...hopeful signs

I finally got a "go" signal today...

I've been waiting for a sense of peace...
to come to me about looking for a job...
and today, it was there...

a local specialty shoe store has had a sign...
"help wanted", in the window for a while now...
but my 5 months of finger angst had to pass...
you can't apply for a "manual labor" job with a bum hand...

so today, I got dressed and went out to see what I could find...

as a brief "back story", for those who don't know my history...
five years ago, I retired from the school district...
after 21 years of teaching jr high music & English/reading, ...

I also retired from the symphony just before that...
so I knew I needed extra income...

for 2 years after retirement, I did "consultant" work for the district...
but soon realized that I needed to be done with that too...

towards the end of my teaching career...
I earned my LMT credential [Library Media Teacher]...
with an eye to moving out of the classroom & into a library...
then came the beginnings of the movement away from middle schools...
and the reduction of district employees who were librarians...

and I couldn't find a librarian job...

not only were librarians being eliminated...
but I had an English credential too...
and credentialed English teachers were becoming harder to find...
so they wanted me to stay in the classroom...

but the stress was becoming too much...
and I retired 5 years ago to save my life...
and even though I'm 5 years older...
I'm much healthier now, than I was when I was teaching...
I know that leaving the school district is the reason...

since I retired, I've looked for "work", on & off...
recently, as my economic situation worsened...
it has become imperative that I find work...

but whenever I would look for work...
I would become really stressed & start trying to make it happen...
of course, that never works...

having had a severely injured finger that required surgery...
and then months of physical therapy to be even 80%...
for the last 5 months...
hasn't helped either...

so I've been waiting...

because that's what He told me to do...

so today, when I began to feel peaceful about "looking"...
I knew that it was time...His time...
to start "moving"...

after all, you can't steer a stationary car...
only a moving one...

so I arrived at the shoe store...peacefully...
and filled-out an application...
the owner said that their company had just recently hired...
a couple of people & were hiring all the time...

there are several stores & a warehouse...
she said that if they had an opening at this store...
where she knows me, that it would be no problem...
[I've been a good cu$tomer...]

encouraged...I decided to tackle the next place on my mental list...

Wallyworld....[*sigh*]

I had been there just the day before...
and as promised, found cat litter at $2-3 less, each...
than what I'd been paying elsewhere...

you must, at this point, be made aware of my intense dislike...
of that company and it's employment practices...
and that I would NOT be darkening their door...
even for kitty litter savings...
if I wasn't in a real financial crunch...

and along with the knowledge...
that I'm NOT the only person...
in those straights, these days...
I had realized that WW would probably be hiring...

and it was there that I was headed...
preparing to consume "crow"...
when, as I neared the Mall...
that quiet voice said...

"try B&N again..."

I had applied to the well-known chain bookstore before...
and had been ignored...
possibly because the employee I listed as a recommendation...
was, unknown to me at the time, an alcoholic...

so, feeling a sense of peace about it...
I stopped & walked into the store...

I had to wait for a bit...
until the woman at the "customer service" desk...
was finished helping a customer do a data search for a book...
but it was worth it...

we chatted about my training & experience as a librarian & English teacher...
my availability [anytime but Sunday...]
my age [she said that their best children's book person...
was 70 & a retired librarian...]

then she gave me an application and said...
"if you can fill this out now & bring it back to me...
I'll introduce you to one of our managers...
so he can be made aware of your qualifications & training..."

I went off to find a table to sit & write...

when I returned, she wasn't there...
I asked a man where she had gone...
he said that she was on a lunch break...

I told him about my application...
and how she had wanted to introduce me to a manager...
because of my librarian & teaching experience...
he then told me that he was a manager...
listened as I told him of my qualifications...
and said that he'd have someone call me to set-up an interview...

so I have "my fingers crossed..."



I hope that you all will think good thoughts for me...
as I could really do a good job at B&N...
my favorite part of teaching was getting kids into books...

and there's also the classical music link too...

they have a classical music section...
I supervised a music library/listening lab for 5 years...
helping people find classical music is even more specialized...
than a book or data search...

I didn't have the space to even list that job on my application...



here's praying for good things to come to fruition...

because God IS good...
ALL the time...