A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!
Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.
1. Something you're working on currently?
My parents are planning on coming for a vist this fall, so I've been working with my mom on dates and details and all of that. I suppose I should be working a little more diligently on some of the organizing and homemaking projects around the house, especially if I'm expecting company! I'm also working out details for co-hosting the Wednesday Quotes link-up starting in October.
2. Tell us something about your first job. Was it a positive or negative experience for you? Did your parents insist you work while in school (either high school or college) or did you work because you wanted to?
My first part time job was at a Wendy's restaurant. I can't remember how long I worked there but at least a year while I was in high school. It was an overall positive experience, not because I enjoyed the work but because I learned how to be a good employee, and I do think it's a valuable life experience to work in retail or service at some point.
I don't recall my parents pushing me to work while in school, but I guess they encouraged it and thought it was a good idea as long as I kept my commitments to school and to church. So I would say I worked because I wanted to during my high school years. I took a gap year after high school and worked full time in the office of a commercial bakery. I didn't have a job during the year I was at college, but hustled up a job shortly into that first summer break.
3. Have you ever had a job that required overnight travel? How did you feel about that? Have you ever had a job that required you to wear a uniform? Do you work better in the morning or at night?
No, I've never had to travel overnight for any of my jobs. I've attended conferences and workshops and such but never had to be away from home. I did have to wear a uniform at Wendy's when I worked there, and there was sort of a low-key uniform at the coffee roastery. I don't know if I work BETTER, but I'd much rather work in the morning than in the evening!
4. What's something you bake or cook that is labor intensive? Is it worth it?
Butter tarts. I make my own pastry so it's something I have to plan ahead for and it takes some time to get the pastry just right and then roll it out and cut out the rounds for the tart shells. But since I can't get tart sized pastry shells ready made here, if we want butter tarts, I've got to do all the work. Is it worth it? Oh yes. They are delicious and now I'm a pastry snob!
5. One thing you're looking forward to in the month of September?
I am looking forward to my daughter and her boyfriend visiting for a weekend coming up! They are coming to attend my chorus's big show which I'm obviously looking forward to as well!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
My Twenty-Six Lists post this week was about all the jobs that could appear on my resume. See it here: Twenty-Six Lists - My Resume and join in if you'd like!
What have you been working on lately? Leave a comment and let me know!
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Welcome to Twenty-Six Lists! I hope you'll join me in this simple link-up, where I share a writing prompt for some kind of list, and invite you to share what's on your list. Your list can be very simple or include lots of explanation; short or long; a bullet point list or essay style. Interpret the list prompts however you like, depending on how much time you have to spend, and how much background you'd like to share.
Since this week started off with the Labour Day holiday, I thought it might be interesting to do a list related to work. For many years I was homeschooling my kids and not in the workforce, and when I reached the point in that journey where I could consider going back to work I wondered how my job experience would stack up, and if I had marketable skills any more. I remember joking about ways that homemaking, homeschooling, and volunteer skills could be described in a resume so that they sounded impressively professional! Well, as it turned out, I sort of stumbled into a couple of paying jobs that helped me make the transition back into the workforce.
When I was a young girl, I wanted to be a teacher. (If neither Princess nor Superstar Singer worked out, of course!) So did one of my best friends, and we played "school" together all the time. Eventually I went off to college aiming for a degree in Music Education. Life didn't turn out quite the way I'd pictured though. I wasn't able to transfer to the university I wanted for my second year, and I was planning to get married, so finishing that degree went on hold as I did other jobs that weren't what I'd dreamed of, but they were excellent jobs and paid the bills. I never did finish my degree, but I did get to spend over twenty years doing my dream job of teaching, since I home educated my own and taught a lot of other kids in co-ops and hybrid schools.
A list of jobs I'd held was one of the original Twenty-Six Lists I did a few years ago on Homeschool Coffee Break, so I brushed off that old resume and updated it for this list . . . with some extra background information and a bit of reflection on the skills or lessons I gained from those jobs.
Here's a fairly exhaustive list of the jobs I've held over the years:
Jobs on my Resume
My very first job was part time at a fast food restaurant. I didn't think about it at the time, but as an adult I've concluded that everyone should have to wait tables or do some low paying service or retail work in their lives. It's a valuable experience to learn to serve others without expectation of thanks or getting much in return, and being a 'servant' teaches you to be courteous and respectful of others. Having been on the serving side should make you a better customer.
My senior year of high school I had a sales and customer service job at a cable company. It paid better and I got more hours, but it wasn't what I'd signed up for. I expected to be doing more customer service which I liked fairly well, but I wound up doing mostly sales calls which I didn't like at all. Sometimes it was fine, but when I was expected to be pushy, I hated it. Again, it taught me something valuable - the people that make those sales calls (from legitimate businesses, not phishing operations) are just regular people doing a job; and the people that answer the phone when you call customer service are doing their best but they don't have a ton of control over the company's policies or issues.
