Odds and Sods

Jader and I went to the Free Swim Day at our local Desert Wave Pool this afternoon. It is free swimming from 12 noon until 8 pm. I decided to take her this morning after I realized that the library would be closed due to the holiday. We usually go to story time on Monday mornings, but since they were closed, I thought swimming would be a great alternative plan.

We arrived at 11:45 am, trying to beat the rush. I've been to Free Swim Day during the summer, and it was packed! I only wanted to stay for an hour because I wanted Jader to take a nap, and I had bread rising (then baking) in the oven that I needed to get home to.

She absolutely loved swimming. I've taken her to the Wave Pool a couple of times, and the first time she really hated it. She didn't like the waves, or the noise, or even the water all that much. This time, however, I couldn't get her to stay by me. I think she thought that she could swim and kept trying to go into the deeper sections of water. One time she even took a quick, unexpected, dip. She recovered well from it, though she did swallow some water. Scared me half to death, too.

My little girl has grown a lot since she last wore her bathing suit in November. Her Strawberry Shortcake swimsuit is too short, and when I put it on her this morning, her little girlie parts were revealed. I had another swimsuit that is for a 6-9 month old baby that was given to us. We received it after Jader was past that age, and it is a two-piece suit. I didn't want to dress her in a two-piece bathing suit, so to cover her up a little bit better, I put the bikini top on underneath her Strawberry Shortcake suit. It worked perfectly. Albeit, not a fashion statement. Well, not the kind of fashion statement we would choose to make, anyway.

When it was time for us to go, she was kicking and screaming. She just didn't want to leave. That is when I was grateful that the place was packed and so noisy, so nobody could hear her throw a tantrum.

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Last week I sewed some curtains for our bedroom. I was getting tired of trying to sleep at night and having the street light filter into our room. I didn't want the curtains to be too heavy so they wouldn't let sunlight through during the day, but I needed them heavy enough to keep the light out at night. I found the right balance with this fabric. I like the way they turned out, but I can't decide on the length of the curtains. Is there some sort of rule about how long curtains should be? You can't tell from this picture, but the curtains are about two feet longer than the bottom of the window. What do you think about the mustard yellow wall paint? The walls were painted by the previous home owners, and I can't decide if I like it. I like the color at night, but in the morning it just screams yellow. I can't help but wake up happy though, because it's like having bright sunlight in my room in the morning.


















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My boss from Zion called me the other night wondering if I would want to work as a 30 or 60 day emergency hire. He will be short staffed in a week or so due to a new employee not working out. And, he plans on being gone for an undetermined amount of time because his wife is going through some health problems.

My old job was the type that one had to be completely trained to do it, and you couldn't just throw anyone in it. It took months of training until you could be left alone to work, and it had a lot of stress and responsibilities. The situation that he is in, there are only two people that would be able to fill that need. Myself and one other woman.

If I left, this would mean that I would have to be away from Austin for that length of time. I would take Jader with me, and my mom agreed to come and stay with me to help care for her while I worked. Of course, Austin doesn't want me to go. We'd see each other on the weekends, but still, it would be difficult to be away from him. In a normal situation, I wouldn't do it. But, given the fact that he needs someone because his wife is ill and he doesn't have control over that, I have a desire to help. It is in my blood to people please, and this is just one of those times that I feel it is necessary. But, I feel torn, because I feel like I would be abandoning my family to help out another family. What would you do? What is your advice for me?