Problems, Progress, and the Whole General Mish-mash
I haven't put up a personal entry in a while. Here's a brief update of some important events in my life:
Now We're Getting Somewhere
After several meetings with my bishop and several letters written to, from, and by most of the principal players, my request for clearance to married in the Temple has finally gone to the First Presidency. I had met very briefly with my bishop and the stake president during stake conference two weeks ago, at which time I thought all the paperwork was done. But I got a call the following Sunday afternoon from the stake clerk, requesting an interview with the stake president.
So I went in a week ago Sunday, taking Nancy with me. The stake president and I had a brief interview and reviewed the paperwork one final time. Then he asked me talk about what I liked about Nancy. He was pleased with my enthusiasm.a After a few minutes he asked Nancy to come in, and we continued the conversation. It was wonderful. He said he could tell that we were in love. He said he'd get the forms in the mail that Tuesday. Now it's just a waiting game.
Pleasantly Surprised
Today is payday. As frequent readers are aware, paydays have caused me some apprehension of late. But the payday I had two weeks ago was a lot better. Given the experiences I've had the last two times, I took my last check to Prominent Local Bank fully expecting problems. There weren't any. What a relief.
My letter must have really ruffled some feathers. The Thursday after I sent it, I got a call from our HR person offering apologies (but not really any kind of explanations) for the troubles I'd had. Her tone of voice during that conversation really caught my attention. While she said a lot of apologetic things, she didn't sound apologetic. She sounded nervous. Very nervous.
Then I got another call a week later at work. From the owner. He expressed many of the same apologetic sentiments I'd heard from the HR lady earlier. He also said some things that made me feel like maybe they were getting a handle on the problem.b He thanked me for my patience and for my good work. I have to admit, I was pleased and a little surprised to find out that the owner was getting involved. His general management style, from what I can tell, can best be described by the term 'passive-aggressive'.
Other than that, work has been pretty routine. We've been running training sessions twice a week for the past month or so, and it looks like we'll continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It makes for a long weekend, managing Friday night and then training on Saturday morning. I generally roll in on Saturday thinking, "Didn't I just leave this party?" But the extra hours are sure nice. I've got a wedding to pay for.
In Search of a New Life
I spent most of last Tuesday afternoon writing cover letters, printing résumés, and addressing envelopes. On Wednesday morning, I sent these out to eight public school districts in Utah, plus three private high schools in Salt Lake City and four high schools in Texas.
Texas? Yes. My future sister-in-law is on the Board of Education in a district down there that's opening two new high schools in the fall. When she heard that I had graduated and what I wanted to do for a living, she encouraged me to apply for one of the science teaching positions. I talked to her last week, and she gave me contact information for each of the four high schools in the district. So Texas is probably as solid a possibility as Utah, at least from how it looks now.
I've already started seeing the fruits of my labors. I got a phone call from one of the private schools and a letter from another. Both said there were no positions open at their schools, but that they would keep my résumé on file. I also got mail from one of the districts in Salt Lake telling me to fill out an online application and submit further documentation. I guess we'll see what happens.
More Marriage Madness
I started writing this post almost two weeks ago, so some things have changed in the intervening time. We have now registered for gifts. We chose two traditional stores, Target and Bed Bath & Beyond. Of course we registered for things like sheets and towels and dishes and such. But we've both been on our own for most of our adult lives, and we already have a lot of the stuff that couples usually register for. So we registered for some unusual things, too. Things like tools and games and automotive stuff. I think we even registered for a roll of duct tape. We were in that kind of a mood at the time.
We'vec also chosen dresses for the bridesmaids. At first, those involved chose a green top and black chiffon skirt from Dress Barn. There was only one problem: everyone loved them except for Nancy. And since this is her wedding after all, she ultimately vetoed them.d The final dress is burgundy, calf length with short sleeves. And it's from a pattern. There are enough people who can sew on both families that this shouldn't be a problem. The dresses are nice but casual enough to wear for other occasions. And they're inexpensive, with the fabric, zippers, patterns, and other such things coming to $25-$30 each. As my brother wrote back to me, "Wow - a dress for under $25! Great work."
We've also picked out the tuxedoes. We're going with a black three-button tuxedo with a white wing-collared shirt, plus a vest and straight tie in the wedding colors. The best man (or men) and groomsmen will be wearing burgundy vests and ties, and mine will be sage. They all look really good. This will be only the second time in my life that I've worn a tuxedo, the first being for my brother's wedding. I wore a suit at my first wedding reception, so a tux figures to be a welcome change.e
We've also secured a place to live. We'll be living in a basement apartment in the home of some members of my ward. It's a nice place, very roomy and cozyf with a washer and dryer and plenty of storage space. Our future landlords have been very good to us. They've been very flexible about holding the place for us, and the rent is great. We're going to start moving stuff in the weekend before, so that'll leave minimal relocating of stuff for the week of the wedding.
What we haven't done yet is invitations, which we can't really do until we have scheduled a time at the Temple. And we can't do that until we get that letter back from the First Presidency. So we're waiting patiently for that...or trying to.
That's it for now, I suppose. Everything's in flux right now. It's an exciting but nervous and occasionally frustrating time. But the future looks grand.
And the road goes on.
--
a Hey, she's a great gal, her questionable taste in men notwithstanding. Why wouldn't I be enthusiastic?
b Maybe that's just what I was supposed to think. What, me cynical?
c 'We' meaning 'Nancy and her mother and sisters'. I just don't have an eye for that sort of thing.
d I didn't much care for them either, so that's a good thing.
e I figure my role at the reception is like that of the guest of honor at a wake: Show up on time, dress nicely, and try not to make a lot of noise.
f ...even if the ceilings are a little low in a couple of places. I can live with that.
