Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

We went to Kennedy Space Center last week. We bought annual passes last January. Because of COVID, they got extended, but were still about to expire. So, we went for one final visit; we only went three times all year, so I'm not sure we got our money's worth. Everyone had a good time. We tried out a launch simulator. I verified that it was not like Mission Space before getting on and we all liked it. They had more stuff open than our last visit. Jack especially enjoyed all the exhibits. We will get passes again when they start doing full bus tours (we never got to do that and it's my favorite).

In one of the buildings, they have this slide between floors. Luke was so disappointed it was closed last time and kept saying how he hoped it would be opened this time. He was thrilled!

Two Saturdays ago there was a PTA yard sale at the school. I volunteered to help. I got there early to set up, went to Luke's baseball game and then went back to clean up. People donated a ton of great stuff. I got a few things, including some brand new bed sheets for Jack, brand new sandals for Anna and books for Kara and Luke. Anna came with me at the end of the day and helped with the clean up. While doing so, she was able to grab a few things, including a dress that she is absolutely in love with. It was nice of her to come and volunteer and I was glad she got some fun things as a result. She has turned into such a great kid. We were on an evening walk one night and she commented on how she couldn't believe how difficult she used to be. She definitely had her moments, but fortunately, is maturing now in such a sweet way. Hopefully that holds true as she gets deeper in her teens! 

Kara got to miss school yesterday to go to Universal with Sophia. It was Sophia's birthday and Anita wanted to do something fun. I dropped Kara off at 8am and didn't see her again until after 9pm! They had a great time, but said it was really crowded. Kara said it was more crowded than it has been on our previous visits. But, she still had a lot of fun. After Universal, they went back to Sophia's house for cake and watched part of a Harry Potter movie. 

Anita sent me this picture. Icees for the win!

Meanwhile, I picked Anna up early from school to run some errands with me. She wasn't doing anything her last two classes, and was hoping we could do something fun. When Luke got home, we went to SeaWorld. They gave us free in-park money, so we decided to use it toward samples at their food festival. Jack wanted to stay home, so it was just Thomas and I with two kids. Two kids is so easy! It is easy to find tables and chairs and easy to physically navigate spaces. It is much easier to get everyone to agree. It is just so easy! Obviously, I wouldn't trade our bigger family, but it was a fun little break.

This ice cream was so good!

Foot long chocolate covered pretzel

Today (Saturday) was a big day. Luke's team finished third and thus had their first playoff game. And, they won 11-9! Luke only got to bat twice. He struck out once and got on base (and later scored) during his other at bat. He didn't get the opportunity to make any plays in the outfield. Next week, they get to play for the division championship! 

I only got to see 30 minutes of his game because Anna got invited to ice skate with some friends. She had a great time. And, she was actually pretty good, likely thanks to knowing how to roller blade. It was nice for me to meet her friends and a couple of their moms. And, I was relieved and happy that her friends seem like nice, good kids. 

Education Part 2

Thank you Sarah, Alecia, Debby and Lana for your comments! Since this is more interesting than I thought, I will continue my "how I got where I am post." I will back it up a little to BYU graduation. I graduated in December 1999. As mentioned I graduated with a major in psychology and a minor in business. I knew I wanted to go to graduate school and figured it would probably be an MBA; I was very interested in doing something in human resources. But, I wanted to take some time off and figure out exactly what to do next. So, I went back to Winter Haven. While searching for a full-time job, I signed up with a temp agency and did a little bit of office work with them. If I recall, I did one two-week assignment before getting hired by Marta. I also interviewed with Publix and Manpower (a temp agency). The Publix job was in payroll and not really something I was interested in doing. The Manpower job was working in one of their offices and screening people for temporary jobs, like the one I'd done. I was really interested in that one. They both offered me the positions and I can remember wanting to take the Manpower job. It was the promise of a career, they would train me and it seemed like a good start with human resources. I am not sure why I chose the social work with Marta route. But, I did.

I was still debating between MBA and law school, although after working a bit in the courts, I was leaning toward law school. I decided to see how I did on the LSAT and let that decide. When I got my score back and realized I could go to a good school, it was decided. My dream school was Duke, but I got waitlisted, then rejected. I already talked about deciding on W&L, so we'll skip to there. 

