Excitement........

Lots of stuff going on around here - a lot of my time has been spent on going through stuff around the apartment and condensing, sorting out, cleaning, etc.   Can't believe how many bags of stuff I've hauled out to the trash already and I know there is more to come over the next 4 weeks.

The biggest news is that I have received the formal job offer for the job that I interviewed for back in June when I was in Dallas Tx.   I will start working at the company on 8/16, and will leave Wyoming on the 10th.   Should be unloading on the 13th into some sort of a house if all goes well.   Thankfully I'm workign with a realtor this move to find a rental, and have friends that have said that they would be willing to check out any housing possibilities for me since I can't make a trip down there to see them myself before I get there on the 12th.

In between all of the cleaning (and soon to be packing!) I've been sewing because that is how I handle stress best!   Some of the things I've finished up this week - include more scrub tops including 2 featuring dinosaurs and one in a patriotic print.

Next up were three kitchen towels embellished with pieced strips.  Two blue ones (someone gave me the pieced strip, but can't remember who).   And then a green check one embellished with a strip that I got in a scrap bag while in Dallas this summer.  All of these will end up as gifts at some point.













Next up was a zippered bag that I'm going to use to hold my cross-stitch to help carry it while traveling.  The pencil pouch I'd been using was too small to hold some of the kits I've got to make up, hence the need for a bigger one.    the fabric on the outside is a home dec (with the feathers) and a black quilting cotton.  Inside is a a black pre-quilted fabric from a scrap that I had laying around.  Added a couple of extra pockets to it so I'd have somewhere to put my needles and scissors.


Gratitudes:

1.   I received the formal job offer today and accepted it.   Now to get everything going needed for the move.

2. For the friends and family that God has blessed me with.

The ending of an "era"

An "era" is ending for me as I get closer to moving out of my TX house. Moving day came and went yesterday, and most of what was still in the house is now residing in my rented storage unit. Frig and sofa will be moved there sometime this week, exact date depends on when closing gets scheduled for. I need to call the gal I spoke with about rentring a room from so that I have somewhere to move when the short sale closes.

This coming Wed I fly to Oakland CA for a job interview (contract job possibility). Am making the RT all the same day 'cause I had to pay for it..........will be a long day, but Lord willing it will go well. Haven't heard anything about the job possibility in MA............which is a bummer 'cause I'd really like to get that job. Love living out there as well, but will go where ever God opens the door for the next job.

Meanwhile have been enjoying continuing to work on the DWR quilt. Have 2 more full blocks finished and am working on the third. Am also working on making arcs for the next 5 full blocks and 4 quarter blocks. Am planning on taking those with me to applique down as I make the RT trip to/from Oakland next week.

Gratitudes:
1. God has opened the door for a job interview in CA.
2. The phone interview last week went great!

Optimism...........

I've been scheduled for an in-person interview (3rd interview) for a job that I really want on Friday of this week. I'm so thankful to have made it this far in the process and am praying that God will open the door for a job offer as a result.

Meanwhile I'm continuing to pull my hair out dealing with the short sale of this house..........ugh.....

Gratitudes

1. That God is in control of everything and no matter how helpless I feel at times, He will provide all that I need.
2. For all of my friends, both near and far, who are praying for the interview to go well.

It's Monday.....

Am still waiting to get feedback from the in-person interview I had on the 10th for a perm job here in the Dallas area. And while it seemed to go ok to me, the longer I end up waiting for a response the more I wonder if I totally stunk in it and the only news that I'll get will be a rejection. Ugh................ I'm continuing to wait on and trust in God, and know that He will always supply my needs even when I have no earthly idea of how he is going to do so. Am still waiting to hear back on the job possibility in Northern Illinois. Hoping that it hasn't evaporated as well.............

This past Friday I got my car back finally after almost $9400 worth of work was done to it. Thank goodness for insurance - esp. since it's the other guy's insurance that is going to have to pay for it!

Have been continuing to work on getting UFO's finished up. But will write about them in the next post.

And last but not least, thanks go to my niece Bekah for the KreativBlogger award that she gave me last week! I appreciate the thoughts!

Gratitudes:
1. For Gods mercy and grace that he pours out on all of his children.
2. For my car being repaired and back home. And for the insurance that will be paying for the repairs.

Packing Up and Moving to CA

Last week I posted about the car accident that I was in on Monday Night. What I haven't had time to post about was on Tuesday I received a job offer for a contract position in Northern CA and have accepted it. That's the good news.....the bad news is that they have no idea of how long the contract will actually because of things going on at the company where I'll be working. Could be a month or could be 12 months, or I could get out there to find the contract evaporated before I could get there to even start work. You wonder why I accepted the contract and am going to CA when they can't tell me how long it will last? Well I didn't have a choice in reality, because unemployment 'rules' says that I have to take any valid job or I lose unemployment. And that would leave me without an income. Time will tell what God has planned for me.

