The eagle has landed!

Several of you have asked me about Mark.  He left the day after Christmas and headed south for training in Florida.  He arrived at his destination on Thursday, the 5th.  On the 6th, he went to check out his new school.

He says the school is smaller than he expected.  It shares a building with a gym.  He had hoped to go in and speak to someone at the school, but someone in the gym told him that the instructors hadn’t arrived yet.  They are apparently snowbirds coming down from the north and are arriving this weekend.  School starts on Monday.

If any of you would like to send Mark notes of encouragement anytime from now through mid-March, his address is:

Mark Fuller

7205  85th St Ct East, #60

Bradenton, FL 34202

As for me, I am still between jobs.  I had filled out electronic paperwork for H&R Block and gotten an email welcoming me to the team.  I gave two weeks notice at Williams-Sonoma and they only kept me on for one of those weeks.  That wouldn’t have been so bad except that I never heard back from H&R Block.  I finally got in touch with someone and discovered that the district manager for my area suddenly died of a heart attack several weeks ago.  Somehow, my application slipped through the cracks.  I was finally put in touch with the manager at the office that I wanted to work at and she has been trying to help me get back into the system.

In one way, it’s a God thing that I fell through the cracks.  What I hadn’t been aware of was that had my application gone through, I would have been in a pool of applicants that all the offices could pick from and I might have ended up at an office on the far side of Portland.  All of the other offices got first pick and the Tigard office ended up with no receptionists.  As soon as I jump through all the hoops, I will be able to work at the Tigard office which is within a mile of Mom’s house.  What’s more, since that office currently has no receptionist, they are very eager to have me join their team.  Please pray that I will be able to begin working there this week if possible.

I have had questions about my mother too.  She is doing quite well.  She is healthy and in good spirits.  It has been companionable being here with her.  We each have our own idiosyncrasies that keep things interesting, but we are getting along well.  She isn’t in as much need as I thought she might be during her first winter as a widow, but I have been able to help in small ways, and she has been a help to me.  We kind of lean on each other when we are going someplace new.

I have also had opportunity to get to know my father better since I’ve been back.  I happened to spend the week between Christmas and New Years at his house while my stepmother was in the hospital for several days.  It gave Dad and me a chance to talk on an adult level and I learned things about him that I had only seen from a child’s perspective before.  It was also a time for me to be of some help to him while my stepmother was ill.  She’s doing much better now, thank the Lord!

I have had a little time to spend with each of my sisters and hope to have more before I leave here.  I have not yet gotten to see my son and daughter-in-law, but I have spoken on the phone with them and hope to see them for a gift exchange tomorrow.

I have seen some old friends and made some new.  I hope to spend time with a few other friends I haven’t seen in a while.

So far, I have gotten everything out of this stay that I have wanted to.  I am so grateful for this opportunity to come back and get reacquainted with family and friends.

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