visit? You can pitch your tent in our campspot!) We've heard that GJFD will start a new hiring process this April, with a new fire academy class starting in September. If you remember us, please pray that God will provide a job opening for Ben.

The 1-2-3 meme

I've been tagged by Rebecca!

The directions are:

1) Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2) Open the book to page 123.
3) Find the fifth sentence.
4) Post the next three sentences.
5) Tag five people.


The book is Captivating by John and Stasi Eldridge, which we are reading in our Mom's Bible study group.

The context is Luke 10:38-42, the story of Martha and Mary, when Jesus says "Martha, Martha, you were worried about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

"Some of you might have heard teaching that is was one simple casserole dish, that Martha was busy making a complicated meal when only a simple food was needed. No. That is not what Jesus is saying."

Leaving you hanging? Here's the rest of the paragraph.

"Jesus has again spoken straight into the heart of the matter. The one thing that is needed is a captivated, adoring heart, a heart that responds to the extravagant love of God with worship."

Now I need to tag 5 people. Hmmm. Since this is my first post in months I'm not sure if anyone will read this! So, leave a comment and I'll tag you. =)