My interested was piqued by my brief foray into social work and children's services. Therefore, I thought I would end up doing something like Adoption law, or even working for the Department of Children and Families. I met Thomas my first year and he was very interested in the Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corp (JAGC). When the Navy came to our school to discuss opportunities, I went with him to the presentation. And, I was sold! It sounded so fun and interesting. I liked the idea of getting in the courtroom right away and serving my country. We decided we would both apply. Most people think you just sign up, but it is actually very competitive. I think the selection rate is around 5% now (a little higher when we applied, but still less than a 10% acceptance rate). We had to jump through a bunch of hoops, taking physicals and driving to Norfolk to interview with a senior JAGC officer.

Our interviews got off to a very rocky start when we were denied base access because I didn't have proof my car was registered. I always put the sticker on my plate, but didn't know I was supposed to keep the paper. Whoops! I still remember the pass and ID employee shaking his head and incredulously saying, "and you want to be a JAG?!?!?!" Someone from the office came to pick us up and I guess it didn't hurt our chances any, because we both got in. 

We did the JAGC for 6 years. We weren't sure if we wanted it to be a career, but once we had the kids, we didn't really want to keep moving around. We had 3 kids in 18 months and when it came time to apply for "career status" we didn't want to commit. It was kind of a rough time in our lives and not the best time to make life-altering decisions. But, we had decided to get out at the 4 year mark. Then, they offered us a good opportunity in Millington, TN. It was perfect for our family. We loved it there! But, after that, we needed to get out. Thomas was really interested in joining the FBI and I wanted some time to stay home with the kids. 

We knew we wanted to stay with a government job for the work/life balance. But, other than that--we were completely open. Thomas applied to jobs all over. He got an interview with the Navy Office of General Counsel (OGC) in Southern Maryland and drove out for the interview. It was a 16-hour drive and the fact that he went in person really impressed the interviewers. They told him there were people an hour away who opted for a phone interview. We were slated to get out of the Navy on September 30th. They offered him the job on his birthday, July 23rd. It was definitely a huge weight lifted. Although, right after he accepted, he got offered an interview for a job he was really excited about. But, he decided a bird in the hand was better and since he had already accepted the MD job, he turned down the interview (the FBI called him a full year later to interview, we were already settled in Maryland!).

So, we moved to Maryland. We did the Reserves for 4 more years, which allowed us to meet the 10 year service requirement to transfer the GI Bill to our kids. I probably would have stayed in, as it was nice to have a part-time weekend job. But, I didn't want to deploy and with Thomas working full-time and then us both giving up time on the weekends, it started to take its toll. So, we got out.

I went back to work full-time when Luke was 3.5. It was nice to have the 6 years at home, but I am happy with the decision to be back at work, especially now that the kids are a little older. In a perfect world, I would have waited until Luke started Kindergarten, but once I left the Reserves, I lost my ties to the working world. I knew it would get harder and harder to find a position, the more remote my work experience (and references) became. 

That's the full story. Looking back at it now, I see there were lots of forks in the road where things could have gone completely differently. What if I had taken the job at Manpower? What if I had gone to W&M? What if we stayed in the military? What if Thomas didn't apply to the MD job? What if I hadn't gone back to work when I did? So many opportunities for our lives to be completely different!

Education and How I Got Where I Am

Another week has come and gone without much excitement. I am not sleeping well, which is driving me a little crazy. For example, yesterday I got up early, exercised, spent the morning outside at Luke's baseball game, biked to Menchi's with Luke and his friend, spent more time outside while Luke played and was incredibly tired by the end of the night. We had nice clean sheets and I was looking forward to  a great night's sleep. It didn't happen, I woke up every hour or so and was up for good around 5:30. It was so disappointing. 

There really isn't much else going on. We have money set aside for some house projects. On Monday and Tuesday we requested estimates for a new door, an accent wall, and updating the smaller bathrooms. No one is getting back to us. It is very annoying. The person who came to see the bathrooms did say he would need until the end of the week. But, the others all said to give them a day or two. I hate trying to coordinate projects. I know we aren't alone in this, I see Facebook posts all the time about trying to find someone who will actually show up or follow through for a job. I suspect that there is so much work out there and not enough skilled people to complete the jobs. I have read about a shift from encouraging all students to go to college to encouraging more students to find a trade. It will be interesting to see what my own children decide. I can remember for me, it was a foregone conclusion that I would go to college. All of my siblings are also college graduates. 3 out of 4 have masters (or law) degrees. But, we took different paths to get there. 