Now We're Getting Somewhere
After several meetings with my bishop and several letters written to, from, and by most of the principal players, my request for clearance to married in the Temple has finally gone to the First Presidency. I had met very briefly with my bishop and the stake president during stake conference two weeks ago, at which time I thought all the paperwork was done. But I got a call the following Sunday afternoon from the stake clerk, requesting an interview with the stake president.
So I went in a week ago Sunday, taking Nancy with me. The stake president and I had a brief interview and reviewed the paperwork one final time. Then he asked me talk about what I liked about Nancy. He was pleased with my enthusiasm.a After a few minutes he asked Nancy to come in, and we continued the conversation. It was wonderful. He said he could tell that we were in love. He said he'd get the forms in the mail that Tuesday. Now it's just a waiting game.
Pleasantly Surprised
Today is payday. As frequent readers are aware, paydays have caused me some apprehension of late. But the payday I had two weeks ago was a lot better. Given the experiences I've had the last two times, I took my last check to Prominent Local Bank fully expecting problems. There weren't any. What a relief.
My letter must have really ruffled some feathers. The Thursday after I sent it, I got a call from our HR person offering apologies (but not really any kind of explanations) for the troubles I'd had. Her tone of voice during that conversation really caught my attention. While she said a lot of apologetic things, she didn't sound apologetic. She sounded nervous. Very nervous.
Then I got another call a week later at work. From the owner. He expressed many of the same apologetic sentiments I'd heard from the HR lady earlier. He also said some things that made me feel like maybe they were getting a handle on the problem.b He thanked me for my patience and for my good work. I have to admit, I was pleased and a little surprised to find out that the owner was getting involved. His general management style, from what I can tell, can best be described by the term 'passive-aggressive'.
Other than that, work has been pretty routine. We've been running training sessions twice a week for the past month or so, and it looks like we'll continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It makes for a long weekend, managing Friday night and then training on Saturday morning. I generally roll in on Saturday thinking, "Didn't I just leave this party?" But the extra hours are sure nice. I've got a wedding to pay for.
In Search of a New Life
I spent most of last Tuesday afternoon writing cover letters, printing résumés, and addressing envelopes. On Wednesday morning, I sent these out to eight public school districts in Utah, plus three private high schools in Salt Lake City and four high schools in Texas.
Texas? Yes. My future sister-in-law is on the Board of Education in a district down there that's opening two new high schools in the fall. When she heard that I had graduated and what I wanted to do for a living, she encouraged me to apply for one of the science teaching positions. I talked to her last week, and she gave me contact information for each of the four high schools in the district. So Texas is probably as solid a possibility as Utah, at least from how it looks now.
I've already started seeing the fruits of my labors. I got a phone call from one of the private schools and a letter from another. Both said there were no positions open at their schools, but that they would keep my résumé on file. I also got mail from one of the districts in Salt Lake telling me to fill out an online application and submit further documentation. I guess we'll see what happens.
More Marriage Madness
I started writing this post almost two weeks ago, so some things have changed in the intervening time. We have now registered for gifts. We chose two traditional stores, Target and Bed Bath & Beyond. Of course we registered for things like sheets and towels and dishes and such. But we've both been on our own for most of our adult lives, and we already have a lot of the stuff that couples usually register for. So we registered for some unusual things, too. Things like tools and games and automotive stuff. I think we even registered for a roll of duct tape. We were in that kind of a mood at the time.
We'vec also chosen dresses for the bridesmaids. At first, those involved chose a green top and black chiffon skirt from Dress Barn. There was only one problem: everyone loved them except for Nancy. And since this is her wedding after all, she ultimately vetoed them.d The final dress is burgundy, calf length with short sleeves. And it's from a pattern. There are enough people who can sew on both families that this shouldn't be a problem. The dresses are nice but casual enough to wear for other occasions. And they're inexpensive, with the fabric, zippers, patterns, and other such things coming to $25-$30 each. As my brother wrote back to me, "Wow - a dress for under $25! Great work."
We've also picked out the tuxedoes. We're going with a black three-button tuxedo with a white wing-collared shirt, plus a vest and straight tie in the wedding colors. The best man (or men) and groomsmen will be wearing burgundy vests and ties, and mine will be sage. They all look really good. This will be only the second time in my life that I've worn a tuxedo, the first being for my brother's wedding. I wore a suit at my first wedding reception, so a tux figures to be a welcome change.e
We've also secured a place to live. We'll be living in a basement apartment in the home of some members of my ward. It's a nice place, very roomy and cozyf with a washer and dryer and plenty of storage space. Our future landlords have been very good to us. They've been very flexible about holding the place for us, and the rent is great. We're going to start moving stuff in the weekend before, so that'll leave minimal relocating of stuff for the week of the wedding.
What we haven't done yet is invitations, which we can't really do until we have scheduled a time at the Temple. And we can't do that until we get that letter back from the First Presidency. So we're waiting patiently for that...or trying to.
That's it for now, I suppose. Everything's in flux right now. It's an exciting but nervous and occasionally frustrating time. But the future looks grand.
And the road goes on.
--
a Hey, she's a great gal, her questionable taste in men notwithstanding. Why wouldn't I be enthusiastic?
b Maybe that's just what I was supposed to think. What, me cynical?
c 'We' meaning 'Nancy and her mother and sisters'. I just don't have an eye for that sort of thing.
d I didn't much care for them either, so that's a good thing.
e I figure my role at the reception is like that of the guest of honor at a wake: Show up on time, dress nicely, and try not to make a lot of noise.
f ...even if the ceilings are a little low in a couple of places. I can live with that.
posted by Michael at
8:34 AM
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