I took a gap year after high school, and spent it working in accounts and as a fill-in receptionist at a factory. A bakery, actually. A friend from church was the office manager and got me the job, which was good experience.
After that first year of college, I went to live in my boyfriend's hometown for the summer (the boyfriend that became my husband the following summer!) and found a job doing accounts at a farm supply company. I enjoyed the people I worked with, and it started out as a great summer job. But I decided it was time to leave when my supervisor started having me make collections calls. I hated that, and went home in tears a few times before realizing that the supervisor was actually bullying me and I resigned.
Back home, a business owner from our church was looking for a new office manager, and the boyfriend and I had decided to move to my hometown at year's end, so I moved back home to take that job. It was a carpet cleaning company, but most of his business was cleaning apartments when they turned over and doing water damage clean-ups. Another really good job that gave me valuable experience in managing accounts and business communications.
Next full time job was doing accounts and data entry at an aviation company. This was a really cool job most of the time, and it was the first full time job I had that I landed without knowing anybody in the company at all. It's true that who you know matters as much as what you know - sometimes it matters more! - but it's also a great feeling to land a job solely on the strength of your resume and interview! I enjoyed the people I worked with and mostly enjoyed the job itself, but eventually there were some staff turnovers in the office that led to a new office manager that I did not like at all. He skeeved me so much that I turned in my resignation. I was flattered that the CFO tried to get me to change my mind, and offended when that office manager insulted me on my last day by saying that I'd never get another job that good and he expected me to come crying for my job back. That's why it was so terribly satisfying when our paths crossed again after I landed my next job . . .
As comptroller at a heavy construction company. Comptroller was not my official job title, but is essentially what I did. I did all the accounts and ran the office end of the heavy construction part of the company. Sometimes I kind of felt like a high-powered office executive! Like the day I was taking my secretary out for a business lunch and met up with the office people from that previous job. Like I said, super satisfying to let that creepy office manager see that not only had I found another job, I was definitely a few rungs up the ladder. Haha!! The company offered to pay for me to finish classes to be a certified accountant, but I turned their generous career offer down because . . . by that time I was pregnant!
So Stay-at-Home Mom was my next job! When my boys were still very little I did a couple of stints as a paid church musician. Very part time. But of course homeschooling was very hands-on and definitely full time hours! I loved teaching and lesson planning and enjoyed teaching in our spring co-ops when the kids were young.
About ten or so years ago, I took a chance on a weekend job that was mostly for fun. I worked in the tasting room at a winery just down the road from where we lived. I considered it mostly because it was so close to home and just weekend. It turned out to be fun and educational because I learned a lot about wine.
My next job was another one I sort of stumbled into because a friend recommended me. I managed a small batch coffee roastery a couple of days a week. What made the company really special was that the owner's daughter who has Down Syndrome was our chief roaster, and she was great at it. So part of the company's mission included providing meaningful employment for developmentally delayed or disabled people. The other young man that worked there has Aspergers. Now I love coffee so the job was a great fit because of that, and I got to learn a lot about coffee, but I was surprised at how comfortable I became working with the special needs employees and managing their unique skill sets. I was working there in 2020 when covid happened, and thanks to all the restrictions and what-not I wound up working pretty much full time through most of that year and well into 2021. I resigned when some things got ridiculous and my knees were getting so bad I just couldn't be on my feet all day any more.
When my daughter was in high school, I joined forces with a small group of homeschool moms to found a tutorial that offered one day a week of high school level instruction. I was on the Board of Directors and tutored high school writing, literature, and history. And yes, as a tutor I got paid! I was finally getting paid to do that dream job of teaching! I absolutely loved teaching there and continued doing that even while working at the coffee roastery, and even after my daughter graduated. Right after I resigned at the roastery, another hybrid school in the city needed a middle school English teacher, so I took that on and taught three days a week that school year.
In 2022, my husband started working at a nursery (tree farm, not child care!), and they needed someone to do their books. I met with them and it seemed like a pretty good fit, as the hours would be flexible enough to allow me to continue teaching so I added that to my employment mix. My husband's job ended in the fall though, and my job did too. And then we moved to Ohio and I became truly unemployed!
I did continue tutoring the high school classes through video instruction, and did so until this past spring. But last summer I started doing accounts part time at a company here in Columbus. We had decided that I needed to look for a part-time job so I had something to do and could get out of the house and interact with people during the week. (I also figured I should find a way to finance my new barbershop singing hobby!) That job has worked out well and so at the beginning of this year I went full time there and that's what I'm doing now.
