Personal: May 2007 Archives
Our family recorded a song for the mothers and grandmothers in our lives. Just thought we’d share.
(Church Talk on Emergency Preparedness given January 28, 2006)
I grew up in a small town outside of Sacramento, California. There weren’t very many people my age who were members of the Church. I remember being the only Priest blessing the Sacrament for most of a year. I had friends who were good people, however, so I never felt bothered by it.
When I was in high school, I remember going to a party put on by a bunch of friends from one of my classes. When I arrived, the party was already in full swing. I was thirsty and remember walking into the kitchen to get a drink. From the doorway, I spotted the punch bowl.
I can still remember the feeling I had as I looked at that bowl. It looked dead. Yes, the punch looked dead. I’m not sure if that’s a good way to describe how I felt, but I suddenly didn’t want anything to do with it. I turned to the host and asked if I could have some water. There wasn’t anything ready, so I just drank water from the kitchen faucet all night.
Maybe an hour later, a friend who knew me pretty well sat down next to me and said, “Don’t drink the punch.” When I looked at her, she added, “It’s spiked.” I’m still grateful for a friend who was willing to look out for me, despite not being a member herself. I am even more grateful for the warning I received through the Holy Ghost.
The Stake Presidency has felt a similar warning and has asked that we finish preparing ourselves for an emergency or future disaster. Each ward should have a plan and be familiar with the stake plan. Each family should collect what they need to provide for themselves during an emergency.
Today was my last day working for @task. I’ve been through the process of leaving a company, both voluntarily and otherwise, several times, and I have to say that today has been the best experience to date.
I started at the company about two months ago and, though I hated the feeling of giving up so soon after starting, it was clear that the job wasn’t what I was looking for. My boss was disappointed, but accepted my decision without any personal animosity. He said that he wants his employees to be smart and enthusiastic and if I was having trouble with #2 on that list it was probably best to move on.
I learned something interesting about myself in the process. I had been feeling bad about the company, resentful really, for making me do something that I didn’t enjoy doing. I realized today that my feelings toward the company had entirely cleared up and that my resentment was really just frustration about the particular job I had been hired to do.
This is the first time I’ve left a job feeling good about the company despite knowing that working there wasn’t for me. I believe a lot of that came from my boss’s calm acceptance and lack of defensiveness. He said he didn’t have any complaints about my work and even wished me the best. I need to remember how to do that if I ever find myself in his shoes.
Salary.com is a website devoted to keeping track of the average salary for different types of jobs. They get pretty specific based on experience and location too. Their personal salary calculator asks, “What are you worth?”
I found out today that they have a calculator for stay-at-home moms. Salary.com claims that the typical mother does about 10 jobs: housekeeper, cook, day care center teacher, laundry machine operator, van driver, facilities manager, janitor, computer operator, chief executive officer and psychologist.
That seems about right. I just hope my wife doesn’t attempt to start charging me. I couldn’t afford her. :-)