My oldest brother joined the Air Force. He got both a bachelor's and master's degree while on active duty. He started as a 17-year old enlisted airman and retired as a Major. He now works for the Government as a civilian after spending 20+ years on active duty. I feel like his path was pretty smart, the Air Force paid for his education and he enjoyed his job.

My other brother also joined the military. He served in the Navy for 4 years and then used the GI Bill to pay for his education. He is very smart and did the nuclear program. After his time in the military, he decided to study engineering and then did a 180 and changed his major to education. He ended up teaching at the same elementary school we attended. 

My sister is also a teacher and took a more traditional route (college after high school, although, if I recall she had a little break). She taught for several years and then earned her master's in education. 

I went to community college first. I wanted to go to BYU, and got accepted, but did not have any scholarship. I had the Florida Academic Scholarship (now called Bright Futures), so I could go to a Florida state college for free. My parents did not think it wise to throw that away. So, I compromised; I went to the community college first, got my Associate's degree, then transferred to BYU. My parents paid for my first 3 semesters. Unfortunately, my dad lost his job before my last year, so I had to take out a loan. I ended up graduating with $5500 in debt, which wasn't bad. I worked summers (at a daycare) and holidays (making Publix party platters) which paid for my books and spending money. 

I wanted to get an MBA and work in business.  Before declaring my major, I went to a business school presentation that said not to major in business if you intended to get an MBA. I didn't know what else to do and changed my major a couple of times. I ended up majoring in Psychology with a minor in business. Then, I still didn't know what to do. After graduation, I moved back home to look for a job. Shortly after my arrival, while having lunch at Chili's with my mom and sister, we saw some people we knew. One of them was Marta, who I knew, but not well. They stopped by our table and asked what I was doing and I told them I was looking for a job. Marta asked what my degree was in and then told me to call her. She was in charge of a department at the Behavioral Health Division of the hospital and quickly hired me to be a case worker. I worked with children who had been separated from their parents by DCF. I checked on them in foster care and tried to help the parents with the reunification process. It was interesting, rewarding work. 

Because of that job, I got to spend time in court and identified the lawyers and judges as the ones with the real power. I decided to take the Law School entrance exam. I ended up doing pretty well (94th percentile). So, my plan for law school was set. The hospital lost the contract I worked on, and I decided to take on a teaching job. I taught a class of educably mentally handicapped (EMH) children. I am not sure what they call EMH now, but it was children with an IQ between 50-75. It was hard to find teachers to take on those classes, so they were stuck hiring people without a teaching degree. I took some test to prove I had a basic level of knowledge and was hired. It was a fun year and I enjoyed teaching. But, I didn't deviate from the plan. 

I applied to law schools and chose Washington and Lee. It came down to W&L or William and Mary. With scholarships, they were as cheap as a Florida state college (I also got into UF) and after BYU, I wanted to try a small school. At the time, W&L was ranked 18th in the country. They gave me a good scholarship and I didn't have to maintain any particular GPA to keep it. They were also touted as the least competitive law school. To me, it sounded perfect, I was not interested in a cut-throat environment or having the pressure of maintaining a high GPA. And, I was excited about going to a small, private school after being one of thousands at BYU (which wasn't a bad thing, I enjoyed BYU, but I wanted to force myself out of my comfort zone for law school).

This is getting really long and is probably very boring. If the kids are interested, I will write the rest in more detail later. But, to summarize: I met Thomas, learned about the JAGC, applied, got accepted and the rest is history. There are a lot of different paths to get where we are going. I wonder where I would be if we hadn't had lunch at Chilis that day? 

For my own kids, assuming they go to college, I will strongly encourage them to go the community college route first. It is an amazing way to save money and ease into college. There were a lot of kids at my school who went away to college for the first semester and ended up at the community college for the second. And, the only thing anyone cares about (if they care at all) is where your final degree is from. Thomas did the same thing and when it came to law schools, he got into the top schools in the country (he chose W&L because they flew him out to tour, gave him a full scholarship and he was curious about life on the East Coast). Community college clearly did not hurt us at all! Of course, we will see where their passions lie.