What jobs have you held? List all of them, or just your favorites or most recent. Or list the skill sets you bring to the workplace. Or maybe you'd like to list your top dream jobs!
The link-up is open for two weeks, with a new prompt every other Tuesday.
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In the United States and Canada, Labor Day (or Labour Day in Canada) is on the first Monday in September. It's been a national holiday since 1894 and was originally a day set aside to pay tribute to working men and women. Most other national holidays mark a significant historical event, usually associated with an armed conflict, but Labor Day isn't tied to any specific person or event, and has no religious background either.
All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Dayis devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation. ~Samuel Gompers
The first Labor Day celebration was on Tuesday, September 5th, 1882. The Central Labor Union selected this day and planned a demonstration and picnic in New York City. In 1884 the first Monday of September was established as the date for an annual celebration, and the Central Labor Union urged other cities to set aside this 'workingman's holiday'.
Industry had been growing since the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s and the working conditions were not always safe or wages fair. Labor unions formed to try and address these issues, and were becoming more vocal in doing so. They began organizing strikes, rallies, and protests, and unfortunately some of these turned violent.
Poorly paid labor is inefficient labor, the world over. ~Henry George
Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. ~Abraham Lincoln
In the spring of 1894, the American Railroad Union called for a boycott of Pullman cars, which crippled railway traffic. To break the strike, the government sent troops to Chicago, leading to riots, violence, and the deaths of a dozen railway workers. After this, in a move to quell further unrest, President Grover Cleveland suggested making Labor Day a national holiday and then signed the legislation making it so.
Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. ~Albert Einstein
For most Americans, the Labor Day long weekend is considered the end of the summer season, and the beginning of a new school year and football season. Many will host or attend a cookout. Ironically, since it's a big retail sales date, a lot of retail workers may actually be spending more time at work this weekend rather than getting the day off! So maybe if you're shopping or dining out today, be extra kind to those workers!
Hard work should be rewarded by good food. ~Ken Follett
If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend. ~Doug Larson
Incidentally, in Europe and Asia, Labour Day is at the beginning of May.
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. ~Confucius
All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our work keeps the world going, in a sense. It keeps us going as a society and as people. We may be grumpy about having to go to our jobs when we don't feel like it, be tired and just wish we could be lazy, and feel weighed down by the responsibilities we have as part of our work. We can have lousy attitudes about going to a job and about all the work we have to do just to keep our homes and families functioning. And of course we need to take a break and rest regularly! In fact, God established a pattern of creative work and rest from the beginning, and commanded his people to observe that rhythm in order to keep work and rest in proper balance.
You are to labor six days but you must rest on the seventh day; you must even rest during plowing and harvesting times.
~Exodus 34:21~
But God intended for us to do the work of looking after the world and participating in the creative work of managing and tending all of creation. And intended that we would find joy and blessing in doing it. So as much as we might grumble about work, most people find that they get bored and must find something productive to do even if they don't need to go out and get that paycheck. Maybe a day like Labor Day is a good opportunity for us to get our work back into balance!
How happy is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
You will surely eat
what your hands have worked for.
You will be happy,
and it will go well for you.
~Psalm 128:1-2~
Here is what I have seen to be good: It is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward. Furthermore, everyone to whom God has given riches and wealth, he has also allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God, for he does not often consider the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.
~Ecclesiastes 5:18-20~
I've been participating in the Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write. The link-up is on a short hiatus right now, as Marsha has passed on the hosting duties. I'm working with Sadje at Keep It Alive to co-host and we will relaunch the link-up in October. In the meantime, I'll continue to give a shout-out to Wednesday Quotes 2024 in my WQ style posts.
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Once again, it's time to look back on the month and share Something Loved, Something Accomplished, Something Improved Upon, and Something Noticed. I included my Something Read and What's Coming Up Soon sections, but kept them brief, because I decided to throw in my monthly WOTY summary as well.
Something Loved
Of course, having the whole family together for a few days of vacation was my favorite thing in the past month! We got a Vrbo vacation home in Hocking Hills and all the kids joined us there. Our oldest son and his family could only be there for the weekend, so we made the most of that time, doing some hiking and hot tubbing, and celebrating a couple of birthdays. The other kids stayed a couple days more, and we had some more fun and together time with them. Before heading back to Maryland, our third son and his family spent an extra day with us and we fit in a trip to the zoo.
Something Accomplished
One of the miscalculations we made in taking food to the vacation house was that we brought way more eggs than we needed! I sent some extras home with the kids but we still had a lot and I thought we might have to eat deviled eggs and omelets every meal for a week! Instead, I took a cue from a photo prompt (a seldom used kitchen utensil) and finally got around to making egg bites in the instant pot. Sort of a copycat recipe of the Starbucks sous vide eggs bites. And they turned out well, although they were weirdly shaped, so maybe that silicon mold gadget and my instant pot will get used regularly now. The egg bites made great lunches to take along to work.
