Back At the Beginning

I am back where I started and it is a good place to be.

My first job outside of college was at the church which grew me through my formative years and took me back in after my wayward college years. When I most needed a job, I found one in the music ministry. It was not a glamorous job by any means, but no other job I have ever held has equaled it for benefits.

The people I worked with in that ministry taught me what it was to walk with the Lord. They showed me what being an adult Christian looked like and I was blown away by the honest truth of it. I found myself again during that time. It laid me on a path from which I would occasionally stray, but that I would never abandon.

I was just a secretary, but in that job I found family and friends and love. They taught me how to live life well and love others and to do so with joy.

I have had jobs since then. Jobs where I did good, but which were mostly about me. Jobs that I loved and that loved me back, but they were still mostly about what I did and what I could do. I was great at being a librarian, but I allowed my pride to take a large role in my life during that time and it was not a pretty thing most days. Pride never is.

I have been given the opportunity again to do something meaningful. To work behind the scenes and serve. I have a new job. I am the Women’s Ministry Assistant at my church. Yes, I am a secretary ten hours a week, but do not let the title or the small hours deceive you. It is a job in which all my efforts work towards the end goal of loving and serving others. All those benefits and I will still have time to serve my family and write.

I have the blessing of working in the family that has already been loving and shepherding me for many years now. My job will free the time of others to spend more time in service, something all believers are called to do. Love and serve.

I am back where I started and it is a great place to be.

Read Full Post »

Constellation is Dead!

In case you haven’t heard yet, today President Obama released his fiscal year 2011 budget proposal.  In this proposal he calls for a cancellation of the NASA Constallation program.  For those not familiar, that includes the Orion crew vehicle, the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, and the Altair lunar lander.  Altair hasn’t really gotten off the ground yet and Ares I has been under scrutiny from the beginning.  Orion is the program that I work on.  I left my job in engineering support for Johnson Space Center to come back to Lockheed Martin because I wanted to get in on the ground floor of the new program.  The Shuttle was going to be retired, that was sure.  The US had to have something and Orion was the only current plan (it still is) so I thought fairly certain that it would not get cancelled like so many NASA vehicles before it (Venture Star, Crew Return Vehicle, …).

Well, it looks like that day may have come and I am not sure what future lies for my career.  This is only the proposal and it has to make it through congress, which has stated in the past that it has a different view point.  So, we will see how this drama plays out.  Of course, we are still getting the “heads down, eyes forward” speeches from upper management, but what else can they say.

–Ries, have you seen my resume?

Read Full Post »

NASA Budget Looks Grim

Ries sent me the link to an article from the Wall Street Journal this morning. The NASA budget has been under review and we have been waiting to hear some news. We knew it would not be good, but it is worse than I thought it would be.

Ries currently works on the Orion project, one of the things rumored to be on the chopping block. Much of the local economy here is tied to NASA and I know there are a lot of families in the same situation as us. When you work for a government contractor, this situation is not unique or new, but it is worse than usual because the shuttle program ramp down means that there were already a lot of people who were going to be let go and these new cuts are on top of that.

We are both going to start brushing up our resumes, just in case. We know that God provides in all things.
Please pray for all the NASA families.

Read Full Post »

The Internets: I miss you, sorta

Finally!

Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyre

I have learned that once I put Gideon to sleep, I have to wait about 10 minutes to see if it is for real. Sometimes, he is only cat napping and wakes up once he realizes Momma has put him down. Shameful Momma. Today, he has been awake and marathon eating, seriously one stretch was almost two hours, all day. I am hoping this nap takes so I can shower and have an afternoon snack. At least, he is good, quiet, and alert when he is awake.

I am still trying to find hours in my day for the things for which I used to always have time. And by things I mean the Internets. I keep telling people this and they keep sympathizing, but that is not the real issue. I have writing to do, some with deadlines. Things to read. Research to do. But I seem to never even have time to properly answer email. Of course, you may point out, I do find time to ramble on and on here. Exactly. I know I need to do all these things, but it is hard to make myself CARE about them. These are things I still love, but I ignore them willingly.

I knew that time would be precious once Gideon was here. People tell you that and you do not understand until they are actually here, sucking on your boobs for two hours while you sit in front of TV because what the hell else are you going to do? Sadly, I watched Ice Princess on the Disney channel today and not even Michelle Trachtenberg‘s presence in the movie made my brain feel less rotten at the end. What I did not know, and what no one told me, was that not only is it hard to find time to do things you need to do, like work, but you do not want to think about anything other than diapers, naps, and babies. Well, your baby anyway.

Now I am stuck wondering how I am going to shake this funk and get back into the swing of things, because I need to be swinging into some projects right meow. I know this is new Mommy hormones yadda, yadda, yadda. Those things that make it ok to get up every two hours, all night. Oooo boy and am I ever thankful for them. Otherwise I would be a troll of a woman about now. I just wish they would ease up when I need to start thinking about how technology effects libraries and the way people interact with them or about all that committee work I have been ignoring.

Other Moms: How did you get back to business without losing your mind? Or maybe, how did you find it again?

I have written all this and heard not a peep from the wee one. That means the nap is taking and he should sleep for at least two hours. Hallelujah. I am going to go take a shower.

Read Full Post »