With respect to law school, I am no longer sure the cost benefit analysis is the same. Tuition at our law school was $20K when we started in 2001. That is the equivalent of $29K today. However, tuition is now over $50K. Salaries have not risen at the same rate as the associated debt. Even with the scholarships, Thomas and I still took out significant, but manageable, student loans. He had a full tuition scholarship and I had 75%. But, we had books and living expenses. We worked over summers, and had interesting, but very part-time jobs during the school year. I should write a blog about our jobs one day. But, if I don't, in short: Thomas got to work in the sports department at VMI. I worked in law admissions, giving tours to prospective students. Our third year, we were in charge of finding juries (from the townsfolk) for mock trials. That one was crazy, we got to be flies on the wall during jury deliberations and that is some scary stuff!

Luke is up now, so I will end this meandering post.

Easter Week

Luke had another baseball game on Saturday. He had two at bats and got one hit. I don't think the ball ever came to him in the outfield. The team lost 9-8. And, one of the coaches got thrown out! Not his main coach, but one of the assistants. The umpire called a player out at home and the coach argued with him. I couldn't hear what he was saying, so at least he wasn't yelling, but he did get the toss and the umpire wouldn't let play resume until he was out of sight. This was a routine game with 7/8 year-olds, the stakes are not high. But, in fairness to the coach, he was right (Thomas and I had a clear view, the player was absolutely safe) and he had worked all night, then come straight to the game, so I imagine that being overly tired probably clouded his judgement. Regardless, it made things a little more exciting.

Saturday night, Luke went to an egg hunt in the neighborhood. Parents dropped off 12 filled eggs for each participating child. It started at 8 and right before, the organizers put glow sticks in all the eggs and placed them throughout one of the pocket parks. Some glowed, some did not, but it was fun for Luke to be out at bedtime. There were a few kids there he knew from his football team, so that was also nice. And, they had cupcakes, cookies and juice boxes. 

We had an in-house egg hunt on Easter and even the big kids had fun. 

We also went to the craft fair at Lake Eola. I can remember going as a teenager and loving it. So, I was excited to go back. This was its 46th year. It was a beautiful day to be outside and walking around. Thomas' only regret is not buying a picture he really liked (non-buyers remorse?).  Hopefully, the vendor will be back in the Fall and Thomas can get the picture. Anna bought a ring and I bought some woodwork art, so it was a good day. We had prime rib for dinner, a first for me. It turned out okay. But, I am not sure I will try it again, I liked the steaks we grill a little better. I also made ice cream pies, which were amazing. We called family members to wish them a Happy Easter and tried to figure out what eggs have to do with the resurrection.

I got my second covid shot Monday. My arm is a little sore, but no other side effects. Thomas got his Wednesday, he had a headache and a really sore arm. It is nice to have that done. Now, we just have to keep the kids safe. I was not worried about them before, and didn't think we would get them vaccinated, but some of the variants seem like they effect kids more, so we will have to see how that plays out. I am so tired of this pandemic and its never-ending nature.

Thomas finished the Harry Potter series and I finished A Promised Land (President Obama's book). Thomas thought some of the ending didn't make sense, but he still enjoyed the story. I enjoyed Obama's book as well, although I was disheartened to read more about how things work in Washington. Obviously, I know the system is broken. But, I guess I didn't realize how broken, and I know it has only gotten worse since he left office. For a majority of those in power, it seems the main objective is to stay in power, rather than to do what is best for the country. Oh, and to make the other side look bad at all costs. It is very disheartening. But, it was interesting to read history from his perspective and to get a behinds the scene look at some of the events that took place during his presidency. The book was really long (over 700 pages) and only covered about three years of his presidency. I am sure I will read Volume 2 when it comes out.

All three older kids went to school today for the writing FSA. Kara was very nervous. She has never stepped foot in the middle school, other than picking up her computer, so it was stressful. Jack is familiar with the school, but was still a little nervous about being able to find his classrooms. They were getting some mixed messages from their teachers about procedures after the test, so I sent an e-mail to the Principal. She called me almost immediately and was kind and responsive. This is my second interaction with her and I am very impressed. I am glad they are at a good school with good teachers and administrators (even if their dress code bugs me). And, the testing went "fine" it wasn't as bad as either of them expected.

And, in random news, I am slightly obsessed with these Harry Potter globes. We saw them at Five Below and I bought one. They come in a blind box, so you don't know what you are getting. I got Dumbledore. I sat him on my desk and enjoyed shaking him throughout the day. We got him on a Saturday and went back on Monday for more and they were gone. I checked eBay and they were selling for $15-20. I wasn't interested in paying much more than the $5 I got Dumbledore for. So, I periodically checked the Five Below website and caught them in stock. I bought the maximum of 5 and managed to get a nice set. I love them!