Something Improved Upon (or That Needs Improvement)
With the Scioto Valley Chorus show coming up very soon, I'm glad to say that I think I'm in pretty good shape with having music and choreo ready. There's one song that I still feel like I'm catching up on since it was in the chorus repertoire before I joined so we haven't worked on it a lot at rehearsals so I've put some extra emphasis on that. And I've got a couple of spots in choreo that I'm thinking way too hard about so I'm working those. I don't know if it's fair to say this is something to improve upon, but I need to practice wearing the shoes!
Also, as usual, I do need to improve my eating and sleeping habits and be more healthy.
Something Noticed (In our Lives or Around Town)
So. Much. Roadwork! It is impossible for me to get to work without driving through at least two big sections of road construction, and there's no guarantee that there won't be delays because of it. My favorite route to and from work has a section of road completely closed for some huge roadwork project so I can't take that route at all. And now I'm also adjusting departure and travel times to account for the school bus schedule. By the time I've got it all sorted out, the construction zones will move and I'll have to figure out another alternate route.
All of my reading news is at Just A Second if you're interested.
What's Coming Up Soon?
The Scioto Valley Chorus show, An Evening To Remember, is just two weeks away! It's going to be so good and so much fun! And as a bonus for me, my daughter and her boyfriend are coming that weekend to see the show.
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I decided that Rhythm would be my WOTY and one way I'm trying to establish a rhythm is by keeping a very brief daily diary, to watch for daily and weekly patterns to develop and to be intentional about keeping the good ones going. I'm trying to keep these short, and since I'm including this one with Share Four Somethings, that's even more important! Bear with me!
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Week One - We celebrated our anniversary on Thursday with a night out at Funny Bone to see a favorite comedian. Fun evening with good but very expensive food and drinks. On Saturday the kids came over and we grilled and went for a swim.
Week Two - For some reason I had no voice on Sunday so probably good I wasn't on worship team! Didn't answer phones on Monday at work to give my voice a rest, and thankfully could sing a little at chorus rehearsal. Rest of the week was the regular rhythm of the work week, and on Saturday I helped a group at church assemble, bake, and distribute fifty-some lasagna dinners as a ministry.
Week Three - A very regular weekly rhythm for the first part of the week, but we were prepping for vacation too. On Thursday I made dinner and a big pot of chili to take along. One son and his family arrived that evening. On Friday I did my best to keep my day at work short so we could hit the road, but was still there longer than I wanted. Harrison and Landon and their crews got there ahead of us and got settled and dinner started. The other Maryland kids arrived a little later. On Saturday we all (except for Meaghan and Aubrey) went hiking in Hocking Hills state park. Back at the house we hot tubbed, enjoyed dinner made by Landon and Meaghan, and celebrated Aubrey's and Dan's birthdays.
Week Four - Rather a different Sunday from our usual. We had breakfast together and watched livestreamed church. Harrison and Landon took their families to the lake while hubs and I went with Spencer, Kennady, and Dan to an antique mall. Hubby and I made dinner for everyone, and we took some family photos before Harrison and his crew headed home. Another hot tub and relax evening. On Monday we explored a childrens museum and some of the town, and went out for dinner. Spencer, Kennady, and Dan headed home on Tuesday afternoon. We stayed that evening and then got up early on Wednesday to pack up and head back to Columbus. Dropped all our stuff at home and then went with Landon and Meaghan and Aubrey to the zoo. They headed back to Maryland on Thursday morning. Hubby had an appointment Thursday morning to remove another melanoma, so I went in to work late that day. Friday was back to the regular workday rhythm, and Saturday was quiet as well.
We did the "pet the stingrays" thing - even me!
Week Five - The final week of August settled back into the familiar rhythms. Church on Sunday, kids came over for swim and games and dinner, and we grabbed a few groceries and prepped for the workweek. Monday through Friday was work as usual, with chorus on Monday and Dinner + Discipleship on Wednesday. We ended the week by meeting the kids on Saturday evening at the Zucchini Festival and enjoying zucchini-themed fair food and some of the concert with 90s hip-hop artists we remembered.
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Rhythm is my Word of The Year for 2024. Here's my WOTY post to explain: WQ - Rhythm Inspires
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Share something in the comments, or share four somethings with the rest of us in the link party!
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Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also. 'The eye is the lamp of the body.' So if you have a 'good eye' [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an 'evil eye' [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can't be a slave to both God and money.
~Matthew 6:19-24 (CJB)~
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