And to make life more fun, I have a second (in-person) interview with Lockheed Martin the morning of Friday April 10th from 8:30 to noon. The job is a permanent position and one that I'd love to have. Wondering why I'm still following through on the interview - well this job possibility started before the job in CA, and it's one that I would love to have. (Not to mention it's a perm job!) Well, when I accepted the contract position I made it clear to the recruiter that if either this job, or a second possibility in northern Illinois come through, I will accept them and give notice to the job in CA.

One of the things that I have to do as I get ready for the move is to put all of my stuff into storage before I leave TX because the house is for sale and hopefully will be under contract soon. And as I do so, I'm getting what I want/need to take with me ready. Part of that will be my sewing stuff because there's no way I'm gonna go w/o my quilting so that I stay 'sane' in the midst of turmoil. One of the projects that I'm taking is a CQ block. Pics of it are below. I've got a couple of others to get made before leaving because I'm not planning on taking any of my CQ fabrics with me. The stitching that I've done on this piece so far was inspired by a picture of the CQ quilt that won best of show at the AZ Quilters Guild show in March this year. I'm hoping my friend Susan sends me more pics of it because I love the inspiration.

Gratitudes:

1. For the job that God has provided for me.

2. For the 2nd interview that I have this coming Monday.

Hopeful.......

Lots of things have been going on the last couple of weeks. Two weekends ago I went to Austin to visit longtime friends, Pam & George, that are living there now. George was the Pastor of Music at my church in Phoenix for over 20 yrs. I've been privaledged to know them and to call them friends for over 22 years now. My two days down there was a time of refreshment and I was richly spoiled by them. =) It won't be another 2 yrs before I make another trip down to see them.

On the way back to N. TX where home is on Monday 2/9, I stopped off by other friends to deliver some stuff and ended up having dinner with them and their 3 kids. Another rich time of friendship that I'm thankful for.

The next day, I went to two different job fairs. With the economy what it is these days, both were overwhelmed with the number of people that showed up for them. The first, put on by Dice.com, was not well organized and in a room much too small for the number of people that showed up. The second one. put on by Lockheed Martin, was well organized and moved smoothly. My resume was pulled for a call back for an in-person interview. That was supposed to have happened some time this week. The first one, which I almost didn't attend, has resulted in a phone interview with Interstate Batteries that was represented at the job fair. The phone interview was yesterday, and has resulted in me being scheduled for an in-person interview on Monday, 2/23. Both opportunities are for permanent positions and would be good ones to get. Lord willing I will do well in the interview on Monday, and if it is his will that I would get a job offer from the company.

Meanwhile, the house continues to be up for sale. We've dropped the price several times, but still only three people have looked at it. I've been using the time to really go through things and get rid of things that I don't use/need and don't want to have to pack up and move and/or store again. Things like a mini stereo system that had been packed for 3 yrs, and not used for several yrs prior to packing to move into the house in Phoenix. Didn't think I'd really miss it if it was gone........... Have pulled out a bunch of stuff that I'm going to work on listing on eBay this weekend as well. Hopefully it will sell 'cause I could use the money. Have also listed a bunch of quilt stuff for sale on a yahoo list that I'm on.

Have a bunch of quilts I'd love to sell.........but have been struggling to know where to list them. Etsy is one option, but I haven't sat down and figured out how to list things on it. Anyone else have any good ideas on where to list things like my quilts and quilted postcards for sale?

Gratitudes -
1. That I have a job interview scheduled for this coming Monday.
2. For the long-time friends that God has placed in my life - they are a blessing to me.

Catching up and Finished UFO's

I've been way too quiet lately as I've been dealing with continued unemployment and the job hunt as I try to find a job as an IT Business Analyst. Not to mention trying to sell my house in a depressed housing market. None of which is fun. Thankfully I do know that no matter what God will provide all I need according to His will - including the next job and a buyer for this house.

Getting the house back on the market has meant that i have been decluttering it and getting rid of a lot of stuff that I moved out here and never had time to deal with before. Lots of stuff has been given away on Freecycle. And I'm still pulling more stuff to be gotten rid of. Have a pile of boxes in the garage that are already packed and out the house. Need to do more so that I can declutter more. Have been thinking about what else I'd get rid of in the way of furniture if I end up having to put a lot of this into storage which is a very real possibility or even have to down size. Hard to believe but most of what is in my 3000+ sq foot house was in my little bitty 800 sq ft apartment just a couple of years ago.

Meanwhile, to help keep the stress level down I've been quilting a lot. I'm in a crazy quilt round robin with 4 friends. I finished up what I added to the first one I worked on this week. The picture below shows the work I added to her block.

I also put together a table topper that is going to be a BD present for one of my best friends. Her BD is in April so I won't post a picture of it till then. Am also planning on writing a pattern for it and submitting it to see if I can get it published in a quilt magazine. I've also been working on getting some of the many swap blocks I've had stashed away for years into quilt tops. I'll post in the next post about these.

Gratitudes -

1. That I know God is a loving God and will always supply my needs, in spite of how my circumstances appear to me.

2. That there has been a lot of activity in the job search this past week.