Over 14 years

It's been over fourteen years since my last job interview.  Before that, I had put in five years at Half Price Store, now known as Gordman's, but needed a job in Moberly, MO.  I had plenty of experience and was hired on the spot after my interview, at Family Dollar.  I worked there until right before getting married.  We were pregnant soon after the wedding, and I wasn't a very good pregnant person, and I have been mom ever since.  Now scattered among all that, I had my own business that a friend trained me for and helped me get started, doing virtual tours and real estate photography for some great realtors at ReMax in Jefferson City.  I also put in two Christmas seasons helping unload trucks, price toys, and stocking shelves at KBToys store before they went out of business...but for that one, I didn't interview either, because I knew the manager.  My current job, I work for one of my best friends, as her assistant at a small office, and I was hired without an interview for that position, as well as for the one I do on the side for them taking their real estate pictures.  So, its been a really long time.
I wish there was a way to truly account for the many skills that a mom and home manager possesses.  Especially if you add in the sewing skills, clothing construction, wedding gowns and quilts and bags made.  Being able to cope with change on a daily basis as well as the big huge earth shattering changes.
Since my last interview, I have owned my own part time businesses.  I have paid all the monthly bills for home and business for 14 years.  I have given of myself to my children.  I have volunteered big time hours to my local men's roller derby team.  I have taken some family pics.  I have made at least four different wedding gowns for different people, and all the bridesmaid ones for one of those weddings as well.  I have gone back to school and finished my degree, at the top of my class.  I have learned to be a better person with sees the good in things and finds things to be thankful for even in earth shattering moments.  I have learned to trust God and His goodness and love for me in oh so many settings.  I have grown as a friend and a mom.
Hopefully, I have also grown in confidence in who I am.  And hopefully it will show.
I may be injured, again, but I want to go into this interview in His confidence, knowing that no matter what happens, I did my best for Him and exploring all the options that He puts in front of me.

In defense of skating

I've experienced a LOT of teasing this year about roller skating because of two big injuries that happened from falling while skating. But there are so many reasons I kept going back as soon as I could. 

The most important one is my daughter. She is eleven and has dealt with sensory disorder since she was in kindergarten. In a way, it's how her inner self coped with outside circumstances beyond her control. It can send her into a tailspin of hopelessness and defeated living faster then I can say I love you. And no matter how hard I pray that she could find freedom from its hold on her, it continues to be her very real struggle. It truly effects her success in life most mornings, transforming a joyful spirit into a full out meltdown at the thought of having to put shoes on, or changing an outfit. We've discovered along the way, the necessity of changing the night before and allowing her to sleep in the clothes so that by morning she is used to the way it fits and rubs and touches her skin. But I have yet to discover a way to get around the shoe part of the morning. And it often leaves us both feeling destroyed before we even truly start the day. It's easier on days we don't have to go to school, because then she can take her time with it, or she can wear her cowboy boots without worrying about if its a pe day. Anyways, that gives you a glimpse into our daily struggles with this...back to where skating comes in. 

When we are at the skating rink, she is able to forget, or move past, or whatever, the struggles she has with fit and feel and just is a carefree 11 year old who is having fun with her mom. Truly. She literally rushes to tighten the laces, stretch out, and then just be in the moments. Even when she's not skating, she's in an environment where she is known and accepted and can just be. It's truly like seeing the side of her that I wish everyone got the privilege of seeing. She's joyful and carefree and living towards others. It's truly priceless and it's where she comes alive. Where she pushes her own abilities and tries new skills until she masters them, like cross overs and getting super low for the limbo. She doesn't assume it's hopeless or comment that she can't. She tries and tries until she gains victory. She holds my hand and smiles up at me with that melt a mommas heart look of pure enjoyment and love on her face. For two hours every Tuesday night she loves life more then she dreads it. 

That reason, more then any other, is why I push myself so hard and skate right after an injury is healed enough for me to be cleared. Why I kept going back even tho I kept getting hurt. Why I could listen to hours of ribbing and teasing and insist that I wasn't going to stop. That's what I am losing by giving up my skates after killing my knee yet again. It's not really the skating, it's the chance to be with my daughter when she isn't feeling defeated and hopeless...the one time a week that she is her happiest.